Alyssa Bridge CCC/SLP/Exterminator

I usually have fun little stories to tell Justin about the families and kids that I see on a daily basis.(I leave out identifying info!) However, most of them are you had to be there moments. This last Friday I had a visit that I just have to blog about. It had been a day for the mom and she was running around all day. When I called to remind her about our visit so she would not no-show me she was at Thanksgiving point with the promise to beat me to her house. I left 15mins late to provide her with extra time. When I arrived she was on the phone (she owns her own business), She was on and off the phone during the visit and I was finishing my home visit report and preparing to leave when I saw a mouse peek out from behind the couch. I commented to the mom what I had seen. She did not believe me at first but then after some furniture moving discovered the mouse for herself. maybe I didn't freak because of my farm wits but I have to say in my defense I dislike mice as much as everyone else, I have no idea why I was so calm. The mom was a little hysterical about the situation and kept telling me that somehow it was my fault. It obviously must have snuck in through my toy bag. She also kept saying, "you need to do this or that." Together we were finally able to corner the mouse and persuade their cat to become interested enough to catch it. The cat now did what cats do and that is take it to a place where it could "play" with it. This place happened to be her boys room. The mom wanted me to pick the cat up with the mouse and take it outside. This is where I drew the line and told her I would help shoo the cat out. About a half- hour into the process the mom mentioned she needed to go upstairs for something. I am downstairs watching their cat bat this mouse around that is still alive and obviously trying to escape when I hear clinking noises. I shut the boys door and walk upstairs to find the mom loading her dishwasher. At this point I decided my added title of exterminator was over and I informed the mom I needed to leave. The whole experience I believe was a little overwhelming for her. I have not heard back to see when/how she caught the mouse but I assume they are all still alive and well. I also learned from this experience that overall I would like to stick to my skills as a speech therapist. Extermination is not my cup of tea.

First comes......

First comes love, then comes marriage then comes a baby in a baby carriage.

I am 21 weeks along with an approximate due date between the 12-21 of January. Each ultrasound is different. Dr. Froerer believes that I will go more towards the end and "Sorry, but I think you are going to have a big baby." At our ultrasound today the baby weighed in at a whopping 1lb 2oz. We have decided to be surprised at delivery so there were lots of moments where we were instructed to look away from the screen. Justin is hoping for a boy my mom is hoping for a girl and I have no preference at this time. The first trimester was for the most part good. I had very little sick moments. However, I did need/want to take a nap at any available moment. Second trimester has been great. My stomach has nearly quadrupled in size I gained back the ten pounds I lost first trimester and am continuing to grow daily. I started feeling little popping bubbles around 19 weeks and have since then wished the baby would hold still again. It is constantly moving and I feel sort of like a pin ball machine. You could see on the ultrasound the little fist and feet jerk up into me. The tech commented that she could feel the movement as well. This is one strong little baby. Seeing our little ones pictures and suck their fist helped to make the whole experience more real for the both of us. 21 weeks down 19 more weeks to go.

Flaming Gorge

For vacation with the Bridge family we headed to Flaming Gorge. The trip started off with an hour delay outside of Evanston because of a car accident. Justin caught some zz's and I tried to watch the t.v. in the semi next to us. We made it to the gorge around midnight and promptly went to bed. Saturday and Monday we loaded the boat with the nine of us and took turns on the tube. It is a blast going with Heather(sister-in-law)because she is screaming slow down and no bumps and I am yelling is that all you got? it is funny to encourage her to do more. Justin even rode the tube to help his nephew take a turn. The ride ended with Logan on the boat and Justin throwing/pushing his dad in the water. Sunday we went fishing and toured the dam. Justin, Noni and Heather caught fish. Justin's was the only keeper. Overall, we had good food, and a good time with family. Now it's back to work and school. Where did the summer go?

Lake Powell adventures

The week of the 20th, my family went to Wahweap bay for the yearly jaunt to Lake Powell. Justin and I along with my brothers family left Saturday night and arrived Sunday morning. We were excited to set up camp and hit the water for the first trip of the season. The weather was perfect until we were ready to go and then the first sandstorm of the week hit us. It lasted all day and made the waters unfit for skiing or wakeboarding. We spent a lot of time hiding from the sand in the trailer but enjoying some good conversations. Monday morning was excellent we were able to get some great runs in and had a great start to my yearly sunburn. Monday afternoon brought with it our first medical injury. My cousin's friend tore his MCL. The second storm of the week came with no warning and brought such force we lost a trailer awning, tent poles and a pop up tent. We coward in the trailer for awhile but then we all ended up under the big shade tents holding poles so that it too would not succumb to the weather. It was actually quite fun all standing there laughing at our misfortunes. The storm cleared the skies and brought warm and sunny weather until Thursday. True to Lake Powell water the mornings were great and the afternoons good tubing weather. We ended the week with one final wind storm that added an extra layer to the bedding and our last medical emergency. My cousin Matt was running down the sand hill and went to dive into the water but hit head first into a sandbar. He broke a vertebrae in his neck at both the anterior and posterior position. He was life flighted to UofU hospital where he is stable and under traction to prevent any movement. He is lucky that so far there is no sign of neural damage or paralysis. They are waiting to see if the bones will grow back on there own. This would be his best option and provide for the best range of motion later. As of now we can only wait and see. The drive home was extended by a total blonde moment when I left my purse in Kanab. We had to turn around and drive an hour back then the hour back to where we were. Needless to say we are very tired and have spent most the weekend and past few days relaxing and doing laundry. Even though this year was more difficult I can't wait for next year already.
When I was going through the pictures for the slide show I came across this trio of pics that demonstrates just why Pres. Baker gave me the name Bailout Bridge. If there is even a chance I might not land the jump I 1-left go, 2-prepare myself and 3- plug my nose.

Catching up on what we did in June

I have not been in much of a blogging mood lately especially because we have been pretty boring people. I am seriously planning some sort of trip or excursion. Here is a quick list of what we have been up to.

1. Justin is taking geology for an additional science credit and working 30 hours a week as a research assistant for his thermo-acoustics physics teacher. He is currently working on writing a program to solve the transcendental equation. (whatever that means) He seems to be liking his work and what he is learning in the process.
He has also recently picked up a new hobby of disc golf. He plays daily on UVU's campus and has lost many a disc in the water feature. He has come home on several occasions wet or a little swampy feeling as he dives in after those lost discs. One incident involved campus security. One night in an attempt to get out of the house we tried our hand at Taylorsville's disc golf course. Lets just say I am not an accurate frisbee thrower.

2. I mostly go to work each day, come home, cook dinner, clean dinner and relax until I can do it all over again. I am pretty lucky to have the job that I do. Kids on the Move has not felt the effects of the economy like other companies. I received both my yearly raise this year as well as a 3% cola increase. I am so lucky to be able to work with such amazing families. I recently had a family call me after a year and ask me to come be their private therapist. For them to feel like I made that big of an impact on their daughter was humbling for me. I am toying with the idea of making myself more available to other families as well but am also wrestling with thoughts of inadequacy. Outside of work I have a million projects I want to work on. Organizing and cleaning the house, sewing projects, books to read and more boating outings to plan.

3. On June 2nd Justin and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. Justin gave me my favorite flowers roses and daisies. At first glance our marriage has changed in weight and shape mostly. Behind the scenes we have learned how to cope with living side by side and each others quirky tendencies. I am grateful for his ability to remind me that I love him even when I am mad at him. He may not be the funniest person in the word but he has his moments and for those I am grateful as well because they often come when I needed to smile the most.

4. We were able to plan a much deserved boating trip at Deer Creek Reservoir. My brother Eric provided the boat and camping trailer and our two families headed down Friday to Sunday. The weather was less than ideal. It was suppose to rain pretty much the whole weekend. Saturday was wet but so off and on that we decided to hit the water anyway. I guess everyone else was scared away because we pretty much had the lake to ourselves and the water was glass. Justin, Eric and I each took turns on the wakeboard and freezing in the water. I have to say that I was pretty much average compared to last year even with a tower this time my jumps were the same. Saturday afternoon the rest of my family joined us for fun in the rain and good food. At one point it was raining so hard we pretty much crammed 16 people in a 20ft trailer. We all survived and enjoyed the night roasting s'mores and good conversation. Sunday was a partly cloudy day and despite wearing layers I burned my thighs and shoulders in the twenty minutes I did not have the layers on.

5. Sunday was Father's Day so we headed from the campground to a cabin near Brighton for dinner with Justin's family. It is so pretty and peaceful up there. We both enjoyed spending time with his nieces and nephew, Justin's nephew especially makes him laugh. We do not see them often enough.

6. We were able to spend some quality time with one of my favorite cousins Jennifer. She was attending a music teaching conference here and allowed us to chauffeur her around at night. We played more frisbee disc golf, went rock climbing at Momentum gym and visited numerous ice cream shops including Cold Stone where my sister Taisa hooked us up with the family discount.

7. Justin's mom is out of town and left us her season tickets to the Real games. We attended a game last night and enjoyed not only a perfect evening and game but also some fun people watching. We drove home on 54th and were able to see the T-ville day fireworks. They lasted forever and put me the mood for the upcoming week of celebration.

8.I ventured up to Logan to have a reunion dinner at Angie's with some of my favorite people from graduate school (JoLynne,Rachel and Genna). It is so much fun getting together but sad as you start to notice you mostly have the past to talk about and that you stopped building fun new memories together.

July is coming and brings with it Lake Powell. I look forward to this every year. Until then I am planning another boat trip hopefully this time the weather will cooperate.

Fascinating or disturbing you decide

I have to say that three years ago I did not know I was moving onto a farm. It may look residential in the front but the back holds many surprises. In the last three years I have seen a chicken's head cut off and the rest end up on our dinner table, two horses going at it, baby bunnies that look like rats, dead chickens from the neighbors dog, Justin stuck calf high in the mud we call our horse pasture, tractors driving around a one acre piece of property and the birth of two horses. I was lucky enough to experience this last one for the second time last Tuesday. Blondie was due between the 12th and 18th. During that time I checked on her often, timed her contractions and held my breath each time she showed signs of labor. She made me wait until the 18th to actually go into Labor but at least she waited until I was home from work. Last years birth made child bearing seem easy. If a horse could come out slick as butter a child would surely be easy. This year the horse was in labor for 30-40 minutes and we thought for sure we were going to lose one or the other. After some intense breathing the filly was out and walking within seconds. She is pretty cute even if she came out a red dun and not a buckskin or palomino. I have to say that life on the farm teaches you more about the birds and the bees than anything I have seen. Below are some pictures shortly after the birth.

Halfway Out
Mom is done the foal is trying to kick it's way out
First time standing up just minutes after birth
The next day.

We were WICKED

This past Sunday we cashed in our Christmas gift for two tickets to WICKED! We started off the evening with a delicious dinner at the Olive Garden. I never cook on Sunday so it was no big change to have someone else cook for us. Heather order alfredo dipping sauce despite John's warnings about all the butter in it. Thank you Heather. I love dipping as well. The show was fabulous I have had songs in my head all week. I mentioned to Brian and Becci they should have bought tickets just for the girls and I think Brian, Justin and John agreed. In the words of John and Justin I would rather go to a movie and pay $8 dollars to see better special effects than pay $75 to see people singing all the time. All the girls loved it. I can only imagine what it must be like to have that much talent in something. Thank you Brian and Becci for dinner and the show. I loved it.