March in NM

While Logan went to training in Pueblo, Colorado I decided to fly home to spend that time with my family so I didn't have to be all alone. It has been pretty good so far and with daily calls/video chat I have not missed Logan too bad. I feel very blessed that my Heavenly Father has been helping me with that.

Logan is doing great in training and had his first flight there this last Friday! I know that what he is doing right now is really hard so I pray for him every day.

While I've been here, I mostly just hang out with the fam. I apologize that all my pictures are mostly of my little 1 1/2 year old neice but she is just too cute! I couln't help it!

One of the most unique things about Kara Anne is that she LOVES stuffed animals! My little sister has a huge stuffed tiger and Kara just adores it. The way she shows that she like something, is by giving it kisses. She learned this all by herself and has been doing it since she was very little. Unfortunetly, she is very selective about the people she gives kisses to but I still have gotten some :)

One of my favotie things to do is play with Kara in the morning! She is so fun then.

She also LOVES to swing and spin and be compeltly dizzy. Even in her highchair (that is not supposed to move) she rocks it so hard that it almost falls over. Here is a short video of her on the portch swing giggling.

Her other favorite thing is to play outside. This day we had fun with a plastic handle and she ran around with it for a while.

Just a random pretty shot I took of a butterfly.

One very exciting thing we got for our past Christmas/tax return/two year anniversary was the new iPad! Poor Logan has not gotten to play with it yet but it is quickly becoming one of my favorite toys!

 

One Sunday after church, we got out and it was so windy that it had blown in a dust storm! It was really crazy and by the time we got back home I had definitly had a full serving of sand in my mouth and eyes.

While Katie was still here, she got into Geocaching thanks to our aunt Karen. Here she is placing one of her own caches she made and mom on for the ride. Unfortunately, the whole time she was here it was pretty cold and windy. We still had a fun time going out and searching for little treasures several days.

This last picture is of kara getting ready to go on a walk with mom, Cynthia and I. We have all been trying to be healthy and because I have been spending more time outside I'm actually getting a little tan! Alright! 

Spring

Spring is here and so one day I went exploring around the outside of our house. Here is a front picture. This was a few weeks ago now and I've been in New Mexico since then, so I'm sure it is much more green by now.

In the front, we have a little flower garden. When we moved in there was only the bushes but now you can see that there are lots of plants poping up! Thanks to some firends on facebook I found out that the red sprouts are peonies and I belive that there are also some type of lilly growing in there too. 

Then, when I walked out to the side yard, the grass was completly tall and green (funny caz the front and back grass is still dead). Plus there were tons and tons of ladybugs all over in the grass. It was a good day!

Doctor Appointment

I got all set up on our new insurance and was told that it is good to set up an appointment to get to know your doctor. So I did. 

When my Dr walked into the room the nurse took me to he said "Hi, my name is Dr. Wheeler. You are a Mormon, right?" I was a little taken aback and said "Yes - how did you know?" That's when I found out that he and his wife are in our ward and he recognized me from when Logan and me gave our talks. Anyway, he was a great doctor and really easy to talk to. 

He said around 25 years old it is good to have some tests done to check for things like diabetes and high cholesterol. He also wanted to know why my wrists hurt all the time so I had to get blood drawn for the FIRST time in me whole life! I'm sure I had it done when I was a baby, but up until now, I had never had it from my arm. 

So I went into the Laboratory in the Clinic and a really nice nurse took three vials and sent me on my way. It was fast and easy and didn't hurt at all! 

I got home and showed Logan how brave I was and that I felt fine! Here is me in the garage right after I got home (sorry you can see some blood). I was so proud of myself and went into the house to get some lunch.  

I got a glass of juice so I could decide what to eat and it hit me. My vision started to tunnel and it was like the volume on my ears was being turned down. I made it to the table and called for Logan saying "I think I'm going to pass out!"

He was out by me in a flash and got me to the couch and propped my feet up. I was not sure at this time if I was going to pass out or throw up. Logan got me anything he thought I would need including my Lovie Blankie to make me feel better! (I don't think you can tell but I have blue lips in the picture).

Logan stayed with me and then checked up on me every few minutes after that. I stayed on the couch for an hour and when I sat up, I felt faint again. So I sat there for another hour before getting up. I took off the cotton on my arm and below you can tell I am already getting a bruise.

The next day my bruise was even bigger an my arm hurt for about a week after that. 

Well, I'm still alive and at least I know that I don't do well when I have blood drawn - something to keep in mind next time. I am so grateful that I have the best husband ever to take care of me when things like this come up. He came to my aid so fast and knew just how to help. I don't know where I would be without him.

The other good news is that I am REALLY Healthy! All my tests came back good and I am also happy that I don't have Rheumatoid Arthritis - what they tested me for because of my bad wrists. The only downside is that my Dr has no clue why my wrists hurt like they do and there are no treatments at this point that would help.

Keeping Busy!

So now that I am not working I have so much time to do fun things!!! A little of what I have been up to involves meal planning, quilting, sewing, sprouting an herb garden, and lots of cleaning/organizing of my new house - just to name a few! I couldn't be happier!!

In addition to all of this, I have decided to dedicate a blog for all that kind of stuff! So I will still have this blog that has all my life updates but my other blog will have everything else on it so that I can make it public. I have had to keep this one private for sensitive AF information and personal information. It is just smart I think but now I can let anyone know about recipes and crafts that I have been making!

Come and follow me at julieannapanda.blospot.com! I promise it will be a lot of fun!

Here are a few pics to show you some of what I have been up to!

 I needed something to cover the front window but it is really skinny... so I put some velum there! 

 My Craft Room - this is what happens when you start too many projects at the same time!

Learning some quilting techniques

 Challah Bread

 Crockpot Ribs

Whole Wheat Rolls! 

Crockpot Paella over Saffron Rice

Valentine's Day Dessert

 Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salad

 Chicken Enchiladas made with homemade Tortillas

 Tortellini in a Sage Pecan Cream Sauce

Salami Caper Pasta

 German Pancakes - Every Saturday Morning! 

White Chili

Herb Garden

Calzones 

Valentine's Date

This year for Valentine's Day Logan surprised me by taking me to Oklahoma City for our date the weekend before the 14th. He tried to think of what I would love the most and he did a great job!

Our fist stop was the Oklahoma zoo! It was a pretty cold day, so we got in free! There were still lots of animals out or in their indoor enclosures and we had a ton of fun being practically the only people there!



After that we got dinner at Panda Express - my fav! and even if it is not the fanciest place I'd rather go there instead of PF Chang's or something because I really like their food even if it is not the most expensive!

Before heading back to Enid, Logan took me to the mall too. He hates malls so it really was a great treat!

On Valentine's Day I made Logan a cute card and some brownies with a printout I made for my neighbors.

Then that night I made Logan Ribs again and mashed potatoes! They were SO good! Plus I ended the meal with Chocolate Covered Strawberries!