Ehlers Lane

Baby Girls

2012-02-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

So many things have happened this weekend! Well, mostly just one big thing and that is that Jamie's baby girl finally came! Hallelujah! Jamie and JD came into our room on Saturday night around 9:15 and said that she was having contractions so they set out the kids church clothes and could we drive JD's mom to church IF they were at the hospital? We didn't think much of it because Jamie had been having contractions for the last week and this was not the first "just in case" conversation we had participated in. But SURPRISE of all surprises when I woke up at 2am to pee (something I do every night now-sigh) and I got a text message with a very vague statement from JD that said "She's here. She came too fast for Jamie to get drugs. Jamie did awesome". I got more specifics from JD's mom the next morning and learned that they named her Abby Rae and she was 6 lbs and they didn't leave for the hospital until Jamie's water broke around midnight. Her contractions started coming every 2 minutes after that and Jamie told JD that she felt like she needed to start pushing as they were pulling up to the hospital. He's lucky he didn't have to deliver Abby in the car on the way!
We took Ethan and Hailey to church and visited Jamie and Abby in the hospital that afternoon. She is adorable! And Hailey loved her so much! Ethan also loves her but is less inclined to stay focused on her, which is understandable. She doesn't do a whole lot at this point and is pretty fragile. He is still getting used to being "soft" for the baby.
Jamie and Abby came home yesterday afternoon and besides being very tired, they are both doing great! Abby is so cute and small! And she makes faces every once in a while that are all Hailey. Good luck to the parents if she inherits Hailey's independent side as well.
Sometime this weekend Ethan learned how to say my name! He could always pretty much say "Rob" (without a distinct 'b' sound on the end of it) but on Sunday he just suddenly started saying "Jolie"! It is so fun! He's actually very articulate with my name so that was exciting!

Only 25 more days to go! My due date is March 3rd now (since the new year added leap day) and I am so excited! Having Jamie home safe and sound with her little baby Abby has made Scarlett's coming seem very soon! I had a doctor appointment yesterday and everything is going great! The baby is smaller, in the 25th percentile, which just means I have less to push out so I am okay with that! The doctor says that I am already progressing nicely (whatever that vaguely implies) and she will check my progress again next week! She said she could already feel that the baby girl has dropped and that her head is right where it needs to be. Tell me about it. Every time I stand up I feel her sitting right on my pelvic bones. Uncomfortable! But I am happy that she is doing well and she is getting ready to come out! I am still not looking forward to labor-who does right?- but especially after Jamie's most recent experience. I plan on being totally prepared and booking a room in the hospital at least a day in advance. That should give the doctor plenty of time to pump me full of drugs before she comes out.

This Saturday I went and bought little wooden letters at AC Moore and bought paint and ribbons to decorate them. Here is the end result! I was pretty pleased with how they turned out, especially since I didn't have Kristi here to help guide me through the creative process. I had a lot of fun doing this and it made me wish I had an unlimited craft budget so that I could pretend to be creative and do all these ideas that I've found on pinterest. Until Rob finishes school and gets a job and makes enough money to pay back his loans and then makes more to establish ourselves and then has some extra laying around...I guess I'm out of luck until I'm 40. Oh well.

Still A Girl

2012-01-26T15:42:00.000-08:00

On our way to the ultrasound!

So, we went to Philadelphia to have our second ultrasound today! Last time I went, in September, they told me to come back in 6-8 weeks to check the baby's kidneys and make sure they were ok. I finally got around to it and we went today! It went much more smoothly than last time and we were done within 40 minutes which was nice. And it was great to see the baby girl again! Rob was getting a little nervous that perhaps she wasn't really still a girl and may have grown some boy parts in the last many weeks since our first ultrasound. I reminded him that it was very obvious last time but he was still nervous. Kristi was also nervous and called to ask me what I would do if we found out Scarlett was a boy. I said we would name him Weston and buy him blue clothes and love him just as much as when we thought he was a girl. :) But, as I suspected, she is still a girl! And I can't believe how big she is! I know that may sound strange considering I am the one that has to live with my ever-expanding stomach but it still seems surreal to me sometimes that there is an actual human person inside me. And she's taking up pretty much all of my stomach now! It was neat to see her since last time she was only 18 weeks old and about the size of a peanut. Not literally but that's what she looked like. This time she was kicking and wiggling so much that the doctor suggested we name her after Mia Hamm so she can become like that annoying girl soccer player.

Scarlett is doing very well! Everything measured just like it should and we are very happy that she is healthy! Her kidneys look fine but Rob mentioned that they won't be able to tell yet anyway if she has PKD so it doesn't really matter. But hey, we got an ultrasound out of it so I'm happy! She weighs 5 lbs 1 oz and has lots of hair! Her hair is not as long as Jamie's baby's hair but you can still see it! I wish these ultrasounds were in color so we could see what color her hair was... :)

I am now almost 35 weeks and feeling pretty round. I am starting to get to the point where it is difficult to bend over and tie my shoes or put on boots. But I am lucky enough to still be comfortable and my feet aren't swollen or anything for which I am grateful. I had a regular check up yesterday and when the doctor measured my belly she said she could feel the baby's butt and it seemed to be the right size. I wasn't particularly worried about her butt, however it is good to know that she has one and that it isn't going to make her the next Beyonce or something.

This week we acquired a lot of our baby stuff! I had a baby shower last Saturday that was absolutely wonderful and everyone was so generous! Loni then let us come pick up her white crib that was in her basement and we put that up in the guest room that is connected to our room via the Jack and Jill bathroom. I washed all of Scarlett's clothes last weekend so I am feeling more and more prepared for her to come! We still need diapers and wipes and things of that nature but we have a car seat and stroller and a place for her to sleep! I am getting so anxious for her to arrive!

Rob putting together the crib!
All of her shoes!

She still doesn't have a middle name, which is something I put Rob in charge of deciding. Right now the top choices are Jo or Jolene. He is leaning toward Jolene which I feel a little ridiculous about but it is very pretty. Mostly I feel conceited for having a child named after me but I hear people do it all the time, right?

Rob is enjoying school even though he has found it hard to stay motivated after such a great Christmas break. He is doing well and getting good grades and will soon begin more lab work than class work. He is excited to begin doing more hands-on activities. He is also very excited for Scarlett to come and tells me every day how many days there are until she is due! He and I are both very excited for the changes that Scarlett will bring to our lives! We love her so much already it is hard to imagine how much more we could love her when she comes!

Crunch Time

2012-01-12T19:18:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had those moments where you have been thinking of something in future tense for so long that suddenly when that time arrives, switching to present tense is somewhat earth-shattering? I did. Last week. I guess it wasn't earth-shattering but it did wake me up a little bit. I've been talking about this baby girl in future tense for so long that it seems unreal to me that suddenly, she's almost here! March has seemed so far away and yet all of a sudden it is January and there is still so much to do! So far all we have is clothes and shoes and hairbows and ribbons. And a baby bathtub. Oh, and one size 1 diaper that came for free from registering at Babies R Us. Think that'll be enough?

Rob and I are so excited for our baby girl to come! I got home from Utah on Tuesday and I spent Wednesday cleaning the house and putting stuff together in the guest room so that Scarlett will have all her stuff ready when she arrives. We actually aren't doing much in that room, simply sticking the crib in there that Loni is letting us borrow but it is still fun to put her hairbows and shoes in little pink baskets on the dresser! We can't wait for her to get here! Rob told me today that he's so excited for her to come that he is forgetting about all of the realistic things that happen with a baby. Like burping, and feeding, and crying, and being grumpy, etc. I told him that was ok. It is ok to be so excited that you forget all the real things that will be changing, right?

Rob and I had a great trip to Idaho and Utah over the holidays! I had a longer trip than Rob since I don't have to go to school and I loved the extra days I got to spend with Kristi and Mama! Mostly we just hung out but we also got to throw a baby shower for me which was very fun and full of pink! Scarlett got 7 pairs of shoes that night! It's like people know who she'll be already!

Do It Yourself

2011-12-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had a sudden urge to actually try a project idea that I had seen online. For those of you who are familiar with the website "Pinterest", you understand what I mean when I say that I have tons of do it yourself ideas that are pinned to a board that I started months ago. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this website, it is basically an online pinboard where people can post ideas and pictures of things they've seen or done in order to inspire your creativity. Each person has the ability to create pinboards where you just tag things you like so you can view them over and over again. (I will admit now that it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out what "DIY" meant. Everything on this website was labeled "DIY!" and I had no clue what that was. For those of you who are related to me, it means "Do It Yourself"). I've never actually done any of these crafty things but they are there just in case. Well, I decided to actually try one of them. And it was successful! And I had a ton of fun doing it! The first thing I made was a fabric flower. It doesn't require any sewing, just hot glue and scraps of mama's old fabrics that are laying around in closets in the attic. I followed a basic tutorial online and this was the result:

I made 5 little roses that I was quite proud of but really had nothing to do with. I don't have headbands to attach them to or purses or jewelry because I'm not crafty enough to make any of those things.

That brings me to part two of my DIY days. Yesterday was the roses. Today was scarves! I had seen online, again through Pinterest, that you could make scarves by cutting up old t-shirts so I thought I'd give that a shot. Again, no sewing involved which was the reason this project was chosen. I accidentally shrunk a maternity shirt the night before so I had a t-shirt to use! I also used an old tank top and some fabric that was again donated by mom's sewing closet. :) I followed the tutorial online again and here are the end results! (Adding the flowers that I didn't have anything to do with yesterday):

Completing those 3 scarves made me inspired to try another kind. So I went to the store, bought some lace, and tried another tutorial for a scarf. It turned out pretty well. This one did require some hand sewing, which I am capable of doing to a certain extent. All I had to do was sew down each side of the lace in order to make it gather as little or as much as I desired. It was more time consuming that anything and even though I didn't get it all to match exactly, I am pleased with my first attempt result! Here it is!:

I hope that you are all as impressed with me as I am with myself. Please excuse the non-matching attire in these photos as well as the pregnant belly and the location. :) Maybe I'll be inspired to try something else tomorrow...

What's in a name?

2011-11-17T10:42:00.000-08:00

I have often pondered on the current obsession of naming babies something not a single person on earth has ever before heard, or choosing a relatively popular name but spelling it in a "unique" way in order to make that baby unique. I admit that it does not make sense in my mind. Spelling the name Emily with an "A" instead of an "E" and adding an "h" and adding and "ie" on the end instead of the usual "y" doesn't quite shout unique to me. Instead, it screams confusion. Instead of looking at a list of names and knowing exactly how each is pronounced, I find that the more recent reality is blankly staring at a confusing mesh of letters that seldom aid the reader in the quest for correct pronunciation. Allow me to illustrate this issue.
Today I received a note from my sister-in-law. Included with her note was an article taken from a Southeast Idaho newspaper about baby names. My sister-in-law and I have had many conversations about seemingly unique names that seem most prevalent in Utah & Idaho...as well as my husband's family. :) In his family there are not only Rob, Becky, and Jeff, but also Dasily, Shallie, and Kemais. Not to mention a nephew named Tae (pronounced "tie") and a niece named TeAnna. Now, in this situation these creative names were mostly a combination of names of people who had a profound influence on the lives of the mothers. I understand the concept behind that, even if I don't agree with it 100%. However, as this newspaper article brought to light, not only are people making up names, they are misspelling older names on purpose in an attempt to achieve a facet of originality.
The article begins with a picture of "HELLO my name is..." stickers that have been submitted from parents when their child is in the hospital. Those stickers include "Ryiley", "Tayzlee", "Breklyn", "Eivan", "Austyn", "Izak", "Iziah", "Aarik", and "Story". And those aren't even the best ones mentioned. The article talks about unique names, such as "Traigyn" and "Chyloh", "Traeley", and "Xoie" and I'll leave it to you to guess the gender for each of those children. It also goes on to explore when parents name their child a mainstream name but choose a unique spelling. For instance, the name "Addison" is fairly common, definitely heard of and one that I can reason is an acceptable, socially appropriate name for an infant. Not only is this name used frequently, it is also spelled "Addisyn", "Addysen", "Addyson", "Addisynn", "Adicyne", and "Addysann". Another example is a mother who changed the spelling of her daughter's name Aubrey Lynn to AuBri Lyn when she found out that there was a 1 year old girl living close by with the same name and spelling. This mother stated that she chose to use multiple capital letters because "I just like the way it looks. It's pretty on paper". Forgive me if I seem to think that simply changing the spelling of your child's name does not automatically make them unique. Most girls who are named the same thing simply assume that they are spelled the same way and do not often go around comparing the arrangement of alphabet letters that have been combined to form the appropriate sound.
There was one oversight in this article that I personally feel is an important trend in baby naming in Utah and Idaho is the confusion of racially identifying names. The article mentions a volleyball team in southern Idaho that has players with the names of "Ontaya", "Brindi", "Tailie", "Jase", "Destine", and "Danae". This is after the mention of names such as "DaniKa", "JaKolby", and "TaNeal". I learned early in my relationship with Rob that his sister Dasily had dated a young man named "Tyrell" in high school and I was immediately shocked that there had been a black guy in her school to date. I was quickly informed that this man was actually white and I was the only one that found it strange that he had a name that basically labeled him as African American. I assume that the racial confusion of these names stems mainly from the relative lack of racial diversity in the region and perhaps the innocence and ignorance of the parents that naming your child something like "JaKolby" will make people assume that he is an African American male who was named after his father and has the potential to enter the NBA.
Overall, the article was a confirmation of my already suspected notions that naming children has entered a new phase. Perhaps instead of thinking that people have personalities that make them unique our society now seems to think that the spelling of your name is what makes you different. Obviously just plain Emily is boring. But change her name to Chasitie (read that name carefully) and she suddenly is full of pizzazz and spunk. Forgive me if I think there is more to a person that how their name is spelled. Call me old fashioned but I think that if you want your child to be unique and to stand out from the crowd, then you should put them in equestrian classes and teach them the Irish jig. Enroll them in a calligraphy course and teach them to speak Hebrew. Or even just teach them morals and bring them up to be a good person and they'll stand out all on their own. Even if they have a name like Ashley.
It is not what our name is but how we represent our name that makes us unique. I guess Bevyn's and Berta's moms would disagree.

p.s. Feel free to make fun of any names we come up with for our children. I promise my feelings will not be hurt. :)

Being Crafty

2011-11-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

People are always asking me what it is that I do with my spare time. I do have a lot of it. I am not currently working and I am not currently enrolled in school. So what exactly do I do with my time? Well, besides cleaning and hanging out with cute babies and babysitting and going on fun outings and walking with Karen and all sorts of stuff, I pretend that I'm crafty. Here are just a few of the things that I've done lately! They will be much cuter when they are framed but as for right now they are sitting in a zip lock back in my closet, waiting patiently to be taken to the framing shop.

This one is for Scarlett. I'll probably make her another one when she's born that announces her weight and everything but this is hers in the meantime. I was proud of it because I created the pattern for the words!

This one is a Halloween decoration that got completed in time for the day but didn't get framed so we didn't hang it up. Oh well. Maybe next year.

This one is for Carson. It is one of my favorites that I've done so far! I love the blue striped background!

I found this when I came home this summer. It is one of the very first cross stitches I ever did and I think I finished it in high school. It wasn't made for anyone in particular, so it will just be a decoration for a nursery...you know, if we ever have our own house or something.

This is Adri's and the poor girl still doesn't have it yet because I haven't framed it. I actually finished it in time for her birthday but once again didn't frame it. It is really bright and cute in person but it isn't the best picture.

So as an answer to everyone's question, that is what I do with all my spare time.

2011-10-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

We are proud to introduce the newest family members in our clan: Sandrine and Phoebe. We got them on Monday night and they are already a family favorite, and could in fact be getting a little too much love from Luke and Ethan. They learned to use the litter box from day one and I am enjoying the fact that pregnant women aren't supposed to be around litter boxes which means Rob is cleaning it out by default. :) We are taking them to the vet tonight but they seem to be about 8 weeks old and are eating cat food just fine. They are both girls (we think because Calico cats are always girls according to some freak genetic something or other) and they wrestle with each other like they are Jarom and Nate. Phoebe is the white one and is definitely more curious. She is always trying to get out of the mudroom to explore the house and you have to be super careful about her. Sandrine is more calm and took a little longer to warm up to us. But they are both doing great! We are loving having them around! If Hailey and all the other kids don't scare them by shouting, "Here, Kitty, Kitty!!!!" at the top of their lungs then they are actually quite friendly!

In other news, our baby girl is growing fast! I am now 21 weeks along and doing well. I have started walking with Karen Slaugh and we've gone 3 times this week so far! I didn't expect pregnancy to make working out so different but it is exhausting! Walking has been good though and I'm glad to have someone to go with. I have another doctor appointment on Friday but I expect everything will be just fine! Here is a video that we took the day that we went in for the ultrasound and found out that our baby is a girl!

This was obviously taken before we left for the hospital but I'm glad we documented our thoughts! Now that we know she is a girl we have pretty much settled on the name Scarlett. We aren't sure on a middle name yet so if anyone has suggestions, let us know!

Rob is really enjoying school and has been doing very well. He's done well on his tests and has enjoyed challenging himself mentally. He has labs that are virtual reality experiments where he has to drill as if on a patient and he is getting better at that. Apparently it is a lot harder than it seems. He has made a ton of friends and even passed out a Book of Mormon last week to one girl. He loves the city and doesn't mind the commute too much but of course he always misses me!

I'll keep you posted on anything else that happens, like if we make any more sudden additions to the family or something. :)

Parenting and Potty Training

2011-09-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

Since moving to homebase in August, I have had the honorable, and often humorous, privilege of watching my siblings attempt to properly raise their children. Lucky for me, as I currently hold the title of "Aunt", I am the one that gets the most joy and the least amount of frustration from this process. For instance, I am the one that gets Ethan out of his crib at 9pm when he starts crying but I am not the one who has to attempt to settle him down again to put him back to bed. I am also the one who gets to watch and laugh when Hailey refuses to eat anything and says "But I don't like it" even though it is macaroni and cheese and she eats it almost once a day. I looked on without any responsibility as Jenna had a rare meltdown over her breakfast the day she left for Ohio, refusing to do anything but cry until her Jorge monkey and bunny were properly placed on their own chair. And these are simply small examples that combine to illustrate my wonderful life as an aunt.

Perhaps one of the best examples of this beloved status is yesterday. Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend the better part of my day at Loni's house....while she and Jamie were attempting to quilt while potty training their 2 year old girls and keeping an eye on their baby boys at the same time. We arrived around 10:30am and Taya started the day with a promising succesful potty time. She received a chocolate for her efforts and it started to go downhill from there. Taya and Hailey were given juice boxes and sippee cups in an attempt to fill their bladders quickly to speed the potty training process along. Of course, then Taya had to pee almost every 10 minutes and I'm pretty sure it was due to the fact that we all clapped for her each time she sat on the toilet. Hailey remained adamant for hours that she did not have to pee and said "No!" each time Jamie asked her. That little girl has a bladder of steel. However, it was only an hour later that Jamie found her wet, standing in a puddle on the wood floor.

However, there was still optimism. While most of the quilting did not get completed during the first two hours, as those were mostly taken up by Ethan needing toys and the girls needing assistance with the potty training, after lunch things seemed to be getting in motion. Jamie put Ethan down for a nap, Carson was fed, and the girls were playing with toys. Jamie and Loni began quilting furiously during this period of time and I soon understood why. Before too long, the girls got bored of playing downstairs and locked themselves in Taya's room refusing to listen to any of us when we stated that they had better come downstairs or get a spanking, Ethan woke up from his 30 minute nap and wanted only to be held by his mom, and Carson began crying for attention. Not long after, Hailey again peed in her underwear, this time on the carpet, and Taya followed protocol by pooping in hers right after. And during all of this, I sat in a chair and cross-stitched, enjoying my status as aunt, watching the madness unfold and just thinking to myself that I get to do all of this in two and a half years....

Fruit in your loins

2011-07-31T18:44:00.000-07:00

I am currently treking along a path that is comparing the small parasite in my stomach to varieties of fruit. I am unaware of who began this trend or how the comparisons were initially created but, for the most part, it has proved useful. Apparently it is typical that in the earliest stages of pregnancy the fetus is measured to be less than an inch and is often visualized as something smaller than a quarter. Remarkable that something that small can create such havoc in a person's body. While I am generally pleased with the ability that this phenomenon has given me to imagine the development of my baby, there are certain comparisons that I am still unfamiliar with. For instance, this week (week 9 in the progression to 40), my baby is now the size of a grape. I am unsure if this is dependant on the color or specific brand of grape, but generally speaking I get the idea. However, I am unsure of next week's comparison. Next week I am supposed to be relieved and anxious to know that my child will be the size of a kumquat. Am I supposed to be versed in all possible varieties of fruit so as to accurately follow the developmental progression of my baby? Perhaps it is supposed to afford me a small degree of comfort, knowing that there is in existance an edible creation that is the same size of my baby. However, I remain more confused than comforted.

Still, in all fairness, whoever was given the ridiculous task of measuring fetal progression by week and comparing the resulting size to something that the general population would be able to easily visualize had a daunting task before them. After all, the fetal progression is slow and not entirely dramatic from week to week. I imagine that the result is random comparisons such as week 10 to a kumquat, and week 31 to that of four oranges. I am glad that I was not given this task, seeing as how I only know perhaps 15 different kinds of fruit and would be unable to bring myself to compare my child to a turnip.

I have found this journey to be somewhat entertaining and certainly educational. I have been blessed with mild sickness and my sheer willpower has proven to again conquer the natural response to vomit. Rob and I have been entertained and educated when browsing the internet to read about the physical development of the child. The other day we were pleased to hear that I could indeed begin bonding with the grape already. One website suggested that I take two 10-minute intervals per day to rest my hands gently on my abdomen and ponder on all the possibilities of this child...I have yet to begin that particular experience. But I am looking forward to hearing the baby's heartbeat that I have been assured will echo like "the thundering of galloping horses". Again, I am unsure of who is making these comparisons, or what strain of illegal substance they were smoking before they recorded these experiences. However, who could not be excited with obviously so much to look forward to?

2009-08-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

the highlights, in pictures

2009-07-13T16:08:00.001-07:00

Since everyone likes pictures the best anyway, here is what we've been up to lately:

Rob turned 22 and he celebrated by coming out of the closet. At Express.

I spend most of my days working at Waikiki Tanning Salon. And dyeing my hair so that I can look just like Kristi.

Rob built a giant cross for his History of Creativity class. It turned out really neat but I'm concerned about what he is going to do with it later...

Rob and I worked on our Vogue poses at his house in Shelley, Idaho over the Fourth of July weekend.

Kristi cruised around Idaho with us in the Nerd Mobile over the Fourth of July weekend. We thought we should document that the vanity tag is still an accurate description of all those who ride in the car.

Other than that, life is pretty much the same. Rob studies Organic Chemistry and I work at my tanning salon. I will be starting school again in the fall which I am very excited about. I'm a little nervous that my brain has forgotten how to think but hopefully it will remember when the time comes. We are just living it up in Provo and loving the married life. We couldn't be happier!

love, jolie

Perú

2009-06-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

In effort to better save the world, Rob(that's me!) went with his mission pal Parker to Peru for some humanitarian work! The plan was to spend a week with Operation Smile doing translating and then watching cleft pallet surgeries. Well, thanks to a little friend called H1N1 virus, aka Swine Flu, the mission was canceled one week before departure! Since airlines are so much fun, ticket reimbursement or schedule change was expensive and impossible.(Which was later reinforced by our Bahama trip airplane travel, but Jolie wants to blog about that trip so you'll hear about that later!) Parker and I decided to go anyways, and spend the time visiting converts and friends, since both of served in Peru. We made a quick plan to visit Machu Picchu. We spent a lot of time visiting converts for the first few days. One highlight was attending a Peruvian wedding reception/party that lasted til 2 in the morning. Parker who couldn't escape the Latinas since he is not married, was actually stalked by a girl at the party. She constantly pulled him out to the dance floor. In effort to save my friend, I took our friend out to dance by his side, which the girl then began to pull Parker's arms, forcing him into the center of the crowd and avoiding our efforts to suppress the situation. Poor guy. It didn't help either, as the M.C. of the party repeated shouted "Parker, Parker, Baile con tu princessa peruana(dance with your Peruvian princess!) Lets just say he was the hit gringo of the party!

On Saturday at lunch around 3 pm, the friend I was staying at had been looking for cheap tickets to fly to Iquitos, the jungle of Peru. Both Parker and I served in Iquitos, and we wanted to visit now that our trip's focus had been converted from service to sight-seeing. He called and told us the cheapest flight would be at 7 pm! In classic Peruvian spontaneity, we told him to buy the tickets. We would have just enough time to leave right away, travel 40 min to where Parker was staying, then 40 min return and travel the 20 min to the airport to catch the flight! While in the airport, we finally were able to get a hold of our friends from Iquitos to inform them we would be coming and needed a place to stay! (I promise, in Peruvian time this is not as rude as it sounds!!! By only calling before arriving at the door, provides a generous gesture and courtesy.) Iquitos was HOT and HUMID and wonderful! we spent time traveling around in motorcycle taxis, visiting converts, attending church, seeing an old mission companion and his new wife and baby! and of course riding up the Amazon River and visiting some tribes.

After the few days in Iquitos, we returned back to Lima, and the very next morning we flew to Cusco! A very cute, cobble stoned street, mountain town. We had an old mission buddy set us up with his travel agency, and they took us around to see the ruins around the city, including the fun to pronounce, Sasquayhuaman(saxy woman). The next day we spent a three hour train ride up to Machu Picchu, which is a beautiful site to see. The environment there is called a high mountain jungle, the only spots on the mountains that are not lush green are the white granite slabs of cliff face. Machu Picchu is located at the top of a mountain, which appears to be on the rim of a ring of tall mountain peaks. In this bowl of mountains, a large one protrudes in the center. A bus takes you from the bottom of this bowl, switch backing all the way up, toward Machu Picchu. From below, it looks smalled compared to the grandeur of the peaks around it. Once inside, Machu Picchu appears quite large and intricate for being on the top of a mountain. We spent the day taking pictures and wandering the ruins, and then back down the mountain and back on the train for another three hours, eventually returning to Cusco for a meal costing 2 dollars, which includes 2 liter drink, two friend chicken breast, french fries, fried rice, and a salad! KFC is rippin us off!

The trip was wonderful, the last day we flew in to Lima, visited our old mission President and the mission office, bought some pirated latin music, said goodbye to the friends in where we had slept while at Lima, and then hopped a plane to Florida that night. It was a great experience to go back, and the trip gave me new and better thoughts and opinions about Peru. As a missionary, you deal with the worst of a country at times. Battling every day with the people who need the most repentance and improvement, sometimes you don't see enough of the hope and goodness of those that don't need called to repentance from the missionaries.

10 days, I called Jolene every night, and sometimes more than once a day. And the best part was coming back to be with her again! I flew from Peru to Philadelphia, and met Jolie at her parents house. The very next morning though, I was back on the plane again, but this time with Jolie as we headed to the Bahamas!!

If we don't answer the phone, we might be asleep!

2009-04-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

As beau I thought I'd add a little update on the Ehlers happenings. Jolie, as usual, is feeling a bit woozy today. Its 12:20 pm on Sunday.... yesterday she took a three hour nap from 6-9 last night, then we hung out at Kristi's new apartment with Jamie and JD and his friend Taylor. Jolie and I took off after two hours because she got a headache. So from 11 last night till 10 in the morning, we've been asleeping. However, breakfast was just a little too much for Jolie, so she is back in bed.... and being a little bored, I am viewing other blogs and now typing ours! Lucky for Jolie, sleeping 15 plus hours is something I can sympathize with, and may be just slightly jealous, except not jealous she is sick! Kristi, just called from her work at Waikiki tanning salon, she is incredibly bored, and once again has to talk to me, cause Jolie is asleep.
The last few days, Jolie and I haven't had much to do. I am out of school for the semester, and Jolie had the day off. So Kristi put us to work. Yesterday we took her car in to get an oil change, and then we helped her move apartments, and then helped her roommate and our friend Kathryn move on Saturday. We also spent a few hours shopping for apartment stuff. Kristi has a really nice new apartment (it comes with an ELEVATOR!!! wow).
BYU semester ended and Finals ended for me on Tuesday! Monday was just ugly, since I spent from five in the morning preparing for a seven am organic chemistry test! Then after the three hour test, I spent two hours getting ready for a physiology test that was scheduled at noon, then after a much needed nap, I studied and took my music civilization class. My brain was fried! Looks like I survived the semester!
This month I am in a four week EMT course. It started Tuesday, and goes mon-thurs for four weeks. This first week has been pretty lame, it is government run curriculum, so they have to cover dumb topics like "How to present yourself as an EMT" and "Eating Healthy as an EMT"... however, I did get CPR certified on Thursday! Next week we start patient assessment, and then get into some more intense topics... like assisting in birth.
A quick note, as soon as the EMT course is completed, a mission buddy and I are headed to Peru to translate for Operation Smile! He is already accepted into UCLA dent school, and I hope to one day attend dental school. It will be from May 19-29, and Jolie, being the best wife ever!, encouraged me to go even when at first I didn't want to be gone for that long.
As beautiful weather hit Provo last week, and gas prices jumped above two dollars again, Jolie and I decided it was time to purchase some bicycles! I found mine off craigslist from a pre-missionary that is leaving and needed to sell his. It's a glowing green mountain bike, with a nice comfy seat on it. Already, my legs are sore from riding up the hill on campus! Jolie's bike was partially purchased with some left over gift cards from wedding gifts. It is a pink beach cruiser, which is supposed to arrive this week! Since she is close enough to bike to work, and I am close enough to campus, we hope to cut down on the amount of gas we use. (to clarify, this is NOT an attempt at going green) I can only see gas prices rising even more as summer comes in full swing. How come some of the billions of bailout cash can't keep gas prices low? High gas prices increase the cost of groceries, shipping, transportation. High gas prices destroy already tight budgets of individuals and businesses. This creates business cutbacks, and citizens unable to pay off bills and debts, and even their mortgages. If summer gas prices soar above four dollars again, we'll see the same crashing cycle come in the fall.

pointless objects

2009-03-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

There are times in life when you are given opportunities to glance around you and reflect on all the wonderful things that surround you. These rare moments seem to occur with less frequency as daily routines gradually fill with an increasing number of obligations and activities. As life briefly came to a small lull this weekend, Rob and I relished in the opportunity to gaze about our small apartment and quitely count our blessings. It was while we were engaged in this excersize that we recognized that, while our apartment is extremely cute and adorably decorated (thanks to the help of Kristi and Mama), there are many practical objects that have been transformed by our modern society into things that are, frankly, rather pointless. For example, while it is important to have a clock in order to keep track of the time so that I can try to prove that my mother's habit for being late to everything is not genetic, is it really necessary to have one that is as large as an entire wall? Rob will eagerly admit that it is one of my favorite gifts that we received for our wedding, but who is the first person who looked at a car tire and decided that that was an acceptable size for a clock? The hands alone are half a foot long and could possibly impale a human being were it ever to fall from its lofty position.
Bewildered, we continued to look about our apartment and proceeded to notice the bar stools. Rob was understandably frustrated when we traveled to Target in order to purchase three bar stools for our new apartment and we found that Target only stocks items in even numbers, limiting our purchase to two stools at 29'' tall. Determined to provide adequate seating for any friends we may ever bribe into visiting our humble abode, we continued our quest at Wal-Mart, grateful that they did indeed have the color we needed...only to find that they only stock stools at 30'' tall. So now we have not only an oversized clock hanging on our wall the size of a giant frisbee, we also have three stools of mismatched heights, one looking more than a tad ridiculous as it is obviously taller than the others. The disproportioned height is a subject that is brought up each morning when Rob sits at the counter to eat his cold cereal so believe me, it is something we have struggled to live with.
And then we have to take into account the fact that we did shell out a small fortune for the luxury of our king size mattress. (Mind you, I purposefully did not put "king size bed" because we do not in fact have the actual headboard, just the mattress). While it may seem a ridiculous newlywed purchase to some, we have found that it is a pointless object that we have realized we never want to live without. Seeing as how Rob is a rather large human being and I am not so small myself, we enjoy the space that an oversized sleeping mat provides. Rob also claims that he is keeping his health in mind as it is less probable that I will kick him in the middle of the night if I cannot reach him. Not only is he saving himself from physical injury, I am saving myself from overheating. Rob may claim otherwise, but I am convinced his normal body temperature runs at least ten degrees above average. The man is like a personal heater.
Rob would argue that many of my feminine hygiene products are pointless, however I disagree. Yes, the brand of shampoo does matter and I think Alixa would agree with me on that. Curling iron size does indeed create a drastic and often dramatic difference for a hair day, and having two towels is not an indulged luxury but actually a necessity.
Welcome to our world.