Thanksgiving

 I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! Gary and I sure did. We were originally planning on heading out to Taft Wednesday night, but after a few things decided to take their time (my prescription wasn't ready, the laundry wasn't finished yet since work kept me late, etc.), AND we were kindly asked to wait due to the weather, we headed out Thursday morning.

 We arrived in Taft and were warmly welcomed by Gary's mother and the two happy dogs. I helped a little setting up but she did an AMAZING job with everything. We were very grateful for all the hard work put into it and especially grateful for the deliciousness of it. After we enjoyed our feast, we watched some television, chatted, and spent the rest of the evening quietly in the home.

 Early Saturday morning (not the crazy Black Friday early, but early enough) we awoke, got ready, and headed out to Southwest Bakersfield. We had a great time shopping for clothes, boots, electronics, video games, and other items. Best Buy was nuts! At one point while we were leaving, a young man stopped me and said, "Hey, long time no see." I glanced up at him, did a polite smile while wondering who this was until it finally hit me. "Oh! I hardly recognized you!" It was Keith Mayberry. I hadn't seen that kid in ages (last time I saw him he really WAS a kid). He was working there, saying he arrived at 4am and there was a huge line wrapped around the building. Crazy if you ask me! After a crazy/busy day of shopping, we eventually became worn and headed back to Taft. That's when the headache from you know where decided to hit me. I've been getting these migraines for the past few days and this one hit me smack dab in the car on the way home. When we arrived, I took some meds and rested on the couch. An hour later, it was still horrible. I took a few more pills and tried to rest again. Still, an hour later, nothing. Finally I crawled into the bedroom we had been staying in, turned out the lights, and went to sleep for a nap. An hour later, it was still there, but I was feeling better than before. However, Gary and I made a run for the store to buy Excedrin Migraine. That kicked its butt.

We headed back to Santa Clarita this morning and arrived home a little after noon. We cleaned the stinky cat box, washed some clothes, then decided we wanted to do more shopping (crazy us!). Since the weather was cool/nice, we walked over to our mall. We took a detour through the Montecito apartments across the street from us and I was amazed and how beautiful it was. While Gary and I were browsing apartments before we grabbed this one, the Montecito apartments were calling us trying to set up an appointment. Unfortunately they were slightly out of our price range at the time, but I realized it's because it's in a gated community and near the Valencia Country Club where there's a gorgeous lake and golf course.

Anyway, we arrived at the mall and we just loved how Christmas-y it was! We became especially impressed at The Patios-the newly constructed outside section of the mall. It was filled with new shops, sections for kids, everything (even an "archeology" dig store for children-if they found something they kept it). It was just beautiful. I had to take pictures. Definitely love what they're doing to Valencia! Even Gary's face lit up on all the new construction. We both had the Christmas spirit beaming in us with the lovely Christmas songs in the background.

Beautiful Christmas tree and the surrounding ponds

Gary warming himself by the fire

Fun little fountain area with "jumping water"

They had a few of these. So pretty!

Train area for kids

The train itself. Super cute!

 It was very much alive and super fun! Gary even spoiled me a bit since I didn't get any gifts for myself on Black Friday. What a sweetie!

New dress!

New skirt!

  Now some pics of our shopping center all Christmas-y.

  Gary and I really do love Valencia/Santa Clarita. The security is great, the schools are fantastic and there's so much nearby like the beach, temple, downtown shopping, anything. We just wish it didn't cost SO much. We even agreed it may even beat the fact this is California. We hate California, but would be willing to put up with it to live here. I may adjust living like this. Oh, we'll just see where life takes us.

 Since we just got home today, Christmas decorations aren't up just yet. But soon! I am most definitely looking forward to the holidays.

 Anyway, we grabbed some pizza at Pavilions and finally made our way home. I love being able to go everywhere on foot. We then watched a really lame but funny action movie.

 My goodness it is raining madness out there (as you can see from the photos above). Time to snuggle up with hubby and kitties with some hot chocolate and enjoy the rest of our night!

PS- Speaking of hubby, we recently discovered he is a polymath. Polymath- A person with extraordinarily broad and comprehensive knowledge. I mean, in 7th grade his IQ was 146. Yeah, he's my genius! I also call him my Wikipedia.

A Beautiful Sunday Indeed

 My goodness it's just beautiful outside. A bit cold, but beautiful nonetheless. This spoiled cat has been going outside too. Often times we end up saying, "that's enough already" and bring him inside so we can close the door. We keep a nice warm blanket by the couch so we can always snuggle up when watching a movie or television (although I currently have it wrapped around me while I'm on here).

The mountains are so blue and crisp. Ooh, I'm totally tempted to go on a photo-walk. You know, a beautiful scenic walk through our area and snap photos of how gorgeous it is. Hmm...perfect Sunday to do so.  My favorite thing about Santa Clarita- the mountains and canyons being right there. I even enjoy my drive to work when I work early mornings. Silly me.

Speaking of blankets and such, we "redecorated" our bed. Our old red comforter was torn and just ready to go. Gary and I had been looking around for something new, just hadn't come across anything until a recent trip to Target. They had over-sized king quilts on sale. Since Gary and I prefer quilts over comforters, we bought it. We also added in another layer of a warm blanket we found at Big Lots. Definitely cozy in the cold weather. Since we don't run our heater, it's always nice. We have a small heater we bought for ourselves last year, so it does the trick. Dexter wants outside early mornings, but it doesn't happen anymore. Sorry, cat, 40 degrees is just too cold.

Pretty girl resting on our favorite, warmest blanket of all. Man I love that blanket.

 He stuck his head out when he heard the camera.

Anyway, we love our new bedding.

In other news, I'm looking forward to the holidays. I'm glad work has given me time off to visit family, which we're looking forward to. My job has been understanding when I mentioned we don't have family in this city. Gary took the whole week after Christmas off. I'm looking forward to that as well! I didn't request that many days off because they've been so nice. Just Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Last week we had the opportunity to attend a dinner party with some friends (other couples in the ward). We've been doing this every month for a few months now, although I missed last month's because work kept me late. Hopefully we'll be able to make it this month. We had a blast, too. It's always nice being able to socialize with other people our age. One of these months Gary and I will have the opportunity to host it. Maybe January or February. We were thinking about throwing the party in the clubhouse, though. So we'll see.

So, yesterday, Gary and I decided to head to Costco to do some shopping. Okay, so we kinda had to since we needed his allergy pills, milk, and a few other things. Anyway, we stopped by the kitchen appliance and storage area and saw a few things we liked. First of all, we liked the rice steamer. We put it on our Christmas list for each other. We then came across the Rubbermaid Premier food storage. We looked at each other and probably had the same thought bubble: opening up our cabinet and watching all the current food storage containers falling out. So, we grabbed it and bought it.

Much, much better. It's actually a set of 5, but we double-stacked the ones on the top row since they all fit within each other and the lids on the bottom fit all of them. What's also neat is the fact they're airtight when you close them. Mucho nice. We love them and the new space.

Anyway, since Gary mumbled something about cookies and hot chocolate before stealing my blanket and dozing off on the couch, I'm going to make cookies and hot chocolate to balance out this cold and cloudy weather. Well, actually I might make a real meal first. Something nice and warm. Maybe some sort of beef casserole?

Bye!

PS- Church was excellent! We learned about the many gifts we receive in our lives. Last week we also sustained our new bishop- Bishop Nathan Aina. Bishop Williams was wonderful, but we're excited to have our new bishop too!

Dentist Again

My dentist appointment was scheduled at 10:45am. Gary's was right next to mine. Around 10am, we get a phone call from the dental office asking where Gary is. Okay, so his appointment was supposed to be at 10. So, we head on down there. Luckily they are a few blocks away.

Gary went in for his appointment. At 11:30, I finally went in for my appointment (after sitting in the waiting room for about an hour). The hygienist violated my mouth with the cleaning. Serious ouch. She explain that my gums were a little swollen and tender, then asked if I was on any medication. I told her I was only taking my thyroid meds, and she asked which kind. I then found out she used to take the same medication for thyroid issues. She then explained that the medication and the illness have an impact on my gums and mouth. Remember how I received my first cavity 6 months ago? Yeah, blame the meds. Luckily I came back with a clean bill of health this time around. She told me to start rinsing with warm salt water and switch to a softer toothbrush. Besides that, I'm fine.

While I was getting my cleaning done, Gary was having a discussion with our dentist about insurance and other coverages. See, I want to get my that one front tooth fixed since part of the bonding fell off. The best option was to go with porcelain veneers for both front teeth. The cost for something like that is $1000/tooth, and since it's cosmetic, it's not exactly covered. Gary also needed a couple of fillings done for his mouth (from older cavities back in the day) and a veneer for another tooth. Years ago when he had a few cavities, they were done with cheaper material, therefore they eventually fell apart. The cost of fixing all of those would have been around $1400. To add to that, I grind my teeth at night and often wake up in pain. The recommendation was a mouth guard- around $400. Total cost of everything? Around $3800. Possibly more because of negotiated rates.

So, our dentist and others in the office decided to talk to the insurance company to see what they could do and if we were covered for anything. They finally got off the phone and said, "Well, if you want to do all of those procedures combined, the insurance will cover most and we'll give you a discount."  New total cost of everything?  $500. Good part of my day!

Let's just say Gary and I have been very pleased with our new dental company. It was even better hearing many thank-yous from patients as they were leaving the building, praising the dentist for the good work. It was amazing they were working with us to help us afford so much. The dentist himself, Dr. David Abri, is very very kind and considerate as well.

I haven't gotten my veneers yet, but will get it soon. Hopefully an appointment within the week. I'm glad we switched over. Hygienist needs to calm down a bit with the cleaning, but everything else is great.

Anyway, I need to stop wasting away my only day off on this darn computer. Time to go out and do something. Bye!

School Stuff

 I know I haven't posted in awhile. There's really not too much to update, but I'll probably just ramble anyway (mostly about school).

 I got a raise and have been working a lot. I also just found out I had 11 hours of vacation time saved up, so I decided to cash it in on my next check. Definitely looking forward to next Thursday's check.

School is going fine. I took one of the toughest tests thus-far. The unit was based on the fundamentals of medical transcription. I was sent a text book of everything from English studies and practices to diseases processes, anatomy, medico-legal ethics, pharmacology, etc. Just for my last unit I had to study around 100 pages from the text book. Not my style at all, but I survived and wound up only missing one question on the test. An EASY question for that matter. But Emilee, as her usual dur self, misread the question. But one question wrong wasn't bad. I did spend a good amount of time on that darn test though. Luckily it all worked out.

I also loved how the unit described MTs as medical language specialists...most people think typist, medical secretary, word processor, clerk, or whatever else, and I can see why now. Medical terminology is mostly what my studies have been revolved around. That, and diseases, anatomy, procedures, etc. It's also extremely important we learn pharmacology as well as laboratory tests and results. The only thing that makes an MT different from any other health care professional is the lack of hands-on with patients. It's interesting now- often times I find myself chuckle at these medical dramas when they use terminology or disease processes in a serious matter and I understand what they're saying-and laugh how serious they make it. Like on House, someone mentioned a pituitary tumor, and a doctor asked, "shouldn't we check for cancer?"- and I chuckled and said aloud, "silly, they are benign tumors", whereas another doctor corrected him and informed him of this. Don't get me wrong, though. I still love House, Grey's Anatomy, and Private Practice. Gotta admit, I feel pretty cool knowing this stuff. Even my brilliant husband overhears something and asks aloud, "what does that mean?" I feel smart informing him. Mostly because I'm the one always asking him questions since he's my human Wikipedia and dictionary. Sometimes I shock myself when I realize I know something he doesn't, haha.  I'm still a work in progress, though (flashcards are amazing with this stuff). But I am looking forward to finishing this. When Gary and I discussed adoption, Gary asked, "You do know you'll probably have to quit your job, right?" I agreed with him, but added, "That's why I'm doing this medical transcription program." My backup plan for staying home would be this career. I am still planning to do the engineering program once I'm done with this though. You know, extra backup.

There's also a program called the American Association for Medical Transcription. When you join the program, whether as a student or a professional, you have the opportunity to meet up in person others who are pursuing the field/in the field. It's been recommended everywhere to join the association because it's an excellent way to get your foot in the door. My professor is also urging me to start finding jobs right now in the health care industry. So, I've been looking around. I applied for a job at our local hospital (Henry Mayo) as a medical clerk. I'm still looking and hopefully will find some luck. It's $55 to join the AAMT, so we'll see.

Okay, I think that's all regarding school for now. Told ya I'd ramble :)

Everything else is going rather well. Gary's job is still amazing and I love seeing him so happy. I just love that boy.

Besides that, there's not much else to update. I have to work in a little bit. Sucks, but that's life. I'm also glad to see the weather cooling down again. Poor little crazy cat keeps wanting to go outside in the early mornings like we used to. I peeked outside around 7am this morning and noticed the thermometer read 46 degrees. Yeah freaking right. Sorry, cat. But he gets to hangout during the afternoon if I'm home. Then the door closes again in the evening because it gets freezing again. He'll survive. Speaking of cats, I switched their diet. I've been slowly changing them (and fully changed now) to Wellness. They've always been on expensive food, but this is nuts. However, because of their allergies, asthma, and weight, it's recommended by their vet. I'm still feeding them their supplement the vet gave them, too. Anyway, the food is holistic, doesn't contain any corn or by-products (fillers), and is made from deboned chicken and other natural foods. Oh, and it's a weight management formula. I know, they're just cats, but they're my babies and I want them in great health.

Speaking of, I've decided I'm going to switch medications. I don't feel this is working out for me anymore. I bought a book called "Living Well with Autoimmune Disease", and it has a lot of good and information as well as a recommendation to another thyroid treatment (the author suffers from Hashimoto's as well). So, I'm going to try out the new one. A woman mentioned she had been on Levothyroxine (what I take) for a while, but felt it never actually worked. So, she switched to a thyroid medication that helps add T3 and T4 (they work with the thyroid), called Armour, and she said her symptoms disappeared and she lost half the weight she was carrying around. So I'm interested. I do feel my symptoms never go away. My hair still falls out, my skin still dries up, my joints always flare up and hurt, my mind is always fuzzy, and I'm exhausted and fatigued.

Okay, seriously, gotta get ready for work and stop yapping. Sorry for the severely boring blog post today. More family-related stuff another time. Bye!

November!

 I can't believe it's already November! These months are just flying right on by. October was a very speedy month. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas! Exciting :) I do feel like I just put up my Halloween decorations, too. Time for the Thanksgiving ones. Christmas is tempting, but I can't forget the importance of Thanksgiving.  My sentences are very short- Emilee tired.

Gary and I never had the opportunity to carve pumpkins this year, although we bought a couple just in case. Sadly they are still sitting on our island waiting to be carved. Well, I suppose I can use them for other purposes, right? Like pumpkin seeds?

Anyway, we had our ward Halloween party Saturday night, and it was sooo fun! Since Gary and I are no longer on the activities committee, we got to sit and enjoy and socialize with everyone. I baked up some cornbread for the event and it was gone within minutes (since it turned out perfectly and was super delicious). I was really happy about that!

Gary and I did indeed dress up. For Gary's work, the engineers dressed up as the "Sons of Technology" as opposed to The Sons of Anarchy, a television show on FX. We both watch that show and love it, so it was fun hearing his work was going to dress up as such (in a similar manner of course). Here's a character from the show:

That's the front of the vest. Gary's version:

Now the back from the show:

And Gary:

I thought it was too cute.

So, I had to dress up similar:

I love my new leather jacket! Bought it at Macy's for 50% off- big sale going on. I had big earrings, too, but it wasn't in the shot.

So, we headed out to the ward Halloween party after these pictures. We enjoyed chili and cornbread, then got to trunk-or-treat. Well, WE didn't, but we handed out candy. We couldn't figure out how to turn the trunk light off in our car, so without wanting to drain the battery, we just closed the trunk and decorated with spider webs. Anyway, here's pictures of the event:

This is when we first arrived

A lot of people by the end of the night!

 Anyway, we came home, watched some scary (and dumb) movies, and crashed! Time to go do stuff! Later.