A "Jolley" Memorial Weekend

For memorial day weekend, we ventured to Southern Utah with our good friends the Jolleys.  Heather and I were roommates when first moving to Vegas and she got married to Daniel in March and we got married in June. So they have become our good newly wed couple friends. It is fun to share the good and whoa's of being newly married and fun for us all to get along. So we had many fun activities and memorial moments. We went horseback riding, ate at Oscar's in Springdale, we tried to watch a WWII History movie, but we all fell asleep, obviouse of why. My dad had a BBQ for us, we never did quite make it in the pool, we even had a mock triathalon for Daniel and Nathan in my dad's pond, where they swam for a quarter of a mile, where they swam for , they biked for 12 miles and then ran for 3 miles. Heather and I had more fun watching them I think :) The best part of our whole vacation was playing some mad games of Simpson Clue, we never laughed so hard or took a game so seriously. The Jolley's got to know my competitive game playing streak.

Loaded Questions?

We had our very first couples gathering. Being newly married, some of our friends are married and most are not. So with the couple of gatherings we have hosted it has always been a mixed group. We've been slowly getting more involved in our ward and wanted to be more extending in the social realm. So we invited two couples from our ward, Jonas and Rachel Anderson, and Brent and Stephanie Valdez, and Nathan's brother and sister in-law, Jonny and Megan. We ended up having most of the gathering lounging on our new lawn and enjoying the nice and calm weather. We then started playing games, Loaded Questions, it was a blast and a great way to really break the ice and get to know each other. Due to it getting dark, we had to move the party indoors and it eventually ended with us and the Andersons playing until like 10 or 11, late for us. We talked for a bit about baby names and other such thing, it was really fun.

Meet the Osmonds!

 I was suppose to see the Donny and Marie show with my friend Canadian friends a year ago when they came into town for a visit. But it was bad timing, for that is when Marie's son had died. So it has been on my list of shows to see, I have heard many good things and it is one of the few family friendly shows in Vegas, also just my past accquaintance with the Osmonds, I would love to support them in their new show. So my mom and her friends have been wanting to see it as well, her good friend was a Donny fan in her younger years (of course she was, who wasn't).

So they decided to buy tickets and asked if I could find a way for them to meet the Osmonds. So I said sure, but asked if we could come as well. My mom assumed I had seen it and bought it as part of my birthday gift. So my good old friend connected me to one of the people who works behind the scenes, he met at us at the end of the show and took us straight to the front of the line of the meet and greet. It really was a great show.

I really liked Marie's choice of music, especially the broadway tunes and talking about her son. She seemed very sincere and personable and talented. So we got to meet the stars, my mom and her friends were on cloud nine, it was fun to see their excitement. They both talked to them and shared some quick interesting stories.

Obviously Nathan had a little fun too, this looks like a blackmail picture to me :) All thanks to my good friend in making this happen.

I am IRONMAN, or WOMAN.

My intense sister, yes the same one who just completed her 100 miler, was up against her new challenge. Her very first Ironman, in St. George, UT, one of the hardest races. Nathan and I were her number one fans and woke up at the crack of dawn and marched up a hill to see her swim in the open waters of Sand Hallow with like 2,000 other people. It was cool to see the stream of swimmers out there, they looked like swimming dolphins.

Yes, I was still wearing my pajama's and should've had more pride to go out in public, but with the events of the night, the sense to support my sister and need of comfort, I forwent looking good and went as I was. It was hard to spot Loni with all the other many bodies in wetsuits and swimming caps, but we did and cheered her on, it was very fun and inspiring... maybe one day... and again maybe not, most likely not... I like my comfort too much :) So if you want to check out a great video of highlights of her Ironman, go to my facebook page and look at the video post on May 15, 2011.
Loni did great as always and the best was to see how Todd had shirts made for their boys to wear in support of her.

 
Todd took one for the team and looked after poor William who did look rough from his traumatic event from the day before. But he did really well, didn't cry or complain much. What a trouper. He truly has Loni's strength and endurance.

The best part was the aftermath, I don't know who was worst off, her or William, so they peacefully rested together.

Big 3-0.

So the time has come, where one can not wait to get out of their teens and be in their 20's, but then when the time comes to exit out of your roaring 20's, we all do reluctantly. So I have come to this crossroads, into my 30's, I just keep thinking of the fine words of "13 going onto 30", "Thirty, flirting and thriving," maybe not so much flirty since I am a married woman now, but I can still be hip, right? Besides, I have heard 30 is the new 20, yeah right! Actually I really have enjoyed embracing my age, I feel I have earned it. With all the things I have done and experienced in my life, I sometimes feel like an old lady, like my dad used to say, "It's not the years, but the mileage" so enough about being on my soapbox of turning the big 30, just had to acknowledge the years progressing in my life, and so far my life as turned out pretty well, so I am excited to hang on and enjoy the rest of the ride!
So my for birthday, Nathan wished me a happy birthday as we woke up. We drove to work, and I got a phone call from my mom, with her, Loni, Todd and their boys singing me a happy birthday. Don't know if I was just that touched or the hormonal pregnancy, but I teared up. Nothing cuter than four darling boys I love and adore singing me a happy birthday. I then received a few texts from my close friends, a couple of emails, a lot of facebook posts and phone calls from my some of my dearest friends, like Sara, Monique, Miss, Don and Jessi, and Tracy and Joe. It felt good to be remembered and remembered you are loved by many. Especially after being married, I feel very loved and secure with Nathan and so grateful for him in my life. But you feel like you've lost your friends in a way, so it was nice to know just because of life or stage changes, that your true friends are still there :)
Now for the climax of my birthday. We had planned to head up to LaVerkin to watch Loni's Ironman the next day. We were going to have a little family birthday to celebrate a mine and Mikey's birthday. But mid-week Nathan told me to see if we could cancel it, because he made plans for my birthday for us. I was excited, I love surprises and him planning something. So after work we met up and he told me to be packed to go to LaVerkin, so we drove to St. George, and stop and ate some greasy tacos at Jack in the Box, he wanted to take me somewhere nicer, but we were short on time. He then made it to St. George and he drove us to Tuachan, I had a hunch we were going there to see the Don Mclain concert. I saw an advertisement for that earlier in the week and expressed interest in seeing it, non-chalantly, I liked that he remembered and bought tickets.

He even got front and center tickets. It was us and a bunch of older people in their 50's and 60's, since Don Mclain was definetly before our times, we were the youngest couple there. But I swear I was born in the wrong era, because I love 60's and 70's classic rock. He seemed like a very nice and talented guy, and loved to perfrom, he performed straight for two hours. He played a lot of songs he had written, many we didn't know, but their relaxing. Then he sang "Starry, Starry Night" one of my favorite songs Josh Groban sings, then of course his trademark, "Miss American Pie." During the "Starry, Starry Night" Nathan handed me a box, that said Nashelle, and in it was a Nashelle gold simple necklace with my initials on it. I have been wanting and he knew it and claimed it was too much to spend for my birthday. He surprised me and ordered it, and gave it to me at the most romantic part of the night, he such a romantic and so good to surprise me and create a special night for my special day.

We then headed to my mom's to spend the night, then plan to wake-up early to support Loni in the Ironman.When almost to my mom's I got a text from my dad saying that William had fallen out of the car while it was going 50 miles an hour, he's lucky he is alive and is at the hospital. My heart sunk, I couldn't believe it, and wanted to know more details. My heart went out to Loni of how she must be feeling. So we walked in to my mom's and Loni, my mom, and LeNae were sitting there somberly. Loni had been crying, it looked like a scene in a movie. I blurted out, "William got in an accident" confused of why Loni was there and William was not. They then went on to proceed to tell me the story of how he accidentally opened the door of my dad's car and fell out (seat belt wasn't working), he was lucky he didn't fall behind the car itself, nor other cars behind him, he jumped up immediately and crossed the road, he must have been prompted or angels picking him up. He had abrasions, broken collarbone and shoulder, huge gash in his head. Yet, he was so lucky he was dis-mangled, paralyzed or dead. Todd was there and screamed and ran after him to help him. In Loni's blog she gives so many details of tender mercies of how god was looking out for him, people stopped by to help. So the police and ambulance came and took him to the hospital. He had a cat scan, and his brain activity was fine, they stitched up his head, bandage him up and let him go home, mainly because Todd was an ER doctor, and followed the procedures to check him hourly to look for an onset of a concussion. So I guess after the drama of it all, Loni headed back because both my mom and Todd insist she does her race tomorrow, so they wanted her to get some sleep. While Todd and my dad stayed with William. Todd planned to be with William the whole time and for go seeing and supporting Loni in the race. I cried when they told me, just how heartbreaking the story was, and poor cute and fragile William, he is the tiniest one of her kids. It brought back memories of when Loni was kicked by the horse when she was around that age, just how traumatic it was. I guess Todd and my dad were pretty shooken up, mostly because they witnessed it and my dad felt terrible because he was the one driving, and Todd because he had to do ER doctor stuff on his own kid, is probably pretty traumatic. But they were troopers and such a good dad and grandpa. They finally came home around 11PM, we all then talked. My dad was sharing his story and feelings of how hopeless he felt when he saw him fall out of the car, and there was nothing my dad could do at that point, how awful he felt. He then paused and looked at me, and saw my elephantiasis ankles, and asked with my concern "How are you doing?" I explained my huge swollen ankles and felt like he used me as a distraction from the intensity of the story, but also felt it was somewhat humorous, my dad usually doesn't ask things like that, so it was sweet, my heart went out to the pain and trauma he had to experience to be a witness of it all. It's amazing how comforting family is just being there with each other, talking about it, can help lift so much hurt and pain. Needless to say, it was a very memorable 30th birthday. Good news is William was spared and we learned the lesson of divine intervention is real.
Also good news is, my birthday wasn't just a day celebration, we got to extend it a few more days. On Sunday my dad threw a BBQ in honor of Mother's Day and for my birthday, where we followed my favorite tradition, where everyone went around and said something they like about you, it was very thoughtful sweet and my sweet sister in law, Tavia sent me the nicest text on Mother's Day, wishing me a happy mother's day and complimenting me on what a good mother she thinks I will be, very touching.

Then the following Tuesday my dear and good friend Lourdes, whom I have become good friends with this past year working at Valley High School, offered to do something for my birthday, since I hadn't planned to celebrate it in any way special in Vegas. She made reservations at a Belly Dancing and Morracon Restaurant, called Marakesh. It was so much fun, and two of our co-workers, Melissa and Francy joined in on the fun. Lourdes and I had were there for a good hour by ourselves, but we of course had interesting conversation like always and was so touched, she reached out and was willing to do something for me and she paid for my meal, which was like $40, I swear the nicest gift or thoughtful gesture a friend has ever done for me, she is very good and rare kind of friend. Definietly a friend for life :) So all in all, it ended up being a pretty memorable 30th Birthday.