Picture says it all...

Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, cards, and meals Friday! Everything went really well. We got to the Hospital early in the morning and I don't remember much after that--but apparently Bry got a little photo happy and got lots of pictures of me looking amazing. I'm sure I asked him to for scrapbooking purposes. Haha! Anyway we got there and three of the nurses that were taking care of me were named Ashley. Good omen. :) They were so nice, but they could not get the IV in my arm. My veins would disappear as soon as they gave me a shot of novocaine. It hurt sooo bad--I hate needles. So after they tried three times the anesthesiologist had to come do it. I guess they forgot to give me morphine like they normally do before they took me in for the actually surgery so I when I came to I was crying. They must have definitely compensated for it because they gave me morphine, tortall, and 2 others that I can't even remember. But basically I didn't feel or remember a thing for the next 10 hours. Bry was so good as always. Although I didn't think it possible to be any closer, that has been yet another unforeseen blessing of this situation. Enduring things together is an incredible thing. He stayed with me, made me laugh, and got me magazines and lots of junk food. I think we watched two seasons of the Office this weekend while I "recovered". To sum it all up I am so thankful this is all over, but also SO thankful for all that we have gained from this experience. AND I am extremely grateful I was born in this day and age with modern medicine. I am not tough enough to survive with out it :)

Graduation Celebration

To celebrate Bryan's graduation we decided to try Happy Sumo--Japanese Food and sushi. I cannot even begin to tell you how incredible that food was!! We were in Heaven! I didn't want to leave because I wanted to finish every ounce of it. The taste was amazing--DELICIOUS! We had to try the sushi but we decided to start small and ordered California rolls. I was a little intimidated by the raw fish and eel sauce sushi. Bryan got some General Choungs Chicken with tempura veggies (I think I stole most of them because they were so good). I got a bento box with the Teriyaki chicken. Then we also had to get the Mount Fuji to really celebrate! I can't say enough--wow--so good!

I am sad to say that I didn't get any pictures of Bry in a cap and gown--but when Law School graduation comes he promised I could have as many as I wanted. For his big grad present he got a really nice putter that I'm sure he'll be getting lots of use out of this summer. We were talking about how excited he is to finally be starting Law School. He said that it is probably comparable to being pregnant for like 10 years and anticipating the baby coming--and now it's due in a week and you just can't wait. Haha! Interesting analogy Bry :)

Please Keep Us in Your Prayers...

Tomorrow morning I am going in for what I am praying is my last D and C ever. I've been hurting so badly since my last miscarriage and they finally let me come back in for another ultra sound. They found parts of the placenta still implanted in my lining. It has been such a long processes; But we are so eternally grateful for Heavenly Father's sustaining power through all of it. I really cannot say that enough--Endure with faith because He will never leave you alone or lead you astray. We have learned that lesson over and over, along with many others, through this trial. We are continuing to pray and have faith that we will be blessed with a healthy little baby. I hope you each know how grateful we are for you--thank you for letting me cry and rant and go through all the other emotions I have been through these past months. You have all been such a blessing. Please keep us in your prayers tonight! Thank you!! We love you all!!!

Kurt Tingey Graces us with his Presence.

Bryan's old roommate/best friend/twin came to visit us tonight. He just finished up his first year of dental school at UNLV so we haven't seen much of him which has been sad! He and Bryan are so alike. I love hanging out with both of them...except when they get on their tirades and make fun of me. I never have anything to say because they are too quick. Last night we went to California Pizza Kitchen and caught up. We reminisced about the old King Henry days which is always fun. We also learned about Kurt's new flirting method. JOKES: He gave us a good example.

What is a man going into the bathroom called??
*A European.
What is a man coming out of the bathroom called?
*Finnish

Amazing right--ladies he's available--but not for long with moves like that! I was talking to my mom this morning and she's like please tell him to marry your sister. Haha! She just doesn't want to be the only one in the family that married a guy ten years older. Anyway it was so fun to see him and we are looking forward to next week when he comes back through town. And even more so to the day when we live in a gated community together. :)

Apples to Apples

I <3 Fairs :)

Saturday I made Bryan go to the fair in Provo. In Wisconsin fairs are a huge deal--every summer thats one of the things we looked forward to in our little town. Yes, it's totally white trash--but it's one of my little guilty pleasures. My favorite ride is the Spinning Apple ride!! We only stayed for 2 seconds but I had to document it. Who wants to go to the State Fair this summer??? :) haha!

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This weekend ended up being a lot more eventful than I was expecting. Saturday night we got together with a bunch of friends and played Apples to Apples. I had sworn this game off since the last time we played it took about 3 hours to finish. I'm not patient enough for that. This time around we had so much fun--laughed so hard! Then Sunday I signed up for our RS Bookclub! :) After church we went up to Draper with the same group and Anderson's grilled amazing ribs!! I was in heaven! Now to start a new week...Bryan only has 2 finals to go and he is a college graduate!!! I'm so proud of him.

Expanding our Vocabulary

My younger brother Logan sent me a link to a Washington Post Journalist, Charles Krauthammer, because he doesn't think I'm educated enough on my politics--true statemtent. But what I really came to know through reading his articles is that not only am I lacking in the area of politics, I am also no master of the vast English language. OR maybe my brother is just extremely intelligent.

Quiz Yourself:
capitulation
innocuous
behemoth
ingratiation
internecine
maelstrom
venal

How'd you do? (If you knew them all--please don't tell me--my self-confidence is fragil :))

After quizzing Janelle to make sure I wasn't the only one that didn't know what these words meant (aka that I wasn't a complete idiot--even though I am because Janelle knew some and Bryan knew them all--surprising) we decided to start a vocab list. Whenever we come across a word who's meaning is unknown to us we will write it down and then add it to our ever growing lexicon. If you have any big words you'd like to share feel free. If you wanted added to our mailing list let us know :) We don't have one yet but I'm sure Janelle is dying to start one.

Early Date Night

Because this weekend is going to be so hectic we went on our date early this week. As soon as I got done with work we headed to the Provo Temple, then afterwards Bry took me to Red Robin, and then we headed home to watch movies. We had a great night--minus the extreme pain we are both in from lifting (Yes the pain hit just minutes after I wrote my last message). Now I can barely walk. The worst part is I'm not exaggerating.

The point of this blog entry is to publicly thank Kristen F. Ellison Tutt for introducing me to that blessed restraunt. The honey mustard dressing is to die for--I'd almost forgotten how INCREDIBLE it is. So thank you my dear friend. :)

Lastly, Bry and I were writing a letter to a friend last night and I was typing like I normally do. Using dashes, dot, dot dots, and run on sentences--just being casual. Bryan got all worked up and announces, "YOU CANNOT JUST THROW GRAMMAR OUT THE WINDOW." HAHA! I thought it was hilarious--he cares way too much about it...but I probably don't care enough. :)

Spring Time Soccer

Provo has been absolutely gorgeous lately! Very grateful for that because I am the BIGGEST FAN OF SUNSHINE EVER! Yesterday Bry picked me up for lunch and we went to Kiwanis Park. We had a little picnic and then Bryan pulled out the soccer ball for the first time this year. Bry played soccer for nearly his entire life and is pretty much awesome--as you can see I get very scared when he kicks the ball. Haha! I will say that I did get one goal in on him. Fluke I'm sure...OR so he says. These are some pictures of us playing around enjoying our break

from work and studying for finals. I'm just grateful that we always have so much fun together--no matter what we are doing!

~ * ~

Last night we went to the gym together...nothing new right? Well I wanted him to show me how to use some of the lifting equipment. IT WAS INTIMIDATING...at Golds having all these big buff dudes around watching you try and lift 2 and half pounds. And I kept giving up and switching machines--and Bryan goes "You have high school girl sydrome; No one is watching you." It was pretty funny because he was so on--that's exactly how I felt. When I run I'm fine, but this was wayyyy out of my comfort zone. It's been a long time since I've had that feeling. He also said I'm an ADHD machine user--I get bored with them quickly :) I'm sure I'll try again Thrusday--at the moment I'm just waiting for the sore muscles to kick in.

As of Late...

So not tons to tell but just thought I'd update everyone on our happenings. Bry is getting ready to graduate in less than 2 weeks!!! Most people would think this a huge accomplishment, but not him. HE ISN'T EVEN WALKING!! He thinks its anti-climatic since he has to start Law School in 4 months. I told him I'm forcing him to get a cap and gown just for pictures...we'll see who wins that battle. :)

This weekend was pretty laid back. Friday we got creamies Popsicles and watched the movie "The Greatest Game." I love Shia LeBeouf--must be from his Disney Even Stevens days. :) Saturday we went to lunch with Mike and Pehl down at Riverwoods, then Bry went golfing with Josh. He was thrilled to tell me that his game is improving drastically...due to all the golfing dvds I'm sure. Then later that night we went to Fudruckers with the Pauls. I was still stuffed from lunch--but the entertainment was fabulous. They had a new friend with them from London who I found very interesting. The man ran a 130K in 16 hours. Did you read that--130k!! That's insane! And it just happened to be in combat boots up and down the Swiss Mountains.

I am also proud to announce that I learned how to make Chicken Parmesan. Bry taught me and it turned out delicious. I know I'm a pathetic cook--What can I say?!? My mother tried--it didn't take--and luckily I found the perfect man for me :)

I've been looking everywhere for a dress for my cousin's wedding in May. (Basically a good excuse to get a new dress) and I found this one at Layers Clothing! But I want the one in Brown. I'm totally in love...what do you think??

Lastly--
I get the LDSgems in my email everyday and liked this quote: "As we learn in the scriptures, the fundamental purposes for the gift of agency were to love one another and to choose God. Thus we become God's chosen and invite His tender mercies as we use our agency to choose God." -Elder Bednar

Easter Week 2007

Happy Easter Everyone! It was so beautiful out I had to take some pictures of the flowers at Grandma Phipps' house. We had such a fun week with Bryan's family in town. Lots of eating out, card games, shopping, and laughs. I think my favorite night was when we all sat around the table talking about how Paul and Jolene ending up together and the dating days--they were hilarious!! Anyway--here are some pictures from their time here. We got a little bored waiting to go to the home show :)

THE BEST OF BRYAN AND ASHLEY :)

Hilarious Kiddies

I seriously cannot wait til we are blessed with children. I love everything about them--especially that they say the cutest things!! Just wanted to share a joke I read:

*Our day care center spent time helping the kids memorize their home addresses. My daughter, who was in my class, had her street name down, but couldn't remember the number. "If our house is on fire and you call 911", I asked, "how will the firefighters know where to go?" She had a plan: "I'll tell them to go to South 14th Street and look for the house that's on fire." Dianna Phyfer

*Just before I was deployed to Iraq, I sat my eight-year-old son down and broke the news to him. "I'm going to be away for a long time," I told him. "I'm going to Iraq." "Why?" he asked. "Don't you know there's a war going on over there?" Thomas Cioppa

Jamestown

As the avid reader that I am, I was flipping through readers digest and stumbled upon an interesting fact. The month of April marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony in Virginia. I decided to commemorate this anniversary with pictures from our family vacation 2 summers ago to Virginia--including a tour of Jamestown. Many of you have not had the great fortune of meeting my family--and none have had the immense blessing of being part of our Hoggatt vacations. Not even my husband can say that he has truly experienced one of our vacations--YET. These pictures should bring to light how delightful they truly are. This is our tour of Jamestown. My younger brother, Logan, is a history major--and therefor eats this stuff up. The rest of us were not as impressed. Erika, Cody, and I admiring a house that the settlers lived in. (I hope you can all feel the sacrasm captured in this picture). Cody and I dancing around the pole people--not exactly sure what in the world the Jamestownians did with these. This next picture is from one of the boats they sailed across on. Honestly do not understand how people survived that trip...much like ours. It was 3000 degrees out with the humidity at about 150%. We spent 12 hours a day walking around seeing monuments and only got fed once...Macaroni and Cheese for the 6th day in a row. That is the joy of family vacations--or so we like to say to make them a little more dramatic. Dad's theory is we can eat when we get home. I'm sure he'll disagree and I'll get an email as soon as he reads this. With all this said--we do know how to laugh on our vacations. For the memories, dad wanted a documented picture to prove how truly stiffling it was outside...I don't think it would be appropriate to past so I'll save you all the pain of seeing it, but lets just say one of the women on our tour was pretty sweaty. SICK! And I will never forget my father running after her trying to sneak a picture. (I'm sure I'll get in trouble for this comment too) Anyway, after our exciting day at Jamestown I decided enough is enough and spent the day at our Condos pool relaxing and on the phone with Bryan...who days later I would be engaged to. So to wrap up my tribute to Jamestown I end with pictures of us dragging our luggage what felt like 15 miles to the subway and then riding to the bus station which then took us to the airport. Although I must admit I am extremely impressed that my parents were able to find that route and not get us lost. And looking back we did have a great time and the laughs we will have to come reminising on our vacation are priceless.

Happy 400th Anniversary Jamestown, VA.

Project Phipps

HMMMM...
General Conference was over for Saturday, I had already learned today how big of an idiot I am (who knew you had to get your tires rotated?!?), we had already had a fun BBQ at Hancock's, and now we were in conundrum...bored with nothing to do. So we started an adventure and drove around town until we thought of something. Up and down University Parkway we went...down Center Street, turn around and headed to the mall, then back down the road again. AND then Bryan got a genius idea. Previous to this event I fell in love with a message station from Pottery Barn--but of course those words bring big $$ signs with them. As we passed Michael's Bryan says--"I've got it--lets make a message station." So we started the project of making our very own message station. And if I do say so myself I am very proud of our handy work--well mostly Bryan's. :) So here is our Journey--only took 3 hours to do.
Step 1: Preparation:)
Step 2: Spray painting
Step 3: More painting
Step 4: Assembly
Step 5: Touch Ups
Step 6: Hang (even though we are moving in 2 weeks--Bry had to try it out on the wall)

FINAL PRODUCT! YAY!

We had a blast making this together and were pretty happy with the way it turned out.

And no Janelle, it's not just the letters P-H-I-P-P-S. That would not constitute a message station. :)