medical difficulties

ok people
ya i know i said i'd post but man, life gets crazy fast... here's a recap of basically the last 3 months of our lives (since my last post).

so in january we "found out" that patrick had a kidney stone. yeah found out is an understament. he was in massive pain pretty quickly. and 9 weeks later, his body has decided it doesn't want to get rid of it.  yup he still has it. poor guy. can you imagine having a painful kidney stone for 9 weeks.  we've basically been to hell and back lugging that kidney stone with us.

• 3 clinic visits ($20 copays each) : $60
• 1 CAT scan : $1,600
• 1 huge ER visit (2 MRI's and 1 EKG) : $8,000
• 1 Eye Appointment (yes eye appointment is involved) : $120
• New Medication to get the kidney stone out (cross your fingers) : $30
• Possibly still having to go into surgery to get the darn thing out : $5,000 +
• Actual out of pocket costs because of AMAZING INSURANCE : ~$300 {not technically priceless but good enough for us!}

your welcome for that awesome run down. ending conclusion... it hasn't ended yet. he still has it.

next on our list is my stupid cyst. it's back. lame i know. i had a good long talk with my body telling it to start healing properly. we thought it was healing like it should because it wasn't really hurting anymore but the doctor has assured me that it is in fact back and this time with a vengence.

so, i go in for surgery #2 on monday... ha. i have to laugh because this thing has literally been a pain in my butt for 6 years.

there has been good though. since my last post here's the scoop:

my birthday was at the end of january and (other than being tired from the stone issue) it was great. we had dinners all over the place and patrick bought me an itouch. i seriously love it.

valentines day came next and it was sweet and short. we spent some good time together. had a much needed date night, etc.

my sister-n-law had her baby girl. she's so cute. i love her lots and she totally makes me even more baby hungry.

my other sister-n-law got engaged... crazy! i love it and am excited for her wedding.  i'm sure it'll be an awesome weekend!

patrick's been in school and rockin it out.  he's doing great and "loves" it... ha! more like he realizes how crazy school is and even though it's necessary, it sucks.

other than that... :D we try and smile everyday! i'll post some pics as soon as i get them off my phone and camera.  i'm slow i know. here's my goal: 1 post a week... yes. you heard it here. i'm seriously gonna try and do one post a week. it could happen.

Hmmmmmmm........

ok. so my new years resolution is to blog more. lose weight. make this year even better than the next. take lots of pictures. and get ready for what's coming next in the raymond house.

so i'm starting fresh.

sorta.

to start fresh i've got to catch you all up.

well last time i blogged was right before thanksgiving. sooo we can start there.

thanksgiving was pretty cool. patrick's dad was down from washington and it was nice having his family around for the holiday's. his sister came and visited and that was awesome! i love having her around.

also in november we went down to scottsdale to visit patrick's other set of parents (long story).  it was great! i loved it down there. arizona is awesome! it totally reminded me of what it was like having barry and taffee around (parents). i miss them so much. we had some great game nights.

next came december.

that came with a bang. on december 2 i had surgery. i HAD a pilonidal cyst (it's gone now). if you really wanna know what that is google it. anyway, it was miserable. absolutely miserable. patrick was so awesome. he waited on me hand and foot. seriously he was amazing, but it didn't stop the discomfort and pain. well, it's feeling better now. slowly but surely it's healing. it took 1 week to sit and 4 weeks to sleep on my back. yuck.

well christmas came next and it was awesome! so relaxing. so peaceful. so wonderful. we opened gifts. we ate. we hung out. we played games. we tried to get food christmas night and absolutely nothing was open. good for the employes but bad for the francos. patrick got a macbook and he loves it. he got more cool things but that was the main gift. i got my new bedding and glee! seriously. i got the glee season 1 volume 1 and watched it all by new years. even though i had already seen all them it as nicer to have a refresher. :)

new years eve was crazy! that's all i'm gonna say about that.

patrick actually started school. i know. awesome. we're really excited. he's doing really well and is doing awesome. he's not 100% sure what he wants to major in but he's seriously leaning toward marketing. a marketing degree and his cosmetology license might be a good combination. right now we're just focusing on his generals.

i got promoted. it's awesome. i have only been at my job for 5 months or so and to get promoted this quick is big. i'm not one to brag but it's nice tooting my horn every once in awhile.  i love my job and i haven't been able to say that for a long time. i move into my new office on friday and i'm so so excited.

i also got "promoted" at church. i was in the nursery for the last year and now i teach the sunbeams. i basically just moved up with my class. well half the class at least. i got the youngest 6 kids which just so happens to be all girls. crazy. i've never seen so many 3 year old girls just wanna chit chat that whole time.

if i think of anything else, i'll let you know. :)  pictures will come also.

oh yeah. GO VIKINGS!

Love these!

Can I just say Rachael is amazing!? Seriously! Love her! Anyone who can make me look that good is a serious genius!

...New beginnings...

During the whole packing and getting ready for the Nicaragua trip (2 days before he left to be precise), Patrick received a life changing phone call. He was asked to audition for a job opening at the Landis Lifestyle Salon in Sugarhouse. I know what your thinking... "audition". Usually people have to interview and maybe submit a portfolio, but no... not at Landis. You have to audition which consists of 2 tasks: (1) The first is to do a one-length bob cut on a women (which I guess is one of the hardest cuts you can do because if it's not perfect you can seriously tell) and (2) do a creative and dynamic color of your choice on a model. You have to bring in your own people and product to do these tasks and you have 2 hours to complete them. You'll be judged on timeliness, creativeness, and how well you can do the bob. Let me just tell you that the task should have been just trying to find the models... If everyone show's up, you get the job. (Yeah!! I wish!!) His audition was Monday March 23rd. (I know I know. I'm behind.) As of the night before, the model getting the color was a for sure thing, but the model for the cut was totally up in the air. We had like 5 girls say they would and one after another drop out. (It's ok, we totally understood and Patrick didn't want to cut anyone's hair that didn't want to.) Finally, one of the girls who said they couldn't a couple days before, came through.


Well, we're assuming that everything went great because he got the job!! Patrick said everything went perfect! The color rocked and the cut was beautiful. The girl loved it and her mom, who was there with her, was so impressed she offered to pay him for it, even though she knew it was going to be a free cut because of the audition. I'm sure he just got another future client out of her! :D Word went around the salon how well Patrick did, that the people he knew there texted him later and told him they loved it!

SO today was his first day and he was totally excited this morning when he left. I'll let you know how it goes later!

If you want to visit him, or need anything done, check him out here at LANDIS LIFESTYLE SALON or at 1300 South 900 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84105

Managua, Nicaragua

So Patrick's trip to Nicaragua went awesome! According to him, they had a great time and it was very "eye-opening". I've been there plenty of times myself so I knew what he'd be seeing and was grateful for the opportunity he had to see what a great and sad country Nicaragua is. They stayed in a little area called Diria, where some of my family live. One of my parents homes is being built there and is in the last stages of construction which was the purpose of this trip... to work on the home. Let's just say they did a lot more sight-seeing and traveling around Managua, and outer areas then they actually worked. :D That's ok though. I'm glad he got to see a lot because the next time we'll be able to go is probably when there's a Nicaraguan temple (cross your fingers and pray!).

Patrick wanted me tell you all that he had a great experience and loved it. He's more grateful today than he's ever been for our country and for the blessings we've received and receive daily. He has a new appreciation for our home, for cleanliness, and for our pets. He saw a lot of homeless dogs and really hated to see them in pain and hungry.

Other than the sadness of it being a third-world country, the trip went marvelous and the home is closer to being finished. I'm extremely grateful for Patrick to get that chance to see what we've all been talking about when we talk about dear ole' Nicaragua. :D

[Pictures coming soon....]

Lonely.... oh so lonely....

So Patrick left this morning for Nicaragua and, I'll be honest with you, I had my whole week planned out. I was gonna clean, work out, hang out with Lilly and pretty much just do a whole lotta nothing, and now, I'm sad he won't be around to do those things with me. As excited as I am for him to go away for a week long vacation with the boys, I'm sad he's gone. I didn't think it was gonna be this hard.

If your bored this week, I'll be at home getting ready for a baby shower, and hanging out. Come visit me!

I'm official!!

Yup that's right everyone... We took that step this last week. It was a great step. A much needed step (for me!) and I'm totally ready for the change, life changing.....

WE GOT GYM PASSES!!!!

You know you love it! :D

(That'll be me someday....... minus the blond hair)

Cars suck!

Ok, so one of the other reasons why our New Years Eve turned into a slow night was because of Patrick's car. One week before Christmas, we had the accord serviced. It had just hit the 100,00 mile mark and Patrick wanted to make sure it stayed in good running condition just in case we sold it. One grand later we had all the belts replaced, transmission "flushed" and seat belt replaced (apparently it was broken but still under warranty). Not bad. We expected that much. Well, because of the holidays we didn't drive his car much and the following week, I drove it to work. On my way home, all the lights came on and I panicked. I called Patrick. He came and picked me up in Bountiful so I didn't have to drive it home. He checked all the fluids and stuff and saw that the transmission fluid was extremely low. The next day (New Years Eve) we took it back in. They proceeded to tell us the transmission was shot and bad and we needed a new one. WHAT!! I know. Trust me. We freaked. How do you have maintenance done on a transmission, they give the car back with a "clean bill of health" and a few drives later, it's done for. Patrick made all the necessary calls -managers, customer service peeps, even Honda themselves. After all the talking and figuring out who's fault it was, we made a deal - we paid half, and the dealership paid half. Still it was another extremely large chunk of money, a lot of driving to Ogden and back, a lot of carpooling, and a lot of talking on the phone (We went over on our minutes... for multiple reasons, but still). We just got it back this week and so far so good. Hopefully it stays this way for awhile.

Patrick is an amazing power talker. I couldn't believe he could get even half. I'm so proud of him and thankful he can use his "Power Talking/Manipulating" ways for good! It's awesome to not have to worry about those kinds of things.

In honor of Mother Nature....

8 Crazy Nights!!

Did anyone really see that movie?? I didn't. Ha! So, Rach tagged me... and these are my crazy 8's!

8 of my Favorite Books:

1. Twilight (these each get their own slots!!)
2. New Moon
3. Eclipse
4. Breaking Dawn (if anyone couldn't have guessed that then... ha!)
5. THE ENTIRE HARRY POTTER SERIES (I've read them all multiple times :D)
6. Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Bible
7. The Count of Monte Cristo
8. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (.... I'm a reader....)

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:

1. Went to work.... alone :(
2. Checked everyone's blog :)
3. Went to Market Street Grill for lunch with Jami :D
4. Drove home from work.... alone.
5. Went to a wedding
6. Went to the dollar store (I love that place)
7. Went out on a date with the hubby (CHINESE FOOD... MMMM!!)
8. Read "The Hobbit" in bed while Patrick read his "Wired" magazine, and Lilly slept on my lap.

8 Things To Look Forward To:

1. Christmas!
2. Swedish massage from Breathe Day Spa on the day after Christmas
3. New Puppy coming soon!
4. 2009
5. Starting our family ;)
6. Nicaragua home getting finished next year
7. Dinner tonight with all my girlfriends!!
8. Mishayla's surprise.... I'm gonna be an aunt-ish!

8 Things On My Wish List:

1. Lose weight
2. BMW x5.... :D (Anyone need a car?? FOR SALE!)
3. Master's in Accounting
4. Get my house painted and decorated
5. Become a master chef... or just learn how to cook (either one)
6. Get Patrick's salon up and going
7. Have children
8. Maybe getting a washer and dryer... maybe... well... nah!

8 Things I Love About Winter:

1. Christmas... duh!
2. Snow!
3. Christmas music, actually it's my favorite! Make music your favorite!
4. .... Christmas movies ....
5. Story of Christmas
6. The Forgotten Carols
7. oh yeah! ...... MY BIRTHDAY!!
8. snuggling with Patrick and Lilly on the couch wrapped up in a warm blanket by the Christmas tree!! MMMM!!

8 To Tag:

1. Mishayla
2. Angie
3. Katie P.
4. Katie B.
5. Victoria
6. Beverly
7. Elise
8. Joni
9. Celeste
10. Sara
11. Cortnie
12. Silvia
13. Oooppsss!!! I went over board... like always!

The Good, The Bad, And The Expensive!

So Thanksgiving was extremely interesting to say the least! Goods and Bads.

Good: We had Victoria again.
Bad: She left early.
Good: Football game.
Bad: How the football game ended.
Good: Food.
Bad: It didn't seem like anyone ate.
Good: Lots of leftovers.
Bad: Some things shouldn't be leftover.
Good: Black Friday Shopping spree.
Bad: Woke up way too early.
Good: Pretty much done with Christmas shopping.
Bad: Spent way more than I expected to.
Good: Great quality time with Patrick.
Bad: ????? There's nothing bad to tag along with that. :)

All about the bubbly!

So yesterday was a criizzazzyy day! Work seems like it's just chugging along for the both of us. Patrick had the day off to take a test so was home most of the afternoon. 3 major things happened:

Numero uno: I got my Jim Brickman "Christmas Themes" book in the mail. I had been waiting for it for a week or so and was so incredibly excited to get home and break it in. For those of you who don't know, Jim Brickman is an AMAZING pianist!! He plays a lot of music and I'm sure you've heard his stuff especially around this time of the year with Christmas and all coming up. Every year around this time I try and reward myself with new Christmas sheet music for the piano. This year I went all out and bought a whole book. I figured it'll give me more to play during the rest of the year. I love it!! Ah!

Numero dos: (That means Number 2 :D) When I got home last night I had a huge suprise waiting for me. Roses and dinner!! Even though Patrick had a bad day and hasn't been feeling well lately, he went out and bought me roses and made me dinner. What an amazing person he is! I love him so much! It's nights like these where being married totally beats being single! Some of my work friends are single and have asked me before why I got married so young, or I didn't date enough or I missed out on a lot of good times, but then I think of all the times like last night and I'm glad I'm not single!

Numero tres: This didn't really happen last night but I had to throw this in there. I got our Twilight tickets! I know. Its da bomb!! :)

P.Track with his awesome apron on!

Candlit and Flowers: My Favorite!

Set up and all!

Sparkling Cider!! I could drink that stuff like it was Dr. Pepper! HA!

EErrriiiitttttt...... REWIND!

So I'm gonna try and hit all the high points of the last few weeks. Since the last post that had anything to do with Patrick or I was when he graduated, I'll start from there.

Conference Weekend - It was full of awesomeness. Now, there were some downers attached to this weekend. One being I had to take the GMAT. It sucked!! Not the greatest test in the world but what can you do? We had the great in-laws in town and I had an awesome time catching up with them and hanging with VICTORIA!! Our mall trip during the priesthood session was a sight to see! Let's just say we ended up with a bunch of shirts, a Sonic run, a crave for taters, and big garbaged mess!!! Long story short, the tots with cheese was a brilliant idea!!

More about Patrick - He had a busy month in October. First he graduated, then he took his written test for his license and passed, THEN it was his birthday. Crazy!! We had a full on birthday weekend which has become tradition during birthday season. We had multiple dinners all over the Salt Lake Valley! To start it off on Friday, we hit up the Red Robin's (Patrick's favorite spot for a salad!), then Victoria and her mom came up from P-ville on Saturday and we invaded Applebee's! On Sunday, we went over to Garrick and Emily's (Garrick is Patrick's bro) and had dinner there with his mom. It was so cute looking at old pictures of the boys. Monday (the day!), Patrick made an awesome dinner and we had my familia over along with his best buddy Colby! What a night!! He got a nice array of gifts throughout his weekend: some cologne, a chisel set, a wok, and money, money, money. :P What a happy boy!

All Hallows Eve - Halloween was fun this year. Patrick dressed as his usual Doctor, and I spruced it up a bit with my Ugly Betty Costume. My work was swarming with new people. John McCain and Sarah Palin graced us with their presence, Mr. Incredible stopped by, the communist party stuck around for a bit (try dressing up as a whole political party and see what you come up with!). Later that night we did Sloppy Joe's at my mom's house!! Tradition. Of course. I changed into the best costume of the night. Ellie! That's right! I dressed up as my little sister. I could have won something in that get-up! I even had the laugh down.. You know.. The "throw-your-head-back and laugh really loud and hard" laugh. :)

Ugly Betty

Ellie Franco (right!)

Mr. Incredible

Sarah and John!

Pray for him!

So Patrick graduated last week. We've been waiting for this day.... well, for about 2 years. We had a pretty fun day. At 5, his mom and I went down to his school and were able to witness the "ceremony." It's not really a ceremony but more of a "testimony meeting all about Patrick." What happens is, at the beginning of their day, all the night students get together for a pow-wow. During this pow-wow, the graduate gets to stand in front of all his peers and everyone has the chance to "face" him, or in other words, they have the chance to say something to him or about him in front of the entire class. It was really cool to see how many friends he'd made and how many people he'd helped along the way. Many people talked about when they first met and how great of a friend he's been since. He is really a helpful guy and loves cutting hair so much that he's totally willing to give his expertise where needed.

After that was finished, he had to stay and finish up signing some papers so I took off to Emily's place (my sister-in-law). We hung out there with Braxton and Patrick's mom untill it was time to go to dinner. Barry and Taffee (Patrick's step parents) were flying in for the weekend and took us out to dinner that night. We totally went to Chuck-a-rama. They love that place. I'll admit, we love it too. Their salad bar is the best and I'm a scone person! I'm totally making myself hungry now. Anywho, Patrick's parents are hilarious. They showed up with giant sheers and an extra large comb. I guess they decided Patrick needed a hair cut. I'm so proud of Patrick and can't wait to see what he'll be up to next. He received a bunch of offers to go work at salons. He even got one to help open up a salon and give the Patrick Raymond feel to it, but we're still weighing all of our options. Right now he's just filling up his own personal books with appointments. It seems he'll be just as busy now then he was when he was in school.

Interesting.......

Hello! :D

Tagged.... hmmmm

I was tagged a while ago by my dear friend Silvia. All I have to say to this is.... You asked for it!

1. What is his name? Patrick Raymond
2. Who eats more? Probably him, but when I get on a roll, there's no stopping me!

3. Who said, "I love you" first? He did, he pulled the whole "say I love you in a different language bit". It worked. It was hot.
4. Who is taller? He is
5. Who is smarter? The answer to this question could be up for debate and we probably will never be able to settle on a definite answer.

6. Who is more sensitive? I AM!! Yeah! An answer about me! Yes, it's true I am the most sensitive. Trust me. I cry over everything and anything. The ones I get in the most trouble for are movies and shows. It seems that even though I might have already seen something multiple times, crying is inevitable.
7. Who does the laundry? ME again! Nice!

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does, but every once in a while I try to sneak onto his side and push him to the other side just to see how it feels to be on the right!

9. Who pays the bills? He tells me to pay the bills and I pay them. Dual effort baby!

10. Who cooks more? Patrick cooks . (period) I'm not much of a chef but I'm getting better. Right honey?!
11. Who is more stubborn? Hands down, he wins this one! :) I won't even try to win this one.
12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Well, since he's never wrong and I'm never wrong, then Lilly is the first to admit she's wrong.
13. Who has more siblings? Well I've got three and he's got three so we tied on this one.
14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? What exactly do you mean by "pants"? That is the question!
15. What do you like to do together? We're "REDBOX" people!
16. Who eats more sweets? I do I do I do. (In fact I win this one with no fight because Patrick isn't much of a candy man.)
17. Guilty Pleasures? Probably food, we're always up for a good meal, snacks, and cheese! We love cheese! Mmmm Cheese!

18. How did you meet? He was my manager at Pier 49 back in the day... not a "love-at-first sight" story. More like "love-after-a few dates and deep converstations" story. :D

19. Who asked whom out first? I'm not sure if there was a definite first date. The first time we did something together alone we went over to his apartment to check out his brand new guitar. (Yes, he plays.) It was all a ploy, I can see it now, but I guess it worked.

20. Who kissed who first? Our first kiss was interesting, but as to not go into any details, he kissed me first.
21. Who proposed? He proposed.. I think I'd look pretty funny down on one knee. I can see it now... Yeah it would be funny lookin'.

22. His best features and qualities? He's got countless of good features and qualities but his best is his little square smile and his ability to make things happen when they seem impossible.

I'm supposed to tag other peeps so.... Angie, Rachael, Joni, and Elise: TAG YOUR IT!

Just throwing off the Swing of Things!!

Hello All! Patrick here.. Just poppin in to say Hello! Beki didn't want me to because it would throw off the swing of things but that's what I do! So here it is! I'm throwin it off! Goodbye!

OUR FAMILY!!

Because I'm so new at this and not many people really know what we've been up to the last few years, I'm gonna start off with a few "get-to-know-you" posts. The first victim is my husband! :) Smile sweetie! You know you love it! Well his name is Patrick Raymond. He was born on October 27 and his Social Security Number is.... JK! Ha! Anyway, Patrick has been all around this town. He was born in California, and has lived all over Washington and Utah. He has a bunch of great parents and a really cool older brother, Garrick. We'll get to them later. Patrick has a love for all things fashion and style. He's currently finishing his last few weeks at Paul Mitchell The School where he's at the "top of his class." He's won a few competitions, even one that got him a ticket to Signature, a huge Paul Mitchell event in sunny Las Vegas a few weeks ago! He's a great hair stylist and absolutely loves what he does in the Salon. It's great having my own personal stylist at my leisure! Right honey?! Anyway, he also works at Marriott Vacation Club International. Although it's not his dream job, he's sticking it out till graduation. In the mean time, the employee benefits at Marriott are great! Cheap hotel nights are always welcome! Patrick is a fun and pretty funny guy. He always tries to make a party more poppin', and loves to have a great time. His laugh is contagious and so are his hugs. He's the absolute love of my life and am very grateful he fell in love with me.