Do You Trust Me

Dear Reader,

I began sending emails to people, but decided that posting on my blog would make this survey a little less biased. I'm taking a survey from Coveylink and am hoping you will help me with it. Would you please click on the following link and fill out this brief nine-question survey?

http://www.whotrustsyou.com/email_survey/wfymcxdttdcqmio-12731-2-1230756082

Your responses will remain absolutely anonymous and will be averaged with several others to protect your privacy, so PLEASE BE HONEST! This survey will take you less than 7 minutes to complete.

Thanks for your help,

Aubrey

Shopper For Hire

Do you feel overwhelmed taking your kids to the store? Are there gifts you need to buy for the kiddos but you can't seem to find the time to go without them? Do you need a break from crazy lines and rude aisle hogs? Would you like to avoid the tempting "extra groceries" that seem to scream, "buy me!"? I'm trying to earn some extra cash and thought I would offer my shopping services. SUPER SHOPPER TO THE RESCUE!!!If you are in need of my services, or know somebody who does, please call me and let me know! I figured I would just charge a percentage of the bill. If you spend $100 my fee would be $10. 10%, we're all familiar with that one! And just think of the money you'll save...no impulse buying of yummy holiday treats that pack on the pounds! No, "mommy I want this", "mommy I want that" to deal with! One call, that's al...oops, that's already taken. Shopping spree, call me!

50 Things You Wish You Didn't Know About Me

50 things you didn't know about me until you read this...

1.What color is your tooth brush? Pink
2. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Reading blogs
3. What is your favorite candy bar? Kit Kat
4. Have you ever been to a strip club? Ummm, I plead the fifth
5. What is the last thing you said aloud? Get in Bed! (to Aidan who is STILL UP!!)
6. What is the best ice cream flavor? Cookies and Cream
7. What is the last thing you had to drink? Powerade Zero
8. What are you wearing right now? Camo pants and brown shirt (hoo-ra!)
9. What was the last thing you ate? pizza (yes I fell off my South Beach Phase One Plan!)
10. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? I wish.
11. When was the last time you ran? About three weeks ago
12. Who was the last person to send you a message/comment on your blog? My awesome friend Adhis!
13. Do you take vitamins daily? absolutely!
14. Do you go to church every Sunday? yes, unless a kiddo is sick
15. Do you have a tan? I wish
16. Do you like Chinese food over pizza? Nope
17. Do you drink soda with a straw? If it's from a restaurant
18. What does your last text message say? (to Christi) SB diet phase 1 is too hard, I had to quit
19. Are you someones best friend? Russ'
20. What are you doing tomorrow? Getting up freakin early for stake choir practice
21. Where is your dad? I Las Vegas in bed asleep
22. Look to your left, what do you see? My dining room
23. What color is your favorite pair of shoes? tan
24. Do you use chap stick? yes, Softlips
25. Whats your favorite thing to do in your free time? Surf the internet
26. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? Drive thru
27. Do you have a dog? nope
28. Last guy you talked on the phone with? Russ
29. Last girl you talked on the phone with? Christi
30. Any fun vacation plans soon? I REALLY wish!
31. Do you dye your hair? No
32. Can you say the alphabet backwards? My brain doesn't work that way!
33. Do you have a maid service clean your house? No, but if I had the money I would!
34. Are you jealous of anyone? Hmmm, not jealous, but there are others with qualities I wish that I had
35. Do you love anyone? Yes, many!
36. Do any of your friends have children? most do
37. Do you use the word Hello daily? Yeah, I guess
38. Do you like cats? Yes, especially my kitty Suki!
39. Have you ever been to six flags? I used to work there!
40. How did you get your worse scar? I was sparring in Tae Kwon Do and the officer I was fighting cut my wrist with his toenail when he kicked. Gross huh?
41. What is your favorite smell? Fresh laundry
42. What is the last DVD you watched? Jeff Dunham's Christmas Special
43. Have you ever been to Disney world? No
44. What is your favorite number? Don't have one
45. Do you toast your pop tarts? Yes, but I don't eat them anymore
46. Have you ever waited tables? No
47. Where did you have your first kiss? In a shed
48. What should you be doing? Sleeping, it's ridiculously late
49. Do you enjoy wasting time blogging? Doesn't every blogger?
50. Who do you want to tag? Everyone that reads this

"Aubrey" Don't Change Your Number...

I definitely would if it was 867-5309, but what about 7? Do I fit the description below? What do you guys think? Please comment...

You Are 7: The Enthusiast

You are outgoing and playful - always seeing the happy side to life. You're enthusiastic and excitable. You love anything new. Multi-talented, you do many things well... and find success easy. You prefer to keep things light with others. Opening up is hard for you. At Your Best: You are deeply involved in each experience. You appreciate life for what it is, and you take the time to enjoy each moment. At Your Worst: You are greedy, self centered, impulsive, and insatiable. Your Fixation: Gluttony Your Primary Fear: Deprivation and pain Your Primary Desire: To be satisfied and content Other Number 7's: Howard Stern, Cameron Diaz, Robin Williams, Jim Carey, and Jenny Mccarthy.

What Number Are You?

Did You Know I Was Famous?

Yeah, I once performed with Queen. I REALLY had to sing badly on purpose at last night's karaoke because I was hiding my true talents, but after mulling it over all night I've decided to let my past "shine". Yep, here's me with my buds from Queen. We're singing the Bohemian Rhapsody. Please don't fall all over me now just because I'm famous. Really, it's embarrassing!

Happy Valentines Day!!!!

Before you think I've totally lost my marbles (okay, so most of you know I already have!) I'm addressing this to the SEVERAL friends of mine that recently have had and are currently having babies! (since they obviously had a GREAT valentines day this year!) LOL

Well, I AM part Cherokee

You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Freedom to Choose, and Responsibility

We are at a crossroads. Every day we wake up to face a slightly more evil society. We armor ourselves and our children with the word of God and with prayer against Satan and his army. We decide in advance where our "lines" are that we absolutely will not cross. For some of us it's easy to say, "well, I know I will not smoke a cigarette, drink alcohol, or view pornography today". Do we however brace ourselves for the choices between good and evil that are unexpected and seemingly benign? There are many examples of these choices, but today in light of the current season, I am referring to the election.Throughout the scriptures we read of cunning men who were charismatic and had the ability to lead astray great numbers of people from the ways of God. In almost every case, these men's purposes ultimately were to take away freedom. Is this not Satan's purpose? Are we not currently presented with this same choice?

You may say we have no choice because we must choose the lesser of two evils. This just means it is a GREATER responsibility to choose the better man. One man may SAY something that seems innocent, but have we looked into his past choices? Does a man's history not tell who a man truly is? Are a man's choices not recorded in heaven?

What a wonderful blessing to live in a free country. How much greater our responsibility to make righteous decisions. Do not be led astray by cunning men who seek to take away our freedom. Truly investigate those presented before us before casting our vote. I was reading scriptures last night and found many similarities to our current situation.
Let us all choose responsibly. We cannot count on the checks and balances set up by our forefathers! Our constitution does indeed hang by a thread! We are told it will be saved by the priesthood. Who do you think that refers to? I truly believe we will be judged for all of our decisions. There is no luke warm, you are hot or cold. Where do your alliances lie? I don't write this to be an alarmist, only to bring us all to question ALL decisions we make. We have been given great blessings, and with great blessings come great responsibility. How will you choose?

After 10 Long Years

*Warning. The following post may contain material not appropriate for those without a sense of humor.*

*Okay, there may actually be a couple of pictures not intended for the faint-of-heart* (This was our 1st anniversary. Silver Dollar City, and it was raining)

Well, recently Russ and I hit a major landmark in terms of marriage. Yep, we decided to divorce. Nah, just kidding, we just had our 10 year anniversary! I know some of you think that we have a horrible marriage, but in reality life together is great! In all seriousness though, I do love Russ. He is my best friend and we have a lot of fun together. If you know Russ, you'll know that our personalities are perfect for each other. Our humor and "fun sarcasm" have saved our marriage I'm sure throughout the past ten years. We've had some really rough times, yet through it all we learned to laugh because sometimes it's the only thing to do to keep from crying. I thought I would give a little history of the two people who became one on October 10th, 1998...

Once upon a time there was a little country girl named Aubrey...





(Here I am with my little brother, TG)









And a little boy on the left coast named Russ...








(Here he is with his brother Mark...can you tell which one is Russ? He's on the right)

But who would these kids grow up to marry?




Hmmmm...


Nope!












Notice that I went for tall and dark and he went for the blond cheerleader type...

Who would have known that someday these two would meet, and fall in love in, a gym at a church dance. I know, it's pretty lame, but hey it's our story!

I was in the Navy at the time we met, stationed in Texas...











(This was my 21st birthday in New Orleans, LA)


(And this was around the time I met Russ...)



















This was just after Russ and I started dating...













I think the picture speaks for itself, LOL!


Needless to say, Russ "had me at hello". I mean who could pass this up...

(Okay, I know I'm not playing nice, I just couldn't help myself, hee hee...)

So we decided to get married...




Now I don't know how many of you know this but...





Russ wore a dress...

It was a beautiful fall day at the Salt Lake Temple...there may have been a slight breeze, but I don't remember. Maybe you should ask Russ...hee hee
















Three weeks after we were married, we got pregnant with Aidan. Here is the "beautiful" picture of us after Aidan's birth...












The new family...

Our first trial came when my mom died the day Aidan turned six months old. Aidan and I spent every day caring for her until her death. Russ stood by me during that terrible time. What a wonderful husband.

Then came Connor...















And then our little miracle...















Coby was a little over a month old here and just a third of the way through his NICU stay...

Here he is after coming home the first time...


















The divorce rate for parents of NICU children apparently is extremely high. Again, we beat the odds. Just when we thought maybe we could get a grip on life...another surprise.

Heavenly Father had more in store for us than we thought we could handle...a little girl named Rylie...

















And this is our family...at least for now.



















And we know how to have a good time.I love you Russ and I love our family. I'm so glad that our family is eternal and that you are such a great husband and father. Here's to many more years of love and laughs, no matter what the future holds. Happy Anniversary!

Have You Done Any of These?

Just copy and paste this to your blog and bold the ones that you HAVE done.

1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. 18. Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run . 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie or on a TV show (I was in a commercial, does that count?) 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check (oops, don't hold it against me...) 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt. 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone (just my tailbone) 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee (not until I was almost 30!)

Sheree's New Dress

Well, she wanted to see how great it would look on her! And it really does! (Hope this doesn't make you wanna run out and buy it though! LOL!)

Timpa "No Go"s

Well, I really need to blog about Martha's and my hike to Timpanogos Cave. This was Martha's idea (I think she wanted to push me of a cliff). I however must be a glutton for punishment because when Martha tried to back out of it the night before ("it'll be too cold", "I can do ANYTHING but cold", "please don't make me hike in the cold" yadda yadda) I persuaded her to do it anyway. It really didn't help that everybody at Pounce was telling her it would be snowing, windy and below 20 on the hike! Thanks a lot girls! But, she overcame her fear of freezing (thanks to Brian finding some thermals for her, hee hee) and we took off. I really should have taken a pic of her when she showed up at my door. Perfect hair and makeup, and wearing cute clothes. PLEASE! We're hiking Martha!

Anyway, off we went. Here's a pic of Martha coming out of the ladies room prior to the hike.Believe it or not she was still cold so she stole my extra sweatshirt and gloves.She also decided about 20 feet up the trail that she didn't want to carry her water bottle. "Lets go back and put it in your car" I said. "No, I'll just hide it behind a tree". She sure is sneaky!

So up the trail we go. Even though I was giving it all I had, Martha hardly broke a sweat or was out of breath. In fact, there were several parts of the hike where she literally pushed me up the hill. It was a little frustrating when she would take off and then tell me to hurry up and catch up with her.After this pic she decided we should switch cameras. I personally think she wanted to hide all evidence of her abuse! Hmmmm... anyway.

This is how I was feeling...But alas, we made it to the top! Woo hoo!Martha said, "Okay Aubrey, look tired". LOOK TIRED??!!! I was already LOOKING FREAKIN TIRED!

Going down was much easier, for ME anyway. Martha has a bad knee so I thought I'd help out a little...Martha was terrified however that I would trip and send us both to the bottom of the mountain.
Thank you Martha for your encouragement and for truly"pushing" me. You are a great friend. Everybody always says so, including the old folks kicking my butt on the mountain. You're wonderful and a life-long friend (if I don't push you off the mountain when we go AGAIN on Friday!) All are welcome to join us, if you think you can keep up!

The "Martha-nator"

So, for those of you that don't know, I have had the privilege of having Martha Stanger as my personal coach/trainer for most of the past two months. In the beginning I was really focused on changing my eating habits. Watching calories; balancing proteins, carbs, and fats; just eating healthier in general. Martha has been amazing at being my personal coach through this. She calls, "do you know what you're having for dinner? No? Okay, I'm sending over a super recipe." She texts, "how's it going today?" She has been great. A couple of weeks ago she says, "alright Aubrey, we need to pick it up!" "Okay," I say, truly naive to what was actually about to take place. Needless to say, the Martha that I (and probably most other people) know and love went from this...

Isn't she sweet????


To this...





Yes, that's more like it. Just imagine that I'm the one huffing away in the purple (except my face is probably more purple than the shirt), and Martha is Jillian Michaels.



It would look something like this...





(She's soooooo gonna kill me when she sees this!)


So anyway, we've been running for a couple of weeks, and she loves to push me. But yesterday she worked me out for 45 minutes. Now, I knew I was getting a work-out, and it wasn't easy, but today I hurt alllll over! I can now actually feel my pecs. That should be great right? The problem is, my pecs are quite a bit higher than my "girls", and now the realization of just how far south the girls have gone is quite disturbing.

Really though, Martha, I love you. I'm very grateful for your efforts in my success. I know I wouldn't be losing weight without your push. You're not as tough on me as Jillian is on BL (thank goodness), but you're just what I need.

All my B3 girls, I'm so glad we have each other for support! You help me stay accountable! Janet, Christi, Martha, Carrie and Adhis; you keep me getting my fat butt out of bed at 6am. Thank you so much. I really feel like it's gonna work this time for me, but only because of all of the people already mentioned, and the wonderful friends that have been telling me recently how great I look. It really means a lot to me.

I love you all!!

Friends

I just wanted to let everyone know how grateful I am for friends. I feel so blessed to know the many amazing women that surround me. You make me feel loved in so many ways, and I want you (I hope you all know who you are) to know that I appreciate you and the gestures of love and friendship that have been given.

Thank you.

Slow "K"

So I ran/walked my first 5K Saturday. I've been planning on participating for a couple of months now, but that doesn't mean I "planned" or prepared like I should have.

I've been walking with Christi for a couple of weeks now, and I only ran two little spurts during that time. I had pretty much just resigned myself to walking the 5K. The night before I got to sleep at 2 a.m. and then woke myself up every hour for fear of over sleeping. Needless to say, I was exhausted, and so was Russ. So when I told Russ (on the way to the 5K) that I was going to run as much as I could, he was NOT happy. "I'm not running, I'm too tired". "But Russ, you have to stay by my side to keep me going!" "I'm not running." That's probably what we're discussing in the pic below.

Well, my sweet hubby ran with me! He was so great! Especially since it's REALLY hard for him to "trot". When he runs he either sprints or walks. Plus, his stride is larger than mine, so really my jog is about the same as a brisk walk for him. But he trotted beside me and kept me going. What a guy. The only time I complained was when we were at the end and he was walking beside me as I ran. "Could you please at least look like your running, you're making me look bad!" Not that he could make me look worse than I made myself look in this pic. At least I had a smile on my face, right? Thanks Kim for the pics I stole off of your website! Can you tell that Russ was so done!

Anyway, I finished my first 5K and actually ran (trotted) about half of it. That was a pretty big deal for me! I used to think I wanted to run a marathon one day, but I'm pretty sore after the 5K! At least for now I think I'll stick to "short" races. Even though my time of 55 minutes and some seconds isn't the greatest in the world, it's a starting place. Heres to beating my time in the future! (it shouldn't be too difficult, LOL!)Here's the runners from our ward. Amy, Carrie, and Kat walked up shortly after the pic was taken. Sorry we left you out girls! Nice pose Adhis! Aidan ran his first 5K too! He finished ten minutes before Russ and I and came in 4th for his age group. He was so excited to do so well in a race! We're proud of him too! I'm proud of our family! I was thinking that this would be a great tradition as a family, and maybe next time I'll keep up with Aidan, and in a few years the whole family will be out there together! (Just don't tell my legs!)

Good Bye Gracie

It all began when Coby was in the NICU. There was a luncheon for NICU parents monthly, sort of a support group. At my first luncheon I met Caty. Her daughter Grace ("Gracie") was born just two weeks after Coby. We became fast friends. Caty is from Nicaragua and her husband, who was from the Czech Republic, abandoned her when he found out she was pregnant. She has a sister here in Utah, but their relationship at the time was strained. I had told Caty that if she ever needed anything from me to just ask.

When our babies were about five months old Caty explained to me that she had no where to go because of her relationship with her sister at the time. After deliberation, Russ and I invited her into our home. Caty and Gracie quickly became family. She lived with us for over a year. Our babies shared their first and second Christmas' together. To this day, if ever we have a large enough home, we would LOVE for Caty to stay with us again.

Gracie had many more medical problems than Coby. They didn't expect Gracie to survive birth, much less five years. Over the past few years I've received a handful of calls from Caty letting me know that the doctors didn't expect her to last the night. Gracie always proved them wrong.

Today, I received the final call.

I really felt I could handle the situation, that I could be strong for my friend. As I walked into her room at Primary Children's, I knew looking at Gracie that she was not there, that it was just her earthly shell, her earthly prison really. But as I watched my friend, my sister, mourn the loss of her child, my heart broke in two. I do not grieve for Gracie, but I grieve for my friend and her loss. I imagined my own children, and how torturous it would be if I were in this situation. How can any mother imagine rocking their lifeless child, laying her on the bed, giving one last kiss, and walking away.

Today, I rejoice for Gracie, released from her terrible prison, into the arms of a loving Heavenly Father. Today, I mourn with my friend for her loss.

Death brings such a fresh perspective on life. As I'm about to walk upstairs and kiss each one of my sleeping children, I hope I can commit to making the most of every moment with them, yelling a lot less, loving a lot more. They are such blessings; let us not forget. Please kiss your sweet children and every moment thank Heavenly Father for the blessings that they are.