May (in a nutshell)

May was a pretty exciting month. It started off with my birthday (25----woo!)

A few days after that, Jared finished his last final of his second year of med school and is officially a "half doctor". We celebrated by going to Ohio to the "America's Largest Indoor Water park" Kalahari. We went all out and got the "romantic package". It was a beautiful suite and it came with chocolate covered strawberries and champagne. When we got there I asked the lady at the desk if we could get something non-alcoholic instead, so they gave us a delicious sparkling raspberry juice.

After we went to the water park we got a couple's Swedish massage, and it was amazing. Totally what we both needed. Then last weekend I flew to Utah for a few (way too short) days. I got there Friday late morning and left Monday early afternoon. But we had a blast and it was totally worth it! Friday after my mom picked me up from the airport, we hung out in Salt Lake and had lunch with my dad and shopped at the new City Creek shopping center there, it was pretty sweet. Then we went back to good ol' Ogden and ate at the Ogden Pizzeria to "carb load" with my sisters and their families and younger brother. The next morning I ran the Ogden half marathon with my sister Holly. Before the race in the Ogden valley

I stopped before I ran down into the canyon to take a couple shots of the beautiful scenery. I miss the mountains so much!

Crossing the finish line

With our medals

My sweet friend Sierra came to see me finish and took some great pictures.

She said a few minutes before I finished there was a girl who collapsed about 50 yards from the finish line. Her husband jumped over the fence and picked her up, carried her to a few feet before the finish line, and then helped her onto her feet to cross the finish line. Is that the sweetest or what?! She snapped a picture of him carrying her.

My sister Holly's kids all came to the finish line, and afterwards my adorable niece Olivia saw a statue and ran up to it to kiss it. Watch out for her when she gets older Holls!

The rest of the day Saturday was spent in my parents' pool. I love my nieces and nephews so much, they all have such fun different personalities and I just can't get enough of them when I come to visit!

Darling Olivia in her ballerina swimsuit 

James tole me he was going to marry me.

It was such a great weekend, I just wish Jared could have been there with me. But he's in full on study mode now, only about 3 weeks until he takes his boards. Yikes! I can't believe how fast this month has gone! Time flies when you're enjoying life and living it with the ones you love. Awe....

Nothing to Post

Hello all, (Whomever "all" is)
I don't really have anything to post, but the end of the month is getting near so I decided to post nothing so that I have something for the month of April. :) Jared only has a few weeks left of school. I'm starting a 5 week class this Thursday called "Aspiring Nurse Leader" so that I can learn how to be a better leader/charge nurse and one day manager. I was selected by my boss to attend this class because she identified me as a "high performer" (according to the letter they sent me in the mail...). So I guess that's kind of cool. Other than that, not too much to say about the Smeds this month. May has a lot going on, so I'm sure next month I'll have something more exciting to post. Until then, I'm out!

This hottie I call my husband

Since I don't have kids yet the only person I have to brag about is my hottie husband.

This picture is of when he went fishing with a friend a few weeks ago during his spring break. He caught the only fish of the day.

He also played in the annual MD vs DO hockey game again a few weeks ago. The MD students won this year (12-6 or something like that). I video-taped about half of it, the battery was dead for the first half and then I found a place to plug it in, but I have some good clips on my phone too. This clip is from my phone and is of Jared tripping a guy. I couldn't figure out how to shorten it or put it directly on my blog, so you get the link instead. (Hint: Click on the word "This"). He is #27 and he trips the guy at about 0:56 and then you can hear everyone say, "Yeah Jared!" He's quite the star around these parts. He's gotten a lot better since he played at Weber State too. I'm pretty proud of him. Well that's all the bragging I have for now.

Thank goodness for the extra day!

Happy Leap Day!
I almost forgot to post this month. I would be very disappointed because it's been almost 5 years and I haven't missed a month yet. Thank goodness for leap day or I would have been hosed.

Anyway, for Valentine's day Jared and I stayed the night before at a bed and breakfast in Ann Arbor. It was very quaint.

The breakfast the next morning was delicious. The only downfall to the place was that there was no hot tub. Jared and I had both really wanted to get in one while we were there.

Ready for a funny story? Ok, so I googled "hot tubs in Ann Arbor" and what came up was a place that just had a bunch of different hot tubs in their own separate areas decorated different ways. Jared and I decided it might be fun to try. So we drove to it and walked in to check it out. There were two ladies at the front desk. One of them asked if we had a reservation. I said no, we just heard about it and wanted to check it out. In a very rude tone, she said, "You don't have a reservation on Valentine's day and you thought you could just walk in? We are completely booked until 2 in the morning." Jared said, "That's fine, we just wanted to check it out." As we were about to leave the other lady said, "We actually had a cancellation and there is a half hour left of these people's reservation if you want it." So we said sure. We followed her to this room that had a bathroom/shower and changing area, that lead outside to a private area with a hot tub. She rushed through all of the instructions really fast and said, "we will call you on the phone by the hot tub when there is 10 minutes left." (Would anyone else think that meant 10 minutes left in the hot tub or are we the only idiots who thought that?) We said ok, and once we were in the hot tub we were trying to figure out where the phone even was. We figured it out once it rang. It was clear across the area from where we were (which was outside and freezing). We just figured it would ring once or twice and we knew that was our 10 minute mark. But it just kept ringing and ringing so I finally got out and answered it. The snotty lady said, "Is this the Smedley party? We've been trying to get a hold of you for 2 minutes. You have 8 minutes left." I said, "Ok, thank you," and then hung up. After a few more minutes, we decided to get out and get in the shower that was in our little "suite". About a minute after that another phone inside the suite started ringing. I said we would be out in a minute and she started yelling and saying, "There are people waiting here right now, you need to be out right now!" When I started to tell her that we must have misunderstood her she just hung up on me. So we busted it to try and get dressed while we were still soaking wet. As soon as I opened the door she was standing there and she yelled, "I need as many people as possible to help me clean this place right now!" I pretended like I didn't hear her and went to the front desk. Jared told the other lady sorry, that we misunderstood when we were supposed to be out. She was nice and said it was ok, then the wench lady came out and started yelling at us again. Jared tried to apologize and explain and she just kept cutting him off and then said, "Yep ok, Happy Valentine's Day."
Then we went out to our car and it wouldn't start. We swear she cursed it. It had problems the rest of the day but we still made it to Detroit to the Red Wings game. Fun stuff!

Well that's all I got. Until next month. ;)

Bitter

I hesitate to write this post because I don't normally share my feelings on this blog, but I feel like I just want everyone to know what is going on so they can understand why I get snappy or try to change the subject when they start talking about how EVERYONE I know is pregnant.

A couple weeks from now will mark a year since Jared and I have started trying to have a baby. That first month after getting off birth control was so exciting. I started a "baby box" with random baby things I find on sale or would want to have when I have a baby. (Like blankets, bottles, baby thermometers, etc.) Then, month after month of no period but negative pregnancy tests and frustration, I started to wonder what was wrong with me. It didn't take more than a month or two for any of my sisters or my mom to get pregnant. Why am I such a freak? So in June, I finally called my doctor, who after blood tests and ultrasounds, diagnosed me with polycystic ovary syndrome. He started me on Glucophage (also for diabetic patients), which was supposed to stimulate ovulation, and also scheduled an appointment with a fertility specialist ob. I had to schedule an appointment with her 3 months in advance. So in September, after no success with the glucophage, the fertility specialist started me on Femara (also for breast cancer patients) (while continuing on the Glucophage because they work "synergistically") which is also supposed to stimulate ovulation, which up to this point I still haven't done at all. She gave me a 3 month supply and set up another appointment after 3 months. In December, at my next appointment, she just increased my dose of Femara, and said if I'm not pregnant by March, I will have to start real fertility drugs. Over the Christmas holiday, the time which is supposed to be centered around Christ and loving others, I found myself becoming very bitter. Bitter at everyone who is currently pregnant and/or who already has kids. Bitter at the 16 year old girls who try having sex once and become pregnant and don't even want the baby. Bitter at the teenage patient I had a few months ago who has had 4 abortions and finally decided to put in an IUD after having a full-term baby. Bitterness is not fun, nor is it healthy. I knew I needed to change my attitude. Over the past few weeks I feel like I've been blessed with the comfort that I am loved and that everything will work out the way Heavenly Father has planned for me. I don't know what He has in store for me in the future as far as kids go, but I am putting my trust in Him that He knows what is best for me at this time in my life. I know that He loves me and will bless me in my life if I have faith and strive to be a better person. I'm so grateful that Jared and I have this time in our lives to still be spontaneous (ie: this Valentine's day we are going to a Red Wings game and staying in a fancy hotel that night in Detroit) and have time to grow stronger together as a couple. I know that we will be blessed as long as we strive to do our best in following the commandments of the Lord. I have a lot to work on...

99 bottles of be---soda on the wall....

We've had all of these cans sitting in our basement forever because Jared wanted to take a picture of them. These are {most of} the cans of Monster energy drinks that got Jared through his first year of med school. I'm pretty sure there were way more that got thrown away though. He doesn't really drink these any more, because since he's learned all about kidney function and how bad these REALLY are for you, he decided there are probably better alternatives. Like going to bed at a "decent" time most nights during the week so he's not always struggling to stay awake. Gotta love med school!

Christmas 2011

Jared and I just got back a couple hours ago from Utah. We were very blessed to be able to spend 10 days in Utah celebrating Christmas with our families. It's never nearly enough time to split between family and friends, but I'm just grateful we even had the time off and the money to be able to come out and visit. I had my camera in my purse the entire time and only took like 5 pictures. So I stole a lot of them from my mom's blog.

My mom, sisters and I did our annual "baking day". The beginning of the "Christmas crap" eating.

We did our annual Christmas Eve Eve party, complete with the nativity with my cute nieces and nephews. Man I wish I could play with them more often than twice a year!

How can you not love this face?!

My cute Grand-parents.

The only "Christmas" picture Jared and I have together this year.

We took Jared's sister Kendra's kids ice skating one day.

Jared was teaching Isaac how to skate. It was really cute. Jared is a great teacher and is very patient.

The last day we were in Utah I went shopping with my sisters and mom in the morning, then we went to Salt Lake and ate lunch at Caputo's with my dad and all of Jared's family.

Then we went to temple square where Jared's grandparents serve a part-time mission. His grandma gave us a tour of the Joseph Smith Memorial building. We got a really cool "ancestor" picture taken there.

Then we looked at the lights for a few minutes before we had to make the train back home. Temple square truly is beautiful, especially at Christmas.

This morning our plane was on the runway right as the sun was rising over the mountains. The colors were so beautiful and I started getting a little teary-eyed as I realized it would be at least another 6 months until we're back in Utah.

As we were driving on the bus back home to East Lansing, this was our view:

Welcome back to gray cloudy Michigan. It's nice to be home again....