Yo Celine!

It was another sunday night, when temptation came calling in the form of my cousin Priscilla who called to say she had a ticket for me to Celine Dion's concert at the Arena-Now I'm not one to turn down anything free so an hour later I was in my seat, popcorn in hand, waiting for Celine to perform. Gordie Brown performed first-he was good, but then after an hour of listening to him, I was annoyed-hello? I just wanted Celine! Then lo and behold, she popped up out of the center of the stage & what can I say...She is INCREDIBLE...she had soooo much energy & her voice live was awesome. Our seats were good, but I think I was more annoyed that we were surrounded by menopause women & guys who were obviously not there out of their free will-so that totally made it difficult for me and scilla to get in the "concert mood" but we wouldn't let that damper our spirits...we were dancing & singing along out loud & just about lost our voices-some rest & bottles of water later, I was ready to get back to work Monday morning.

Lovers Day

Valentines Day for the past 6 years have been ok. It's always been just another day, mainly because Kory & I feel that V-day is everyday. This year is our first Valentines day as a married couple (FYI, this whole year will be our "first" everything) so prepare yourself for more blogs! Well, my V-day started a week early - I was working on Saturday & had gone upstairs to eat my lunch. I hear someone come through the door & then I hear him asking for me, I think its one of my prospects. When he left I leaned over the rail & yelled down to Savanna & Megan -"I heard my name" I said. Savanna simply tells me to come down there, so I did. Walking down those stairs, my face lit up & was covered with a big smile when I saw a huge boquet of flowers in a glass vase sitting on my desk, along with chocolate covered strawberries. What a sweetheart!! The card read "Just thinking of you, love Kory"...that really made my day.
The night before Valentines, Kory had to work, but he came home after midnight with a bag of goodies-A London Style Interior Design Book, a teddy bear with chocolates & a coupon book for none of your business. He totally forgot about v-day because everything was from Barnes & Nobles, the only decent store open at midnight.lol. It's ok, the thought is what really counts. Anywho, our V-day was wonderful. We hope for many many many more to come!

Are You Serious??

This past Sunday we bought a set of great tables for our living room off of KSL.com (bless this site) and so we skipped stake conference to go purchase and pick-up these tables in Murray (I know, tsk tsk, sorry to the man upstairs & my mom). Kory waits in the car & I run upstairs to this apartment and knocked-no one is home, but their neighbors sure were-I could hear them yelling at the top of their lungs- a couple arguing about Pizza! What the frick? What kind of grown couple fights over who ate the last slice of pizza?! I thought to myself "Incredible! is this pizza that delicious & scrumptious, that it triggers a full blown argument over adults?"... hardy har har...so I wasn't thinking that, but I was thinking about why people argue over the smallest issues that are not worth a second thought- I bet they felt stupid aftwards, possibly embarrassed because the whole complex heard their argument. Any ways, I hope that Kory and I never get to the point of fighting over pizza, that would be a depressing day for our marriage. Hopefully this strange, hungry couple were able to work it out -maybe they'll learn from their mistakes & just heat up their own individual frozen dinners tonight....hehehehe.

No More Slacking

The other night Kory had brought home a delicious dinner from Chili's - equipped with my favorite southwestern egg rolls- took two bites & tucked it away out of sight. Why? Well, out of pure guilt that I was stuffing my face while watching The Biggest Loser. I'm the kind of person who will literally sit on the couch & watch the fitness channel while I sit there thinking "geeze, I should be doing these exercises along with this extremely cheerful instructor" ....I come close to putting on my workout clothes & tennis shoes, to join along....but then I don't. Story of my sad "after work" life. So after tossing my guilty pleasures away, I hopped online & ordered myself the Michael Thurrmond diet. In case you don't know who Michael Thurrmond is, he is my long lost father...just kidding- he is the trainer from Extreme Makeover. He has this fantastic 6 week body makeover kit that actually works. I can say this, because last year I lost 11 lbs. on my first week - don't ask me about the other 5 weeks - lets just say those southwestern egg rolls snuck back into my life. Any who, everything makes sense, concept is simple, just eat more often, eat the right foods & drink lots of water. The whole program is more than that, but that's just the basics so you can get the idea.

I'm way excited because it finally arrived and Kory & I spent the night watching the DVD instructional & putting together my customized workout and meal plan schedules. I haven't started just yet, I'm planning on next week when I have money to restock my fridge with food I can eat. Miss Savanna is probably going to join me-which is great, because having a buddy with similar goals makes things soooo much easier.

A body makeover is something I totally need. Kory tells me I'm fine the way I am...but we all know where liars go to...hehehehehe. I'm not doing this for Kory or anyone else, it's for ME and for the sake of my clothes that haven't had it's fair time in being used because I simply can't connect the button to the loop hole or pull that top over my head without my beloved & hardworking Spanx. So this is for the new me & my closet.

The next time I have to show an apartment to a guest, I can walk them up those lousy flight of stairs without trying to pretend that I could breathe & talk at the same time. So, I'll post any weight loss updates and come bikini season, you'll see me in a one piece (I'm not a bikini person, so consider yourself lucky) and more energetic, happier I'm sure, and just better satisfied with my life-that's my goal for 2009.

We love you Dad!

This is an old article that we found of our dad, Kevin Olsen who was a Provo Firefighter. He was a wonderfully talented man & this article is proof of how courageous he was. He responded to a house fire belonging to his own brother (also a firefighter) & rescued his nephew from nearly being burned alive. He graduated top of his Fire class, and was Provo City Firefighter of The Year. Kory took me to meet Kevin after we dated a few months-I was so nervous, but all my butterflies went out the door when I saw that Kevin was just like Kory in almost every way. We spent the whole afternoon together, watching childhood videos of Kory & Ryan, playing the drums, playing The Hulk video game (Kevin got a kick out of that one) and just getting to know each other. We saw Kevin in February & it was the last time that both Kory & I visited dad. It was my first and unknowningly my last visit. Dad passed away peacefully in his sleep of heart disease at home in March 2004, St. Patricks day . He had a heartfelt funeral full of good friends and family who all had a funny memory of dad. His burial was fit for a hero - a procession escorted by the police & fire dept. and a radio broadcast annouced by the dispatcher honoring one of their own while we laid dad to rest. I was just thinking about dad & how much we miss him, especially during this part of the year - His 4 year anniversary is coming up in a few weeks & we will be visiting dads grave for the first time this year.

HOUSE FIRE HITS CLOSE TO HOME FOR PROVO FIREFIGHTERS
By Daivd Farnworth, Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, Aug. 20, 1992 12:00 a.m. MDT


The call to a house fire Wednesday with a child trapped inside was a firefighter's nightmare. The horror deepened when crews realized they were responding to the home of one of their own.
But the incident was particularly emotional for firefighter Kevin Olsen. The burning home was owned by Kevin Olsen's brother, Steve Olsen, who's also a Provo firefighter but was away on vacation.Kevin Olsen found Tyler Barton, Steve Olsen's 3-year-old stepson, in a smoke-filled basement and carried him to safety.
Tyler remains in critical condition with respiratory problems and burns he suffered while trapped in the burning home at 2366 N. 1070 East.
Tyler received burns over more than 50 percent of his body while firefighters frantically searched for him. They said there was absolutely no visibility in the basement when they arrived.
Firefighters recognized the address as Steve Olsen's home as soon as dispatchers received the 911 call. Olsen and his wife were at Lake Powell when the fire occurred.
"Before we left the station, we knew whose house we were going to," said Mike Bledsoe, assistant Provo fire chief. "It's real hard on the firefighters when it's one of their own.
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"When the first report said a child was still in the house, our first efforts were directed in search and rescue," he said. "It's really an unusual situation, to have your brother find your boy."
When Tyler was located, he was conscious but confused, suffering from burns and extreme smoke inhalation. He was rushed to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and later flown to the University of Utah Intermountain Burn Center.
Tyler and his two brothers, John and Zachary, were at the family home with a baby sitter when the fire started about 3:30 p.m. The other two boys were taken to their grandfather's home as soon as firefighters arrived on the scene.
"I did get a report this morning that Tyler is doing pretty good," Bledsoe said Thursday. "But the next 48 hours, according to the burn center, will be the most critical for him."
Bledsoe said Tyler had no thermal burns to his lungs but did inhale a lot of smoke.
The emotional turmoil for firefighters continued when authorities had difficulty locating the boys' parents at Lake Powell. The U.S. Coast Guard was called on to help search for the couple. They were finally found late Wednesday evening and were flown to Salt Lake City to be with their son.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and officials say they aren't sure how Tyler was burned.
"He may have smelled smoke and gone down there," Bledsoe said. "We may never know unless he tells us someday.
Bledsoe said firefighters don't suspect any fault on the part of the baby sitter. "It's just one of those situations where kids were there and everybody thought they knew where everybody else was."
Any incident where children are injured is tough for law enforcement officers and firefighters.
"We've been on a real emotional roller coaster all day over here," said a Provo dispatcher.
Bledsoe said the city calls in psychologists to help officers deal with the stress when an incident hits close to home.
"It's a talk session done by professional psychologists," Bledsoe said. "The first session is mandatory, and then they can get personal help if that's the case."

Wannabe Roger Ebert

Since Korys works the afternoon shift & doesn't come home 'til late, my family take turns coming up to spend the night with me until Kory comes home-yeah, I know they're awesome. Well, this weekend, me and my sisters watched The Secret Life of Bees, a film based on the New York Best Seller novel by Sue Monk Kidd. The movie stars Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson & Sophie Okonedo-I can't believe how grown Dakota Fanning is now-geeze...she was awesome in Man On Fire-otays, that's a tangent. Anyways, The Secret Life of Bees is a cute movie & is great because you don't have to think so hard, like those dang mystery/thriller movies that give me a headache. This is more of a womans movie- so I recommend this movie for you females-its a bit sad, but has a comforting story line. I would tell you more about it, but it's late at night and my fingers are tired & my eyes are twitching from lack of sleep-so just google it. Also, this movie reminds me of Fried Green Tomatoes, another great film-different story plot of course, but the timeline is similar. Otays, goodnight!

Mr. Rugby

Rugby, the game of the Gods - so says my husband. Kory loves rugby - anyone who knows him, also knows that Kory is a "rugby for life" devoted fantaic. I (Vitoria) actually met him at a rugby tournament during our senior year in high school (6 years ago) and from the day I met him, he always wore a rugby jersery, blue jeans and black chuck taylors. If you ask him any question about rugby, he knows the answer to it. Anywho, Kory was blesssed & also worked extremely hard to be a incredible rugby player. He started off on the Highland Rugby team where he hardly received any playing time, but by his senior year, he was playing 1st string & considered the nations best jumper. His hard work paid off & was scouted & picked up by The Eagles Under 19 & was jetted off to Arizona to train & prepare with the rest of the team selected from around the nation to compete in the World Rugby Championship. Kory was fortunate enough to play in places such as Trinidad & Tobago, South Africa, New Zealand, around the U.S etc. When returning home to SLC, he went back to playing with the local Tongan rugby teams, Haggis, U of U, and Kudu where he very first started. Playing with the local teams with his good friends helped him improve his skills & learn from his teammates.

In 2007, Kory headed to New Zealand to play for Takapuna & The North Harbour Colts, where he learned to play a whole new style. I never thought that Kory could ever get tired of Rugby, but upoon returning home to SLC after a half year abroad, he finally played his last tournament & hung up his cleets to marry me & test for the police academy. I know Kory misses it alot, so hopefully in August we'll be able to head back to England & watch a game. The upside to it, is that he no longer makes his monthly trips to the ER for a concussion or to stitch his eye together-thank goodness :)