Cosplay!

I'm not into Comic Com I swear! I didn't think I was into Cosplay until I read an article about a guy HERE His low budget costumes are hilarious! I couldn't help but laugh! Plus he is Thai...so maybe that makes me like him even more.  I looked up more and more pictures of him doing his thing and loved his creativity. He even has about 350,000 facebook followers on his page "Lowcostcosplay"  Now that Matt and I are trying to live "low cost" I thought that doing Cosplay on-the-cheap might be a fun idea for date night. Here's what we came up with:









The picture I wanted to recreate



I looked at a lot of disney characters and was trying to think of household items I could use for the costume.  It was hard! This made me realize how darn creative the Thai guy is!  I came across jasmine and I thought that her earrings looked like spoons, so I decided to dress up as her.   





Me as Jasmine!

Here's my outfit! It was hard finding colors to match her clothes...I've got on a light blue shirt, a belt as a necklace, spoon earrings, black eye liner, black towel for the hair and I used Matt's blue ties (he was hesitant to let me borrow at first) for the headband.  I also thought this blanket my sister-in-law Natalie crocheted for me was perfect for a magic carpet!

 

Matt pulled out his creativity (which is coming to him extra these days because he watches Cycle 22 of America's Next Top Model with me he he) and this is what he came up with.



The real Quasimodo

Matt as Quasimodo

 

 Matt complained that we have nothing red in the house (sorry! not my favorite color!) but he did find a red shirt of his for the hair.  Matt's usual Sabai pants worked great paired with a green top.  Crocks for shoes, a bowl stuffed under the shirt for the hunchback.  And that lump is an egg with eye liner on it...taped to his head.

We are big dorks...

 

 

Things are picking up for Matt in school.  He has a lot of group projects (hardly any tests). One group project he is currently doing is about the governance in the Health South Corporation (one of the nation's largest providers of post-acute/rehabilitative healthcare services).  They met with the COO of that business and learned all about what the administrative team does within the company and how they work with the Board.  

   

Matt's Group

Matt has homework.  But sometimes I really think all the money we are spending on school is actually just being used on a really expensive lunch club....At least once a week Matt has "lunch and learn".  The class has lunch and some Health Administrator comes and talks about how much money he makes...er...I mean how much he loves his job and is contributing to society. Last week was especially filled with food and networking/schmoozing (whatever you want to call it)! Thursday and Friday Matt was able to help with the preceptors conference where several health organizations come to UAB and meet/speed date/interview (again, whatever you want to call it) for residencies.  The people were here for the class above Matt (Matt will be the one interviewing this time next year!!?!).  He helped with the set up (6 am!) and he drove one gentleman (CEO of the Tampa general hospital) to the airport.  Matt chatted with a lot of people and came home and complained of eating too many chicken and biscuits from breakfast.  Must be nice! 

 

Where part of the conference was held

Class 51 (Matt's Class) at this year's Preceptor's Conference

On the Momma side of things...

Yvonne's first trip to the Zoo! We went with another mom and babe in the ward.  When Yvonne is really enjoying an outing she shows us she likes it by falling asleep.  The Zoo was not different, she slept for a lot of it.  But she was awake to get a picture with the elephants (her mom's favorite animals).  There was a petting zoo section and Yvonne really like looking at the big Black pigs.



My favorite things: Yvonne and ASIAN Elephants!

We had four elders over for dinner.  Our Ikea table is so tiny Matt thought it would be fun to sit on the floor and have dinner Thai Style! I made curry and a stir-fry beef.  One elder dumped on the Sriracha sauce-very impressive!

 

 

 

We are trying to stay outside as much as possible.  We love the weather here!  For FHE we went to the Jemison trail and went on a nice walk.  The golden hour that night could not be beat!

 

Rollin'

The weather is still so nice.  Very nice.  And it is still very green here and we are taking advantage! Labor day we went to a pool party with Matt's class.  We grilled some good fish and shrimp and basked in the sun.  We wanted to swim a little more but they don't make swim diapers small enough for Miss Yvonne:( Next summer...Or maybe even October if the pools are still open!

We had a picnic at the Botanical Gardens with some friends. A group of 8 plus 2 babies got together for it.  We stayed out until the sun was going down and the fire flies in the Garden were really beautiful and plentiful! On Saturday we went to the Art Walk downtown Birmingham.  I went in with little expectations.  I have been to "Art Walks" before and usually they are just O.K.  This Art Walk was big and pretty cool.  They had probably 200 artists set up around down town spanning 6 blocks or so. Some of the art was set up in the streets, others were set up inside different shops along the way.  We saw some talented stuff! We also saw some weird stuff.  There were a lot of food trucks around and a couple live bands playing.  We spent a lot of the day checking everything out!

Just one pic from Art Walk.  Those are army men!

We had a guy in Matt's class and his wife over for dinner and they just loved Yvonne! Later that week Jim came up to Matt and said (in a sweet southern accent mind you) "My wife just loves Yvonne so much she went and bought her one of them Bumbo things...hope you don't think it's weird.  She just thinks she is so sweet."  So kind of them! Yvonne thinks it's pretty great too!

She is mobile!

Matt attending the symphony with his couch surfing friend Don

Matt and I were asked to speak in church yesterday.  Our topics were baptism and the Holy Ghost.  We thought it might be a good missionary opportunity ...So Matt invited his class to come watch him give a "sermon" and see what an LDS church meeting was like. 10 people came! It was great!  Our talks went well too. A few of them had some questions after.  We've got to plan our next move... This week we are having the missionaries over so hopefully we can get in on some more missionary work.  

yvonne's birthday

I had the intention to write this post on Yvonne's 3 month birthday but...

I wanted to document one of the greatest moments in my life.  When I became a mother.  Yvonne's estimated due date was May 30.  I had an uneventful relatively easy pregnancy.  I was able to do some form of exercise through out it (usually just walking during the last trimester).  I was able to keep working full-time with out any problems there either.  I was really blessed during my pregnancy.  Through my pregnancy I practiced meditation and read a lot about natural birth.  I was hoping for a natural birth, which did not happen, but I am really happy with how everything went.

At 36 weeks I went in to the doctor starting my weekly checkups and I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced.  Woohoo! I was for sure I was going to be going into labor early. 37 weeks I was measuring the same.  38 weeks I was measuring 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced. So close.  I thought for sure I would go into labor any day.

I finished my job at Trinity by then but I wanted to stay active.  Matt and I were in the process of moving to Springville to live with his parents for a couple months until we moved to Alabama.  I spent a lot of my time packing, cleaning, and walking.  I hiked the "Y" a few times.  Once with my sister-in-law Linda who had never done it before!  39 weeks and still measuring the same.  I continued walking and even did some running.

40 weeks pregnant.  Oh my goodness! I wanted the baby to come so badly.  That week I tried it all! I busted every single myth someone would suggest to me.  I tried curb walking, spicy food, jumping, running, eggplant Parmesan (strange I know-but there is a website full of testimonials), red raspberry leaf tea, squats, hiking, relaxation, swiping membranes, pretty much I tried it all...except castor oil.

It was Friday night June 5th and my sister Kim came to town and I was really hoping I would go into labor while she was in town (sadly didn't happen) and I was really hoping I would go into labor before I had to be induced (gladly did happen).  The following day was Saturday and I would officially be 41 weeks pregnant and I told myself that if I was still pregnant in the morning I would run the Art City 5k.  I woke up the next morning and I was still pregnant....

Matt PRed at this race and I made a new record for myself of the slowest time ever but I did it! I saw my doctor at the finish line and he said "if this doesn't put you into labor I don't know what will!"

This race did not put me into labor... just extreme soreness for the rest of the day.  Later that night we went to the Payson Temple celebration and the next day we went to the dedication.  I'm glad I got to go to those things!

Sunday night the 7th after dinner at my parents house and after my sister and her husband left back home I kind of felt like something was going to happen.  Or it may be the same feeling I had felt the past 2 weeks.  Matt and I were heading back home and I suggested we walk the Bonneville Shoreline trail in Springville.  While we were walking I felt a small gush of liquid come in between my legs.  And then a little more, and a little more.  "Matt I think my water is breaking."  So we turned around and headed back to the car.  Luckily I had a towel to sit on in the car! 

We waited back at the house to see if contractions would start.  They started and we timed them.  I did my nails and ate Outshine Popsicles (so yummy!).  When contractions were about 3 minutes apart we decided to head to the hospital.  My water broke about 6:30 pm and we were admitted to the hospital about 9:30 pm.  

When we arrived at the hospital I could tell one of the nurses didn't believe me (or she has had too many false "I swear I am in labor!" arrivals.  She asked me: "How far apart are contractions?" "Are you sure your water broke?" "Is this your first baby?" "When is your due date?" "Have you tried to be admitted before for labor?"  

With a quick check they assured me I was in labor (I knew that...that is why I actually came to the hospital...).  My actual labor and delivery nurse was awesome!!!  I started out doing ok with the whole "natural labor" thing.  The nurse did some great counter pressure on my back and knees.  Matt and her were super encouraging.  There were some positions I wanted to rest in but the monitors were telling me that it was affecting the baby's heartbeat ("oh, baby doesn't like THAT position!"), so I would have to change positions:(  As labor progressed I told Matt that I wanted the epidural.  Matt and the nurse were willing to keep helping me if I wanted to continue the natural route but when they checked me and I was dilated to a 6+/7 I told them No Way!!  My doctor had arrived about 10 pm and was just hanging out for whenever I was ready to push (he was really great!).  

So I got the epidural about 11 pm.  And I would totally do it again.  No regrets.  Seriously if it is there-why not.  And Yvonne is still a chill sweet baby even though I got an epidural!  At midnight I was fully dilated.  My doctor (when the lady has an epidural) likes the patient to rest and let the baby descend a little while before pushing starts.  Matt called up my mom and sister-in-law Linda to come on down to the hospital because "Heather is going to push soon."  That's all he said-I found out they were in a panic getting to the hospital because they thought they were going to miss it! 

Mom, Linda and ...Dad (!?) came into the delivery room.  I was so surprised to see my dad! But he assured me that he would be waiting in the waiting room.  At 1 am I started pushing.  My doctor warned me that I could be pushing 30 min-2+ hours because this is my first baby.  I did not believe him.  I thought "I'm in pretty good shape I think it will go a lot faster."  Nope! It took me a full hour to push that babe out. Pushing is a lot of hard work but in between contractions there was a lot of talking and joking going on. 

2:03 am baby was born! 6lbs 13oz and 19in.  She started crying immediately.  Finally we met our sweet baby.  I was able to hold her for an hour on my chest before they took her down for her bath.  Mom and Linda held her too.  Dad was excited through the whole thing even though he was in the waiting room.  Matt was so happy to meet her and he changed her first diaper.  It wasn't until later that morning that we decided on her name.  Yvonne Liffy (spin off of Lifferth-my maiden name).  

Testifying, Winning and Swimming

Our first Saturday morning in town was spent at a laundromat, which was pricey! It cost 7$ to wash a large load of laundry (water is an expensive utility here).  We knew that was going to add up quick so we got on craigslist and decided on a used washer and dryer set.  Luckily our water utility is included in our apartment rent (woohoo!) plus we have the hookups for a washer and dryer.  Matt picked out the set online and called the guy who was selling them.  Super nice guy named Bill.  He even offered to bring us the set for a little extra cost and install it for us. And he did just that and when he left he told us to let us know if we had any problems with the machines.

The sad part of the story is that we did have a problem with the dryer:( It was working just fine and then all of a sudden halfway through the first load it stopped working.

The glad part of the story is that we had a great missionary experience come of it!  A lot of students in Matt's classes are religious and talk about religion and Christ often.  Matt has a gospel discussion with a person in his class pretty much every single day-it's pretty cool!  This missionary experience was with Bill who came to fix our dryer.  Matt called Bill and told him that we were actually having some troubles with the dryer and Bill insisted on coming to our apartment to fix it.  Bill started talking to us about the church because he asked where we were from (Utah=Mormons right?).  He told us that he lived next to two Mormon churches and then we realized he was talking about the Birmingham Temple and the church that is right next to it.  So he asked us the difference of those buildings.  I think the spirit got really strong when he asked about Joseph Smith.  Matt told an explanatory but simple account of the first vision and bore his testimony.  I think we all felt the spirit and Bill was really grateful for the knowledge he gained from it.  We offered to send him a Book of Mormon-but he didn't seem like he was wanting that quite yet....hopefully we can have more problems with our dryer;)  It was a great missionary experience and we are hoping and praying to have more!

I'm trying to limit my use of exclamation points.  In the MTC my sister Kim thought I was on crack because I used so many exclamation points in my letters home.  But I just get excited about sharing the gospel!!!

"If it's free its for me!" is usually my motto.  Except when I attended free Yoga at Railroad Park.  It was a really cool park in ghetto area birmingham (the city is trying to give face lifts to several areas downtown) but pretty lame Yoga...

Friday we checked out the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, which was free and for me.  They are sweet! 67 acres of different themed gardens and we only went through 1/3 of the park.

Alabama Woodland Garden

Japanese Gardens

Bamboo!! 

There are a lot of statues throughout the gardens

I refused to believe this area of the park were really the "Japanese Gardens" until I saw Koi fish...well I did!

The ladies in the Rose Gardens

Yvonne loved the roses

Southern Living Garden

Saturday morning Matt did a 10.5 mile trail race in Oak Mountain State Park and took 2nd! The winning guy was a sponsor at the race so he gave Matt the winners prize.  It is 5 sessions at a chiropractic clinic to do normatec treatments.  I think Matt will really like the prize because he babies his feet haha.

Matt and this guy came in together as friends...The race director (who had beautiful hair that looked like George Washington) made the boys chose who took 2nd and who took 3rd place!

Our southern babe waiting for Dad to finish his race

After the race we met up with another couple in Matt's program at the lake in the Park and hung out there.  Yvonne went swimming for her first time and seemed  to like it.  The lake was really warm and it was a hot day=perfect for swimming.  I am not in the photos because I forgot my swim suit...typical mommy brain:(

<3

Saturday is a Special Day!

Sunday is not necessarily Funday down here in the south.  Most everyone here are church-goin'-folk. Saturdays are a special day.  A day to get ready for Sunday.  So when Matt's class invites you to have Brunch/Mimosas luckily you can attend because it is on a Saturday morning and not a Sunday morning. (Don't worry-they all know we don't drink! We just have regular Orange Juice:)) 

Saturdays are the best because Matt doesn't have class and since he is currently unemployed (I like to call it "funemployed" right now..) until October we get to play on Saturdays! 

There are a few Farmer's Markets in the area and we have gone to one a couple times but would like to try out a different one this coming Saturday.  The one we have attended has tons of produce, meat, homemade foods, crafts, live music (last time the music was awful...), and gallons of sweet tea.  We bought sweet potatoes and made the best sweet potato fries! 

The Pepper Place Farmer's Market

Don, the person Matt couchsurfed with, is super southern sweet and hooked us up with free tickets to the Vulcan Museum! For free! It was pretty cool to check it out. We learned that the Vulcan statue is the largest statue made in America and the largest cast iron statue in the world (think of how many dutch ovens you could make out of that thing!).  

Matt and Don 

Bare-Bottomed Man aka Vulcan

With our tickets we were able to ride the glass elevator to the top of the Vulcan tower and check out the view of down town Birmingham.

Birmingham! Matt's school is down there somewhere.

Yvonne likes heights!

We were able to hike around the Moss Rock Preserve.  It is a popular spot for bouldering.  Matt and I took our rock climbing shoes and scaled a few walls.  We didn't climb up too high because we didn't have a crash pad.  We need to get one!  Our apartment is only 5 miles from this place.  There were a lot of other people climbing with crash pads.  As far as we could tell there weren't any places for a top rope to rock climb (the walls were not that high anyways). 

People love Jesus down here, but apparently not nature...

Yvonne watching her dad climb

Check out all that moss on the Rocks!

Yvonne is such a good sport on outings!! Her mom and dad have FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) real bad! Luckily we have a chill babe and she likes to sleep in her backpack.

Sleepy Baby

There are several other hiking trails in this park and a hike to a waterfall that we can still explore.  We will have to come back later in Autumn when the waterfall is flowing full on.  We told other climbers that we are from Utah and they were so jealous! They said they have always wanted to visit there.  Alabama is such a gorgeous state (super green) but Utah (especially the outdoors) definitely has a special place in my heart!