So Blessed

The last couple of months have not been the easiest for us. With my surgery in January we have had more bills than we would prefer. With medical, housing, cars...they just don't seem to end! For a little while it seemed like we were getting a different medical bill every day and for a different amount. We paid off the small ones in full and paid a small portion for the bigger ones. The statements showed what our insurance was covering, which just wasn't very much. It was frustrating to see the numbers.

Pretty soon we received a couple more bills that were a lot bigger than what we had anticipated. So we made a payment on the smallest one but decided to make a phone call before making any kind of payment on the bigger one. We just weren't sure what we were being billed for, and we wanted to make sure we weren't being double charged for any of the labs we had already paid for. The larger of the two bills was a little over $4,500.

I called the patient account services to ask them for specifics on our bills. After being connected with an operator he pulled up our account and told me what our total balance was. It was $1,550. I was really confused and thought at first that he had the wrong account open because of the bill we had just received. Not to mention the one right before that for $1,000. He told me that a few days after the larger bill was sent out our insurance covered another $900, but it didn't show on the statement. And the hospital also discounted another $2,000, bringing our new balance to $1,550. When I asked him what this amount was for he told me it was for the surgery and everything included that day. I couldn't believe what I was hearing - I was in total shock! After I got off the phone I called Tyson and let him know the news. We were both really excited to be saving more money.

What started off as an $8,000 day in the hospital ended up being less than $2,000. This is such an amazing blessing for us. We know that the Lord is watching over us during these trying times and wants us to succeed. We feel so blessed to know that with our faith we have been able to receive wonderful blessings. We are so blessed!

Image via Google Image Search

Happy Birthday, Angie!

Yesterday, Tyson's sister Angie celebrated her 30th birthday. We celebrated a couple times in the last few days. On Saturday, her husband and his sister planned a surprise party for her and it was a lot of fun. She had no idea! We had to do a lot of lying over the last week or so. Dustin and Erika came up from Magna, UT, for the party. I was so excited to see them! I love those guys. They invited her friends and family, and we all brought finger foods to munch on. We had birthday cake and played games - it was a classic birthday party. So fun!

Surprise!

"Happy birthday to you..."

Last night we went to Tyson's parents' house to celebrate Angie's birthday and have a family home evening. It was fun having almost the entire family together, minus Tacie and Ryan. They live in Washington. We missed having them there. But we were able to have everyone else there, and it felt great to be there with everyone. Angie and Steve had all their kids there, Dustin and Erika with Lillie, Clark and Kristi, Tyson's parents...I love Tyson's family! They are all wonderful. It was fun celebrating Angie's birthday a couple times this weekend.

We hope you had a great birthday, Ang! Love ya! :)

We Caved

Mom rented "Twilight" this weekend so Tyson and I decided to give it a try. Neither of us have read the books and we hadn't seen the movie, so this was going to be interesting. We had no idea what to expect! By the end of it I decided that the story was pretty cool. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time, and I was actually a little scared! It made me want to borrow "New Moon" from somebody and get reading. Or better yet, start from the beginning and read the series! (Never thought I'd say that.) Tyson thought it was ok, but he's not in to these types of fantasy stories. All in all I'm really glad I decided to watch "Twilight". I thought it was a good movie and I really enjoyed it!

Image via Google Image Search

Our New Toys

I received the last of my tax returns a week or so ago, so Tyson and I thought it would be a good idea to get me a new computer. So on Friday night Tyson and I went to Best Buy and bought me this new toy! I'm starting school again in April and I really needed a new computer and this one will be perfect. I'm excited to start listening to my music and using pictures again! And I'm sure Tyson will be happy to have his computer back to himself again. :)

On Saturday morning, Tyson and I went with Tyson's dad to pick up another toy. A friend of mine and her mom wanted to get rid of their treadmill, so they offered it to us for $100. We couldn't resist that price! We went over to their house, hauled it out to Tyson's truck, and took it home. We're so excited to have a treadmill! And it's in great shape. I can't wait to get going on that thing. I guess you could say we had a pretty successful weekend!

Photos via Google Image

Must-Have #3: O.P.I Start to Finish

I was looking through old blog posts when I realized it has been quite some time since I posted about a product that I absolutely love. So this brings me to #3: O.P.I Start to Finish. This little bottle is wonderful! Have you ever given yourself a manicure and just been frustrated with all the little bottles you're using? Base coat, polish, top coat...Why so many? And then after all the work the polish just chips off faster than you want. I have a solution for you in this one little bottle. It is a base coat and top coat all in one. So not only do you get to use one bottle for two of the steps, that's one less bottle you have to buy. O.P.I. sells their top coats and base coats separately for around $8-$10 a piece. This single bottle with both the base and top coat is $12, so you're saving some money. And the polish doesn't chip! It's wonderful. Nails stay shiny and sleek. I love this stuff.

I can tell you right now that it has super strength after it's put on the nail after my experience last week. The last time I had painted my nails the Start to Finish ran down the side a little. Instead of wiping it off I just let it dry. Unlike polish, that stuff hardened right up, and when I went to paint my nails again I couldn't even get the lid off. It was crazy! Tyson couldn't even get it off. It was stuck. I ended up having to go buy a new bottle, but it proved to me how great it is for strengthening nails and keeping them from breaking. I love it! You can buy it anywhere O.P.I is sold. I buy mine at Trade Secret. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a better solution for sleeker, shinier, and stronger nails.

Our Weekend in Utah

On Saturday, Tyson and I joined Amber, Che', and Aaron on a mini vaca down to Utah to visit Aaron's wife, Britney. She has been training for a new job for the last couple of weeks and we all decided to go down and hang out with her. We had so much fun!

When we arrived in the Salt Lake area we decided to spend some time looking around at Ikea. And was that just a wonderful experience for the eyes. We had a lot of fun just walking through all the displays and picturing what our houses would look like with all the fun and mod decor. After walking around Ikea for a while we met up with Britney in Draper for some Cafe Rio. Whenever we're in Utah we have to hit up the local Cafe Rio or Costa Vida. I think my last post made it clear why! Does the picture look familiar? Amber and I shared one of these delicious pork salads and it was superb! If we had things our way, we would have a Cafe Rio salad without the rice, but with the sweet rice from Bajio. One day we'll make it happen!
After Ikea we stopped over to 90th South for a little Tai Pan action. Tyson and I have been trying to find lamps for our room. Although we weren't successful in this area, we were able to find a new lamp for our living room. And it looks really good!

After Tai Pan the four of us went our separate ways from Aaron and Britney so they could spend the rest of the weekend together. So we went to the South Towne Mall and did some browsing. For some reason the styles of clothing just weren't agreeing with me. Everything seems so plain right now. So none of us ended up buying any clothes. After shopping we went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner. It was a first-time experience for all of us, so we weren't expecting such huge portions of food! It was really good, we enjoyed it.

After dinner we needed dessert. Of course. So we decided to locate the nearest Dairy Queen and go for a cherry-dipped cone. Delicious! I recall mentioning these yummy treats in a past post. We just love them! They're so good! And we all love them so it works out great.

On Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and went to do a little shopping while we waited for Aaron. And it turned out to be yet another great shopping experience! We went to Burlington Coat Factory and found pillows for our couch and clock and fake tree for our living room. We were so excited to find those! We've been looking for something for the blank wall we've had, and when we saw the clock we knew it was perfect. And the tree was a steal at only $25. Woo hoo!

And to top things off, Tyson bought me a new Kathy Van Zeeland purse! I was so excited! Amber got one from Che' for Valentine's Day and I loved hers. And while at Burlington we saw this one for $50, originally $100. So Tyson said he'd buy it for me for an early something. I just couldn't let such a good deal pass me by! I love my new purse!

Even though we were only there for two days, we still had a great time in Utah. On the way home we were able to stop in at Uncle Bob and Aunt Penney's for a visit. It was nice to see them.

I love my family, and I'm so glad we're able to spend time together like we do!

Restaurant and store photos via Google Image