Let's Get Serious

F+???

2009-05-17T19:57:00.002-06:00

So it has only been a month since my last class. I guess I would have failed had it not been a self paced learning type of thing. I did learn how to post images this week! Week 6 wasn't too complicated, so I am including the link here: http://www.geocities.com/gbldp/sixthweb.html. Now you all can admire my lovely web site.

This weekend has been lots of fun! Saturday I spent most of the day with my sister as her assistant! One of her friends threw a portrait party and people could sign up and bring their kids for my sister could take their pictures. My sister has been taking pictures for years now, but is finally starting to get a photography business up and running. So I went to help with shading and reflecting and that sort of thing. It was a lot of fun and she did such a great job. Her pictures are really good! Take a look at her new blog: http://eastendportraitphotography.com/blog/ She'll have more pictures up soon and if you want to link to her personal blog, you can see all kinds of pictures of her daughter on it. She's going to do awesome!

Today we celebrated Mother's Day and my Mom's Birthday! We went to a great wood fired pizza place and it was nice enough to eat outside. We sat in shade, which was good because it warmed up to 90 here today! Then we went back for ice cream cake at my mom and dad's house. We had lots of fun watching little Violet run around with loads of energy. Now we're getting ready to have some dinner and unwind with the season finale of Survivor. Hope everyone had a great weekend and look for more posts soon. Maybe. If I have time!

Pictures!

2009-04-26T18:51:00.002-06:00

So I haven't done my homework for the last two weeks. BUT I will try to do it this weekend. Luckily, no one is actually looking or grading my homework for my HTML class. It makes it a little easier to know that I can catch up on the last two weeks and no one is going to fail me for not doing everything on time!

We had an Easter egg hunt a couple weeks ago at my parents house. We all had baskets and we each had to pick up at least one egg (those were the rules). The best part about it was seeing Violet pick up the eggs and then alternate who she was giving them to. One went to her Daddy, one to her Mommy, one to Grandma, one to Grandpa, etc. It was a great day! We dyed Easter eggs and we all contributed to our Easter Lunch - a taco bar!! It was quite tasty and we all enjoyed ourselves some tacos!

Last week I was in Twin Falls for our Annual Board Planning & Development meeting. This year is a great time of year to visit Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls. These falls are actually higher than Niagara Falls - crazy, huh?? The pictures below are when I was there on Wednesday night - one is looking down the canyon and the other is looking directly at the Falls.
We actually got some more done in the garden this weekend! We bought some seeds and some starters for a few different veggies: peas, lettuce, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, beets and onions - green and yellow. YUM! So it will be interesting to see what does well and what doesn't. Everything seemed to be pretty easy to plant. We also planted a couple perennials in two pots out front. I think we might eventually plant them in the front garden bed, but we need to do a lot of work on those until we plant anything permanent. So hopefully these will do well in the pots until we get them in the ground. So that's what we have been up to lately. I think the days and weeks keep going by faster and faster now that it is warming up. I guess that happens when you have more to do! I think Mat and I have been hibernating for the last few months!

Fifth Week

2009-04-11T14:52:00.002-06:00

I just finished my 5th week of my html class: http://www.geocities.com/gbldp/fifthweb.html. I think I am kind of getting the hang of it, but there is still so much to learn. I like the pace of the class because I don't feel like I need to spend hours every week learning and reading. So now that I have that finished, I am going to head out to the grocery store to get supplies for our Easter Taco Bar!

My family has decided to do a Taco Bar for Easter! I think it will be great and I am really looking forward to getting together. I can't wait to see our niece - she is growing so fast! So that's our weekend. We'll eat some tacos, dye some eggs and watch Violet hunt for Easter Eggs. And maybe Mat and I will hunt some eggs ourselves.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm off to shop!

Square Foot Garden Boxes

2009-04-06T22:03:00.006-06:00

If you don't know about Square Foot Gardening, you can do a search on Google Books to see a limited preview of Mel's book. It is an interesting book and I think it should be a pretty good way for us to do things. I guess we'll find out by the end of the gardening season!

Yesterday we built the boxes. Here they are in our yard, waiting to be placed strategically.

Today we mixed up the ingredients to make Mel's mix. This book says to make your own soil instead of trying to improve on what you already have. So we did exactly what Mel said. We bought a tarp and mixed up vermiculite, peat moss and compost.

We found places for the boxes and we started filling those bad boys up. I think they look nice and I hope that it will really help to cut down on weeds. Oh, I sure hope.

Oh and Onions! We planted these last summer and they are sprouting now. Hope they turn out tasty!

Finished!

2009-04-06T21:49:00.003-06:00

So I finally finished my homework for this week: http://www.geocities.com/gbldp/fourthweb.html It took me awhile to read through the lessons, but I did get it up! One thing I don't love about this free class is that you have to click through a million pages. For example, you will be reading about font color on a particular page and then it has five different links within the article that you need to read to really understand that particular page. So it is a lot of back and forth, back and forth. I am learning html for free, so I really can't complain! I actually started this homework on Saturday morning, but then have been distracted all weekend by various projects.

My first project was part of a spring cleaning that will play out over several weeks. I'm all about organizing and having things nice and simple. I started with the bathroom, which desparately needed to be cleaned anyway, and I bought some drawer organizers from the dollar store and got everything in its place. You wouldn't think that it would take me that long, but I did clean the whole bathroom and organized part of the linen closet in our hall. The bottom half is for another day - it holds all our games and my crafty things. So I felt like I got a ton accomplished just on Saturday.

Sunday was spent getting our supplies together for our garden boxes. Mat and I are going to be Square Foot Gardeners! I have this book called Square Foot Gardening and it is a fun little book. It is all about getting the most out of a small space garden. I don't know how great it will work, but we're going to find out! We actually built the boxed on Sunday night and finished everything up today. I decided since we were lucky to have some great weather in the 60s that I would take a vacation day! WOOHOO! Today was so busy though! I think my next vacation day needs to be on a beach. :) We went to Costco, two grocery stores, made breakfast for the entire week, made dinner for tonight, mixed up our soil and filled our boxes. THEN we even went to kickboxing. My legs are tired. And I am tired. At least I know I'll sleep great tonight. But before I can do that, I'm going to put a separate post with some pictures from our new boxes!

Ladies, don't be sad that Mustache March is over. There is always next year.

Back Again!

2009-03-28T11:56:00.002-06:00

Another week has flown by! Sometimes I just blink and the week is over. I'm always happy for the weekends and thankful that I have lots to do at my work. Not only does the time go by fast, but I don't worry about losing my job right now!

So this morning I tackled my third week of html. I know this is going to take quite a while to master, but at least I am really getting the hang of things. http://www.geocities.com/gbldp/thirdweb.html I just figure that everyone has to start somewhere. Websites really didn't just make themselves up! It is kind of amazing to think about how much work is put into a simple website and how much more time it must take to create a working, interactive website.

This weekend is probably going to pass without any gardening. Again. But the weather just isn't going to cooperate with us. We still have a while until it is time to plant Summer veggies, but I did want to get some Spring veggies in the ground. We're still slowly gathering everything we'll need to create our raised beds and the mix we'll be putting in them. I am just getting antsy and want to get started!

Tonight we are going over to Alana and Ken's house for a little SingStar, probably some Wii Sports activities and maybe even a board game or two. I'm planning to bring a snack for us and can't quite decide on a recipe. I was thinking that I might make this stuffed jalapeno dip that sounds delicious. I'll let you know what I decide! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

2nd Week HTML

2009-03-21T12:51:00.005-06:00

This morning I sat down for my second week of learning about html. So here is the link to my new web page: http://www.geocities.com/gbldp/secondpage.html. Fancy stuff, huh?

It is pretty interesting learning about html and I look forward to doing more in the future. I am just going to take it nice and slow and learn a little at a time. Maybe someday I will even have my own website that I created from scratch!

For Mat's birthday this year, we drove about an hour outside of Boise to get to a tubing hill and went tubing for 2 hours! It wasn't too packed and we had a lot of fun. It was just as scary as I thought, but I still had a good time!

I wish I had a better lens to zoom in on Mat as he was flying down the hill. You probably wouldn't have wanted to see any of me screaming and clenching on the tube as I flew down the hill at warp speeds.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm off to scan in some pictures from the pre-digital camera days.

HTML and Waterfalls

2009-03-15T14:40:00.004-06:00

So I picked a different waterfall picture to enter in the contest! HA! I tricked you all. It was a last minute decision and I just thought, "what the heck?" So I ended up with this one:

So who knows? I probably should have gone with another one, but that's okay. It was really just for fun!

So I've decided that I am going to teach myself HTML. Or at least try. I'd like to at least somewhat understand it and it would be really cool if I could actually make my own website someday. I would imagine that it won't be that easy, but it is something I'm going to attempt. I found a free 10 week class on about.com to learn it. You really can't beat free! They suggest using geocities' free websites for your practice for your homework. So here was my first assignment: www.geocities.com/gbldp/firstweb.html. Pretty darn impressive!! The one thing I don't like about the lessons is all of the advertisements. But I get that is the reason the lessons are free, so I'll just have to deal with them.

In other news around our house, I'm getting that Spring Cleaning Bug. I want to go through all of our rooms and get rid of things and organize and tidy things up. It doesn't mean that I am actually going to do all that! It was just a thought. One thing I've been looking into is doing something with our closet. UGH. I can't stand our closets and I want to rip all the clothes into shreds every time I have to go get something to wear. So we've been discussing options to see if there is anything we can do to improve the efficiency of our closet.

Now I'm off to create a grocery list for tomorrow and maybe talk closets with Mat. Sounds like a crazy afternoon!

I Need Spring!!

2009-03-12T09:11:00.002-06:00

This morning it is 22 degrees outside. I think when March hits, I start to get really impatient for warm weather to kick in. I want 60s and 70s every day for a few months and then I will gladly welcome the 90 degree weather for a couple months. I'm just tired of being cold all the time. I think it is supposed to be 50 tomorrow, but then cold again this weekend. Which is just another weekend that we probably won't be working in the garden because it is cold. We'll see though - maybe it will turn out to be nicer than we expected!

I haven't decided on a photo yet for the contest. I think I might go with the waterfall picture because it might be different from other people. I really like the beach one, but feel like so many people have shots of the beach. I need to pick though, I think I have to enter this weekend.

I had to go to our kickboxing class last night by myself. :( Mat's back is hurting and his work sent him to the chiropractor yesterday and he has to go back again this afternoon. I guess he thought that it wouldn't be a great idea to jump and twist and turn? It is interesting wearing my heart rate monitor. Our class ended up being about 48 minutes long and my average heart rate was 142 and my peak was 168. So my monitor says I burned 673 calories. I don't know how accurate that is. They always say the machines aren't accurate at the gym, so who knows if I actually burned that many calories. But at least I know I am getting a darn good workout. I'm trying to remember now what my monitor said after our walk on Tuesday night. I think it said I burned 275 calories on our hour long walk. It was interesting on our walk because Mat's heart rate going up this hill was 108 and my was like 130. He said that my heart rate is higher because I'm a girl and smaller than him. I think maybe I'm just not in as good shape as him! And I am older. :)

I think it will be interesting to see if my heart rate changes as I improve in the class. I already can tell I'm getting better because I don't have to stop as many times as I used to. So I know my fitness level is improving. I wish I would have had my heart rate monitor when we started.

Guess that's enough of that. It's Thursday! Almost time for the weekend...

Help!

2009-03-10T19:27:00.003-06:00

I need opinions please! Travelocity and Snapfish are doing a "Where would you rather be?" photo contest and you are supposed to submit your favorite winter getaway. The official rules state: JUDGING: Qualified Entries will be judged, in the judges’ sole discretion, on the quality, creativity and how well the Entry fits with the theme of the Contest. At the end of the Contest Entry Period, judges will review all eligible Entries to determine the Grand, First and Runner-Up Prize entries (“Finalist Entries”). Selection of the winning Entries will be based on the following judging criteria (“Judging Criteria”): (a) 40% Creativity, (b) 30% Photo and (c) 30% Composition. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken based on the highest score in the “Creativity” Judging Criteria, continuing thereafter to Quality of Photo Judging Criteria, as needed to break the tie.

So I was thinking about entering a photo, but I can't decide which one I like. So I want to know what everyone thinks. It did say submit your favorite winter getaway, but it didn't specify anything else except that you can't include any identifiable people. Which is pretty funny because I looked at some of the entries already and there are a ton with people as the subject. Another mention - 80% are beach photos. So I only included one and it was a sunrise and not just a beach. So what does everyone think??

Mexico #1

Mexico #2

Mexico #3

San Diego Zoo

Waterfalls Outside of Portland

Yuck

2009-03-06T15:47:00.002-07:00

Snow in March! It's all melted now, but when I woke up the ground was a sparkling white. It kind of made me want to go back to bed! But at least it is Friday and I have the whole weekend to look forward to and enjoy! Tonight Mat and I will go to kickboxing and then head home for a little relaxation. I think we've decided to pick something up on the way home for dinner, but I don't know what yet.

Tomorrow we'll be at Cory and Christina's house to celebrate Cory's birthday. Probably play some games and have dinner. I don't know what we'll do during the day. I usually just find little things to do around the house that take up most of the day. Sometimes I don't know how I do it! I've been thinking about a little Spring Cleaning/Organization, so I might start on that. We'll just have to see!

So that's us. Exciting stuff!

Still Kickin'

2009-03-04T13:16:00.002-07:00

Here I am! I know, I know. It has been forever and ever since I blogged last. My last post was after Thanksgiving! Can you even believe that? So I don't have many good excuses. My main excuse is that December came and went in a matter of seconds. With shopping, holiday parties, celebrating Christmas, it was like there wasn't even time to sleep! And then I think it was just that I hadn't blogged in so long that it would take forever to catch up on the last month, so I kept putting it off. So after some encouragement from a fellow blogger, I decided to get back into the game!

So here I am! Mat and I have become devout kick boxers. We started in the fall, but just went once a week for a month or two. Then December came and the gym was basically abandoned for a good three weeks. So starting the first of January, we made a commitment to our kickboxing class and have attended 3 days a week (with the exception of a couple missed days here and there) for the last 2 months. We are so dedicated to our class that we bought our own gloves and we even bought heart rate monitors! It's the hardest I've ever worked out before, but it is really getting me in shape! Our heart rate monitors just came in the mail today, so I haven't even seen mine. I do love toys!

So this morning I woke up around 4:30 to a strange clicking noise. So I got out of bed to investigate and could hear something, but didn't know what it was. So I got back in bed and kept hearing the noise. It sounded almost like a drip, so I got back up to investigate. I put my hand on the wall and sure enough, the wall was wet. DANG! So I woke Mat up and I felt bad because it was his sleep in day - he didn't have to work until 6am. But he got up in the attic and looked around and couldn't see that the roof was leaking. So now he is at home waiting for his dad to come check it out and see if he is missing something. We're pretty sure it is not a pipe since it rained all night last night. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that it isn't anything that is too hard to fix or requires us hiring someone to fix it.

So for all of you out there that enjoy recipes - Mat and I made one of our favorites last night: Quick Chicken Corn Chowder. I found it on the cooking light website, which is where I get most of my recipes. It really is a fast recipe, especially if you get a rotisserie chicken from the store and you don't have to cook the chicken. I've been working on my personal cookbook, which is basically a collection of our favorite recipes. This one is in there and we've made it quite a few times this winter.

So that's about what we're up to. I wish it was more exciting, like we were on a secret mission. We did both have birthdays! Mat threw me a kind of surprise party and it was the best Mexican Fiesta in the world. There were chips and queso and salsa, tacos, taquitos, margaritas, mexican beer, and on and on. I even had a pinata. It was definitely the best birthday ever and Mat put so much time and effort into it. He really is the best husband in the universe.

I hope everyone is wonderful! I'll try to get back on here more often than the last few months. :)

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this year. We had a great day and you can see a sampling of the food we had above. My sister and her husband have tried their best to give Violet as much organic and unprocessed food as possible, so we tried to do our best to stick with that for Thanksgiving. There were, of course, several things that snuck in that didn't fit the bill (like my parmesan artichoke dip or Grandma's chocolate pie!). The stuffing that Mat and I made came from organic whole wheat bread and we used organic celery, onions and parsley. The carrots were organic and the turkey was straight from a farm where he lived his days roaming freely. Overall, I think we did pretty good. I think we all ate too much, but what a great day we had. It was fun to celebrate our first Thanksgiving as a married couple with the people we're so thankful for everyday.

Salt Lake City

2008-11-16T17:12:00.005-07:00

Last weekend Mat and I took a little drive down to Salt Lake City. Not only did we get to see our cousin on his birthday, we also got to spend a good part of the weekend with one of my oldest friends and her family.

Friday night we spent with Jeff since it was his birthday. His mom and dad came down for the occasion and we all went to his favorite sushi place. We had such a great time catching up and they dined on what looked to be delicious sushi! I had some tasty chicken and was quite pleased with my choice. I'm not much of a sushi girl. :)

The next morning we woke up and made our way to the Armstrongs by lunch time. My favorite - eating time! We went to El Taco Nazo - delicious! The kids seem to have grown so much since we saw them at the wedding this summer. Gracie is just running around everywhere and Sean is becoming quite the big boy. After lunch, Mat and I headed to IKEA while the kids napped and Sarah and Matt probably did too! We were desparately trying to find some cheap window coverings since we have several windows with nothing on it since our new windows were put in. We had a successful trip to IKEA and now we have some great Roman Shades.

That afternoon, Mat and Matt took a few trips around the block on a bicycle built for two. It was one of the best sites I've ever seen!
That night Sarah made us some delicious lasagna and Matt made some not so delicious OSU punch to drink as we watched the OSU game. Mat and I each had a glass of the punch and switched to beer after that! Some of their friends came over with their kids, so we had a houseful. The ladies of the bunch played SingStar and the men watched the game. We ended up singing until the wee hours of the night and noticed Matt was missing. It's hard work being a dad. :)

The next morning Sarah, Gracie and I headed out to do some shopping at the Park City Outlet Mall. She had a lot more luck than I did finding some Christmas gifts for family members. I ended up with nothing, but it was sure fun to look. Us girls had lunch at a bagel shop that was yummy! Mat went to meet up with Jeff and they went to a swap meet. I'm not sure what they were looking for, but I don't think they found it!

When we got back to town, it was time for a little ice skating. I haven't skated since I was probably in junior high, so it was basically like my first time. Mat had never skated before and neither had Sean. Sarah and Gracie cheered us on from the sidelines. Here I am on my one and only lap around the rink.
Mat did great and caught on pretty fast. He definitely wasn't as good as Matt who is a great skater. The two of them went around the rink many times holding Sean's hands as he got used to skating on the ice. By the end of our time there, Sarah had signed Sean up for lessons. He had his first lesson last week and loved it!

That night Sarah made us Fettucini Alfredo and again, dinner was delicious! We really appreciated the meals they made for us. We also got fresh lettuce from their garden that was yummy.

There are a few more pictures if you click on the picture above of Sarah and Gracie.

The next day we had to head out. But not before we had a quick lunch at a delicious burger place - Five Guys Burgers - or something like that. YUM! The fries were to die for.

We're already thinking about when we can come back. It's so great to see everyone and we had the best time! Thanks again for spending the weekend with us!

Saturday!

2008-11-01T13:18:00.002-06:00

I'm so happy for Saturdays! I slept in today and now just did a little a laundry. I think I might make up a grocery list and then play with Photoshop a bit. I'm still learning the ins and outs of it - my sister loaned me Photoshop Elements to see if I like it. I haven't really done anything but start trying to organize my pictures.

So that's my plan! Mat is taking a much deserved nap and when he gets up, we'll probably go clean my work and then my family for some delicious mexican food. I've been looking forward to this all week!

I think I might run over to Linens and Things to see what they have left. They are going out of business (I think everywhere) and had marked down a lot of stuff. I found some great shades for our windows, but I only bought two because I wanted to test them out at home and see how I really liked them. So I might go back. It's not really something I want to spend money on, but I am kind of tired of not having blinds or curtains on most of our windows. I do like to have some privacy!

First things first, I better shower. Have a great weekend!

Picture Time!

2008-10-27T20:35:00.006-06:00

I thought I might update tonight by posting some pictures from recent weeks. To start, you can see that our leaves our changing. It is officially fall here! You can also see why Boise is called the City of Trees. Mat and I took a little hike up to Camel's Back Mountain (which is really not even close to a mountain) to take some pictures. The capitol building is a little over a mile away from where we were standing.
The sun was starting to set, so we got some fun colorful pictures of the leaves. We're both still learning our new camera and this was fun to try different settings. I think we need quite a few more experimental weekends before we feel like we know what we are doing.

We did go visit our great friends in Austin a few weeks ago. I left my smaller camera there and Joy has to ship it back to me. What was I thinking? I did get a couple fun ones with our nice camera. This little rascal wouldn't stay put long enough for me to get a great shot. But Chapa sure was a cute little kitten!

This guy sat still long enough for me to take a picture at lunch.

Same with his wife!
And this sweet thing was the perfect model. How can you resist that sweet face?

We sure had a great time in Austin, but spent so much time talking and catching up that we didn't take hardly any pictures. Oh, I just don't know why I do that. I'm determined to take a million picures when we go to Salt Lake City in a few weeks. There are two VERY cute subjects there that I know like to have their pictures taken.

One week until the election! Mat and I are going to vote absentee this year. We're trying to support the counties' vote by mail that they would like to get passed in the legislature. Plus, it will be fun to look up things as we vote on the computer. We probably should get to that pretty quickly...

New Windows!

2008-09-29T19:17:00.002-06:00

The windows are in our house! They look great and I can't wait to enjoy this fall weather with them open for the next few weeks. Mat said it took them most of the day to install them, but they were in by the time I was home from work. We have our big window open right now and it is lovely! The rest we can't open until tomorrow, I guess they want to make sure everything is totally dry and sealed. So that's okay - we've lived long enough without being able to open them! It's crazy how clean they are though. We've never cleaned our other windows, mostly because we couldn't open them. I never thought I would be so exciting about windows!

Dinner is cooking - we made a penne casserole that we really like. I'm ready to eat!

Not much is new at home. The windows are probably going to be our big story for the next few weeks. We are just way too crazy sometimes. :) Bye for now!

Composting Fun

2008-09-20T15:41:00.004-06:00

Here is Mat, hard at work on our compost bin. Since we have decided to create a larger garden next year, we thought we would try our hand at a compost bin. Mat did a great job and created the largest compost bin I've ever seen. Maybe not ACTUALLY the largest, but it sure seemed big after he was all finished.

The boards off to the side actually slide in the front as we get more materials in the bin. You can see what we have already composting here:
Looks fun, huh?
And here is our lovely little pumpkin gradually turning orange. It hasn't grown much larger, so I guess it will just be a tiny pumpkin. It is still pretty cute though!

I'm back from my conference and I sure am glad. I'm not the biggest fan of being away from my wonderful hubby for 6 days! We're going to spend the next couple days together and then I'll go back to work on Tuesday. Until next time...

Happy Birthday to Justis!

2008-09-20T15:30:00.000-06:00

Off to Idaho Falls

2008-09-14T10:36:00.001-06:00

I'm heading out in a couple hours to Idaho Falls for a week of conference fun. I'm ready to come home and I haven't even left yet! I don't like the idea of not seeing my hubby for 5 days. :( Hopefully it will go by fast and I'll get home soon!

We went to a family BBQ last night, but I didn't have time to get any of the pictures posted. Maybe next weekend?

By the way, if you haven't received a link to our wedding pictures, it is probably because I don't have your email address. If you want to take a look at them online, just shoot one of us an email and we'll get the link to you. They are amazing! I am so happy at how they turned out! Now we just have decide which ones are our favorites. That will take quite some time for sure.

Hope everyone has a great week and had a great weekend. I'm off!

BRMC + STP = FUN

2008-09-06T09:59:00.004-06:00

Last night we went to a great concert! It was really a blast from the past for me because I saw these guys before I could even drive a car. I told Mat I wanted to go dig in the garage for my scrapbook to find out when exactly I went to see STP for the first time.

The opening band was Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and they were okay. Definitely not the best performance I have ever seen. I don't know if anyone else does this, but sometimes I might not really love a band or performer until I hear them live and then I adore them. Well, this was not the case. I didn't really like what I had heard before (Mat has several of their CDs) and they definitely didn't wow me. They were a talented group, just not really my style. Mat enjoyed them, but he agreed that they didn't really put on the best show.

The headliner was Stone Temple Pilots. They put on a great show and surprisingly, I remembered many of their songs from when I was in high school, so that was fun. I wish I could have taken some pictures, but they were pretty strict about the no camera policy. We had great seats and really had fun watching all the people in between the bands. I think we waited for over an hour to see STP and that was pretty annoying. Especially because the sun had gone down and it was kind of cold. Not too bad and I brought my jacket, but it warmed right up when they started playing and everyone filled in every gap.

Mat has now decided that he is going to be Scott Weiland for Halloween. He just has to wear some of my jeans, a button up shirt that he'll wear open with a tie and then just talk nonsense. I'm going to be Carl. A guy at the concert that we named and had a great time watching his antics while he was waiting for STP to come on. Talk about awesome. I think he tried to whistle 14 times by blowing his fingers - you know how people make that loud whistle that way? Well, he tried to do that so many times and then he would look down at his fingers like, I just don't get why this is working. Come on fingers! Work with me here. And then he tried to lead the crowd in chanting STP. Then he got mad and flipped off the empty stage. It was fun. By the way, I'm not really going to be Carl for Halloween. Mostly because the only person who would think it was funny would be Mat.

Look! It's a pumpkin.

I Heart 3 Day Weekends

2008-09-02T22:14:00.003-06:00

It was so nice to have a three day weekend! I felt like Mat and I actually had an entire weekend together. Since he works on Saturdays, it seems like we really only get Saturday night and then Sunday together. So it was mucho fun.

We did a lot of work on our future garden. Mostly research work. But we did take some measurements and decide where all of our raised beds are going. Mat also started on our compost bin. We bought the materials for that, but decided to wait until next weekend to buy more supplies. The idea is that we'll build everything now and it won't be so hard financially in the spring to start up the garden. We'll have to buy seeds, plants and soil, but at least we'll have the basic design ready to go.

We haven't actually mapped out what will go in each raised bed yet, but we did list out everything we would like to grow. We'll keep working to find out what can go where and how it will all fit together. I didn't realize how much really goes into this whole gardening thing. Not only do you have to think about what plants work well together, you also have to think about what you can plant with your veggies to keep bad bugs away and good bugs to come in! The nice thing is that we can plan what is going in the ground all winter. We just want to get a jump start on the beds.

We now have two pumpkins! One is teensy tiny and the other is growing at a nice steady pace. I don't know if either of them will be big enough for us to carve, but I can sure hope. We might even get more!

I'll try to take some pictures next weekend as Mat continues his work on the compost bin. He's just my little carpenter!

It's starting to get cooler here and I sure don't like it. I don't really mind fall, but it does mean that winter is on its way and our winters just last forever. The one thing to look forward to is all the new shows coming up! Mat and I looked through my favorite tv website (The Futon Critic)to determine what we'll try out for the fall. I'm sure we'll end up throwing some shows out after we try one or two episodes.

I've got a big conference coming up in less than two weeks. AAH! Is it really that soon? I'll try to get some posts up here, but after staring at a computer for 9+ hours, I usually don't want to come home and get on ours again. I'll do my best though!

Oh, the Shame!

2008-08-29T17:12:00.002-06:00

I haven't posted in forever! Work is crazy the last week. I had events after work and by the time I got home, I did not want to look at a computer! So that's that!

I'm ready for a good, long weekend. Mat and I are hoping to do some more research on our garden for next Spring. We want to get most everything ready before winter hits, so next Spring all we have to do is wait for the ground to warm up and plant some things! So I might head to the library tomorrow to look for some books on gardening.

I am also hopeful that Mat and I could get out and do some photography. We have been wanting to do some practicing with everything we learned from our camera class a few weeks ago.

But you know what? If all we do is just hang out and enjoy each other's company, I'll be more than okay with that.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Labor Day!

Readers Beware!

2008-08-20T21:22:00.003-06:00

Mat and I just finished our two day digital SLR class at Idaho Camera (free with camera purchase). So now, I'm sure, our pictures are going to be so amazing you won't know what to do with yourselves. The class was actually pretty good and a great refresher for both of us on shutter speeds, f-stops and basic techniques. I already know a great picture I am going to try this Saturday morning. I think I'll try a few different settings to play around with it.

Our fattest of our two kitties, Dr. Benjamin Wiggles, went to the vet today for a checkup and to look at his leg. He's been limping a little lately and then he holds his little (fat) paw up when he sits down like he doesn't want to put weight on it. The vet said that it was a little sensitive, so he guessed that it was probably because his excess weight and jumping up and down on things. So he has some medicine and we'll see if that helps it at all. Poor little guy! The vet did say that he has lost 4 pounds in the two and a half years we have had him and that is really good! Puff didn't go to the vet. I told her she doesn't have to go anymore unless she is really sick.

I'm off to read for a little bit. Have a good night!

Latest Happenings

2008-08-14T18:52:00.002-06:00

I have officially wrapped up the honeymoon, the wedding is over and what's next for us?? Well, the last few weeks we have been busy getting back into the swing of things. I think we're pretty much settled in to married life. :)

Our biggest news is that we're going to buy new windows for our house! It's going to be a lot, but we figure it is something that is really worth it to us. Our windows are actually painted shut right now and they are only a single pane. So you can imagine how new windows are going to affect our heating and cooling bills! We met with several different people in town and finally settled on Champion windows, which seem to have everything we were looking for. I think it will be so wonderful to have new windows and be able to enjoy fall with our windows open!!

Tonight we are going to take it easy and watch tv, one of our favorite sports. Have a great night!

The Last Days...

2008-08-12T21:36:00.002-06:00

Thirteen or fourteen days later (now I'm just confused) it is all coming to an end. Or came to an end. You know what I mean! We had an amazing time and spent the last day and evening of our cruise just enjoying being on the boat. We relaxed and read and laid around. It was surprisingly cold that day, so we didn't spend much time outside. In the picture above you can see our waiter, Manuel, who was amazing and we had such wonderful dinners with him as our waiter.

My favorite towel animal of the bunch:

And a lovely picture from the Grand Buffet:
I forgot about the Grand Gala Buffet! We were so excited about this buffet because it was supposed to be all this fancy schmancy food and we thought it would be fun. It was cool to see some of the designs they did, but it seemed more for show than for eating! We took a couple pictures while we were there and none of them turned out too great. But you can see all our miscellaneous photos by clicking on the elephant towel animal.

Our journey home was relatively painless. LAX was a bit of a nightmare and I think by that time we were so ready to get home and see our family, friends and especially kitties! And boy, did they miss us!

And that about does it for our honeymoon. It was a wonderful two weeks and I am so thankful that we could spend that two weeks together!

Violet's First Birthday Party!

2008-08-10T18:09:00.005-06:00

Today was Violet's First Birthday Party! We had such a fun day. I think the pictures will tell the story better than I can! To see all the pictures from the party, just click on the hats above!Happy Birthday Violet! We love you!
Love, Uncle Mat and Aunt Kristin

Day Thirteen

2008-08-08T16:03:00.008-06:00

Cabo San Lucas - Our last stop on our cruise before heading back to Long Beach. We did schedule an excursion for this port called Cabo by Land and Sea. This turned out to be a pretty great tour. The one drawback was that we had to be up early and that is not our favorite thing to do! But we got there on time and then loaded the boat (they called it a catamaran) to sail to the very tip of the Baja Peninsula. This is where the famous Los Arcos is that many people recognize as Cabo San Lucas.

We got some pretty great pictures, so that was fun! It was overcast and looked like it might rain any minute, but we didn't really get any rain until later and that was when we were on the bus. You can kind of see in the pictures that there are a ton of birds (don't ask what kind they are), but they were really cool because they were just gliding around and for some reason I just found them fascinating! The boat just took us to the tip and then turned around and headed back to the dock. Then we all loaded up on buses and headed to our first stop on the "by land" part of the tour.

Our first stop was at a restaurant that was open for dinners only, but they open it up to tours to take some pictures of the coast and Cabo. So we had a few minutes to take pictures and everyone got a free bottle of water. If you look closely in the picture above, you can see our cruise ship docked in the middle of the water (it was too shallow to pull up to the port) and the Los Arcos from far away. This was taken from the restaurant we stopped at.

Our next stop was in the sister city of Cabo, which was called San Jose del Cabo. I didn't realize that when when people said Los Cabos, they were referring to the two cities together. Interesting stuff, huh? Anyway, we got to walk around their town square and saw a mission church and looked in a couple shops.

Then we headed to Mat and I's favorite stop, but I don't think anyone else really liked it. The Cactus Arboretum! There were tons of cacti and we had a great time playing with our new camera and taking pictures. We only had a few minutes there, so that kind of stunk.

After that, we headed to the glass blowing factory where we saw a guy make an angel right there in front of our eyes. It was pretty cool to see the glass blowing process. We had a couple minutes to look in their store, but that didn't seem like enough time either!

Then we headed back to the ship to head home. :( But we still had one more day at sea and there was more fun to be had before our honeymoon was officially over! For all of our pictures from Cabo, click on the picture of the cactus leaf below. Be warned, there are quite a few of them!

Day Twelve

2008-08-07T18:17:00.004-06:00

And we're in Mazatlan! Just like that. The night before, we had looked through all the excursions and decided not to do an excursion in Mazatlan. We thought we could just find something to do on our own and experience the city. So we head out from the boat and this guy walks over to us and wants to take us in his cab. So we agree (since we really needed a cab anyway) and he takes us to see the famous cliff divers. Now we didn't get a picture of them actually diving because we pulled up right as they were jumping! But we did get to see them and there is a picture above of where they would jump from. Then they walked around for tips. Kind of interesting that this is someone's job!

Before we got out of the cab, our driver asked us if we were interested in a tour of Mazatlan. We decided that it would be fun and he seemed nice enough. I think sometimes you just get that feeling that someone is a good person and that was how Mat and I felt about Pablo. Turns out, he was a nice guy and we spent the entire rest of the day seeing the sights of Mazatlan! It was way better than any tour with the cruise ship. Pablo was in his 70s and had lived his entire life right there in Mazatlan. He told us stories about his wife and kids, and was just an amazing person. He showed us where he goes swimming every morning and took us anywhere we were interested in. We felt like we really lucked out with Pablo and it was totally worth the money!

So our tour started with the cliff divers and then we headed to Old Mazatlan. There we saw this great old cathedral:

And then we saw these great street vendors who were selling fresh seafood. You can see they have shrimp and scallops in those buckets:

We headed then over to the newer part of Mazatlan, where all the new hotels were located. There were lots of shops and then the beach!

We tried to put our feet in as many beaches as we could, so we checked this one right off the list! Then we headed back to the ship and left Mazatlan around 5:30 pm. This was a great stop and we really enjoyed the stories Pablo told us. The one disappointing thing about the day was that our nice, brand new camera totally fogged up right at the beginning. You can see all our pictures if you click on the picture of Mat. So you can see where the camera got so foggy and I was so worried that it was ruined. We had our other little camera and that was what we took the rest of the pictures with. But we got back on the ship and it cleared right up, so it just must have been the humidity there.

Yikes! Only 3 days left of our recap! Perfect timing though because our niece's 1st birthday party is on Sunday and we can't wait!

Day Eleven

2008-08-06T11:45:00.006-06:00

Puerta Vallarta - our first stop in Mexico! We were ready to get off the boat by that time. I can't imagine doing a cruise where you go more than the two days on the ship. So we get all ready and sunscreened up before we leave the boat. We had booked an excursion later in the day with the cruise, but we decided that we wanted to get out and see a little of the downtown where all the great shopping was supposed to be.

So we exit the ship and on our way out, we had to take like 5 different pictures with different dressed up people and one parrot. Of course, you can always buy these great pictures later! So we walk around for a minute, but there wasn't much to see where we were. We really needed to get in a cab to go to their downtown area. So we piled in a van with several other people from the cruise and when we got off, we found out we had only $3 in cash. We had totally forgotten to cash our traveler's check before we left the ship. Oops. So a nice lady had to pay for the other $5 we owed the cab driver and that was totally embarassing. We were just thankful she was there!

So we set out walking around, with the main goal of trying to find someone that could cash our traveler's check. Of course, we did find an american express place, but they were closed and said they had moved their new office to some address that we had no way of knowing where it was! We eventually found a money exchange place and got pesos. Whoosh. At least we could get back to the ship now! Which is basically what we did. We had already seen that the shops were nothing we wanted, so we just headed back to the boat. We had lunch and then went back out to go on our excursion!

Our excursion was the Tropical Jungle Paradise Tour. We boarded a bus that was supposedly air conditioned and headed up to the jungle. We made a stop along the way so everyone could take pictures of these little islands that looked like a turtle.
The jungle area we were in was within a mile or so of the place where they filmed Predator, so our guide had some stories about that and where the cast stayed, etc. So we get to our destination and it is a restaurant kind of in the middle of nowhere. We all could have a complimentary beverage (mat and I stuck with bottled water) and then we headed up on the tour. It was actually more of a hike than I had thought and I really don't think I've ever had that much sweat on myself! It was so humid and I think it looked like I had been swimming! Our guide was interesting and knew quite a bit about the plants in the area. He showed us the trees that made the original chiclet gum and different fruits in the area.
We did have to walk across part of a river, but it was only up to our knees, so we didn't have to swim across. Lucky for us because we had our camera! The tour overall was not the best, but the guide was funny and he had some good stories. It wasn't very expensive either, so I'm sure you get what you pay for with these tours!
After the tour, we did decide to have a beer at the restaurant across from our boat and then we went in to shower after our sweat baths. Overall, we did not love Puerta Vallarta very much. It was not near as nice as the Riviera Maya area we had been in last year for Joy's wedding. I'm sure there are some great places we didn't see though.

Click me for all the pictures in Puerta Vallarta!

That evening was the same for us - we had dinner and went to the show again. We did have a fun day, but weren't sad to be moving on to our next port of Mazatlan!

Day Ten

2008-08-06T11:39:00.004-06:00

Day ten of our honeymoon and day two at sea! Ugh. This day was not that much fun. The boat was pretty rocky the whole day, so we spent a lot of the day in our room reading. Of course, we manged to come out for meals! We also rented a movie in our cabin - Untraceable. It was fun! Definitely not the best movie I have ever seen, but a good renter.

It was actually nice to just relax all day and enjoy doing pretty much nothing! We skipped the social that evening that we were invited to since I had cruised with Carnival before. But we did go down for dinner and had another nice meal. I think we even went to bed kind of early and I know we skipped the show that night! Neither of us got sick, but it was just one of those rocky days that made you not want to do a ton of running around on the ship. So when we went to bed, we were in the middle of the ocean and the next morning we woke up in Puerta Vallarta!

Day Nine

2008-08-04T21:58:00.007-06:00

Yup, back to the honeymoon! Days Nine & Ten of our honeymoon were spent on the cruise ship at sea. We actually sailed all the way down to Puerta Vallarta and then made our way back up to LA. But you'll hear all about that later!

Day Nine (Monday) we decided to sleep in. We do love sleeping in! When we finally got up, it wasn't that late, but we had missed breakfast! So we had an early lunch and wandered around the ship for a lot of the day. We did sit up on the deck in lounge chairs and read our books for a few hours. Eventually, the sun started to set, so we made our way back to our room and got ready for dinner. I didn't necessarily love getting ready for dinner every night because I don't love spending time getting ready, but I would have to say it was a lot of fun to get dressed up every night to go to dinner! I wore a dress every night and this first night was the Captain's Dinner. We went to a reception before dinner in the big lounge where they do the shows. It was kind of a strange reception because everyone just sat down and faced the front of the room as if we were going to watch a show. But there wasn't a show. The servers would walk up and down the aisles and hand you different appetizers or drinks. At least the drinks were free!

So then we headed to dinner and it was nice. One of my favorite parts about the cruise was when we would get back from our dinner and our room would be all nice and turned down and our Carnival Capers was just sitting on our bed, waiting to be read from cover to cover! Carnival Capers is their daily newsletter that gives you an overview on everything that is going to be happening the next day. I would read through it and then just tell Mat what we were going to do the next day! Kidding. I would read through the things I thought we might want to do and then we would decide together. But I did sometimes leave out the things I didn't want to do so he couldn't choose them. Hey, he should have read Carnival Capers if he really cared!

That night we did go and watch the comedian from Sunday night, Lowell Sanders, at midnight. He was funny again and we were glad we stayed up to watch his show! And that just about did it for our first fun day at sea. We didn't end up taking that many pictures while we were on the ship, so I'll post a few here on the blog that were fun.

Break From Our Regularly Scheduled Program...

2008-08-03T21:26:00.004-06:00

I'll return to the honeymoon stories tomorrow, but for tonight, I take you to our weekend! Yesterday, we finally celebrated Father's Day with my Dad. Since Father's Day was the week before our wedding, we did a postponed celebration yesterday. Better late than never!

We spent the day at my parent's house, starting out with a delcious pizza lunch, followed by cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. YUM! I sure do love their Vanilla Bean cheesecake. We also opened presents and of course, we all enjoyed watching Violet help Grandpa open his presents. She found the envelope from one of his cards to be the most interesting!

Then we all headed out to the neighborhood pool to take a dip. It was a beautiful day outside, which meant it wasn't really a beautiful day for me to be in the pool! It was too cold and I really only got in for a minute to see if Violet was going to float on her back. It was too cold for her too! But she did have a great time playing with her toys in the shallow part of the pool.

Today we headed over to Cory and Christina's house to meet their son, Kohlton Gregory, for the first time ever! They made hamburgers and we just sat around and got to hear stories about their first three weeks as parents. They are doing an amazing job and it is so fun to see them with their son (who was so cute!). We can't wait to see him grow!

Click on the picture above to see all our pictures from this weekend!

Back to work tomorrow for another full week of working fun! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Day Eight - Get on the Fun Ship!

2008-07-31T11:42:00.006-06:00

Mat on our balcony

We are halfway through the honeymoon and on to the cruise! We woke up Sunday morning and I just did not want to get out of bed. Grr... I really wanted to sleep in that nice, dark hotel room. But I knew I had to get up and get to the ship. So I put on my bride tanktop (hoping we might get a room upgrade or something!) and we headed back to the airport to return our car. So we hopped on the shuttle back to LAX and while we were on the shuttle, we saw a couple that had Carnival Pride luggage tags on their suitcases, so we decided to follow them to find out where the shuttle was leaving from. Our original idea was to take a cab, but we were worried that it might be a ton of money.

So we found the shuttle and they said they might be able to fit us on, but we had to wait. So as we were waiting, a different couple came up and asked us if we had bought our tickets for the shuttle yet or did we want to take a cab with them? So we decided to split a cab and it was quite pricey, but wasn't too bad since we split it. So we drop off our luggage and go to stand in the longest line in the whole world. Luckily, the couple from the cab didn't have luggage, so they had saved us a place in line and we didn't have to wait as long as we probably would have. After what felt like hours, we finally got our room keys and got on the ship!!

We did our life boat drill and this was the lovely picture we took while we were there! Our room worked out to be great. We decided to go with the "guaranteed balcony", which meant that we might get an obstructed view and we didn't get to pick the location of our room. But we ended up with a great location near the back and we thought it was nice and quiet the whole time. AND it was totally like three floors below the food or three floors above the food, depending on where we ate! Mat and I decided (maybe it was really me deciding) that we were going to take the stairs everywhere in the ship. We actually stuck to this pretty well, except a couple times here and there. So even if we were on the 2nd floor, we still would walk up 8 flights to get to the 10th floor. We figured that might even out all the eating we did. Maybe.

We finally pulled out of the port around 4:30 pm or so, we were off! We would sail for the entire evening and then the next two days before we pulled into our first port. So after we set sail, our cabin stewardess came by our room to introduce herself and see if we needed ice. She was very sweet and always did a great job turning down and making up our room. I think the next few hours we spent just walking around the boat trying to get a feel for where everything was. Our dinner seating was at 8:15, so we headed down a few minutes early and waited with a jillion other people who had the same idea.

Our waiter was awesome! His name was Manuel and he was just the nicest guy. His helper on the ship was polite, but not very friendly. He wasn't mean or anything, but just didn't smile hardly ever and I think wanted to throw Mat off the side of the ship when he would ask for more bread! We did have a table just for two. It was good because we could eat and leave and didn't have to worry about waiting for other people to order and that sort of thing. But it was not so good because we didn't really get to meet anyone since we sat alone. That night I was so excited because they had creme brulee and then it came out and it was not so good. So that was disappointing. After dinner, we headed to get a seat for the first show on the cruise and settled in to see some fabulous entertainment.

The show that night was not too bad, they just had two singers and a handful of dancers that did a few song and dance numbers. Then, they brought out a comedian, Lowell Sanders, who was actually pretty funny. He did an all ages show that night and performed the next day for an R rated crowd. That was just about it for our first day and night on the boat!

Day Seven

2008-07-30T17:01:00.004-06:00

Wow. This honeymoon wrap up is taking a lot longer than I had thought! I really did want to write about each day because the further we get away from the honeymoon the less we are going to remember!

So back to LA. The night before, Mat and I had gone to Ralph's (their local grocery store that we basically had to go to everyday for something!) and bought some breakfast to keep in our room. I bought some bagels and he got some yummy cinnamon rolls. So that was our breakfast of champions before heading out to Universal Studios.

Boy, was I excited to get to Universal Studios! I really love theme parks in general and throw in movie themes and that makes for a great place. We are so funny. I feel like you already know what we did right when we got through the gate. You guessed it! We got a map of the park, planned out our attack and got a locker to put up the camera and my purse when we weren't using it.

We headed to the new Simpsons Ride first because we figured it would fill up fast since it was one of the newer attractions. We barely had to wait ten minutes (or less) before we got on the ride! This day had started off perfectly! Then we just started hitting the rides that were close by and we really never had to wait for any of them! I was surprised since it was a Saturday that it wasn't busier. It did get busy after lunch, but by then we had done a lot of the rides and had moved on to the shows. The shows usually you have a specific time to see it, so we kind of timed everything out to just hop from one to another. Everything was fun and we had a great time! We decided to bring our smaller camera with us, so the pictures aren't that great. One fun thing for any of you Desperate Housewives fans - we drove down Wysteria Lane! As part of their backlot tour, we drove down the actual street they use for filming the show. Mat and I haven't ever watched the show, but it was still fun to see the houses. You can see all our pictures by clicking on the picture below.
That night we headed back to CityWalk for dinner at Karl Strauss Brewery. It was pretty good food. Then we headed back to the hotel, stopping on the way to spy on someone having a wedding at 9:30 at night! It was so strange, we were just walking back and it was in the courtyard of our hotel. We were way back in the shadows (geez, that sounds creepy), so no one saw us! But we didn't stay for long. We thought about going to the reception, but decided against that one! HA!

And that concludes week one of our honeymoon. Next stop, Long Beach on Day Eight to leave on our cruise!

Day Six

2008-07-29T22:05:00.004-06:00

Maybe I'm crazy, but I thought I would go right into day six! I know, two in one night! But much of Friday was driving, so I think I can wrap it up pretty fast for my loyal readers. So we got up for our last breakfast at the Embassy Suites and we totally got up too late. We got down in time to eat, but there was basically nothing left and about 100 people trying to get the last bagel. I think Mat pushed a girl for a crumb of bacon.

After we checked out, we headed straight to the outlet mall. I know! I have such an awesome husband who will go shopping with me. It was on the way to LA and we just figured we should check it out. We pulled in to the parking lot, but then pulled right back out after Tabitha directed us to a local donut shop. We really didn't get enough breakfast and donuts had been on our agenda all week! So we had some tasty donuts from a donut shop that smelled like poop. Then we headed right back to the outlet mall to begin our shopping adventure. Well, I tried on a lot of things, but didn't find one thing I wanted to buy. Mat, on the other hand, found a few shirts at his favorite - Banana Republic.

It was then time to head to the lovely city of Los Angeles! So we're driving, we're driving and then all of a sudden, Tabitha tells us that there is a delay and should she route us around the delay? Well, the delay was only 2 minutes, so we figured that was silly. Well, it kept going up and up and by then we were in the middle of it. So traffic in LA is awesome. We did get to our hotel eventually and we even saw the Hollywood sign on the way to it! We checked into our hotel (right next to Universal Studios) and then ventured out to Hollywood Boulevard. Here is our only picture of that adventure:

It was crazy and packed with people, but we did see it and now Mat never has to go back! After that we headed right back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. Since we were so close to Citywalk, we decided to eat there so we didn't have to navigate the streets of LA. We just walked right over and went straight to Cafe Tu Tu Tango - a restaurant that I loved from my visit to Hollywood over 8 years ago! It's a fun little place where you get several appetizers instead of one big meal. My favorite!

And that was about it for day six. Crazy, huh? Well, be on the lookout for day seven. It's going to be a real doozy!

Day Five

2008-07-29T21:02:00.003-06:00

Day five! We started out with a free breakfast - just the way we like our breakfasts! If I haven't already said so, you really need to be staying at Embassy Suites if you can when you travel. They are so nice! Not only do they have a free hot breakfast, they also have a little happy hour with not very good drinks. Since it was our last day in San Diego, we figured we ought to hit the beach. So we drove over the Coronado Bridge to Coronado Island (which I don't think is an actual island) and stopped to play in the water.
As you can see from the picture below, I thought it was freezing. But it was still fun walking on the beach!
I decided that we needed one picture of our feet in the sand, but I wanted to go to the sand where it was nice and fluffy. It was 8000 degrees! Seriously, I couldn't believe how warm the sand was. So we snapped a quick picture before darting back to the cooler patch.
After Coronado, we decided that we wanted to check out the rest of Balboa Park. For everyone who doesn't know, Balboa Park is this big park in the middle of San Diego that contains the San Diego Zoo, as well as multiple other museums and a botanical garden. A botanical garden that was free and we wanted to go and it was closed on Thursdays! So we took a picture of the outside:
We did end up going to a musuem in Balboa Park, but didn't end up taking any pictures there. It was the San Diego Natural History Museum and was pretty interesting. There were a lot of fossils and there were these pretty cool pictures in the Aerial Portraits of the American West exhibit. All the pictures were taken by John Shelton and were taken out of a place, so they really showed the land. You should go to the link to see some examples of his photography.

After the museum, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up before our last dinner in San Diego. We decided we wanted Italian, so we chose Buca di Beppo and were disappointed when we found out it was a huge chain restaurant. At least we don't have them in Boise, so it was new to us. Mat and I just usually would rather go to a restaurant that is local to the area. It was pretty good and there was way too much food for us both. Then we headed back to the hotel to get some good old fashioned sleep before we headed out to Los Angeles the next day!

(Click on the first picture for all our pictures from Day Five!)

Day Four

2008-07-28T21:57:00.004-06:00

So where were we...ah yes! We left off at Wednesday morning of the first week of our lovely honeymoon! This was the first day we got up for the free breakfast at the Embassy Suites because we decided to sleep in the first day we were there. We knew we were headed to the San Diego Zoo, so we got up in time to get ourselves some breakfast before we headed out to Balboa Park. Tabitha was an excellent guide to get us to the zoo and we definitely got there early enough that there were not that many people at the zoo.

After we bought our tickets, we decided we were heading straight to the panda. We had read in our Frommer's San Diego guide that the lines were often very long at the panda exhibit and that you should get there early in the morning. So we got our map and walked what seemed like a million miles to the panda. We walked past a ton of monkeys and we kept saying "don't look at the monkeys" and laughing because we really were focused on our mission. So we got to the panda and they were sleeping. There was no line, but panda butt isn't the most exciting thing in the world to see. When we did try to go back later, the line was so long, I'm sure we would have waited for quite a long time. I'm glad we did go when we did even though they were sleeping.

(This is a flamingo baby!)
I think we at least attempted to see every animal in the San Diego Zoo. Some of them were asleep, some were feeding behind the scenes, but we really hit the pavement and tried to get to every animal. I think our favorite was the hippo, but we did love the elephants and the giraffes too. They were really all fun to see and we had a great day at the zoo. It was a long day and as the day went on, they just got busier and we got more tired! I think we headed home around 5:30 to take showers and head out to dinner.

We did hit the happy hour at Embassy Suites again because who would really give up free cocktails? This night we decided to go with margaritas because we had decided we wanted Mexican for dinner. (they weren't very good and I don't think either of us finished ours!) The great thing about Tabitha is that you could tell her what you wanted to have for dinner and she would give you a nice list with the closest restaurants/gas stations/parks, etc. that you were interested in. We picked out 4 or 5 mexican places in the gaslamp district and walked by them all before deciding on one. So we sit down and start in on chips and salsa - YUM! Then, they sit this couple right next to us and literally, right next to us, who were on their first date. So of course, they are talking up a storm trying not to have that awkward silence, but Mat and I didn't want to compete, so we just didn't talk for the next hour or so! It was seriously the strangest thing to feel like I was a part of their first date! And FYI, I don't think there will be a second. But we did have another great day in San Diego and if you want to check out all the zoo pictures, just click on the cute little giraffe!

Day Three

2008-07-26T16:08:00.005-06:00

Day 3 started out my favorite way - LATE! We decided to sleep in and take our time to get out and go sightseeing. Way back in March I had bought a Frommer's San Diego guide and we've been flipping through it since then. One of the things we wanted to see was the beaches in La Jolla because we've heard they were pretty nice. In the guide, there was a particular beach in La Jolla called Children's Pool that was supposed to have quite a few sea lions just hanging around, so we decided to try to find that. Well, we didn't. The map in the guide wasn't very helpful because it only had a few streets on it and frankly, Tabitha was no help either. We did find a beach and went to put our feet in, but it was chilly and overcast, so not the best beach weather. So we decided to head to Torrey Pines State Park to check that out.

Torrey Pines State Park was this park on the beach where these very rare pine trees grow. They have 8 miles of trails and a beach. We decided to do one of the easy hikes because we both were wearing our flip flops. It was fun to take some pictures and to see the odd little pine trees. We didn't end up going to the beach because we decided we wanted to try to see a movie and we both wanted to get back to the hotel to clean up if we could.

Click on the Torrey Pine Tree for more pictures!

We ended up deciding on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Oh geez. We ultimately both enjoyed the movie because it was an Indiana Jones movie, but man, was that story a bad one! We did have some delicious popcorn to tide us over until dinner! Because of the timing with the movie, I wasn't able to shower before the movie, so we walked back to the hotel so I could get ready.

Once I was ready, we headed down to our free cocktail hour at Embassy Suites! It was a little disappointing because the wine they had was really pretty bad, but hey, they were free glasses! After that, we headed to Little Italy, which was again within walking distance. We had dinner at this delicious Italian restaurant called Filippi's. I've been there with Joy before when she lived in San Diego, so I wanted to bring Mat there to try it out! If you are ever in San Diego, you have to check it out.

Day Four to come soon!

Day Two

2008-07-24T12:51:00.005-06:00

Sea World Day!!

This might possibly have been our favorite day in San Diego. We knew Sea World opened at 9 because we drove by the night before to check on times, so we tried to get to breakfast by 8ish. Mat and I swore they said there was a buffet or you could order off a menu, but there was no buffet! So we ordered off the menu and got ourselves all checked out and packed into the car. We were close to Sea World, maybe only a two minute drive, so it was super easy and we just pulled right in to a pretty good parking space. So we were so excited and almost running up to the gate and we turn the corner right into a huge line of people! I think this might have been the longest line we stood in all day, well, maybe lunch was long too!

Eventually we got our tickets and got our little park map and being the dorks that we are, we sat down to plan out when we were going to each show and what rides we were going on and in what order. I love my husband! Then we got a locker so we could store our camera and my purse when we didn't need them. Finally, we headed to our first ride, which was a water ride called Journey to Atlantis. It was pretty fun! The rest of our day was spent going to the shows - there was a dolphin show, Clyde and Seamore's (the sea lions) show, Shamu (of course), an amazing pet show and some not very good Cirque de Soleil knockoff. We also stopped to look at the arctic animals, sharks, manatees, sea lions and penguins. There was so much to see and I really think we covered almost everything! If you have never been to Sea World, you have to go sometime! If you have been before, you need to go again! It was a seriously great day, but it wasn't over yet!

We were off to the hotel we would stay in the rest of the time in San Diego, which was downtown, close to the Gaslamp District - Embassy Suites. Tabitha got us there in one piece and our check in was easy. We both got cleaned up and then we decided to walk downtown to get us something to eat! So we walked around a bit and found this bar and grill with outdoor seating, so we decided it was the place for us. We both had pizza and beers and it was heavenly! Nothing like a cold beer after you have been outside all day in the sun.

So Day Two was a complete success! I've included a few pictures of Sea World, but click on the picture of the donkey if you want to see all of day two's pictures!

We're Back!

2008-07-22T21:39:00.005-06:00

The honeymoon is officially over! We had such a good time and loved every minute of it. I think we were both ready to come home though when it was finally over. Instead of trying to recap everything in one blog, I thought I would just write about one day at a time!

So here goes...Day 1!

Our first day started not too early - we had to be at the airport around 9:30, so we just decided to treat ourselves to some delicious McDonald's while we waited to board our plane:

We got to Los Angeles around 12:30, so we headed straight to pick up our car and then waited in our first of many lines while we were on vacation. We got our car and Tabitha (our personal navigator in the form of a GPS) and had her direct us to the 1. We were heading down to San Diego, so we decided it would be fun to take the coastal route. It was not that much fun. It took us several hours to get to San Diego and most of it was going through tiny towns that had a million stoplights. Not really what we had in mind, but we at least tried to make it fun! We got to our hotel in San Diego - a Holiday Inn right by Sea World. It was nice and clean and they were crazy about me since I was a rewards member. We got two free breakfasts and they "upgraded" our room.

It was time for dinner and we wanted some Mexican! So we asked Tabitha and she gave us a million Mexican restaurants, so we drove by a couple and ended up in Old Town:

What a fun place! There were all kinds of Mexican restaurants so we were in heaven. We walked around some and took some pictures:

It was definitely time to eat! We decided on one of the places to eat and now I can't even remember the name, but it was definitely not the best Mexican I have ever had. I think it was more about the atmosphere really! So we headed back to the hotel and I think we were asleep by 11:00! We had a big day in store for us because we were heading to Sea World on Day 2!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T17:12:00.003-06:00

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July! Mat and I are dogsitting tonight. He has to work tomorrow, so we'll probably just watch a movie and call it a night. We have to rest up for the honeymoon anyway!

Honeymoon, you are SO close!

2008-07-01T16:30:00.005-06:00

Last night Mat and I went through a whole bunch of stuff on the internet about our cruise and we were so excited! I think we were most excited about the food, but that is one of our favorite activities by far so I'm not too surprised. We are so prepared to sail away it isn't even funny. The first half of our trip in San Diego is going to be great fun. I'm really looking forward to the zoo and Sea World and Universal Studios! I think more than anything, I'm looking forward to seeing Mat enjoy these places. We might try to go to a winery or two, but we're just going to play it by ear and see what happens.

Tonight we'll finish up some work in the yard (at least I hope finish!). I should probably start packing now because I know it is going to take me forever to figure out what I'm taking. Mat said he was just going to take all the clothes he owns. Boys have it so easy! I'm for sure going to come up with a checklist for packing. I think I make at least one list everyday. Sometimes it is work stuff, sometimes housework, sometimes a grocery list, but I sure do love them.

Some very exciting news - we got a railing for our front steps! I know, I know, it is almost too much excitement to take. I think it looks pretty good and we had to have it in order to continue our insurance policy. Here's a beautiful picture (though not taken with our new fabulous camera that we'll be taking on our honeymoon and we'll soon have the best pictures ever):

You can see our new roof too! I think I promised to put that picture up and I know you all just couldn't wait for me to post a picture. It was starting to get dark while I took it, but you get the idea.

Mat's getting his hair cut tonight and I got mine cut last night. We are going to be the cutest little honeymooners there ever were!

Our Wonderful Wedding

2008-06-30T17:04:00.004-06:00

So I don't have pictures to share yet, but I want to share the details of our wedding day and everyone can look forward to pictures later!

Saturday morning I woke up and ate some delicious cinnamon rolls with my parents (my request for breakfast!). Family started arriving soon after that to help with the setup of the barn. We went down to the barn to start decorating and bringing in everything. We weren't there too long before Joy, Chad and Tal showed up to pitch in. Everyone worked on something - it was so great! My aunts worked together to make tulle bows for the posts and Paige helped me to wrap ribbon around the place. My uncles and my dad strategically placed all of our favors (which were tiny pots with potted flowers or seed packets for the out of town guests) on the railings. It was so great to have everyone there to help!

Jenny (Mat's sister) was going to be our onsite coordinator and she was a lifesaver! She showed up at noon to help get things going with the rental company and she took charge so we could go have some lunch and get cleaned up for the wedding. While I was at the barn, Mat was running around with Cory getting all of the beverages and ice for the reception. So I went to my parents house and had lunch with my bridesmaids - Turkey, Pesto and Anaheim Pepper sandwich. YUM. Mat was then on duty at the barn (we decided not to see each other at all until I was walking down the aisle) and he stayed for all the other people to drop things off - the cake, flowers, etc. They did such an awesome job and it was so nice to know everything was taken care of and I could get ready without worrying.

Renee showed up to do my hair and of course, it turned out perfect! We were glad we did a practice run, but I think we really felt like it turned out better this time around. Our photographer, Cristi Dame, showed up and started taking pictures as I put on my makeup. I hadn't felt nervous all day, but it was time to put on my makeup and I'm not the best at makeup, so I was nervous about that and that I was running out of time. I didn't want to be late. I kept calling Mat to make sure he was going to come take a shower and get ready on time! So I got my makeup on and it looked pretty good! So I put on my dress and shoes and I was ready to go! By then, I was getting totally nervous!

We drove down to the barn and I got safely inside before Mat showed up. I ended up standing in a storage room that was pretty hot (no a/c) and there was really no place to stand, so we all just kind of huddled in one spot of the room! It was funny to see us all in there. All of the guests were standing in the shade until the last possible minute since we didn't have any shade over the chairs. Jenny was helping to coordinate everyone and got everyone seated and then the moms were seated. I think it was then I realized that I forgot my "something borrowed, something blue, something old and something new". So my mom gave me her ring with a blue stone that was borrowed and my dress was new and I think we decided the ring was old too.

Then it was time for the bridesmaids and then me to walk down the aisle. My dad and I started down the ramp and I looked up and saw Mat and started crying! So my dad said he was going to tell me a joke. I'll never forget it! He said, "Why did the coyote cross the road?" and then I said, "Yes." He started laughing and said it wasn't really a joke. It was good enough to get me to stop crying. As I got closer, I saw Mat and he looked amazing. So we started the ceremony and I am so glad it was not very long because it was hot! Someone said it ended up being over 100 that day! It was perfect and I know it really meant a lot to both of us since we worked on everything that was said together.

After that, the reception started and Mat and I went to take some pictures. Little did we know that we were going to spend the majority of our evening taking pictures together! I wish we would have done some before, but at the same time, I am happy we didn't see each other before and I know neither of us will forget that moment when we saw each other! The reception was so perfect! We had the best food and cake there ever was! And we actually got to eat. We did the garter toss and the bouquet toss. We cut cake and didn't shove it in each other's mouths! Mat and I had our first dance to Marc Broussard's The Beauty of Who You Are. My Dad and I danced to Sarah McLachlan's Rainbow Connection. Both seemed really long! It was so fun though. Cory (Best Man) gave a sweet toast and my sister (Matron of Honor) gave a toast that I struggled to not cry through! I loved the entire night. I wouldn't change it for the world. And I wouldn't change my wonderful husband for anything. I'm really the luckiest woman in the entire world!

Where to Begin?

2008-06-26T16:34:00.004-06:00

I've been putting off a recap of the wedding all week because I don't know if I can even put into words how amazing it was! I don't think I could have imagined how wonderful everything would be and how perfect it turned out.

It all started on Wednesday night around 11:45 pm when one of my bridesmaids and oldest friends, Joy, arrived in Boise! We whisked her home and Joy and stayed up talking for too long before we both decided it was time for bed!

Thursday morning Joy and I got up and got ready and headed out to lunch right downtown. We both had tasty sandwiches! We went to a couple jewelry stores looking for a necklace before we decided to hit the bead shop and I just made a necklace and earrings to wear on the big day. They turned out super cute and all for $10! It was then time for us to head out to Eagle for our manicures and pedicures with my mom and sister. Now this is the kind of pampering I could go for every day! We all went with a french manicure and I chose a french pedicure, my mom went pink on her toes and my sister and Joy went red on their toes. We really had the cutest hands and feet in the whole state.

Joy and I headed home and on the way stopped to pick up 5 large pizzas from the tastiest pizza place in Boise, Casanova. I'm hungry just thinking about it! We got home and waited for our guests to arrive. Mat and I decided that we wanted to have our friends over for a bachelor/bachelorette party and just to hang out. It was so much fun! We had pizza, lots of people came over, there was karaoke and picture taking and little ones. It was a great night and got even better when we picked up Joy's husband at the airport later that night. Everyone else had headed home, so the four of us were forced, I mean, GOT to play Loaded Questions. We also played some Scene It Squabble, but stopped on account of us all being old.

Friday was my bridal shower! My sister and mom threw me a shower and it was so much fun! They seriously thought of every single thing and everyone said it was the best shower they had ever been in. It had a kitchen them, so the centerpieces on the tables were fresh herbs (that Mat and I got to take home and plant later) and they were sitting in our new French Onion Soup Bowls! How cute is that? So cute. Then, all the guests had wine (4 kinds to taste) along with cheese, some delicious sandwich loaf things, and some crackers and bread. The cheese was so much fun to taste all the different kinds and they were so delicious. We played a couple different games - one was bingo, where most of the slots were filled in, but the guests had to fill in what they thought I might be getting as gifts at the shower. Paige (my second cousin?) won that one and was so excited to win a prize. The other game was way harder than I thought. It was called "Something Spicy" and everyone had to correctly identify spices by just smelling them! I thought it would be so easy and I missed quite a few. I loved it and everyone else did too! Sarah won that one - she is the spice queen. Then I opened my gifts and I got so many great things! One of the best gifts was a recipe book with recipes from friends and family that had all contributed their favorite recipes. I love it so much and so does Mat! We were looking through it together and was so excited to have some of his family's favorite recipes. The dessert was Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory - my favorite! I could eat a whole cheesecake. Not all at once. It is so hard to say how much the shower meant to me and how I noticed every single detail. I just hope my sister and my mom could see from how happy I was how much I loved every minute.

After the shower, we headed to the barn for a very quick rehearsal. It was hot! So we did a run through and then all headed to the rehearsal dinner, which was at the cutest park in Boise. The rehearsal dinner was thrown by Mat's mom and Nick, along with the help of her friends. They thought of everything! Not only was the food awesome, they had bought little toys and waterguns for the kids to play with. Those were a huge hit! I think we were all about ready to fall asleep by the end of the evening though, that was a long day!

I went home to get all my things and then Mat drove me out to my parents where I stayed the night before the wedding. We all talked for a few minutes at my parents house and then Mat left to head home. I did a little reading and then went to sleep. Now for the wedding day, you'll have to tune in when I have time to recap the whole day!

Mr. and Mrs.!!

2008-06-24T14:28:00.002-06:00

It's official! Mat and I are an old, married couple! We had the best day ever and can't begin to thank everyone who were a part of our special day. I hope to do a really good recap soon after I catch up at home and work. We had a wonderful day and we can't wait for the honeymoon! 11 days until we leave...

2 Days!

2008-06-18T22:40:00.003-06:00

It's so late on Wednesday, that I can actually say there are only two days until our wedding! I can't believe that it is already here. I thought it would never get here and we would just plan this thing forever, but now only two days!

Mat and I are heading to the airport in about 10 minutes and the festivities will officially begin as our first guest arrives - my bridesmaid Joy! We're so excited for her to arrive and let this wedding weekend begin!

Tomorrow we plan to just run a few last minute errands before Joy and I head to meet my mom and sister for our manicures and pedicures. Then, we're having all our friends over to see our house (most for the first time) and have pizza and beer. We just can't wait. Everyone else should be arriving by Friday! Friday is also my bridal shower and I honestly can't wait! My sister (Maid of Honor) and my Mom are hosting the shower and I know it will be so fun and perfect. Friday night we'll head to our rehearsal and then the rehearsal dinner. Mat's mom has been working so hard to get everything ready for the rehearsal dinner and I can't wait for that too!

Saturday is the big day! The weather is supposed to be perfect and I know everything else will be too. I'm not nervous at all! I just honestly can't wait to marry the love of my life. I am so excited! I know we'll be super busy from here on out, so next time I blog, I'll be a married woman for SURE! Miss everyone who couldn't be here - Deana and Chi and all my other readers who can't be here. XOXOXO I'll have lots of pictures and stories to share. Wish us luck!

Few and Far Between...

2008-06-12T15:21:00.003-06:00

I don't think there will be many posts in the next few days as Mat and I start to finalize everything possible for the wedding. It really is amazing how much we have to do for our wedding! We are so excited and can't wait to share the day with everyone. We have friends and family that start arriving on Wednesday, so we are getting so close!

This weekend we are going to try to get all those last minute details taken care of and then we'll have a couple days to clean house before people get to town. That's the plan anyway! We are looking forward to every part of the weekend and I am just so appreciative of everything everyone has done for us. It means so much and we just are so happy!

My conference ended today, so now I have a few more days to work and then I'll be off until after the wedding. EEK! I guess I better get some things done at work so I can relax and enjoy our wedding weekend!

Tonight

2008-06-05T17:20:00.003-06:00

Tonight Mat and I are taking the night off from wedding planning! We are going to watch a couple tv shows and just enjoy sitting on the couch with our two kitties. Then we'll hit the ground running again tomorrow afternoon. We're really getting somewhere with the planning and I am feeling like we can really get everything ready that needs to be ready by June 21!

Mat is getting his official hair cut tonight! I can't wait to see what he ends up with. I know he'll look good no matter what, but he hadn't really decided on how he wanted it to look. I get my hair cut on Saturday. That must mean we are REALLY close to the wedding. Two weeks from Saturday! I'll try to keep up with the blog as much as possible, but I'm sure all my dedicated readers will understand what we're doing.

I'm ready to head home for the night. Hope everyone has a nice evening and gets to relax like I am going to do!

4 Wonderful Years Together

2008-06-04T16:57:00.003-06:00

On this day in 2004, Mat and I met for the very first time. We've been together ever since and so we have always celebrated this day as our anniversary. This year is a little different because in almost two weeks, we are creating our official wedding anniversary and we'll have to start all over at the beginning!

I am so thankful that we met that day and that he became a part of my life. I think sometimes I have to pinch myself and remember that it isn't a dream, that he really is that wonderful and special. I never thought that I could have found someone more perfect for me, someone that makes me laugh every single day and makes me feel like I'm priceless in every way. I know some people say that after you've been with someone for awhile, you lose the butterflies and magic from when you first meet. I still count down to when I can see him next and when he'll hug and kiss me. I am the luckiest girl in the world and I can't wait to be Mat's wife.

Here's to our first 4 years together and here's to our next 80 years! Love you Mat!

Painting, Check!

2008-05-28T11:12:00.003-06:00

So we finished the painting of our guest bedroom last night. It was more work than the primer, but I think it looks pretty nice. Looking at it this morning in the day, I think we'll have a few touch ups to do, but overall I think we did a great job! The color is fun and I think will really brighten that room up. It is weird seeing it a color though, I'm just so used to plain old boring room.

Tonight we'll work on pulling out the carpet. I think this is going to be a pain. Not really the carpet, but the mat is stapled down and we'll have to remove all the staples. I just hope the floors aren't horrible or something. I guess we can always buy a rug! Then we just need to nail up the baseboards and we'll be finished. I think maybe we might be done by the weekend, but it may be next week. Either way, I'm super excited to be really making some progress on the room.

I think Mat and I are both feeling the pressure of a million things we need to do in the next few weeks. It is hard to look at it and know we will get everything done, but I just know we will. And if something doesn't get done, no one will really know but us! I just wish I didn't have two conferences in the next two weeks! That would make things a lot easier for me. Then I could take a day or two off work and get some things accomplished. I guess I just better get my butt in gear and get some stuff done and maybe I can at least leave early on Friday.

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-26T22:07:00.003-06:00

Whoosh. That was one good, long, busy weekend. Friday started off the weekend when I got to leave work early, which is always a fun treat! So we went to the gym and were home at a normal time for dinner. I did some wedding stuff and we watched the Grey's Anatomy season finale.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early to go shopping and run wedding errands with my mom. We had such a great day, but man, were we tired when we finally got home at 7 that night. My feet were tired and I probably could have fallen asleep at 9! I did make it through Top Chef before my little eyes told me it was time to go to bed.

Sunday I got up and did our grocery shopping and cleaning for the week, while Mat and his dad finished the roof. Well, technically they finished today, but it is now completely finished!! I know they are so happy and I'll be happy to have my cleaning and shopping partner back. After I got home from the store, I put together some food to take over to my parents for dinner. We had some delicious food for dinner with them and did some fun wedding things. We also got our wedding gift from my parents early and it was our pots and pans!! We were so excited and were totally surprised. We can't wait to use them and I know we'll just love them to pieces. We even had time for a game of hand and foot and my mom and stomped the boys this time around. It was nice to play a game and actually relax for a few minutes with them.

Today started off nice and early again. Mat and I tackled the organizing of our garage. It was so great to get that done. We had a few boxes that hadn't been totally unpacked from the move and it was hard to walk in there. Now, we can go out and wrap presents at our little present wrapping station and we have the china cabinet set up with books and things that won't fit in our house. It looked really nice until we moved everything out of our guest bedroom into the garage! But that is only temporary while we paint!

We might be officially crazy, but we decided that we do want to paint the guest bedroom and pull up the carpet. We might hate ourselves for doing it so close to the wedding, but it isn't that big of a room. We actually got it all taped off and even primed tonight. So (fingers crossed) it will be all painted tomorrow night! It didn't take too long at all to get it all ready. I think it is going to look so great once we get it all finished.

Sometimes Mat and I don't use our thinking caps. We bought some molding to put up after we pull out the carpet to match the rest of the house. For some reason, the guest bedroom has no molding. It is seriously the lamest of all rooms. Anyway, we bought the molding in four pieces for the four walls. One of the walls is about 12 feet long and so we had this super long molding and finally figured out how to get it in the car. We start home and SNAP! The long molding just snapped in half and went flying off! I'm not sure why we didn't think about that happening, but it did. So now we have to go back and get a new one and have to pay for it. Stupid us.

So nonstop fun for us this weekend! This week we'll be painting and pulling up carpet. This weekend I leave to go to a conference for a few days. We need to still do lots of wedding related items this week, so I know we'll be super busy. I think I'm headed off to sleep. Sleep is good.

Gulp.

2008-05-22T13:54:00.003-06:00

Now it is less than one month until our big day! Yikes. I am really looking forward to seeing all of our friends and family that are coming into town. I wish we could have a week to spend time with everyone. It will be such a great weekend!

This weekend, however, does not look like much fun. Mat and his dad are going to finish the garage roof, while I am going to be working on organizing our garage. Our garage has become a bit of a home to every single box we didn't all the way unpack. So there are boxes everywhere, opened and not unpacked. Then we have a million pounds of wrapping supplies. Tissue paper, ribbons, boxes, etc. and there is no rhyme or reason to any of it. So I'll try to work on that and hope that it isn't freezing. This morning it was in the 40s and I really thought we were past that! It is supposed to be cool and rainy (Spring returns) all through the weekend. Luckily it's Memorial Day weekend so I have a three day weekend!

Saturday will be fun lots of fun because I get to spend it shopping with my mom! We're going to hit all kinds of fun stores to get things ready for the wedding. So at least it won't be all garage organizing this weekend. I guess I still have one more work day to make it through until I get to the weekend!

One Month Until the Big Day!

2008-05-21T09:53:00.004-06:00

I can't even believe that one month from today I'll be a married woman. I am seriously so excited that I might burst! Plans are coming along nicely, it just seems like there is more than enough to do on our plates.

Last weekend we had a very busy weekend. It started with our night out to see Floater. We had a great time and went to bed late (crazy for us on a Friday night!). Saturday I had a heck of a time fiddling with our borrowed mower and couldn't get it to start, so I just bought a new mower. I usually find that buying new things solves problems fairly easily. But I really did buy a new mower! It is a nice electric mower that plugs in and we really like it. The other mower wasn't ours and we had plans to buy a new one, so I just did it. I did mow the lawn and let's just say, I'm not the best mower. But at least I tried and I'll get better.

That afternoon, we went to our friend Alana's graduation party. She graduated with her Master's degree from BSU in Counseling (I'm not sure what the exact degree was!). It was a great day at her parent's house. We had a fun time playing lawn games and just lounging in the shade. And eating! There was lots of eating and drinking. We ended up the evening at Alana's to play some Mario Party and Scattergories and then we called it a night.

Sunday morning was when we planted our seeds for the garden. We'll find out in a few days whether we'll be getting anything from them. Then we headed to clean my work and met my parents downtown for the Idaho Green Expo. This was the first year of the Green Expo and was a pretty cool event. They had all kinds of exhibitors with green ways of doing things - there were cloth diapers, organic food, sustainable furniture, organic pest control, etc. You name it, they probably had it there. So that was fun and then we had a little lunch together.

That night we drove to Twin Falls and stayed in a hotel there so I could do a site visit in the morning for work. I checked out a new hotel and an event center that was recently opened to see if it would work for any of our events. After I did those site visits we drove to Blackfoot for Mat's Great Grandma's funeral. It was a beautiful service and her niece gave a wonderful speech about some of the great memories of her life. It was a sad day, but also there was relief to know that she was in a better place and she isn't suffering any longer.

We drove home Monday night and basically collapsed into bed. I think my allergies are getting the best of me these last few days and my head is not having fun. So yesterday I just kind got through until I could go to sleep again! I feel much better today and I know I'll just keep getting better as the week goes by.

Tick Tock

2008-05-16T09:14:00.002-06:00

Time seems to be running out quickly! Mat and I went through our calendar the other night to schedule times to work on certain things and now there are only 36 days until the wedding! They are going to be 36 busy days, but it will be worth it in the end. And we'll relax when we get to the reception!

Last night we skipped our evening workout (yes, sometimes we have been working out 2x a day - UGH) and worked on our garden. Or I guess I should say what will be a garden, eventually. The girl that lived in the house before us had a small garden, but not much in it. So we decided to expand it a tiny bit. So all we did last night was Mat shoveled out the outline of the dirt, while I acted like I was helping, but I wasn't doing a whole lot. I think we have the outline now, so the next step will be to put in some turkey poop and mix it with the soil. Then we'll also have to plant our seeds. I think we'll do that this weekend for sure. The seeds need to start soon. We're going to start them inside and then when they get big enough, we'll transfer them outside. I think we're going to plant several peppers, some herbs and tomatoes. Next year we'll add more and then even more the next year! Fun, huh? It's a lot of work!

Tonight we are going to see Floater, one of Mat's favorite bands. They played a show last night, but we decided that we could really only afford one show, so we picked tonight since they are playing an acoustic show. I think it will be fun and I'm looking forward to a night away from housework and wedding planning!

It's Like Christmas!

2008-05-14T17:11:00.004-06:00

We have a tiny kitchen at work and we keep some bowls, coffee mugs, silverware on hand for lunches and that sort of thing. Yesterday I was explaining to my co-worker about how I had one particular spoon that I enjoyed using to eat my yogurt and how I always felt happy when I got to use that spoon. You see, it isn't like the others. I think someone must have brought it from home and it got mixed in with our silverware, but we've had it for months now. So I used it yesterday, someone ran the dishwasher and when I went to get a spoon today, there she was, all shiny and ready for me to use again. Two days in a row!

In bigger, more important news - Happy Birthday MOM! I hope you have had a wonderful day and are enjoying yourself. I hope you like the really expensive presents I had shipped to your house. I sure hope they have arrived by now...

Race for the Cure and Mother's Day

2008-05-12T21:10:00.002-06:00

What a great weekend! It all started on Saturday morning when Mat and I joined his mom, Jamie, and her husband, Nick, and Sherry from Jamie's work for a quick breakfast before we headed to the Race for the Cure. Mat's mom is a breast cancer survivor and we were so excited to get to share this day with her. It was truly amazing. There were so many people there (they said there were 14,000 last year) and everyone was wearing their shirts and had pinned on who they were racing for on the back of their shirts.

The race started at 9:15 am and we were in the front of the pack, but didn't end up even close to winning! It was just a fun walk. There were people on the sidelines cheering us on and we just had a great walk with our team the "Udder Walkers". Jamie got a medal and a flower when she finished the race. Then we explored the booths to see what they had and then it was time for the Survivor parade. I wish I would have brought my camera so I could post some of the pictures. Then all the Survivors gathered together for a picture. It's crazy to see how many there were and how breast cancer is in so many people's lives.

That evening we spent with my mom and dad, Jennifer, Eric and Violet. We made dinner for my mom for Mother's Day/Birthday and it was delicious! Mat made chicken and shrimp on the grill, I made a baked goat cheese appetizer, my sister and Eric made a yummy corn, black bean, pepper and avocado salad and tasty coconut rice. Then to top it off we had cake and ice cream. YUM. We did presents and Violet was excited to get to help Grandma open her presents. She is growing so fast, I just can't believe it!

Yesterday, Mat and I spent some time with his Grandma and Mom for Mother's Day, then we headed out to my parents house for burgers and to spend some time with my mom again. We did have some wedding business to take care of too!

The ARGH news was that we got home last night and went to watch the Survivor season finale and it hadn't recorded! Beerwagon recorded something else and I was about to give him up for adoption. Luckily, we can download it off Amazon unbox and it only costs 1.99, so we plan to do that later this week. A little annoying, but at least we aren't going to miss it. Now we just have to avoid any kind of web sites that might give away the winner.

So that was our weekend! It was busy, but so great overall. Now only five weekends separate Mat and I from becoming husband and wife! I think I can't get any more excited and then I do. We went to look at wedding bands for Mat and found a couple he likes. We're going to keep looking, but better find something soon.

Hope all the Mothers out there had a great day yesterday!

A Little Bit of Bridezilla

2008-05-08T08:57:00.003-06:00

I think the whole theory is right about Bridezilla coming out as you get closer to the wedding. In this case, my Bridezilla reared her ugly head with the DJ. It wasn't that bad, but I did get frustrated. I felt like I did when we met with this local company who sets up receptions and ceremonies - like they were telling me how our wedding should go and I didn't get much say in it.

So the guy shows up and is what Mat and I had feared - an over the top, really animated DJ Guy. He was nice, but just so energetic that it kind of makes us sick. (After he left, Mat even asked if I thought he snorted some coke right before he came in our house!) So we sit down and start going through our ceremony details. One of things Mat and I had talked about the previous evening was how everything was going to happen, who was walking when, etc. But over the top, really animated DJ Guy really, really, really wanted to talk us out of playing certain music and how people were coming in, etc. That's where I was annoyed. Seriously dude, I don't see why you care so much. And why do we have to do the exact same ceremony as every single other person who gets married in Boise? So maybe our vision is different, but there is nothing wrong with that. So that's where I got irritated and just told him that I respected his opinion, but that Mat and I had talked through the ceremony and reception and we knew how we would like the evening to go.

The rest of the conversation went fairly well, but I know he was disappointed when we opted out of the "Grand Cake Cutting Theme" (why can't we just cut the cake without really loud wedding bells?). We're excited about how everything is going to go and it seems like it is all starting to fall into place.

After over the top, really animated DJ Guy left, we got to pick more dandelions! I will conquer you dandelions.

Songs, Songs and More Songs

2008-05-07T08:51:00.005-06:00

Tonight we meet with our DJ to go over our ceremony and reception choices for songs. I have a feeling he is going to be disappointed in us. Not only did we pick most of our songs, nowhere on our list is the YMCA, Chicken Dance, I Will Always Love You, etc. When I talked to him on the phone, he said that we could pick out specific songs to play, but that he will let us know if he thinks a song won't win the crowd or something like that. So tonight should be interesting, but ultimately it is our wedding reception, so we'll just have to be strong and stick up for our songs!

After we got into bed, we were talking about how maybe I should do some of my impressions for the wedding reception. Over the years, I've mastered some really great impressions. So I did my most famous three: Jerry Seinfeld, Arnold Schwarznegger and Yoda, but then I couldn't think of a single other impression. Mat and I just stared at each other blankly, but nothing was coming to either one of us. So we turned off the lights and a few minutes later one popped into my head and I had to start laughing because it is one of my favorites, inspired from a Saturday Night Live sketch, when Horatio Sanz plays Aaron Neville. In the end, I think we decided to save my impressions for another occasion. Preferably when no one is around but Mat.

Edited to add:
I forgot until just now about how Mat suggested that I do my Jeff Probst impression. And then I told him that just repeating the same thing that Jiffy says every week isn't exactly an impression. But I am always spot on.

Reason #83529 I Love Mat

2008-05-06T09:14:00.001-06:00

He lets me yell at him when he gets a sunburn.

Dandelions, I Curse YOU...Part 2

2008-05-04T22:47:00.003-06:00

Dear Dandelions,
Why do you taunt me with your ways? Your yellow petals haunt me in my dreams. I fear our entire yard will turn into the fuzzy dandelions and you all will laugh at me. If there is a hell, it must be filled with dandelions that grow 20 times faster than normal dandelions.

Is it possible that you could try to grow a shorter root? Could you try not to reproduce so quickly? Why do you silently mock me as every inch of my body aches with pulling you out of the ground with all my might, only to turn around and see that 3 more have sprung up in your place?

Let me tell you something. We will conquer you. Even if we have to quit our jobs.
Love, Kristin and Mat

50 Days!

2008-05-02T08:58:00.003-06:00

Just 50 short days until Mat and I are officially husband and wife! I really think we're right on track with everything that needs to get done. I just can't believe how fast the time is flying by! I know the wedding will come and go before I even know it. I'm just trying to enjoy everything and take time to enjoy the slow moments with Mat while we can. I know our lives our just going to get busier over the next several weeks.

We sent out the invitations and already have quite a few RSVPs. We even came home to a present the other day! That was so exciting!

Work is keeping me busy these days and will be keeping me busy right up until the wedding, after the wedding and after the honeymoon! I'm ready for Friday night to get here. Tomorrow my mom and I are going shopping and then my sister and I are going to get together for dinner and some good old fashioned hang out time. I think Sunday we might work in the yard some. Who knows? We are a crazy couple...

Dandelions, I Curse YOU

2008-04-29T14:05:00.003-06:00

While I was at the baby shower on Sunday, Mat decided to start pulling up dandelions out of our yard because the weather was so nice and he is convinced that we need to pull them all before they turn into the big ball of fluffy seeds. When I got home, I volunteered to help because I am just that nice.

What did I get myself into? Looking at the yard, it doesn't look like there are that many dandelions. When you get down on the ground next to a yellow bloom. there are also a hundred about ready to bloom surrounding the original one you spotted. It's like our entire yard is made of dandelions. Mat had already pulled a million, so I decided to start pulling. After two dandelions, I wanted to burn the entire yard.

So I ask Mat, "Do you know if this is the best way to do this? I mean, what if our neighbors don't pull their dandelions and two weeks from now all their seeds blow into our yard and we have triple the amount of dandelions?"

His response: "But at least we'll have a head start since we already pulled the original dandelions in our yard."

2008-04-27T13:59:00.003-06:00

The roof is finished! At least on the house. We have a one car garage that we have enough shingles left over and the guys will tackle that next weekend. I know they are ready for it to be finished! I couldn't believe how much work it is.

It's been a busy weekend! I hit Costco, the grocery store and ran a couple other little errands. It seems like I've been working nonstop. Our Board Meeting was a success and I'll post about that later.

I'm about to head out to a friend's baby shower. My first attempt at using brown bags from the grocery store is below. I thought this is a great way to save money and I thought it might be cute. I think I can sure do cuter, but it was okay for a first try!

I've got dinner in the crockpot and Mat is going to clean my work while I'm at the shower. Tonight I think we'll just sit and relax on the couch. Our favorite thing to do!

So Close...

2008-04-21T16:58:00.003-06:00

Mat and his Dad worked all weekend to get the roof finished, but they still have a tiny bit more to go. They are going to be working on a little in the evenings and hopefully it will be finished by the time I get back from my board meeting in Cascade this week. It looks so good! I really wasn't that excited about getting a new roof, but it really does give new life to the house and it is just one of many home improvement projects we'll be working on at this house.

I spent too many hours on Saturday messing with our washing machine. It is so slow to fill when we use our cold water. So I took off the house and tried to clear the screens. Well, I think that made it even worse! So I headed up to Lowe's and got two new hoses for the washing machine just hoping that would help. After messing with it forever, it now works great! So laundry is fun again. I don't know why, but I still haven't stopped enjoying doing laundry. It's not so much that I love it, I just love that we have our own washer and dryer right there in our very own home. I can wash whatever I want, whenever I want. I don't have to worry about the hours of the laundromat or that people might steal my clothes or that maybe I should wear those jeans a couple more times to get the most out of the load I run that costs like $2.50 or something.

We also got to put one very big checkmark on our wedding checklist. Our invitations went out in the mail today! What a wonderful feeling to have those out and en route to everyone. Mat and I are so happy at how they turned out. They look great and were definitely worth spending a ton of our weekend on them. We also met with our florist and got some more details pinned down with our flowers. So we're moving right along on schedule.

I'll try to update while I am in Cascade for my board meeting, but I'm not sure how great internet access will be. I hope it works though because it will be nice to keep up with email instead of having 800 to check when I get back!

Friday Bloggingness

2008-04-18T16:25:00.003-06:00

I don't see any reason why I can't make up new words that have to do with the word blog. Everyone says blog now and I bet it is even in the dictionary. At my college job waiting tables, I used to make up words and try to see if other people would start using them. I could usually convince a few people, but that was just because they thought it was funny. Do you think you make any money if you make up a new word? Probably not.

So this weekend Mat and his dad are going to install our new roof! It is so exciting to see our shingles just sitting on top of the house waiting to be installed. I will probably be having panic attacks all weekend that Mat is going to fall off. I thought about going out of town and acting like it wasn't happening. I wouldn't say I am scared of all heights. I'm okay if I'm in a building looking out a window, or there is a really good steady railing on a balcony. But standing freely where I might fall to a tragic death if pushed or a strong wind blows me over, is not my idea of fun. I tried to get on the ladder when Mat was putting up Christmas lights and got to the third step and Mat had to carry me down and get me a paper bag to breathe in. So maybe I am exaggerating a little, but I'm not looking forward to Mat dangling from our roof all weekend. I'm going to take picture tonight of our before roof. I'll get those up sometime this weekend.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We're going to dinner with my parents tonight and then we'll head over to their house sometime this weekend to put the wedding invitations together! I can't believe it will be two months away on Monday. I guess time really does fly!

MIA

2008-04-15T17:15:00.003-06:00

So I am a bad blogger. I went to Kansas City, with every intention of blogging while I was there. I even brought a laptop from work so I could check my email and do a little blogging. Then I get to the hotel and it was 9.99 for access! No way. I figured I would just catch up when I got home. But then, errands and work happened!

So I'll have to catch you up now. I went to a meeting planner retreat and it was pretty fun. I met some great people that I can talk with and come up with great ideas for my association. Kansas City reminded me a lot of Tulsa, but bigger. The downtown area we stayed in was a little sketchy in areas, totally different from Boise. On Saturday it was basically deserted. But I tried to take a few pictures and I'll post those later.

This weekend was beautiful and we broke out the grill Saturday and Sunday night. Saturday night we cooked up some of the finest $1 hot dogs money can buy. Sunday we made like three pounds of chicken for the whole week. We also grilled eggplant, but I think we really went overboard on the salt. Now it is cold again. It only got up to 45 today and it was at least 80 this weekend. Boo. I'm ready for warm!!

Mat purchased shingles today for our new roof. Mat and his dad are going to start on it this weekend, which is just so exciting. So it isn't the most exciting, but we are saving a TON of money on labor and it will just help to increase the value of our house. Plus, we have to fix some places on the roof anyway to keep our homeowner's insurance.

We got our invitations back from the printer! And we found someone to marry us! We're doing pretty good in the wedding planning department.

Not Again!

2008-04-09T10:36:00.003-06:00

I woke up to a nice inch or so of snow! UGH. I thought we were past snow. It's April, for crying out loud! At least the ground is warm and melted everything on the streets right away. Our yard was covered in snow, which was sad because it is just so pretty right now. We spent a few hours on Sunday actually in the yard. This was our first real adventure in the yard. Mat mowed the backyard once after we moved in and then the leaves came and we just kind of ignored them, hoping they would go away. Well, they didn't. So we raked and raked and mostly Mat raked and I picked up leaves. Then he even mowed the front and back lawns. I did some weeding in our raspberry and strawberry planter along the side of the house. Anyway, our yard looked so pretty! And now, it is covered in snow.

Oh Geez...

2008-04-08T19:35:00.002-06:00

So I was watching the new Bravo TV show called 'Step It Up and Dance' this evening when I heard the worst phrase ever to kick someone off a reality show.

"Your show has been cancelled. It's time for your final dance."

And then they have to dance in a room by themselves. I'm not kidding.

The Hotel Cafe Tour

2008-04-08T10:56:00.002-06:00

Mat and I stayed up way past our bedtimes last night. We went to see a concert called the Hotel Cafe Tour, which actually included 6 different artists. We had a lot of fun and got to see some fun new artists. We went to see Ingrid Michaelson, but we also got to see Meiko, Cary Brothers, Jesca Hoop, William Fitzsimmons and Jim Bianco. All new to us, but some of them were really great and we'll add some of their CDs to our collection very soon.

In order to get good seats at this particular concert venue, Mat and I go before the doors open and then sit around for an hour or so. There are always some very colorful people at concerts and this concert did not disappoint. We didn't get home until almost midnight, so it was extra hard to get out of bed this morning.

Hello Saturday!

2008-04-05T12:55:00.002-06:00

This morning has been so nice just to get some things done around the house. Mat is at work and hopefully should be back any minute so we can have some lunch together! I did a little cleaning and got most of our grocery list ready for today. We made this huge pasta casserole last week, so luckily we have one recipe we didn't make last week and we can make it tomorrow. So that will save us some money at the store.

We're making burgers tonight for Cory and Christina. I think Mat said he was going to mix bacon in the burgers and some roasted garlic. Sounds good to me! He always makes the best burgers no matter what he does to them! I made some dip for us to much on while the burgers are cooking up - homemade french onion dip! I carmelized some onions and then mixed everything up. It wasn't too hard, so I hope it turns out yummy!

We got the menu set for the wedding last night, so that was a relief. Now, we just have to work on the other million things to do! Hopefully, our invitations will be done next week, which will give us a good week to address them. It's going to be here before we know it! I can't believe how the last year has flown by.

Better get back to my chores! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Hangin' at the Mall

2008-04-02T21:49:00.002-06:00

Mat and I headed to the mall today after work to do some shopping for wedding supplies. We looked for ties for the gents and didn't find "the one". We did find some cute vases to put flowers in that will go on either side of the arch we're using for our ceremony. I'm excited about those! Oh, Pottery Barn, I heart you.

We also went to Zurcher's, the party store. It isn't as much fun as it sounds. BUT we did find some blue napkins people will use while they are eating cake. They were quite the bargain. We were trying to find some little tea lights that are blue, but they didn't have any. We might have to look online for those.

Our big mission this week is to find someone to marry us! I know, I know, we have waited a long time to do this. I could on for hours about all the things we need to check off the list!

I never gave an update on our game night last Saturday! It was so much fun (as expected). We showed up around 8:00 pm and Mat and I headed straight for the food. The shish kabobs weren't ready yet, so we snacked on cheetos and chips and salsa until they were. We had some great shish kabobs right off the grill, yummy salad and more chips and cheetos! And then of course, my delicious dessert and some chocolate chip cookies that were scrumptious also.

We started out with Scene It, Battle of the Sexes. The girls started out very slowly, but steadily we did take over the boys and won! Next up was Taboo. We pulled names out of a hat for this one and unfortunately, I was not on the girl's team who had been training for this moment her whole life. Every single turn she went it was like magic or maybe she created the game and they scored like 8 points. Then there was Mat (on my team) who said, "This measures outsideness." (crickets chirping) or the other girl on our team who just would read the word at the top of the card and get buzzed 5 times on every turn. So then we started Cranium, but never got to finish this one since I got a beer spilled on my jeans and disrupted the whole game. And no, it wasn't me that spilled the beer! Overall, it was a great time and I would like to thank Alana again for a wonderful game night! Her friends were lots of fun and we hope there is another one sometime soon.

Where in the World is Bob Saget?

2008-04-01T21:50:00.003-06:00

For those of you who don't know about Mat and I's love for TV, well, it runs deep. We try to limit our TV watching somewhat, but sometimes I just want to keep adding new shows. He's a little more of a channel surfer than me. I simply can't live without my TiVos. And yes, I said TiVos.

TiVo came into my life so many years ago, I simply can't remember. I believe it might have been when Joy and I lived together in Stillwater. That must have been 7 or 8 years ago. I fell in love and can't imagine watching TV without being able to pause or fast forward. My first TiVo (who was never named) died in 2003. It was a slow process and luckily, I had enough brains to order another one before it kicked the bucket. That's when I bought Bob Saget. The TiVo, not the person. Mat and I met shortly after Bob Saget came to live with me. He had trouble adapting to the new technology, but I helped him cope.

When we decided to move in together, I told myself that I was not going to give up precious hard drive space to record NFL Live, Denver Broncos games, Myth Busters and Guiding Light. That's when we purchased Beerwagon. It was officially Mat's TiVo, so he got to pick out the name. (When I say name, I really mean name them. It's on your bills and the actual TiVo. They suggest to name them things like 'Living Room 1' or 'Smith Family TiVo'.) Then we decided to get crazy and we got a wireless internet and made our two TiVos talk! So then we didn't even have to talk to each other, we could simply communicate through TiVo. Or maybe we could just transfer shows back and forth between the living room and the bedroom. Which is cool too.

We have occasional problems when Beerwagon and Bob Saget decide not to speak to each other, but never for this long. Every day I turn on the TiVo to Now Playing and Bob Saget is missing. Maybe he is on Spring Break or maybe Beerwagon really made him mad. I guess now I'm just stuck either walking to the bedroom to watch the Biggest Loser or waiting until Bob Saget decides to show up again. Life is rough.

P.S. For those of you who are planning to suggest that I just call the help desk to figure out the problem, you try calling a help desk where they ask you, "Which TiVo are you having problems with, Bob Saget or Beerwagon?"

Spring Surprises!

2008-03-29T17:19:00.003-06:00

Although it is only 42 here today, it still is beginning to look a lot like Spring in our backyard. To my surprise, there are some fun little blue flowers popping up in our flower bed that we thought we had pulled everything out of. Mat told me a few days ago that we had some cute blue flowers in our backyard, but I just assumed they were weeds! Pretty fun to have some flowers this soon and with it being still so chilly! I can't wait for it to get warmer and warmer every week.

Tonight is game night at Alana's and I am so excited! I made some delicious Oatmeal Carmelitas that I found on the Pillsbury website. Don't tell anyone, but I didn't buy Smucker's caramel sauce. OH the shame. Mat and I had a taste test after lunch and they are pretty tasty. All the gamers are supposed to bring something different and I signed us up for dessert. Hope everyone else likes them! We'll also bring a game or two, but who knows what we'll end up playing.

Tomorrow is our dreaded run to the grocery store. We did get cleaning out of the way today, so we won't have to worry about that tomorrow. I'm hoping we can get to the store and home and then just sit around watching some fun movies. I'm sure there are some wedding plans we need to work on, but I kind of feel like taking the weekend off!

Yoga

2008-03-27T10:33:00.002-06:00

On a typical Wednesday, I love yoga class. I feel like it is good for me to do all the stretching, but at the same time it isn't as hard as my other workout days and frankly, I really don't like working out. Yesterday, I would have preferred to just stay home or even do cardio and weights.

First, I get to the Y and as I'm walking down the stairs, I start to feel the intense humidity sweeping over me. Normally, it isn't so bad, but I felt like the pool exploded into the atmosphere and was slowly drenching my body with sweat. I get into the yoga room where it is just as bad and start setting up our things. Then, some girl who weighs between 95-100 pounds sits right next to us. I wanted to pick her up and throw her out of the room, yelling that the only people allowed to be smaller than me in this class are geriatric! But I kept my cool.

We start the class and instantly my hands and feet start producing mass quantities of sweat. If you've ever tried yoga, you must realize how difficult it is to hold a pose when your hands and feet are slowly sliding down the mat. (Just thinking about this makes my hands pool up with sweat) The rest of the class I struggled with my sweaty feet and hands until finally it was over. Then, I didn't even get to do the corpse pose (my favorite)! At least it was only 45 minutes this week and not the full hour. Fine by me!

Some Things Don't Make Sense

2008-03-26T16:37:00.003-06:00

I now have cable in my office at work. Why, you ask? I don't know. I have no reason for cable in my office and don't know why the bosses decided to wire everyone's office for cable. It's not like I'm going to start watching My Super Sweet 16 for meeting planning ideas. Some of the offices are getting cable and TVs so that they can monitor the legislative session. That makes sense, but why me? Some things can't be explained.

Another thing that doesn't make sense is why Mat continues to honk at squirrels in the road. I love that man to death, but it just doesn't make sense to me. For those of you who don't know Boise, there are squirrels everywhere in the neighborhood north of downtown (where we used to live) and in the are we live in now (south of downtown). They are actually all over the place. They are cute and I could kiss one if they would let me. He tells me that he honks at them because he wants them to stay out of the street and if he continues to honk at them, they'll figure it out. But I keep telling him that it isn't the same squirrel over and over again and that other people aren't honking at the squirrels. It it the cutest thing I've ever seen. Although I think that about most everything he does.

Tonight we're off to yoga. I like to call it old people yoga because it is a group of retired folks and then Mat and I. We like it and the instructor, so we don't want to switch to another group. It just gets awkward when we go into the corpse pose, or savasana, some of them fall asleep and start to snore. It's hard to not laugh when people are snoring.

Yikes.

2008-03-25T15:42:00.002-06:00

Is it possible to have a panic attack over your wedding invitations? I just sent them to my printer and fear that if I look at them again my eyes will either cross permanently or I will find a mistake. I'm just trying to breathe in and out. The phone just rang. How could my printer be calling so fast? That's because it wasn't him. Whoosh. Why is this so stressful?

Easter!

2008-03-25T08:53:00.003-06:00

My family had a wonderful Easter Sunday! We had a delicious brunch and then all wanted to nap for the rest of the afternoon. I think we might have decided on our invitations and RSVP cards. Who would have thought this would have been such an ordeal? I really thought the wording would come so easily, but I think we analyzed every single word. Now, we just need to give them a final look and then we're sending them off to the printer! I can't wait to get them back.

I put lotion on my very dry hands today when I got to work. Now they are sweaty and I can barely type. I really can't win!

Oink, Oink

2008-03-21T15:00:00.004-06:00

One thing I love more than anything in the world is to eat food that is bad for me. I try not to do this except once or twice a week, especially in preparation for the wedding (after I'm married, who cares?). Tonight is the night for stuffing face. My sister is coming over and we'll get pizza and breadsticks and wings and enjoy every minute of it. I can almost taste the pepperonis right now.

It sounds like the entire weekend will be filled with some of my favorite things: pizza tonight, mac and cheese tomorrow night, yummy breakfast foods on Sunday morning...

I can just hear my stomach expanding to make room for all these goodies!

It Has Begun...

2008-03-20T11:31:00.003-06:00

Every year, I get excited about March Madness. Not because I am such a huge basketball fan or anything (I don't even watch the games), but because it's free gambling! I get to pick out all my choices on who will win and then I could potentially win $10,000 on espn.com. Now that is what I call fun!

Salt Lake City Rocks!

2008-03-19T13:19:00.002-06:00

So we're back and hopefully you looked at some of our fun pictures in the previous post. For some reason it just took me forever to put those up, so I didn't even do a wrap up of our weekend. So I'll back track to Saturday...

As soon as Mat got off work we headed to Salt Lake City. We made pretty good time and ended up getting to our hotel around 6ish. We were going to dinner with Jeff, Mat's cousin (a.k.a. Russell Crowe), and he came and picked us up. Dinner was at a delicious Mexican restaurant called Blue Iguana. It was quite tasty. We had some Encurtitas for dinner that didn't taste like they had seafood in them. I had Enchiladas Verdes that had a green mole sauce that was interesting. It was made of pumpkin seeds, almonds and green chiles. Mat and Jeff both got tamales and liked those too. So it got good reviews all around.

After dinner we went to the very popular Sky Bar (at the top of our hotel) for a beer. It wasn't so popular when we were there, but as we were getting ready to leave it started to pick up. I think it is actually a happening spot.

Sunday morning we got up and headed to our first stop, IKEA. Two hours later, we were out of there and did find a few things for decorations there. We did go to a couple different malls and looked at all kinds of things. I found a couple cheap dresses that I bought with my birthday money I've been hoarding. They'll be perfect for the cruise. I think one of them is going to be my beach cover up!

That night we went to our friends' house, the Armstrong family. As I'm sure you saw from the picture, they are a good looking bunch of people! Sarah and I went to elementary school together and then attended Oklahoma State together, which is where she met Matt and I had the luxury of getting to know him also during my time there.

We had a lovely dinner that Sarah prepared for us and my favorite - margaritas! They could have just kept making me margaritas and I probably wouldn't have even noticed if they didn't make dinner, but they did. It was so fun to see the kids again, Sean and Gracie are growing like little weeds! They are both so fun and I loved hearing Sean talk. One of my favorites was he always would say "scuse me please" when he was trying to get your attention. Then it was time for the kids to hit the bath, so Matt got that job so Sarah and I could chat more. After the kids were tucked safely in bed, it was time for SingStar and American Idol!

OMG. This game was made for Sarah and I. Not only do we love karaoke, we are really good at it. I don't even really know why the guys played because they were just so bad at it. These games were so crazy. You sing into a microphone and then it registers your pitch and tone and timing and you get points based on that. So cool. Eventually, we had to go home, but I probably could have sung all night!

Monday morning we got up and headed to a couple kitchen stores before we met Sarah for lunch at Chipotle. Yum again! I think I gained a hundred pounds on this trip! Sean had school, so it was just Madison and Sarah that met us. After lunch we headed to trolley square and then hit the road home.

Now we're back and trying to get caught up on our weekend things we didn't do - like laundry. Ugh.

I wish we could visit more often - we always have such a great time. Thanks again to the Armstrongs and Jeff for showing us a wonderful time!

SLC 2008

2008-03-18T22:01:00.003-06:00

I'll give a good wrap up later, but for now, enjoy some pictures from our trip to Salt Lake City this past weekend. We had a great time and wish we could go more often!

Did I mention we had dinner and drinks with Russell Crowe??

Duke the lap dog

Some of the most angelic voices I've ever heard

The prettiest St. Patty's Day Girl

Mom Sarah with Sean and Madison Grace

Two boys being silly

Bottle Time!

Someone is very serious about Sing Star

Hot Mama

Shop til We Drop!

2008-03-15T09:12:00.002-06:00

It is Saturday morning and I'm off to get my hair cut before we head to Salt Lake City for a nice weekend of shopping! We have lots on our list to look for, including wedding favors, decorations, ties, shoes, plates, utensils...the list goes on! We're hoping that we can hit IKEA and find a lot of the stuff we are looking for and then maybe a couple malls to find the rest. The best part is that we get to see Mat's cousing and one of my oldest friends, Sarah! So I'll have lots to report on when we get back. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

100th POST!!!!

2008-03-13T11:28:00.003-06:00

Drum rolls and confetti everywhere!! Not only is it my 100th post, but it is exactly 100 days until our wedding! Now that is something special.

Since this is such a special post, I feel that I should share this special story someone in my office told me about today: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23595533/. Just a little something to think about today.

I don't know what else to do for the 100th post. I feel like I should say thank you to my four readers, maybe five, and I hope to continue my blogging for years to come. So there you have it!

Thursday! But Rainy...

2008-03-13T08:45:00.002-06:00

I love when it gets to Thursday because I feel like there is hardly any time left until the weekend. But this morning I woke up and it was all rainy. I don't know how much sun we'll be seeing today. I think it is supposed to be like this all weekend. BOO.

Not much to post this morning. More later today!!

It's Official

2008-03-12T10:53:00.002-06:00

Not only am I addicted to reading other people's blogs, I have also discovered that I am not the funniest person in the world. Funniest? Most Funny? Whatever. I lose.

Interesting Web Sites

2008-03-12T09:11:00.002-06:00

I found a Web site/blog that I think is interesting if you are looking to save money: Frugal Hacks. Not only does this site have loads of information on ways to save some money, they also have a million links to other people's blogs that are looking to save a buck. I am exaggerating when I say a million, but there might seriously be a couple hundred links.

I've also been enjoying this http://www.momadvice.com/blog/. I know I'm not a mom, but a lot of the site is based on organizing, cleaning and ways to make your life easier. I'm all for making things easier!

Check them out!

The Invasion

2008-03-11T08:43:00.002-06:00

Not such a great movie. It wasn't too bad, but I wouldn't tell anyone to rush out and rent/buy it. We did have some tasty enchiladas off the Cooking Light Web site, but they were quite a bit of work. I still haven't found that fabulous enchilada recipe that I have been searching for. I'll just keep looking. Happy Tuesday to everyone!

It's Close!!

2008-03-10T17:28:00.001-06:00

My dress is almost here! It is in the store in Salt Lake City and should be here by the end of the week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weekend Recap

2008-03-10T08:50:00.003-06:00

Monday morning is here. Ugh. I really did not want to get up this morning when it was still pitch black outside. It hasn't been dark when I've been waking up for a few weeks and now I'm back to bumbling around in the dark. I guess this won't last too much longer and then it will be officially Spring and we'll be done with this cold, icky weather.

It actually was nice enough yesterday that Mat and I ventured out to play disc golf. I feel like I'm basically horrible at this and I get nervous because there are a million other people and they are all good. So I feel like everyone is waiting on the slow one to finish. We didn't play the entire course - there are 20 holes - but it was fun just to get outside and especially at the end when the sun came out.

Friday night Mat and I headed to the gym, which is not really fun, but usually totally dead on Friday night, so way nicer when we don't have to wait on anyone and we kind of have the place to ourselves. Then we came home and prepared our homemade pizza! Mat made the crust earlier that day and then he rolled it out and put all the toppings on it. I basically just stood there and kept him company. :) We ended up watching Lost and went to bed early!

Saturday morning I just got some things done around the house - laundry, grocery list, etc. One big thing I accomplished was getting my wedding planner organized. I put everything into nice little plastic sleeves and organized receipts and all that fun stuff. Mat and I basically decided what we want to do for our wedding invitations and just need to finalize those in the next couple days. I'm thinking we'll have them printed in the next week!! That is a big relief. That night, we went to dinner with my mom and dad at a new place we haven't been before. It was pretty good, but I don't think will take the top spot away from any of our old favorites. Then we headed to my parents house for a game of Mexican Train Game Dominoes. We had fun, but it ended up being a pretty long game! Mat and I headed home and just went to bed. We're just so crazy sometimes!

Sunday we got our grocery shopping done and as you already know played some disc golf. We also watched The Darwin Awards and Jurassic Park. I bought Mat Jurassic Park for Christmas, so that was one we were watching as we were making dinner. The Darwin Awards we rented and I quickly closed my eyes. Mat said that he thought it was okay and enjoyed it. We roasted our first chicken ever last night! It was really good, but seemed like a lot of work when you can just buy those delicious rotisserie chickens for the same price and no work! So I don't know how many roasted chickens we'll be making in the future.

That pretty much sums it up! It was too short, as always, but we have such a great time together and it was so fun to see my parents and get to catch up with them. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

TGIF!

2008-03-07T16:27:00.002-07:00

How wonderful it feels as 5:30 on Friday gets closer and closer! We're almost there and time to enjoy the weekend. Mat is making me go to the gym after work (gag), but then I guess we can really start our weekend. Technically, it is only my weekend that begins tonight since Mat has to work tomorrow morning.

I'm not sure what the plans are for the weekend yet. I know it will involve cleaning my work and a grocery store! Mat and I really want to decide on invitations this weekend so we can get those ordered soon.

Tomorrow, we may "run into" my parents at dinner. Hee hee. We might even be crazy and play a board game or something. Who knows??

I might try to go through my magazines this weekend I've been collecting over the last few months to tear out pictures of things I like and want to save for decorating our house - someday! I think I have too many things I want to do. I've started typing in recipes, but that is one project that is going to take me forever...

Have a great weekend!

Movies and Chemical Peels?

2008-03-06T09:13:00.002-07:00

So the chemical peel went well. It didn't burn my entire face off! It was sure interesting and I am going to be doing several more. I've got my next one scheduled for April 1. I think my face is already starting to peel, revealing my "new" skin. Hee hee. I don't know about this, but I sure hope it makes a difference. I don't think I'll really be able to tell until I do a few more. Maybe I'll be brave enough to post my before and after pictures!

We watched I Know Who Killed Me and it was in fact, awful. Not nearly as bad as Dragon Wars, but Mat will argue with me on that one. It wasn't a good week for movies in our house. Which reminds me that we need to make a run to the movie store!

Hooray for Thursdays. I'm sure everyone knows that I do love Thursdays. I love Survivor and Lost and they both come on Thursday. Plus, we saved Big Brother from last night and we'll watch that tonight after dinner.

I have booked most of our hotel rooms for our honeymoon! Hooray! I have one more night to book and then our rental car and I think that is it for the honeymoon. Oh, I just can't wait.

The wedding, on the other hand, is not even close to complete. We're hoping to make it to Salt Lake City next weekend to take advantage of the big city and hit IKEA and some other stores we don't have in Boise to try to figure out what we want to do for the reception as far as decorations. We still don't really know what we're doing for centerpieces and the rest of the room's decor. That trip is still tentative, but hopefully we can finalize this weekend.

I noticed today that I'm closing in on 100 posts. Look for my special 100th post soon!

The Things You Do...

2008-03-04T09:09:00.002-07:00

Last night I watched a movie called Dragon Wars. Was it the worst movie I have ever seen? Probably not. We didn't turn the movie off, but it definitely wasn't the best. At least tonight I won't feel bad when i make Mat watch I Know Who Killed Me with Lindsay Lohan that I'm sure isn't going to be that good, but i want to see anyway!

We had a great weekend and got lots done! We did get registered at Macy's, but didn't find that much there to register for. We covered most everything at Bed Bath and Beyond and found that Macy's was pretty expensive. They do have good sales, but who knows when those will happen. We got these really ugly toasting flutes for registering at Macy's. We're not even going to have champagne at the wedding, so we might just donate those next time someone picks up in our area.

We are meeting with a printer tomorrow to talk about invitations, so I think that will be interesting. And today I am getting a chemical peel. EEK! It just sounds scary. I don't know if it will be awful or not, but I figure I should at least try it and get my skin in tip top shape. I think I am starting to go into more of a panic mode for the wedding and thinking so much has to be done. But I know we'll get it done!

Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday morning. Is your state having a primary today?

Weekend Time!

2008-02-29T16:58:00.002-07:00

I guess I am starting a couple minutes early, but it has been so quiet at work, I thought I would sneak in a quick little blog. Tonight we are headed to Cory and Christina's for a surprise birthday get together for Cory. We're looking forward to seeing them again and it hasn't been months like we usually go in between seeing each other.

Tomorrow, I think Mat and I are going to be running some errands most of the day when he gets off work. We are hoping to have a nice quiet night in since we have been running so much lately. We have a couple movies we might watch or maybe play a video game. We are going to try to register at Macy's this weekend, so that should be fun. I just hope the experience is better than when we went to Dillard's and we didn't even get to hold the scanning gun. Some lady just followed us around the whole time and it was so awkward. We're not going to even use that registry because we have picked out other things we would rather have at Bed, Bath and Beyond and hopefully Macy's. I am just excited to register for everything Martha Stewart. Don't tell Mat though!

Our weekends always seem to be packed with fun and excitement, so I'm looking forward to this one just like all the others! Better get myself packed up for the night. Bye for now!

Short Post Tonight

2008-02-26T21:43:00.002-07:00

I think I'll make this short since I am freezing! Mat and I have created a list of movies we want to see. Most of them are from the past year with a few from the couple years before. We didn't even get started on years before that! We watched all those movie previews the other night and now are in movie mode. I think we'll go to the store tomorrow to get some for the week.

One project I am trying to start is working on recipe cards. I have never done this before, but have always wanted to have a place to keep my recipes that I use over and over again. I have some on my computer, but then I end up printing a copy every time I want to make that particular recipe. So I started with a template last night and made one recipe card. Now hopefully I can just add a couple here and there until I get a good collection going. I think starting is always the hardest part. Once i can get several done, I think it will probably go pretty fast.

I think I'm off to read my neverending book!

We're Home!

2008-02-25T20:51:00.004-07:00

Well, we are home from our little road trip. We had a great weekend and now it is back to reality. We headed out on Saturday afternoon to Blackfoot and arrived at Sally and Reed's house (Mat's relatives) just minutes after Jeff (his cousin) showed up from Salt Lake. We had a great time just catching up for a little while around their fire and then headed out to some delicious Mexican food. Then we swung by Mat's great grandma's old house, but we couldn't see much since it was dark outside. It was such fun hearing all about Mat's family and just funny stories.

Sunday morning we had some delicious caramel rolls and then just had a lazy morning around their house. We had some wonderful breakfast for our lunch and just continued to talk throughout the afternoon. Before we knew it, it was 5:00! So we got our things together to head out to Idaho Falls, the second stop on our journey.

We got to Idaho Falls and checked in to our room and turned around and headed to Olive Garden. We had a gift card from Christmas that we were just waiting to use! So we ate way too much and then headed back to the hotel. The rest of our evening was spent watching movie previews! Some may think this is silly, but Mat and I could spend hours watching movie previews and hotels are the perfect place to do it! So we have a great list of potential renters for the next few months!

This morning I had meetings all morning and then we had lunch with the commissioners before we headed back home. We've spent the rest of our evening curled up on the couch!

I tried to take pictures because I really want to start including more in my blog. So here is my half hearted attempt. We didn't even take family pictures we were so busy talking! Hope everyone had a great weekend.

You can't tell, but there are a few hundred elk in this picture. We also saw an antelope, a big group of deer and maybe another few elk (could have been more deer). I didn't get pictures of any of those!

These don't look so big, but these icicles were HUGE!

Fat kitties sometimes get places they are not supposed to be. You wouldn't think he could jump on top of a six foot bookcase!

Just a pretty picture on the way to Blackfoot. Too bad we were going about 75 miles and hour and it is kind of blurry!

Road Trip!

2008-02-22T10:39:00.003-07:00

Mat and I are heading out for a road trip tomorrow to Blackfoot and Idaho Falls! Not the most scenic of places, but we're looking forward to it. I guess I shouldn't say that since this will be my first trip. I have been to Blackfoot, just not Idaho Falls. AND I have been to Pocatello, which isn't too far from there and isn't the prettiest. Our first stop in Blackfoot is to see a few of Mat's relatives, which will be fun!

Sunday we'll head over to Idaho Falls and stay the night in the hotel our conference is scheduled for in September. Monday morning I'll meet with the hotel staff and go through plans for the conference. I also plan to meet with another conference hotel and then with the county commissioners for lunch. Then we'll head home. So that is our weekend!

We kick it off tonight with dinner at our favorite pizza place, Cassanova's! We'll meet my parents there and just enjoy a nice little evening together. And I guess I should say I am really kicking off the weekend at lunch today with my friend Alana. It's our monthly lunch get together and we always have a great time. We just need to figure out where we are going.

So I might be gone for a few days, but then I'll be back to report on our road trip! It's snowing here pretty good today. I think it will be gone by this afternoon though or at least by tomorrow. They say it is supposed to warm up, so we'll see about that. Have a great weekend!

Movie Review

2008-02-21T14:30:00.002-07:00

We watched The Heartbreak Kid last night. There were some funny parts. It wasn't my favorite Ben Stiller movie, but it wasn't too bad. Mat and I both agreed before we started the movie that we thought it wasn't going to be that great. I think that is probably why we enjoyed it more than we thought we would. I guess I would give it a 7 out of 10. It is always hard for me to judge a movie. Especially because some people may love this movie and others may hate it. One thing I will say is that Ben Stiller's wife totally reminded us of Cameron Diaz - she even kind of sounded like her.

We also made a recipe out of one of my new cookbooks. It was a turkey chili and I thought it was pretty good, but next time I would not include BBQ sauce. It was pretty strong and I thought took away from the rest of the chili.

Tonight Mat is going to Bogus Basin with Justis (our oldest niece) for some sledding/tubing. He is going to her elementary school and then rides a bus with other kids and their family for a night in the snow. I think he is going to have a great time! I'm excited to hear all about it. The downfall is that he probably won't be home until 10 or so, which means we don't really get to spend any time together today. I have a meeting after work at 6 and so I will be busy doing that anyway. Then tomorrow is Friday!

Random Thoughts for the Day

2008-02-19T20:30:00.002-07:00

I could really go for three day weekends every week! Since I didn't work yesterday, I'm already through Tuesday and it feels so nice. Although, I probably couldn't get everything done in 4 days every week with my job. But it seems like a fun treat this week for sure!

Tonight Mat is doing the dishes since I made dinner. Technically, we made dinner together last night and we had leftovers tonight, BUT I did make green beans and I had to prepare them and all that. So here I am, just blogging it up. We are going to watch one of our favorite shows tonight, Big Brother. It is just silly, but we look forward to it. All three episodes a week. That might be about all we have time for. We'll probably do a little reading before bed. I just want to get through my book.

I'm reading a Dean Koontz book, By the Light of the Moon, and it isn't my favorite. I usually really enjoy his books, but this one I can't get into. Plus, I have so many books waiting for me on the bookshelf that seem fun. But I keep hoping that it will get better and I keep pushing through.

Oh, I should probably do some knitting tonight also. Mat is patiently waiting for his hat. I keep thinking any day I will be done, but this thing is taking me forever! I swear I spent more time on the kitty bed and it was like a giant hat. The hat I am knitting is actually a double knit hat, so it is basically knitted on both sides. It is turning out really nice and I know he'll like it, I just would like him to be able to wear it this winter!

Time for a tangelo. Whatever that is. I guess part tangerine, part orange? We got it yesterday and thought we should try it. Have a good night!

3 Day Weeekends are the Best!

2008-02-17T19:07:00.002-07:00

So it is Sunday night, BUT I don't have to work tomorrow! Hooray for President's Day!

We have just been having the best weekend. It all started with Mat's birthday on Friday. We had a delicious dinner with his mom and Nick at Corona Village - our favorite little Mexican place. Then we came home and he opened his gifts! He liked everything I got him. I went pretty pratical, but I knew he was getting some fun stuff from other family. He got a couple pair of pajama pants, some warm up/workout pants, some workout shorts, a new wallet, a new CD. That's it! But he liked everything, so it was a success. Then we watched Lost and Reno 911.

Saturday morning I got to live in Mat's shoes! I woke up at 4:30 as he was getting up to work so I could watch two of his nieces for a few hours. I just don't know how he gets up so early. I did it, but I only had to do that once AND I got to stay in my pjs! The girls watched Shrek and laid in bed, but then they were ready to do something, so Brianne and I played Monopoly and Maykayla played with some computer program that I know nothing about. But it looked like fun! Then Johnny came to pick them up and I finished cleaning our house. Mat came home around 1 and we had some lunch together. And then it was time for a nap! We took the longest nap - I think about 3 hours! But man, I was tired.

That night, Cory and Christina came over for Board games. It was so good to see them - it is the first time to see Christina since they told us she was pregnant and she is just the cutest thing. They find out this week what they'll be having and then will have lots of fun decisions to make. We played Pictionary (Mat and I totally won) and then Scene It Squabble (Christina and I won that). They headed home and Mat and I played some video games and then turned in.

Today we got up and going at a decent time, so we got to clean my work and then head to pick up a birthday present for Brianne right before her birthday party. I know, totally last minute! We even wrapped it in the parking lot. With no scissors. I am totally the master wrapper. It didn't look that good, but kids don't really care! Then we met Mat's family at Primo's pizza buffet for some pizza and presents! All four of his nieces were there and it is so fun to see them all. We ended up staying for a couple hours and then we left to finish our day. We got our groceries for the week and now are home and ready to relax.

I don't know what we are going to do tomorrow, but I'm sure we'll think of something fun. Even if it is just doing nothing around the house all day! I could go for a day of nothing. Hope everyone else is having a nice weekend. More soon!