What I was doing 1 year ago

Reading this you might sometimes forget that I got married almost 1 year ago. Or maybe I haven't mentioned it....hmmm, might be guilty of that. But nevertheless I got married a year ago, and now I've told you. Anyway, about 1 year from today ago (did that make any sense?) I had a bridal shower thrown by my best girlie Lisa (do I talk about Li too much? Are you wondering if I actually am married to her? Understandable) Well I'm pretty sure Li did more for the wedding than I did, including throwing me a rockin bridal party!

My custom shirt says BRIDE on the front and Mrs. Jorgensen on the back. Still haven't changed my name though, and I hyphenated it. But one of these days I'm going to go to the DMV and get my license changed, maybe by my 2nd anniversary....

Me and Li

Li made me play Groom handman, or actually the opposite. She asked me a bunch of questions about Ry and put the pieces on if I got the question right. I did pretty good, but I maintain that he changed some of his answers from things he had previously told me (he actually agreed to that when I talked to him)

Sassy pants had a great time at the party. She opened most of the presents.... I say only MOST cause you know some people, like Li, thought that giving me something that rhymes with "watchless" was funny for me to open up in front of my mother.... alright it kinda was funny

Have you noticed the glasses in these pics? And the fact that I absolutely HATE wearing glasses? Well about 2 weeks before the wedding I thought I was getting pink eye. I went to the dr who looked and said that my eyes had multiple microscopic ulcers. I've been diagnosed with this before but it wasn't as serious. Basically my ulcers were growing and were close to ruining part of my sight (think of how a blind dog has that milky eye covering) This was caused by my contacts, the specific brand that I had. And then the optometrist (who I happen to be friends with his wife) told me I wouldn't be able to wear contacts for a month. This was followed by me bursting into tears, knowing the wedding was in 2 weeks and we were going to Hawaii for our honeymoon. He backed off and said that if I took liquid gold eye drops (I'm not kidding this one ounce bottle costs $200, thank you insurance) and swore I would try to sleep a lot and wear my glasses he would allow me to wear my contacts for the wedding day and a few hours each day after that. I went to the dr almost every 3 days for the next 2 weeks (again, thank you insurance) and 3 days before the wedding he said that they had healed really well and I could wear the MOST EXPENSIVE CONTACTS AVAILABLE (kinda thank you insurance, you don't cover much)

Well that was my long winded boring story of why Koren is wearing glasses in a lot of the pictures in August and right before the wedding.

Something good.... We're actually planning on doing something for our anniversary! Tickets, massages, hotel.... yeehaw!

K

Can't keep hiding

I know that my blog is open, it's not private. That's intentional but I know that it also means that I don't post certain things about my life. Not because I'm worried about a random creep finding out details of me and my kids. It's partly because of some of the people that I know finding out details that I don't think they deserve to know, and also partly because I'm almost scared to rant or rave about what good things are going on. I don't want to hurt the feeling of people who I will always care about. But it's not fair to me. It's not fair that this is my life, and I'm taking the horrible and heartbreaking situation that I was in and I'm making it better. I'm happy, let me write that again for you....I'm happy. I am truly enjoying my life, my family and the new and exciting changes it is bringing. I am not hiding this anymore. If SOMETHING GOOD is happening, I want to write about it. This is my personal and family record, I want it to be true. The joys I've had in the past will never change, I'm just allowing my heart to grow.

You have been the one for me.
Lost in a February song.

K

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

This shall be my last birthday.... from now on I will only have "Anniversary's" of my 28th bday. So since we've all agreed that I will not be getting any older we can now move on to my bday celebration.

My Mother celebrates her birthday for an entire month, I pushed it this year and celebrated mine for an entire weekend (my birthday was Monday) So Saturday we went out as a family, had a sushi lunch (Sydnee ate SUSHI) and did a little shopping. That evening Ry and I went with some of my best friends to Maggiano's Italian Food in Denver. This is one of my favorite places to go. It was so much fun!

Ry and I leaving the house


On the way to Denver I wanted a Coke Slush (my favorite)

At Maggiano's

Lisa, Krystal and I

Li and I. This girl is practically my sister

Ry totally spoiled me all weekend

Dinner was a blast, amazing food, hilarious conversation, and more and more FOOD! I literally had 8 boxes of leftovers. We had 3 other couples come with us

Rena and Rick

Krystal and James

Chad and Lisa

I really dislike cake! So for dessert we had Creme Brulee and Cheesecake. And I got candles to blow out! I can't remember that last time I had candles. Perfect way to celebrate my final birthday

This is my thinking about my wish face

Make a wish

My girls!

Krystal, Lisa, me and Rena

Amazing memories! Totally a night to remember

Something good.... I got some amazing gifts, including; coach purse, guess shoes, bluray, movies, candles, jewelry, and so much LOVE

K

Grobanite

I got to go to the Josh Groban concert last week. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Josh Groban. I am one of those true dorky fans who would scream and cry if he ever talked to me. I've been to 2 other concerts of his before, so when it was announced he was touring again I had to get tickets.

4 years ago and the 2nd concert I went to (and the first Josh concert in CO I've been to) I had tickets but the person who was supposed to come with me bailed. I didn't have any real friends in CO but I was the visiting teacher to a girl who worked in Denver so I asked if she knew who Josh Groban was? She didn't but agreed to come with me anyway.....

And that night, with the strains of "Remember when it rained" a beautiful friendship between Lisa and I was born.

Lisa is now a devout fan who knows almost as much as I do about his music.

So we got tickets and went early to Denver to catch a quick dinner before the show.

There is this hole in the wall Mexican food place that is across from the Aquarium in Denver, I always wonder if it is any good so since it was close Li and I decided to try it out

Like any self respecting girl from AZ my tastes of Mexican food are pretty high. And I am pleased to report that Tapas was AMAZING!!!! BEST Mexican food I've had in CO and I will definitely be going back and even looking for reasons to go to Denver so I can eat there again!

As we were walking to the concert as the photography weirdo obsessed girls we are we stopped on a cute bridge and took some pictures.

Ahhh the concert! I get giddy just knowing I'm in the same building with Josh. We sat at what we thought were our seats, next to a grumpy old man who was angry when we were talking during the opening act. How was I supposed to not talk when a guy is BANGING on the piano while standing and thrusting at it, all while whipping his head back and forth? (and not in the cool Willow Smith way)

So we checked our tickets and realized we were in the wrong seats and started to move, but while we were moving we found even better seats which were all EMPTY! (this was the most empty Josh concert I've ever seen, normally it's sold out. I'm thinking they didn't promote very well)

But our seats were great! From my seat, just using zoom these are some pictures I got!

You can't tell but behind us is an entire section of empty chairs. I had my feet up during most of the concert

Josh Groban is funny, that's one of my favorite things is how much I laugh during his concerts. There was a sign saying that you could text Josh a question during the concert. One of the questions was from a guy sitting up behind me, he asked; "Dear Josh, can my wife meet you so we can move on with our marriage?"

HILARIOUS!!! So Josh ran up the aisle right past me to meet the guys wife. I am respectful, I'm not going to grab my dream guy as he's running past me.... I'm just going to take a picture

Later I went and stood next to the barrier around the stage for some better shots. And basked in the glowy awesomeness that is Josh!

Je t'adore

Something good.... Sydnee was DEVASTATED that I didn't get her a ticket for this concert too. So I promised that next time he comes (which she is assuming it will be next month) I will get her a ticket too. I'm really excited about that, and I wish he was coming back next month

K

2nd Grade Sassy

Sydnee started 2nd grade today. As we were walking hand in hand (I know that won't last much longer) to her class I asked her if she just wanted to stay home forever and become a bum. She said no way and that she liked school (another thing that won't last much longer)

I took the morning off of work, I didn't do this for 1st grade and I'll always regret it. So, family rule from now on is
"The Mommy shalt attend and oversee the preparation of first days of school, thus saith the Mommy"

Can't I make up my own family rules? I am the Mommy....

I made Sydnee cinnamon rolls for breakfast since they are her VERY favorite and strawberry milk. As a toddler and being lactose intolerant Sydnee was only allowed to drink Soy Milk, she hated it! The dr finally told me to try a little bit of strawberry syrup (cause she also hates chocolate...weird girl) She has since only liked strawberry milk


Yesterday there was a tragic accident of epic proportions (can you tell I'm feeling dramatic?)

Sydnee was trying to get a cup from the cabinet, and while she was climbing up she placed her arm on the HOTTTT stove! We're really lucky that the burn isn't too bad, but she had an ice pack on it all day and then I bandaged it up.

Poor baby, she got a lot of extra love and attention from Mommy!


The classic first day of school pose (see the bandaged arm?)

I have to make a comment about Sydnee's outfit. She picked out a dress and sandals with matching bows from Crazy8 a few weeks ago. While at meet the teacher, her teacher stated that they would be having PE the first day and no sandals were allowed. Sydnee was devastated, so I reassured her that she could wear her outfit on the SECOND day and she got to pick a new sparkly shirt for her first day. (Yes, I will dress her up and take pictures tomorrow too)

He already misses her. After we dropped her off he asked when we could go get her again?

Please ignore the dorky glasses Mommy, she wanted a picture of us together

This is my new favorite picture of my heartbreakingly beautiful baby girl

I just like this picture for Beckham's face

Have a GREAT day Sydnee!!!

I'm excited that 3 other kids from our ward are in the same class, I'm REALLY excited that her teacher seems amazing, I'm excited that her teacher doesn't believe in paper worksheets homework (YAY!!!) I'm excited that my baby is growing up so beautifully.... but on that note I'm going to go cry because my baby is growing up!

Something good.... Beckham's comment last night when I told him he was going to Nana's

"What if she leaves me alone.... and I get HICCUPS!?!?!"

Check off my list

I had a list this summer.... a list for me, a list for Syd... all the things I wanted to accomplish. And while MOST of them didn't happen (painting the kids' rooms) one of the BIG ones did.

SYDNEE CAN RIDE A BIKE!!!!

Honestly, I know that most of everyone reading this is thinking, "So what? My 3 year old can ride a bike." Well I'm happy for you, but my 7 year old has had a little bit of stress in the past few years, combined with VERY poor balance (seriously, she is so uncoordinated) and a HUGE fear that she's going to fall she won't even try, means that Sydnee would not try to learn to ride a bike. She was perfectly content with her scooter and would NOT let anyone try and teach her. She did not believe they wouldn't let her fall and wouldn't allow anyone near her.

My Dad finally convinced her that he would roll her down a driveway and had her uncle standing there to catch her at the end. Well she did that, realized that she could balance herself and then proceeded to RIDE AROUND THE STREET BY HERSELF!!!!

Literally, 5 seconds of fear and then she took off! And since she accomplished one part of her list, while I don't think I've actually done anything, we went to the store and she got to pick out a new bike.

She is now constantly begging to go out and ride her bike, and she can't wait for school to start so she can ride her bike to school.

Something good.... Confession, I LOVE cheesy dance movies! Step Up 3 just came to Netflix and I was giddy!

K