Dec 2009 Oct 2010

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It's the Beginning of a New Nixon Adventure!

I can't believe how negligent I have been on my posting since we moved to Utah. It's been on my mind, but each day that passes only makes the idea of "catching up" more overwhelming. In fact, I have something big, something HUGE that I have been so excited to announce, that I don't even know HOW to announce it! So, here it goes I guess:Many of you know that Kent and I have been struggling with infertility for the past 3+ years now (yes, we started trying 3 short months after we got married). It has been such an emotionally trying roller coaster, each day adding a new unexpected twist, dive, or turn. We have seen a wonderful infertility specialist, tried the fertility drugs, and even Artificial Insemination (IUI), all to no avail. While each of us tests healthy and "completely capable of conceiving," it's just not happening for us, yet. It has been the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But I am grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for helping me through even my darkest hours. Though it continues to be difficult, both of us are growing in ways we never could have imagined.
Several months ago, we had a very personal, very spiritual experience that led us to the decision we have recently made to adopt. That's right, we have officially begun the adoption process through LDS Family Services and we couldn't be more excited! We met our caseworker last week, paid the deposit, and turned in a good chunk of our paperwork. We have attended half of the required training, and are expecting to be approved by December! We are so excited that it is hard to put into words. I will be writing a lot about our adventures, lessons learned, etc. as we continue this process. We are praying for our little Miracle to find us soon. I am excited to talk to you about our experience, so don't hesitate to talk to me! Thank you to our loving family and friends for their support; while we are brand new with this whole experience, we have already learned so much and are looking forward to this wonderful beginning to a new Nixon adventure!

Get a Great, Cheap Haircut at Craig's Cuts!

Kent and I are back in Provo! Kent has partnered with his friend Craig Guincho, founder and owner of Utah Valley's Craig's Cuts! We got straight to work and are already loving it! If you live in the Utah area, or come for a visit, stop by one of our five locations for a great, inexpensive haircut! Cuts are $7.00, except on weekly budget days when they are $5.00.

We are also giving back to our community by hosting a Dodgeball Tournament Fundraiser on September 10-11. Proceeds will go to the Provo Boys and Girls Club. Registration begins July 31st. You can go to www.craigscuts.com to print a Registration form (starting July 31) and then drop it off one of the locations listed on our website.

We are so happy to be here and look forward to seeing you at Craig's Cuts!

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

After walking 26 miles, and after Kent's awesome Red Sox performance at Reebok World Headquarters! See all the blue tents in the background where we camped!?!
Yes, we were tired...but it was oh so fun!

After the "doctor" "drained" my blister and ended up cutting my heal instead! Ouch! Then they loaded up my blister with Zinc cream! Weird!

One of the many beautiful sights along the route in Boston

After signing the big inflatable...thing.

I can't believe I haven't posted since Kent's birthday! A lot has happened since then. One of the major accomplishments we've had is our Avon Walk for Breast Cancer that took place May 15-16 in Boston. Kent and I each raised a minimum of $1,800--together we raised nearly $4,000! We comprised "Team Nanny," as we walked in honor of my wonderful grandmother Nanny who is currently fighting hard against breast cancer. We raised the money, thanks to so many wonderful family and friends who were so generous and supportive, in two months!

The walk began Saturday morning at UMASS Boston. We had to be there at 5:30am, so we were up by 4:00am to turn Reed before heading out the door and into the darkness! We didn't get to bed the night before until 12:30am, so yes, we were tired. But the Opening Ceremonies were wonderful, as was the entire event! Over 4,000 walkers raised $5.8 million! We began walking around 7am--26 miles in ONE hot day!

By mile 17 I had developed some pretty decent blisters. We stopped by a medical station to have them drained and dressed. The lady that was helping me was actually an emergency doctor, so I figured I was in good hands. But then I heard her say, "...but I'm still learning how to do blisters..." Not long after that, the scalpel she was using to drain my big blister on my heel was digging in even further! Sure enough, she cut my heal with that blade, not once, but TWICE!! OUCH!! It hurt so bad! She then did a terrible job wrapping my blisters, and not a mile after that I had to stop and undo that job. Fortunately at the next medical station 3 miles later there was an amazing Athletic Trainer who knew what to do and she saved me so I could finish the 26 miles! Kent didn't get blisters, which still boggles my mind seeing how I'm the one that did the training! However, after 26 miles, his legs and muscles were dead tired, and mine were fine; I just still can't believe I got all the blisters!

At our "Wellness Village" after the 26 mile walk on Saturday (can I just say it was awesome to walk across THAT finish line!) they had a booth with massage chairs and foot massagers going on, along with Yoga that we did not attempt, and several other cool booths. They had several semi trucks full of hot showers that we used, and since Kent and I were among the first 500 or so walkers to arrive, we didn't have to wait in the enormous shower line that formed later in the evening, thank heavens! We, along with most of the walkers set up 2-person tents at the Reebok World Headquarters where we had ended for the day and camped for the night. It was an awesome and fun experience! We were blessed with the most perfect weather the whole weekend and everything turned out really nice!

After eating some dinner, Kent also had the opportunity to perform for many of the crew and walkers at "Fireside Follies." They had sent out a mass email weeks ago saying they were looking for one performer for every location to show their talent during the Fireside Follies. I had sent them an email about Kent and his amazing-ness, hoping he'd get a chance to sing, but I never heard back from them. I figured they had found someone else, so no big deal. On Thursday before the walk, I got an email from the guy, apologizing for the delay in response. Apparently my email had gone to his Spam and he'd never received it! Turned out they were still looking for someone for Saturday night! I quickly responded with a clip of Kent's Red Sox song, "East Coast Genuine Girl," but then again, never heard anything back. Friday night at Event Eve and Check-in, we asked some amazing volunteers at the Info booth about it, and one amazing guy, Dan Cooney from San Francisco, called the head music guy up and let Kent talk to him. The conversation more or less went, "So, can you sing?" "Well, I think so. My wife submitted my song to the Red Sox last season and they actually played it at Fenway during one of the games, so..." "That sounds good enough to me. You're in." Well that was just the start to an awesome opportunity! Kent did get to perform, and yes he CAN sing! The crowd loved him! All that night and the next day he had people coming up to him saying things like, "Great job last night!" "I LOVED your song!" "Where can I download that song?" It was so much fun for both of us! We even got to wear our Red Sox attire for the performance, including my "Real Women Don't Date Yankee Fans" shirt. What a wonderful memory!

After a fair night's sleep, the walk continued Sunday morning for another 13 miles--totalling 39 in all. However, because Kent and I are in the middle of fertility treatments and injectible hormones (yes, I get to give myself shots every day), I had a scheduled ultrasound and bloodwork appointment that I couldn't miss on Sunday morning! We had told the walk staff at check-in on Friday about my 9:30am appointment in Lexington, and they said no problem; I could take a shuttle bus from the beginning to near the end, walk the last couple miles to cross the Finish Line, because you just CAN'T miss that experience, I could go to my appointment and be back for Closing Ceremonies. So we woke up Sunday morning around 5am assuming everything was great. Well, we were wrong. As we soon found out, apparently, the first shuttle wasn't even leaving the camping sight until 9am, and it was only going to the halfway point for lunch! They had no shuttles or "sweeper buses" scheduled to arrive at the finish line where our car was conveniently parked until at least noon! After a few frantic phone calls, and some amazing crew volunteers who took pity on us, the director of the whole event came over. We explained our situation, and she said, "Give me ten minutes." Sure enough, she was able to find a volunteer driver who was already parked where we were waiting. He came and picked us up and took us all the way to our car, literally! It was amazing! We got to my appointment early, didn't have to wait, and got done in time to make it to Church at the Boston Second Ward! We got there early enough to change without many people seeing us run into the bathrooms, and we were sitting in the chapel a good 25 minutes early! By a quarter to 11, when Church was supposed to start, there still were only like 5 of us in there, and no prelude! I told the Bishop I could play, and he took me up on the offer and I got to play prelude for them! The organist showed up just as the meeting was starting, so he relieved me of any further duties. I came back to mine and Kent's pew to realize he had been asked to help pass the Sacrament with the missionaries and a Deacon! Needless to say, we were glad we were not only able to make it to Sacrament meeting, but also to serve a little along the way! We left Sacrament meeting a few minutes early and were able to make it back to the Closing Ceremonies sight just as the first walkers were crossing the finish line. We had been told we'd be able to have a shuttle take us back on the route a few miles so we could get as much of the 13 miles in as time allowed. But when we arrived and asked about that, we were given the run around and finally were told that could not happen. So, instead of just sit around, we decided to start walking at the Finish Line, and walk the route backwards until we found the caboose, then turn around and retrace our steps back to the finish line with the rest of the walkers! We had tons of walkers telling us, "You're going the wrong way!" and stuff, but in total we were able to get about 5 miles in on Sunday, AND cross that Finish Line, which really was amazing. I finished the remaining 8 miles Monday morning at the gym.

Closing Ceremonies was again a wonderful experience. I can't wait to go home and show Nanny the videos we took of the whole weekend! The route itself was breathtaking--especially Saturday morning and afternoon! We got to see Boston in a way we never would have been able to, and this truly was one of the most memorable things we have done in Boston while living here!

I want to thank everyone who helped Kent and me reach our goals and be able to take place in this walk for Breast Cancer. We met some incredible people along the way and it really did change my life.

Gangsta Rapstas and Country Hicks

Happy Birthday Kent

Happy #27 Kent!!!!

For Kent and Mom Nixon's birthday, I made them a Two Peas in a Pod birthday cake, because they really are two peas in a pod!

I had to make the cake in the basement so they wouldn't see me making their surprises...muy muy sneaky!

They really are two peas in a pod!

Happy Birthday after a fun day in Boston!

Me and Kent outside of Mike's Pastries. We got so many yummy desserts in there! We went to the Prudential building and did the Skywalk tour, went to Mike's Pastries, and to a wonderful dinner with Mom and Dad Nixon and Reed. What a great time we had!

Kent opening his birthday presents. I drew a picture of us for him and he loved that.

I'm "In It To End It"

My Nanny and Gucky

That's right. Kent and I have decided to take part in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer on May 15-16 in Boston. We will be walking 39 miles and are trying to raise $3600 between the two of us. We are "Team Nanny", in honor of my wonderful grandma Nanny who has been fighting breast cancer since last July. Please show your support to us by donating at my webpage:

http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk/Boston?px=5392984&pg=personal&fr_id=1920&et=eaaZjfWwb2WckWag8zUpXA..&s_tafId=499080

I will keep you all up to date on how things are coming along for us on this exciting event.



In other news, KENT AND I ARE MOVING TO UTAH!!! That's right, Utah. Provo or Orem actually. We are holding off on grad school while Kent goes into business with his friend Craig of "Craig's Cuts." We are so excited about the opportunity and the move. We'll be heading out there near the end of June! Here's a link to an article about Craig and his business:



http://www.heraldextra.com/business/local/article_1756ab09-b2b9-5f70-9e41-14a2a3a28fa0.html



Lastly, but oh, SO not leastly, Kent and I decided to try Intrauterine Insemination. I know that's a personal thing, but it's been 31 months of trying for us now, and I am so far passed being "personal" or keeping things "hush-hushed." So, we did it. Yesterday. It was weird, I'll be honest. And it hurt a lot more than I thought it would.



I wanted to mention we did this IUI also because I know the word is already spreading that we've done this, and I want to make sure the record is clear that it was indeed IUI, and NOT in-vitro! There IS a difference. So no petri dishes. ;) IUI is injecting a sperm sample into the uterus via the cervix. There is no egg retrieval. We used Clomid, I had ultrasounds and bloodwork to monitor everything, and there you have it. But let me get on to the weird part...



The "Collection Room." Wow. So first off, I actually had to request that I accompany Kent into "His Part" of the show. Apparently the guy usually does his part alone...? Anyway, so the nurse takes us into our lovely little room, where there are two leather chairs, a sink, a table, and a flat screen TV. And above the TV, yes, a large picture of a very naked woman!!! It was huge!! I couldn't help but chuckle at that one. But then, I read the sign by the TV. Something to the effect of: Dear Gentlemen, over the course of the past few months, six of our DVDs have gone missing from our collection. These DVDs are meant to be for the benefit of all of our male patrons and will not be replaced. Please be courteous to our other gentlemen users and enjoy this DVD in the room only. Do not remove it from the collection room. Thank you.



Well holy buckets. I guess I just never really sat down and thought about it before, but Kent and I were in a pornoroom!!! Needless to say, we were both very uncomfortable and really didn't want to touch anything in that room. I feel bad for the nurses that have to have that job...



Anyway, the rest of the procedure was just long with lots of waiting, wasn't all that interesting though. It just hurt more than I thought it would. I'm not feeling all too well today either, but such is life I guess. We go in for the pregnancy test on March 29!!! Until then I'm just going to be going crazy, that's all.



So that's our update. Sorry if it was too much information for any of you; I just figure hey, everyone's curious, so why beat around the bush?



But again, PLEASE visit my webpage and make a donation for our Walk for Breast Cancer! And tell your friends to do the same! Let's make a difference together! Love you all!

My Wife is AMAZING!!!

Since this is, in fact, "Kent and Kayla's Wonderful Life" blog, I felt it appropriate to post something of my own, mostly to surprise Kayla with not only compliments, but also with the comfort that her husband can learn how to blog for himself. haha :) I hope I haven't messed up already...

Look at that smile! --->

Anyway, my title sums it all up, but I want to elaborate just a bit more for her. For those of you who detest PDA, you may want to avert your eyes. :)Kayla struggles everyday with stomach pain, muscle pain, headaches, a pain-in-the-neck husband... you get the drift - She puts up with a ton! Yet she seems to accomplish multiples more than I do on my best day! She is "learning to cook" as she calls it, but turns out the most amazing meals (healthy AND balanced). She magnifies her church responsibilities better than anyone I know and is truly dedicated to serving others. She helps me to stay spiritually nourished through prayer, scripture reading, family night, and temple attendance. She is preparing to be and will be a phenomenal mother to our children. I am so excited to be married to her and to share in many new experiences with her. She keeps me on my toes and brightens my life everyday! She's witty and goofy, beautiful and smart, talented and gifted in so many ways. I would love to go on, but I know she'd want me to get some sleep. She's always looking out for me. To those who read this, thank you for indulging me while I tried to honor my dear wife. I love you Sweetheart.

I click on "Publish Post" now, right? :)

Livin' On Love and Lovin' Every Minute of It!!!

Here is a fun video of my nieces trying to pop balloons with me!!!

Well, I've been back home in Boston for almost a month now and have definitely been busy. I got home the night before my birthday, and Kent took me to Olive Garden to celebrate. Yum yum it was fun! He also had made a wonderfully crafty welcome home sign for me, and I had brought him home some chocolates and teddy bears!

I then got to teach Relief Society the next day at Church on my birthday. That was also a special day as our wonderful family all held a special fast with Kent and me for us to be able to start our family. It was a wonderful day and a spiritual experience to say the least. For my birthday, Kent was amazing and arranged with my family to have my parents, Lyska and Tyson to come and visit us out here in Boston for Spring Break!!!! I am so ecstatic and was so surprised and am so happy!!! Yay, we are going to have so much fun!!

And our wonderful friends the Christen's came over to celebrate and brought me a bunch of balloons, a party hat, and a Cold Stone cookie dough ice cream cake!!!! They are so amazing!! They also took us to dinner at Cheesecake Factory!!! We have such amazing friends all over this country.

So, we LOVE helium! hehe...

On Monday February 8th, Kent and I drove up to Vermont. We went to Sharon, where Joseph Smith was born, and saw the visitor's center there and had a picnic lunch in our car. It was great.

We then drove to our cute Best Western for a great night. We had a fireplace in our room, and there was an indoor pool and jacuzzi, exercise room, and game room, complete with ping pong and air hockey!

Needless to say, we kept busy having so much fun! Monday night we were putting our feet in the jacuzzi while about 7 ladies had a WATER AEROBICS CLASS!! in the pool, when we looked outside and realized there were swings just outside in the snow!!! So we put on our sweatshirts and FLIP FLOPS, and ran on out there and swung on the swings for like 5 minutes! We then ran to the kid playground down the way, where my feet promptly began to freeze off, so we ran to return to the jacuzzi, where we were met by a stunning applause by our water aerobics audience. So much fun.

On Tuesday after our great stay in the hotel, a wonderful breakfast and several VERY competitive games of air hockey (I would rather not discuss the outcome of these games, as they were all extremely close, ending not in my favor despite the fact that they should have!!!), we headed to the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory for a fun-filled tour and free samples!

We especially loved the ice cream graveyard!!

We also drove up to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory.

We missed the tours, but saw enough in the gift shop. We also got to see some beautiful Vermont sights along the way. We had a great trip! It was so nice to be back with my husband again after a month of being apart!

For Valentine's Day, Kent wrote me a song, which was, of course, amazing. I borrowed a sweet idea from Krista and TJ Emrich and did a "Mini Date." I had a mini candybar path leading up to our bedroom for Kent, wear we had candles, and a cupcake tray holding our several course meal inside each cup! We had baby carrots and Ranch, tater tots, mini pizza rolls, and mini sausages.

We had chilled mini A&W Rootbeer cans to drink, and the best part, our mini marshmallows we roasted over mini tealight candles to make s'mores with teddy grahams and chocolate chips!!!

AND, because I got lucky and found them at the grocery store, we had mini "dixie cup" style cups of Ben & Jerry's ice cream!! I kid you not, the serving size was actually LESS THAN HALF A CUP!!!! SOOO fun!!! We topped the meal off with a mini movie on our laptop...we watched Dan in Real Life, because I saw it in Texas and loved it. So we have had some fun.

In other news, KENT GOT ACCEPTED TO WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY AND UNIVERSITY OF UTAH!!!! So, for now, Salem, OR or Salt Lake City, UT. We are still waiting to hear back from Texas A&M though, so no decisions for us yet. But whew, it feels oh so good to have options, and I am so prouod of Kent! AND the GMAT officially no longer matters for Kent!! Woot woot!!!

Kent and I also got to go to our friends' the Abernethy's to see their awesome son Dan open his mission call to Brazil! We love that family and know Dan will be a great missionary!

Our friends Nick and Heather Christen's son Mason is Kent's new best friend. He has on many occasions come to play guitar, and well, rock out. We love it!

Well, it's raining like crazy here right now. I know, RAINING!! That is "very uncharaceteristic for New England weather at this time of year," according to EVERYONE here. However, it is indeed still raining and so far there hasn't been much weather that has been characteristic of New England seasons. It snowed, but then it rained and now it's still raining and I love it. And that's your New England weather report that I know you didn't ask for, folks!