The Move!

I'm going to make this very long story short and say that the people we have been renting from since moving to Dickinson last year, have been renting to us illegaly, so we have to move. So as we celebrate our First Year here in Dickinson, North Dakota we celebrate it moving to a new place.

This causes stress because housing here is in very short supply and very very pricey. We got really lucky and a friend seen our plea for help on Facebook and was knew someone who was had just bought a Condo to rent out. We were in luck, such a sweet couple and more than willing to rent to us and let us begin moving in so quickly. We had some great help from the branch here and from some amazing friends. We were so nervous about the move but everyone really came through for us.

We have been so blessed this past couple of months and during this season of gratitude we are so very Thankful for all that has been given to us.

To all our friends that came through and helped us move, we owe you big and we plan to repay you. THANK YOU!!!

Stay tuned for pictures of the new place, coming soon.

Labor Day Weekend

I'm going to make these posts short and sweet, as we are soo far behind in not only posting to our blog, but keeping up with all our friends blogs as well. Sorry, I'll try to do better.

So this year for Labor Day we were both off work and got to spend the entire 3 days together. That hasn't happened in awhile. We decided to take the dogs and a friend that Darin works with named Chris for a ride to the North end of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We seen soo many buffalo it was crazy. Chris and I got out and got really close to them a few times, made Darin super nervous. Other than that we just lounged around and enjoyed a few days off together, nothing special. Here's a few pics of our journey to enjoy.


This one was from the car. We ended up stopping for them for a few but, we literally could have reached out the window and touched them passing by the car.


We stopped to watch another herd and Chris and Jo got out of the vehicle to get a better view, Chris ended up stepping in well something not so pleasant and Jo made him clean his shoes before he could get back in the car with us. But here is a shot of Chris getting up close. And yes, Darin was freaking out!



This is just about as Mountainous as it gets here in North Dakota!



This is a herd just hangin out in the picnic area, they were so calm, we dared to get really close.

Catching up!

Please bear with these next few posts as we catch you up on our life recently and our crazy schedules.

INTENSITY 2010 (Scentsy Convention)

Scentsy Convention this year was yet again, AMAZING! They brought in a great keynote speaker, Amanda Gore, who reminded us to be positive and be a better person, and love those around us! We were reminded again what an AMAZING company we are apart of. Heidi, Scentsy's president spoke of Generousity! And Orville, Scentsy's CEO spoke about getting back to Simplicity, and keeping it Simple. Even with just over 6,000 Consultant's in attendance we were able to bring a lot of new product home with us in Giveaways. We again were touched by Heidi and Orville bringing their entire family into Convention and including their kids in the unveiling of some products.

We are so excited for what the next year will bring to us with this business. We have set new goals for ourselves and we can't wait to reach them. We feel so fortunate to have the team that we do. They are so supportive of our goals, and have goals of their own that are great! We have a great group, and we love being in their lives and having them be apart of ours. We are on the grow, and we couldn't be prouder of our small circle. We LOVE watching it grow! We are sure our Scentsy team is the Best out there! zoot zoot zoot to each of you!
We are currently on the search for a team name, any suggestions?

Here are few pics of Convention, the group of us that made it to Denver. If you look really hard on the Team pictures, I'm pretty sure you'll see the spirits of those that couldn't join us. We know they were with us in Spirit! ;)

So, we are on continuing on with our Scentsy journey, hope it finds you in our future, it's gonna be INTENSE!!!

Wait till next year, we'll be coming at you from Fort Worth, Texas!

SCENTSY SPIRIT!!!!!!!!!!


Darin & BettyJo (from ND),Justin & Jessica (from ND), Dorothy (from NC) & Amber (from UT)



Another Team Picture with Darin. Jessica, Jo, Amber, Dorothy, Darin



Waiting for General Session to start. Jessica, Jo, Dorothy, Amber



Team Pic with our Superstar Director. Jessica, Amber, Dorothy, Lisa, BettyJo



Jo with the Signature board. You can't see but we signed just above her head.



The Convention stage.

Denver or Bust!

So a couple of weeks ago, Darin and I went to Denver for Scentsy Convention 2010! We decided to drive their, and and enjoyed the time together. We had a very busy couple of days while there, and got tons of information, made some great new friends and lost some sleep. Here's a brief summary of our trip.

We checked into our hotel, relaxed for about 15 minutes, me walked the 5 or so blocks to the Convention Center to register, and then headed to our Team meeting, and the Scentsy Tailgate party! The next day we enjoyed the sessions and breakout sessions offered by Scentsy, go TONS of product and seen what Scentsy is bringing up for the Fall/Winter season. Our Superstar director took us all to Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, yummy! We then went to the Scentsy Success PJ party, played some games, and showed some Scentsy Spirit! On Friday we woke up a little late, so we rushed to more sessions and meetings. After our sessions, we took Jo's team to dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory, another yummy meal. Then we headed back to the Convention Center for the awards ceremony. After the ceremony we took a fun little Bike Taxi ride to Coyote Ugly! Darin and I have been to Coyote Ugly in Vegas, and we had fun, Justin and Jessica who we were hanging out with hadn't been before. It was a very fun night, with some great memories made! On Sat. we went to lunch at Hard Rock Cafe, and headed home. We took our time on the drive home, stopped in New Castle, Wyoming at a quaint lil motel. It was a great Convention! Here's a few pics of our journey!



Darin and Jo just outside Old Spaghetti Factory.



Darin and Jo first night in Denver.



Coors Field. Darin loved this and was so excited.



Our Exit to Downtown Denver.

A great gift!

I was given a totally awesome Birthday gift this past week. Due to my visit from Strep Throat our get together with a couple of friends had to be postponed, well, one of those friends decided to visit and brought me my Birthday Gift! I absolutely LOVE it! It is of course, Purple and Green. Which some of you may not know are not only Scentsy colors, but my two Favorite colors, as well.

Liz is the friend that made me this awesome, homemade gift. She is so very creative and crafty, that it too her, I think she said 2 days to make in her spare time, and she dreamed up the pattern and design. She does awesome work doesn't she? She has signed up to do a Craft show this November. If your interested in more information, let me know, I will get you her information! Darin and I had her make a Hat & Scarff set at Christmas for a gift, it was a huge hit!

On a side note, I am feeling much better, and although Strep kicked my butt, I am still a little week, but definately getting back to my old self. Now, to get caught up. Darin and I are super excited, we leave for Denver, Colorado on Tuesday for Scentsy Convention. We will be back in North Dakota on Sun. Can't wait to tell you all about Convention and the fun and exciting things Scentsy has in store for us, this year!

Love to all!


My cute new purse, filled with all my goods!


Back of purse.



The front of my cute new purse!

A great day and a not so great weekend!

Just wanted to Thank everyone that I heard from on my Birthday! I have finally gotten around to responding to all of your FB posts, Text messages, and phone calls. I'm a little slow on the phone calls, that was part of my plan for last night, until I ended up with no voice and not being able to keep my eyes open. Story later in the post!

Anywho, I had a great day on Tuesday, and didn't even mind that I had to work. It started early with the texts, and I must say my sister was so proud she was the first text, Thanks sis! I went to work and was spoiled rotten with Cheesecake, Reese's Cake, (do ya think they know I love Chocolate?), I was also given a Maurices Gift card, those girls know me so well! After work, I did some Scentsy deliveries, went to my weight class, then did Dinner with Darin, who finally allowed me to open the Ipod he had engraved for me, (it's a replacement for my ipod that died a few months ago) He had it engraved with a sweet Happy Birthday message. We didn't get home until about 9:30 or that night. We then opened cards, and packages I had received. Let's just say, I have AMAZING people in my life, and love each of you so much! This past year, and with this move, I have really learned who I can really count on, and you all know you are. Thank you for being there with my tear filled phone conversations, venting sessions, and emotional outbursts! I promise that when you need me, I WILL be there for each of you!

I had so many FB posts, Texts, and emails to catch up with, if you didn't hear back from me, please know that I am not ignoring you, I must not have received it.

I appreciate all of you for your thoughts, and wishes! You made me feel so loved and cared about on my Birthday, that's what I think a Birthday should be about.

Now, I promised you a story about Friday night, I'll make it short. I haven't been sleeping well this past week and thought I was feeling all emotional and tired because of lack of sleep, but it just kept getting worse. By Friday afternoon, I had no voice, and felt horrible. I came home to lay around and rest. Darin sent me to bed early and all doped up on NyQuil. I woke this morning, feeling worse and with even less of a voice. I showered hoping for a better feeling and knew right away it wasn't coming. I figured it was too late to get into the Clinic, since it was about 11 already, but what the heck I tried. They took pity on me, and the Dr allowed me to be seen, I went right in, and was told it looks just like all the other cases of Strep they are seeing, so they are treating it like it is Strep, but took a swab to make sure. So, I had plans of getting things ready for our Denver trip the end of this month, this weekend, but since I can't make it off the couch or out of bed without getting dizzy, there is no need to worry, I am following Dr's orders and resting with plenty of liquids! Really, Strep throat in July!!! Seriously!?!?! This bites!

That's what's new here!

Scentsy Special, and Happy Birthday Jo!!!

Being today is Jo's Birthday, we have created a way for everyone to Celebrate with us, and of course, we are adding some AWESOME Scentsy Specials! If you leave a comment here on the blog, you will receive 5% off your order placed on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. Wanna know more about the special, leave your email in your comment, or email us at darinandjo@yahoo.com and we'll make sure you get the email!

We would love to hear the stories or memories you have of yourself and Jo!

Happy birthday Jo!!!!

Happy commenting!

Our journey to having a baby!

I'm going to warn you now, before this post goes any further. You are going to be reading into something that is VERY personal, and you may just get to much information. Some of you may be offended, some of you may understand, some of you may try to understand, for our benefit please whatever you do, DON'T tell us that you understand our pain, it truly doesn't help our situation at all. Another warning is this will probably be a very long post, as it is a post that we struggle with daily, and we have yet to give out each and every detail as we are going to now! And so it begins...

After being married for under a year, we headed to the Dr for a yearly exam on Jo, we went together even though Darin was not excited for the venture. We were also going to discuss with the Dr why we can't seem to get pregnant on our own! The day came and went and with it came an order for a Semen Analysis for Darin, he did the test and the results came back that it couldn't be properly tested for one reason or another. At this point we were referred to a Fertility Dr in SLC, we made our appointment and then made the 4 hr drive to it. We performed another Semen Analysis the same day as our consultation and got the results while we were there. There should be millions of little sperm in one small sampling, and Darin had a wopping 20 live mobile sperm! We were also informed that Darin's testosterine levels were incredibly low, and this would be why his energey levels were so low etc.
We were then told that he had a Varicaseal on his testicle, and this could be fixed quite simply, and may solve our entire issue. Off we went to the Uroligist in Provo. We met with him once and scheduled the surgery, it was supposed to be an easy in and out procedure, so the very next day Jo was scheduled to have a bothersome tooth pulled at a Dentist specialist down the road. Good thing, we have wise and loving parents who not only know what's best for us, but fight for it as well. Nothing went according to plan. We left early in the morning for the surgery to Provo, Jo, Darin, and Jo's dad. Darin was taken into surgery, and after about double the time we had been told he'd be in, the Dr came out to discuss. They had found a hernia as well, and in repairing the hernia, the testicle in question was without blood for quite a long time. The chance that he would lose the testicle was higher that originally thought. Darin had a rough time coming out of the surgery and they kept him overnight. The next morning a quick visit to the hospital, and Jo was rushed off to have her tooth extracted. After that procedure it was back to the hospital to pick up the waiting and in pain Darin. At this point, we were so thankful Jo's dad had insisted on escorting us for this endeavor, because we both slept through the entire trip home. What was supposed to be a quick maybe 2 days off, was a full 6 week recovery time.
Then the waiting began, a full 6 months of waiting to let the surgery work and run it's course.
We went back to the fertility Dr for another Semen Analysis and was told that Darin had in fact lost a testicle, but no worries, you only need one to get a baby! The count had stayed about the same, no major changes. So we met with a nurse to go over the entire In-Vetro process! Although we both had insurance the entire process would not be covered. HOW? WHAT? WHEN? WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? This all went through our minds. How do you come with this kind of money, and up front as well? What are these technical terms this woman keeps saying? When can all of this happen, we so desperately want a baby? What are we going to do, are we going to be able to pull this off? Off we went, totally overwhelmed with information, and lost in our own thoughts of dispair, and not sure how to really talk about it with each other, let alone others.
In figuring out the money part of our situation, Jo started to have some health problems, and was seeing Dr after Dr trying to get it all figured out. Basically it was problem after problem, struggle after struggle! Very frustrating! However, we trudged on through the problems, because we both believe that things happen for a reason, when they are supposed to happen.
When we made the move to North Dakota, we both felt so strongly that it was where we were supposed to be, so off we went. We both have good jobs with Insurance. Jo's employers are incredibly supportive of helping us with the issues, that they have said they will help out with days off for the Dr's visits, time off for the procedure's and so on, which has helped incredibly since it is a travel to the nearest Dr, and there is so much involved.
At the beginning of May we had our appointment for another yearly for Jo, again we both went to talk about the fertility and get some insight and opinions. The dr referred us to a Fertility clinic in Fargo, who meets with patients in Bismark. We got our appointment set up, and off we went to Bismark for the afternoon. We were ecstatic to feel completely at ease with this Dr, and as he talked about the process and listened to our concerns, we felt this was it, it was time! It had been some time since Darin's last Semen Analysis, so the Dr wanted this repeated, as well as a class about In-Vetro at his clinic and so forth. We got scheduled for the next available date and went to Fargo (a 4 hr drive) for both. We felt so strongly that this was our time, we got all the insurance information taken care of, and we learned that it was going to be covered by both companies, we of course couldn't be happier about this news. On the way back to Dickinson from Fargo, we received a phone call from Dr. Christensen (our new fertility Dr), it's never a good thing when the Dr himself calls, right? Well, it wasn't good news. Darin's test had come back with NO live sperm, initially this meant that he couldn't be the donor. However, the Dr felt strongly about some other tests being performed and Darin's bloodwork being ran as well. He'd call us back shortly with more results. This was on a Thursday, and we had a very agonizing weekend before we heard from him again. It's official, there is no longer a count for Darin, the Dr has spoken with yet another Uroligist and together they feel very strongly that a Byopsy of the Testicle is needed and the sooner the better. The good news is, the Testosterone levels are back up in the normal range, however Darin is still having some severe symptoms of low testosterone, which they can't treat until we know more about the sperm count. The Dr has discontinued Darin's medication, as it may be counteracting the count, by bringing up the levels. Another 4-6 weeks to know if it's changing things!
We are in the process of making this appointment, and are waiting for a phone call back from the Uroligist. Some of you, like us may be wondering what exactly will be byopsied, and what it will tell them, let us explain. Darin will be put to sleep, and they will take a sample directly from the Testicle, this will then be analyzed to see if there is any sperm there. Basically, if his body is making Sperm. If they find it, there is a blockage somewhere, if not Darin fathering children has become a Dream not a goal.
We had very high hopes of not involving our family in this process, not because of how wonderfully supportive they all are, but because we wanted to be able to surprise everyone with, GUESS WHAT!!!! We have decided that with this added difficulty we need all the support we can get. We are trying to stay positive, and we both know that there is still the possibility of Donor Eggs usage, or Adoption. Both of which is not something that we consider to be ideal for us. We wanted the chance to have a baby together, a baby that is both of ours. Don't get me wrong, both of these instances would give us a child that we would treasure and love deeply, but when your goal has always been to be a parent, you feel as though a part of you is being taken away with the knowledge we have just been given.
As we stated before, we have tried so hard to remain positive and upbeat about this entire process. As Jo likes to say, we are being thrown this for a reason, let's make the most of it and run! However the unknown that lay ahead of us right now is proving to be very trying. The thought of being let down over and over with adoption, or not knowing the person that donated an egg to us is very scary. It gets hard also, when we hear the wonderful news of our friends having babies, again, don't get us wrong, it's so exciting and we wouldn't dream of holding it against you or having ill feelings about it. But, we do continue to ask, why it must be so hard?!?!?!
We are not looking for your sympathy, your understanding (unless you've been through this process you can't possibly comprehend it.) We are however asking for you to keep our situation in your thoughts, your prayers and in the back of your mind, when you meet someone without children, please don't let your first question be, why you don't have kids? or when will you begin your family?
Infertility is very common and through this process we have learned of quite a few people who have conceived using In-Vetro, this however doesn't mean it's easy to deal with or talk about!
We plan to keep you updated on our journey as best we can, please be patient with us, and this news came to us about two weeks, and our closest family just found out late this week. It takes time for us to digest and come to terms with the information we are given before we can even dream of spreading it.

All our love!

Visitors from Utah Day 4

Day 4 of the visit to North Dakota, was spent relaxing. Jo and Darin went back to work, so everyone else just relaxed and went around town. For dinner we had a Barbeque, visited, then off to bed. Tuesday morning as Jo went to work, she said goodbye to her Parents, and Korbin. We had a great visit, and wasn't really ready for them to head home. Jo's fears of Korbin forgetting her were quickly subsided by the smile on his face when he seen her and the fact that he went right to her and gave her a big hug & kiss. He was pretty lovey with her the whole trip, which she of course loved and ate up. Although, the visit wasn't for long, a good time was had by all!

They left North Dakota on Tuesday, and made their way to South Dakota, to Mt Rushmore, and a few other stops along their way. They are now back in Utah safe and sound. Here a few miscellaneous pics from the visit!


Another loving morning. Korbin and Aunt B


Korbin doing his Cartwheels


Korbin and Aunt B. He was feeling very lovey this morning.


Korbin & Aunt B


Jo and her Dad


Darin and Mom Bills


Although a very unflattering picture, it's the only one we got of Jo and her mom.