my saving grace

This is sort of an intersting post. Its about 1 am and its a monday night and I am curled up in my usual spot on kacey and casey's floor realizing i only have one more night here in san diego before i am off to my next adventure and i am starting to feel a bit nervouse and melancholy. Maybe i should start from the beginning.. well from the beginning of how i ended up in So. Cal.

I graduated from Utah State and moved literally that same day to Salt Lake. I knew it was the right move and thankfully i was doing it with a best friend. I had nothing but high hopes and couldn't wait for the things i would experaince. Little did i know it would be the hardest most draining year of my life thus far. It started off incredible. WE had an amazing house. normal roomates great location. the job i had for the summer was great. and I had bright hopes for the future. As time went on things changed and life became a little bit more grey every day. I had the most amazing friends at USU ones you know would max their credit card to fly wherever you needed them even if it was just for a shoulder. Ones that called up and just knew they needed to say hello. Or the types of friends that you can be doing nothing but playing darts having orange juliouses and watching flavor fav and it could make up your favorite memories. Salt lake was not this easy. It was hard to find people to relate with and find people who cared as much about me as I did them. My great job ended at the end of the summer and a new one started. I enjoyed the people i worked with but deep down i knew it could not be a career move.

I felt like i was in a funace burning and not sure if there was an end in sight. I even almost moved to idaho one day. I literally packed my entire car and drove about an hour before i realized i coulnd't give up and that was not the way i wanted to go down. so i turned around and just kept praying that i could make sence of my experiances. Now i must say I did find some really great amazing friends in salt lake ones i will never forget and always love. but It was a growing period and one that i had to do mostly alone with the comfort of pray and my savior. I won't bore you will all the details but thankfully one of these dear friends from USU encouraged me to apply to a PTA program in boston. thankfully this worked out from there i new i was headed to boston. My sister in law had a brillant idea that i could come live wiht them in san diego for the 2 montsh before i left out east.

I thought it sounded great. the beach, my 2 brothers their wives. cute boys.. why not.... I had no idea this place would heal me and rebuild me like it has and as i lay here tonight i can't help but get a bit choked up about leaving. It truly has been my saving grace. I have felt alive and refreshed. I was out of the furnace for a time and this place and these people here have been the ones to help me be sooo happy. WEll them and the tv show the office and of course hannah montana :)

I will never forget the things i learned in the year i was in salt lake i wouldn't trade those lonely days for anything because i learned who i was. i grew up..... and let me tell you it was was probably long over due and the hardest thing for me. I am grateful for the feelings of peace i have found in Kacey and Casey's Apt. I will always be in debt to them. I know wed morning ia going to be rough as my plane takes off from this beautiful place but i know i will be ok. I'm so soo happy i got to experaince all this and add another lovely chapter to my life. Thank you San Diego for bringing the smile and sunshine back.

My first ultra sound... and no its wasn't mine.

So today i just so happened to witness my first ultra sound and let me tell you it was both incredible and exciting yet a little creepy. don't worry the utra sound was not for me it was my sister is law's. my niece is due in Oct and i figured since i won't get to see her for months after she is born i might as well catch the first glimpse even if she is still in the womb. hahah and who knows if i will ever have my own ultra sound so i thought i better take the chance to see how this all works.

now the utrasound pictures that i have always seen consisted of black and white. usually more black. and some sort of blur that i was always convinced was a hoax that the OBGYN showed and not really a fetus. BUT withcell phones that you can actually watch tv on 9even though mine was stolen and held for ransom) it was no surprise to me that these things actually give you a photo of a 3D and new to me 4 D images... i've never seen a movie in 4D which means i didn't even know it exsisted.. but it does and i saw my niece in it... They even give you a DVD to prove it.

So while watching this ultra sound of my new niece Haily Ann (just for the record the Ann comes from the middle of my name) i was able to watch her not only yawn but open her eyes, suck her thumb, rub her eyes and this was as if she wasn't being crammed inside a person. It was crazy. i had never seen anything like it. you could even see whose nose she has ( we all know my nose is my best feature...but i think her lips could be hers) and how long her fingers are. it was fantastic. I was only a little alarmed at how hard the doctor pushed on my sister in law to make the baby move hahahah don't worry no one was injured.And the fact that my 3 year old nephew kept saying she looks like an alien...which was only partly true.. she still has a few months to go before she is welcomed into the world.. give her time. Being my first ultrasound i would have to say it was a complete success. modern technology.. i can't wait to see what they come up with next...

1st day as a blogger

Today is my first day as a blogger and I'm already loving it. Mostly because anyone who knows me knows I have the most interesting things happen to me on a daily basis. (well ok maybe only i think they are intersting) but other shave told me this is the blessing and the curse that comes as being a Swensen. First off i should warn everyone.. i'm a horrible speller i get it from my dad and i'm darn proud of it too. second i rarely capitlize my i's while typing... its mostly because i hate hitting the shift button while hitting the i :) i think some of you will agree.

now first things first that made me really get serious about starting a blog... i got two reason.
1. i am moving to a new city with no family and new friends (except Marci) thank goodness and I thought this would be an easy way to keep people updated.

2. and this one is the main reason because for the past week my sister in law/best friend and i have been house sitting a house that well for the most part is absolutly beautiful and very very very expensive BUT and this is a HUGE HUGE HUGE but they have indoor pets. and when i say indoor i mean the cats have never ventured to the outside world... this is just the beginning of our adventures. They also have a dog. very cute and thank goodness is allowed outside, but still has the tendency to LOOSE hair. now before anyone freaks out let me say a disclaimer... i love animals in fact at an early age i asked for a pony every year for christmas as long as i can remember. one time we had a billion cats (maybe an exaggeration but as a swensen its a must) we also grew up with dogs. but these animals were always outside and only let in on occasion. so to be surrounded by indoor never outside pets has been an adventure. NOW BACK TO HOUSE SITTING

memory number one. the house has a giant fountain that i swear was flown in from italy.. this means it is REALLY nice and apart of a REALLY nice house. its about the only thing we had instructions on.. meaning keep the water at a certain level!! so we thought we were doing a fabulous job until one day to our worst nightmare happened.. the fountain stopped running!!! we called the pool guy while we were at work... came home after work still the fountain was NOT working. that night i don't think we prayed harder hahah so next morning kacey wakes up the fountain is on... miracles do happen so of course she puts water in right away... i wake up an hour later... see the light shining above the working fountain and of course put more water in. an hour after that my brother wakes up see that prayers are answered and puts MORE water in the fountain.... next day.. fountain is not working.. and has not worked since. that is the start. it has just gone on from there... i have learned when housesitting never do it if they have a fountain... especailly if it looks like it came from italy... until next time. stay classy