Watch out for those Charmin Bears -- they ain't so charming

I just have to share this with the wonderful blogging world.

The other night, well, more like extreme early morning, I couldn't sleep. (Story of my life lately.) So, I was just lying there listening to Ben's deep breaths, which seemed to taunt me by whispering "Oh, sleep is so good, what a deep sleep I'm in, don't you wish you were snoring away like this?"

Anyways, all of a sudden, Ben's long breaths became very shallow and short gasps. Like he couldn't catch his breath or he was panicking. It scared me very badly at first! "What is wrong with him," I thought. The idea came to my head then that maybe he was dreaming. I decided to wake him up to make sure he was OK.

He woke up easily, which usually is not the case for Ben. (I swear there could be a marching band in the room jumping on the bed and he wouldn't even stir.) I asked him if he had a bad dream, and he mumbled yes. I was very relieved.

"And the weird part was that you were going to the bathroom in a tree," he told me.

"What???" But it was too late, he was fast asleep already.

The next day I couldn't help but ask for more details about this dream. Ben cracked up when I asked him.

Apparently, while I was going to the bathroom in a tree in the mountains, Ben was standing by some bushes when he heard some growling noises coming from the other side of the plants. Suddenly, a big bear (looking exactly like the ones in those Charmin toilet paper commercials on TV) stood up on its hind legs and raised one paw in the air, like it was announcing its presence or something.

The bear then proceeded to get down on all fours again. Ben couldn't see where the bear went until it stuck its big old butt out of the bushes, aiming straight for Ben, lifted up its little cotton-ball tail, and blasted the biggest fart ever in Ben's face.

And that's when I woke him up. Drat, I would have loved to hear more of that dream.

I wonder if Ben may have been experiencing some gastrointestinal problems that night.

Haunted house, a little late

This picture was meant to be posted around Halloween because of the scary house that sits uninhabited in Summit, Utah. My sisters and I have tested our bravery growing up as we've visited my Stapley grandparents in Summit by daring each other to go near that house. None of us ever made it past the fence. But, upon his first visit to the house, Ben showed us all up by walking past the fence, onto the porch, and probably would have walked right inside if it weren't for me begging him to come back. I thought the house was going to cave in on him or he would get a disease or something. I guess that shows the difference between boys and girls.

Which provides me with a nice transition. Speaking of boys and girls ... We found out in November that our baby is a BOY!!! I was pretty much in shock when we found out. I did not think I was able to have a boy inside of me! I'm a little intimidated -- I know how girls are, but I don't know what boys like! But at the same time, I sure am happy that he's a boy.

Other November items:

-We lost Grandpa Stapley to leukemia. We all miss him greatly.
-I went from having 0 jobs to 2 all in one week. I've been a little stressed out ever since.
-Ben went from having a temporary job to an internship, that, all though we are very grateful for, is also temporary.
-We found out that Max Hall hates us. Darn.

Happy Halloween!

Our dryer sadly stopped working this morning. It was given to us for free, and we were very grateful for it, but it's dead now. So, I brought all my laundry to my mom's house today.

And it smelled so good when I came in! My mom made Halloween cupcakes and let me frost and sprinkle them. How festive I felt today!

Here's some eye candy for you.

Baby Wilson: Coming April 2010

OK, here it goes: We are expecting a baby!! Due to my crazy sisters, I think the whole world may already know, but I thought I'd better make the official announcement anyway.

I had my second doctor's appointment today, and was able to hear the fetus'/unborn child's/baby's ( I highly prefer to call it "baby;" that sounds the least alien-like) heart beat! I can't believe how excited it made me feel to hear the heart beat! It had 150 beats per minute, which the nurse said is normal.

Ben and I are very happy and grateful for the experience we have had so far! I have to admit, though, that sometimes I get so nervous!! I worry about EVERYTHING and then some. I really am my grandma Stapley's granddaughter. (When she was growing up, she was known by all her friends as "Nervous Norma.")

Ben has his suspicions about the gender, and I refuse to say anything about it. We find that out in a month!

No more tonsil talk, please

I had to post something so that the nasty "tonsil" entry would not show up at the top of my blog anymore.

Ben has really gotten to know the LDS Conference Center grounds in Salt Lake City very well as he has been working there this summer. His grounds crew started putting up the famous Temple Square Christmas lights in August, and recently got to start using lifts to put up the lights in the tall trees.


It's a different point of view from 40 feet up in the lifts, he says. Here is a picture he snapped while in a lift:

He's seen some real characters while working downtown, too. Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve frequently walks from his apartment north of the Conference Center to attend his meetings at the Temple. One time, he had to help Ben's crew, as they got locked outside of the building. Of course, Elder Perry's keys can open pretty much all the doors around there.

Then there was the "mentally challenged" man who stood on the corner of Temple Square wearing the sacred Temple clothing, that church members are urged not to display in public. He just stood there; he didn't say anything or try to start any fights. Apparently, according to a Temple Square security guard, during this time, he was not taking his medication. He finally started taking it again, and has not been seen on the corner since.

It's been quite the job for Ben.

I have a diseased what??

For the past month and a half, I've been telling myself, "I don't have anything to blog about," and have therefore not been blogging, but wondering how everyone else has so much to write in thier blogs.

I figured out that I'm just lazy and don't want to use my brain. So, I've been thinking (gasp!), and have come to the realization that things have actually been happening since my last post!

Like little white patches growing on my tonsils. And they are nastier than you can imagine. Let me start at the beginning. Well, that would probably be my birth, but I'm going to fast-forward a bit.

A couple years ago, I started randomly breaking out with a small white patch on my left tonsil. It didn't hurt or even bother me. I only noticed it because when I would brush my teeth, the back of my tongue would rub against it. Of course I freaked out, and called the doctor and talked to a nurse about it. She said it's fine, that some people just have things like that happen to them, and to gargle with salt water a couple times a day. I also saw a throat specialist about it, and he called it a "Mucas retention cyst," and that's about it. Whatever.

So, every now and then, I would get a little white patch on my tonsil, and after a day or two it would disappear. It was really no big deal.

Until a couple of weeks ago. The white patch came back on my left tonsil, but this time it was accompanied with many many bigger white patches. On both of my tonsils. Both tonsils were almost completely covered with white patches, and they were swollen. My tongue constantly rubbed against them. And the worst part was, they gave me a GROSS NASTY YUCKY taste in my mouth every time I swallowed. Eww ewww ewww ewww ewww. And my breath smelled terrible too. (Poor Ben.) It made me lose my appetite. I didn't know what to do, so I just gargled with salt water, chewed a lot of gum and waited. After about 5 days, they started clearing up, and I was so relieved.

Until about four weeks after that. The patches came back!! But not quite as bad. I know this is disgusting, but it's quite therapuedic writing about it. There was one very circular patch on my right tonsil. The nasty taste was there. So I went to bed the night the patches came back, and I felt something wierd going on in my throat. I knew exactly what it was. The circular patch was dislodging itself from my tonsil. This has happened before, and I have always swallowed them as they fell off and then always totally freaked out because I swallowed them.

But this time, I stuck my hand in my mouth, and grabbed the circular patch before I could swallow it!! I pulled it out, and immediately wished I wouldn't have. It was about the size of a small tooth, and it had the strongest, grossest-infected smell I've ever smelt. (That explains the nasty taste and bad breath.) I went and put it down the drain and continued to have a nervous breakdown.

After that little incident, I decided to go see the doctor. He took one look at my throat and said, "You have chronic tonsilitis. Your tonsils are diseased." Eww.

And the cure? The only way to fix this is to have my tonsils removed. OK, no big deal. Until I walk out of the doctor's office and scream, "Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" I don't want to do it! I'm a scaredy cat!

But I've got to face that facts. It's got to be better than living with two diseased organs in the back of my throat, right?

"Footloose" at Tuacahn is hot, steamy fun

But not hot and steamy in that way. Tuacahn Amphitheatre is in St. George, where it was over 100 degrees on Tuesday when I had a little break from the merciless job hunt, and went to see "Footloose" with my sisters, Stapley grandparents, and cousin Sarah.

You could almost see the shivery lines of steam coming off of people's bodies down there. Even after dark, when the play takes place, there is no easing of the temperature. The only thing the dark brings at Tuacahn are the bats! They live in the red rock cliffs that make up the awesome amphitheatre.

I have always wanted to go to a play at Tuacahn, and this was my first time! And I think I lucked out on the play I got to see! Footloose is full of dancing, singing, hicks and one misfit city boy.

But the best part was that I got to take a road trip with my sisters and spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Stapley in Summit, Utah! Oh, and I guess I also got to know Phineus, (however you spell it) the kind of creepy sock monkey that my sisters are obsessed with.


In St. George, just outside of the Pizza Factory, by the Life is Good store.

I had no idea the play would be as awesome as it was! The characters came out on stage dancing, singing, and full of energy -- you immediately start bouncing in your chair and clapping your hands.

Here we are: Ariel/Emily and Ren/Maddie.

So, we all fell in love with Ren, because he was played by Thayne Jasperson, who appeared on "So You Think You Can Dance." And, boy, could he dance! And sing, too! My favorite song was "Almost Paradise" sung by Ren and Ariel.

And after the show, we got to meet the actors! My sisters were gushing over Ren, so I told them they needed to say something to him that he would remember. I told Natalie to say "You TOTALLY kicked Kevin Bacon's butt" to him and she did! He kind of blushed, laughed out loud and said, "Thanks." It was definitely a shocker for him to hear that!

Here's Natalie (and, of course, the monkey that smells like chlorine) meeting the heartthrob!

Oh my goodness!!! He put his arms around Natalie and Lauren!! Sorry, Emily, you got cut out of this picture!

It's OK, though, because here you are front and center!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa! This was SO much fun and a wonderfully distracting little break!

No work, no home, no other things = uuuuuugggggghhhhhh

I had a really great job, for the most part. Earlier this summer, I was offered a job that related to what I studied in college, paid well, had benefits, and was in a great work environment with nice people to work with. The work was challenging, and I was handling the training very well. Everything was perfect, and things were looking like we were going to be able to move out of the in-laws’ house and be on our own again.

There was just one little thing. Actually, it ended up being a big thing that I hated. I was scheduled to work Saturday through Wednesday 4 p.m to 1 a.m. That meant working the weekends into the wee hours of the night. At first I thought, OK, that’s not exactly what I would prefer, but there was no way to change the schedule. I asked. So, I thought again, It will be fine. I’ll just need to get used to working the swing shift.

After the first shift, something became apparent. “How come I haven’t seen Ben for a while? I don’t like that,” I said. Oh, gee. Ben leaves for work at 6:30 in the morning and comes home at 4:30 in the afternoon. I’m at work by 4, and come home at 2 a.m., to find Ben fast asleep so he can be up early. And when he gets up to leave for work, I’m unconscious, because I just went to bed three hours ago. Whew. Can’t wait for the weekend. Wait, I have to work on the weekend. I’ll see Ben for half the day on Saturday and Sunday, though. That’s good. And when my “weekend” comes on Thursday and Friday, I’ll see Ben for half the day then, also. We will just never have a full day together.

Crap. By the third and fourth shifts, after crossing through the dark alley way in the city to the empty dark parking garage after work, I cried the entire drive home. Good thing there aren’t people on the road at 1:30 in the morning, because I couldn’t see a thing through my blurry eyes.

This was not going to work. So, I quit. Even though Ben only has a temporary job. Even though we would have been able to buy our own house with me working that job. Even though it was a great opportunity for me to work in a related field to what I studied and worked hard for in college. Even though in this economy, I was extremely lucky and blessed to have even been offered a job. Even though we would have felt a lot more comfortable with starting our family with me working that job.

It felt wrong for both of us. I have never felt so stressed out in my whole life. I wasn’t sleeping, and, according to Ben, I wasn’t smiling. It was so hard to quit, but relieving at the same time. It hacks away at me everyday. I had a job, and gave it away. I know it was the right thing to do, but every day I go through the same thought process: “I’m a baby. I’m a wimp. I can’t handle hard things, can I? I’m lazy. I’m a loser. I’m not doing anything to help our situation.” And Ben kindly reassures me every time. But I always relapse.

So now I’m back to the job search. At first I was good, spending hours every day researching, filling out applications, writing cover letters, sending out resumes. But after a couple weeks of that, you start seeing the same things over and over again. And it gets a little old. And I let myself get distracted a lot more, with things like writing ridiculously long blog posts.

Surprisingly, though, it has been very relieving to put all this crap down on paper. (Or the computer screen.)

I’ve just got to force myself to keep plugging along, force myself not to become a total couch potato, force myself to stay positive. Force myself to not be such a wimp. If I can at least do that, I think I’ll be doing some good. Hopefully!

"Utahn's hearing disability no handicap"

Matt Huff, who I went to high school with, is going to compete in the Deaflympics in Taipei, Taiwan, next month as the men's water polo goalie!

I had the opportunity to interview him and write an article that appeared in the Deseret News yesterday. It can also be found online at mormontimes.com.

Good luck Matt!

The Stapley garden

Here it is -- my parents' amazing garden! I love this place. Often, I find myself sitting on the back porch, just staring out at the garden, imagining a stalky cowboy with curly brown hair riding his horse through the cornstalks while singing, "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'! Oh what a beautiful day! I've got a beautiful feelin', everythin's goin' my way!" Sometimes the memories flood of my wedding day, with a pink sunset and colorful daisies everywhere. (We had our reception in my parents' backyard.)

My parents put A LOT of work into thier yard -- my Dad plants the seeds and my Mom makes everything else look beautiful. Ben and I even put in our share of work on the garden this summer by constructing these two bird houses for my Mom.

An important rite of passage: No BYPoo lovers allowed! J/K. This place is kind of like a sanctuary for me. Where "the corn is as high as an elephant's eye," (almost) you can sit back, let the sun warm (or burn the skin off) your face, and listen to the sounds of the wind breezing through the trees and plants. It is very peaceful.

I find it mystifying that such tiny little things like seeds, along with the soil, air and sun, can grow into big, leafy, colorful crops that we can eat! Does anyone remember Bugs Bunny from the Loony Toons? Well, whenever he pulled out a big orange carrot and started cruching away at it, I thought he made it look so delicious! I think it was the cruching sound effects. And when I eat a carrot out of my Dad's garden, I feel like I'm eating one of Bugs Bunny's yummy treats.

Here are the pretty parts that are my Mom's doings. Her daisies are my favorites!

My hope is that, someday, I can create something half as awesome as what my parents have done! I've got a lot to learn, though. My Dad allowed Ben and I to plant some winter squash, cantelope, and watermelon seeds in the back corner of the garden, and guess what! They DID NOT grow! My Dad claims the soil back there is bad, but it worries me some. What's the opposite of a "green thumb?" I'm affraid I may have that.

Now all my parents need is a "pretty little sury with some fringe on the top" and an Aunt Eller to finish it all off.

"I'm a lone lorn creetur'"

"Not only does everythink goes contrairy with me, but that I go contrairy with everybody. Yes, yes, I feel more than other people do, and I show it more. It's my misfortun'"

For some reason, I love Mrs. Gummidge from Charles Dickens' David Copperfield. She drives young David crazy because she's always lamenting (loudly) and going on about how she's a "lone lorn creetur" but she just makes me laugh! She talks about her "troubles" like they are an actual person. Kind of like Mrs. Bennet's "nerves" in Pride and Prejudice. I love crazy nervous emotional wrecks of women in these stories! I think they make me feel quite sane. I probably shouldn't compare myself to fictitious characters, though.

Well, this summer has been kind of nuts! Living with in-laws, looking for employment and housing. It turns out housing has a pre-requisite of employment. But here are some pictures -- but I messed up and posted them in order from most recent to less recent.


After a fun afternoon of swimming in Lindon.



Cranking home-made ice cream with the Wilsons.




Niece and nephew Syd and Kaiser playing in the backyard.





Me with one of my best buddies! I'm not sure why she likes me so much!






The game of the summer: Lasso golf!

4th of July: I got to hold cute baby Wyatt.

Auntie Cindy and my mother at my Grandma Huber's pool for a 4th of July celebration.

Happy girls, Lauren, Natalie, cousin Meranda. I think they're daydreaming of hot red-headed paramedics.

The hidden beauty of Evanston, Wyoming

Look what we found in Wyoming! Who'd a thunk it? A beautiful oak table built around 1929. Last Friday, at about midnight, I was studying to recertify my CPR skills, and Ben was looking on the Internet. He asked, "How do you feel about going to Evanston?"

I, thinking he was talking about a job opening, said, "Let's go."

He immediately said, "It's not for a job."

My heart crushed into a million pieces. Not really. He showed me his latest "discovery" on KSL.com, Ben's love affair. A man was selling his grandmother's dining room table for an outrageously, ridicuously, incomprehensibly low price for what it probably should be worth.

"ROAD TRIP," I said. But to Evanston, Wyoming? Whew. At least I could get a good long nap in. Little did I know what we were in store for.

About 15 miles out of Evanston, 5 of them being dirt road, you suddenly feel like you've left firework-firebeer hickville and have ventured into a quaint hidden mountain valley like in , say, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. Abundant green grasses, yellow wildflowers speckled across the meadows, and old rickety bridges that you can't believe your mother-in-law is about to drive the truck across.

Once you're past the scary bridge and you heart beat slows to normal again, you cross yet another lush meadow and come to the friendly Sexton ranch.

The horses seem to nod a welcome greeting to you, and the cat with greenish-brownish eyes (sorry, no picture of the cat) comes and rubs against your leg. Well, that's where we found the table sitting out in the yard (see top picture) with an old wooden swing and original small cabin in the backgroung. It looked so much like a scene you would find in a country western music video that I had to have Ben take our picture with it.

We bought the table, brought it back to good old Taylorsville, where it has been living in the garage.

Which is the same place, I might add, that Ben has been living ever since we got it. He has been busy working to fix up this table and four chairs that came with it. If I want to see him, I have to go out in the garage. In fact, that is where I am currently sitting as I am typing up this post! Is it bad if I feel jealous of a table? Just kidding.

Ode to my lovely sisters

Ha! I have been so excited to share the beauty...

And elegance ...

and absolute joy of my sisters first thing in the morning.

So sweet ... so darling ...

Any man would be lucky to wake up to any of these sirens in the morning!

We were invited over for a Memorial Day breakfast with my family, and the first glorious words to come out of Lauren's mouth (after we were locked out and Natalie and Emily simply stared at us like were roadkill) to greet us were: "You're late."

Oh lovely, nurturing sisters! What would I do without you?

Congratulations, Graduate

Benjamin M. Wilson, Utah State University, Bachelor of Landscape Architecture.

Way to go Ben! It was a crazy rainy day on Saturday with graduation and moving to SLC. But we were so happy to have family come to Ben's graduation at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.



Grandma and Grandpa Stapley came from the bottom of the state all the way to the top! It felt like we hadn't seen them in a LONG time so we were so thrilled they came!



Lauren and Jeffy. Poor Jeff became my slave while we were moving. He was just always around when I needed someone to do something, and he was so willing to help that I just kept telling him to do everything! Thanks Jeff!

This picture is about perfect! Dad, Mom, Emily (the one with the deer-in-the-headlights face) and Natalie doing something to her eye.

Well, we are done with Logan. Maybe forever! And that is REALLY weird. All my life I never had one thought about Logan, and then I up and moved there right after getting married. We spent three years there going to school -- the school opposite of my dream school, the U. USU's campus is small, surrounded by cows, and nestled in a small little "bowl" bordered by exquisite mountain ranges that are often shrouded with mist and snow. People there kiss random strangers on an "A" statue, sing songs about sage brush and ride couches with skis attached to the bottoms down the very steep Old Main Hill. The Aggie Ice Cream is like nothing you will ever taste, and even when the temperatures are below 0 and the snow has soaked your pant legs and froze your toes, you will still want the Aggie Ice Cream.

And this is the place where we basically started our marriage. We were on our own, away from our families, and learned a lot. Ben taught me the basics of cooking and a lot of things about common sense. I don't think I have taught him anything besides the fact that some women are very crazy. But, hopefully we've grown!

I can't imagine life without school. Even though I've been done with school for a year, Ben's still been doing it. And I've worked for USU, so school has still very much been there. But, not anymore! I wonder if I'll miss it? I think I already feel a strange void. I will miss those pleasant Sunday afternoons of sitting on a blanket at the top of Old Main Hill with Ben overlooking the lovely Cache Valley. It really adds to the pretty view if you block the image of the traffic-jammed Main Street from your mind. Hopefully, someday, at least one of us can go back to school to pursue higher degrees.

I'm proud of you Ben!

Here is Diane (Ben's mom) and Raegan (our niece who spent the night before graduation with us!)

I just may have a new "dream school," because this is the place that Ben and I really began.