My Zoey

Wow, where to begin.  I have neglected this blog but it is for a good reason.  I am completely enthralled in my beautiful little girl.   In order to catch up to date I will give a few details.

  

Zoey Jane Rust was born on October 27, 2012 at 8:36am.  She was 9 pounds and 21.5 inches long.   Such a special moment when she came into our lives, I cannot put it into words.  She is just so wonderful.  Lee and I couldn't be happier.  Lee is an amazing Dad and I love watching him with her.  Zoey was a very alert baby from the moment she was born.  Just minutes old, she had her eyes open and looked back and forth at both Lee and I.  She was wide awake for the first 2 hours of her life, meeting different family members who came to see us in the hospital.

When she was a week old, we had her picture taken.  Brandy Hawkins did a wonderful job.  These are just 2 of them.....if I could post them all and not be ridiculous, I would.  :)

 Shortly after Zoey was born, we finally got the keys to our new house!!!  Buying the house was a very long and stressful ordeal but it is so nice to have it finally.  Getting it meant lots of work trying to fix it up before moving in.  Zoey was very patient with us as we spent hours and hours working on the house.  She would sit with my Mom, or in her chair alone while we worked and I would stop just to feed her and change her diaper.  Poor girl.  She did great though.

 Lee and I decided that we wanted to get a real tree for Christmas.  Neither one of us had ever gone to cut a fresh tree down.  Well, in our new house we have a vaulted ceiling and so we decided to get a large tree.  It was quite an adventure getting it into the house but we loved our tree.  We think it was about 11 feet tall.  While having fun decorating the tree, my sister Gaylene had the idea of putting Zoey on the tree like an ornament.  Well I don't think she liked it very much but we have lots of fun pictures to document the experience.  

 

On Sunday, December 23rd, with lots of family and friends present, Lee blessed our sweet Zoey at church.  That was such a sweet experience and the blessing was beautiful.  

 Zoey LOVED Christmas.  You may wonder how a 1 month old baby can really love Christmas.  Let me tell you.  All of my family was in town for an entire week for Christmas.  When I say all my family, it is not some small group.  There were lots of people around and EVERYONE wanted to hold and talk to Zoey.  She was the star.  The only time I got to see my baby was when I was feeding her.  She was never put down and she enjoyed all of the attention.  Talk about getting spoiled right off the bat.  

 Zoey has discovered her voice.  She loves to hear herself talk and I love to listen!  When she gets upset, sometimes I will turn on a recording of her talking and she will stop crying, stare at the video, and sometimes start smiling or talking to herself in the video.  She is so happy and loves to talk first thing in the morning (Such an amazing thing to wake up to), and at night (sometimes at 10:30 so I have a hard time putting her to bed).  

She also, just recently started to laugh!!!  So fun! I was so excited when I was able to capture just a little bit of it on tape since it doesn't happen very often right now.  I love her squeal!

Love is the only word I can use.  Zoey is full of LOVE and we LOVE her so much it is unbelievable.

It's a GIRL!!!

Well, it's official....I'm prego and we just found out that it is a girl! She is due to come around October 26th.  I am 20 weeks along and I'm loving this phase of being pregnant.  I won't lie, it was a really rough beginning to pregnant life as I was very sick along with working.  Luckily I have a bathroom in my classroom at school and I have two wonderful aides who were very patient and understanding with me.  Somehow I was able to keep it a secret from my students.  I am happy to report that life since then has gotten MUCH better.  I don't know if I could have handled life if it continued the same.  Anyway, I feel a ton better and enjoy feeling my precious little girl moving around/kicking me.  Lee and I are extremely happy!  We were excited before and have been anticipating finding out what it is but now we can start really planning and it is so fun.  We enjoy talking about names and looking at baby clothes/items.  I guess, just knowing that it is a cute little girl made it even more real somehow.  I am thrilled to see my baby girl and to see Lee as a Daddy.  He is going to be an AMAZING Dad.  

The Long Overdue Update

Well, a lot has happened since my last post.  The biggest and greatest event was November 19th when I was sealed to Lee in the Sacramento Temple.  Our wedding day was the best day!!  I could not have asked for anything better and am so happy.  I love Lee and words cannot express it all.
The time leading up to getting married was crazy and stressful.  Not much sleep and not a lot of time to see Lee which didn't help.  Lee graduated from the police academy and got a temporary job while he looked for a police job.  I started was at my new school teaching and getting the hang of how things work there as opposed to my last school in Utah (which I miss a lot!!).
Since November, life has been wonderful and crazy at the same time.  We were renting a cute house in Galt and loving it but it didn't work out for too long.  To keep that story short, some family things came up with our landlord and we moved out so that he could help his family.  We made a very quick move in with my parents which has been good but it was sad to leave the Galt house.  We had just barely gotten all settled with things on all the walls when we had to move.  About that time, Lee was hired with his new job which has been an adventure in itself!

We have now been married almost 6 months and I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by.  I know that 6 months isn't a huge chunk of time but I really feel like it has gone by in the blink of an eye.  So many fun times and memories already made.  I love every minute of being with Lee, which isn't a lot these days with his crazy schedule but life is wonderful. I am the luckiest girl in the world!

I'M GETTING MARRIED TO LEE!!!

 So, it happened!  Lee proposed and of course I said YES!!!  Here's the story for anyone and everyone.
After school on Friday the 19th I headed over to Lee's house.  We decided to go out to eat before leaving for our little road trip so we headed to El Torito then on the road headed for Santa Cruz.  It was a fun drive with him as the sun was setting.  When we got there, Lee found a great parking spot and we headed toward the boardwalk.  After buying some tickets we went on a couple rides.  Of course the Big Dipper then a ride similar to Drop Zone. There were tons of people there because it was a Friday night and there was a live band.  Well, Lee and I love the beach and decided to go walk down to the water. We had to walk in the water of course so we rolled up our jeans and left our shoes to go walking along the shore.  It was just perfect,

walking and talking with the waves hitting us (sometimes higher than we expected).  After a while, when we were a ways down the beach away from other people is when it happened.  Lee told me that he loves me, that he is happy when he is with me, and that he wants it to last forever.  With that, he said that he had a question for me.  Lee got down on one knee (in the water, with waves hitting him) and pulled out the most beautiful ring.  I told him he better not drop it in the water, haha.  He asked me if I'd marry him and I did not hesitate to say yes. I am so extremely happy and excited!  Words can't do it justice.  I love Lee and cannot wait for our lives to continue together.

Adventures on the Delta

Every day I teach my students that I expect them to try new things.  Well, I was given the opportunity to practice what I preach.  Lee invited me out on the boat with his Dad, Brian, and Kim and of course I went. The guys were all taking turns skiing and then they asked me if I was going to.  (more like told me I was) Well, I've never been skiing before and I was a little nervous. I didn't think I'd be able to get up and I thought that it could very possibly be embarrassing.  I decided to try it and just have fun.  After some instructions I went for it.  I didn't get up the first time but I was surprised how fast I did get up!  I was very wobbly and didn't stay up for too long but I enjoyed it. We went out again a week later and I was able to get up and stay up longer which was a lot of fun!  Even when I was not out skiing, I was having a blast with Lee and the others.  It is just fun being on the boat and hanging out.  This past Monday we went out again but this time we had this nice tube.  Is it called a tube?  There wasn't a whole in the middle.

Lee and I rode on it together for the first couple times.  I loved riding with him!  We have video of us riding a couple times and wiping out hard both times.  I personally think the injuries were worth it. I don't know if I kneed Lee in the face or if he tried to bite me.  Either way, we both were feeling it but I'm afraid Lee got the worst end of the deal.  While watching the videos of us, I was really wishing you could hear our commentary.  I know it would have

been hilarious to listen to while watching.  

While riding alone, I was able to catch some air which was crazy.  I was tossed all around on that thing, holding on for my life.  I could not stop laughing the entire time, even as I was face planting into the raft. The fun and adventures never end here in California with Lee!  I have a permanent smile on my face.  Man I would be bored without him!  I don't
know what I would do with my free time.  

THANKS LEE!! YOU'RE THE BEST!!

The end of Summer

Well, this summer in California has been great. I have enjoyed lots of fun times with the people I love. If I tried to sit here and write about all of my favorite moments this summer, I'd be here for hours. :)  Let's just say, it has been unforgettable. 
After many interviews and a few job offers, I now have a job.  I will be teaching a K-3 class of students who all have Autism.  I'll be working at a school only 30 minutes away from home so I will start the school year by commuting.  This past week, I have spent a majority of my free time in my new classroom cleaning and organizing things.  Boy this is a big undertaking and quite stressful. School starts this Monday and I am very nervous for this school year to begin but I know that after time, I'll get into a new routine.  Once I get a feel for my new school and students, it'll be great. I am excited for this adventure to begin.

Home in California!

What a crazy past month! I don’t even know where to begin! The end of school was great but very sad too. It was hard saying goodbye to the teachers and aides I worked with all this last year. I was not expecting to feel as emotional about it as I did. I guess I was so excited about the future that I had not thought too much about what/who I was leaving behind. I absolutely loved my year at Foothill with such amazing people around me. Those amazing people were the best support system I ever could have asked for but they were more than that. They were my friends and I love them. It was also sad to leave Utah knowing that I will not get to see my family there as often. I cherished my time with them, especially Steve and company.

Coming home was exciting and something I have looked forward to for a while. Being home this summer has been amazing and very eventful. I have loved every minute of it and cannot believe how quickly it is going. I've been able to be part of the dance festival, spend lots of time with my family here, and of course lots of fun adventures with Lee.

While being back in Cali, I've started the search for a job which has been interesting. I've applied to about 13 different places and continue to look every day to see if new jobs are posted online.  I've gone to an observation and had an interview today. I also have 2 more interviews next week which will be good.  Things are starting to happen as summer ends and we approach a new school year. I am very excited to see how things go the next couple months. Such an exciting time in the life of Cami Hansen.

Memorial Day Weekend!

First of all I just have to say that in 5 days I'll be driving to California and I'm excited!!!  Ready or not, here I come!!!

This weekend was really fun.  It was not the typical Memorial day weekend I'm used to but I enjoyed it.  I went to Steve's house Friday night and spent the entire weekend with him and his family.  Fun stuff!  I really enjoy spending time with them.  We had lots of fun relaxing, watching the 6 hour (in 2 days) Pride and Prejudice, playing in the snow, having a fire and roasting hot dogs, and staying up late talking.  I really enjoy my nieces and nephews and am thankful that I've been able to spend so much time with them recently.  Weekends like these are the main things I will miss about living in Utah.  Yes I will miss my kids at school, but my family is my long term connection I will be without. 

Countdown

Well, my counting down the days began a while ago but I just have to say that in 18 days I'll be on my way to California.  Happy day!  I will miss friends and family in Utah but I am very excited for the fun times ahead in Cali.  So much to look forward to!

Sleep

Well, I don't have anything fun or interesting to say.  I have just been thinking about sleep today.  I love when I get some really good sleep.  Recently I haven't slept a lot or not deep sleep. I feel more rested even if I don't get a lot of sleep but it's good than when I get more light sleep.  Last night was one of those nights where I didn't get a lot of sleep but it was a peaceful relaxing night and I woke up ready for the day.

I also love Saturdays.  Without working on the weekends I am able to get things done and relax too!  Today I did just that.  I was up, got laundry and cleaning done, went to the gym, showered and shopped, sat in the sun/storm (crazy weather) and read for quite a while, then I wrote in my journal and relaxed all evening!  Gotta love it!

Spring Break!

How do I begin describing my Spring Break? There are so many things to say and a lot of words which would describe it perfectly but sometimes words just don't do it justice.  I'll try to use pictures to help.

I just love nature and this picture is to show
the beauty I constantly see in California. It is a place full of life and adventure.

The picture of feet may seem odd but I like it.  Lee and I enjoyed walking along the beach with our feet in the freezing water. I guess to me this picture is my love of not being alone. All while home I was with amazing people. Some of my very favorite people ever and I loved it!

I sure did a lot of smiling and laughing while at home.  The picture to the left is just me, happy! Happiness and fun times for sure represented with this picture!

The beach is one of my favorite places. Talk about relaxed!  The word I think of with this picture is just PERFECT!  I took this picture at the end of the perfect day which was the end of the perfect Spring Break!

March turns into ...... APRIL!

I wrote on here as March started and let's review the past month.  It FLEW past really fast.  I loved setting up my own classroom even though I didn't know what I was doing and I didn't have anything. The other teachers were great and let me borrow some stuff.  I hired another aide which I'm very happy about.  She is great.  I have 2 of the best aides ever.  I'm very spoiled where I am right now.  Between the people I work with and the 6 kids I get to have in my class, it's amazing!  (that's just a beginning because it's school only)  It's really funny when we get the two classes together which were originally one class.  It seems like chaos with all 13 together and I wonder how we did it all the time with that many considering all of the behavior problems.  I guess it just makes me feel thankful for what I have now.

Well, March was a great month but I really am happy to see April! 
April brings Spring and Spring Break!!!!  Both of these I am REALLY looking forward to but let's be honest Spring Break mostly.  I've been looking forward to spring break for a couple months now.  It'll be great to see Lee! and my family of course, and Lee.  :)  I know it will be sad when it's over and I don't know of anything exciting happening at the end of April to help that. The excitement ends on the 16th when I wake up and realize I have to fly back to Utah.  I guess at that point I'll just start looking forward to June. As for now.......YAY APRIL!!!!

I like Poetry on Occasion

I read a poem the other day and I really liked it.  I'm just going to post the first half of it on here because it's the part that I particularly liked.  I love how things can have different meanings for different people.  The second part of this poem has such a different meaning than what I take out of the first part.  It's great how that works.


Just the Same   By Diana Lynn Lacey

Sometimes -
God sends rain
Straight from the sky
To nourish the young flower
and it grows.

Sometimes -
God sends rain from the sky
To the mountaintops,
Then over hills and through valleys
Until it reaches the flower
and it grows, just the same.

Thoughts

I heard a great talk at church today and thought I'd share some things I really liked.  The topic was gratitude which of course I need to show more of.   Our High Councilman started talking about how in the church we hear that "Charity never faileth" and as a people we think than never failing would mean succeeding because that is the modern meaning for the words.  So with that in mind we could say Charity succeeds.  He then quoted a couple scriptures which put a different light on the word fail.  In each scripture fail meant run out.  So with that in mind if you put them together it means, Charity never runs out.  I like that a lot. 

He then went on to talk about how temporal things have limits.  You can enjoy one car and having 2 cars but you couldn't really enjoy 15 cars.  That's how it is with worldly things.  If you get too much, you can't/don't enjoy it.  Spiritual things, however, do not work that way.  You can never have too much love and you can never run out of love.

Also, Gratitude is something within.  It is a spiritual gift from God.  I haven't thought too much about it being a gift but it really is.  The world has a pessimistic tone in general and it is very easy to join the pessimism but to have a thankful heart and recognize it is really a gift.  To be able to look at life and love it for what it is and all of the wonderful experiences we are able to have while here really is a gift from God.  Life really is great and I have so much to be thankful for!!!!

St. Patrick's Day Potato

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!                                                                                                            Ok, I tried to put a picture on here but since I'm on a mac and don't know what I'm doing you can click the link below if you'd like to see it.  Usually I can figure out things on here but mac + blog = I don't know, confusing I guess.

 Potato Picture

 So, in the St. Patrick's Day package from Lee there were lots of fun/exciting things.  Amongst them was a St. Patrick's Day Potato.  I have never heard of such a thing and lets be honest, it looked gross.  As I kept looking through the box I quickly forgot about the potato, so much fun stuff!  Well today Lee asked me if I've ever had one before and proceeded to tell me that he wasn't so sure about them at first but he likes them.  I trust Lee so I just have to try it even if it looks nasty plus if he asks me tomorrow if I tried it I can't say no.  Then he’d know that I’m chicken!

I decided to try it tonight.  I got it out and stared at it for a few minutes, then I opened it and stared at it for a few minutes.  While staring at it I was trying to decide if I'm supposed to just pick it up at take a bite or if I should get a knife and cut it open.  I just don't know!! I chose to cut it, which I think was a good idea.  After cutting it I could see the inside and knew more of what to expect.  In the end I did eat it.  The first couple bites I didn’t know how I felt about it.  I was still skeptical but then I liked it.  Very different but it was good.  I liked the nuts in it.   THE END

It's March!

Well, I have felt like February was going by very slowly but now as I think about it, January and February went by very quickly.  Those were my first 2 months teaching alone as Melissa was on maternity leave and I loved it!  Now that she's back and we have gotten more new students, we're working on splitting our class in half.  That is my adventure for March; set up my classroom.  I don't know how time can seem like it's going so slow and yet pass so fast.  It's crazy.  I think that March is going to go quickly.  I feel like it will but maybe that's what I'm trying to convince myself.  I am so happy with how things have gone so far and I look forward to lots of good times ahead.
BRING ON MARCH!

Invictus

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.



This poem is by William Ernest Henley.  This is one of my Dad's favorite poems and I remember him reciting it for me when I was younger.  I just watched the movie for the first time since I saw it when it was in theatres.  I loved it then and I love it now!  Great movie and great poem!

Quote to Start the Year

I haven't done a quote of the week on here recently so I figure it's about time.  Today’s quote certainly applies to the last year for me.  My family has had a lot of trials and sudden things happen in the past year starting in January and spread all throughout the entire year.  We have been able to hang on and get through the deaths and illnesses and are sure ready to start a fresh new year.  This quote is by President Monson talking about missionary work but it is certainly applicable to life in general.  He said, “The Lord will shape the back to bear the burden placed upon it.”  I love this, it is certainly true.

My Rula

Well, I guess it's time to write something about my Grandma Rula.  It does not feel like she is gone, except when I am home and the house is quiet. It has been absolutely wonderful living with her this last few months.  Rula is certainly one of a kind and I love her.  Some of my favorite memories with her are: Camping at Rucker Lake with her and Grandpa, getting massages of course, hearing her holler "yyoooohhhhooooo", playing Skip-Bo with her and having to cheat in her favor in order for her to win some games, and of course spending time with her just watching all her OLD movies (Shirley Temple ones in particular). Grandma lived a long wonderful life and went quickly which has been a shock to us but it's exactly how she wanted it so for that I'm thankful.  Oh boy is she happy now and I can't express in words how blessed I have been to have her for a Grandma and particularly for the opportunity to spend so much time with her lately.  I love my Rula!

This picture was taken at her 90th birthday party a few months ago and she was as healthy as can be. I joked with her that she would live forever because she was too healthy.

Brownie Adair

My friend Brownie, and pretty much Grandma, passed away just over a week ago and I feel like I should write something about her.  I know that at this point she would yell at me and tell me not to put her picture or anything on here.  It is for that exact reason that I am doing it, and she wouldn't expect anything less.  There needs to be something that she would give me a hard time about and vice versa.  That’s how our relationship is; she always called me her little idiot.  Some would say that doesn’t sound very nice but coming from Brownie, it is certainly a term of endearment to me. She had 3 named idiots and I'm proud to be one of them. I miss her already and laugh at the most random memories I have with her.  Things from going to Oregon with her to go down the Granny rapids for her 80^th birthday to calling her as a kid from a hotel just to tell her that I was in the bathroom on the phone, I still don’t know why they would put a phone by the toilet.  She thought that was the funniest thing.  I could continue with so many other funny stories but I’ll stop here.  I think that’s enough for here.  I wish I could have seen the reunion with her and Byron. I can only imagine the celebration.  I love my Brownie and will miss her.