The Aggen Family

Firsts

2012-02-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks have had a lot of firsts:

First ICU and Psych tests { aced them! }
First time crying at clinical { Tired Tabi + Nervous situation = Bursting into tears for no reason }
First job promotion { I am going to be an LPN on an Alzheimer's unit at the place I currently work at - now to study for that pesky NCLEX-PN }
First time crying, no wait sobbing, in a movie in a very long time { Listen to Your Heart (2010) - watch it! Sooo good! }
First LPN training shift { Success! }
First time getting in a car accident.{ I got rear-ended at a stop light. Not fun. }
First experience in my life where I have to get someone else to legally verify that I love my hunky husband Alex Aggen {why doesn't permanent residency paperwork have a box to check that says "snuggles every night, has got my back no matter what, and is pretty much the most important person in my whole life"? :) }
First time watching 2 sunsets on back-to-back days in a row { I need to do this more often }

Sunday Brunch

2012-01-15T11:05:00.000-07:00

After a week of . . .

an eleven hour day on campus

a paper that takes seven hours to complete

the first of many twelve hour ICU clinical shifts

& three LSAT preparation classes a week

Sunday brunch before Church is exactly what we needed.

Kansas Holiday

2012-01-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

We spent Christmas break in Kansas, which is where Alex is from. It was so great to be able to read books for fun, sleep in, stuff ourselves with yummy food, play with our nieces and nephews, watch old home movies and pour over photo albums, see the sights of Kansas City, and be with family. Here are pictures from our trip:

1. Decorating and getting into the Christmas spirit

2. Baking sugar cookies  

3. (Silly) glamour make-over with the girls

4. Exploring the Plaza

5. Having fun with the family (game night, eating in Lawrence, playing piano with a niece, chest bumping Uncle Tim...)

6. Christmas afternoon

7. Catching up on some much needed sleep

8. Kansas City BBQ baby!

9. New Years Eve (crepes & playing bananagrams!)

10. Exploring Weston, MO 

11. Liberty Jail and the new Kansas City LDS temple

A Lot Like Christmas

2011-12-11T21:07:00.001-07:00

Lights dimmed, Christmas tree lit up, carols playing in the background & contemplating the reason for this season- the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not:

for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. . . And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:10-11, 13-14)

 I love this time of year.

t minus 1

2011-12-02T20:49:00.001-07:00

1 more week of classes for Alex and then he graduates.

1 more year left for me until I graduate.

eek!
Let the countdown begin.

Pixels

2011-11-23T17:04:00.001-07:00

1. Living Room

2. Kitchen and Dining Room

3. Master Bedroom

4. Upstairs Bathroom

5. Downstairs-Laundry Room/Bathroom and Guest Bedroom

6. Enjoying a Utah Fall

7. Wreaths I have Made

8. Being Silly & New Haircut (picture taken in our yellow home office, which was too messy to post a picture of on here...haha)

***

We have been keeping BUSY. With moving into our new place, Alex finishing the last semester of his undergraduate degree, and me spending lots of time at the hospital for clinical, most of our evenings are spent relaxing. Hence the lack of blog posts :)

We feel so blessed in our life though, and are grateful for all that we have:

A Warm Home

A Functioning Car

Unconditional Love

Each Other 

AMAZING Family and Friends

Jobs in a Troubling Economy

Food in Our Refrigerator and Pantry 

The Opportunity to Pursue an Education

 Happiness 

Our Religion Which Strengthens Us in Hard Times

A Free Country

And Much, Much More...

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Two

2011-08-22T13:18:00.000-06:00

1. I love you.

2. I love us.

Happy 2 Year Anniversary Alex.

Duwamps

2011-08-19T00:00:00.000-06:00

The Aggen family went a-traveling to Seattle! Here are the Highs and Lows of the trip:

High: Sitting next to a guy on the plane that was reading a cat detective book. Also, reading over his shoulder when he wasn't aware of it-we wonder what will happen to the two lovable detective cats named KoKo and YumYum...
Low: A wheel breaking on our luggage as we are walking a few blocks to our hotel

High: Buying a CityPass which was cheap and allowed us to get into all the major attractions

Low: Sore feet from walking

High: Pike Place Market where we got yummy fresh blueberries and beautiful flowers

Low: Seeing a completely gutted fish at one of the stands...yick!

High: Sunny 75 degree weather-Perfect!
Low: Cold weather right when we got there, which lead to us thinking that it was going to be that cold the whole time we were there (thank goodness it wasn't!)

High: Cupcake with Maple frosting and Bacon on top
Low: Barely warmed Dim Sum from Chinatown

High: Renting a car our last day in Seattle to explore more of the city
Low: Confusing one-way streets

High: Spending time together enjoying the sights, the sounds, and one another

Low: Having to leave Seattle and finish our vacation

Overall our vacation was perfect and we wouldn't have changed a thing about it. Even the "Lows" of the trip made it enjoyable and will be fond memories as we look back on our vacation in years to come!

And for your viewing pleasure, a conglomeration of photos we took while we were there!

This picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

24

2011-08-18T13:22:00.002-06:00

Somebody in our little family had a birthday on August 9! We celebrated by eating homemade quiche for breakfast (an interesting feat on my part to say the least but thankfully it turned out great). The birthday boy then went to work but we celebrated later that night by getting some yummy hamburgers, opening presents from family members, and having a couple of friends over to eat homemade birthday cake that was surrounded by Alex's favorite chocolate bars-KitKat! It was a fantastic day to celebrate a birthday, and I am so grateful to have Alex for my husband.

Whoever Said...

2011-07-18T12:07:00.003-06:00

...That exercise is good for your health was mistaken. Running, as I proved this morning, can actually be quite hazardous.

cheesy pictures taken, after I had limped back home, to showcase my embarrassment and battle wounds

I wish I had a cool story as to how I got these nasty gashes, like that I was getting chased by a rabid dog or something of that caliber, but no. I was just running along the oh so flat sidewalk and somehow managed to trip on my own feet and skid across cement doom to a leg and elbow scraping halt. Ick.

Well, I guess I can make good use of my wound care skills today- this will be perfect practice :)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And on a much happier note...

Happy 17th Birthday to my Smart, Funny, Adorable little sister Lindsay!

Love you Sis and hope your day is fantastic!

Letters

2011-06-19T10:09:00.000-06:00

Dear Basement Apartment,

It's not ok to let rain water into the house which soaks the carpet, makes the floors a lake, and generally causes the house to smell like a wet dog. Also, the fact that you did this overnight and had us wake up to it first thing in the morning is rude.

Dear Husband,

Thanks for always reminding me what a stud you are by letting me sleep while you and our landlord sorted out the flooding situation early this morning. And the fact that you made pancakes for breakfast despite all the stress you had already endured makes me swoon.

Dear Rain,

To be quite honest, I don't like you. Your only good quality is that I can wear my boots during your weather and feel extra cute. Oh, and stop flooding my home...please?

Sincerely, Tabi

Already?

2011-06-10T14:15:00.002-06:00

Seriously folks. I am already having dreams about nursing homework not being done and frantically trying to start/finish it before an impossible deadline.

There must be something wrong with me.

Oh, wait. There is.

Gettin' Crafty

2011-05-09T18:27:00.002-06:00

I made this super easy craft this afternoon!

I had a bunch of buttons from previous crafts, found the vase at a thrift store for $1, and bought floral/craft wire at the dollar store. I modified this craft based on an idea I saw on the internet. All I did was take a strip of wire, double it up on itself, thread the buttons through the wire, and twist the wire to make the stems and leaves.

I LOVED the way it turned out and it adds a burst of color in our kitchen!

Lazy Summer Days

2011-05-06T09:49:00.003-06:00

Mmmmmm . . . I love summer!

I now have time for this every morning...

And have caught up on this...

Work with amazing people doing this...

Do this for fun instead of necessity...

And spend LOTS of time with this handsome man.

All while enjoying NOT being like this...

---

Please, oh please - I hope these four months pass by ever so slowly...

(picture credit for google images/our webcam)

Oh, It is Wonderful!

2011-04-25T11:15:00.003-06:00

This post is a day late but I feel the meaning behind Easter should always be in our hearts everyday. I feel that I could not adequately convey my feelings on the beauty of Easter, so I have two videos of my favorite hymns. The words that are sung in these two beautiful songs, I know are true.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir-"I Stand All Amazed"

"I Know That My Redeemer Lives"

I am so grateful that Jesus Christ provided the way for me to return to live with God after I leave this Earth. Because of the Atonement, I can repent and be forgiven of my sins. Because of Christ's resurrection, I know that this life is not the end. We will be able to live after we die with our families in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father. What joy this knowledge brings in my life!

Happy Easter.

Amusement

2011-04-13T18:32:00.003-06:00

Funny things happen in the Aggen household. They more likely than not happen either late at night or when we are incoherent in the morning. There is just something about being super tired that makes things more humorous than they actually are.

Our newest craze is telling jokes. The format goes along the lines of picking an object, starting off the joke with "(Said object) walks into a bar..." , and consists of making funny (or not so funny that become funny because they are not funny) puns about said object picked. For example, my best joke is "Two chickens walked into a bar. The young chicken starts talking to the old chicken. The older chicken, extremely confused, says 'Hey! I can't hear you! Beak up!'" And of course all of Alex's jokes rock because he was part of an improv group in high school and so he is so punny...

Second, which is where my talent (if you want to call it that?!) for funny comes in, is that Alex picks anything for me to act out. It could be an animal, an object, a situation, you name it. He then proceeds to ask me to act out the same thing, but this time as a dinosaur. He finds it hilarious and will often ask me repeatedly to do this many times throughout the week. It seems that the old "acting as a dinosaur" skills with my freshman roomate have finally served a purpose in life.

This pumpkin impersonating a dinosaur got nothin' on me. Seriously.

We also search for images that are cute and happen to be HILARIOUS. Our latest find was this...

Still. Peeing. My pants.

What a pair we make! At least I know that when we are old and crotchety we will still be able to make each other laugh with bad puns, dinosaur impersonations, and our shared appreciation for all things adorable.

Now THAT is true love.

Life is Good.

2011-04-11T17:39:00.000-06:00

You know those moments when you just can't help but think "Life is so Good"?

Like when you get the Nursing envelope that you really wanted for next semester's classes

When you get a full-time job for the summer because you worked up the guts to ask for an interview

When your sweetie wakes you up in the morning with a precious kiss and tells jokes to start your day off with laughing and a smile

When you have a clean house and everything is in its place, and you can't wait to come home

When you recognize that you have truly great family and friends who are fun to be with and are always there for you

When the sun finally decides to shine and out goes the winter weather

When everything seems to fall into place and you find that you are miraculously able to get done everything that you needed to despite your fully packed schedule?

Ya, those moments.

These are the moments that make life good.

Laugh :D

2011-03-29T17:51:00.000-06:00

This makes me burst out laughing every time without fail! My sister Lindsay told me about this on Sunday and I have still been giggling about it ever since. Basically the premise of this video is that these children in a family have heard stories about the adults when the adults were kids and the children are retelling the stories. Hilarious! Enjoy!

A VERY Belated Bloggity Birthday

2011-03-21T18:56:00.002-06:00

This is so very late. But nevertheless in an attempt to document the special happenings in our lives this blog beckons me to at least post some pictures of the day I turned 21. . .which was almost a month ago. My thoughts on the matter is that 21 really doesn't feel any more special than any other birthday. I know that it is magical birthday when one "officially" becomes an adult, but it still doesn't change the fact that some days I feel like a very tired forty-something woman who has spent her day rushing around trying to balance schedules and others a four year old hyped up on FunDip and soda pop for the first time and it's the day to take the annual family picture.

Much to my chagrin, Alex was teasing me around the time of my birthday since I had apparently been telling him and apparently others that I was 21 many weeks long before I actually was. Apparently. I will neither confirm or deny this but I will say that I can't help that if someone asks me how old I am a few weeks before my birthday and to be fair to them I would rather tell them my upcoming age rather than my current one. How awkward is it when someone's like "Oh hey you're 20 right? At least that's what you said 2 weeks ago." And then you would have to say "Oh, jokes on you because I am now 21 as of, ummmm yesterday." And then there is the awkward exchanging of happy birthday most likely just because the other person feels obligated, and then you say thanks and then it awkward again. You know? Anyways in Alex's view this was considered lying about my age, and so on the actual day of my birthday he kept wishing me an "official" happy 21st birthday. :)

It was a great day though, although it was a bummer that I actually had to go to class on my birthday. Growing up in Canada, my birthday fell a week that we got off school, so the only time I had class on my birthday was in 8th grade just because my birthday fell on a Monday and the time off from school had been the week earlier instead. I loved/resented not having school on my birthday. Loved that I could be lazy and go shopping and eat out on my birthday, but resented the fact that I never got my name on the morning announcements at school wishing all the children who had a birthday on that day a very happy birthday.
But I digress.

I went to class in the morning and was finished up by 11am. I decided to head home to a husband who was sick and so didn't go to work. We decided that despite the fact that the Hubs was sick, he would take me out to lunch at the Skyroom in the Wilkinson Student Center on campus. Think glorified buffet, because that's what it is. The food was great and I especially loved the chocolate cheesecake I had for dessert, despite the fact that when I got it the whole platter of cheesecake tipped off its pedestal while getting a mere slice for myself. I had to use my already klutzy skills to balance the platter and try to get it back on the pedestal, all the while trying to look inconspicuous and not put my fingers all over the other so far untouched 12 slices of chocolate cheesecake. In my defense, who doesn't anchor a platter on a pedestal when they know hungry birthday girls are going to want cheesecake but don't have the coordination to not bump it off.

Ahh cheesecake. So good, but I almost met my demise with you. Alex saw the whole ordeal and I was so embarrassed that when I sat down I just ate the cheesecake right away without meeting his eye. But I eventually gave in and we both laughed and I agreed to have a picture taken of this infamous cheesecake, despite it being already eaten.

I then lazed around the whole afternoon and watched movies. There was no talk of homework for me, which was a nice change. Alex then had to go to campus for his evening class which could not be skipped as he has an assignment due, so I was left to get all prettied up for our dinner later that night.

I always feel silly for posting pictures of only myself. And especially pictures that resemble thirteen year old's Facebook profile pics complete with the whole cell phone camera in the mirror and posing. But, Alex was not home and I has finally mastered the whole Taylor Swift curls that needed to be captured.

I then picked Alex up from class and he drove me to a surprise dinner at Tepanyaki, a Japanese Steakhouse. It was a blast. The food was amazing, our chef was entertaining to watch as he made the food right in front of our eyes, and the people we sat with at our communal table were great to chat with.

When they brought us our soup, we were definitely confused. Two bowls, and the only utensils they had given us was a fork? It was then that we realized that you sip the soup right out of the cups!

We then ended the night by Alex quickly swinging by a friend's place to pick up the presents he had gotten me as our house has no where to hide presents from girls that love birthdays. Earlier in the day he had put out our little birthday cupcake. This was the first time we had used it, as I had gotten it for Christmas from my mom. The idea is that on the day of someone's birthday you put out this little cupcake somewhere in the house (hiding it no less where girls who love birthdays will be sure to find it) and inside put something to represent the gift that you were going to give that person. Alex had put in a program from Church the previous Sunday, and it took some creative thinking on my part to realize that he had gotten me a new set of scriptures!

The cute little ceramic cupcake that held the clue of what I was getting for my birthday!

The other part of my present was this....

Alex had given me the first book in the Hunger Games for Valentine's (which I read in a single 6 hour time period . . . let's just say the book was awesome) and so he gave me the remaining books in the trilogy, Cadbury Mini Eggs (because they are my absolute favorite treat), a very cute card that sang to me, and Root Beer in the spirit of turning 21.

We then snuggled up and went to bed. All in all, it was a great birthday. Let's hope that this year brings as many good times and fond memories as year's previously!

And hopefully this year I can write more on this blog. And hopefully in close time proximity as when the events that were blogged about actually took place. Hopefully.

Shout Out

2011-03-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

School has been waaaaay stressful. Hence the whole lack of me posting lately. But I am enjoying every minute of it, and am really starting to feel like a nurse. And today I had some free time, which is a rare occurrence, so I decided to have some "me" time. What did I do, you ask?

Well, I went to Paul Mitchell's School of Hair Design and got this....

Yes, my friends, I am rocking the beachy/body waves!

(Sorry on the whole low-quality, web cam pic...)

It will be so much easier to do my hair in the mornings, since I always seem to be running late. Plus when I have to wear that drab pontail to clinical I can now have a cute, curly pony!

Anyways, I have to get back to homework, but when I have a wee bit more time I have some pictures to post from my birthday! :)

Reminiscence

2011-01-31T15:43:00.000-07:00

Two years ago.
January 31, 2009.

Woke up.

Excited.

It's Saturday.

Finished studying for Chem 101.

Grabbed some grub from the Cannon Center.

Go to the Testing Center.

Take my Chem 101 test.

Didn't get an excellent score, but didn't do that bad either.

Kind of preoccupied.

Head back to the dorms.

Decide to take a nap.

Set my alarm to go off.

Sleep.

Wake up.

Time to get ready for my date.

It's four hours before.

Butterflies in my stomach.

Shower.

Blow dry my hair.

Spend an hour trying to decide what to wear and how exactly to do my hair.

Date activity is rock climbing.

Want to look not too overdone, but still done up enough.

Finally choose a ponytail.
With bangs.

Settle on comfortable clothes as I don't know if there will be a place to change.

Reflect on recent dates and think about possible conversations in case there is a null.

Excited.

Nervous-but not too nervous.

Don't know if we are also going to be eating or just rock climbing.

Debate about eating.

Too embarrassed to call him.

Grab a snack from the vendies just in case.

Almost time.

Deliberate if I should be waiting in the common room or for him to call.

Decide on the latter.

He calls.

I come out.

He is wearing jeans.

I am wearing sweat capris and a slightly grungy t-shirt.

Wrong wardrobe choice on my part.

Greets me with a big smile and hug.

Insecurities about my outfit are gone.

Head out to the car.

Has a mixed CD playing.

We like the same songs.

Conversation is so natural.

Think that planning conversation topics was not needed for this guy.

Find out we are eating dinner.

Glad I didn't stuff myself with Ramen, chips, and other junk.

Pancrucas.

Chilean resturant.

Steak and avacado sandwiches with mango juice smoothie.

Amazingly delicious.

Owners are a married couple that are fun to talk to.

The wife only speaks Spanish.

In Spanish asks Alex how long we've been married.

I have no clue what is going on.

He answers back.
It's our first date.

Tells me what she just said.

Should be embarassed, but neither of us are.

Have a good laugh over it once we leave.

Rock climbing at The Quarry.

Alex changes out.

We have a teenage instructor.

He is obviously bored.

We aren't.

Talking, laughing, establishing inside jokes already.

Get the hang of rock climbing.

Try a bunch of the routes they have.

Done.

Head to the car.

Alex offers to either drive me home or we can possibily do something else.

(denies this ever happened-says it was my suggestion)

I want to spend more time with him.

Go to Sconecutter.

Milkshakes and scones.

It's about closing time.

Teenage staff don't care that we are still there.

See forks stuck in the roof.

Attempt.

Success.

Drive home.

Arrive at my dorm.

5 hours later from when I left.

Sit in the car, still talking.

Decide I should head in.

He walks me to the door.

Hug.

Leave.

Twitterpated.

I REALLY like this guy.

He REALLY likes me too.

Start of our relationship.

Fast forward to now.

Married for almost a year and a half.

Still feel the same way today as I did that night two years ago.
Except now, I don't just merely REALLY like this man.
I REALLY love him.

The Aggen Family is Proud to Present....

2011-01-06T15:00:00.002-07:00

...Our New Living Room!!! It was a lot of fun to redecorate our living room and make it feel more "homey." Here are the pics of the finished product!

Okay, okay. I look absolutely ridiculous in this picture (we were folding laundry at the time) but I just wanted to show that we had sold our couches and then for about 3 weeks after we just had our bean bag to sit on. Our living room looked like a disaster zone during that time! We were really grateful when our couches finally came in.

Corner by our window

We still have some Christmas/winter-appropriate decorations up

I think my camera lens had some spots on it when I took these pictures...

I have yet to figure out what I want to do with this wall. Any cheap suggestions?

Mmmm...the couches are a faux-corduroy/microfiber/suede something or another. It is sooooo comfy!

Around Thanksgiving

2011-01-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

Oops! Here are some late-coming pictures of Thanksgiving Week. The first couple are from a date I did for Alex where I transformed our kitchen into a pizzeria and we made homemade pizza. It was a lot of fun and very tasty! (and please ignore the spelling mistake on the sign...) The second set is over Thanksgiving at a condo, which Alex's parents rented for the week, of our nephews building a fort. It was so cute to watch Alex help them build the fort and then listen to "stern" remarks about no one being able to come into the fort unless they knew the password. Perk to being an aunt is that I was able to know the password. Yay! (Sorry there aren't many more pics from Thanksgiving, we didn't have our camera on us much.) Overall Thanksgiving Week was great. We ate lots, slept lots, spent lots of time with family, saw the movie "Tangled" and enjoyed the time off from school!

Homemade Pizza

Alex helping the boys finish up the fort

Finished Fort

Finals Week

2010-12-13T13:04:00.004-07:00

It's that time of the year again. Want to know my source of entertainment in the drudgery of studying?...

...Watching the bars indicating that the powerpoints are downloading and imagining they are racing each other. It looks "End of Life" is going in for the kill!
Too much? Agreed. Attempts at humor should never be that pitiful. Pathetic entertainment? You betcha. :)

Blog post to come after finals with pictures of our cute new living room!

Resurfaced

2010-11-22T10:37:00.001-07:00

re·sur·face /rēˈsərfəs/

Come back up to the surface
Arise or become evident again
(of a person) Come out of hiding or obscurity

Very fitting, since we have been neglecting the blogging world for a little while now. Let's just summarize the past month or so based on the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly to make it more convenient. And we will start with the bad stuff first so we can end on a good note :)

The Ugly
During one week in October (the same week as our last blog post) we had our house flood, our car break down, my computer crashed, and I went to the hospital because I was starting to lose peripheral vision at times and it turned out that was due to migraines. Since that horrible, no good, very rotten week our house flooded 2 more times and we had to rip up the carpet because the carpet pad was disgustingly soaked. But now the source of the flooding is resolved and all is fixed, so that is a relief that we no longer have to deal with that.

The Bad
School is swamping me. And technically it really isn't "bad", just more wearing which is to be expected when one is in a demanding Nursing program. I just keep telling myself that it will be worth it in the end to have graduated with a degree that I can use, and then the situation becomes more positive-until I start thinking about the fourth out of five pathophysiology test that I have to study for and take :)

The Good
My favorite part! Despite having some stress in our life, overall it has been great. We had the opportunity to spend a few nights with my cousins when my aunt and uncle were out of town and had a blast with them. We celebrated Halloween by going to a ward party and we were dressed as peanut butter and jam. Him=peanut butter; Her=jam. Alex took me on a "Halloween Cruise" which was a ride along the river and was much fun. We got Trafalga passes that allows unlimited year-long patronage to Trafalga and Seven Peaks for only $40! So, you can guess what many of our dates have been lately :) We have been saving and budgeting for new couches and are rearranging our living room! Pictures of the couch and the new bookcases we got (since our old bookcase had severe water damage from the flooding) below. We have had the opportunity to visit and get to know people in our ward better, which is always so fun! Alex has finished his training for his new job and is enjoying work. I found out my clinical spot next semester and even though I have to drive about 45 minutes to get there, I have heard nothing but good things about the site and so am looking forward to that. We went to an Institute Dinner that they had for our BYU Married Stake and coincidentally had a yummy steak dinner. We have been experiencing wonderful weather and finally got our first snow of the year that has actually stuck to the ground. I went to a Relief Society activity on Saturday and we made the cutest Christmas craft so now I have a Christmas decoration for our house! Picture is below. Thanksgiving Break is this week and we are going to be spending it with the Aggen Family. More details to come on that later too.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (And for our friends up North: Happy 4th week of November!)

The sectional that we are getting

Our new bookcases! (Yay for no more water damage!)

Cute Christmas craft made at the Relief Society activity

He's Pretty Much Amazing. Pretty Much...

2010-10-05T21:10:00.001-06:00

I know that these kind of posts are all mushy and you want to read them but also want to throw up at the same time. I get it. And I don't mean to brag, but my hubby is pretty fantastic. Case and point:

1. He sat down and took a practice proctored LSAT a couple of Saturdays ago. Just took it without any studying or familiarization with the format. And he did extremely well. Which means with studying and test prep, a top Law School (which he is striving for) could be a reality. I am so proud of him.
2. At the training sessions he is going to for his new job, one of the things they did was trivia questions during breaks. And if anyone knows Alex, you know that he is spectacular at retaining information and as such, rocks at trivia. He answered a lot of questions (and correctly for that matter) and ended up winning overall at the end of the week. I think my favorite one liner from him while relating to me of his success was "Take that Teen Jeopardy!" or something along that meaning (Alex was a candidate for Teen Jeopardy back in the day FYI). Anyways, my point is is that he is a smarty pants. And handsome. And has a great sense of humor. Triple whammy and 10 points for...Aggen.
3. Alex is so caring and always takes care of me especially when things are tough. Yesterday I was feeling absolutely horrible and to top it off our house had a mini flood when we were both on campus. I was crying and bemoaning my anguish over feeling like crap and having a house that smelled like it, when Alex gives me the best hug ever and runs off to the store to get me some gingerale. He then tells me to relax and that he will take care of things, and suggests that I could watch a movie. I agree and decide on "Annie". The best thing was that Alex watched most of it with me, holding my hand. He is such a sweetheart and I love him so much!
4. Alex had to commute again for training today, and at around 5pm tonight I got a call. Seeing as this was the ordinary time that Alex usually calls to tell me he is coming home I expected this to be a fairly ordinary call. Well, it turns out our car engine overheated and left him stranded. Luckily he was able to pull off the interstate before the car died completely. One tow truck ride later he was making his way home, about 4 hours later than when he would have regularly arrived home. Throughout this whole fiasco he has remained so calm (more for me than him I think) and is such a level-headed man. I love this about him. He helps me keep sane despite all the crazy things that go on in life.

Can you see why I think he is so incredible? And, this is only the tip of the iceberg (I know, bad cliche-yet very relevant). I feel so blessed to have him, and ecstatic that I get to build and share a life with him.

Call Me a Crazy Canuck...

2010-09-03T16:02:00.003-06:00

Most of my acquaintances know that I am Canadian (well...now I am a Permanent Resident of the United States, but my citizenship is still in Canada). If you didn't, well now you do. :) I grew up in Southern Alberta and am proud to call it home. Because of my upbringing, I have some quirks that are unusual to the general population. For example, this gets me excited beyond belief;

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/reallife/story.html?id=f9d29593-b551-4ae5-9198-ef20d9542911

"In fact, ask pretty much any Southern Alberta food lover what they love best about summer, and you'll probably hear about fresh corn on the cob, corn that's grown right here in the province."

Yes. Ugh. I NEED!

This made me miss home. And right now, as I am typing, I want corn on the cob. My mouth is watering, and the fact that it is in season makes me yearn for it even more. You don't usually hear of corn on the cob being the #1 choice in food, but trust me, once you have Taber corn all other corn on the cob pales in comparison. I don't even know the words to describe it, but if you are ever in the Southern Alberta area at the end of August, you must try some.You'll get what I am saying and why I am craving it. PS. Do you think BYU would make going back up to Canada in order to eat some Taber corn a university excused absense? I think they should look into it....

And while I am on the topic of home, this picture makes me want to become a wilderness woman and spend the rest of my life here. It is Waterton Lakes National Park, one of the hidden gems in this world, and I lived about a half and hour away from it. It is so gorgeous!


photo found off Google images at http://stader.com/Photos/Hiking/Bears%20Hump/01%20Fabulous%20View%20of%20Middle%20&%20Upper%20Waterton%20Lakes.jpg

Alex and I at Cameron Falls in Waterton when we were engaged

So now that I have done a motherland rant and pretty much sounded like this guy, (minus the whole "beer commercial" aspect) you can call me a crazy canuck-But I still love me some Taber corn. (right now please...?)

A Bouquet of Newly Sharpened Pencils

2010-09-01T11:34:00.000-06:00

When I was a child I always got excited for school to begin again in the Fall. So excited in fact, that I would get so anxious and excited the night before the first day of school and would end up not being able to sleep and get sick. Twice it happened that I was so excited and anxious that I threw-up the night before and couldn't even go to the first day of school because I was so sick. It's weird, I was/am wierd in that way, and I am pretty sure that I was one of the few who actually anticipated school. As my Mom told Alex this childhood quirk of mine over Skype on Sunday, it was Alex could do not to laugh. And rightfully so.

School began again on Monday and so I have officially begun my Junior year at BYU. I am in my second semester of the Nursing program and am enrolled for 17 credit hours. Meaning life is going to be a bit crazy over the next couple of months. Alex decided to defer this semester because he got a new job as a banker. We are so grateful that he was able to get this job, as it means that he was able to quit all his other jobs and have just one job that would adequately support our family. He decided to defer this semester to accommodate for training, and will resume studying psychology in winter semester.

It will be interesting to see the dynamics of one of us working full-time and one studying in school, as we are used to both of us being in school and stressing over the same type of things. Let's just hope that I haven't rubbed off on Alex too much and that the thought of him not having to go to the Testing Center this semester making him so excited that he throws up. However, the thought of tests and homework and studying makes me sick. And not the excited kind.

It's Official!

2010-08-23T12:54:00.000-06:00

It's our first wedding anniversary and we've been married for a whole year!

Picture slideshow created with Smilebox

To celebrate our anniversary, Alex had a surprise up his sleeve. Here's how it went down:

Saturday, August 21
4:46pm
Alex sends Tabi a text: Hey do you want to pick me up at around 5:20 from work? I was able to get out of work a bit earlier so that way there is no rush to get to dinner. If you want bring the camera.

Tabi: Ok! Sounds great! Cya soon.

5:23pm

Tabi goes to pick up Alex from his workplace. Tabi asks what they are going to do until their dinner reservations at 7pm. Alex gets this devilish grin on his face and then tells Tabi to close her eyes and covers her face as he fidgets with the glove compartment and begins to drive south.

Tabi: What are we doing?
Alex: I dunno.
Tabi: Well obviously you do. 'Cuz you're driving.
Alex: That may be true...

They hit the I-15 turn-off that eventually leads to Las Vegas.

Tabi: ALEX! Why are we getting on the interstate?
Alex: I dunno, what did the sign say?
Tabi: VEGAS?! NO WAY. I didn't pack anything.
Alex: Did you check the trunk today? And who is to say that I didn't put your passport in the glove compartment just now...
Tabi: What is going on? Did you grab my passport?
Alex: No.
Tabi: Well then what are we doing? WHERE ARE WE GOING?!
Alex: It's a surprise. I feel like Roberto. (Bachelorette reference)
Tabi: So you are taking me on a tight rope walk? Or wait...in a helicopter?

Alex shakes his head in a "no" response. The wheels in Tabi's head begin turning as she recalls back to when they were dating...

Tabi: WAIT. Are we going to go fly in an airplane with the gift certificate we won back when we were dating?
Alex: Maybe...yes.
Tabi: AHHHHHHH! NO WAY! I THOUGHT WE LOST THEM! WHERE'D YOU FIND THEM? HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PLANNING THIS?...blahblahblah etc.

So we continued to Spanish Fork to the "airport", making a quick stop en route to pick up a Sprite in case either of us got sick in the small aircraft. When we got to the airport, we soon found out that our gift certificate's purpose included allowing one of the passengers to try flying the plane while up in the air as an incentive to convince the passengers to sign up for flying lessons. So I graciously let Alex be the one who would fly the plane under the watchful eye of the pilot and Alex loved it! We had a safe thirty minute flight, and the view was incredible!

My head gear did not work the entire flight. Whenever I spoke it would be patchy in the audio and make no sense. But at least I looked cute right?

Our pilot, Bob, showing Alex what he needed to do.

The view was great!


Alex taking over the controls

Flying the plane

Alex trying his hand at banking the plane. This was the only part of the flight that I was uncomfortable. Alex was doing great, but the plane had to be banked at such an odd angle due to its size that I started freaking out as I realized "Hey this is like a rollercoaster...except...we are not on a track...YIKES!"

Once we landed and I drank enough water to flood the Sahara in an attempt to calm my slightly frazzled self, we headed off to Tucanos to eat. As usual, it held up to its reputation of being delicious, but also as usual, we ate way too much to the point of feeling grossly full and sick afterwards. We then headed home, snuggled up, and watched "Kate and Leopold".

Alex decided to try one of the chicken hearts that they brought around. He is a lot more adventurous than I am. As you can also see from the remainder of food on Alex's plate, we ate a lot of meat in general. Hence the whole "grossly full and sick" feeling.

The next day, our anniversary, was spent just being with each other which is always the best. So here's to one year of marriage, and many more years to come. I can't hardly wait to see what adventures lie ahead of us in the upcoming years, and I know that with my Alex, they will be great!

Crack a Smile

2010-08-12T13:01:00.000-06:00

Early in the wee hours of this morning as Tabitha is deeply slumbering...

Alex (sitting straight up in bed): GROSS! GROSS!
Tabi (promptly woken up): WHAT?! What's going on Alex?
Alex (gibberish mumbling and a quick return to sleep)

Tabitha's alarm rings at 5:20am to wake her for an early shift at work
(Alarm ringing)
Alex gets out of bed and tries to turn off the alarm before Tabitha even reaches it
Tabi: Alex what are you doing?
Alex: I have to turn it off!
Tabi: No you don't. It's okay, I've got it.
Alex: Oh okay.... (quickly falls asleep again)
Tabitha is slightly confused and is afraid after the collective transpirings throughout this morning that Alex may have finally cracked.

In Alex's defense he had no recollection of the first incident, and barely remembers the second incident. aka He was sleep talking-which he has never done in our almost one year of marriage. So I think it is cute and hilarious at the same time. Hence, me sharing this story.

*****

Okay, so it is not fair to tell a story about Alex unless I dish one about myself that happened about a month ago.

Alex and Tabitha are snuggling and talking in bed. For some reason, they get on a topic where Alex is asking questions about Tabitha.

Alex: Do you like baking?
Tabi: Yes
Alex: Do you like playing the clarinet?
Tabi: Yep
Alex: Do you like scrapbooking?
Tabi: Yessss
Alex: Do you like waterboarding?
Tabi: Yep
Alex begins to giggle
Tabi (slightly confused): I've only done it once though
Alex begins to laugh hysterically
Tabi (even more confused): What Alex? Waterboarding? Like waterskiing?!?...........Oh. Waterboarding.

They both begin to laugh as Tabitha has finally realized that "waterboarding " is definitely not a favorite pastime of hers.

*****

Alex sent me this today. And I wish it was real. A fusion of my two favorite recent movies? Yes please!

*****

Alex came home to pick up the car to go to his second job a little while ago. He presented me with this...

It is the remains of a phone book he tore IN HALF at work. There are witnesses and everything. Guess it must have been a slow day...

Don't be jealous. My husband can tear phone books in half AND make me smile.

Birthday Wishes

2010-08-10T11:36:00.000-06:00

Alex is officially 23! His birthday was yesterday and was celebrated by having a big breakfast in the morning and opening up gifts. Then he headed off to work until 7pm and when he got home we ate take-out Thai food from Bangkok Grill. It was SO delicious! Then we ate some of the birthday cake I made during the day and snuggled up to watch a couple of episodes of 24 (season 3-so we're a little behind....so what?!) Here are some pictures of the birthday boy;

Lighting the candles

Posing with the cake

Blowing out the candles

"Lagoon...It's What Fun Is"

2010-08-08T13:41:00.000-06:00

We went to Lagoon with the Schultz Family on Friday. We had so much fun and appreciate their generosity in inviting us, as well as driving us up there. Here is a general pictorial sum-up of what we did.

We got a little wet on this

I was so excited to go on this, but when I actually went I almost pooped myself

I was terrified to go on this, but Alex convinced me otherwise and I loved it

We went on this a lot, including one time where we yodeled throughout half the ride

We got DRENCHED on this and were wet for most of the night, but it was worth it

We rode on this "Wicked" awesome rollercoaster

We acted like pirates and people looked at us funny on this

We rode this at the end of the night and smooched; it was so romantic

(Pictures found off the Lagoon website or Google search)

Good Things to Come

2010-08-05T12:54:00.000-06:00

I absolutely love the message that Elder Holland shares. I hope you do too.

Thunderstorms

2010-08-04T21:17:00.000-06:00

Image found here

I woke up to the sound of thunder this morning, heard rain pattering sparatically throughout the day, and right now am enjoying another big storm that has come rolling in. The windows in our little home have been opened throughout most of this time too, as I have taken in the elements outside. This has been my favorite day of the week.

"Why?" you may ask...

Because. I. Love. Thunderstorms.

My earliest vivid memory dealt with a thunderstorm. I was four years old, and my younger sister was a newborn. We were living in a townhouse-style complex, and my Dad was working late hours at "Klondike Days" in Edmonton. I remember a huge thunderstorm happening one night when he was working. My whole room lit up, and I remember waking up crying because I was so scared. I remember walking down the hall to my parent's room, where Lindsay was screaming and crying. My memory then jumps to snuggling with my Mom in bed as she comforted both myself and my newborn sister.

I also remember my childhood best friend later on telling me that she heard that when there is a thunderstorm it means God is bowling. The thunder is the part where the balls are going down the alley, and the lightning is taking pictures if someone got a strike. I always liked that description, and looking back think it is a cute explanation for something that as a child, is confusing to fully understand.

It's strange that what was once a phenomenon that frightened me so much as to make a strong impact on my young impressionable mind, is now something that I anticipate and enjoy. I love how thunderstorms make me want to cozy up in a homemade blanket, look out the window, and take it all in. Listening to the thunder, seeing the lightning, feeling that sense of excitement, and realizing that these are the moments that make life wonderful.

Fancies

2010-07-30T16:32:00.003-06:00

Since we have been married, I have been bugging Alex to get me a puppy. But, not just any old puppy-specifically a yorkie terrier. In fact, one that looks exactly like this;

Isn't it cute?!

Fast forward to this past Tuesday. Alex and I bought a secondhand Wii from KSL (yay!) which came with the "Mario Party" and "Super Mario Brothers" games. While we have only played our Wii a couple of times, I have come to a prompt decision.

Now, the ~~yorkie terrier~~ is a thing of the past. I want Yoshi.

Alex makes fun of me (and rightfully so) for fancying the little character. I think it is the cutest thing and have proposed to him that I will never talk about a puppy again if he gets me this as a substitute.


http://www.amazon.com/Super-Mario-Brothers-Yoshi-inches/dp/B00188O1MQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1280527867&sr=8-1

I think it is a fair trade don't you? No vet visits, cleaning after it, or buying food, but still the same level of looking at it and going "CUTE!" (plus it is only $5.99) However when I proposed this brilliant idea to Alex this morning he looked at me, laughed, said "No way" (to both Yoshi AND a puppy...drat) followed by "Goodness you are adorable", a kiss on the cheek and the lips, and that was the end.

Meh. This doesn't change the fact that I will still pick Yoshi to play all the games with.

Maybe Alex would go for something like this-with the exact same awkward hand positioning and wary smile;


http://www.amazon.com/Super-Mario-Brothers-Childs-Costume/dp/B002R21QBQ/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1280527998&sr=8-28

If it was just in my size...

Doo-doo dum-dum-dum-dum-dum!

2010-07-22T22:34:00.003-06:00

Hurdy gurdy!

How to make popcorn shrimp!

Nuestra Casa

2010-07-16T16:04:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of our new home!

The walkway up to our house

Our yard

Welcome to our Home!

Our front hallway

Living Room

THE MONSTER SAK!!!

Home Office which is actually a walk-in closet

Finally a pantry! No more using an old freezer that's unplugged! :)

Cute mail-holder and door to right is divider between our house and the upstairs neighbors

Hallway

Bathroom...

...with His and Hers sinks

Our funky colored kitchen that I just love!

The whole "dishwasher thing" had me sold in a second

Having a huge window in the kitchen is so nice!

Bedroom

BABIES

2010-06-10T22:19:00.001-06:00

For spring semester I took a class on Infant Development. It have been very interesting and I have learned different things about babies. But it is this little video clip that was my favorite part of the whole class;

After watching this how can you not smile?

This picture makes me smile the most though. I cannot wait to have little boys that are as cute as their Daddy was (and still is)!

How to Shrink a Thyroid

2010-06-10T22:03:00.000-06:00

I went to the doctor last week to do "the check" on my thyroid. As I mentioned in past posts, they found a couple of cysts in/on my thyroid and wanted to rule out the possibility that they were cancerous. So I was sent to the endocrinologist, got an ultrasound, and assured that everything was alright. I just have an elarged thyroid with a lot of benign cysts and nothing greater. Thank goodness! In an attempt to shrink the cysts though the doctor has put me on a medication that resembles an arrowhead (seriously, it is the weirdest looking pill ever...haha) in attempt to shrink my thyroid and the cysts. Let's hope it works! :)

-The Aggens
P.S. We are moved into our new place-pictures to be posted soon!

Get Outta Provo

2010-05-16T15:54:00.009-06:00

It started only a couple of months ago. My darling husband had found a jar with a couple of coins left over from his mission in Argentina and an idea was born. We were going to use this jar to put our spare change that was left in our wallets at the end of the week into this jar. The rules were simple. Nothing larger than a $5 bill, there was to be no breaking up of larger bills in order to be able to put more money in, and you could only put change in at the end of the week. We decided we would call this our "Get Outta Provo Fund" because as much as we love being in Provo, sometimes a couple just needs to escape the "bubble" and explore other places.

Donations are also gladly accepted in our house... haha :)

Since my best friend Kylea was getting married to Casey Knecht in St. George on May 15, we decided that we would use our growing fund to go down there. In total, we had $68.77, which wasn't too bad considering we were just making a day trip.

And so began our day long adventure this past Saturday. We woke up at around 7am and headed out the door at around 8am. The drive was absolutely gorgeous and we had some pit stops along the way. We ended up stopping in Beaver UT on the way down as Alex had been told that they had a cheese factory and wanted to see if they did tours. Turns out the cheese factory doesn't even run on Saturdays, let alone give tours. Slightly disappointed, Alex and I still got to experience some of the cheese factory wonder as we bought cheese curds and a child's size scoop of macadamia nut ice cream (unfortunately due to my new diet suggestions I could only indulge in this treat to a minimum). We headed back on the road and continued our drive to St. George.
We creatively experimented with fun games to pass the time. One of the most amusing was pretending that there was a glass wall between us and in order to talk to one another we had to press a pretend button on the car door, make the corresponding sound, and talk to one another in preferably a "trucker" voice. It was quite fun!

This picture is specifically for my family. It is the local grocery store in Beaver, UT called "Mike's". That is a completely different story, and if you want to know more contact Momma Joc. Enjoy the memories Sheen Family!

We arrived in St. George about a half an hour before the wedding was scheduled. Alex and I meandered through the Visitor's Center on the Temple Grounds. We watched one of the short videos they have there. It is by far my favorite. They ask young children to describe different aspects of the Gospel and their answers are just so simple, true, and CUTE! We then went into the Temple for the wedding, which was so beautiful. Kylea and Casey were married by Kylea's great-grandfather, and he was just the sweetest man ever! It was such a great experience to see my best friend and her now husband being married for time and for all eternity.

This is the cute couple once the ceremony was done

The St. George Temple is absolutely gorgeous!

This is me with the glowing bride. I think I look a bit retarded, but Kylea looks GORGEOUS!

Alex and I decided to take a photo-op. I love the flowers on the Temple Grounds!

Since we were only making a day trip, we decided to opt out of the reception that was going to be held later that night in Logandale NV, and instead go out to a late lunch in St. George and then make the trek home. Alex had been asking around at his work places about good places to eat in St. George and surprised me with a restaurant that was definitely worth going to-Basila's Mediterranean Cafe. The atmosphere was great, the service was fast (seriously, our food came out 5 minutes after we had ordered), and the food was DIVINE.

Alex ordered a spicy chicken salad, and the carrots in the salad were huge as seen in the picture above.

I had the Gyro in the above picture and it was delicious. It had a cucumber dressing that was sooooo goooood.

As we were leaving St. George and about to exit onto the freeway, my husband noted an Outlet Mall to our right. Of course, being the bargain hunter that I am, we just had to go! So we pulled back around and went to take a gander. The only things that we bought were a shirt for Alex and a sweater for myself. Overall, the mall was quite a disappointment, and I wouldn't even consider it to be a "true" outlet mall. Everything was pretty darn close to normal price, and sales were to a minimum. So, we headed out of St. George (this time with no turn-arounds) and made our way back to Provo. I would love to say that the ride home was uneventful, but that proved not to be true.

Note our smiling faces. This is before we knew what was in store for us...

St. George is gorgeous by the way, and we just had to pull over and take some pictures!

This is me smiling. Before "the event" happened.

So, you all must be wondering what exactly happened on our way home. It was quite an adventure. We had decided that on the way home we would once again stop in Beaver UT, this time for gas, as they had a Shell station and we had an unused gift card for there that we had received in the mail from our health insurance. So, we stopped at this Shell station, loaded up on gas, treats, and Burger King, and then made our way back to our car where we were greeted by one of the guys that worked at the mechanics shop just adjacent to the gas station. As we approached he said to us, in a Southern Utah accent, "Y'all know that yer tires are worn down so much that they probably gonna blow pretty soon?" Alex and I, both confused and unsure, replied in the negative. He then proceeded to tell us that he could get our car up on the lift and take a look at the tires, absolutely no charge for us. We decided that if it was free that there would be no harm to just look and see the condition of the tires. Plus, these guys were just standing around and looking for something to do, so no harm done right? Wrong. As we got our car hoisted up on the lift, sure enough in small writing our front tires read "Replace Tire Immediately." Alex questioned the workers if we would be okay until we got to Provo to replace the tires, and the workers shook their heads and said that we should replace them right now. So as our mechanic, whose name was Mason but his shirt read Adam, went to the back to look for tires for us, Alex called his mom to see if she could dig up some knowledge about the price of tires at places like Costco so we could try and barter if needed. Turned out these mechanics would do both front tires for around $230 (including labor, balancing, etc), around the same price as somewhere like Costco, and we agreed and then sat down to wait. Mason/Adam came to see us about 5 minutes later and posed a situation in which he would do all 4 tires for $500 (also including labor, balancing, etc), so that way "they'd be all the same." As I silently hyperventilated, Alex took control and got Mason/Adam down to $450 which still wasn't the best, but at least it was $50 cheaper. As Mason/Adam went back to work, I thought to myself "That is a huge dent in our 'Get Outta Provo Fund'. Shooooooot." But to look at it in a positive sense, this event may have been a blessing in disguise. If the mechanics had not decided to tell us about our tires we may have been 50 miles down the road with a blown tire. So all this was worth it, right? :)
By the time Mason/Adam was done it was 8:30pm. He handed us our warranty papers and told us that if "y'all ever back down here in Beaver, we'll do a tire rotation fer y'all fer free." Who knows-maybe it will become our family tradition to go down to Beaver UT and get our tires rotated! We continued to drive back home to Provo with a new set of tires, rocking out to good 'ol Celine Dion songs, among others. As we pulled into our driveway at 10:30pm with "It Feels Like Home to Me" blasting, we were tired and ready for bed. Both of us fell asleep right away that night, exhausted from our long day's adventures. It will be interesting to see what adventures are ahead of us with our next "Get Outta Provo" escapade, but that probably won't be for a while since the fund is clearly drained. :)

Love,
The Aggens

PS-I just got a call from the Cannon Center, and I got a job there! YESSS!
PPS. Our new favorite family entity is homemade chocolate covered pretzels-so good. In fact, I am munching on some right now...

Neglect, an Apology, and a Much Needed Post

2010-05-13T17:19:00.004-06:00

Dear Aggen Family Blog,
I know that we have not been on the best of terms lately, seeing how I have been neglecting you, yet still have the time to read other blogs on crafts, friends, etc. I could see how you might be getting jealous and wanting to be updated as well and so brings me to the purpose of this letter. Don't think that I have forgotten you my dear confidante. While a busy life is no excuse for a lack of posts, I must explain life's situations for you to fully understand why it may cause me to be reluctant and strained for writing.
Since we last blogged, I was in the midst of uncertainty in terms of my health, and unfortunately I am still in a similar position. There has been no real progress on my thyroid dilemma, but there is a biopsy scheduled on June 3 for the cysts which is progress. There is also nothing too spectacular to report on my stomach problems, except they referred me to an allergist. There they poked my back with 43 different scratch tests and suggested that maybe I should try to go off all dairy products because it MIGHT be the source of all things stomach related. So, that means no regular/chocolate milk, cheese, or ice cream. You can bet how much I like that considering dairy is a main staple of my diet. Argh!
Since we last chatted something HUGE has happened. I officially became a Permanent Resident of the United States. It is such a great blessing that everything worked out and that it all went smoothly. I am now able to work and drive in the USA, which is quite a relief to both myself and Alex.
School ended since the last update and Alex and I are both busy. Alex is working three jobs. He continues to work for the College of Life Sciences magazine, as well as TA for a psychology class. He also has an internship up at the State Prison in Draper, where he does psychological testing of inmates. As for me, I am attending Spring semester at BYU. I also have a job, although it is only on Saturdays. I am working with a 12 year old girl who is legally blind and has some developmental and speech disabilities, and I am helping her with Occupational Therapy as well as looking after her while her Mom is at work. Finding a job for during the week has been one of the hardest things so far. All employers that have interviewed me have wanted someone throughout the year as well, which is not feasible with my class scheduling in the Nursing program. So, I am still searching and trying my best. Alex is so supportive and has even offered to pick up another job if things get tight. Goodness I love that man! :)
We also have some BIG and EXCITING news! We are going to be moving at the end of the month. While it is only two streets over from where we currently live and is also a basement apartment, I couldn't be much more excited because...IT HAS A DISHWASHER. I will never be more grateful for one in my life, and it will definitely be a blessing when school fully starts up in the Fall again and time seems to be consumed with that. I will make sure to post pictures when the move is complete.
The only downside to moving is that we will be going to a different ward for Church, which is crazy to think considering we are only 2 streets away from our current abode. But, that is what you get when you live in Utah. We will miss our 10 year old Primary class, and I was recently called as the Young Women's Assistant Camp Director and will be sorry to be leaving that.
In terms of our everyday lives, we have definitely had some fun moments. We have been lucky enough to see both sides of our families. My Mom, Dad, and sister Lindsay came down for General Conference and then Gran and Grandpa Sheen have come to our Church meeting as they are still in the MTC waiting for their visas to go to Sweden. We also hiked the Y this past Saturday morning with the Cannon Family and the Cardon's. My favorite line from that adventure was 6 year old Tommy, after he had ran most of the way UP and DOWN the steep path saying as he climbed into the van "Whew! I can hardly wait to sleep all the way home!"
Well, my handsome husband just arrived home from a long day of work at the prison and just informed me that he has come up with a new name for me when I am feeling extra "gangster." Are you ready for it? It is "Tabithug". I think I might just go give him a kiss right now.
I hope you are satisfied with this newest post, and I promise to not be so slow in my next one. Our little family has some exciting plans this weekend involving driving down to St. George for Kylea and Casey's wedding. I will be sure to tell you all the details of our adventure once we get back.
Love, The Aggens

This is Me Following Up

2010-03-17T18:04:00.010-06:00

A note before I begin: Please excuse the fool that is in the post below. Obviously she is crazy and the outburst shown on the video is so contrary to who she really is. ;)

Anyways, Alex graciously volunteered me to blog about the recent happenings in our life and boy has it been hectic! Take last week for example. I had 4 midterms, 3 papers, and 4 quizzes. Alex also had a couple of midterms and quizzes, as well as work. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start from what I have not blogged about yet.

I realized that I have not blogged since my birthday, February 23. So I must fill everyone in on the details. I had the most wonderful 20th birthday! I had to take an Anatomy lab midterm, which was a bummer, but overall the day was great. I was done with class that day at 5pm, which is when Alex is done work. He had to finish up some last minute things for a paper and so I scurried home. To my surprise, Alex had gotten one of our friends to set up a cute display of gifts since Alex had been on campus all day. This is what it looked like as I walked into the door;

I just loved the balloons, flowers, chocolates, and the stuffed animal puppy dressed up as a bunny! Too cute. My handsome hubby then spoiled me even more as he had made reservations for the Foundry Grill up at Sundance. The food was DELICIOUS!!! Like heaven in your mouth...seriously. I then went for a little birthday shopping trip and got a skirt and a scarf. I finished off my perfect birthday by watching a crappy teen movie. It was for old times sake, as I am officially no longer in my "teen" years.

The next day I definitely felt old as I had a doctor's appointment scheduled. For the past year I have been having really bad acid reflux and sometimes when I have eat it feels like the food is stuck in my esophagus. To say the least, it isn't a pleasant feeling. My Dad had problems of a similar nature a couple of years back and had to get surgery. So after being fed up with masking the pain by taking medicines, I went to the doctor in search of greater light and knowledge on my condition in the hopes that I could maybe head off this thing in case I were to end up on a surgery bed like my Dad had to do. My answer from the doctor-endoscopy. For those who don't know what endoscopy is, let me share a brief explanation. Basically, they stick a camera down your throat while you are under anesthesia, pump air into your tummy and check how things are doing in there. This procedure lasts about 10minutes, and afterwards you are totally out of it!

I got this procedure done on Thursday, the 25th, and my gracious husband worked his schedule out so he could come pick me up from the hopsital. Unfortunately for him however, that day he had bundled up due to the cold weather and the hospital was fairly warm. A couple of minutes after I came to, he began to feel overheated and fainted! Right in the hopsital! The nurses rushed to his attention, leaving me to die. Not really, but because I had no idea really what was going on due to the sedatives that were still in my system, I thought the nurses had abandoned me. I soon began to realize that something was wrong with my husband and the nurses said he had fainted! Poor guy. However, he soon recovered and they brought him a bed as well. I must say it was quite romantic being next to each other in hopsital beds. haha!

The picture below is what they saw in my esophagus. NOTE: If you get queasy easily, then scroll down really quick as not to see it. While they were poking around in my stomach they saw white plaque buildups and a totally inflamed esophagus, so they took a biopsy to better diagnose. Turns out that I have Eosinophil Esophagitis. This means that I have some sort of reaction to food and eosinophils, which are white blood cells, are trying to respond to the allergen. So I am on some sort of concoction that will help the inflammation go down and then on April 30 I go back to the doctor for a follow-up. They also mentioned that I have a slight hiatus hernia, which is what my Dad has. While it is of no concern now, it could be later on so I have to watch for that.

Here is the icky/cool (depending on your preference) picture of my esophagus;

Also I have been to the doctor for my thyroid, which is a new problem that was noticed by a doctor noting that I had quite a large thyroid. I brought this up to my primary doctor and he said that we should check it out. I got an ultrasound done as well as my blood drawn to check for TSH (Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone) levels. From the ultrasound they found that I have 3 cysts, the largest one being 4.8mm. They also discovered that my TSH levels are only 0.02 off from me being considered to have Hyperthyroidism.

So, I just went to the doctor again today and they are referring me to an Endocrinologist. The doctor said that in the thyroid more cysts means that it is less likely that the cysts are cancerous (which is opposite to most other parts of the body where more cysts means concern), but he referred me to an Endocrinologist so that way they can check it out and decide if they want to biopsy the cysts. Also, I got my blood drawn again today to see how my TSH levels are and compare to see if they fluctuate. So I feel old, as my body is beginning to fall apart! Haha not really, and I am truly grateful for all the health that I do have. These are just little roadbumps!

Anyways, enough of depressing subject matter. Let's talk about the fun stuff in life right now!

Alex is amazing and has started volunteering with the Special Olympics program here in Utah. He is on the Administrative committee and goes to meetings every Thursday night. I have had the opportunity to go with him to one of the athlete practices and it is such a special place. Those with mental and physical challenges are so sweet, caring, and sensitive. I just about cried seeing the innocence of their practicing. For them it is not about winning at the Special Olympics, but making friends and just plain 'ol having fun. I wish I could be even half the people that they are.

Alex is also doing psychology research on Tuesdays to get in some clinical research time. A couple of Saturdays ago he volunteered us to participate in a study which is similar to what he does. We got EEG's done which monitor brain activity. The net for me was uncomfortable and made me a tad bit grumpy! However, we were soon done and used the money we received as reimbursement for the use of our brains to go out to dinner.

Last weekend Momma Janeen flew out from Kansas to visit the family and Grandma Jacobs, whose health is beginning to falter. It was such a fun-filled weekend and was great to be with family! Now, we are anticipating the next family visit from my parents and sister who are coming down from Canada at the beginning of April. They are coming for General Conference, as well as to get together with the rest of the Sheen Family to send off my Grandparents, who are going to Stockholm, Sweden on a LDS mission for one and a half years! It is very exciting!

Another exciting thing is that I got a scholarship for Spring semester here at BYU. I am taking Statistics 221, as well as an SFL course which goes towards my minor. SFL stands for the "School of Family Life." The course I am taking is on Infant Development and I am super excited for it!!

Last week was horrible, as I mentioned in the beginning. So horrible, that I am not even going to acknowledge it by giving it a significant place in this post. All I am mentioning is that it was CRAZY hectic and stressful, and I am sure glad that it is OVER!

Anyways, I think that about does it. Unfortunately life is sometimes busy and I apologize for long blog posts which yourself, the reader, has to trudge through.

We love you all,
-The Aggens

P.S. if you have not already seen our famous faces on BYU-TV, here is the link to the commercial that we were in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGVfjtKsI0U

P.P.S. The other night we made home-made onion rings. Don't they look delicious???

Starting at the beginning...

2010-03-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

She doubted herself a little...

...but the music won her over:

I must be lucky (as my wife likes to point out) since I wound up with such a babe. Look at those dance moves! Hot dang!

Tabi will post some pictures later this week!

-The Aggens

Update

2010-02-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

Hello All!
Here is an update from the Aggen household. Things have been very busy and hence, little time has been available to make a meaningful post on our blog. However, I find myself tonight with no pressing homework, which is first, so I decided to make productive use of my free time and write a little something on this here blog.
School has picked up for both Alex and I and we are are in the midst of learning many concepts in our respective classes. There has definitely been moments where we have pondered the notion of dropping out of school and becoming explorers of the world, but finally decided against it as it wouldn't be the best life choice. :) I am loving all my nursing classes and can hardly wait until my schedule is limited to only nursing classes. My supplemental classes like Anatomy are keeping me especially busy! Alex is also enjoying his psychology classes and has begun to help out in researching tasks outside of class. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening he helps conduct EEG clinics for students and loves it! He is also involved in planning the Special Olympics in Utah.
At Church we have the opportunity to teach the 10 year old Sunday School class which is an adventure. For about 99% of the time the kids are attentive and engaged in the lesson. But we also have those "where is this coming from?" moments that get everyone off track. For example, this past Sunday we went from talking about how God created the Earth to one kid going off on something they saw on TV/a movie and it snowballs into everyone having a story that they want to share. Despite these off-track escapades, we have a lot of fun and are grateful for these children. They are such a great bunch of kids!
I just love this time of year! It is the time of year that our love began to bud, grow, and blosom. The end of January marked a year since Alex and I went on our first date. It is hard to believe that it has been only a year, as it seems like I have known Alex all of my life.
For Valentine's Day festivities Alex and I enjoyed a home cooked meal (We went to dinner the day before at Los Hermanos on Center St). And, this particular day showed me another example of why I love my man. While most husbands would have got their wives chocolate and flowers, my handsome hunny got me chocolate, flowers, and BACON. The past week I has been wanting bacon and he remembered and got me some! I just love his quirkiness and sense of humor!
Well, I think that about covers the basics. Our time of life has a filled schedule but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Christmas Break 2009

2010-01-02T23:52:00.000-07:00

This Christmas Break was very eventful! Here is what happened;

-We registered for Netflix and have been watching old, new, funny, sad, insightful, and foreign movies!
-We got library cards from the Provo Public Library.
-Alex worked over the break. He works in the Dean's Office for the College of Life Sciences at BYU.
-For Christmas Festivities we were able to be with Alex's family. Two of his sisters live in Utah, and his parents flew out for the holiday. We spent Christmas Eve at the Cannon Home and on Christmas Day we had lunch at Jamestown, which is where Grandma Jacobs lives. In the evening we were able to go over to the Cardon home and see a home video of the Aggen family in 1992. Alex was such a cute 5 year old (and is still a cute 22 year old)--in the video we got to see him "Russian Dance"!!! It was so funny!
-We had a "24"-a-thon with our friends up in Alpine. They watched the whole season of "24" in one day. We joined in on the marathon about a quarter of the way through but it was still a long day. Definitely something to cross of the "Bucket List" and NEVER do again!
-I have been finishing off Permanent Residency paperwork and only have a couple more things to do before I submit the giant heap of paperwork! YAY!
-Alex and I got our grades back for Fall 2009 semester and were both pleased. We have purchased all our textbooks (3 of my Nursing ones cost $250--yikes) and are starting Winter semester on Monday. Oh the joys of going back into a routine!
-For New Year's we went over to the Millet's house in Orem and played Bunko. It is a fast paced dice game and is an absolute blast! We rung in 2010 to the sound of chimes, pots, and pans, and then headed off to a second party where we played Mofia and Things in a Box. It was a great way to start off the year!
-Yesterday and today we had snow adventures. We hiked up to Bridal Veil Falls which was really pretty! (pictures below) To make it more eventful, Alex lost his wallet on the way down the hill! We finally found it (much to our relief!) and then celebrated by buying Subway (Thanks Mom and Dad Sheen for the gift certificate) Today we went skiing at Sundance. It was really fun although we are a bit tired right now!!!

Hope you enjoy the pictures and Happy 2010 everyone!

Our Christmas Tree

Alex found his wallet! YEA!

Bridal Veil Falls

The slopes

Having Fun...

2009-12-29T22:08:00.001-07:00

Thankful for Turbaconducken!

2009-11-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

This Thanksgiving season we have much to be thankful for. Alex and I made a list last night of some of the things that we are thankful for. We are thankful for;

LOVE
Our health
Our Family
Employment
Freedom
Our religion
The Scriptures
Trials and Hardships
Friends
A home
Sunshine
Safety
Holidays
An opportunity to gain knowledge and education
Parents
Future Children
Nephews/Niece
Vehicle and Bicycles
Music
Nature
Technology
Rainbows
Peace
Ability
Clothes
Central Heating/Air Conditioning
Chocolate
Emanadas
Steak
Bread
Food in General :)
All the "Little Things in Life"

What are you thankful for? Hope you enjoyed the video we posted and we wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

What Matters Most

2009-11-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

11 Pictures, 1 Video. Good thing we didn't add a thirteenth, some readers may be triskaidekaphobic!

2009-11-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

The view from outside the house.

The backyard.

Yeah cupcakes!

Great new couches we got from KSL. An adventure to get it downstairs and around corners, but now I don't have to sit on the piano bench when friends come over!

We'll make her an American yet!

My current view - our living room.

Happy Late Halloween!

We went camping almost a month ago...Tabi froze. Think Encino Man.

We went to an Ingrid Michaelson concert - the first concert ever for Tabitha. So we took a picture once we squashed inside up in Salt Lake.

A great concert! But...the best news of all......

Tabitha got into the nursing program!

-The Aggen Family

A Hiking We Will Go!

2009-10-05T15:38:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks back we went hiking to Stuart Falls with the Cannon Family and Adrienne. Provo Canyon is beautiful in the Autumn and it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

The whole gang in front of Stuart Falls.

The colors of all the trees in Provo Canyon are incredible!

Two Studs! Alex with our nephew Johnny. They have so much fun together. While we were hiking Alex would sing to Johnny and replace the name in the song with "Johnny." Anyone ever heard of "Johnny Boy?"

Tommy was such a hoot on the hike. His current favorite movie is Star Wars and he related various aspects of our hike to Star Wars. For example, the Aspen trees were Storm Troopers and any tree that had a dark spot on it was Darth Vader.

We found this leaf on our way back to the car. Loved how all the dew was perfectly formed on the leaf!

Start spreading the news....

2009-09-24T18:26:00.000-06:00

In a word- schpadoinkle. Our honeymoon in Manhattan was in fact so good, that words found in the dictionary will not suffice to describe it. Photos to follow.

All that glitters is...creepy.

Our hotel was a few blocks from Times Square...we discovered it almost accidentally after checking in at the hotel and heading out in search of grub.

Tabitha encountered her dream home....a life size Barbie house and immediately told me to leave her there for the night - she was "home."

Venus has nothing on this girl.

We went for a stroll through Central Park...which turned into a journey, because it is amazingly huge considering it is tucked away in some of the most valuable land on earth.

The weirdest two people I have ever met besides Jamie and Spencer.

Auuuurrrrruuuurrrr!

We had some candy at FAO Schwartz. We did play on the giant piano, but have it on video only right now. The flavor of the candy was great, but the texture was a little Chewie....hahahahaha. (See above. Yes Dad and Jared, I know, I'm ridiculously cheesy, but I think Mama Joc would approve.)

First Broadway show we saw was Mary Poppins which was in fact practically perfect in every way.

Went to Long Beach. Great weather, great waves. Perfect.

Found a mermaid that had washed ashore. And if you're wondering, yes, she was a magical mermaid, the wish-granting kind.

Wicked truthfully was one of the highlights of the trip. Lucky to get tickets, but well worth it.

This is a representation of our emotional state as soon as the play ended.

Cheese. Cake. Ecstasy.

This guy was the stunt double for Cheech Marin during all of the action sequences in "Nash Bridges."

Ahem. Mrs.

Lady Liberty meets Queen Aggen.

There was absolutely no wind at all that day. None. None on the river, none on the boat. None anywhere. You calling me a liar?

A fantastic trip, perfect honeymoon with two perfectly happy newlyweds.

They found out we were newlyweds on the plane because I had to sing "You're just too good to be true" to convince the flight crew to get us seats together. So as we were flying through DC we were called up front and given a fat bottle of champagne. We're considering listing it on e-bay. Or washing the bugs off the hood of the car.

Our flight home....with M&M's marking the path thanks to the most used gift from Tommy!

The week flew by, but was hands down the best ever. We may not have pictures of everything because mainly we just enjoyed all of the little moments, hand in hand with our one true love.

The Wedding

2009-09-19T12:39:00.000-06:00

We're Married! Enjoy the pictures from our special day!

Coming out of the Salt Lake City Temple

The Groomsmen

The Bridesmaids

Sheen Family

Aggen Family

The day of our wedding (August 22) was Tommy's birthday!

...And we are living Happily Ever After.

We're Engaged!

2009-07-29T20:32:00.000-06:00

You are cordially invited to attend the wedding of...

Tabitha Lyne to Alexander John!

We are getting married! Yippee!

Our date has been set for Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 3pm in the Salt Lake Temple.

Here are some of our engagement pictures that were taken in Kansas City.

Thanks to Alexis for her great work!

This is one of my favorites!

This is the EXACT spot where Alex proposed.