TPiR 101

I've always had dreams of coming on down at The Price is Right. I would watch TPiR with my dad every chance I got. Even now I watch TPiR with my kids; eating popcorn and playing along with the games. The lights, the games, the prizes, everything was so enticing to me and looked like a lot of fun! Me and a couple friends in college tried getting on the show during spring break and during the Bob Barker era to no avail.

Fast forward a lot of years. Joe is starting his second semester of his second year of pharmacy school and I'm hoping me and the kids get to see him at least on Sundays. I was looking at TPiR tickets and saw they were doing a baby shower special (bonus that I'm pregnant) AND it was during Joe's Christmas break. We got priority tickets and made a fast 2.5 day trip to California. We saw my sister and her family, went to TPiR, and then drove the 8 hours home so Joe could make it to his rotation by 4 p.m. (which we made, barely).

Here are a few things I learned about TPiR:

1. The set is TINY! I'm talking teeny tiny. The show makes it look like a GINORMOUS room with loads of space. Nope. They have the showcase area where they occasionally play a game, three "rooms" where they have the fold-away doors to reveal really BIG prizes, and the main floor where everything else is played.

2. It is loud. A man on stage has to show cards of the people who are called to be contestants. One game they revealed three prizes: a computer, washer/dryer/ and another prize. I didn't hear or see that the computer was an iMac and was totally adamant that the contestant was totally wrong with her selection.

3. There are A LOT of cameras. So many, in fact, that it's really hard to see the games being played on stage. I had to watch what was going on on one of the mounted TVs.

4. George Gray is pretty awesome. 

5. It takes 4 hours to get through screening. And four hours on bleacher type seating to a pregnant lady is torture! But, you get to know the people around you pretty well.

6. Food is available. During the 4 hours of screening, we were lucky enough to get offered an actual meal. Buy one. It is a lot of food and pretty expensive. They also provide snacks. My advice: bring something to eat with you.

7. Wear a catchy shirt. Most of the people who made an effort to make a shirt or dress up in non-normal attire were seated where the cameras saw them the most. Joe and I were front and center, about 5 rows back.

8. Don't blow the interview. Part of the screening process is where a producer comes out and briefly chats with wannabe contestants. They want to know who you are, what you do, and where you're from. Come up with catchy things to say. Our producer did not like my answer of being a mom. In fact, he kind of mocked me and moved on. Jerk!

Since it was a baby shower special, only pregnant women were selected as contestants. I wasn't selected and did not win a new car. Bummer! The entire audience did receive a fancy-smancy diaper bag though.

Our shirts centered around us not knowing what the gender of our baby was. Joe had recipe cards and I had an oven. Joe and I were invited on stage where we met Drew Carey and he opened our card for us. We're having a ........ tune in to The Price is Right March 3. They may show our gender reveal during the show, or they may just air it on their website.

psych

This is not about the best comedy on T.V. but about being fooled into believing something so vehemently that I was crushed when I realized my mistake:

Joe has 2.5 years left of pharmacy school.

I knew this. I know this. But somehow my gifted math brain mis-calculated the time and I got excited thinking he was going to be finished with school in less than a year! Since this pregnancy has made my body react very strongly and very negatively toward chocolate, sympathy fruit candy can be sent instead.

i miss papa

Joe warned me that the second year of pharmacy school was the hardest, that he wasn't going to be around a lot, and he'd have to study a lot! 

His warnings are coming true.

The first semester of his second year of pharmacy school is coming to an end. And we miss him! He has done a good job of spending time with me and each of our kids, but I am ready for more! 

Joe is usually around Sundays, Tuesdays after 4, and Wednesdays after 4. Mondays and Fridays he is gone before any of us wake up and home after all of us have gone to sleep. Thursdays he studies with buddies and me and the kids are usually asleep before he gets home then too. Saturdays are iffy. He will study all day if he has exams the following week, which he usually does, and get home after bedtime again.

Kuddos to all the single parents out there. I do not know how you do it!

happy anniversary .. 7 years and counting

Joe and I celebrated our 7th anniversary this month. We got a babysitter and headed up to Tucson to spend the morning together. 

We went to Bobo's where I had the BIGGEST chocolate chip pancake ever! I couldn't even finish it. I decided when my face started tingling that that was enough sugar for me. 

We then went to Kohl's where I discovered Petite cropped pants fit me like shorts and Joe charmed the elderly cashier into giving us a discount from a coupon that wasn't supposed to be used until tomorrow. 

We then went over to La Z Boy and checked out their recliners. I found one that I LOVE and am now hoping it goes on sale!

For lunch we went to Beyond Bread. Their cookies are enormous and their sandwich's delicious! 

A mere 40 minutes later we were back home and picked up the kiddos from the babysitter. It was a great day spending the morning with my handsome, smart, talented, and loving husband. 

Here's to many more years! I love my man!

train your brain to be happy

Have you ever listened to, or watched, "Ted Talks"? I love them!

I recently watched two talks that I absolutely LOVE! They are:

"The Game That Can Give You 10 Extra Years of Life"

and
"The Happy Secret to Better Work"

I'm starting to believe that our brains are so powerful that what we imagine, we can have. I have also recently read a book called "Remembering Wholeness" that has changed my perspective on things in a big way. I won't go into a book review of it, but go out and read it! Now!

I'll wait ....

In the book the author tells her readers to imagine/decide what you want in life. Write it down and be as specific as you want. Then, ask your angels. When she first brought up angels, I was a HUGE skeptic. I almost felt guilty for wanting to believe that there are more people in the universe that want to help me out. After you have decided and asked, GET OUT OF THE WAY! Do not create resistance, or doubt, or anything negative. And then finally, when the thing you wanted happens, say thank you to your angels and your god.

Are you a skeptic?

For example, the other day my hubby applied for in-state tuition for the remaining three years he'll be in school. He turned it in at 10:00 one morning. He came home and asked me to make my magic happen and will for him to get in-state tuition. I laughed and told him he had the power within him to make it happen. I walked him through the steps and emphasized to get out of the way of this great thing happening. Within three hours he got an email explaining the board had reviewed his application and he had indeed had his tuition status changed to in-state!

Coincidence? I'm telling you, read the book, figure it out on your own, and be happy!

2nd year ... here we come!

School starts back up for Joe in about 6 weeks. Where did the summer go?! When I was pregnant, Joe kept warning me that the 2nd year was the hardest and to be prepared to not have him home all that often. Yikes! When I sit down and think about it, I kind of hyperventilate! But this is the 2nd year of pharmacy school! We're actually making it!

happy happy birthday

My man is in his 30s! 

Happy birthday to the greatest husband, friend, and papa! Love you lots.

sleep overs

The Beck family reunion is going to be a big camp out in Wyoming. The only thing is that Corban has never slept any where besides his own bed in his own house. Joe and I were a little worried about it, so Joe wanted to have a sleep over in our living room. 

Sleep Over #1: I made them popcorn and left to go upstairs. They watched shows, played flashlight games, and played video games. Corban then decided that he wanted me and wanted to go to his room. Joe dejectedly agreed to let him go and they both slept in their own beds that night. 

Sleep Over #2: This sleep over happened one night after Joe got off work at 9 o'clock and it usually takes between 15-30 minutes for him to walk through the door. Corban's bedtime is 8 o'clock and had been asleep a long time by the time Joe got home. Joe was persistent and wanted his sleep over, so he woke Corban up and took him downstairs where Corban instantly fell right back to sleep. Joe played video games by himself until about 3 o'clock when Corban woke up and wanted to go back to his room and his own bed. Joe threatened him that he couldn't play video games the next day unless he had a sleep over with papa! Classic! They moved their sleeping bags from off the couches and slept on the floor behind them. 

I don't know if Corban is ready to sleep in his sleeping bag in a tent in the great outdoors. He may end up sleeping in the car with his wussy mama.

family happenings

Corban LOVES pbskids.org! He would play on the computer all day long if I let him. Here he is playing Fire Boy and Water Girl. He also LOVES his USU, "football" shirt. Once he wears it one day, it is a chore trying to get it off the boy. He would wear it every day and every night. He still loves his cars and will play with them everyday all the while making a motor-boat noise as he moves the cars from one place to another.

Jovi is now 3 months old! She smiles at anyone and is SO close to belly-laughing. I almost had her full on laughing in church today. I guess just a little inappropriate. Corban loves his sister and has to be right next to her when she's on the floor or anywhere close to him. We're talking centimeters away from her. Jovi can't decide if she wants to sleep through the night yet or not. She usually will wake up once during the night, but lately has been waking up 2-3 times. Yikes. Doesn't make any of us happy at home. She did, however, sleep from 8:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. one day last week. Now, I'm hoping she'll make that a habit.

Joe hasn't quite made it to mid-term exams yet and is ready for the semester to be over. Me too. He complains that both Corban and I are uber-hyper and clingy when he's home that it kind of bugs him. Well, he's not home a lot. So when he is home we have to make up for lost time! He is also still working at Smith's Marketplace Pharmacy and loves it! I have to admit that the people who work there are pretty cool peeps.

I chopped my hair. I got 8 inches cut off and I love it! It literally takes 2 minutes to do my hair. And that's including using my straight iron. I'm also getting an implant for one of my molars. I got my tooth pulled in July and the post put in a couple of weeks ago. Boy, does my jaw hurt! I now have about 3 months of recovery time and then the implant can be put on. The only positive thing out of this is that it has been an INCREDIBLE weight loss plan! Ten more pounds and I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

jovi's blessing

We blessed Jovi while we were in Green River, WY over Labor Day weekend. Most of Joe's family was there and my parent's drove from Logan to be apart of the blessing. Jovi is 7 weeks. My mom made her blessing dress, which I thought was going to be too big, but it was just the right size.

The grandparents.

The flower was made by a co-worker of Joe's. I made the bracelet from beads from both of my grandma's necklaces.
Joe and I were both afraid of how Jovi was going to act during the blessing. I fed her right before the meeting. When I handed her off for Joe to give the blessing, she let out one loud squawk and quieted down. Joe forgot to do a few thing in the blessing, but it was wonderful and he did a good job. Joe walked to the front with Jovi when I started to cry. Remember how she was only 7 weeks old? Yep. My pregnancy hormones were still flying.

cache county fair

We went to the Cache County Fair last Thursday. We saw the animals, walked around the booths, threw rocks in the canal, and went to the carnival. Corban loves slides and went to the biggest slide they had. He got to this point and wouldn't go on because he got scared. Joe went up and they finished together. Of course, on our way out of the park, he wanted to go again.

wilson!

We recently had our Griffin family reunion. Joe and I brought our outdoor volleyball, horseshoes, and frisbee. Joe (of course it had to be Joe) tossed the volleyball to a nephew, throwing it over his head. The ball bounced over the fence, rolled down a hill, and settled quite peacefully in the gushing, rushing, Cub River. Joe then watched the ball bob down the river and around a bend.

Wilson! Come back!
Fast forward two days. Joe and I are about to go back to Logan when he decides, "What the heck. I'm gonna see if that ball is anywhere close to us still." I see him, an expert climber brother-in-law, and a couple nephews heading toward the river. A little while later they all three return with our volleyball in hand! As luck would have it, the ball had gone around the bend like Joe saw, but it had got stuck behind some branches.

Wilson is safely home again. A little water logged and a little dirty, but it sill works great.

birthday bowling

Corban and Joe took me bowling for my birthday. Corban's little shoes were the cutest. Joe beat us all. Corban would jump up and down the whole time the ball traveled down the lane and was so excited even if we gutter-balled it for him. Now, whenever we drive by the Fun Park he asks to go bowling. We'll definitely go again.

jon bon jovi

For my birthday this year Joe took me to a Bon Jovi concert! It was a blast but keep in mind I'm 5 1/2 months pregnant and still a little sick. While most people were rocking out standing, I was bobbing along in my seat! I didn't mind. I could still hear everything!

(I stole this from the Salt Lake Tribune)

a little thing called ...

I started writing this post about all the things I'm hating about being pregnant and felt kind of bad. It's a good thing for the delete key. Instead, I'll write the briefest summary of what's been going on.

Joe is working and going to school. I think his schedule finally caught up with him and he's getting sick. I don't think the single digit temperature outside helps anything either. He usually works Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 11am-9pm. He also is going to school Monday-Friday. His Tuesday and Thursday days start at 6:30a.m. and don't end until after 9 p.m. I feel bad for him, but I'm still sick and need his help at home. We just started going to a new ward and I think he's praying not to get a calling!

I am sick. I am tired. I gag/dry heave with anything tight, so I spend most days in workout pants or my pjs sans bra! Today neither Corban nor I got out of our pjs and it's almost time for bed again. I'm 14 weeks pregnant and barely starting to show. I look more like I'm overweight than pregnant which is just gross. But I did make dinner tonight so that's a big accomplishment.

Corban has had quite the bought of sickness. He's been getting his molars and with each molar came an ear infection. He's now on the tail end of pink eye. He loves his blankets and wants to go everywhere with all three of them! Our mornings usually consist of me getting us both a bowl of cereal, turning on "Dora" and me going back to bed. He has now learned how to switch off Dora and play Mario Kart. And he's actually quite good.

I couldn't just not leave a picture, so here you go. This is Corban at Christmas time with his great-grandma Beatrice who's turning 100 in February! She was awake but was just looking at us through her fingers (more on her later).

Sunday afternoon

for your viewing pleasure

nap time

Joe was "playing" cars with Corban. Corban grabbed ALL of his blankets and covered his papa so he could take a nap. Corban even brought Joe a toy (look really close you'll see the arm of Buzz Lightyear poking out above Joe's neck)!

first day of school

It's that time of year again where I become a school widow. Joe is taking microbiology, physics, and a computer class.

rolling stones

Joe had a kidney stone removed last Monday.

He came home early from class and looked terrible. He had hoped it was just gas, so he went inside and laid down. It wasn't. After dropping Corban off at my mom's house I took Joe to the ER.

Joe had thrown up right after he got out of class and he felt like throwing up in the ER waiting room. There's no quicker way to get admitted without filling everything out like having to throw up! Within 10 minutes of getting hooked up to IVs and such, the ER doc had a diagnosis: kidney stone.

Because Joe didn't have a history of kidney stones he had to have a CT scan. They got an image and guessed the stone to be about 6 mm (the size of the stone in the picture). The stone was just too big to let it pass, they need to go in and get it. They were going to load Joe up with pain meds and send him home to come back the next day to get the procedure done, but they made a few calls and Joe was scheduled to get it removed later in the day.

We went in around 11 a.m. He was discharged around 7:30 p.m. Joe is doing better. There was some damage to the ureter wall so they had to put in a stent that comes out on Tuesday. I hope this is a dietary thing that we can control and this NEVER happens again.