My LoVeR

I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day. I never have been and probably never will be. It’s a waste of a good day in my opinion. I don’t need a special day to let my hubby know how much I care about him. I use to think Valentines was so great when I was in elementary and I could decorate my Valentine boxes and let that special someone know I was crushing on them. Middle school didn’t disappoint either. I remember my school sold roses at lunch and you could have them delivered to your crush during class. I was always stoked to get a rose. In high school I had a steady boyfriend and he was a winner and would break up with me before V-Day and then want to get back together so I just began to dislike the holiday. Everybody makes such a big deal about it and I just don’t see the excitement.

I will admit that I do try to make Valentine’s Day special for Jake. I don’t do anything to exciting. Usually a nice dinner that takes me hours to cook and one of his favorite desserts. He appreciates it and I enjoy making his day. For as long as I can remember Jake would bake me a heart shaped Cherry Chip cake. Oh I love that boy. I will never forget the first Valentine’s Day he did that. I knew he was a keeper. What man takes the time to actually bake a cake for his lover? A heart shaped cake at that! He’s the best.

This year I’ve run out of ideas. I attempted to do 14 days of Valentines but I got sick and never made it to the store to pick up everything I needed. I made it to 5 days at least and I’m sure he thought I was corny but he loved it anyway. Valentine’s Day is on a Tuesday so I’m hoping we can grab a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy’s, watch some of our DVR shows {anything besides basketball} and just hang out. That would be the perfect V-Day for me.

So in honor of the day of LoVe I thought I would jot down a few things I love about my handsome husband and best friend. No lie, this past year was probably one of the hardest years I’ve had in a long time. I was very unsure about so many things in life and Jake came to my rescue way more than once.

He’s been my rock, my best friend and always has a listening ear. He helps me so much around our house. Just yesterday I was cooking for my little sister’s birthday party and I had dirty dishes piled high in the sink…..He did them without even being asked just to help me and make life easier. Not only did he do them once, he did them 3 other times yesterday {I cooked ALL day}! I’m so grateful for him.

He pushes me out of bed every day to do our workout. He lets me watch my girly shows and doesn’t complain as long as I’m cuddled up to him on the couch. He fixes me dinner pretty much every night and doesn’t complain. He makes me laugh daily and once in a great while he does something out of the ordinary and romantic just to let me know he loves me. He always offers to take my friends and me to our summer concerts and then stays up late to come pick us up after we’ve had our fun. He stands up for me and is so unselfish.

I see some guys and the way they treat girls and I truly am one of the luckiest girl’s in the world to have Jake as my husband. He loves me just the way I am and doesn’t ever ask me to change anything. I love our life together.

Happy Love Day Everyone!

Feeling Good!

These past few weeks have been taking their sweet time passing. We have a doctor appointment with an Endocrinologist doctor in February & I feel like I’ve been waiting for years. I’ve been off of the Lupron shot for about a two months now and yet I have still had some crazy side effects. Hot flashes, headaches & night sweats. All things that are rather un-enjoyable but its life so I’m dealing with them. There are much worse things in life I’m sure of it. I should be feeling normal again but I’m not quite sure what normal feels like. My mood is much better than it has been. I have more patience with people and I feel better about life in general. That’s a bonus. So for now we wait until our first appointment with the doctor we chose & we will decide where to go from there. Hopefully it’s only good news from here on out. Crossing our fingers & toes!
I’ve been feeling super sluggish lately. Beyond exhausted….it’s ridiculous so I decided to do something about it. I told the hubby I needed to start working out faithfully. I enjoy running and do it every so often but I don’t have a normal routine. The meds I was on definitely took their course on my body so I needed to change the way I was feeling. Jake suggested we start doing P90X together. If you know my hubby you know he works so hard every day. He’s a brick mason and his work is so hard on his body so I was surprised he even wanted to work out with me. Usually he’s against it because he’s already exhausted from his day. I was stoked so we borrowed the P90X DVD’s from our good friend and started the routine three weeks ago.

We get up early & work out for a good hour and then get ready for work. I love spending my early mornings with him & it’s nice to have a work out partner who won’t let me give up. The work out is insane and such hard work. My body is super sore but it’s definitely worth it. Even though I’ve been physically exhausted for the past few weeks, I feel so much better. I look forward to eating better throughout the day & getting back into shape. I can already feel a difference in my body & I’m so excited to keep our morning routine going. I do need some different food ideas so if anybody has any awesome suggestions please send them my way. I have a hard time finding meals to cook that are healthy with very little ingredients. It’s hard to work 10 hours a day and then come home and want to cook a nice meal. I’m all about the easy Mac for dinner. :)

Lots of January birthdays. I will post on those later and add pictures of course.

Ringing in 2012 the CoOl WaY!

Our New Year's Eve was awesome. It was relaxing & simple. Not a lot of planning which is exactly what I wanted. It went something like this.....

-Picked up Rod & Jacque {we were missing Cary & Chelsey this year. Sad day for us.}
-Texas Roadhouse for dinner at 5:30 so we could beat the rush. 85 minute wait....sheesh, not what we expected.
-Argued with Rod to check out the bar area for 4 empty seats. He said, "yeah right. Your crazy. There's not an empty seat in this place." He checked, he never came back. We pushed our way through the crowds of people & wouldn't you know....4 empty seats waiting just for US! It must have been our lucky night.
-Headed to the movies to watch Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise {who by the way creeps me out}. Played with our smart phones, people watched & ate some amazing Gelato & ice cream.
-Left the movies & drove around. One of us suggested the local bar, the Lazy Dog Saloon. It's a great place to people watch. The hubs shut down the idea but drove that way just to amuse us. It was empty so we drove right past & then couldn't agree on a second choice and ended up back at Rod & Jacque's playing Phase 10.
-The clock struck 12 & we said Happy New Year, gave our significant others a small peck & continued on with our card game. It was down to the wire & someone had to win.
-I won!!! I was happy. Rod was upset because Jake made fun of him for losing the game. Jacque was an awesome score keeper. Jake was sad that he's usually the card game champ. Our night was complete. It was perfect. We all had fun.

Here's to 2012 being awesome!

PS-I didn't take one picture. What was I thinking????

2011 Re-Cap!

{Highs of 2011}

1. Ringing in the New Year with friends

2. Visiting St. George often

3. Quick trip to Hoover Dam with my lover, Mom & Step Dad

4. Celebrating several birthdays on the Frehner side

5. Meeting the newest member of our "friend circle." Baby Daxton! Cary & Chelsey are proud parents & he's perfect. Love him.

6. 4th of July traditions

7. Frehner family reunion in Mesquite. Perfect!

8. Visiting with Jake's Oma while she was here. It was her last visit ever and I threw her an "un-birthday party" & she loved it. She's amazing.

9. Hanging out with my nieces & nephews

10. Our good friends Rod & Jacque getting engaged

11. Dad's 50th b-day celebration in Mesquite

12. Taking care of my Grandparents. Love taking them Sunday dinner & giving my sweet Grandpa a break once in a while.

13. Thanksgiving in St. George with my side of the fam

14. Hearing my other set of Grandparents are moving to St. George. Cannot wait for them to be close

15. Texas vacation with my girl's & Hawaii vacation with my bestie. Something I'll never forget!

16. Spending the holidays with our families and friends
17. Having a VERY understanding and supportive, amazing, selfless husband through all of the good & the bad
18. Concerts with my FAVORITE people. Limo rides, front row seats & nights I will NEVER forget.

{Lows of 2011}

1. Learning I have severe Endometriosis
2. Having a horrible surgery to help clean up the Endometriosis
3. Learning that I may not ever have babies because of the Endometriosis
4. Putting my super understanding and amazing husband through hell & back while I dealt with emotions, medications & other issues. I'm very lucky to have him.
*Stupid Endometriosis anyway, way to put a damper on my year*

More highs in 2011 than lows. I'm extremely happy about that & feel so blessed everyday to have the family and friends that I have. As if I didn't know what was important in life before all of these tests {I call the lows tests because I'm sure there is a purpose. I just don't know that purpose yet}, I now really understand what's important in life. I'm blessed to have the life I have. I have it pretty dang good. Here's to good news in 2012 for the hubs & I!!!
PS- Don't ever forget to tell those you care about just how much they mean to you....you never know where life will take you.

*The Holidays*

Oh boy were we busy this year. We are busy every year around the holidays but who isn't? It's the best time of year to spend time with family and we did just that. The week of Christmas was packed full of fun & it did NOT disappoint. It was perfect....I was slightly stressed at times but it was still perfect. The week started when my Mom and her husband came to visit. They stayed at our house and I enjoy having company. I planned a small get together with my Step Dad's kids and grandkids and we had the best time. I really enjoyed myself and I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.

My Mom & I got coffee, pedicures and manicures and chatted the day away. We did some Christmas shopping too. I love spending that time with her. There is nothing better than a day out with my Mom. I sure miss her now that she lives in St. George. Not far but I still miss her everyday......

My Step Family!

They are fun, crazy and loud and I love every second of it. Watching the kiddos open gifts was awesome. They were so excited.

Next up was my family Christmas party. This is a tradition we do every year and it's one of my favorites. We didn't have a party last year and I was pretty bummed. I don't get to see my cousins as often as I would like so I look forward to this one time of year and we have carried on this tradition since as far back as I can remember. My uncles get crazy and sing on their guitars, my Grandma laughs and gives hugs and the kids get soooo excited when Santa arrives. My cousins Kim & Lori were kind enough to offer their home for our annual party this year and I can't thank them enough. There were a lot of peeps in their house but I'm so grateful they did that for everyone.

Doesn't my Grandma look beautiful? My Mom dolled her up for the party and she looked amazing. I'm so happy she came to the party. She's not a fan of big crowds & loud people but for this party she seemed ok. She was excited to have her family in one room all together. It brought much joy to her face and I'm so glad her and my Grandpa are still around to celebrate with us. My cousin Dylan was also there {bottom left photo}. He's in the military and he's just awesome. I was excited to see his handsome face!

Love this crazy family of mine.

Christmas Eve at the Frehners.

This is our yearly tradition in Jake's family and I get so excited. We rotate families every year for gifts and I get so excited to pick out the perfect gift for the family we have. We had Jake's brothers fam this year so the boys got a cool sled, an awesome search and rescue helicopter and a remote control jeep. They were so fun to watch open their gifts. I say this every time but this house is complete chaos when we all get together and it's so much fun. Do I sound crazy? I might be....but I LOVE it! I made North Pole cupcakes for dessert and they were time consuming but worth it. Jake even helped me. I love baking everything around the holidays but this year I didn't have as much time as I usually have so they weren't perfect but they were still delicious.

 My mother in law got a Kindle Fire {I'm super jealous by the way} & my brother in law Jared took that beautiful pic of the temple and sent it to me to have it framed for her and my father in law. It was gorgeous and she loved her Kindle. The kiddos crack me up. They run around like crazy people, play with iPhones, climb on things they shouldn't be climbing on and are all sugared up before Santa comes....It's awesome!

Like my new reloading kit?

Just what I always wanted....But inside all bundled up was a perfect little iPhone waiting for me. I've told Jake over and over that I WON'T buy myself an iPhone. I don't need a phone that smart and I don't need to waste my money. He insisted that I "keep up with technology." Needless to say I LOVE IT. It's been tough getting use to but I'm really glad I have it now. It's amazing what that little thing can do.

 Christmas morning is still my favorite.

Jake & I wake up early and exchange gifts and stockings. I love stockings. They are the best things ever. The first year we were in our home & I told Jake I was doing a stocking for him he was kind of dumb founded but I think he likes the tradition just as much as I do and he always fills my stocking with awesome stuff.

 Like his new kicks?

He needed some nice new shoes so I bought him this pair & an awesome pair of white Puma's that I doubt he will ever wear because he's worried about ruining them. He was stoked so that made me happy. He also got a gift card to Sportsman's & sadly a BYU hat. It was rough buying a BYU hat but I did it & he was happy so that's all that matters.

 Last but NOT least-Dad's house Christmas morning!

Like his tree? He loves the Dallas Cowboys so it's decorated in blue, silver and white. After we open our gifts to each other we head to my Dad's for more Christmas morning fun. We open gifts and eat the best cinnamon rolls EVER. I would give you all the recipe but they are fat free so you would probably hate them.

{lots of sugar and butter and cinnamon.that's all.nothing else for the topping.amazing}.

My Grandparents celebrate with us this year and my Aunt and her son also came to visit. It was nice having everyone in the same room on a holiday. It doesn't happen often because they live in Cali so this was a nice surprise for us. We opened presents, ate, and relaxed. Then we came back for a Taco dinner. A tradition we do every year. A Mexican fiesta for Christmas dinner. It's so delicious.

Christmas this year was eventful & exciting. I'm lucky to have the family that I have & the friends in our lives. We are so blessed. I'm lucky to have a husband who spoils me & surprises me. Jake & I took my other set of grandparents In N Out burger for Christmas Eve dinner. My Grandma was so excited. She eats that hamburger like it's going out of style. I wish I would have taken a picture. I have lots of goals for 2012 & I have lots of ideas. I hope this next year brings us happiness and lots of luck.

Oh Christmas Tree....

When I think of Christmas I always think of that one Christmas song that I would hear playing on Christmas morning. My parents always made our Christmas mornings amazing. I'm so lucky to have the parents that I have. That one song is and old song by a country group called Alabama. It played every Christmas morning and it's by far still my VERY FAVORITE. It's called Christmas in Dixie. I could listen to it over and over and over. I've yet to find the song on CD....We listened to it by tape I'm pretty sure. A few years back Jake found a Kenny Chesney Christmas CD & he sings that song on that CD. I was so excited. So that will be playing on Christmas morning.

I procrastinate on putting up our tree every year. This year I was not waiting. I'm so excited for the holidays. The picture is awful but I love our tree. It's not full of ornaments but it's perfect for us. Jake even put up the outside Christmas decor this year. I was so excited. I hate bugging him to do it so I don't. He usually does it but it's always later in the December month. This year the decor was up the last weekend in November. We are so on top of it. I love having our house to decorate.

This pic is pretty awful too. I was in a hurry because it's COLD outside! I have lots of fun things planned for the week of Christmas. I have a work Christmas party I plan every year, it's my nephews 7th birthday so we will be celebrating at the Spaghetti Factory. My Mom and her husband will be in town so we plan on doing some major shopping and wrapping presents. We have a small get together planned at our house for my Step Dads kiddos and grand kids. I can't wait. Pizza, gingerbread houses and lots of fun. It's going to be a great holiday, if only I could get my shopping finished. I was on such a great roll and then my motivation went out the door.

Happy Holidays!