Different kind of ward

Our ward is kinda different, I have never been to a ward that is quite like this one. I guess the closes to this was the West Philly ward I grew up going to but even that it does not come close. We have now been in this ward for 6 months but I still leave church with my mouth open from shock every sunday. My first sunday in this ward I sat behind a weird guy who while the opening prayer was going on he kept on saying "buddah" over and over again, at first in a low voice but as the prayer went on he got louder. It was actually kinda funny. Oh and then this, for the first month or so every sunday our bishop asked us if we were knew in the ward, finally I felt so awkward that I started going in a different way so that he wouldn't ask me. Maybe he has memory lose or something. At the only activity I have actually gone to, I was talking to a newer sister about how weird the ward was and she said that when she first moved in that they told her that this was just an amazing ward and that she would love it here and then she said "these poor people have never been to a really nice ward, they have no idea what they are talking about" isn't that funny? At least I am not the only one that feels this way. Don't get me wrong there are some nice, normal people in the ward but those are very few.

A few funny stories; the last month or so the ambulance has been called at least 4 times during sacrament. Today Jon goes to a sister "is it me or does it seem like every sunday something happens and the ambulance needs to be called" and she goes "yeah Jon, it only happens when you come to church" so he was like "I might need to stop coming cause I think we are only one sunday away from someone dying". Seriously though its crazy, the one sunday a 92 year old woman tried to fast and past out, God bless her. 

Also normally whenever I have entered a new ward the relief society comes over to get to know you, if you are LDS you know how that works they always somehow find you, even if you don't want to be found but at this ward it was nothing like that. The first counselor lived next door to me for about 3 months and she knew I was about to have a kid and I lie to you not but I have Bentley and no one even bothered to see if I needed anything or how I was doing, NOTHING. The people who actually cared were neighbors who are not even LDS. Oh and then the only reason the relief society president came over to meet me, which by the way happened about 5 months into the ward, was to give me my visiting teaching assignment. Literally she came over told me who she was and said she wanted to get the face down with the name and gave me my assignment and that was it. Well I lost the paper with my assignment and I let her know that I needed a copy, I never got it but she keeps calling me asking if I have done my visiting teaching but I won't answer my phone. 

I keep telling Jon maybe some day when we move from here we can find a good ward. I really miss my last ward. We were only there for about 6 months but everyone was just so close and friendly. Some day I guess or maybe that's not in my cards. Sometimes none members are better that way I can be myself since to many members I come off as inappropriate. 

I do love the church and I do have a testimony but I tell you sometimes the people in the church are something else.

Update on summer

This summer was the best summer I have had since we got married. We made it a point to go somewhere fun at least once a week. We went to a lot of water parks, lakes and state parks. I love the fact that we live in Utah, where there is always something fun to do out here and the views are just gorgeous.

When I got pregnant the one thing I worried about was postpartum depression. I am normally not a depressed person but there have been times when I have been depressed and its never fun, as I am sure everyone knows. So I had made myself a promise that once the baby came I would make sure I went out or had someone come over every day, that way I had a reason to fix myself. Having my cousin live 5 minutes away was a life saver cause she always knew when I was down. The other great thing that I think has helped me so far not feel down has been the fact that I try and go on a walk every day that I don't go to the gym or have people over.

I'll tell you what though a few weeks ago out of the blue I started to feel down. I didn't want to clean, I didn't want to get up, I was bitchy to Jon and I just was not a happy person at all. Even Jon said I was starting to remind him of my old pregnant self, poor Jon. One day I just broke down and started to cry and told Jon that I just was not feeling like my normal self ad that it felt like the worst feeling in the world. This went on for about 2 weeks but just like it came, one day I woke up and felt like my normal self again. Isn't that weird? Has that ever happened to any new mami out there? I told Jon had we had health care I would have seen a professional but oh well I'm not worried about it since I am back to normal.

Security System

I went out tonight for about an hour and when we get back home there was a truck in my driveway that I did not recognize. Then I walk inside the house and there are drills and a luggage by my back door and front door. So I yell out to Jon and ask him who is over since he didn't let me know anyone was coming over. I find out that its his friend Clegg that is over and that he has come up today without Jon knowing to install a security system in the house, he works for APX. In the last 3 weeks he has come up every Thursday and he said the 2 previous times he came up here he saw about 20 cops about to do a drug bust around our house, I guess he really likes us huh? Funny part is that a drug bust is the last thing I am worried about, how about I hear gun shots going off at night at least once a week. Also 3 months ago we are in bed and its around 1am and I am up to feed the baby and all of a sudden I hear a car door being slammed, then people running and then about 7 police cars right in front of my house and they are yelling to someone to get down. I freaked out since our window was wide open so Jon gets up quickly and closes the window but after a minute or so I didn't hear any gun shots so I figured it was safe and I went to the window and low and behold a Mexican is getting arrested right in front of my house. Then about that same time just 2 blocks away there was a drive by shooting at around midnight. Wait, wait it gets better the first night we were moving in we had talked to a neighbor and he told us this was a pretty good neighborhood and I am not even lying about 30 minutes later we hear what sounds like gun shots and then the same neighbor who told us this was a pretty good neighborhood is yelling from inside his house to get down cause there are shots going off. LMAO! Can you say funny? I guess we live in the ghetto, well as ghetto as it gets in Utah. The thing is that if you drive by and see our house its way nice not ghetto looking and our block is really nice and clean and lovely homes but one block down and its ghetto. Since moving in we have decided that we needed to get a gun and so I have gone shooting cause since I am home alone most of the time I need to know how to use it. We are not taking chances. Today though Clegg has made me very happy coming and surprising us with a security system. Can you tell we have amazing friends? Another time I will have to post a picture of the house and neighborhood so you can see I am not lying that it is nice.

Best diet plan that I have been on is...

getting pregnant, having a baby and then breast feeding! I highly recommend it, just kidding. Honestly though before I got pregnant I was at 129lbs which was 14lbs heavier than when I first moved out to Utah. For about 2 years I was trying to lose that weight but nothing worked. I guess nothing worked because I love food and hate to exercise. 

Let me tell you how it worked for me, first of all I must have some amazing genes, thank you mami! I got pregnant and within 8 weeks I was nauseous day and night which helped a lot with the weight, am I horrible or what? Since everything grossed me out I barely gained any weight and then I had the baby and I no longer am hungry so many times I forget to eat. Ok now if you know me you know this is not normal at all cause I love my food but I truly don't get hungry plus taking care of the baby I just forget to eat. Plus I am breast feeding which burns 500 calories a day. I don't understand why anyone would not want to breast feed when it does that. Well since all of that has been happening I finally am back to my high school weight, yay! I think I might need to go out and celebrate.

Funny thing so I am actually below my high school weight but my body is totally different, I didn't really know thats what it would be like but my lower body is so different. I no longer have a butt which makes me sad but hopefully going to the gym will help with that. 

On another note, I am so proud of Jon, he has been for about 5-6 weeks been trying to lose weight and he goes to the gym just about every day for like 2 hours. How awesome is that? I think that it makes him feel good cause he is in a better mood when he goes. The weight is slowly coming off which is the right way to do it.

THE best chocolate cake recipe

I used to hate anything chocolate. Isn't that the weirdest thing EVER? I do not know what was wrong with me but during my last trimester of my pregnancy I started to crave everything chocolate and ever since then I have been on a mission to find the best chocolate cake recipe and I have just recently found it. It is so moist and just plain yummy. So I have to share with everyone out there what I have found and if anyone gets a chance to make it let me know what you think.

2 cups of sugar

1 cup of butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

2 1/2 cups of cake flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cups buttermilk

HEAT oven to 350 degrees. Spray three 9-inch round cake pans or one 9x13 pan with non stick cooking spray.

BEAT sugar, butter and vanilla with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, beat into creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Beat 1 minute longer. Pour into pans.

BAKE for 26-30 minutes for the round pans for the 9x13 bake for about 35-40 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

When I made this recipe I used a cream cheese frosting and it was heaven. Enjoy!

We are sick!

Baby has been sick this past week but I just thought that it was his teething until saturday when he started coughing but since it didn't sound like a horrible cough I didn't worry too much. Saturday night however the cough got worse and so yesterday I called the doctor's office and I spoke to a nurse who made me feel better, she told me a few things to do but that if he didn't get any better to take him in. At the same time I made an appointment with her for today just in case he was not better. Well, last night was a horrible night...not only was he really sick but I now am sick too. Poor baby could barely breath and was not able to sleep good. I maybe got 3 hours of sleep off and on all night and poor Jon the same. So this morning we took baby in to the doctors and boy am I glad I did, it turns out he has bronchitis. I feel so bad for him, I wish I could have it instead of him. We came home and I was getting so frustrated with him cause he did not want to fall asleep and I was just really tired but then all of a sudden I got really emotional cause how in the world can I get frustrated at my precious baby. I felt like a horrible mami! Finally I was able to get him down and I have to admit I had to self medicate myself with some good meds and was able to get some much needed rest. I think tonight might be a better night just because I got some rest during the day. Lets hope the baby starts to feel better, specially since he is on some medication. Below is a picture of the baby from today. Don't you just feel so bad for him?

It's been a LONG LONG time...

but this time I will try to blog regularly. So since the last blog I had a baby, we moved to Ogden and the business is doing good. 

So life as a mother is crazy, hard, no time for me but the weird thing is that I LOVE it and I wouldn't change it for the world. I now look back and cannot remember what life was like before he came along. 

This summer has been a really great summer, we have had my brother staying with us for a while, we went to a lake just about every week or did something outdoors. I love summers in Utah for now it is almost over and here comes winter soon whether we like it or not. I am telling myself that this winter I will find fun activities to do outside so that it doesn't get too depressing. Any ideas?

Lately I have been losing my mind, I swear its this motherhood thing getting to me. Last week I was at Walmart, I turned my car on and locked my keys in my car with my purse in it. Thank goodness I was with my sister and she had her phone so I called my husband but there was nothing he could do since he was in Salt Lake City for meetings that day and I guess we forgot to pay for out AAA card this past year and so he didn't have them to call. So by the time I figure all this out the baby is crying I am starting to get emotional not to mention its like 110 degrees outside. Well I decide to call the police, as soon as I mention that I needed help cause I locked my keys in my turned on car and that my baby is crying and in the heat, they had a police officer out there in, NO LIE, a minute max. The best part of it all was he was able to get my car unlocked, YAY! I love small towns where the police is never busy. A piece of advice if EVER you lock yourself out of your car, mention you have a baby and they will be out there in no time. Ok that was my first clue that I am losing my mind the second thing was today I go to Walmart to print some pictures from my camera. I print them up, by the way they turned out ugly never used the machine that prints them in minutes, I pay for them and I left Walmart and go to my cousins house while there I realize my camera is gone. AHHH!! I freaked out since it is a really nice and expensive camera that I had been wanting for years and finally my husband got it for me after the baby came along. Picture this...I am at my cousins house freaking out, I empty my purse and I start yelling and about to cry. While all of this is going on my sister ran to the car to get the receipt and so I call Walmart. Thank goodness I live in Utah, that's all I have to say! A nice gentleman had seen my camera and gave it to the lady at the photo lab. I LOVE nice and honest people. Now thinking about it, maybe its not that I am losing my mind but just maybe its a Walmart thing, huh...

Well everyone likes pictures so I will put some up from the last few months. Enjoy!

Christmas in Cali

For Christmas we went to California to spend it with my husbands family. There was one moment that really made it worth it and that was on the last day other. Grandpa (which is not my grandfather but my husband grandfather) has dementia so he is not himself anymore. For most of the time he says things that are funny or not appropriate but nonetheless I love him. I never knew him when he was healthy but he was a well respected doctor (who even treated Elvis Presley) and he was very respectful towards people and everyone that knew him loved him. Now he can't control what he does and says. Right before we left their house I went into his room and gave him a kiss, told him I loved him and that next time I see him I am going to be a mom and that Jon and I are having the first boy in the family. For about a minute when he talked to me he was himself and he said, "Honey congratulations, if that boy looks anything like you he is going to be the cutest baby" and then I said to him "Grandpa if he looks and is half of what you are he will be the most amazing baby" he just looked at me and said "Thank you, your going to be such a great mom and I love you" I get all teary cause he doesn't have moments like that too often. That has actually been the first time that he has actually said something in his normal voice and actually meant it. He seemed to be with it for just that little moment. I will forever cherish that moment. I hope that Bentley can know what a great person he was.

All the Doulas kids.
Gosh isn't my sister so gorgeous, I think she should be a model.

The hubby and I.

Baby Shower!

While I was in Philly my mom and her friend threw me a baby shower. It was so much fun. I have never been to one before so I didn't know what to expect but it was a lot of fun. I invited some of my friends and my mom invited some of the people that I like the most from the branch. Out of my friends only one showed up which turned out to be good cause everyone from the branch that was invited was hispanic or spoke spanish and my one friend that showed up is from Colombia so it was perfect. I was really glad to see my friend, her name is Paola and she was my dear friend the last 2 years of high school. I hadn't seen her in about 4 years so I was super excited to see her and hopefully I can be a better friend and stay in touch with her this time. Also Silvia (not my sister but a good family friend) came to the shower, I hadn't seen her in a few years either but since she loves me so much she came to it. We played some fun games at the shower and I got some good advice from all the sisters from the branch. I also got A LOT of gifts for Bentley. I was so happy to get all those gifts. It just made me feel like there are people excited and happy for me. My family got me a tons of clothes for Bentley too and really cute clothes at that. 

Everyone that came to the shower.
One of the many gifts I got.
This is our family friend Silvia, I love her!
And this is my good friend Paola, isn't she beautiful?

Got to go to Philly for Thanksgiving

Ok so before I tell you about my Philly trip it has been a long, long time since I have written on her, so I'll tell you a few things. We found out we are having a baby boy and we are super happy about that not that a girl wouldn't have been great but both of us wanted a boy, it worked out for the both of us. We have now had 2 ultrasounds and the baby seems to be doing well. Oh we have picked out a name for our baby it is Bentley Steven Doulas. I love the name! Not too many of our family members do but we don't care cause Jon and I love the name. My best friend Jen has moved back to Utah and I am super happy to have her back. I have dearly missed her. Now I just need to make more of an effort to see her often. I know that Bentley and her little boy are going to be good friends. My brother will who is on a mission got transfered and he actually only lives 5 minutes from me so I get to see him often. I know I shouldn't and all that good stuff but the mission president knew that I lived here and he still put him here so oh well. I have seen him on the streets walking or he has come into the store to get free pizzas or I go and drop food and things off for him and his companion. I am actually loving having him close by. I'll enjoy it while it last. So I think those are all the major things that have happened.

Now about my lovely Philly trip, I got to go back home for almost 2 weeks. They were the best 2 weeks. Other than the fact that I missed my husband but I sure as heck did not miss all the drama back here. I had the most relaxing time back home it was wonderful. I got to sleep in and wake up to my mom's amazing cooking. I didn't have to do anything but eat my mom's food that I have so much missed and lay around all day. My dad was also off from work the whole time I was there which worked out great cause we got to do a lot of talking and hanging out. Gosh I really miss my family. Its funny how you sometimes need to be apart from them to really realize how much they mean to you. My parents are the most amazing people on earth, I think. I got lucky with them. Ok so my mom didn't know I was coming to Philly it was a surprise. My dad knew cause he had to pick me up but mom knew nothing. When I got home I knocked on the door and she opened it and just stood there forever looking at me like I was a ghost and then finally she started screaming and gave me a huge hug. We got to have Thanksgiving together after 3 year of not being together for it. Of course Will was very much missed but he is doing something amazing with his life. I got to hang out with Aaron a bit which is always good and of course I got to spend some time with Silvia not as much as I would have wanted to but she had to work. I also got to see my friend Mare who has a special place in my heart and specially her daughter Jordan who I babysat for about a year or more. I was so happy to get to see them and since she now has another daughter I got to see her all grown. Its always good to go back home cause I have so many good memories.

My brother Aaron and I out front my parents house
My dad and I decorating the Christmas tree, every one else was not in the Christmas mood.
Out getting the Christmas tree.
Silvia and I painting some onesies for Bentley.
We are at Penn's Landing.