Thanksgiving

I am not sure what it is about the holidays that makes everyone start thinking. You start thinking about the shopping for Christmas, parties, decorations and all sorts. But Thanksgiving is the holiday that  we start thinking about all the things that we are thankful for.  I have realized that this year that I have a lot to be thankful for. I am so grateful for my amazing family. They are always there for me and support me in whatever I do. They mean the world to me. I am also thankful for my wonderful amazing husband. It has almost been a year since Gabe proposed. This time last year, Gabe and I were planning a wedding. Gabe is an amazing man, without him in my life I am not sure what I would do.
This Thanksgiving was a lot different. This time last year my uncle Jim was very ill.  On Thanksgiving we went to my aunt's house. My uncle was so ill that we ate dinner in stages so that there was always someone with him.  Then the day after Thanksgiving he passed away. It was really hard for the family. So this year for Thanksgiving we went  to dinner. Its was  a rough day for my aunt and cousins  it was best that they were not  at home. It was  very different not to have a traditional dinner but it was  great. After dinner we all went up to my cousins house to have pie and to just spend some time together. My girl cousins are so funny. Every year after we eat, they sit down and go through the ads in the paper. They each make their own list of what they are going to get at each store and then they make an itinerary. I have never in my life been black Friday shopping but have always wanted to go. So Gabe and I were just looking through the ads and Gabe noticed this camera on sale at Target.  It was only 100 dollars and he has desperately wanted this nice of a camera forever. I know that he really wanted to try to get it. There was some boots that I wanted and a jump suit that I wanted to get for Brazil. So I said what the heck we will go. Target opened at midnight so by the time that we left my cousins and took my parents home and got on the road. It was like 1135. I told Gabe that we should just go to the Centerville Target.  We parked the car and went to get in line. It was a disaster. They started the line at the non grocery doors and it wrapped around the entire store and we were close to the end of it. The line moved quick once they opened the doors. I told Gabe to head for the Camera and that I would get everything else. Once we hit the doors Gabe went running. I went and got my boots and the went for the Jump suit. People were nuts. They were grabbing stuff, there were young girls doing the army crawl. I could not believe it. No wonder you hear all those stories about people getting killed. Well withing 20 mins Gabe calls and says that he got the camera. I was in shock. There had to be a least 1000 people in front of us and he got it. He was so happy. So he had to stand in line at the electronics dept well  I went and got in the check out line to buy my stuff. The line literally weaved in and out of the grocery isles. There were 23 isles that I had to weave in and out of. I was in line for an hour. So needless to say that we did not leave Target till like 2 in the morning. I was so pooped. We came straight home and went to bed. On a brighter note. Gabe is now a permanent resident. We went to the immigration office on Fri and they accepted him. I cannot tell you how relieved that I am. We no longer have to worry about paper work or money. It is all settled. Now in 3 years Gabe can be a citizen. I am so proud of him. We are truly grateful for what this year has brought. And we cannot wait to see what the coming years have to offer.

Happy Birthday!!!!

Well here it is October already!!!!!! This last week was my birthday!!! And Gabe being the amazing man that he is surprised me with a trip to Las Vegas! Gabe is not much of a road trip kind of guy, so we flew down. We flew out on Tues and came back on Fri. It was a short trip but we had so much fun. In music class in elementary school we studied the Phantom of the Opera. Every year I looked forward to this lesson because I loved the music and I loved hearing the story. Ever since then It was always a desire of mine to see it. Well on my birthday, we saw it. We had bought the cheapest tickets and of course they were at the back of the theater. When we got there the greeter said that she had 2 seats closer to the front and that we could have them if we wanted. We of course jumped on that and our seats were eight rows from the stage. These seats were 300 dollars and we got them for 80.  The show was fantastic.  We sat by the pool, and ate amazing food. It was such a good trip and it was so nice to just spend time with Gabe. It was one of the best birthdays that I have ever had. I cannot believe that this year is passing by so fast.  And that I just keep getting older.

The Wii!!!!!!

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Well I must say that this last weekend has been somewhat of an adventure. It was supposed to be a very good weekend. Filled with lots of things to do. If anything this weekend turned out to be the worst that I have had in a really long time. I worked on Wed and Thurs and was going to be off the entire weekend. Gabe and I both decided that we both needed a date night. We both have been on edge and needed a date night. So we planned on doing that on Fri. On Sat we planned on going to my aunt's boyfriend's for a BBQ  and games. Sun was going to be lie any other day and go to church and just relax at home. On Mon my other aunt and uncle were coming down with my mom and dad and were going shopping and spend the day together. So let me back up on Fri Gabe and I went to dinner at the Sizzler because we had a coupon and we do anything to save money and then we went to the movie. We went and saw the The Help. It is about these servents before the Civil Rights Movement and how they tell their story to a journalist which at that time was against the law. Anyway, the story gets published and then the Civil Rights Movement. Gabe wanted to see it because we all know how much he likes shows like that and I just thought that it would be interesting. It was a great movie and it was a great date night. Anyway on Sat we went to the grocery store. And then came home and got ready for the BBQ. We had a nice time eating and talking. Well then my aunts boyfriend said that it was time to get our groove on. So we played this dancing game on the Wii. We danced for a while and then decided that maybe we watch a movie. Well then they decided that we should bowl on the wii. So we began to bowl and the next thing you know it was my turn. We were on the eighth frame and I was getting tired so I was glad that we were almost done. I got up got into place, swung my arm back, swung it forward, bent my knee just a little and POP. That is what my knee did. It popped and I fell to the floor. My knee was on the other side of my leg and when I hit the floor it went back into place. I was in so much pain. The pop was so loud that everyone in the house no matter where they were came running. I could hardly move it. I sat there in shock for a while and realized that I should go to the hospital. So they helped me into the car and Gabe drove me to the U er. I waited for awhile and they took x-rays. When the doctor came in he told me that I had dislocated my knee and that there was fluid on my knee. So they put me in a moblizer for a week and on crutches with no weight bearing. I have to go see a sports med doctor on Mon to see if I need surgery. This has been a big pain in the butt. Gabe is taking great care of me, but I can do nothing on my own. I lay here and that is about it. My fun weekend turned into a shamble.

Busy Busy!

Well I cannot believe that August is coming to an end. It seems as though this month has gone by so quickly. Gabe and I went to L.A. last week. We had to go to get apply for my Brazilian visa. We figured that if we were going to spend all this money to fly out there that we might as well make a vacation out of it. It has been a little crazy and we sure needed the break. So we went. I felt very guilty in going because my grandpa had been really sick the last month or so and we knew that it would not be much longer before he passed. But this was something that needed to be done and we had already made the arrangement's.  So we went. We got there at like 7 in the morning on Thurs. We could not check into our hotel until 3 so we had to entertain ourselves. We went to breakfast at Denny's. By the time we finished it was only like 9. I had worked till 11:30 the night before and we had to be at the airport by 4:30 and I had not gotten any sleep. So we decided to drive around for a lil bit and see where things were. Well Gabe wanted to go and do things and I was like I am so tired that I am not even going to enjoy anything unless I get some sleep. So we called the hotel and they said the soonest that we could check in was at noon. So we went to the hotel and slept in the car for an hour till we could check in. We finally checked in and I crashed for a few hours. We then got ready had some lunch and then went to the wax museum. It was fun walking around Hollywood. And just relaxing. We went to the consulate and applied and enjoyed the rest of our trip. We came home late Sat night but right before we left I had called my mom to see how my grandpa was doing and she had said that the nurse told her that he would not make it past the next 24 hours. When we got home we went to bed and I got a phone call from my mom Sun morning saying that my grandpa had passed. We of course hurried up to Ogden to be with family. It was so sad to see him go. He seemed so happy. He had been without my grandma for 30 years and he missed her. But we were missing him. It is going to be hard not having him around anymore. The funeral was beautiful and he looked amazing. I am not sure what it is about funerals, but it makes you realize what you have and what you need to be grateful for. School started today and life keeps getting busier and busier. Gabe is going to L.A. for the day tomorrow he is going to go pick up my visa. I will be so glad when all of this  is over. 

4th of July!!!

Well I cannot believe that it is already the 4th of July. Time seems to be flying by so fast. Today was such an interesting day. We did not do very much. All the stores were having great sales. So Gabe and I went to Sears. I have never had my own set of luggage. I thought that since we are going to Brazil this Christmas that I needed to buy some. They were having great sales at Sears on luggage. We went and spent a good amount of time looking. Who knew that buying luggage was so difficult. Anyway I finally found a 3 piece set for a great place. I am so excited. Then we went to lunch and went grocery shopping. We BBQ some Chicken and made s-mores. It was a fun and relaxing night. This week has been very eventful. On the 2nd Gabe and I celebrated 1 year of being together. It is so weird to think that a whole year has gone by. I remember when we first met. Our first date was at the Gateway. We went to dinner and walked around and got to know each other. I knew at that time that he was the one that I was going to marry. So on Sat Gabe said that we should go out. We went to the movie and saw Larry Crowne! Then we went to the T-mobile store to get me a new phone. I got an Android! It is so much fun. I think that Gabe is more obsessed  with it then I am. Then he took me to Applebee's for dinner. It was so much fun. It was good to get out and to be able to spend quality time together. I feel that we don't get out much. Now as we celebrate our Independence Day I think of all the things that we have to be grateful for. I am so glad that we are able to live in a country where we are free. And I know that Gabe is even more grateful for this country. He is so happy to be here and to be able to make his dreams come true. I am grateful that he is able to be here as well. This year has been so exciting. Gabe and I met, got engaged, and married all within in the same year. I could not be happier!

Sleepover!!!!

Well I must say that it has been a very interesting 24 hours! My brother and sister in law's anniversary was last week and they wanted to go somewhere over night and Gabe and I were supposed to take my oldest niece Noel for the night. But things did not work out and we were both a little bummed that we were not able to watch her. But we decided on Sunday that we would take her last night for the night so that my sister in law could get things done. She is such a doll. We had so much fun playing last night and had dinner and watching a movie. She went to bed at 8. Gabe and I decided that we should go to bed around 10:30 because we knew it was going to be an early morning. Sure enough at 3 am little Noel had a nightmare. So we were up till 4 trying to calm her down and putting her back to sleep. And then at 8 this morning she was up. We had a good day  filled with shopping, playing and McDonald's. Funny story....  We went to Smiths today and when I was getting some fresh vegetables there was this lady with a child in her cart. The child was bald and wearing some mutual colored clothes. She told me that my child looked just like me. I just smiled and said thank you. If anyone knows my brother you know that he and I look alot alike and Noel looks like my brother so much. That Noel ends up really looking like me too. So she is easily seen as my child. But on the other hand she looks nothing like Gabe. Ha ha. Anyway so the lady proceeded to ask how old Noel was. I told her that she was sixteen months old. The lady said I am so jealous your child has way more hair than mine. So being the idiot that I am I turned around and said " oh and old is HE?" The woman gave me the dirtiest look I have ever seen and said " Well SHE is sixteen months as well!" oops insert my foot into mouth right at that moment. And of course Noel is smiling and waving at this lady and I all I could muster out was " Well that is nice. She is a cutie." Needless to stay I told Noel to stop waving and pulled Gabe over and said let's get out of here. It was so embarrassing.  Watching her was so much fun and Gabe is so cute with her. Noel just loves him I think that she loves him more than me. Looking at Gabe with her I knew that he is going to make a great father. But after just dropping her off at home Gabe and I are exhausted. It just makes the choice of having kids right now that much easier. We are just not ready but we are enjoying just watching our nieces and playing mom and dad for awhile.
The other exciting news is that Gabe and I are going to Brazil!!!! I am so so so so excited. We are going for New Years and I cannot wait. Gabe's family is so excited to see us and we are so excited to see them. I miss them a lot. I know that Gabe misses them too. I am excited to meet the rest of the family that I was not able to meet at the wedding. It is going to be one of the best trips that I have been on. I really need to get working on learning Portuguese. Well that is life of Dani and Gabe this week.

Wedding Bells

Well it is offical! Gabe and I are finally married. We have been for two weeks now and let me just say that it is loads of fun. Gabe's family  flew in from Brazil. His grandma, mother, brother, and step dad all came in. His mom is so cute. We were able to spend  the whole week together and had a ton of fun. Everytime we went shopping she always bought me things. Such a sweet lady. And I fell in love with his grandmother. She is adorable. Although she did not speak any English so it was a little difficult for us to communicate, but she was so sweet and loving. Gabe's brother is just a teenage boy. He is super nice and such a cute kid. I love his family so much and I am so sad that they do not live closer so that we could see them all the time. Our wedding was the most amazing thing ever. Everything went really well. The temple ceremony was so beautiful and thank goodness  is it did not rain. We got finished with all our pictures without there being a down pour. After Gabe and I left the temple that is  when the rain came. We felt that we were lucky. It was a mad dash to the  reception center in Ogden. We had to get ready for the ring ceremony that we were holding. It was so adorable. But I am not sure if this happens to all new brides but that day I have no idea as to where my brain went. My sister in law called after the temple to see what time we wanted her at the reception to help get me back into my dress. The whole time that she was on the phone I had to keep asking her who she was and why she wanted to talk to me. Ha ha do not ask me where my brain went cuz simply I do not know! Anywho we had the reception and everything went so well. Gabe and I got a free room at a B&B up the Ogden Canyon. It was amazing. They gave us this really nice room with a jacuzzi tub and they served us breakfast in our room the next morning. The next day we woke up and off to Hawaii it was. It took a really long time to get there. But it was so so so much fun. Neither one of us had ever been to Hawaii. It was beautiful and romantic and it was so nice to be there with my new husband. (It still is a little wierd to call him that) Although, we spent way much more money then I thought that we were going to we had an amazing time. I literally cried on the way home and begged Gabe to not allow me to go back. Although I did not want to come back it has been really nice to be in our own little house. We got a lot of great things for our wedding and are slowly putting our house together. I love being married and I love my husband. Life is amazing!!!!