well hello there...

Truth...

2012-02-09T17:36:00.003-06:00

A week of 'me' time...

2012-01-22T20:49:00.001-06:00

So I've taken the past week off work...and in the mean time I have been able to get a few minor projects done that I have been wanting to do for a while. Nothing crazy... I promised my mom I'd get pictures up and I am actually doing that withing hours (not days) of making that promise!

I am still trying to master my camera...so beg pardon on the pictures...they are poor.

On our counter we have had these blue canisters that hold the sugar, flour and other stuff. Well I've been wanting to 'update' that a little...so I took a bunch of glass containers that I had from other things, filled them with those things...and used my newly found love of etching glass to etch the jar with the whatever was in it. This was really hard to get a picture of...but I think it turned out super cute. It makes me want to make cookies! (Maybe a bad thing!)

One of my favorite wedding gifts was a set of melamine mixing bowls. But sadly my biggest one broke a few months back and I just couldn't part with the bowl. So the other day I finally got around to buying some permanent botanicals and a styrofoam block and make a little thing: (again...super hard for me to get a good picture for some reason!)

This picture is only nice if you've been in my house, but we re-arranged our front room and got a new entertainment center, TV and surround sound system. It's actually a 3D TV and we are loving it! (You can see my green bowl of flowers in the room...)

And last but not least I made a craft room in my closet. It is SO NICE to not have to drag everything out to the kitchen table every time I want to make something! The only downside is there are no close plug in's. So to use my Cricut or my embossing tool or laptop I have to do that in the kitchen. Oh well...I still like my little cubby.

So tomorrow my time off ends. I am not sure I am ready to be back at work, but I will go none the less. Hopefully with my new crafting area I will find more time to get a project or two in more often!

Exactly what I needed...

2012-01-19T16:48:00.001-06:00

I was crafting in my closet a little bit ago and Bryan comes walking in and here's how our conversation went:

Bryan: "Katy, I love you."

Me: "Ok, what's wrong"

B: "Nothing, I just wanted to say I love you."

K: "Ok, why."

B: "No reason, I just love you"

K: "Ok, what do you need."

B: "Nothing! I just love you! Can I have a hug?"

K: "Well I love you too Bryan."

We hugged and he left the closet and went back to his homework.

He's sort of a great kid to have around! Now if he will just stay this cute through the real teenage years!

For your consideration...

2012-01-05T12:40:00.000-06:00

*Why is it that when I have plenty of time in the morning and end up leaving my house EARLY to get to work I am almost always late. But if I barely have time to brush my hair and grab my purse I can get there on time if not early.

*Why does it seem that you only get a good deal with a company or product if you are a 'new' customer. Like cell phones...super great deals and promotions if you sign a new contract or are a new customer...but you get squat for being a loyal long time customer. Why not say "hey...you've been with us for 10+ years...here's a free smart phone or here's 6 months of your bill at 25% off" or something. That would be nice.

*Why is it that when I have a day off and I am home and do all the dishes and laundry and vacuuming and sweeping and moping and dusting and organizing no one cares in the slightest. But if one of the kids happens to do more than 2 chores in a day it requires having my undivided attention while they point out every little detail of what they did.

*Sometimes it really irritates me that the yummiest things in life are the worst for you. Why is it that way? I healthy things can taste good...but something worse for you ALWAYS tastes yummier! A steak cooked in butter always tastes better than when it's not cooked in butter. Regular dressing is so much better than fat free. Cookies are yummier than carrots. Chips taste better than rice cakes.
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These are...

2012-01-04T10:39:00.003-06:00

...SO DANG YUMMY!

Happy Holidays...

2012-01-01T20:13:00.000-06:00

Well...the Holidays are just about over and I have failed to report anything we've done...

(I apologize for the lack of pictures in this blog. I have been using Bryans camera and it uses a card that has to have a special adapter to put into a computer...and no one can find that adapter. So I have no way of accessing them right now.)

Our Christmas actually started on December 17th. We had Daron's family Christmas early cause Melissa and her family were going out of town for actual Christmas. It was our family, Brittany and Ryan, Melissa's family, Judy and Dwight. It was nice! We had a prime rib dinner and then opened presents.

The next weekend was actual Christmas! We had Grandma Judy over on Saturday for dinner, as well as the missionaries. The Christmas Eve Elf visited our house on Saturday night and brought new pillows, pajama pants and treats to eat while we watched It's a Wonderful Life. I had never seen it before, and neither had the kids. We had a good time!

Then of course was Christmas Day! It was a good day for everyone! Bryan got a popcorn maker, a gun, a bunch of shirts, a new video game, a couple books and quite a bit more. Hannah got a zebra print set of drawers, a zebra decal for her wall, a bunch of clothes and lots of other stuff. I got a SEWING MACHINE!! A nice camera (which I used to take the pictures that I did put up on this post) some really nice perfume, some cook books, gift cards and lots more. Daron got a telescope, quite a few tools, some cologne, a gift card to Massage Envy and a nice Cardinals grilling set! No one was left wanting that morning! We had a yummy breakfast, went to church and just relaxed and hung out for the next 3 days!

I went back to work on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but then it was New Years Eve so now I have Monday and Tuesday off again! I don't know how I'm supposed to go back to working 4 - 10 hour days again!

We've had so much fun this past week...we've played a lot of Wii Jeopardy that Grandma Judy got us for Christmas. We've watched movies and just relaxed. So nice!

Here is just a little photographic sampling from our Holiday...

Go Cards...

2011-12-06T13:31:00.001-06:00

This weekend Daron and I had the opportunity to go to a Cardinals football game! A guy that Daron works for has season tickets and was going to be out of town, so he gave them to Daron! It was a good time! And a super good game to go to. If you follow Cardinals football at all, you know they pretty much suck this year. We ended up winning this game in overtime! Yeah!

Even though we we actually at a game, Daron still had to check scores for other games on his phone. Give me a break...

We won!!!

I switched my schedule at work, so from now on I work four 10 hour days and I have Monday off. I had lofty goals of this things I was gong to get done yesterday, but I didn't get to most of them. Here are pictures of some of them:

I took the leftover bulbs I had from my wreath and I hung them from twine in front of my window. A neat idea..but I didn't execute it as well as I could have it if wasn't 10:00 at night and I had to get up early the next day.

I made this wreath...super cheap and super easy!

I got all of the gifts wrapped for anyone that doesn't live in my house! I love wrapping gifts! Now I just have to get them in the mail!

Yeah for fun weekends and now having Mondays off!!

2011-11-30T11:12:00.001-06:00

Well...I'm a bad blogger...but...so is everyone else! All my friends that blog have not done so in over a week! Here are a few things that are worth probably a full blog for each of them, but for now they will just be listed here:

* Thanksgiving happened! It was a pretty good day! Daron put me in charge of the turkey so we did it differently from how he's used to cooking it. He was nervous the whole time, but after faithfully basting in every 20 minutes for about 5 hours he decided it was one of the yummiest turkeys ever! Yeah for new things! Daron's mom and dad and his sister and her family came over that day. It was nice to spend time with everyone.

* I went black Friday shopping for the first time ever! It was SO FUN! I got some good stuff I think. I went with Judy and Melissa (Daron's mom and sister) and it was a blast! I am probably addicted now.

*The day before Thanksgiving Bryan fell off his bike and scratched his lip, and knee pretty good and busted his front tooth in half! We took him to the Dr just to double check that he didn't break a bone in his face or something, but he was fine. He goes to the dentist today to get something done with his hill-billy missing tooth!

*Hannah got a job! She works for Smart Style in the Walmart close to our house! So thankful for this!

*I have 99.9% of my Christmas shopping done! This includes everyone getting a present from me! I am so excited for this! Last year I put it off and had to do a lot of December weekend shopping...and that was miserable for me! So this year I got on the ball and got it all done. Yeah!

*We traded in my Escape and got Daron a new work truck. I have to say I was a little sad to see it go...it was one of the few things I brought into the marriage...but since I was driving the new car we got in September I couldn't really argue. Plus, it's a nice truck...I'm not complaining at all.

*Ashlie Wilson got married! We got to share a last name for just over a year! Now she is an Estrada. I was the 'maid of honor' at her wedding the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Her aunts and uncle came in to town and it was nice to see them. Ashlie made a beautiful bride, and her wedding was perfect! Small and cute and great! Now I've just got to convince her to move to the east side with me so we can be friends and hang out!

There is probably something else I'm forgetting to mention...but I can't think of it now.

Parents Visit...

2011-11-14T10:56:00.001-06:00

My parents came out and visited us at the beginning of November! They were here from the 3rd and went home on the 9th. We had a good time! One day we went down to Tucson to Kartchner Caverns. Daron and I had gone before and really enjoyed it, so we thought we'd take them and Bryan and see the other part of the cave we didn't get to see. Needless to say, our tour was not as good as it could of been. When me and Daron went a few months ago, our tour guide was amazing! He showed us a bunch of neat stuff and seemed really interested in what he was doing. The lady we had this last time seemed like she was just 'doing her job'. It was still interesting to be in the cave, but only because I could draw on the stuff I learned a few months ago with the other guide. But, it was a good time anyway.

That hill above my moms and my head is the cavern. They take you up to the entrance in a little shuttle and then you have to walk through a bunch of doors and get sprayed down on your way in so you don't leave any dust or particles behind, since it is a living cave. That's why my hair looks so lovely, it got a little wet, then with the humidity in the cave, it was just beautiful afterwards. :(

Dad and Mom waiting for our tour to start

In the museum part of the tour they have little 'caves' you can crawl through to see what it was like for the original men that found the cave.

As you can see, some people would be better cavers than others! :)

We did some other fun things while they were here: we saw the Casa Grande Ruins (fine to see it once, but I probably wouldn't go back), we ate at The Melting Pot (so yummy!), and had Darons family over for a BBQ. It was so much fun having my parents here! I wish they would of been able to stay longer, but when you live far apart, you have to take what you can get!

Catch up...

2011-11-09T14:56:00.001-06:00

I hate blogs that start out with "I've been meaning to blog about this for a while now"... but really I HAVE been meaning to blog about these things for a while now... I just got busy with my parents in town and preparing for that and stuff. But anyway...here is my catch up blog...

A few months ago I bought a Groupon for bowling in Fountain Hills. It was a pretty good deal, 3 games of bowling for 4 people, plus shoe rental and money towards their food. It turned out to be a really small dinky bowling alley. We ended up being by ourselves for a good portion of it, and shortly after we got their it was GLOW BOWLING! So fun! Here are the pictures to prove how much fun it was!

On Saturday October 29th Daron, his mom and I headed over to Schnepf Farms for their fall festivities! It's a fun little festival where there is a petting zoo, a small carnival, a train ride, food stands, face painting, piglet races and a bunch of other fun stuff for families. We went in the afternoon, so it was a tiny bit warm outside, but none the less we had a good time!

Ashlies Bridal Shower...

2011-11-01T12:54:00.001-05:00

On Oct 26th Charlene and I threw a bridal shower for Ashlie! It was fun times! There were lots of people there and Ashlie walked away with lots of fun presents!

Here are a few pictures (some that I stole from Charlene's facebook page) from the shower. I made the favors and came up with some games and Charlene put together the food table and did most of the food. It was so yummy and we all had a good time!

This is the gift I made Ashlie for the shower. I had wanted to blog this a while ago...but had to wait until after the shower because she looks at my blog and I didn't want her surprise ruined! It's hard to see but I bought some glass dishes and etched stuff into them! It was cute, pretty easy..and makes some a personalized gift! I sound like I'm tooting my own horn, but I thought these turned out really cute and WARNING if you're my friend and I am getting you a present in the near future...there is a good chance you may get some glass thing etched! :)

Rant and rave...

2011-10-24T15:24:00.002-05:00

Oh man I'm so annoyed.

The other day I bought a couple of these soups at the store because A: they looked good. B: I had a coupon that made them a pretty good deal, cause normally they are expensive. C: they looked convenient to take to my office to heat up and eat there. I don't like taking dishes into work cause I forget them and it's hard to clean them there and all that.

So today I'm in my usually grumpy "I hate my job...I hate working 10 hour days...I didn't bring my lunch and I'm the only one here so I can't go get something" attitude. Then, I remember I brought those containers of soup a week or so ago and I could have one of those! Yippie! So, I read the instructions on how long to microwave it and YOU CAN'T MICROWAVE IT! Stupid Campbell's soup people made it so the metal ring stays on the container, and duh you can't microwave metal! I was so annoyed! Cause I don't have a bowl or a Tupperware here and now I still can't have lunch. Poor me! But I just think it's stupid that they would package it like they do their other microwavable bowls and containers...so you think you can... but now. This special overrated overpriced soup needs a special bowl to be heated. Lame.

Getting my craft on...

2011-10-13T12:28:00.000-05:00

This blog is dedicated to Jillian...cause I made a promise...and I don't like my pants being on fire (you know...from being a liar!)...

We bought a new coffee table and end table over the weekend and in order for it not to get ruined too quickly we decided we needed some coasters. Daron wanted to buy some expensive sand stone coasters, and maybe someday we will. But for now, I decided to make some coasters that I had seen on Pinterest.

I have to say they were super easy and I think they turned out really really cute!

I made 12 coasters, 4 of them were Christmas oriented. I was really excited cause now I could take a new coaster to my office! I had been using one that my former roommate Whitney gave me that her sister made for her. But, it often caused confusion because the girl who worked at my desk before me was Whitney, so people thought it was her coaster. While I appreciate the loaner, I was excited to have one of my own!

To make them, all I did was get $ .14 white tiles from Home Depot. The tiles were about 4x4. I cut out some scrapbook paper into a square slightly smaller than the tile. I put a layer of mod podge onto the tile, put the paper down on it, and then put another coat of mod podge on. After it dried for a while I put another layer of mod podge on. After all the modge podge was completely dried, I sprayed it was an acrylic sealer, so it makes it waterproof. I did a few coasts of that, letting it dry for 20 minutes in between coats. After they were completely dry, I glued the cork to the bottom of the tile. You can use felt pads or plastic pads or a full sheet of felt, but Daron wanted nice cork bottoms. The only thing that was difficult was the fact that I decided to use gorilla glue to glue the cork on. Well, I forgot how much gorilla glue expands, so in the morning I had lots of foamed dried glue seeping out from under the cork. After a mild tantrum on my part, Daron suggested I just cut off the excess with a razor blade, and that worked well.

So, all in all they were super easy and really cheap. The tiles were $ .14, I already had the glue and the paper. The spray was about $7 but I had a 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby where I got it. Also the cork was $2.75 for 6 sheets, but I had a 40% coupon for those too.

FINALLY...

2011-10-05T14:52:00.003-05:00

Last night me and Daron headed over to his moms house to give her dogs the T-bones from our steaks. It had been stormy all day, so by the time we cleaned up dinner and went outside...the weather was B-E-A-UTIFUL!!! It was in the low 70's and there was a cool breeze! As soon as we got home we opened all the windows and shut the air off. I actually woke up this morning on the chilly side of the temperature spectrum!!! It made me so happy...hopefully there is an end in sight to the 110+ temperatures we've been having all summer and maybe fall is finally on it's way.

It seems like the rest of the country got cool a while ago...cause all of my facebook friends and crafty bloggers that I stalk were all talking about fall and fall craft projects and soup and apple cider and pumpkins...and we were still having 115 degree days! I really struggled with it...I was beginning to HATE the fact that I live in Arizona. Fall (and everything that comes with it) has always been my most favorite thing ever, and I seemed to be getting screwed out of it. But...the past couple of days I've realized how ungrateful I was for what I did have! Sure, I may not be able to do the Nauvoo Pumpkin Walk every year anymore, and I may never get to really carve a pumpkin out here and have it last for any length of time, or be awe struck by river road every year in the fall no matter how many times I drive it. But...I have a great family who I love and who loves me...we are healthy...and...when we finally do get down into the fall temperatures I love so much...the rest of the country gets to deal with this:

Friends...

2011-10-03T14:42:00.000-05:00

The title of this picture is "My Greatest Friend" I LOVE it and I used to have a copy of it hanging in my apartment.

These thoughts have been on my mind for a few days now...but I hope they don't come off too jumbled and weird when I put them in my blog. Also, I want to say that I am talking 'obviously' about friendship...but in nothing that I say or think do I ever want to downgrade the quality of my friends that I have now. I love them and don't mean any disrespect or belittlement...

Daron and I were hanging out on Friday night and he says "We need to get some friends. Why haven't we made any friends in our ward yet? We really need another couple to hang out with sometimes!" And it really got me to thinking....we don't have any friends!

I have friends in the area that I hang out with sometimes...like...quarterly. But they aren't our friends. And I feel really bad for him because he did have friends before, but since his divorce, you sort of loose those people that were both your friends because it becomes awkward.

So you'd think that we'd make friends at our church. But we just haven't! I am sure it's mostly my fault...cause Daron is very out going and loves to chat it up with people. I am not very forward when it comes to new people, so it usually takes me a while to find a good friend in a new situation. I think one of the major roadblocks to making friends is that there is such a difference between us and a lot of the other couples. Firstly, our ward is full of mostly older couples, and by older I mean like 60's and 70's. If it's not elderly couples, it's couples with mostly teenage kids. Which is great for Daron but a little older than I really feel comfortable bonding with. But, the couples in our ward that are my age either have young babies or no kids at all. So, we don't have a lot in common with them either. But I can't really say that...because it's not like we can't be friends with anyone who isn't exactly like us. But I think it makes it a little more difficult. Or maybe I'm just being silly and anti-social.

There are a couple couples that we both agree we'd like to get to know more. One of them is actually in a really similar situation as us. The husband was married before and has kids, and she hasn't been married until him. They got married a week before we did, and they don't have kids together yet. The only difference is they don't have his kids with them regularly like we do. So we thought they'd be fun to hang out with. (Plus I talked to her our first day in the ward and I really liked her a lot. She went to Ricks...and those are usually good folk!) There is another couple too which just moved in a month or so ago, and they have a bunch of boys. So we invited them over sometime this month for a BBQ. (Hopefully Bryan can make friends with their kids and maybe not be such a baby about going to church.)

But the thing that makes me nervous about all of this is that I'm just no good at being like "Here I am...let's be friends!" I mean...I think I'm a friendly and nice person...but it makes me nervous to invite someone over and be on the spot. I'm not good on the spot. Plus I've never really put an effort into making friends. But this idea of finding a couples friend is really hard. I guess we'll see how this goes.

In a perfect world, I would create a community where all my single friends had boyfriends/husbands, all my long distance friends lived down the street, and my family was close by too. And in that community there would be seasons...

The ABC's of Katy...

2011-09-26T11:31:00.003-05:00

I have been working on a good blog post in my head for a few days now...but I dont' have it quite firgured out yet, so I saw this on a friends blog and thought I would copy it just to get a new post up in the meantime!

Age: 29
Bed size: King
Chore you hate: Putting away the clothes I folded
Dessert: Cherry Chocolate Cake, or Caseys donuts
Essential start of the day: McDonald breakfast...but I'm trying to break that habit...
Favorite color: anything that is glittery... but especially purple glittery
Gold or Silver: Gold
Height: 5'6"
Instruments you play: violin and piano
Job Title: administrative assistant for now at least
Kids: 2 step kids at the moment
Live: Apache Junction
Mom's name: Kathy
Nickname: Katy, Kitten, Kit, katarina violin mandolin trombone
Overnight hospital stays: none since I was a baby
Pet peeve: teenagers
Quote from a movie: it is causing me anxiety to come up with a good one, so I'm not picking any
Right or left handed: right
Siblings: two sisters and a brother, I think, I haven't spoken to him in over a year so I'm not sure
Time you wake up: usually 7:15 on a work day or 8:30 on a non work day.
Underwear: I wear them yes.
Vegetables you dislike: lima beans
What makes you late: traffic
X-rays you've had done: I had a chest x-ray done a long time ago, and teeth x-rays even longer than that
Yummy food you make: my family is a fan of a carolina BBQ chicken that I make sometimes
Zoo animal: giraffe

A new car...

2011-09-13T19:06:00.002-05:00

If you read the title out loud and say it like they do on The Price is Right...then it's SO much more fun!

But anyway, this past Saturday me and Daron got A NEW CAR! We traded in his Ford Taurus and got a Ford Fusion! A new 2012 Ford Fusion! And the funnest thing of all is that I get to drive it! He is taking the Ford Escape!

One of my favorite things about it is the dashboard! It's blue and almost 3D looking. The car is 'Cinnamon'...but it's mostly just a really dark, almost black looking red. Daron likes it so much that it may not be too long before we trade in the Escape for another Fusion!

Viva Las Vegas...

2011-09-07T10:50:00.000-05:00

Daron and I went to Las Vegas over Labor Day weekend! It was a lot of fun! He got us tickets to The Lion King and to The Improv. I would absolutely recommend seeing The Lion King if you ever get the opportunity! We had a great time just relaxing and having fun! And we ate at the yummiest restaurants; I've never eaten so much seafood and prime rib in my life!

I didn't take my purse around with me too often, so I didn't get many pictures. But here are few that I did take:

This is the Bellagio. The lobby ceiling was covered in Chihully glass lilies!

Excuse the fact that Daron looks stoned...but this is us waiting to see the fountain show at the Bellagio.

Us at the Bellagio fountain show again.

It was a great weekend!

A frustration...

2011-09-01T15:25:00.000-05:00

I have been going to a wound care clinic for a few weeks now cause my cut on my leg has been healing EXTREMELY slowly. (And no I'm not diabetic, thanks for asking. That is my #1 most asked question when it comes to this wound. Every nurse that looks at it or just happens to glance my way asks. I'm about to make a shirt that says "I may be fat and have a wound that doesn't heal but I'M NOT DIABETIC!)

Anyway...the parking lot is pretty small and it only has 4 rows of parking; 2 are just normal parking, 1 is employee parking, and the other is a valet parking. It sounds nice, to have valet parking at a wound care facility. And I should state that it is 'free' parking...but of course that free doesn't include a tip! Now...if you are in such a state that you can't walk from a parking lot to the door without being in pain, then someone is probably driving you and they can drop you off right at the door and go park. After all, it is a really small parking lot, and so even if they drop you off and they can only park in the furthest stall from the door, that stall is still closer than any close spot at your local walmart!

Anyway, my point is, I end up having to use the dumb valet thing cause the 2 normal rows are all full. But, I feel so bad for the valet guy or girl who has to stand outside all day and fetch cars for people because I never remember to bring a dollar or two for a tip! And today when the guy brought me my car he even looked down at my hands as I was heading towards him...and I just don't know if I should be awkward and say "Sorry, I don't have anything for you" or if I just ignore the awkwardness and get in my car and drive away."

I just ignored it...

A song to share...

2011-08-24T00:48:00.000-05:00

If I could write out my own dream

for the next time that I sleep

you'd be the first one that I see

and I the last one that you keep.

And the dream would go on and on

while we swayed against all things thrown our way.

And the morning would be so cruel when it came

with sunshine and warmth to blame

for annoucing the end of my sweet dream.

I LOVE THIS SONG!! My dear friend Ashlie introduced me to it a few years ago and every since then it has been one of my top very most favorite songs! It's short, but so good!

I got a pickle, I got a pickle, I got a pickle hey hey hey hey...

2011-08-10T12:05:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to doing something I've been wanting to do for a while now! Canning!!! Do you call it canning even when it's in a jar, not can? I will...

I have been wanting to become a canner for a while now, and my sisters even got me some canning supplies for Christmas! Anyway...long story short...I finally got to do some yesterday! It is quite the process...I started cutting up the stuff around 9:30, and by the time I hear the last lid 'pop' it was about 5:00! There is a lot of waiting time though...but it is something you have to dedicate a whole day for!

Here are some pictures of my experience...

I used a recipe that has been in Judy's (my mother-in-law's) family for a while! She says her grandma used it, and her mom, and her...so she was happy to have me making it yesterday! And I was so thankful she was around because I had no idea what I was doing! But now I know the importance of sterilization, head space, and water baths...

Anyway...so now I'm on the lookout for new things to can! Right now there are a lot of 'pitted' fruits for really cheap at the cheap produce store I go to...so if anyone has any good canning recipes for peaches or plums (can you can plums?) or really any other good canning recipe at all...then feel free to send it on over!

I 'heart' free stuff...

2011-08-05T12:24:00.000-05:00

As if birthdays aren't already super cool cause you get cake and presents and parties and surprises and just fun times...I got LOTS of free stuff in my inbox just for living another year!

For example...

I got $10 free game play at Dave and Busters! (It's like a huge arcade, only with more adults than kids!)

I got a free entree at Native New Yorker, which I used last night!

I got a free appetizer or side dish at Texas Roadhouse! This will go really well with my $50 gift card my office gives out for birthdays!

I got $10 to spend at World Market...I LOVE THAT STORE...but it's sort of pricey sometimes so I'm glad to have some free money to use!

I got a free freshwater pearl bracelet from Helzberg, the same place Daron got my wedding ring.

In other "good deal" news...We went school clothes shopping for Bryan last weekend. I had 3 - $15 off coupons and 2 - $10 off 25 or more coupons, all for JC Penneys...so we headed over there. And it's a good thing we did...they were having super good sales on boys clothes! We got him 3 polos, 2 pairs of shorts and 9 T-shirts for LESS THAN $20!!! Originally it would of been right at $200! After getting all of his stuff paid for I still had one more $10 off coupon to use, so Daron decided to get a tie. They were B1G1 50%, but still so expensive! They had a few on clearance for $11 dollars a piece, but none of the Big and Tall ones were marked down. So, we were just going to get him 1 tie, but when the girl rang it up, it ended up being on clearance! So we found 2 more big and tall ties on clearance, and he ended up getting 3 ties for $30...a pretty good deal!

My Grandma Singleton...

2011-08-01T13:06:00.000-05:00

My Grandma Singleton died on July 14th. I am a little behind at blogging about this, but with running up to Utah for the funeral, and then catching up on everything since being home, I have found myself a little busy.

She had been sick for a while, so for the most part it's a happy thing that she is in a better place now. The funeral was nice, there were lots of people there and at the viewing! I was asked by her a while ago to play my violin, so I had been practicing for a few months now. It went pretty well. My Aunt Launa spoke and did a very nice job, something I know I could never do, for my grandma or my mom. No way.

My grandma was such an amazing lady! And she was so funny! She was always saying funny little things that would always catch me off guard! I know I took it for granted at the time, but I got to spend lots of weekends at her house while I was at school in Idaho, and that was so nice! She would always have a nice home cooked meal for me and my roommates, and ALWAYS made sure to make me a batch of her macaroni and tomatoes, made with her personally canned stewed tomatoes! MY VERY FAVORITE!! She would never let us leave without taking food for our drive back up to school.

I will miss her a lot, and I am so thankful for the testimony I have of families being together forever. I know she is happier now and busy doing many important things up there! And even though I hope that days is a ways off, I look forward to seeing her again someday!

Gift giving...

2011-07-06T18:47:00.000-05:00

I think I have always been a good gift giver. I like getting people things! Me and my sisters used to buy little surprises and treasures for each other all the time! In fact, I just got a surprise package from my sisters the other day with a couple fun little treasures! I also like giving birthday gifts and Christmas gifts! I may have not been the smartest gift giver...i.e. the time I had Tacy close her eyes so I could try on the 'ring I was getting "JESSIE" for Christmas'..."It's for Jessie I swear, I just need to see if it fits you cause your fingers are the same size and I just don't want you to see her present"...I have never lived that one down!

But....since getting married...I have become the WORST PRESENT GETTER EVER IN EXISTENCE! Just ask Daron! His birthday was Oct 25th...what did I get him. nothing. We had been married for not even 3 weeks and I didn't get him one single thing for his birthday. Not even a card. (But we were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that day...so I get a tiny bit of an excuse) Then Christmas...oh my gosh I had a mental breakdown over Christmas and then I ended up getting him the lamest thing ever. Just recently Fathers Day, now I know he's not my dad or even the father of my children, but he is a dad and kind of important to me so you'd think I'd be able to get it together and get him something nice for Fathers Day. Nope, I couldn't figure out what to get him!

I think my biggest problem lies in the fact that he tracks every single penny that we spend at the end of every day. And he gets a text message anytime we use the debit card if our account is under a certain amount! There have been times I've gone through the McDonalds drive through and before I even got to the second window to pick up the food he had called to ask me if I was enjoying my breakfast. It's creepy sometimes! So I feel like I can't spend a dime without him knowing how much and where I spent it, so therefore any surprise would be ruined for the most part. Like, at Christmas I was going to (and did) get him an iPhone 4. But it took major skills and sneakiness to do it, and he ended up figuring it out anyway. I hate hate hate it when people know what they are getting as a gift from me. Surprising is way more fun!

Like I said earlier, I also like getting fun little "I saw this and thought of you" gifts...but I know that if were to get something like that for him he's look at it and think/say "Really...you spent three dollars on this piece of junk that reminds you of me, but I really don't want it so now it's just going to sit around and be annoying"...so I just don't get cute little gifts for him.

I sound like I'm ragging on Daron...but I don't mean to if I am. He is a GREAT gift giver...He got me super cool stuff for my birthday and Christmas and even for Mothers Day! It just makes me so frustrated that I can't get it together and be a good gift giver in return!

My goal is to redeem myself this year...I have almost 4 full months to figure it out...so let's just hope I can get it together and become the gift giver I know I can be!

Independence festivities...

2011-07-05T10:07:00.000-05:00

Daron and I started off the 4th of July by sleeping in till 10!!! I haven't done that in a long time! We headed over to the theater to see Larry Crowne, and it was really cute! We got home about 1:30 and from then until 5:30 we literally did NOTHING until we went to Darons moms for the family get together. It was a very lazy/relaxful day.

Darons mom hosts the 4th of July party every year, so we had dinner over there, shot off some fireworks that Melissa and Tom bought, and then we walked up the block to get our spots for the Apache Junction fireworks. They were scheduled to start at 9, but about 8:30 it got really windy and you could see a big storm starting to blow in. Shortly after 9 announced that they were postponed till 9:30, and if the weather didn't clear up they would be cancelled. Well...they were cancelled, so we didn't get to see any big fireworks. But, it was still nice to get together with the family and hang out.

Our staycation...

2011-07-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

Hannah is off in Nauvoo and Bryan has been at his moms house for almost two weeks...so me and Daron decided to get out of dodge and head up north! We went to the Petrified Forest National Park and to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Shay..not Shelly). Then we spent a day driving along the Mogollon Rim. It was BEAUTIFUL weather, so much better than the 115 degree days we've been battling in the valley.

We started off at the Petrified Forest National Park (where I got 8 pressed pennies!)...

The PFNP is next to the Painted Desert...which is really pretty, in a very open, uninhabitable sort of way! There is a place where there is a bunch of rocks that have petroglyphs on them though...that was pretty cool.

We left the Petrified Forest and headed further up north to Canyon de Chelly. It is WAY up north in Navajo Territory. It's sort of like a little Grand Canyon, where you can take the North Rim or the South Rim routes. Of course, you could do both in one day cause it's not near as big as the Grand Canyon. We went on the South Rim, cause it had a lot more look out points. It was really beautiful!

At some of the lookout points they had little viewfinders set up where you could see some old cliff dwellings and places where the Indians used to live hundreds of years ago. I tried to get a good picture of them...but they were so far away and so small that they didn't turn out very well...hopefully you can get the idea though.

We spent the afternoon along the south rim, and then came back after dark to take advantage of being away from he city and being able to see the stars! It was so beautiful! I tried to pull a 'Fivel' and have my sisters and Hannah go outside to see if they could see the big dipper and then we could all be looking at the same stars together, but Tacy in her own special way made me feel real stupid and let me know that was a dumb idea. So, we did it without them!

We originally planned on spending two days at the Canyon, but decided that night that one day was enough. So, we got up the next morning and headed back down towards Payson. A month or so ago we went up to Payson and drove around some of the forest service roads in the Coconino National Forest. Or course, we were in Darons Ford Taurus, so we couldn't be too adventurous. But this time we had my Escape, so we knew we wanted to explore some more roads. We ended up driving on Rim Road 300 for probably about 5 hours...and it was the highlight of the trip. The funniest thing was, we saw the road on the map, but there was this big green line right next to it, and we couldn't figure out what the big green line was. Then we actually got on the road, and we realized that green line was a huge drop off! It was THE RIM! Oh man...it was beautiful! There were some places where we were further away from the rim, but for lots of it we were literally just feet away from the cliff!

It was a little frustrating because you want to capture the real picture of what we saw...but it's almost impossible (mostly because of my lack of photography skills or good camera)...

It was CRAZY WINDY when we would be on some of the really open drop offs...

Daron spent quite of bit of time like this:

Becuase he is not a fan of heights and like I said, we were driving right along the cliff!

We packed a cooler for our lunches on our trip, so we found a good (and safe) place to stop and have lunch...and we decided we want to come back and camp at that same spot sometime soon.

When we came down off the rim and headed into Payson for the evening...we tried to get a good picture behind us of the view of the rim and the places we had just driven...but that proved to be a lot harder than it seemed. You can kind of get the idea here:

So that was our trip!! It was so much fun! We loved loved loved the rim drive and I hope to be able to take my family on that someday...I think they would enjoy that! I got lots of new pressed pennies too...so that always makes for a good trip!

Who knew what a nightmare this was gonna be...

2011-06-29T00:35:00.000-05:00

WARNING: THIS BLOG CONTAINS GRAPHICS THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR PEOPLE WHO TEND TO PUKE OR GET WOOZY AT OPEN WOUNDS, GASHES, OR CUTS.

May 27th- I was at my office faithfully doing my work and I got up to go to the other room to grab a file when I tripped over a stack of metal trays that was left by my desk the day before when I wasn't at work, and this is what happened:

Obviously that picture was taken at the hospital, because at my office my leg was covered in blood, the stuff on my desk was all knocked off and had blood on it, and I was in some pain! It took me a few seconds to realize I was even cut and that the cut was pretty bad because my let was so bloody I couldn't tell at first how bad it was! I started crying (surprise) and I pulled myself over to the other side of my desk and got my cell phone. I called Daron and told him to come quickly cause I knew I was going to need stitches. He told me to put pressure on it, and the he got off the phone so he could get dressed (I had gone into work really early so he wasn't up when I left, and I fell after being to work only about an hour). I tried to think of anyone who worked at my office who could get to the office before Daron. So I called Dave, and he was still in California, so I let him know the office was going to be empty so he would have to check the voicemail periodically. Then I called my mom, who didn't answer, so I called Tacy. She convinced me I probably needed to call an ambulance. I was pretty shaky, and there was a lot of blood, and I was scared cause I was alone and it was going to be a while before Daron got there and I just felt like it was bleeding a lot. So I ended up calling 911. Shortly after I hung up with them one of the technicians came back to the office (cause Dave called him and told him that I had fallen and asked if he could go help me). He was so good and hugged me and told me it would be ok and waved the ambulance down. Then the ambulance guys came and got my leg all wrapped up and then loaded me up into the back of the ambulance. It was about then that Daron got there, so he followed us up to the emergency room. Where they did this:

So the doctor sews me up, tells me to make an appointment with my regular doctor in about 2 weeks to get the stitches out. Daron does that while we were sitting in the room waiting to be discharged.

June 9th- I go to my regular doctor, and she takes my stitches out. I do notice that the cut doesn't quite look healed all the way, and in my mind I wonder if they shouldn't of come out yet. But, she doesn't seem worried at all...and she is after all a doctor, so I didn't question it. She does put 3 steri strips on it, but they weren't very sticky, and one of them came off the next day. After a day or so of the stitches being out it looks like this:

Over the next week or so it does start to 'heal', but it also seems to be getting wider and wider every day.

I also notice it's pretty red around the edges...and it just seems to keep getting wider!

June 20th- I'm in my front room and I go to sit on the floor, and somehow the way I sit down causes my cut to rip open. I didn't realize it at first, but after a second it started to burn really bad. I pulled my jeans up and it was pretty obvious that it had ripped open cause you can see where the healed part had ripped apart. See:

So I send my mom a picture, and we go over to Darons moms house (she's a retired nurse) and they both agreed I needed to go somewhere and have it looked at that night. So, we go to an urgent care up the street, where it was going to be a 2 hour wait and there was only 1 person on call. So we leave, and decided to go back to the emergency room we went to in the first place. When the doctor got to looking at it, he decides it probably needed to be excised because it doesn't look like it healed correctly. He wanted to cut away the edges and re-stitch it together. But, he also thought it looked a little infected. He decides to put me on an antibiotic and refer me to a plastic surgeon to excise it. The trick was I had to be on antibiotics for 3 full days before I could see the plastic surgeon, but I had to get in right away. He does have the nurse put new steri strips on there, and he did a DANG good job! So, I get on my pills and I make my appointment for June 27th. The quickest I could get in.

June 27th- I get to the plastic surgeons office, which was in a wound care center. I fill out my form, which was only one piece of paper, basically just asking what I was allergic to (sulfa drugs), along with a few other questions. I get back to the room where I do the brief history with the nurse, where she asks me quite a few questionssteri strips off, cleans the cut, and then goes back to filling out things on the computer. She asks again what I was allergic to and what the reaction was. She does mention in passing that she was almost positive they wouldn't re-stitch it. We were sort of annoyed cause we thought that was the whole dang reason for going to a plastic surgeon. The doctor comes in, looks at it for about 3 hot seconds, and decides to prescribe me Silver Sulfate, a cream that would help it heal I guess. She also says she wants me to wear an ace bandage from my toes to my knee, to makes sure it doesn't swell, causing it to take longer to heal! So the nurse comes in, ointments it up, tapes some gauze over the cut. Then she wraps this mummy looking gauze from my toes to my knee, and does the same with two ace bandages. I looked pathetic! I got home and promptly took off the ace and the mummy gauze because it's 120 freaking degrees outside and I don't need anymore of a reason to sweat!

June 28th- I go to Walmart to get my prescription filled for my Silver Sulfate. When I went to pick it up they said there was a problem. She says....AREN'T YOU ALLERGIC TO SULFA DRUGS? I said. YES. She says WELL YOUR DR PRESCRIBED YOU SILVER SULFATE!! THAT HAS SULFA IN IT! Are you kidding me????? That stinking office asked me a billion times what I was allergic to and what the reaction was! The pharmacist looked at it, and decided that since I hadn't had a reaction yet, that they would still prescribe it and I should be fine. I mean, in reality I have maybe outgrown that allergy, but what if I hadn't? And what if my reaction to it was a little more severe than a rash and hives?? I was so annoyed.

So now I sit here with my cut all gross and still not healed, and not it doesn't have anything keeping it from coming open again! I knew I was going to have a scar, but now my scar is going to be so wide and probably really raised. I am so over this accident it's not even funny!

Little of this, little of that...

2011-06-20T11:15:00.000-05:00

Nothing really super exciting has happened lately...but I thought I'd post a few things that have been going on...

Hannah leaves tomorrow morning for Nauvoo! And by morning I mean 6 AM! I am very jealous that she gets to spend the whole entire month of July with my family, and I don't think she knows what an opportunity that is...not to toot my own families horn or anything...

My back has been KILLING me lately...and I think it's our bed. We got a new bed shortly after we got married, and it was SO COMFORTABLE for a while, but then Daron had really bad back pain and we figured it was the bed. So we took advantage of the 99 day warranty thing and we traded it in for something a little firmer. Of course his back was better overnight. I have not had a problem with it until last week, but now my neck and back hurt all the time. I am hoping it's NOT our bed, cause that would be awful...

Daron read One for the Money last night and was surprised it was written back in 1975! It made me think that if back in then the Church received instruction on something that is so important today, what sort of instruction are we getting today (that maybe we don't heed or we blow of as unimportant) that is going to be so pertinent in 35 or 40 years! Makes you think!

We've gone to the pool up the street a couple of times and it is SO NICE! Well, I mean the pool itself isn't mind blowing...but just swimming is so nice! It does make me wish we had a pool at our house, but at the same time it only costs us $5 or $6 to go to this one, which is way cheaper than paying the extra money at our house for a pool...

A fun Saturday...

2011-06-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

Daron got us tickets to see Les Miserables this past Saturday! We had a great day! It all started off with dropping Hannah off for camp...she will be gone till Wednesday. Then, she leaves on Tuesday to go to Nauvoo until AUGUST 1ST!! She is gonna work at the Fudge Factory for my mom, and hopefully be able to save up some money to get her car insturance started back up again so she can get a license again!

After we dropped Hannah off, we went grocery shopping and got Darons car dropped off to be detailed. We went back home, got Bryan dropped off at his moms house for the weekend, and then we went and both got pedicures!! We were both sleepy from not getting getting to bed till really late the night before, and then getting up early...so we took a nap! It was so nice. And after taht we had dinner at P.F. Changs and then went and saw Les Mis! It was great! Daron didn't like it so much...but what did you expect really.

Hannahs Graduations...

2011-05-28T11:07:00.000-05:00

Hannah graduated from both High School and Trade School this past week! She had her EVIT (East Valley Institute of Technology) graduation on Tuesday...here are some picture of that...

And then on Thursday she graduated from Apache Junction High School!

Logan knows how to say 'CHEESE!'

It was a really pretty view!

That's her on the stage! She was one of the last few to get her diploma!

For some reason she just kept licking my face! EWWW

We had a graduation party for her yesterday...but I failed to get any pictures from it! I took some lovely pain meds for my leg right before the party...so I felt good...but didn't remember to take pictures unfortunately. It was nice though, all of Darons family came and then some friends from our former ward, and also the Frampton family came by (my boss, but long time friends of Darons family)

It was a good week and a good party last night, but I am READY for this weekend...this LONG WEEKEND! I don't have to be back to work till WEDNESDAY!

Our weekend getaway...

2011-05-22T22:54:00.000-05:00

Friday afternoon Daron calls and tells me he wants to go out of town for the weekend...so I raced home and we packed a bag and started driving north! We stayed in Payson at the Majestic Mountain Inn! We got cleaned up and decided to go to dinner and then to the Mazatzal Casino for just a little bit, since there wasn't a whole lot else to do at night. I know I know, gambling is a no no, but we thought we'd just spend an hour and leave. We started of playing a game called Keno. You picked anywhere from 1 to 10 numbers and depending on how many numbers you picked and how many you matched, you would win anywhere from $3 to $50,000. Well, on my very first game, I won $240! On my second I won $20! We decided to go and play some of the other games, and so Daron played a poker game and I sat at the machine next to him and once again played Keno, where I won $190! At the end of the night, we ended up winning $1,100!!! It was crazy! I can totally see how you can become addicted to gambling, and how easily it can take over your life! Thankfully we had our heads on straight and walked out while we were up!

The next morning we got breakfast and ended up driving further north on the Mogian Rim in the Coconino National Forrest. It was beautiful! We got out and walked around a big...and ended up spending like 4 hours up there! It was so nice to be away and not worry about anything with no cell phone reception! It was in the mid-60's and BEAUTIFUL! Here are some pictures:

Daron explaining to me how we would get down the hill and hike to the middle if we were skinnier!

A view from one of the forrest service roads we were driving on!

We had a great day. We were thinking of staying another night up there, but ended up coming back home thinking we'd go to a nice fancy restaurant in the valley on Saturday night. But...we were so tired we just ended up going to a Chinese buffet right by our house and coming home and crashing! It was a much needed break!!!

Disappointment...

2011-05-16T14:08:00.000-05:00

I've been a big Survivor fan since Season 2, and I have to admit I was REALLY disappointed in this years season. I liked the Redemption Island twist, but overall it was a very predictable season! I mean, the first few episodes were ok, but once Russells team threw the immunity challenge to get rid of him (which I was THRILLED with because Russell bugs me)...nothing was ever as surprise after that! Right down to handing Rob the million dollars!

I'm not ready to call it quits yet, I'll probably keep watching it till they stop showing it in reality. I just wanted to get my opinion out there...and mainly just to update my blog a little!

Dear parents...

2011-05-09T12:46:00.000-05:00

Just so you know I am not a day late on my Mothers Day thoughts. I called my mom yesterday and got my gift to her in the mail and what not, but it wasn't until this morning that I had a little epiphany of 'mothers'...maybe just parents in general.

I truly believe no one can appreciate their parents to the full extent until they are out of the house and living in the real world and dealing with other people; bosses, co-workers, friends, husbands, families, other church goers, random people at Wal-Mart, people in cars next to you on the freeway... (To be honest I am sure we never appreciate our parents enough in this life, but to the extent that we are able to now, I don't think we appreciate them enough until we have experienced real life for a little while)

That being said, I wanted to take this time to publicly (if you count my small handful of blog readers as 'public') thank my parents for a few key values they taught me. Values, as I have come to learn over the past few years, not everyone was taught or if they were taught they didn't esteem them to be important enough to hold on to! I assure you, these lessons are vital to being a decent person, a person that other people enjoy being around and a person that can function well in society.

I am thankful I was taught the value of work. I got to go to work with my dad every once in a while when I was pretty young and Iwould like to think I started learning the importance of this way back then. I am thankful to have the opportunity to work at my moms store. I know that was part of the reason she bought it, so that her kids could have a place to work (at least that's what I've heard her say). I know I have hated it there at times and been really rude about it, but again, I am so glad that I learned you have to work to get the things you need, that we are entitled to nothing. Even if it's not working for money, doing things around the house and helping out was just what you had to do.

I am thankful that my parents instilled in me the the importance of the Gospel. The things I have learned in my life and the blessings I have received because of my relationship with my Heavenly Father are beyond measure. I am thankful they taught me to stand up for what I believe in and for what I knew to be true, no matter where I was or who I was with or how 'uncool' it may of seemed. I am in no way saying you have to be 'a Morman' in order to be "a decent person, a person that other people enjoy being around and a person that can function well in society", like I mentioned above. But I do think you have to stand for something. You have to believe in something and be willing to take a stand for it and defend it no matter what comes along.

I am thankful I learned the lesson of cleanliness. Was my room always clean and tidy and never messy? NO, but I was required to clean in once a week or so and not let it get out of control. I am thankful I learned the importance of being physically clean and to shower and take care of my body. I am glad, only in retrospect of course, that I had chores around the house and I was expected to do my part. When my parents told me to clean the bathroom, it wasn't the beginning of World War 3 because it was my bathroom, and my chore, and chores were something kids had to do! This lesson has been invaluable as I have lived with roommates and friends, and I am thankful that I was (hopefully) the kind of roommate that people enjoyed living with!

Probably the most important thing I am most thankful for is that my parents taught me to be respectful to others. To be a nice person. Not someone who is selfish, entitled, and disrespectful to everyone around them! I am thankful I was taught to say please, thank you, excuse me, I'm sorry. I was taught to look around and see who could use a hand or some help or just a smile! Instead of just walking around life with blinders on only caring about what effects you directly, without any regard for others. What a horrible thing it must be, to go through life being a selfish, rude, hypocritical person and never getting to know what it's like to have people truly like you and want to be around you. I wrote a blog a while back about people who you run across once in your life, and the lasting impression that they can leave, whether it be negative or positive. I am thankful my parents taught me the importance of making sure that I leave a positive experience for everyone that I come in contact with!

I hope this hasn't come off as prideful or that I am saying that I am better than everyone else. If it makes anyone feel better I could write an eternally long blog about the life lessons my parents tried to teach me that I HAVEN'T appreciated and held on to! My faults for sure outweigh my strengths, but I guess that is what this life is all about. Making mistakes, acknowledging that we are wrong, and correcting the behavior. I just hope that I can pass on these lessons to my children, step and not step children, and that they will be able to turn around and help make this world just that much better of a place to be for the people they get to live with, deal with, work with, and come in contact with!

The saga continues...

2011-05-04T16:55:00.000-05:00

We went over to Darons moms house for dinner on Saturday night and when we got home we realized our back sliding door got left open, and the side gate to our house was open as well. And after a few minutes of searching, we realized that...once again...we had lost Bell! That little brat really just hated our new house!! Thankfully, on Monday night, Daron happened to look out the back door and there she was! We coaxed her in...her and Peppers kept hissing at each other and fighting, like they didn't even know each other! Tuesday morning I picked her up and we cuddled on the couch for a few minutes, and I explained that we loved her and didn't want her to run away anymore and she needed to be nice to Peppers and not be so scared of everyone around her. I petted her and loved her, and then I got up and went about my day. Well...Bell would not leave my side after that! If I was on the computer, she was on the desk next to me. While I unpacked my closet, she took a nap on the floor right by me. When I was organizing the pantry, she was right there...you get the point I'm sure.

I laid down that night getting ready to go to bed, and along came Bell...and she plopped right down in the crook of my arm, on her back with all fours in the air...and she took another little nap! What a crazy girl! (it's not the best picture cause it's just from Darons phone, but hopefully you get the idea!)

The story of Bell...

2011-05-01T21:42:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time the Wilson family was looking for a new cat to join their family. They found the cutest little grey kitty at the animal shelter that looked like she would be a good companion for their current cat, Peppers. They got her home and after a few hours they decided they would call her Bell, so they could just yell out BELL PEPPERS whenever they were looking for the cats!

She grew over the next few months and she came out of her shell a little, but she was still a pretty skittish kitty and didn't like to be around when there was company or strangers at her house.

One day the family decided they were going to move and eventually the day came when the movers arrived to load up the trucks. They knew both of the cats would be scarred to death to have all these men at their house, so they decided to shut them up in the laundry room for the day. Peppers went in ok, but Bell got really scared and she ran up the stairs and hid somewhere. That was fine until the second time of filling the truck, when all of the movers went upstairs to get the stuff from up there, and all of the sudden a grey blur came darting down the stairs. Bryan tried to follow her, and he looked a couple places but decided it was better to leave her where she was and just get her after everyone was gone.

Well, long story short, the Wilson family got everything moved over, and after searching high and low in the empty house, they couldn't find Bell ANYWHERE! She must of ran out the door when no one was looking because she was so scared! Everyone was so sad and worried about the helpless little kitty, and they hoped that someone somewhere had found her and would take care of her.

They got back to their new house for the night and got to looking around for Peppers, who also was no where to be found, but since they had carried him over in the cage they knew he was somewhere. One of the family members went out to the garage to look for something and out of the the corner of their eye they saw something dash under one of the shelves! "How did Peppers get out here?" she thought. The Wilson kids got the flashlight, and went looking in the garage for the kitten. And they did find the kitten. They found Bell!! When she got scarred upstairs she ran downstairs and went to one of her favorite hiding places; behind the couch! And when the movers started moving the couch, she ran up inside of it to hide from them!

So, little Bell, scarred out of her mind, did make it safely to her new house in the couch!

Maybe it's just me...

2011-04-26T16:29:00.000-05:00

Do you ever go through a big list of crafting blogs and just get real depressed thinking about all the crafty things you never do. And then you start to think about it you get real mad at those 'oh so freaking perfect' women who have it all together and can do meticulously annoying craft projects and work on photo shop and online scrapbooking in their immaculate office.

And they make all of their daughters the cutest matching outfits with ruffles and fake flowers and all of her boys the most 'darling' matching ties. And the kids rooms are all clean with matching decorations and it never gets messed up and her kids aren't nasty little piglets.

And she makes new decor to every day that she puts up around her perfectly decorated house.

And every room is so nice you could spend all day just in the entryway or the laundry room.

And everything has a place and there is a place for everything.

I mean...where do they find the time! After getting up at the buttcrack of dawn to get kids to school and then working an 8 hour day...figuring what to make for dinner...cleaning up dinner...cleaning up something else like a bathroom or bedroom...then probably having to do a load of laundry or two...where do you find time for any of it?

Easter happenings...

2011-04-24T20:33:00.000-05:00

Here are a few picture from our Easter weekend...coloring eggs...and sorting through easter candy!

A new day, a new donn...

2011-04-17T22:43:00.000-05:00

A new do!!!

I had a random fit of decicivness tonight and decided to let Hannah cut my hair!

I like it a lot!! It will be a cooler style for summer I think...

Anything you can do I can do better...

2011-04-13T17:23:00.000-05:00

The other day Keri decided she wanted to order some shelving for the office. It arrived last week and sat there in the boxes for a couple days. Everyone kept saying "Oh...we'll wait for the boys to set that up" or "Surely there is a guy who can do that sometime"... So, I got my stuff done early on Friday and I headed back to the office to set it up myself! Dave came back a couple times 'to check on me'. He seemed a little blown away that I was taking it upon myself to put together these shelves!

One time he came back and said "Wow...it looks like you've got a little bit of your dad in you!" All I could do was chuckle a little to myself...cause if you know my dad...as amazing of a guy that he is...he's not very handy. It's like Tacy said "NO...it's more like you've got a little big of Tacy in you." Personally I think Tacy has a little bit of me in her!

Updates...

2011-04-08T12:21:00.000-05:00

I thought I would do a little update as to what was going on in the life of the Wilsons:

Daron and I have been married for 6 months as of yesterday...and let me tell you it feels like it's a lot longer than that! I don't think that's a bad thing though... think it means that as awkward and as much of an adjustment as it could of been...it has been really easy and nice!

We have been talking about moving closer into town. Right now we live about 35 miles away from my office (which is right on the border of Phoenix and Tempe). If you take one of the main freeways out of town, once you finally get to our road, Ironwood, then you get off and have to go another 10 miles S to our house. Well...after all the talking and looking and searching...we found a house! (hopefully) Me and Daron had 2 houses to look at yesterday, and we really liked the first one we went to so we canceled our other appointment, filled out the application for this house, and according to the realtor it looks like this will be our new home for the next few years or so. Of course we eventually want to buy a house, but not for a couple more years... So now we still drive down to Ironwood, but instead of driving that 10 more miles down to Ocotillo, we just have to drive 1 mile north to Southern. I'm excited about this change! Our rent will be cheaper, our electric will be cheaper cause this is a single story house, we won't burn through as much gas...so this will be good all around. Bryan has struggled with this decision the most cause he has to move AGAIN...and I know that is frustrating for him...but he'll be fine. Some of the best people I know moved a lot as kids...so I'm not worried.

Hannah is in her last few weeks of high school! She is struggling to get through her classes...but is optimistic about passing them all...so hopefully every thing will be good on that end. She is also finishing up cosmetology school at the same time. She is going to Nauvoo this summer for a month to work at the Fudge Factory and get a little sample of life in the 'real world'... She's gonna stay with Tacy and Jessie and hopefully have a really good time! We are just as excited as she is!

Other than that there isn't too much to report. School is winding down here in a month or so and that is exciting for Bryan and Hannah, even though Bryan says we've 'ruined his summer' cause of the move. I am in NO WAY looking forward to the heat...oh man...but at least there is no humidity. I have never experience humidity until I moved back to Nauvoo this past summer. Of course I grew up with humidity...but you don't really EXPERIENCE it till you leave it then have to come back to it. Oh man it was awful.

Anyway...that's us...in a nutshell...

Day 30...

2011-03-30T10:27:00.000-05:00

Someone you miss:

Is it possible to miss someone you never knew? Or rather...don't remember at all? I think it is...therefore I miss my Grandpa Nelson. He died when I was super young...I do have pictures of us together when I was probably 2...but I don't have any memories of him. I think the universe did me a huge disservice by letting him die before I got to know him....him and my Grandma Nelson both...the stories I've heard about both of them...I think I could of benefitted having them around!

Day 29...

2011-03-29T22:09:00.000-05:00

A picture that can always make you smile:

This is a bad copy of this picture... but when I was thinking about what pictures make me smile...this was one of the first ones I thought of. Everything about my experience at Ricks makes me smile! This picture was taken at the beginning of my first semester out there... and I don't think any of us knew how close we would be! My closest friends and some of my most favorite memories have come from good old Rexburg... GOOD TIMES!!

Day 26, 27, 28...

2011-03-28T21:27:00.000-05:00

Something that means a lot to you:

My family. My family (and friends that I consider family) are probably the most important thing to me!

A picture of yourself and a family member:

I was trying to find a picture of someone I rarely have a picture of...me and my brother. But..it's so rare that it's non existant! I have always loved this picture of me and Tuna!!!

A picture of something you're afraid of:

Feet. I've gotten better at people touching my feet...but I get all freaked out when other people touch me with their feet!!

Day 25...

2011-03-25T13:56:00.000-05:00

A picture of your day:

This is really boring...but it's my day. It's my day Monday, Wednesday, Friday and usually either Tuesday or Thursday...depending on the week. My desk is actuall pretty organized today...so that's nice...

Day 24...

2011-03-24T16:43:00.000-05:00

Something you wish you could change:

I wish I could change the price of gas. It's just ridiculous. It's $54.00 to fill my completely empty tank. As I found out today since I ran out of gas on the freeway and came to a rolling stop on the side of the road!

Day 23..

2011-03-23T14:20:00.000-05:00

Your favorite book:

The Enchantress of Crumbledown is the first book I remember reading where I thought "I LOVE THIS BOOK"...I read it when I was probably 9 or 10...and then a few years ago I was on a quest to find a copy of it to read again. Well, it's out of print so it was harder than I thought it would be...but I did find a copy and now I have re-read it and it was still as good as I remembered it!

Day 22...

2011-03-22T22:34:00.000-05:00

Something you wish you were better at:

I wish I could cook better! I wish I had the knowledge and the skill to just think of something that sounded good and I could whip it up. I can follow a recipe and usually it turns out ok...but not AMAZING. I wish I could just make AMAZING things... and of course it wouldn't be awful if Curtis Stone was in my kitchen to teach me!

Day 21...

2011-03-21T22:42:00.006-05:00

Something you wish you could forget:

Nuff said...

Day 20...

2011-03-20T13:18:00.000-05:00

A place you'd like to travel:

This was a hard choice today. I've always wanted to travel to Egypt...but...there's no way in this world you could pay me to go even close to there now. And as much as traveling to other places seems fun...I think in reality I would be overwhelmed by the language barrier. So...I think I would choose Scottland. It would be cool to see super old castles...and mostly it would be great just to listen to everyone talk!

2011-03-19T21:27:00.000-05:00

Today we all went down to the Tucson Zoo for a little day trip! It was pretty fun! It's a pretty small zoo...but it's also pretty cheap...so that was nice.

After we had a little picnic in a near by park...

And I was able to get 15 more pressed pennies!!!!

Yeah...a good weekend! And tomorrow we are having the family over and having a ham and hopefully play some games...a good ending to a long spring break!!

Day 19...

2011-03-19T21:09:00.000-05:00

A picture when you were little:

The hardest part for me was deciding which of the many adorable pictures of me to use for this day!

Day 18...

2011-03-18T22:51:00.001-05:00

Your biggest insecurity:

My fanny, butt, rear end, behind, keister, rump, posterior, buttocks, backside, tush, arse, bum, tooshie, hind end, derriere, posterior, gluteous maximus...you name it...mine is HUGE. It's for sure my number one insecurity. Even if I got 'skinny'...thanks to my father and his genetic makeup he passed on to me...I'm afraid mine wouldn't shrink much at all...

Day 17...

2011-03-17T22:44:00.000-05:00

Something that has made a huge impact on your life lately:

I don't know if you're aware...but this little thing happened almost 6 months ago...I got married! That has had a HUGEST IMPACT EVER on my life.

Day 16...

2011-03-16T11:53:00.010-05:00

Someone who inspires you:

OK...she might hate me for using this picture of her...but I am at work and didn't have any picture of us on my computer her, so I had to stalk her blog for one of her...and let me tell you, the pictures of her are few and far between, and usually it's just her modeling a pair of shoes or holding a kid in front of her face or something else distracting. So...I chose this adorable one of her in a cute purple shirt with an even cuter pregnant belly! My dear friend Sarah has always been an inspiration to me! In college she always had it together...she was a good example for things like scripture reading and journal writing...and she was just amazing! And now...she is am AMAZING mom, a good friend, a great wife (I'm sure) and she finds time to do fun things like her Etsy store and craft days...and I know she gets frustrated and discouraged sometimes...but I love her and she has and is an inspiration to me!

Day 15...

2011-03-16T00:21:00.000-05:00

Something you want to do before you die:

Pay off all of our debt. It's not as bad as the debt that lots of people have...and the best thing is we aren't incurring any new debt. I just can't wait for the day that we are living debt free...and that day will come if it's the last thing I do!

Day 14...

2011-03-14T11:15:00.003-05:00

Someone you can't imagine your life without:

Me and Daron got into a 'nice' discussion about "my silly blog" last night. I personally think he was just butt hurt that I hadn't blogged about him yet. So, here he is...the person I can't imagine my life without! I love you Daron...even if you think my blog is silly, stupid and pointless.

Day 13...

2011-03-13T18:48:00.000-05:00

You're favorite band or artist:

This is of many...but one of my very very favorite groups is Barenaked Ladies. I never get tired of them!

Day 12...

2011-03-12T21:16:00.000-06:00

Something you love:

Can you tell what this is? FIREWORKS!!! I LOVE FIREWORKS! These are fireworks from when I went to Rexburg to see Tacy and Rodney for the 4th of July in Rexburg. These are the 'best firework display west of the Mississippi!'...according to Rodney. Anyway...big or small...I love any sort of fireworks! Which naturally makes Independence Day one of my favorite holidays!!

Day 11...

2011-03-11T22:14:00.000-06:00

Something that you hate:

Of all the things I hate...this is probably the worst. Syrup is even above refried beans on my list of nasty foods! I chose to show the Log Cabin brand because that is what Bryan was having on his ham the other night and it almost made me barf all over....YUCK!!!

Day 10...

2011-03-10T22:03:00.012-06:00

Something you want to do this year:

I really really really really really really really want to go back to Nauvoo for Christmas and New Year. It's something we talked about this past Christmas, so hopefully we can make it work. We would hopefully stay for a couple weeks; come right before Christmas and stay till shortly after New Years.
Here's hoping we can make it work!!

Day 9...

2011-03-09T21:49:00.000-06:00

A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most:

No questions...hands down...easiest question ever...MY MOMMY!!! There has never been one dilemma, questions, problem, situation, worry, excitement, decision, anxiety, occasion...you name it...that my mom hasn't gotten me through... As is evident in this lovely picture of us before my one and only surgery! She flew out to be with me even though I was a grown adult and should of been able to handle it on my own. But I didn't have to! There are not enough words to to say how much I love and appreciate her! I LOVE YOU MOM!!

Day 8...

2011-03-08T20:39:00.000-06:00

A picture that always makes you laugh:

When I looked up what my picture was going to be today...I knew exactly which one I was going to use! What happened here was...Bryan Londrie gave me some ground deer from one of his hunting trips. I had it in the freezer FOREVER and finally decided to use it. I made Mexican Spaghetti (basically a mixture of salsa and ground 'beef') hoping Tacy and Amanda wouldn't notice. And they didn't...they really liked it! It wasn't till half way through their second plate that I revealed to them my secret. They started gagging and throwing a fit...and of course Tacy grabbed the phone to complain to my mom what I had done. I think I laugh cause Tacys face is her typical "I'm being picked on" face and I can here exactly how she sounded whining to my mom. GOOD TIMES!

Day 7...

2011-03-07T22:26:00.000-06:00

You're most treasured item:

Another hard one for me to pick. I have LOTS of items that I treasure...but I wanted to go with something a little different. My pressed penny collection! I have collected pressed pennies here and there since I was pretty young...but I really started working on my collection in the fall of 2007 when my family went to Washington DC. Since then I have made it a point to look up pressed penny machine locations whenever I take a trip somewhere. Most of my friends know of my collection and they get me pennies from places they go! (Daron thinks those pennies don't count I now have 136 pennies from all across the country! (In case you counted...I have one penny in my wallet from Ruth that I haven't gotten into my case yet)

Day 6...

2011-03-06T13:30:00.009-06:00

A person you'd love to trade places with for a day:

I'd trade places with Steven on his day off...so I could spend a full day hanging out with Sarah!!!

Day 5...

2011-03-05T23:29:00.000-06:00

A picture of your favorite memory:

I've been thinking about this all day...and it took me a long time to come up with 'one' favorite memory...but I think I did it. If I had to pick a certain thing to be my very 'favorite' memory...it would be getting to go to work with my dad when I was little. I think this picture is a little before that...but it is me and it is at where my dad used to work (the temple site). I remember getting to go down to work and helping water, help Orville, and sometimes climb in the sand pile that used to be down there (and getting prickers stuck in me!). My most favorite thing was taking the little watering can my dad had, that looked like a tea pot to me...and I would serve tea to all the plants! He still has that watering can and I swear on my life I'm stealing it when my dad retires.

Day 4...

2011-03-04T20:22:00.000-06:00

A picture from your favorite night of the year:

Hands down, no questions, my very favorite night of the year is always the Saturday before Halloween. Well...if I'm in Nauvoo that is. If I'm not in Nauvoo, that Saturday is usually a pretty sad day.

Day 3...

2011-03-03T21:15:00.001-06:00

A picture of the cast from your favorite show...

This was a hard one for me...but Prison Break is probably the show I've watched the most and it's also the only one I've cared to own. I love a lot of shows...but this one I think is at the top of the list!

Day 2...

2011-03-02T23:11:00.000-06:00

A picture of you and the person you have been close with for a while:

I've known Ashlie since she was 5ish... but she had always been 'Tacy's friend'...and I never really thought much past that! It wasn't till the summer of 2007 that we started hanging out. And to be honest...I can't remember why. I was living by myself and I think she just asked if she could crash at my place a couple times when she was in town and didn't want to drive home. We ended up sort of...I don't know...becoming friends and I would drive over to Burlington to the hotel she worked at and then we'd go to Perkins for dinner. We talked about moving to Arizona together...and eventually did! (Granted, a few months apart from each other.) We've had some good times...from stalking random Mexicans...and then upgrading to stalking hot airport employees...cribbing it with oreos and milk...working at Lane Bryant together...roadtrips... I would for sure consider her one of my closest friends!

A picture a day for thirty days...

2011-03-01T22:04:00.000-06:00

I've seen a couple of my friends doing this on facebook...so I thought I would copy the idea only doing it on my blog instead...

Day 1 - A picture of you with 10 facts.

1. I hate feet, but now I LOVE having my feet massaged...

2. I love pizza...I could eat it every day...

3. I find a sort of comfort in folding clothes...

4. I am awful awful awful at putting away my folded clothes...

5. As easy as it is to complain about Nauvoo sometimes, I actually miss it a lot and wouldn't mind ending up there someday...

6. My favorite movie is 'The Labyrinth"...

7. I got a detention in high school for saying 'crap' in my Civics class...

8. I have 3 kidneys...

9. I hate using the same brand of something twice in a row...

10. Coming up with 10 facts is too hard for me...

Smart?...I don't think so...

2011-02-28T13:16:00.001-06:00

I got my lunch out today and here is what I am having:

And here are the microwaving instructions:

Does anyone else notice anything a little...wrong??

per Jillians request...

2011-02-23T14:04:00.000-06:00

Last night we had a 'former roomate' hangout...
We try to have one about once a month...but with everyones schedules and all of us living at opposite sides of the valley...it's proving to be a difficult task! Last night Whitney wasn't able to make it cause she had to meet with a family whose mother was being crazy (she's a social worker)... but me, Jillian, Ashlie and Stacie were there. We ate at the Olive Garden...which is always yummy.

I'm glad these girls live 'close' by...it's good to have friends out here to have a little escape from reality sometimes. What would really be cool is if I didn't live clear on the other side of the planet...then we could do lunch more often or weekend shopping or something....

Maybe someday...

weekend wrap-up...

2011-02-14T15:19:00.000-06:00

I had a really good Valentines Day weekend! Both of the kids were at their moms house for the weekend...so needless to say we got a lot of stuff done!

We got up pretty early on Saturday and went to the grocery store, which was supposed to be a 'small' trip, but it ended taking us an hour an a half. While I got everything put away, Daron started taking apart our fridge/freezer in the garage to see why it's leaking. He got that diagnosed and by 11 we were on our way out again to run some more errands.

Daron made a much needed eye appointment for me (because I'm a HUGE procrastinator). I've been wearing the same pair of contacts since October...and my glasses are really old. I ended up getting my eye appointment, 6 months of contacts and 2 pairs of glasses for $150!! Yeah for insurance!!

We also went to a local produce store that had lots of really cheap fruits and vegetables! After that we went to the 99cent store...cause that is the only place we can find the spaghetti sauce everyone likes...and we had some time to waste before my eye appointment, so we wandered around there for a while. Let me tell you...the 99cent store is AMAZING! I got a pair of sunglasses for a dollar...

And Daron found himself a new cord that connects his iPod to his car! His got stolen out of his car a couple months ago...and it was like $10 for a new one at a regular store!

Later on that evening we had reservations at Black Angus, and thank goodness we did cause we still had to wait about an hour to be seated...I feel bad for those that showed up with no reservations! It as at least a 2 hour wait! Before we went to dinner, Daron and I exchanged gifts. Of course he told me he hadn't gotten me anything really, so I didn't feel too bad about only getting him some Dark Chocolate Strawberry Ghiradelli Squares and some turtle eggs from the Fudge Factory. Well...the little liar...he got me this cute teddy bear, holding a box of chocolates, and it had a back pack on that had a little box with a necklace in it! You can't see it very well in that picture...but its a gold heart, with a little heart cut out of it, and then two rings inside the cutout heart! It was perfect! Simple enough that I can wear it with super casual clothes, but it still looks good when I dress up (which is never...)

So then the actual Valentines Day gets here and I figured he was going to send me flowers...but he actually brought me flowers to work...and then had lunch with me!

MISSING: $1,000...

2011-02-09T16:56:00.001-06:00

This blog is worth the read...

Growing up we knew these two little old ladies...Doris and Dorothy. They were twins...and now looking back, even though they don't look alike...I can't tell you which one is which!

We would go and visit them during the week, help them plant their garden, watch the Grape Festival Parade from their porch (they lived in that big white house right across the street to the south of the Nauvoo Temple), they would come over for Thanksgivings and visit us on Christmas Day. We each got a 5-pack of Wrigley gum and a $5 bill every Christmas. Sometimes it was Juicy Fruit.

I remember when we would visit their house...they had the COOLEST things I like to 'play' with, even though they weren't toys! They had a glass paperweight I loved to hold every time I was there. They had a mini cast iron stoves with tiny little pots and pans on a shelf I thought was really neat. They had one of those things you would look into and you'd put a double picture at the other end and it would look 3-D. They also had one of those wooden peg games...that was one of my favorites too!

The one with the silver hair (on the right in all the pictures...Doris I believe)...died first. I was in high school I think. Dorothy died a few years later...I was in college in Idaho so I wasn't able to go to the funeral (not that I would of because I loathe funerals)... That summer after she died, we got some stuff from her lawyers saying they had left us something in their will. In some later paperwork we got from them they said she had left me, Nathan, Tacy and Jessie all $1,000 savings bonds. I remember asking my mom what that meant and she explained that it was $1,000, but it wasn't all there yet. It had to mature, so it was going to be quite a few years before it would be worth the full $1,000. I was excited of course! Well, a few weeks later, we got another thing from those lawyers saying that they had also left us each $5,000!! Only, it was a check...not a bond. I asked my mom if we had to wait to have it and she was there was no waiting...it was an actual check for each of us. So, we each got straight up $5,000 dollars! I had already been looking at getting a new car that summer, and so my parents used my portion right away towards that car. The other 3 kids got theirs put into the bank and have used it since for tuition, rent and whatever.

I have always remembered in the back of my mind that someday that other bond would mature and it would be a nice little surprise to have. Of course...in between then and now I have had financial things where I would of loved to use that money...but I never even considered it or even asked my mom about it because... in my mind...it had to mature for a very long time. I've thought about it off and on...I remember even mentioning it to Daron as something I had there and someday...when it had matured fully...we would have it to use for whatever we needed.

So the the other day we were going over the bills and stuff and configuring when we would get which ones paid of and what have you...and once again I mentioned that $1,000...and wondered how far along it was. So that's when Daron asked where the bond was..."Cause if you have a savings bond...that's an actual piece of paper that you have. So you or your mom would have it" Well...of course I didn't have it, so I called my mom to see what the status of this whole bond situation was.

Come to find out...I guess I invented the whole "$1,000 Savings Bond" thing up. No one in my family has any recollection of such a thing. Even Tacy...who remembers EVERYTHING! My mom says "some parts of the story sound vaguely familiar...I will have to dig around in my files to see what I can find." Well, that doesn't boost my confidence. I think someone would remember if they were holding onto $4,000 worth of savings bonds.

I am just so dang confused as to how I have such a clear recollection of it...if it never happened. When we got the checks for the $5,000 I specifically remember thinking "I hope I don't have to wait too many years to use that money like I have to wait for that other savings bond thing we got!"

It's a mystery...I wish I had a Delorean that could take me back in time so I could figure this out!

How time flies...or does it...

2011-02-08T09:46:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was my 4 month anniversary. That isn't a really number to get all excited about...but it feels like it has been a heck of a lot longer than only 4 months!!! I got to thinking about it and for only being married for 4 months...we've had a lot of stuff go on... two major holidays...a death...a wedding...a surgery...those are some big things!

Well...hopefully the next 4 months will be jam pack with just as much excitement... (minus deaths and surgeries)

A fun weekend...

2011-02-05T22:02:00.000-06:00

We decided to get out of the house this weekend and go do something fun! Daron and I had seen a commercial on TV for the "Glendale Chocolate Affaire" and thought that looked like something cool to go to...so Daron looked into it a little more and we went over early this afternoon...

It was fun! There were lots of food vendors there, some with cool chocolate things, and some with just carnival type food. There were some kids rides, like a bouncy house and a rock climb and a little ferris wheel. They also had some romance novelists there for book signings...and live music! We walked around and ate a lot of crappy for you but really good to eat food!

Hannah and I sharing a chocolate dipped cheesecake....SO YUMMY!

Hannah and the fried pickles

Bryan struggling to eat a fried pickle

Everyone enjoying their chocolate covered apple!

victory...

2011-01-27T10:18:00.000-06:00

Two things...

1. I found my post-it collection.

2. My chapped lips seem to be under control once again.

millions of families suffer from it every year...

2011-01-24T11:07:00.001-06:00

I am suffering from a chronic case of chapped lips. No matter what brand of 'chap stick' I use...NOTHING helps. Sometimes the chappiness is less noticeable...but most of the time my lips are bright red and peely and rough and it's embarrassing. I've used Carmex (in the tube, not the canister), Chapstick, Burts Bees, Blistex (the really good liquidy kind and the waxy kind), Vaseline (regular and cherry flavored), and I've actually put Neosporin on one time...but the taste was AWFUL...so I never did that again.

NOTHING HELPS!!! It got so bad a couple Sundays ago, my lips were almost cracking, and I couldn't find one freaking thing of chapstick anywhere in my house or my car or my purse...and Daron finally ran to the Walgreen's to get me some cause I was almost in tears.

(My title is a little shout of for Daron cause he now LOVES the office and his favorite thing so far has been when Jim dresses up like Dwight and Dwight yells at him "Identity theft is a crime Jim....millions of families suffer from it every year!)

just real quick...

2011-01-17T10:59:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to share with every this find I got at Wal Mart! This is the yummiest smelling candle ever! Well...actually...it's probably tied with this other candle I get at Hobby Lobby called Vineyard...but this one is easier to get cause like I said it's at WalMart. I haven't even lit it yet and it's making my office smell so good! So...if you're in the market for a super yummy smelling candle...might I sugest Cranberry Mandarin by Mainstays.

Round 2...

2011-01-14T12:46:00.001-06:00

I did this a couple years ago, and I've seen some people doing this on facebook and on their blogs, and so I've decided to do it again! I think I got almost everyones gift to them (with the exception of one person, and I did make her present...but I just never got it to her before I left Arizona, sorry Alayna!!) even if it was more like a year and a half later, rather than the year I promised (Sorry Kevin, I hope you're enjoying your book safe!)

Just like the last time I did this, I'm not going to limit it to 5 people...but whoever comments gets a prize! I'm trying to up my comments...cause my past few blogs have only gotten one or two comments on them, and that was usually after I called my family and verbally harassed them for not commenting on my blogs!!

ANYONE who respond to this win something from me!

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make

2.What I create will be just for you.

3. It'll be done this year-no guarantees on when this year, but sometime in 2011!

4. You have no clue what it's going to be. the possibilities are endless.

5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

Anyone who leaves a me comment will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Sounds like fun right?!?

Me thinks...

2011-01-12T12:17:00.000-06:00

This pictures has nothing whatsoever to do with my blog, but I saw it the other day on my phone when I was looking for cool backgrounds, and I thought it was HILARIOUS!

I've been thinking lately about those little random things that happen in our lives, and we don't think much of them at the time, and sometimes we still don't think much of them, but when we get down to thinking about it...those little events were the major turning points in our lives...

For example:

1. I have this 'life journal' thing I've been trying to keep up on where you draw a question from a box and you answer it in a journal...then you're posterity can read it later on and know cool stuff about you. My question on Sunday was 'Tell about a good friend in your life and why they are so important to you'. So, I excluded family and decided to talk about Sarah Harward! I was thinking back on our 'history' and how we got to be friends and what not...and I remembered that we became O.K. friends at the Fudge Factory the summer after my senior year of high school and before her sophomore year of college. We hung out and had good times together...but then she went back to Ricks and I went to WIU. For some random reason, I decided to go visit her at Ricks on my spring break. Looking back now, that seemed like a weird thing for me to do. I was anti church schools, so I didn't want to go there, and even though me and Sarah had become friends, I dont' remember being good enough friends with her at that time to justify flying all the way to Idaho for a visit. But...thinking about that now...I doubt I would of ever transferred out there for school and lived with her and gotten to be the friends we are today if I hadn't of make that spring break trip (which deserves a whole blog in and of itself...between the hospital and the marijuana grapefruit).

2. When I think about my life between January 2010 and Oct 2010...it's sort of a blur! I would of laughed in your face really really hard if you'd of told me last Christmas that I'd be married by the end of 2010. Looking back on the whole 'dating' thing me and Daron did my last few months in Arizona...I am amazed it worked out the way it did. I had only gone out with him one time before he was joking around about being my 'boyfriend' and how we should go out again and blah blah blah, and that was at the end of March/beginning of April. Well...on April 20th I was having my gallbladder out, and my mom came to town a couple days before so she could be with me. Me and Daron had been texting and talking on the phone quite a bit, and when I told him my mom was coming he was absolutely insistent that he met her. I told him he had no reason to meet her...he was just the creeper I went out with once...it wasn't necessary for them to meet. But he was adamant...kept joking "I'm your boyfriend...I need to meet your mom." and I would say "You are absolutely NOT my boyfriend and you don't need to meet my mom". But, despite my best arguing skills, he ended up coming over the night before my surgery to meet my mom (because I didn't want him coming over after my surgery cause I'd feel like crap). That was the first time I'd seen him since our date quite a few weeks earlier. He ended up coming over that day, then the day of my surgery, and then the next day too. My mom actually liked him! And so, looking back...that made it a lot easier for me to 'like him' too. I told him he has himself and my mom to thank for me falling for him. If he hadn't of met my mom that one time...things would of gone a lot slower than they did! When we talk about our 'courtship' (that is such a stupid word), we both agree that him being so insistent on meeting my mom was probably the turning point of things. Such a seemingly insignificant thing...and look at things now!!

Anyway...that's my deep thinking for the week...

my collection...

2011-01-06T14:03:00.000-06:00

I have a collection of post-it notes that I have gathered over the years. I think it started in college, when my mom used to send me packages and label everything in them with a post-it note as to what the purpose of that item was for. For example...on a crock pot seasoning packet for a roast she put "For Sunday Dinner"...I loved it, so I started to keep them in a zip lock baggy. I have a note from a roommate who saw my car parked on campus and wanted to say hello, I have notes from the backflow technicians that I work with that have little funny things they've written when they turn in their work, I have the post-it that J.P. wrote his number on and gave to me, and I have the post-it that Daron left on my desk one day when he was working at my office and kept continuously asking me out that said "So, Saturday?"... And I have so many others I can't even remember!

I went to put my newest gathering of post-it's in there the other week...and I can't find it...anywhere...and I looked REALLY hard and now I'm really starting to worry that I'll never find it. :(

Christmas Eve...

2011-01-04T00:41:00.000-06:00

Since I've been a bad blogger...I've decided to split up my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day blogs...

For Christmas Eve we went to Darons sister Melissas house for a late/lunch and did presents with the cousins and stuff there. It was fun!

Nathan and Logan got to open a lot of their presents first!

They thought it was funner to play 'on' the presents than with them...

Hannah got Hello Kitty slipper/boots from Brittnay and she LOVES THEM!

Darons dad makes his famous chex mix for everyone...

Darons nephew Johnny got a gift card to Build-A-Bear...his FAVORITE place to go!

Bryan got Comedy Movies Scene It from the Camilleris (Darons sister)

Daron sporting some Christmas Cheer!!

I thought this one was great...Johnny being silly with Daron being oblivious and Brittnay giving him bunny ears!

'Lunar Eclipse' party...

2010-12-24T10:46:00.000-06:00

We decided a few weeks ago we were going to have a little get together for the lunar eclipse that just took place. Darons mom came over...as well as his oldest son and his wife and kids. We bought some fireworks (cause they are now legal in Arizona!) and cooked hot dogs over the firepit and just had a good time hanging out together!

As you can see, by the end of the night we all ended up inside, and eventually every left and most of us were in bed before you could see any evidence of a lunar eclipse. But, it was fun anyway!

Feliz Navidad...

2010-12-19T21:10:00.001-06:00

For some reason it has taken me a while to get into the Christmas Spirit this year. I have felt so overwhelmed with the gift giving aspect of it all. I guess I have never been responsible for making sure a family has a 'good' Christmas morning...and I have really felt the pressure this year. I think it didn't help that I've only been around for a couple months...and it seemed like a huge responsibility to take on in such a short time. But, Daron has been super helpful, even though I know he HATES shopping and keeps telling me "I really have no idea how we made Christmas work...I wasn't in charge of that"...but together we figured it out I think.

But throughout this whole process I've been so bothered by how important gifts are, and getting the right thing, and spending enough/not too much money. I guess I've always felt like I could put more time and thought and maybe a little 'homemadeness' into my gifts...but this year it was simply about 'getting a gift and checking that person off my list.' So it makes me sad that what I would of gotten everyone isn't' as personalized as I may of wanted it to be. But...there is always next year I guess...and I won't have to shove what most people have a year to think about, into just 2 or 3 months.

Needless to say, I woke up today feeling all festive inside! We got the house cleaned up this weekend...and Hannah fixed the Christmas tree lights so they ALL light up...and we got some present put under the tree (compliments of Tacy and Jessie) ... and the Christmas Program was really good at church yesterday... the shopping is just about done... so now we can just get ready for the fun times, like the family dinner and just being together.

How do you like the new look for my blog???

reminiscing...

2010-12-15T15:53:00.002-06:00

I found myself looking through some of my old blogs the other day...

Here are some of my favorite...

Are you sure... - one of my first blogs
Holy Dirty Dead Creature Batman... - a true story
Living Beautifully...Ocassionally... - not my words...but I love this!
Beware...some men might find this a little uncomfortable... - Poor Tacy and Tuna!
Psst...look at this... - the first of many Lane Bryant stories
That'll do... - this was such a big deal when it happened...let me tell you...
Smile for the Camera... just some good memories and pictures
Amish Bread and bra fittings... my most famous Lane Bryant story! I just got another anonymous comment on it this weekend!
Sniff... this is one of my favorite blog pictures
My bad... hahahaha...I forgot about this one!
The results are in... my mom is so silly...
Get comfy, this is a long one... it's really not that long...and it's worth the read!
Out of my element... a post about Daron, but you wouldn't know it since I never mention his name

In going through my old blogs I've notice a few things... I'm not as fun of a blogger as I once was. I used to have fun things to talk about...and now it seems like I don't. Also...the comments I get on my blogs are fewer and fewer. Granted, maybe that's due to the lack of good blogs to read. Who knows...

I'm going to try and be a fun blogger again... shorter, more frequent blogs about random subjects. Those were some of the good ones...

2010-12-06T22:12:00.002-06:00

*the fact that even though I miss the holiday spirit that comes with cold weather...I am really glad that I don't have to deal with scraping the windows, preheating the car, and spinning out on black ice.

*that Darons goes to the grocery store with me on Monday nights even though I know he'd rather stay home and watch football.

*that we can pay the bills....even when there's not much left over...

*that the kids like me...i think...

*that my parents instilled such strong family traditions in me...

* my king size bed! How did we ever sleep in a queen?!?

*that I am getting more hours at work now...at least until Christmas

*that I was able to get insurance through my work for me and Daron...so he can stop paying out of pocket for his...

*that Bryan has decided he wants to go to church and that Hannah has always wanted to go

*that Hannah is doing better in school and that Bryan is good at school

*Pepsi

*for my funny sisters...and how even 2,000 miles across the country...they can still make me laugh uncontrollably

Another favorite I have to share...

2010-12-02T13:27:00.003-06:00

I am one of those people that feel the need to pass good things on when I hear about them. And this falls into that category. I LOVE THIS POPCORN. I saw it at the grocery store...and where They sounded REALLY good...but I was still a little nervous to try them. It was only $1 for the box and I was looking for a good snack to have at work...and I LOVE those HINT OF LIME Tositos and so I didn't think these could be too bad. And I was right...they are SO SO SO GOOD!

So, Orivlle Redenbacher's Natural Lime + Salt Popcorn...put it on the grocery list...it's a must!

Whirlwind...

2010-11-29T11:16:00.003-06:00

Things have been so busy here it seems... I can't believe it's already been almost 2 months since we got married. Let me give you a little run down of life...

We got back from our road trip from Illinois to Arizona...and that next weekend Darons son Joey got married. Then a couple days after that we had our cruise. We had a couple 'normal' weeks at home...then Darons dads wife Marge was sick in the hospital...so we went up to Payson (about an hour and a half north of us) and visited her on a Saturday...then we got a call on Sunday that she wasn't waking up and so they rushed her down to the hospital in Phoenix. The doctors said they were sure she'd wake up and that she'd be fine...but Monday the 15th I was almost to work and Daron called me and said that now they were saying she wasn't going to make it much longer and we should go see her. So...awkward of all awkward things...Daron picks me up from the office and we went to the hospital where she is hooked up to a breathing tube and unconscious and her kids from her first marriage are there and Melissa (Darons sister) and Darons dad Dwight is there and her first husband is there...and then there's ME. I've never met her (cause I didn't go back to her room when we visited her in Payson a few days before) and I barely knew Dwight at all...so I felt really stupid. But...I didn't make an issue of it cause I didn't want to attract attention to myself. So after a couple hours or so of being there she died. That was on a Monday and so that Saturday was her memorial back up in Payson.

And then we had Thanksgiving on Thursday. I was a little stressed out cause I wanted to make the rolls that my dad always makes that taste like perfection with leftover turkey and cranberries. I also wanted to make a lemon meringue pie. Well...lets just say it was a little stressful. My first one didn't turn out at all...so I ended up dumping it down the garbage disposal. But...after a pep talk with Tuna...then one with my mom...then with Daron...and then after getting my dad on the phone and him meticulously talking me through every detail...I was able to make a passable pie and DIVINE rolls! I also made two pumpkin pies...but that wasn't nearly as stressful...

So it ended up being a really good day. Darons whole family was there...including his dad who came down from Payson. His sister and her husband and two kids were there...as well as his mom Judy. Me and Hannah did a puzzle after dinner...which was nice.

So now we have Christmas to get through...but I'm looking forward to it!

can you find it...

2010-11-17T13:35:00.003-06:00

I changed something about my blog...can you find it?

Also I am in the mood to re-vamp the blog again. I'm getting bored with this...but it's time consuming for me to change everything. Hmmm...

Have you heard of this...

2010-11-05T13:10:00.002-05:00

This sounds like a forward you would get on your email...or a dateline special report...

In fact I HAVE gotten forwards like this and heard stuff about this on the news...

My boss Dave calls me into his office this morning to show me an email he got from the lady in his ward who used to be the Primary President (Dave was in the bishopric until last Sunday, and was over the Primary...so it wasn't uncommon for him to email with this lady). It was from her and her husband...saying they had taken a trip to London and had gotten robbed...all of their money and passports and credit cards were stolen. They were looking for anyway who could wire them some money. I didn't read through the whole thing...but it looked like it gave an address and information about how to get the money to them. Well...of course Dave freaks out, trying to figure out what he can do to help, but forwards it to his Bishop first to see if he knew anything about it. The Bishop calls the couples house, and of course they are home and when they go to check their email...they can't log in because they 'don't' have the right password'...

CRAZY huh...like I said I've heard about all sorts of stuff like that in forwards and warnings on the news...but never heard of it happening to someone I know! I guess these people don't even have to hack into your email... If you just put enough info out on blogs or facebook, like your old high school and the town where you grew up...and then they can create accounts and stuff and add you as a friend and 'pose' as someone you used to know or someone you 'should remember' from high school or whatever...and then explain their 'situation' and try to get money out of you...

It's crazy...

a new favorite...

2010-11-01T15:08:00.002-05:00

For our wedding reception here we had BBQ and chips...we just bought one of those big cases of individual bags of chips. One of the flavors was this Cheddar Jalapeno Cheetos. No one ate them at the wedding...so we had a bunch left over for us at home. I was nervous to try them because I really like the Flaming Hot Cheetos...but I can only eat just a few before it's way too hot...and so I figured these jalapeno ones would be hotter...but they aren't. They are DELICIOUS! A hint of a flavor of jalapeno...with the regular cheesiness of a Cheetos that you would expect. I am happy cause Bryan doesn't like them (he eats a family size bag of the flaming hot ones a week by himself) and neither does Daron or Hannah...so they are ALL MINE!!! These will probably become a regular chip for me to get when I'm in the market for a bag of chips...

bon voyage...

2010-10-24T00:13:00.003-05:00

We leave for our cruise tomorrow!!!!!!!!! Our boat actually doesn't take off (take off...is that what boats do?) until Monday afternoon...but we are leaving tomorrow after church for L.A. and staying the night there! I am so excited to see the ocean for the first time! I plan on taking lots of pictures and I will make a huge effort to get them posted not too long after getting home.

I haven't heard back from my photographer for the wedding yet...but I will get those posted too as soon as I get them!

As for tonight...we went to Peter Piper Pizza for Darons nephew, Charlie's birthday party. Darons family has a dinner together once a month to celebrate everyones birthday in that month. It's usually a homemade dinner at the house...but this has been a BUSY month with our wedding and Darons sons wedding and the cruise and stuff...so we just decided to combine the family dinner with Charlies birthday party.... so here are a few pictures from that...

And that's it for now...I'll be gone for a week (not that I've been blogging any more frequently that than anyway...) but I'll be back with lots of pictures!!!

movin on up...

2010-10-21T12:40:00.002-05:00

Here is something happy........me and Daron got a king bed yesterday!!! You have no idea how excited I am about this. For many reaons...

1. The bed we were sleeping on was the bed him and his ex-wife slept on....and for some reason he didn't understand how much this bothered me...

2. It was a queen bed...and we learned quickly that we do not fit well on a queen bed. We start off fine...but I move around and sort of gravitate towards whoever is on the bed with me...and that didn't leave much room for him.

3. The bed frame he had for the old bed so SO FREAKING TALL...I had to sort of jump to get in it and then pray for a soft landing when I fell out of it every morning.

4. We really only ended up paying a couple hundred dollars for it! It turns out that the money we got for our wedding was just almost exactly how much we needed for the bed!

So...needless to say we slept very well last night...I am very excited about it...

oops...

2010-10-19T00:50:00.003-05:00

I promised my mom I would update my blog a few days ago...and I didn't.

Things have finally slowed down a little...

The wedding is done...both receptions are done...now I'm just back at work and living life! Things are good here...almost too good...I keep waiting for a melt down or a freak out or a 'WHAT WAS I THINKING' moment...but I haven't had one yet. Granted it hasn't even been 2 weeks...but I wouldn't of put it past myself to have an episode by now...

Next week we go on our cruise and I am SO EXCITED!! I still haven't seen the ocean and I can't wait to FINALLY check that off my 'to do' list...

I haven't gotten back the wedding pictures yet...and I will post those as soon as I get them...but I should be getting some pictures from the open house we had here in Arizona. I'll post whatever I get as soon as I get them...

That's it for now...

nauvoo bridal shower...

2010-09-29T22:07:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures from the bridal shower Jennifer and Sophie Smith threw for me!!

a couple stories...

2010-09-22T12:09:00.002-05:00

A few days ago me and Daron went to P.F. Changs after going to the temple and here is what our fortunes were:

Mine: Your sense of adventure will lead you on a great vacation.

Darons: You will do well to take a vacation travelling to the west.

Funny huh!

In other news I don't think I ever wrote about the drama that was moving out of my house in June! Well...the moving part wasn't the drama...it was trying to get our deposit back that was such an issue!

It all started at the final walk through with me, Jillian and our landlord Beth the day after we had all moved out. We walked through the house and she pointed out a few things that were broken and that would be deducted from our deposit, there were about 5 or 6 things and it was looking to be a few hundred dollars...and at the end right before we all left she says "And I just want to tell you girls that I really hope you don't do to other landlords what you did to me. You are the filthiest girls and it was just disgusting in here every time I came over." (if you know me you are probably thinking that there was a good possibility that that was true...but if you knew Jillian you would know that our house was never disgusting...and even I wouldn't let it get disgusting...I just let my room get cluttered sometimes) So we were like...um...ok... and then we left...FUMING of course. So a few days later we get an email informing us that we weren't going to be getting anything back because of the cost of everything...and she included a list of the deductions and one of them was a $3100 carpet replacement!!! We were FURIOUS because the carpet was just fine when we left! So we asked for copies of the receipts of course.... A few days later we get an email with ONE receipt scanned in and it was for the carpet replacement... After looking the receipt over for a little while it just didn't seem quite right. So we looked closer and it turns out she ALTERED the receipt! It was actually an ESTIMATE from 2008!!!! You could see where she had whited out the dates and then photocopied it again with a date of July 2, 2010 over one of the spots...which you could tell was a different font and size...and she forgot to white out one of the smaller dates that said 2008 on it.

So, we informed her that if she did not provide an actual receipt for the carpet replacement as well as the other receipts then we would be taking legal action.

Needless to say...after weeks of going back and forth with emails and her sending over new lists with new deductions and different prices (included air conditioning replacement, a new garbage disposal, and a bunch of other made up stuff that she never actually did)...we did sue her. And we won! We didn't get it all back like we were hoping...but we got a good chunk back...

And I have to give a shout out to my former roommate Jillian...who did all of the filing and the organizing and the submitting of everything to court! It wouldn't of happened without her!

busy busy busy...

2010-09-21T00:59:00.002-05:00

Well I only have a few days left in the Arizona before I head back home for the last time as a single woman! I fly home Thursday, and less than two week later Daron flies into town, and a few days after that we are married! It's absolutely crazy to think how different life will be after that! I've realized on this trip how funny it will feel to live away from my family and know that it's a permanent thing...that my life for the most part will now be solely in Arizona.

Me and Daron have thought that we will get the car all packed and leave from the reception and go to Iowa City...since we are driving home anyway (through Utah to see my grandparents)...and stay there Friday night and leave Saturday morning. I have been thinking about how bittersweet my reception will be. It won't just be a 'congratulations on your wedding' (well, for some people it will be just that), but for lots of important people in my life it will be saying 'goodbye' too...and I worry that I am going to cry a lot (sort of like the way I am crying right now just blogging about it!!)

Ok...on to happier thoughts. I had a mental list of things that needed to be done on this trip...and I believe we accomplished most if not all of them... Let's see...

1. find sweaters for the bridesmaids...check
2. rug doctor the carpets in Darons house for the company we'll have for the AZ reception...check
3. get ties for the groomsmen, my dad and Daron...check
4. get Darons front room cleaned up (which has been basically collecting boxes of unwanted crap for the past many months...check
5. have the AZ bridal shower...check
6. have dinner with the girls...check
7. go with Daron to the temple for the first time...CHECK :)
8. get Darons wine cabinet on craigslist...not yet...but my time here isn't over yet!

Anyway...so it's been a productive and eye opening week...
There is TONS of stuff waiting for me to do when I get home...even though my family has been busy while I've been gone! As much as I didn't want to depend on them to get things done for the wedding I absolutely would never of gotten anything done without them!

You need to watch this...

2010-09-17T14:46:00.004-05:00

A while back I blogged about how funny Modern Family was...and I'm the type of person that I really hate people missing out on super funny things...so I'm sharing this video with you. I couldn't copy and past the embedding code into my blog for some reason but this link should take you there...

In other news...I'm back in Arizona for another week of getting the pre-wedding things done. Daron went through the temple yesterday and that was so good!! The bridal shower that Hannah and Keri are doing is tonight and I am very excited about that! We are getting our new couch delivered here on Wednesday. The couch and love seat Daron had were pretty worn out and old...so it will be nice to have something new. I will for sure get some before and after pictures to share with everyone... We also got a new cat! I have never been a cat person, but we went to the pound the last time I was here and they had this cute little Russian Blue kitten...so they went a couple days before I came and got her and we picked her up on Tuesday! She is adorable!

Jennifer and Sophie Smith threw me the coolest bridal shower shower last week! There was tons of purple and sparkles (which are my two favorite things) and it was just really nice! Over the top nice!! Jennifers niece Sarah took pictures and as soon as she sends them to me I will get pictures posted of that.

Don't let the bed bugs bite...

2010-09-07T10:13:00.002-05:00

Last night when I went to bed I rolled onto my back and saw a black shadow on the ceiling. I put my glasses on and saw it was a praying mantis. I didn't think much of it and I rolled back over, turned off the light and went to sleep.

When I woke up this morning that silly thing was STILL THERE on the ceiling right where I had left it. Again, I didn't do anything about it and got up and went to my tanning appointment.

When I got home about 15 minutes later I gathered my things I wanted to take pictures of to put on eBay and I walked into my room and just about plopped myself down on my bed when I noticed the mantis sitting right in the middle of my bed...right where I would of squished him if I had continued with my plopping down.

For some reason I found this little scene 'blog worthy' and so I got my camera to take a picture of it and right after the flash went off he flew across my bed and landed somewhere in the mess of blankets I keep between me and the wall...

I hope he makes his way back to my ceiling by the time I go to bed again...cause I don't relish in the idea of cuddling up with a praying mantis at night...

A preview of life to come...

2010-08-16T16:39:00.002-05:00

I'm in Arizona where I've been sweating like a prostitute in church since I got off the airplane last week...but I have been very productive...

We got the Arizona reception sort of figured out a little and planned somewhat...we went to Darons insurance provider and looked into what it would be to add me to his policy in October...we got engagement pictures taken...we almost got a baby kitty...we had dinner with some friends of his...we are going to print the announcements tonight...we will register tomorrow...I cleaned up (part) of the house today while Daron went to the office to get some paperwork done so he can take tomorrow off too...

Now that I try to list everything it doesn't seem like that much...but it feels like a lot...but either way it's been a good 4 days!!