Education, Exercise & Eyewear

We've added a few new things to our routines lately. 1st off, Ryan is back in school this semester! He's taking an industrial math class at MCC and seems to be breezing through it so far. We both hope it keeps going that way. His first quiz is coming up soon... 2nd, I now have glasses. Ryan recently went in to reorder some contacts, so I finally decided it was time to have an eye exam after about four years of blurry road signs. As it turns out I'm near-sighted. It's not a huge deal, but I do have to get used to putting on the ol' spectacles every time I drive. The difference in my sight with them on is amazing! I might post a pic. of me waering them sometime, but only if I were going to be posting that photo anyway. 3rd, thanks to Kristy & Kevin, we now have an elliptical machine! It's not because we made some New Year's resolution that will never be kept to lose a bunch of pounds or anything. We both really just want to be more healthy, so we thought we would try out the machine that the Johnson's were wanting to sell anyway. So far so good. Ryan feels the burn at least three times a week, and I'm on it that often too. Ryan also just finished gluing the caps on the planter. I can almost taste those home grown veggies!

How do you measure a lifetime...?

I don't think it's possible, but here's a good start. And to think, our lives are really just beginning... I normally wouldn't post this type of thing, especially since this list is not originally mine, but the things on this list are all over the place! It's amazing to think that people have actually done them!

To play along, copy and paste and highlight the things you've done! Then when your finished add something you've done that wasn't on the list!

1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8.Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18.Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train (2 nights) 21.Had a pillow fight 22.hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a 1/2 Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31.hit a home run. 32.been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Visited the pyramids 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44.Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67.Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone. 78.Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82.Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87.(helped) Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee 100. Made amends with someone who offended you 101. Flew in a small Cessna plane with just you and the pilot 102. Ran out of gas 103. Eaten fried okra 104. Swam in the Caribbean Sea 105. Peed in a swimming pool 106. Stayed in a beach house 107. Hosted an exchange student 108. Been a Secret Santa to a family 109. Worked on a political campaign 110. Coached a sports team 111. Baked bread from scratch 112. Driven from coast to coast 113. Paid off all of your debt 114. Roast marshmallows over a campfire 115 Cut up a credit card 116. Drove a car through a flood 117. Been on t.v 118. Had braces 119. Been to the twin towers in NY 120. Have played in both the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans 121. Been to ground zero 122. Bit my fingernails 123. Likes to scrapbook 124. Hates pie 125. Visited Mexico 126. Seen a Tornado in person 127. Have ever been lost at sea! 128. kissed a frog. 129. Gave birth to twins. 130. Received 2 moving violation tickets in 1 day. 131.Been Life Flighted. 132. swore (when i was a kid & didn't know what it meant)133. stranded in a motel for Christmas. 134. Been in 2 countries at once! 135. Adopted a pet from Humane Society 136. Did a triathlon 137. Never received a speeding ticket 138. Live with one kidney 139. Slept on the floor of a train station in Poland 140. Hiked Masada 141. pulled a rock out of hot lava 142. Pet a kangaroo in Australia 143.Been salmon fishing & ice fishing in Alaska.

PATIO!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, here is the finished product:

Well, the patio is done anyway. The planter still needs to have the caps placed.

(We actually finished it last weekend, but I just went out and took pictures of it today.) For someone who's never done it before, Ryan did a good job with the pattern of the paver stones. He looked at a few pictures, drew a quick sketch and went to work. He basically made it up as he went. I think it turned out great!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Too much time has passsed since our last entry... and we are still busy, so instead of sitting here writing, here is our Christmas letter that we sent to few long distance relatives. Don't get me wrong, I love blogging! But that's just how the holidays are. I'll even throw a few pictures in. (New entry Table!)

Enjoy!

Dear Family and Friends 2008

Our first entire year together has been quite a fun filled one! We live in Tempe and are happy that we live so near to our families. We love to visit with them often. Ryan is working full time for SRP’s Southside Water Construction division. A few months ago he was made the Senior Trades helper on his crew, which means sometimes he’s in charge of everything. He also serves as the 2nd Counselor in the Young Men’s as well as an Assistant Scout Master. He has been on countless overnight Scout trips, taught fishing and shooting merit badge classes and became a certified NRA instructor for the Boy Scouts of America. It works out well for him, since he enjoys doing those things so much all ready. Amy is a Nurse Assistant, primarily taking care of her brother Matthew, and is serving as the 1st Counselor in the Young Women’s. She also enjoys spending time sewing, trying to garden, and is having a wonderful time making our home a beautiful place.
In March we were able to go on our Stake Youth Pioneer Trek as a “Ma & Pa.” That was quite an experience! It was a lot of work, but it was well worth it. We had a great bunch of youth who all worked very hard as well. One new appreciation that we gained is for those handcart pioneers who had children, especially small ones. They not only had to make the next mile themselves, but had to care for their children as well. We are so grateful for this experience and for the renewed reverence and appreciation we gained for those amazing early members of the church. We both love the youth in our ward and love all the great activities we are able to be involved with. We really like that we are able to go to some of the activities together.
During the summer months we enjoyed camping and fishing up in the cool Mogollon Rim country with family a few times. The two of us made a trip to Disneyland for a few days, which was a lot of fun! Ryan was brave enough to go to Camp Geronimo with the boys in his troop for a week in July. Amy was able to go with the girls to camp for five days as the Ward Camp Specialist. The first day of camp there was snow on the ground! Although that’s common in the winter near Payson, AZ, it was a rare sight for May. Amy also had a great time tubing down the Salt River with the youth from our stake while Ryan attempted to fish the river. He has been experimenting with many new fishing techniques this year. We celebrated our first anniversary in September by going fishing, and actually brought home a few delicious bites to eat. We both always have a great time fishing.
On Halloween we wore camouflage and carried around some of Ryan’s airsoft guns. It was fun to dress up, and even more fun to hear all the comments from people at our ward party. In November Amy had a heart procedure to correct a lifelong condition called Supra Ventricular Tachycardia, or SVT. At times her heart would race for a few minutes at about 260 beats per minute. The only problem this can cause is passing out, which would be bad if it happened while driving, which thankfully never happened to her. However, it could cause big problems if a woman had this condition while delivering a baby. After much prayer, it was decided it would be best for Amy to have the procedure done, which was a great success! It should never cause her any problems again. Thanks so much for all the prayers! We had three delicious Thanksgiving meals this year, and had an enjoyable time visiting with our wonderful family and friends at all of them. Our Christmas was more of the same, but we did get some time in the morning to ourselves. It's just as much fun to give gifts to each other now as it was to get them when we were kids! Also, Ryan has been working hard during his vacation time building a raised planter and a patio in our backyard. It will hopefully be done just before he goes back to work in January.
General Conference was fantastic both times this year. We are very excited for the new temples to be built in our state, which when complete will bring the number to five! Although we all miss President Hinckley we are so blessed to know that we are still guided by a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson, especially in these perilous last days. As the Apostles have declared of our Savior, “We solemnly testify that His life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem, nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world….God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.” (The Living Christ) We are grateful to live in this dispensation, and in this wonderful country where we are able to worship our Savior and enjoy such peace and countless freedoms. This year has definitely been one of trying to count our endless blessings! We pray that yours has been as well and that the Lord may continue to keep you in his watchful care. Merry Christmas and have a fantastic New Year!

Love, Ryan and Amy Stewart

Here are a few things we gave each other for Christmas, but there are more pictures to come... especially when the patio gets done!


This beautiful shelf was hand made by my wonderful Ryan. I drew the design for it over a year ago and he decided to make in his parents garage for an extra special gift this year. Isn't he great?!!

Fun with Family! (I made the truck!)

Fun Family Festivities

November has all ready been full o' fun! First of all, to those who may be wondering, my heart procedure went well. I couldn't feel a thing except for the anesthetic needles. The doc says I should never have another palpitaion again! I am slowly healing and getting back up to speed. Ryan has been an angel, especially the first week after. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support!
On Saturday the 15th, a family tradition was kept as it has been done for over 40 years. My great grandma Amanda Irene Cox Watson started Watson's Flowers on Main Street in Mesa in 1927. Each year the shop, and all her decendants who can come, make a parade float out of real flowers! Traditionally it's been for the Mesa Day Parade in March, but since that has been done away with for the past several years, the Gilbert Days Parade is where all the 5 year olds in the family get to ride on the float. This year my sister Elizabeth's Benjamin got to be one of the float riders!
Isn't he cute!? There were 6 other riders this year too. I remember it was one of the greatest things ever when it was my year to ride it! Ryan wasn't able to participate in any of it because he had a Scout overnighter that weekend, but I went with my parents and was able to help glue on the patals at the "float party" the night before. Ryan and I were able to go to Zoo lights on Monday night with most of his siblings. (Thank you Kristy!) We had a great time watching all the little ones enjoy themselves. The best part for us was getting to pet the sting rays! They are just as slimey as any other fish, but still... they were sting rays! That's my brother in law Kevin holding Karter (so cute), with Lara behind him, me, and Ryan with the SRP hat on. It was great!





I helped Bethany and Benjamin make these adoreable turkey pumpkins! All it took was toothpicks, tape, markers, contruction paper and siccors.
I was watching them for a little while a couple weeks ago and figured it was a geat time to do a kid craft!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, I love this country! I love democracy. I love how it all came to be and never tire of relearning every detail. I don't like who most of the voters of our nation choose for our next president. I respect the office he will hold, but not his agenda or the constitutional rights he wants to take away.
As I watched the Deacons pass the sacrament on Sunday, a tie worn by one of them caught my attention. It was a patchwork picture of Old Glory. It reminded me once again of just how patriotic of a holiday that we have coming up. Don't get me wrong, thanksgiving is about being thankful for all we have, but we wouldn't have much to be celebrating it if not for those wonderful people who voyaged across the raging Atlantic Ocean to escape horrific religious persecution in hopes of making a better life so many years ago. Today we know them as Pilgrims and I call them Patriots. I can't help but wonder if they really knew how their lives and sacrifices would effect history... us today... my family. The principles drafted in the Mayflower Compact which were carried to, and elaborated on in great detail in, our Constitution, are truly the most basic and essential rights that God has endowed us with. It is to these patriots, and those who fought and died in the great Revolutionary War, and all those who have sought so diligently to preserve these rights, and to our Heavenly Father who grants them to us daily, that we owe a sincerely grateful heart and life. I think it is wonderful that Thanksgiving and Veteran's Day are celebrated during the same month. To me, they both comemorate patriots in very similar ways. I truly hope that we will continue to honor their legacy and the freedoms they insured us by doing all we can to keep those rights established. I hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving with those you love!

Birthday & Halloween Fun!

Ryan, like all who are kids at heart, wanted his birthday cake to be special this year. He asked if it could be shaped like his paintball gun. I was kind enough, and clever enough, to figure out just how to make it work. I had Ryan draw a picture of it for me so I would have some kind of pattern go on without the possibility of his real one getting frosted in the process. I think it turned out pretty good, it being the first shaped cake I've ever made.We celebrated his Birthday, his dad's, as well as my parents and my sis Elizabeth's birthdays all during October!

Ryan says he is now 20 with 7 years experience. With all those candles, this picture turned out pretty cool .








We celebrated on the day of with rootbeer floats at my parents house, and on the Sunday after at his parents house.


On Halloween we had fun at our ward's Trunk or Treat dressed up as military comando's as we carried around Ryan's airsoft guns! Since this is what we were last year too I think we should do something different next year.

my heart is finally gettin' fixed!

now, if i only had a brain...
As some of you may know ever since I was a little girl there have been times that my heart would race for no apparent reason. My mom remembers me running up to her when I was as young as 2 years old to tell her my heart was beating too fast. Each heart palpitation lasts about 5-10 minutes. It only happened about once every 6 months or so, but it gradually increased to about once every month when I became a teenager. My parents asked doctors about this, but none of them took me very seriously until I was older and able to explain it better. I had an EKG when I was 17, but since I didn't have a heart palpitation during the test they found nothing wrong. Long story short, I have a heart condition called Supra ventricular Tachycardia, or SVT. Basically I was born with an extra electrical passage in my heart that every once in a while makes my heart go crazy. I'm going to have a procedure called an Ablation on Tuesday Nov. 18th to fix it. The doctors are very surprised that I have never passed out, as most people with this condition routinely do. It's not all that uncommon of a condition or a procedure. If any of you readers have questions just follow the link below, or feel free to ask!

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/tc/supraventricular-tachycardia-overview