Holla fo' Dolla

Lunchtime Nasties

2011-03-10T07:46:00.001-08:00

Cost Vida is delicious. Better than Cafe Rio.

There, I said it and I could end there. But that would leave us all without the tale I am about to tell which is 2 parts disgusting, but worth telling.

Danielle, Clay and I have just missed the Noon 'O' Clock crowd at Costa Vida, so we waltz up to the counter. I am ready to order, and am about to greet the man who greeted me when I suddenly see a distracting flash of silver emanating from his mouth! No sooner do I stop squinting when I recognize this ball of metal to be a tongue ring. Sick. I have many reasons to have a distaste for this particular brand of piercings, not limited to the regular list of nasty reasons(for a truly disgusting story, see me in person)- They cause infection, a muscle like your tongue should not be stabbed straight through, and, if I remember correctly, we were strongly discouraged from eating anything metallic as kids. Perhaps times have changed? Maybe this is a very particular form of rebellion?

BACK ON POINT - He greets us and proceeds to slip this little silver worm back into his mouth while asking which meat, beans and sauces I would prefer - how polite. I am then left trying to hold back my almost overbearing vomit impulse whilst I make my selection. Now that I think about it, you may have to know exactly what scarred me so deeply in order to appreciate my upcoming rant. If you will follow me, I will take you on a true, disgusting, short-term journey:

A tall, fairly UNattractive man took to liking me in Junior High, and my horrible Middle School Days resulted in me giving in to having my first kiss with the aforementioned fellow. A movie is playing, there is a slightly romantic moment in the film, etc. etc. We follow the typical "First Date Kiss" movie script. He goes in for a move and I consent, all the while thinking that the first impact should not be quite so...wet! I am already quite disappointed with how Chick Flick Kisses are portrayed versus how this kiss is going. Then, the unthinkable. If you have ever seen Toy Story 2, you will remember that Woody has to grab his dismembered arm out of the fat man's shirt. As Woody is going to pull the arm out of Fat Man's front, shirt pocket, he hears a rumbling that starts from the depths and gradually releases in a nasty, ***PWAAAAH***.

Now, imagine the look on Woody's face and times it by 5. My eyes went wide in recognition, and my reaction was about .5 seconds too slow. Yes, that release went directly over his tongue-ring (yes, I kissed a dude with a tongue-ring) and INTO MY MOUTH!

So, I'm telling this young man that i want only Lettuce and no cheese while this whole, horrible ordeal runs over and over in my head. I'm surprised I was able to continue ordering, let alone eat, thinking that a tongue-ring was that close to something that later entered my mouth. Needless to say, I learned my lesson then, and APPARENTLY, I'm still paying for it.

Happy Anniversary! 2 year's runnin'

2009-05-31T23:27:00.000-07:00

What an amazing 2 years! It's unbelievable how fast life goes, and it's especially true "when you're having fun". Brandon, you are my life and I couldn't have made a better choice than to marry you. Thank you for your patience, love, faith, and support. You truly are my best friend, and I look forward to Eternity with you.

Birthday and, wait for it....MORE weddings!

2009-05-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

Whoolihoo! I finally turned 21! Brandon helped me put together a luau/outdoor movie in my parent's back yard! (You'll never believe how many things you can put together with $15 at the dollar store). We had a blast with tons of friends that I haven't seen in a few years, and I got to taste the glories of "Concrete Pie" at Wingers...Heaven be thanked for that dessert! Thanks to everybody for all the good wishes and my family for all their love and support.

Dani and Austin...precious!

Josh and Lexi, they made it! Lexi's trying to blow out the tiki torch :)

My sista from another motha, Lester

Josh and D gave us an awesome time, as always! We were happy they were able to stay with us in our little 2-bedroom apt. It actually wasn't as cramped as we thought, so anybody is welcome to stay with us, especially you guys, Josh and D!

I love these ladies. And that random dude in the back. STOP GETTING IN MY PICTURES! ;) Love ya Riley.

OK this woman on the left gave me the BEST gift I got for my birthday. She drew me a 26"x18" picture of the Laie Temple! I have been wanting this thing forever and she made my dream come true in under 3 hours. True story.

"Take your shirt off, twist it 'round your head spin it like a helicopter!"

It's hard being so attractive.

Sniff, I LOVE THIS BOY!

This is the wrapped drawing right after Pamela gave it to me.

Still together!
Brandon's Magic Trick; Now you see it...

...Now you don't (B and Ash stole my camera and thought this was pretty funny)

Gus Gus!

Mm'hmm

Still my favorites!

Happy Birthday!!!

This is my cake, 5 hours from start to finish. Courtesy of Ashley and Brandon.

Here's Madie's Wedding Day. I haven't cried so quickly in a long time. Bryan loves that little Miss Madie so much and I'm so happy they made it to this point! Special thanks to the Glissmeyer's for their including me in this special day.

Kimmie and Jodan.

Me and Jodan

Bunch a good lookin' guys.

Bryan and Brandon will be great friends...practically all their pictures were like this.

NEXT! This is my cousin's nephew's wedding. Follow? We only recently met, but were able to grow fond of each other very quickly! Ben was the groom (cousin's nephew) and he married Leanne, the most beautiful blonde bride! Unfortunately my family couldn't attend, but we enjoyed teriyaki chicken, pulled pork, rice and noodles. Of course, there were some great drinks and dancing! We brought Ash along as a graduation present, and we're pretty sure she's going to marry a Polynesian kid when the time comes. We won't complain.

The fathers and Ben's lil' bro, Junior.

The best dancers I've ever seen. They get better every year.

Stunning.

Poor Laga and Thele never really hold their own child. Malachi is just TOOO cute!

Cute

Wonder what our kids will look like?

Ben and Leanne in married bliss! Best wishes!

HOLY WEDDINGS

2009-05-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

There have been quite a few weddings for us in May. We had a reception to go to Thursday, Friday and Saturday of one weekend, and then this last week we had 2 full-day weddings including my cousin Elise and friend Caitlin, and then we have another good friend getting married the day after my birthday. Sufficeth to say; May is Wedding Crazy!!!

Elise's wedding was fantastic! I have to admit that driving to Manti just for a wedding ceremony and luncheon did NOT sound appealing. I have had to spend at least 1 night a week away from Brandon the last 3 weeks since we only have 1 car and our schedules have been less than predictable. But since we are evening people, my mom, Danielle and I ended up driving down to Manti at about 10:30pm the night before the wedding to avoid a total of 4 hours of driving the next day. That temple is BEAUTIFUL! It reminded us of a European Castle inside and out. The ceremony went beautifully (short, as we like it), and we bailed from pictures to enjoy the local "Fred's". BEST french fries I think I have ever had. The whole day went beautifully, save for a bit of traffic on the way home. We enjoyed our day thoroughly and were so so happy to have our families come to visit. Congrats Elise and Greg!

"Chirley!"

Two of my favorite people of all time
The Badal's

My beautiful mom and sister! MWAHGreg and Elise showing off their Eternal Happiness :)

NEXT IN LINE = Caitlin and Luke. Now, let me be the first to say we all knew these two would end up together! Luke was a gentleman all those years since Caitlin was off-limits - being his best friend's little sis. BUT, I was kind of surprised since Caitlin getting married was supposed to be this, "like WHAT"? type deal. It was most definitely natural and awesome! It was a long day, but it didn't seem it, especially as the second day-long wedding in the week.

We MUST talk about the Bridezilla we ran into at the temple. Turns out this girl shows up to get married to a friend of ours at about the same time, fully expecting to wear her wedding dress to the sealing. This dress was absolutely stunning, but a little "worldly" for the temple. So she and her mom talk to 3 temple workers, YELLING at them about how she needs to wear this dress to the sealing. They had to call the temple Matron up, who was along the straight and narrow because they made her cover up with all kinds of stuff so you couldn't see the dress.

We passed this other girl's sealing after Caitlin and Luke's, and heard some noise. Turns out that this bride was jumping up and down and screaming in the sealing room! WHAT?!?! Honey, you're gorgeous and all, but good luck in your marriage.

All that aside, the whole day was gorgeous. I got some awesome live footage, since I was honored to be the family videographer and a Bridesmaid. Caitlin had a delicious buffet at the Provo Marriott with family and friends, then the reception at the North Hampton House. I usually think that place can be a little "old fashioned", but the way Caitlin dressed it up made it so....Caitlin! This marriage is totally blessed, and you shoulda seen Luke all day holding his new bride. WE LOVE YOU MR. & MRS. PRICE!

Caitlin's Bridals
The Few and Faithful that actually showed up for Caitlin' Bachelorette Party
Luncheon at the Marriott
We were stuck together all day ;) It wasn't a bad thing!
Gorgeous Bride!
The Dolla Representation!

We'll have another update this next week. We have Josh and D and the girls coming to stay, then we have my birthday and a baby blessing. Stay tuned!

Beginner's Luck

2009-05-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

This is a different kind of luck. We've been really fortunate to support ourselves the last little while with only Brandon's income (which is measly compared to what he was making this time last year). We've had lots of opportunities to grow, and are praying that Brandon can find an appropriate job to get him through school starting in August. Life is really amazing for both of us and we are learning the truth behind "happiness".

Since I wasn't working, Brandon and I were able to spend 9 days with my Aunt Seira who was in town from Kathmandu. This was a very short visit, compared to the usual 2-3 week ones she usually takes. We ate, laughed, shopped, and had loads of movie nights and ping pong tournaments. Brandon has now defeated me 3 times! My record is depleting slowly. We miss her already, and hope that her promise to only return when Danielle is married or I have a baby was a very half-hearted promise. (If we can help it, it 'aint happenin' soon).

I am working on the weekends for the popcorn store, manning a popcorn booth at the West Valley Costco with Kirin. It's an incredibly easy gig and fun to chill all day with Kirin while being paid. Although, last weekend I got a surprisingly... not surprising phone call from our Apartment manager, saying that our driver's side window in our Civic was shattered. Not just busted, the whole thing was knocked in and there was glass everywhere. I had to call Brandon to leave work so he could check out the damage. Turns out somebody saw our partly-installed CD-player and decided to take advantage of the opportunity. This left Brandon kicking himself because we hadn't sold it earlier. Poor guy. We're probably going to have to tow it to his brother's house and leave it there until we get the money to fix and sell it (probably won't be until late next month). Yes, we do seem to have some less-than-desirable luck with cars, but this is a heck of a lot better than a totaled, stolen car or me on the side of the freeway.

Our other car, the Maxima ended up having troubles too, since we filled up with some crappy gas and we needed to replace one of the Spark Plug coils. With Brandon's handy work, $150 and a spurt of good luck, our baby's running well. Hopefully we can rid it of all the crap that's in the gas tank and we will have no further problems from the Chevron on 800 N.

Sorry, no pictures again :)

We just love weekends!

2009-04-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

While Brandon was recovering from his burn, we decided to stay up in Alpine since we had quite a few things going on. Brandon had familiy coming to visit from Nevada, my sister had her 16th birthday, I had a girl's day out up in Salt Lake and General Conference! Plenty to do.

Kirin had her birthday party the Friday before her birthday since it was on Sunday. The agenda; Dinosaur Museum and Pinata's!!! I have to admit I'd never been, but it was definitely awesome! We were going to have it be just the ladies but Alex was a fun addition, since the poor guys always get left out. The Tamang Sister Trio tends to get a little out of hand sometimes. Not that it's a bad thing!

My Salt Lake adventure was fabulous. I have two best friends, Caitlin and Ashley. We met in Junior High, then Ashley moved to Logan. We have all stayed closely connect somehow, and since Ashley got her mission call to New Zealand and Caitlin is getting married, it was definitely an occasion to get together! We met up at the Gateway and walked around looking for a store that had free shirts and enjoyed Temple Square. We got to listen to the second half of the afternoon conference session in the Joseph Smith Memorial building, which was cool. I actually ended up running into my Father-in-Law and my sister's room mate. Strange.

Caitlin, Kelsey, me, and Ashley!

Conference was great, of course. We had our traditional Grandpa Dollar breakfast in the morning, then had a birthday dinner for Kirin that night! The good 'ol Adams Family (duh nuh nuh nuh...snap snap) came over, and we inhaled Kathy's unbeatable rolls and my mom's twiced baked potatoes. All in all, a very successful and eventful weekend!

Typical Us

Up the nose shot
Kirin's future Husband; Mr. Caspian Tamang :)

Grandma and Camryn sportin' the shades!
The Birthday girl and her beautiful, self-made cake!

Danielle and Michael!

This picture was supposed to be silly...And this was supposed to be cute...
And of course, what did Brandon do?

Burn Baby Burn!

2009-04-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Things have been pretty nuts, but not unpleasant! Well, maybe just a little, but only because of passport issues and burning woks!

I last told everyone about our Canada expedition....it never happened. I had applied for my passport on February 20th, where the woman told me NOT to pay the expedite fee, because it was sure to be there within 8 days. This was over 2 weeks before my flight, so we figured all was well. The day before our flight came, and my OLD passport came in the mail. We decided to try again, and poor Bibhau had to pay $900 to change the day and time of the flight. We postponed it for about 4 days, to Friday, since they told us it had been shipped the Thursday before. I called on Wednesday, since we still had no sign of the passport, to expedite it. They told me it would cost about $75 to ship it. We made all the necessary arrangements, and I was "rhet to go"! You'll never guess what happened. Since it never showed up, we lost our opportunity to visit and help out our poor Auntie for a while, and frugal Bibhau soon received his credit card bill...would have paid good money to have that on tape.

For now, no Canada. We don't have any ideas as to when that trip will happen, but the tickets are currently frozen in our names for another date, not without a $130 re-instatement fee, of course. (Heads up Bibhau).

The "financial toll" this "trip" took was surprising. I can't imagine how Bibhau feels spending all the money he did, but I guess I can say we weren't as prepared as we could have been? We planned for Brandon to live off of a couple week's worth of money/food for ONE person. Well, if you've met either of us (since we usually eat while we give first impressions) you'll know that having the two of us eat off of 1 person's rations is less than enough. PLUS, we had spent X-amount of money on food that Brandon particularly likes (aka- food I don't like). But I have to say, we really couldn't complain. We didn't get to do anything except grocery shop, but the spare dollars we did get our hands on provided a bit more entertainment than normal. The game started out actually looking at the weekly grocery papers and their sales (gasp!) and forming an attack plan. Then, we'd see how far $10 could stretch us. We are now professionals compared to the inexperienced shoppers we were before! And now, our budget has taken a great leap toward the positive.

Amongst this chaos, we found a new love; homemade shoestring french fries! I don't know how many of you have been to Ruth's Chris Steak House, but we were very generously treated to their goodness by Brandon's boss just before we were married, and we weren't disappointed by the food - or the bill for that matter, since it was over $900!!! They had these "shoe string" french fries that were literally the size of a spaghetti noodle. Of course, since then, we've done our research and been working to make the perfect fries. We finally figured out how to make them to our liking: cut fresh potatoes into the smallest pieces you can (we had 20lbs that we got for $2), let them soak for a minute, then deep fry in my dad's old WOK, not our new deep frying pot.

Of course, one fine day we decided to make a few changes. We used our smaller, new wok (conserving oil in this economic climate ;) ) and put a new burner cover on to help keep the trays clean when I boiled something over or spilled our dinner. Well, whilst we were cutting potatoes, we checked on the hot oil to make sure all was well. Not even a simmer. Two seconds later we heard a "FWOOO", and turned to see a 3ft flame bursting from the wok!!! WHAT?!!? Brandon tried the Baking Soda defence, but it just made it bigger! Poor guy had to grab it while I opened the door to get the flame out of our poor old apartment. He didn't get an oil burn, but that then 2 foot flame was over his hand for the 30 seconds it took to get it outside. We finally got some good Baking Soda all over it, only to have the flames burst through again within minutes (stupid fire did not want to be put out). After all is said and done, only minimal carpet damage was done outside our apartment and poor Brandon's hand got a good 2nd degree burn. We were a lucky, inexperienced, young married people, I know. But it's all good!

Brandon's burn the next day. If you'll notice the blister, that bad boy was still alive and well for 5 days after! He also had 1st degree all along his thumb to his pointer finger.

This is the burn a week later, after some assistance from BurnFree!!!

Basketball and Canada

2009-03-10T12:16:00.001-07:00

The latest for we two Dollars includes Basketball and Canada. We recently re-discovered our long lost love for that beautiful game, and I am headed to Canada for an 8-day relief trip with my sister, Kirin.

Basketball came up when our friend Gary and Pamela thought, "Hey, let's play some basketball!" I've played since I was 8, but after I made the High School Team and was being coached by a woman I couldn't stand, things got a little too serious and I wasn't about to waste my life with the game. I love sports, but there's a line I don't cross, and she wanted me to jump right over it. I played in the Jr. Jazz Leagues almost religiously since 1996, and was able to help coach after I graduated. Brandon and I have only shot around a few times, but he's never really wanted to get into a game because he's so non-contentious. He's competitive, too. This I understand, but I never thought about how I would react playing seriously with Brandon. We've been playing at parks we could find along with Gary & Pamela, but some mornings we've gone to shoot around, it being just the two of us. Our main focus is usually "21", which feels more like an actually basketball game than H-O-R-S-E or something to that effect. My dad used to make fun of me when I played badly during games, only because he knew that some sort of competitive monster surfaces whenever I get angry during a game. I didn't take this Tazmanian Devil into account when it would be me, Sabina - 145lbs, versus Brandon - 270 lbs. We were into a game of 21 and Brandon bumped me out of his way, which did not fly over well with my competitive side. I immediately grabbed the ball, and flung it at him!!! I know, terrible. He wasn't permanently injured, but he learned very quickly that when I'm mad, or somebody makes me angry during a game, LOOK OUT! I ended up winning 21 to everyone's high of 7, but not without learning that playing with Brandon is an awesome challenge on the court that I needed to learn and grow from :)

CANADA: The land of Red Leaves....This trip has been coming for about a month, and very much looked forward to. My uncle Bibhau (my dad's older brother) lives in Kuwait. His wife and two kids are living in Canada. Why? Because his family is trying to gain citizenship in Canada, and the money he makes in Kuwait could support them for a very long time. He's a very wealthy, very frugal, and very generous man, making him extremely wealthy. He offered to fly myself and my sisters out to Canada during his kid's Spring Break, so that Manju, his wife, could enjoy some fresh air! The original plan was that I was going alone. Brandon can't miss work due to our planned trip to Georgia (CAN'T WAIT!), and we need the income while I'm gone, as well.

About two and a half weeks ago, I went to the post office to apply for a passport. It's been years since I had a current one, which has bothered me a little considering my family's origins and the many opportunities we have to leave the country. They promised me that my passport would arrive in 8 days, which mirrored the experience my parent's had getting the rest of the family's books. So, we carried on without much thought, figuring I left in over 2 weeks, so there's no need to fret. We were wrong. Kirin and I were supposed to be on our way to Canada right now! But, 17 days later, the day before our flight, my OLD passport showed up in the mail, which is very strange since the NEW one is supposed to come first. We ended up having to reschedule our flights to this Friday ($1200 later out of my poor uncle's pockets). Now we leave the 13th and come back the 21st. These will be the first nights Brandon and I have spent apart since we've been married, aside from the 1 night I spent at YW camp last year. I only worry because I see a difference between me being in Alaska for 2 months while we were dating, to me leaving the country for 8 days while we're married. I'm sure all will be well, and we will have a blast! I am just not looking forward to being away from Brandon for that long.

That's the update for now. I will post pictures and day-to-day recollections while I'm up there to give me a little more to do. Until then!

MONSTER JAM!

2009-02-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

Just to rest your minds at ease, I cut my bangs! It's a compromise between Reese and the Asian chick below, and I'm lovin' it. It's a good change, but teaching me a lesson about how I like my hair. However, no regrets!

So about a month ago, our very close friends Gary and Pamela surprised us with an amazing birthday gift....Tickets to the monster truck rally! It was UNREAL! There were massive trucks, loads of drunk people, and a ton of noise. I imagine hell sounds about the same. Anyway, we enjoyed some good 'ol Papa John's, courtesy of Gary & Pamela, and made our way up.

When we got into the arena, we found out that our seats were on the 2nd row! Crazy close. My favorite had to be the freestyle motocross. Those dudes are insane! It was a beautiful night, in it's own way. One thing is for sure, we have the coolest friends ever!

The cute engaged couple!

Gary with his awfully awesome pontail

YEEHAW! (I am so not a hick)

Motocross is HOT

Best run of the night

Valentine's Day was a blast. Brandon and I have dubbed ourselves as the love-day geniuses, only because we order food to go and have an awesome, already prepared, candle-lit meal at home. I, being the sappy romantic, always have some background music, and we follow dinner with a dance. The beginning of this year has made way for some financial adjustments with me switching jobs and Brandon's hours changing, so we agreed to get gifts later. I should have known better than to give Brandon ALL of the food money, cause he ended ordering something cheap and brought home some beautiful gray pearls! Sneaky man. Hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day!

(A nice, Asian-looking picture) ;)

Hair Dilemma...

2009-02-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has known me for an amount of time knows that I am pretty strongly opposed to having short hair. I've always had long hair (when I didn't, I was scarred for life), and I just feel awesome with long luscious locks! Now I have quite often had some sort of bangs, but never anything short. They have always been to my nose. Now I wanna be daring and try something "different" by getting me some new bangs! Now, I know you may tend toward my fellow brown chica here, but give this some serious thought. I need help! Here are the two options I'm considering. What do you all think???

Happy Holidays

2009-01-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

I know, I know! It's been a crazy awesome season,with plenty to do, so our blog has been neglected, yet again. (Who is surprised, really?) We had more food, presents, and family time than we've had in a LONG time! Possibly ever.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at my parents, since Brandon's went up to Idaho for the holiday. We weren't able to join them due to work schedules during the holiday season, but we still had a blast. I don't know who's genius idea is was to have Thanksgiving Dinner at 4:00pm, but whoever it was deserves a Dwight Schrute Shun! It seemed like we were waiting for days to finally get all that delicious food in our stomachs. I do give mucho credito to mi madre for hosting her first Thanksgiving Dinner, with 35 people, I might add (disregard the "Spanish"). My sister Danielle and I may have broken our previous "roll-eating" records. I think we collectively ate 20....Hey, if you had tasted Aunt Kathy's crescent rolls, you'd understand!

I thought having Brandon's parent's and mine living so close would be difficult. I figured we would either have to visit the other if we visited 1, or we would be worn so thin from going back and forth that I would never want to visit Alpine :) Turns out that hasn't been the case yet. We did stay at Brandon's folk's for the Christmas Holiday; from Christmas Eve until the Sunday following. We made it up to Alpine just before the huge storm set in, leaving us stranded up in Alpine with a 2-wheel drive vehicle. This was pre-meditated, so don't worry. We had an awesome Nativity with his family, where Mike and Kelsey and brand new baby Adam (3 days old) played Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus. The little nephews and neice were too adorable as the star, shepherd boys and kings' babies ;)

After the older siblings left for home, Ashley and I watched the Grinch while Brandon and Hayden played Tiger Woods' PGA Tour (a new traditions they've installed). We got to bed at a decent hour, no later than midnight, and woke on Christmas morning before 6:30. This is definitely not a problem with me, since my family religiously wakes up before 6 every Christmas for little Ky....that's a lie, we all like to get up that early Christmas morning. The idea is to open gifts before the sun comes up!

Brandon and I were DROWNING in gifts! I got everything on my list times 2, and Brandon times 4 (since he never asks for much, I simply try to make sure he is in the dark about what is really on his Christmas list). We opened presents and headed to my parent's down the road to share gifts with my side, then promptly returned to the Dollar's for a Grandpa Dollar Breakfast and a phone call with Robert! He sounded great, probably bored with the fact that all of us, including myself, had to apologize for never writing. But this is old news. He's great, loving the fresh shrimp at his daily disposal, and is a tough Dollar boy with a tough Dollar testimony! Can't wait to see him again.

New Years' was exceptionally uneventful, but fun, considering how tired we were. The plan was to have a party with a certain number of couples at the Tamang home. No such party existed (only because the couple I was most anxious to hang out with cancelled). SO, dear Joshua, our beloved little cousin came to visit, and we drove back down to Orem. There were no good parties in downtown Provo (none worth sneaking into, at least), and Smith's was open, so we ended up buying some treats and heading to bed only 15 minutes after the countdown.

I wish I could remember juicy details about the rest of the week, but I'm extremely hazy due to food-induced coma, I can not comment further. Hope all of you had a spectacular holiday! Stay tuned for more on the life of the Dollas!

" 'Tis Firm! 'Tis Firm as Stone! Firm As Stone Firm As Stone..."

2008-11-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

I do apologize for anyone who doesn't understand or recognize the title, because it is simply the best halloween movie ever made :)

This Halloween wasn't particularly eventful, but it was very fun, and more than we've done in the years we've been together. Our first year as couple we dressed up as thugs, baggy jumpsuits with our hats turned like gangsta's, nothing particularly creative. The next year Brandon was Larry the Cable Guy, so I followed suit and put some lugs on with levi's and a flanel shirt, completed by pigtail braids. The next year we were finally married, and we took a getaway to Midway, but not after I was dressed as an oompa loompa! The old orange and green version, of course!

THIS year we were in cahoots with our buddy Gary and his special someone Pamela. The plan: We were going to be X-men! The cast was to include...Gary = Wolverine Pamela = Rogue
Brandon = either Beast (the blue monster-type guy) or Joggernaut, the big dude that crashes through everything and Me = Storm.

As a result of our laziness and lack of imagination or funds, we decided to put off our costumes, which were harder to put together, and be gothic. Not too hard. Gary and Pamela remained faithful. We showed up whilst Gary was getting his hair dyed, and got all dressed up only to visit our families to show off our looks, then to Ihop for some dinner (the waitress was a cop who couldn't seem to keep her comments of "i'm gonna have to arrest you for that" and her cuffs in her apron) and of course we wandered into walmart, where all the cool kids with nothing better to do end up. We did carve some pretty awesome pumpkins, to make the night feel more festive. Lastly we watched Iron Man, which Brandon and I had not yet taken the effort to watch, and the night was over. Thanks to Gary and Pamela for the pumpkins and the feature film! Happy Halloween!

The happy couple

Only picture I had with Pamela's costume in full effect

Brandon murdering our pumpkin

My mother was so proud

Introducing Ganarly as Wolverine!

I Survived Boise!

2008-10-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

Ok people, I must seriously be having an episode. Brandon and I have been meeting to meet up with B's cousin Josh and his wife Deanna who we LOVE! They've come to visit us a million times and it was definitely our turn to follow through. We did just that. We bought plane tickets to fly to Boise (1 hour flight vs. 6 hour drive) and ended up having the best vacation we've had yet by far!

The reason I say I'm having an episode is because of this; anyone who knows me knows I hate Idaho. It's probably the last place that's not below 60* year round that I would live...I would TOTALLY move to Boise now! We had so much fun being close to Josh and D, and we loved the people, atmosphere, and everything about that area. Here's an illustration of the week...

We flew in about 10:30 to Boise airport and D was there to greet us with her poor screaming Hailey and little Lexi. We chilled at their house all night waiting for Josh. Literally, all night. He didn't get home from re-po-ing until 4:30am!!! However, it was our fault for staying up another hour and a half watching Win A Date With Tad Hamilton, so bed time turned out to be 6am.

I experienced a small miracle by being awake at 10am! Another fact, I do NOT like going without 8 hours of sleep. Call me spoiled, but in this instance I very much wanted to spend every waking moment hanging out, and we did just that, just with a few more hours than a normal day. D proceeded to force Pita Pit down our throats...just teasin', but she really loved the place and we gave it a try. I must admit that I overcame another prejudice in thinking Pita Pit was a hole where vegetarians met, but I was pleasantly surprised in that it was really actually good.

We proceeded to the mall (of course), since D hasn't been shopping for herself in who knows how long, and I have a slight addiction to shopping for clothes. We spent quite a bit of time at the mall, but hit the jackpot at Vanity. We came out with a very 80's-like ensemble, and lots of it! I'm sure we'll post some of these new looks at a later date, won't we D? We had a ton of fast food and enjoyed the incredibly friendly people, and ended up having pizza at 11 and bed at midnight. Another feat.

Saturday was awesome because the boys finally got to get together with Chris (Josh's dad) and do some racing on go karts! 40 bucks for 20 minutes of driving, but Brandon said it was well worth it. It was nice for the boys to be together again enjoying their past times. From there we went to downtwon Boise. This was L.A. and Salt Lake downtown combined, with a much safer, friendlier feel and cleaner facilities! We took some awesome pictures (shown below) down an alley way that most would normally avoid, and had some delicious Carne Asada that made D and I stink the rest of the night!

When we got home the boys accompanied Josh to work, while D and I hung out with the girls. We went to Wal-mart and stunk up the place (we cleared the $5 movie bin within seconds), meanwhile spending mucho bucks on fun stuff and wasting away an hour and half easily.
The 4 of us girls went home and played and watched chick flicks, waiting for the men to get home. They had a great haul and ended up being home "early" at 2am. Bed was at 3.

Sunday we planned a bike ride which was the best idea any of us had...besides Pita Pit...We left around 1:30pm and rode a total of about 12 miles. Yes, our butts were dead and we could barely walk after, but it was so worth it. We made it to downtown Boise and had some awesome pizza at a little hole-in-the-wall, then made it home in time to pack and go to the airport. The ride was incredible! It was a gorgeous setting with ducks and otters, ponds and rivers, and the perfect fall day. It took us half the time to get home because a: our butts were about to fall off, and b: we didn't make a bunch of stops to document the ride.

We finally had to come home too soon, but needless to say, it was the perfect vacation! Exactly what we needed, laid back and a blast! Thanks Josh and D, we love you and maybe some day we'll be next door neighbors!

So, above, we have one source of entertainment while Josh was out, and below we have a staged, but accurate depiction of what Brandon and D were doin' when Josh got home at 4 in the a.m.

Racin' them carts!

HAILEY!

This one of Lexi is most DEFINITELY our favorite. What WHAT!She totally had B on a leash, but that's not hard, being Lexi We found this interesting...
**Sorry to all for the lengthy update without having clever subtitles, but these pictures just took too dang long!

COUSINS

2008-10-09T19:55:00.001-07:00

Here's the gist of our conference weekend and the loads of people present...

Cousins!

Playing Apples to Apples. I dominated of course...?

And HOLY BABIES! There were plenty to go around whilst the men were at Priesthood Session.

Madi giving us a cheese!

Look at those cheeks!

Probably the chillest baby ever born

Nate was in town! We've collectively decided they look more like brothers than they do with their actual bros.

The silly seesters of course!

OK! There is story to accompany these photos. My dad is a huge spicy, hot pepper fan and my mum grows these chili's in her garden. During dinner Sunday night (our second), he took a bite into one such pepper and found it to be too hot for even his mouth! This is HOT people! SO, what does the old man do? Dares me to eat it! He may have won that challenge, had he not offered a $100 reward! We had to take 5 separate bites, then swallow, show it to my dad, and not puke. Believe it or not, we were successful! However, we did have ice cubes on our tongues for another hour and a half. I tried milk, but I think it literally burned our tongues. It was hot like I have never experienced before, and I LOVE HEAT! Here's some documentation of me conquering this pepper, and Danielle doing the same to a slightly milder one. Of course, I had to show proof that he wrote the check, so that is exactly what he is doing in the last picture. :)

The Truth

2008-10-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

"Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another."
~D&C 90:25

There has only been one session of conference completed, and already I am overwhelmed with the gratitude for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that only comes from hearing His Prophet's voice. President Thomas S Monson is the mouthpiece for the One True God at this time. He loves our Savior, He loves every soul on this Earth, and He is without a doubt, the most inspired, miraculous being I have ever had the privilege of meeting.

Between sessions, a Biography made about President Monson's life was broadcast. I have personally met with the Prophet, through inspired and personal circumstances that have blessed my life. And through the experiences I have enjoyed thus far, I have developed an ever growing admiration for that man. During this broadcast, there were several experiences he had that touched my life more deeply than many experiences I've had in my life combined.

When Pres. Monson was a bishop in his early 20's, he received a call from a member of his ward on the way to a church meeting. That caller asked if he would be able to stop by the hospital some time that evening to offer a blessing to a sick member. President Monson agreed to stop by, as soon as his meeting covened. Before the closing of his meeting, he felt a strong impression to leave immediately to attend to this blessing. The last speaker had not yet closed his remarks, and there was a row of men he would have to crawl over in order to escape at that particular moment. He agree to wait until the speaker sat down, and rushed out the door, into the hospital, down the hallway, and to the patient's room. An individiual asked him, "Are you Bishop Monson?" He said that he was, and was heartbroken to find that the member seeking his blessing, have passed away just before his arrival, with some of his last requests being President Monson's name. At that time, our beloved Prophet vowed to never dismiss a prompting a moment longer, and to act as the Spirit instructed for the remainder of his life.

Another incident that was new to me that caused instant tears of the Spirit, included a time when the Prophet was in Polynesia. He was addressing a group of the youth, and upon concluding his remarks, he felt prompted to greet every young person individually. He saw the time was minimal, and that this was probably not possible with his busy schedule. However, the prompting cam again, and President Monson expressed his desire to greet everyone personally. He said every individual responded with such joy. A leader addressed him after hearing of President Monson's desire, and shared that he had promised these kids that if they prayed, fasted, and believed, Presdient Monson would feel impressed by the Spirit to greet each and every one of them.

My heart overflowed at these stories, and lifted my spirit to the highest peaks as I knew through the Holy Ghost, that this wonderful man was prepared long before, to lead the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What a blessing it is to have met him personally, to know without a doubt, and testify with no reservation that President Thomas S. Monson, is a true and living Prophet. I look forward to the years ahead, and pray every day that I can sustain, and become more like him every day I live.

I also know of the sacred, and irreplaceable joys of a family. I am ultimately grateful to my grandparents, for raising my mom, the most faithful and beautiful woman in my world. Without her unreserved faith, my dad would never have read the Book of Mormon, and I would never have the joys I do today. I thank my Heavenly Father for softening my Dad's heart, and for my dad for responding to the one true voice in this world. We have the most incredible family, with faithful parents and siblings to lift each other up in this terrible world. I have an incredible husband, whose heart is kinder than any other man I could have in my life. I'm grateful for his honesty, his desire to be the man our Father in Heaven expects him to be, and for the unrestrained love he shows to me every moment of every day. I love his family, for raising a righteous son, and giving him perfect examples for our family to follow and be influenced by. I truly have a choice family, and hope that I may turn to my Savior in every deed, so that I may raise a righteous, forever family.

The Prophet Joseph had a sacred duty placed upon him, that I will forever be grateful for. He followed the Savior in every wit, and brought to this dispensation the source of all happiness that I enjoy today. I thank our Heavenly Father for the strength, inspiration, and patience he gave his servant every day of his life, for there truly was no other to do more "for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it", save our Savior.

I love Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Brother, Redeemer, and Friend. He is the head of this true and glorious work. He understands every feeling I have. He comprehends the things I must do in this life and the life to come, to reach the ultimate goal; to live with Him again. This is only possible through his ultimate sacrifice, through the blood he spilt from every pore. I thank my Father in Heaven, for providing this sacrifice on our behalf, and will never comprehend the pain it must have caused Him to sentence His Only Begotten to the misery he experienced in Gethsemane. How I pray that I can one day fall as His feet and bathe them with my tears. How I long for the day that He will embrace me and my family as we succesfully pass this test. There are truly no words, depictions, or illustrations that can adequately
describe the Son of God. He is the Savior of this world, the Redeemer of Israel, who loves us, and will never leave us.

Of this I testify with all my heart, and do so in the sacred name of our Brother, even Jesus the Christ, Amen.

CRAZY days!

2008-10-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love those nights when you get a wonderful night's sleep? You feel well rested, you're prepared for the day ahead of you...and as you ponder this as your mind is just started to process things, you look at the clock, and realize you were supposed to be at work 10 minutes ago?!?!?!
This describes our morning, today :) I woke up, feeling a little drowsy, but very alert, considering I am in no way a morning person, and looked at my phone to check the time: 9:10. Brandon is supposed to be at work at 9 on Thursdays, so I think I scared him by saying, "uh, babe, it's 9:10..." Both of us jumped out of bed (unheard of, in my world, unless such an occasion as this presents itself) then booked it to work and school. My hectic morning didn't stop there, since the shuttle bus I usually take was busted, making me walk a lot further to class and back, rushing to work to be there on time, then my 64oz mug of water busted open all over my new car floor (oh yeah, we got a car!) which caused a few minutes more in delays, THEN I walked through the lincoln tunnel. ;) Made it to work and the day was just dandy after that!
As for the car situation, we finally found a newer Maxima. We love it! Beautiful inside and out, 1999, already has 17" wheels, some tint, and great gas mileage! Of course that was a must. We are enjoying it thoroughly, now that we got it back from the dealer. They were really good to us and did about $1000 worth of repair that wasn't covered under the warrantee because "Brandon's not an A**, like most people." I found that funny and very true.
That's all for now. I figure I won't write any more for the mean time since we have a great weekend to look forward to, and I'm extremely bored and wanting to watch the new episode of Bones with Brandon! Until next time!

Simple Pleasures - by Sabina

2008-09-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

Since it appears, to me, that I have no creative abilities whatsoever (except for the rare moments including me in the kitchen) I am going to follow suit of a dear cousin by sharing some simple pleasures I enjoy everyday.

1. The taste of artificial cinnamon flavoring! It's an odd, but slight addiction I have. I love cinnamon bears, those terrible little cinnamon hearts, and these cheap cinnamon hard candies that Brandon always has in a bowl at work. Anytime one of these delicious treats presents itself, it soon finds itself in my mouth!
2. My Sisters! These girls are undoubtedly the most beautiful girls I could ever be acquainted with... and I get to be their oldest sister! Yeah it sucked sometimes, growing up, but now we get to be best friends; Share stories about boys, go shopping, embarrass anyone who comes with us with our boisterous voices and laughs...ah, the great times! This is a joy I get to experience forever, and I couldn't share it with more amazing girls. I love you Danielle and Kirin!
3. Those too-rare days when I sit for unnoticed hours on the piano. I can let the music and my emotions combine, giving me some direction and definitions to where my life is going, or just give myself a moment to feel what I feel, no distractions.
4. Brandon's Smile is one that I would describe to all as the hook that reeled me in, quite helplessly, in fact. There is no way I could walk away from him without that smile imprinted so deeply that I could almost see it on the back of my eyelids, like you can a bright light after staring into it directly, etched on your eyes because of its intensity. Nothing can scatter any devils I may face faster, or more completely than B's perfect smile. It's another testemant to me that God did, in fact, create each one of us.
5. What in the world would I do without cars and music? Technology is an absolutely beautiful thing! Heaven knows Brandon and I would have much fewer things in common were it not for the automobile! Not to mention that we would either be incredibly fit, or astronomically fat, if we had to walk everywhere we needed to go ;) With out music, its possible that my life would have nothing to define it. There are so many little tunes that perfectly describe my mood. With out access to, or the ability to hear these pieces that seem to complete me, this life would be an extremely dark one to live.
6. I have a new appreciation for every day I wake up, breathing and healthy. Since my accident, there have almost been daily reminders of how lucky I was to survive. I actually told Brandon that I didn't know how I survived a roll over like that. His response came with no delay, "sure you do". And I do. I thank my Heavenly Father for every moment I am here. I thank Him that I am still able to be with, and touch Brandon, to smell cinnamon again, to hear laughter, to laugh, to learn and improve, and feel like I have yet another chance each morning to do what I have been sent to do.

I wanna hear about your simple pleasures!

The Meaning of Life

2008-09-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

No worries all, this is not a huge shpeel containing Sabina's endless philosophies of the world, just a sentimental thank you, and an opportunity to add more pictures :) But when all is said and done, I truly believe that the relationships we make in this life have a huge role in writing our books of life. There have been countless people that have helped make our life meaningful and more complete that I wish I could thank personally. Heaven only knows of the hours of service, support, laughs, meals and memories we've shared with our friends and families. What a blessing it is to have real, meaningful relationships with so many incredible people. I'd like to share slide show of only some of those who have influenced our lives as a couple, and individuals, and pray that we will always cherish the ones who make this world better, because they live in it.

Young Women's Camp

2008-09-03T14:38:00.001-07:00

This was supposed to come earlier, but I wanted to spare those poor souls who are stuck on the internet all day looking at others blogs, and give them something new to read! (You're welcome Dee)

I had the amazing opportunity to be my mother-in-law's right hand woman for girls camp in our Alpine ward. Since I was a beehive advisor, I was already in the program, I lived in the basement so Laura and I could touch base fairly easily, and girls camp just seems to be our thing!

I was given the assignment of "Youth Camp Leader" Trainer. I've credited this calling to the fact that I've been a "YCL" since I turned 16, thus giving me years of experience. It was fun and difficult, since the summer months give teenage girls a whole pile of more interesting things than planning girls camp. However, we did make it to camp in one piece, and months of planning came into play.

I was only there 2 days but in that time I made a lot more friends with the younger girls. I can't imagine that there's anything specifically cool about my personality that drew us together, just that I was about 20 years younger than the rest of the leaders, and slightly immature at times anyway. We sang, made crafts, dealt with problematic girls, had campfires, and ate to our heart's content for the 36 hours I was there. It was an amazing experience, almost alienating, to watch each group of girls and their tendencies. There were SO many that had personalities similar to mine when I was their age, and I truly empathized with my poor beehive/mia maid leaders for their patience with me.

I must be honest and admit that I didn't truly want to stay up at camp the whole time for a few reasons: the first being that I am a baby and I didn't want to have my first night away from Brandon, second, we were moving out in a couple weeks and there was an endless list of things to get done, and third, I was afraid of the relationships I knew I would make. In past times I've always welcomed those new friendships with more than open arms, but I dreaded them in this case because I knew how short-lived they would be when it comes to the girls, and how little I would see the leaders that I came to know and love. I miss them a lot now, but don't regret the move one bit. I just hope I can continue to make those relationships with young and older women alike, because it was a such a sweet experience, as girls camp has always been. The difference was that I am in a new stage of life, and I can more fully appreciate the YW program with the new perspectives I gained. If any of my girls somehow get to read this, I miss you, I love you, and thank you for the incredible time and memories we shared!

My beehives!

Some silly girls

The New Life

2008-09-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

Family and friends, we have relocated!

Please forgive, yet again, for the incredibly long time it took to update this blog. Since we found out we were going to move, we haven't had internet, leaving a couple months of the same-ol-boring stuff on our blog. I can't promise I won't make a habit of compiling months of information into one big splurge, but I will do my best.

Let's see, looks like the last things we updated on were 4th of July events, which was 2 months ago! Well about a week after that we finally put a deposit on the perfect apartment. We've been researching for ages, mostly on my part, and this place fit the bill; affordable, 2 bedroom, great management, perfect location, the works! Moving out and in was so easy thanks to the many hands including my family and the remainder of the Dollar gang living at home. We unloaded and put away everything within 48 hours, and we were settled! After that it felt like we'd lived here for ages. We're in Orem now, just south-east of the Macey's on 8th north. There is plenty of space, including a very spacious kitchen for me to enjoy cooking in, two bedrooms, giving us room to expand our family should the day come in the near future, and it's ours!

The ward is spectacular! About a generation younger than our last. We do love and miss the old ward, especially me for my beehives, but this is perfect for us. The ward includes only our block of apartments, making it fairly small with a ton of people to relate to :) The bishopric is very young, and very organized, considering the amount of people moving out/in every week. We've made friends with a few couples that are just our kind of people, and received callings to help us improve on ourselves. You see, I've never been much of an enrichment type of person, and Brandon has trouble getting home-teaching done. So we were sentenced to exactly those two departments! I'm on the enrichment committee and play piano in relief society (perfect), and Brandon is a ward missionary. The size of the ward helps us feel welcome and more like a tight-nit group. Our gospel essentials class is tiny, including the teacher, a new friend, and the other couple we hit it off with since day 1. We absolutely love it and are feeling very at home here.

As for the baby department, now that we're in our own space, I am ALMOST baby hungry. Still not quite, probably due to the fact that I've been sick this week and my youngest brother is only 6, but we're thinking of trying either next summer or the one following, leaving me big and pregnant during the dreaded winter months! So a spring baby sounds in order to me. Will keep all updated on that front.

Brandon's work is great. He had a bit of a rough patch, wondering if he wanted to try something new. But his insanely genuine personality and optimism has helped him to progress faster at Sierra~West than any other employee in its 20-some-odd-year history. With the Christmas season coming (4 months holy crap!), both of us should be seeing paychecks that provide a little more spending money, and we're very excited. I am still at the popcorn place and still loving it! Now I'm trying to think of a different career path to contribute a little more to our table.

I started my last semester of UVU last week. I'm only taking 1 class on campus and I have 2 BYU Independent study to help me finish off my general associates. I'm really excited, but also bummed that I will be done for the time being. You see, my intended Major is one in Music, emphasis in piano. However, the way the programs are set up at both BYU and UVU require me to take 8 semesters. Granted, they would be light loads, only 2-3 classes, but it would take me 4 full years. This is a downer because I don't want to start spending money on a degree I can't finish, and I can't finish it because I plan to start our family before then. It's still a possibility, but for now, we're going to start Brandon full time in the spring to finish his Bachelors, whatever that may be :)

So all is just perfect here! We'll be buying a new car here in the near future, so I'll let you know how that goes. That's all for the meantime!

Another Oops

2008-07-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

For some reason, my computer has decided to make me suffer for not keeping up to date, so I am now inserting a blog that should have been included in the last...

My amazing grandma set up a "family reunion" to be held at the Dollar property. She did a ton of research and preparation, it was all going to be a hit! Unfortunately, only one of the Adams families, the Tamang family (including Brandon), and my grandparents were in attendance! It still turned out to be a great time, only over a couple days, but here we have some documentation.

Danielle and I fulfilling our dream of being famous, touring the world on a bus :)

It was hard trying to get out without touching the yuck at the bottom of the river

Elise & Kelly in a female Michelin Battle

'Da brudda's. They get this look from our dad ;)

OOPS!

2008-07-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

Family and friends, I've definitely been a slacker in the blogging department. But I would like to thank some people for reminding Brandon **cough** *Shawn* that we should keep you up to date! I do need to back track a little, so please bear with me :) We had our first Anniversary June 1st! We can't believe how quickly the time has passed. It's been an absolutely incredible year of marriage, with car troubles, stress about school, and no natural light in our basement apartment! But those are minor incidences compared to how our relationship has grown. We are so very grateful to be together and to have such a wonderful life to share.

There was a big debate for me as to where we should spend our first anniversary. Since Brandon hasn't been back to our beloved Hawai'i since his mission, I tried to make it possible for us to make it a priority on this special occasion. That didn't happen, so we headed off to St. George for a weekend! (Hawai'i...St. George...what's the difference, right?) The drive was long, since St. George is just a straight shot for 250 miles on the I-15. We're pretty sure it seemed longer due to the fact that we brought Brandon's little civic, which can't handle driving AND air conditioning. The windows were open all but 30 min of our entire drive there and back.

When we got there, it was absolutely gorgeous, 95* and sunny. Poor Brandon was roasting and I was just in heaven. Thankfully, our definitions of a vacation match perfectly: do whatever, whenever, or nothing for all we care! That's exactly what we did. We got a super cheap room at the grand 'ol Travelodge, where we were the only tenants except for 2 others in the entire hotel. The pool was less than impressive, but cool, nonetheless, leaving it all to ourselves! We did a bit of shopping, spending quite a bit on the both of us. It was SO nice being able to buy hundreds of dollars of clothes without stressing about savings/payments.

Our extremely romantic night at the Travelodge ;)

This is the pool we had to ourselves. I know this is hard to see, but the sign says 1 Ft/3 M...only one of the signs read correctly! The managers were from Sri Lanka.

Just our cute selves.

Our next get away was just a few weeks after where I was blessed to go to Lake Powell for the first time! I was in no way disappointed! The 5-hour drive is infinitely better than the one to St. George, first of all, and we were joined with Danielle and a bunch of great friends that made it all the more enjoyable. Sadly, our best friend Gary had to leave his significant other behind. I dedicate this moment to her...

Everything continued throughout the week without incident! We had 3 jet ski's at our disposal, along with an incredible boat. The water was so beautiful and warm and there was not a cloud in the sky the whole time we were there. We caught, well, Gary caught at least 20 fish within an accumulated period of 2 hours...impressive. We had many battles on the water weenie, delicious meals including biscuits and gravy and steak, and endless swimming! If you know Brandon and myself, this is heavenly! The absolute WORST part about this adventure was that I left my camera in our car!!! I have no personal documentation! :( I am still heartbroken...but we will return and, with my lesson learned, we will not run into such a catastrophe again. Public thanks to the Branscomb family for their generosity and a time to remember!

I'm going to leave this blog at that, but I shall try to be more dedicated at sharing events in our life! All our love to our friends and family!

Memorial Day

2008-06-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to the super fun, absolutely freezing and delicious Memorial Day we had at Mama and Papa Dolla's property. On a lovely Monday morning, I woke up to rain! Vomit. It wasn't too cold, but the prospect at the time included an hour and a half drive to sit in the cold for a day, and a lot of cleaning up pretty much made up our agenda. It was just as cold as I knew it would be! Below you'll see a summary of our day: freezing and a lot of fun!

Dear 'ol Jess C....this shot illustrates this day perfectly!

A cute cousin shot

Poor Andy just had his...4th?...surgery on his knee. This was his contribution :)

"I don't care who ya'are! That's funny right ther!"
(Brandon's tribute to Larry)

No, we'll never be a redneck couple, this is just the only time I could get him to flash a real smile!

This scenario: Danielle ate Bradin's cupcake!

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Part III

Grandma is pretty freakin' cool in these glasses!

Brandon saw fit to christen Robert before his mission

Just a cute shot

Cars!

2008-05-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

Since we began this blog a little late, I'll spend yet another entry providing some details about our life after our wedding day :) Naturally, we've been laughing and having a ton of fun being newlyweds. Laughing, eating, crying (mostly on my part), but little did we know of how much trouble I was really prone to!

About a month or so after we got married, I had a bit of a mishap. I went out to my little Civic one morning to leave for work. I noticed I had forgotten my phone, so I started my car, kept it in neutral, put the brake on , and left it running as I went inside! Yes, I am aware this is the first mistake. I couldn't have been gone more than, oh, 45 seconds. I ran downstairs, grabbed my phone, ran upstairs. When I walked out the door, NO CIVIC! I was absolutely frantic. I ran down to the bottom of the driveway to see if by any chance it was close by. To my horror, it was run into our neighbor's house, wiper's wiping frantically. This is probably the closest I've been to being in shock. Tragic, I know. Poor Brandon's rude awakening that morning consisted of me gasping for breath with tears down my face, unsuccessfully trying to say "MY CAR'S BEEN RUN INTO A HOUSE!" To make a long, bitter blog shorter, we're almost positive some kid who didn't know how to drive a stick tried to boost my car. This assumption is due to the tire marks where my car was located, the wipers being on, and the fact that much more damage needed to happen in order for the car to have rolled to that spot on its own. Of course, Alpine's finest fleet of investigators completely misrepresented the scene. I'll explain the outcome after this story of my next encounter.

Thursday, March 6 of this year brought about a whole different appreciation for every second of life to both Brandon and myself. Brandon very graciously gave me his beautiful baby Accord, which I have coveted since the day I saw him and two stereotypical blonde's drive up in it. I filled up a whole tank ($45 worth), and was on my way southbound to meet Brandon in Orem. I was traveling in the middle lane on the freeway, when a massive Navigator caught my eye. The driver seemed to be focused on something else besides the road, since she was swerving in and out of my lane and changing lanes with no blinker. I was traveling slightly faster than her, so as she swerved into my lane I changed to the far right lane to avoid being right behind her. At this point I was almost perfectly in her blind spot, I imagine. Here is where she proceeded right into my lane! I swerved to miss her, otherwise I believe the damage would have been more extensive. I came to correct myself and she was still in my lane! We collided, my front left bumper to her rear right, where my car was forced to change course headed straight off the side of the freeway. I was probably traveling anywhere between 60-65 at this point, and saw that the slope I was headed for was bound to make me roll. I braced myself and counted rotations 2-3 times. My sun roof was open, but my seatbelt was on, which absolutely saved my life. The sun roof was my escape route, otherwise I would have had to be pried out by the medics. So within 2 minutes of my first sight of this driver, I was on the side of the road, miraculously alive.

I called Brandon, fairly in control until the gravity of what had happened set in. I was so amazed at my almost perfect condition after an accident like that. I was treated by the medics, and deemed to be in good shape, no need to go to the hospital unless I decided I needed to. My vitals were "incredible", as they said, for just being in a rollover. I did hit my head on my window, since my strength gave after the 2nd roll. No cuts, not even a scratch. I was finally allowed to stand up and get things sorted out with the cops, where the Highway Patrolman had us drive up the road a ways to where the woman who caused all this was parked. My dad, Brandon, and I were all really upset when there was a mass of people around her car all assuring her that I was OK. She had just about killed me! I never saw her face. Of course, my dad wasn't about to leave without finding this woman's reasoning in not apologizing to me. He came to find out through her husband that she was in complete shock, couldn't even remember her own name. She thought she had killed me. There was also a baby in the car on the side that would have hit me had I not avoided her. I came to sympathize a bit. If I were in her shoes I would be horrified!

We left the scene after everything was taken care of. We got back on the freeway for a mile to get off the next exit to go home. This is too ridiculous to make up: we got pulled over! Not an hour after I crashed! Turns out the idiot COP who sold us Brandon's 4Runner misinformed us, and we received a violation ticket for Brandon no having a bumper or mud flaps. Just the icing on the cake, if you ask me!

The injuries consisted of the following: Severe whiplash extending from my head down to my very very lower back, a bulged disc in my lower back, 3 pinched nerves in my neck, upper and lower back, nerve damage and a very slight head injury which left me with a migraine for 2 weeks. It was an absolute miracle. My car held like a champ. I'm sure there were some angels holding me tight and keeping so much of the car in tacked. It didn't collapse at all.

After all was said and done, I had 2 accidents to finalize insurance claims for since the previous accident had not been taken care of with repairs to the owner of the home. The results: I was found to have no fault in the 1st accident, which wasn't what we wanted! Strange, I know. But we were afraid we would be found liable since the bogus police report showed that it could have simply rolled into the house. They found no fault with me which caused complications in getting repairmen their money. As for the 2nd accident, her insurance found me liable, and my insurance found her at fault. Now it will go to Arbitration here sometime where a 3rd party court will decide who was at fault. If I am given any justice, all I will receive from this court is my $500 deductible back.

Needless to say, all of this chaos has been nothing compared to the miracle of me being alive, let alone able to do everything as I did before the accident. We are so grateful for the many prayers, condolences, and services that have been rendered to us since this accident. It has truly given me a deeper appreciation for every day things, and we are so grateful to our Father in Heaven for giving us more time together.

This is our baby at the scene of the crime.
Note: She was upside down at an angle facing the opposite direction I was traveling when I crawled out

Best Friends

2008-05-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

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"Never will I be a fool, and take my blessings for granted. I know God's been on my side, and every thing is gonna be alright."
~Faith Evans

Hello, everyone! We figure, as newlyweds, we should keep everyone posted with our goings-on, and attempt to share our feelings with the amazing experiences that have happened to us as a couple since day 1. Not to mention, keep in touch with friends and family who are far away from us. We hope you enjoy hearing tidbits on our crazy, wonderful life, and will keep you posted as often as we can. :)

God has most definitely been on our side since the second we met. For those of you not familiar with our amazing, yet, slightly unorthodox story, (mostly on my part), here's the scoop:

Let me preview our story with a little bit on myself. Since I can remember I have always welcomed the next step in life. I've never been afraid of it. Life was for completing and that meant, to me, that my purpose was to excel. Although I may have rushed the process a little much sometimes, I've always been able to recognize and get what I want. I've been convinced that I was supposed to be born a few years earlier, because I've always felt more at home with an older crowd, surrounded by new things to accomplish. It's because of my unyielding desire to grow up and take on the next challenge that our story began and has continued the way it has.

I had the amazing privilege of meeting Brandon's parent's first. Laura and I served in a Stake calling together for Stake Girl's Camp in 2005. What a task! I was given the calling to be the "Stake Junior Leader", where Laura and I were able to meet almost weekly for the summer. I came to know Christ better through her. Her divine inspiration just in the little, day to day activities was almost overwhelming, and I was immediately absorbed. At about that same time, I was also called to be the Stake Youth Committee Co-Chair, where I later met Gary. Through this calling I was able to meet BOTH Brandon's Parent's and get to know them in the best of settings: around a table with our Stake's presidency and youth, sharing our testimonies.

I believe in July or August of that year, this big return missionary, with the most gorgeous smile I'd ever seen, came to speak with a member of the Stake in my home ward. He surprised me by greeting us with "ALOHA!", which, naturally, caught my attention. When I checked the program to see who this white Poly was, I noticed the last name "Dollar". No surprise there. It was at the first moment I saw him that I got to hear his unbreakable testimony. (Like I said, God was on our side). He came to FHE at my Parent's house that night since my dad was in the Single's Ward bishopric at the time. I approached him and we immediately hit it off with trash talking, volleyball, and shameless flirting. After that, I put my foot in every door that had him behind it, from kicking Blonde's out of his front seats to stalking him home because I barely missed his visit to my parent's house. :) He could see right through any bogus excuses I had, he was stronger than any kids I dated were in the gospel, AND he was so ridiculously good looking...I couldn't stay away from him. We have been best friends ever since.

Not long after we decided to be an official couple, (I was 17 at the time), Brandon and I started to talk about getting married. Like I said, I've always welcomed the next step in life, but NEVER before I met B would I have thought to get married straight out of high school. It freaked my parent's to no end when their oldest approached them beginning of her senior year about marrying a guy she'd known for a few months! I knew at the time that he was the one, that nobody else could treat me with so much generosity and sincerity. He was genuine in every way and I was right to keep him, even after my parent's said, "no". (like they had any say ;) ) It took about a year and a half after that for us to find the right time to get married. I was rushing things again, and the Lord knew it. But He and I also knew this was perfect for both of us, and if we just waited, "everything would be alright". I'll forever be thankful for the people and spirit that influenced this decision. We are so happy and life couldn't get better. But it does, and it is.