jacob and emily

Rewinding

2011-12-21T23:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a preview of our life the last two months in reverse order-ish.

I decided to create a Grinch costume.

The idea stemmed from a conversation with a co-worker and our work Christmas party.

I didn't have much time but I was determined.

I found this fabric online which turned out to be perfect!

After ten days we had this!

Dan is a Sgt. at work and is amazing!

The kids loved him and secretly I think he loved it.

The makeup was perfect in person. In the photos it was a bit dark.

Our family Christmas photo.

The party was a blast . . . until the cops showed up!

Then we received a great gift of the Wonder Wash!

It really works!

It's a portable hand clothes washer.

During Thanksgiving I decided to make homemade cranberry sauce.

It was super easy and pretty tasty.

I was stirring the berries as they were popping.

Jake's arial view of the rolls, gravy, vegetables, cranberries, potatoes, and pie.

Jake and his dad went to the WSU vs. Arizona game.

Good thing WSU won this one.

Apparently a good enough game to storm the field.

For Thanksgiving fun gifts I made turkeys.

Glue on the eyes.

Glue face on to Tootsie Pop.

Attach fake maple leaves.

Cut out nose and gobbles.

Glue them all together.

Repeat.

I ripped this idea off Pinterest. I liked mine multi colors.

And I turned 30!

It's been super busy and a ton of fun!

I got these cool flowers!

And a package filled with gifts that I couldn't wait to open until I got home.

Then I got more gifts after work!

Yes, the Princess Bride was on my list this year!

I wanted to make this cake, which I got.

I also ripped this idea off of Pinterest.

I replaced the M&M's with Reeses.

Delish.

And now we're back to my last post.

We've been really busy some how.

And it's been really fun.

I just wish it would snow already!

ten years ago

2011-11-15T12:01:00.000-08:00

It was 10 years ago today I was saying goodbye to my teens. I was living in the green house in Reno, Nevada and having the time of my life. Ten years ago today I made a list of things I had already learned before I turned 20. I won't list all 46 of them but here are a few:

2) Everyone is happier in a clean house.

4) Be friends with everyone - who really cares who is "cool".

7) Don't kiss your best guy friend - it's just weird.

9) Mom always says, "You get what you pay for."

12) Don't cry and run at the same time - it just doesn't work. You can only do one or the other.

15) Date everyone.

19) Learn something from every relationship.

23) Trials aren't bad.

24) Don't do or say anything that you wish you could take back but say enough that you won't regret not saying anything at all.

27) Never wait around for a boy to call.

36) It's actually possible to be friends with an old boy friend. Who cares if it didn't work out.

37) Road trips are fun - NEVER pass them up.

39) Sometimes boys are better friends than boyfriends.

44) Your best friend really is your worst enemy - they know all!

Clearly you can tell my life was centered around boys!

I'll be 30 tomorrow, I'm living with my best friend, and I'm still having the time of my life! As I began my next list of "what I learned by 29" I noticed it went from dating to marriage. Over the last ten years I've seen friends date, marry, split up, divorce, babies being born, some sticking it out, some fight, a partner passes away, couples laughing, some crying . . . you name it. And surprisingly many of my "what I learned by 19" still applied. So to keep the tradition alive here are some of my "what I learned by 29".

1) Families that pray together stay together.

5) I broke rule #7 from "what I learned by 19" - I didn't just kiss my best guy friend but I married him.

7) Right now I'm the perfect parent. Ask me anything.

12) Spouse bashing is totally wrong and inappropriate all the time.

18) You are never too old to go camping!

23) When you're twenty something people tell you "you're so young and just don't know yet". I can't wait to be 30! Then I'll know something.

29) It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got.

31) Sometimes things just don't make sense.

So long 20's. You treated me well.

October Recap

2011-11-09T10:22:00.000-08:00

It started out pretty relaxed. Just lounged around.

Then we went to a pretty awesome corn maze!

Potato Jake

And Joe Vandal Em

My friend, Liz, came with us to the corn maze.

Jake and I at the entrance.

It took us about 45 minutes to make our way through.

We got lost probably about 15 times.

We really found the perfect pumpkin this year!

This was my first attempt at cupcake hamburgers.

Thank you Pinterest.

It was fun but I know where to tweak things now for next time.

Brownies in the middle and colored icing on top!

Not the best picture but at this point I was super tired.

Next time I'll use a bigger circle cookie cutter for the burger.

It wouldn't be fall if there wasn't some apple picking!

These apples are delicious!

So much so we turned more than 10 lbs. into applesauce!

I went over to Liz's house and we made the applesauce super old fashioned.

We cut the apples, boiled them, mashed them, then reboiled, and then canned it.

Of course another "quick" project turned into about 5 hours of fun.

And no picture of a finished product to share because I was that tired.

We did manage to watch Ann of Green Gables, Ever After, and Princess Bride to ease the pain of watching apples break down.

Now we're full swing into November!!

Three Month Recap

2011-10-14T22:41:00.001-07:00

I have a new addiction. Pinterest. It's not too terribly bad because I only "pin" things I could do (except for some of the things in my "for the home" board). I've committed to try as many "pins" as possible. My first adventure was this tie rug. I watched the tutorial and it seemed pretty easy. The lady said it should take 1-2 bath towels and 2 hours. Even better.

Well any project I start never seems quick and easy. Ask my mom. She's still waiting for this great idea I had for a Mother's Day gift two years ago.

So we went the the store and bought the rug thing for about $3. I had two really old sheet sized bath towels and at least 4 hours before I went to work. I started cutting the bath towel and realized this was going to take WAY more then 4 hours and my two SHEET sized towels were not going to cut it. Plus after all the cutting I walked away with a blister.

A week later (I spent a little bit each day), 2 sheet towels, one bath towel, and one hand towel later I have a nice bath rug. Another thing the tutorial lady failed to mention is that it's extremely messy to cut towel! We still have towel flakes in our bathroom.

And you're probably thinking "nice grey box". I was running out of used towels that I didn't want to cut up. This only left me with a grey hand towel from my college days. Hey it worked.

It's really nice and fluffy!

I'm not giving up on my Pinterest ideas yet!

I added another notch in my sewing resume. I successfully altered a bridesmaid's dress for a coworker. Surprisingly it wasn't too difficult!

Then we went camping at Dworshak State Park. It was a blast!! And Jake was able to fish!

As Jake was chopping up some wood his hatchet came loose. As a last hurrah he threw it at the tree.

And believe it or not it stuck on the first try!!! We thought it was cool!

We burned the handle of the hatchet and then put on a new handle when we got home! Yep we recycled.

This is another tent of ours that fits us and the dogs! They love it because the sides are screens and they can look out.

We've been fishing on the Snake River. In the spring the hills are green and it's quite the sight.

And it's that time of year again. College Football.

This game we beat Idaho State Bengals 64-21. It's always nice to go to a game when your team wins!

And then there was this game. WSU vs. UNLV. Jake sported his Cougar shirt. I wore my Rebels shirt. It would have been so much more entertaining if the game was a little big closer. Okay a lot closer. The final score was 59-7! Yeah. As we were walking out UNLV finally scored! That was probably the most exciting moment in the entire game! It's not so fun when your team only scores once!

We also attended a birthday party. Oh and a pow wow!! It was pretty interesting. We even spotted an indian wearing a cowboy hat. haha I thought it was so funny. Well school started, which means college kids are drinking and work at the PD is extremely busy. And I think I under estimated how busy and tired I would be so my friend and I bailed on the Muddy Buddy.

Halloween is around the corner and we are pretty excited!!

Peach Harvest 2011

2011-08-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went down to the Tri-cities to help with the yearly peach harvest.

I love it. Jake bares it.

Here are some peaches waiting to be skinned and sliced.

(Yes that one at the top has been picked a bit by the birds)

This was our production line. A peeler, a slicer, and a bagger!

After mixing in the Fruit Fresh and some sugar they get bagged.

A close up of scrumptiousness.

Final stage - bagged and frozen!

July Birthday Boys

(Brandon, Jacob, and John)

Chatting after dinner and dessert

(Brandon and Katie)

A nice self portrait of Jimmy and I.

Jimmy and Jacob

John and Sally

(This seems to be the best picture I have of the two. Next time I'll try not to snap the picture in mid conversation.)

It was a nice get away. A nice break from the daily grind. A nice visit with the family.

Next adventure: maybe some more camping, the start of school, or the Muddy Buddy.

We'll see.

Roughly 11,672 Days Old

2011-07-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

I say roughly because I didn't factor in which year was actually leap year. I can't determine if your age in days seems older then in years.

Jacob pretty much had an ideal birthday for him. We went to the movies, played video games, ate his favorite dinner, had ice cream cake, and slept. It couldn't have gotten better. Okay maybe winning the lottery but since we don't play it wasn't looking like an option.

Some presents:

His favorite dinner (fajitas):

Mint ice cream cake and a lot of candles!

Presents!! Golf stuff!!

A new fishing pole!

And what he spent a bit of the evening doing . . . casting.

And who would have thought at 32 a birthday could be so fun!

Our next adventure: the Peach Harvest!!

July Activities

2011-07-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

Work has been so crazy I needed to get away. We weren't able to make it to Brashear Beach Week this year with the extended family so we opted for a mini vacation ourselves.

Destination: Farragut State Park (Athol, ID)

Idaho State Parks are amazing!! They are by far the most well kept. We stayed at the Whitetail Campsite #36. It was a prime location. It was close to the showers, restrooms, water spigot, and the Tot Lot for kids to play on. Yet it was far enough away from those things not to be bothered.

Our campsite.

Jake setting up the tent

I'm tying the poles in the inside.

1) We're getting the fire going for foil dinners

2) Creepy spider that must have been dangling in front of the camera.

We didn't notice it until today!!

Foil dinner. Yum!

This park has a ton of history. It actually was a Naval Training Station in 1940's (and other things after the war ended). It is the only land locked Naval Training Station. In fact the Navy still uses it today. They chose it because they were afraid the coast would have been attacked.

After the war the government removed all of the buildings in each camp. The National Guard came in and reseeded and planted trees to bring it back to it's original beauty. They did an amazing job!

This is a picture of Jake and I at Camp Bennion.

On one of our many hikes Jake and I found this double chimney tucked back off the trail. We later found out it was for the Officers.

This was a statue (obviously) dedicated to those who trained at Farragut and served in WWII.

This is the lower tip of Pend Orielle (pronounced Pond O Ray).

Us!

This was at the lower bend. It opened up to a massive lake. It was awesome.

Jake enjoying the view.

Making my signature scrapbook opener page.

Scrapbook opener page:

I found two rocks in the shape of hearts!!

We drove up to Bayview. I couldn't believe there were houses on the water like this. I know I'm a little late on things... Oh and the white building to the right is the "garage" for the boats. Crazy.

Then we ventured to Silverwood. Silverwood is a theme park. It's a Six Flags meets Wet 'n Wild. Although not as good as the two. Still extremely fun.

I made Jake drive me around in this car.

(it was a kids ride and we were the only adults without a kid in line)

Jake's favorite ride . . .

And how he felt after it . . .

Even though it rained on us while we were there we still ended the day with a Snow Cone!

On to our next adventure . . . Jacob's birthday!

Kicking Off Summer

2011-07-07T02:31:00.000-07:00

We've spent time at the river.

Played with Fireworks.

Hung out with friends.

And relaxed.

It has been very enjoyable so far. I've been working some crazy hours but we've still managed to hit birthday parties, bbq's, and catch a couple of movies.

Dear Mother Nature,

2011-06-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

Really? It's June 1st. Can we get some SUN?

Today

Chance
Tstms
Hi 63 °F

Tonight

Chance
Showers
Lo 44 °F

Thursday

Chance
Showers
Hi 57 °F

Thursday
Night

Chance
Showers
Lo 40 °F

Let's be honest. 50% chance means it's going to rain up here! And I love the rain . . . but I would also like to run outside and not come home soaked. It would be much appreciated if you could allow summer to come a little early. I'm really missing the dry heat of the desert.

Thanks,

Emily

A Vegas Vacation

2011-05-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

In April we took a trip to Vegas to visit family and friends.

It started out a little rocky by almost missing our flight there,

Waiting over an hour for our rental car,

Paying extra for coverage we didn't need on our rental car,

Finding out my phone broke and I was unable to call or get any numbers of my friends or family,

and we were starving!

But once we were there we had a blast!

We hung out with Mom and Brian.

We forgot to take pictures with all of our friends but . . .

Stayed with our favorite family and played with these awesome kids!

We cruised the strip once.

Ate at restaurants we don't have

(Claim Jumper, Fuddruckers, Smash Burger, some taco joint, etc.)

Went to places that weren't complete when we left.

(Hoover Dam and City Center)

And then flew back home to a little more color.

I had forgot how brown Vegas is.

We had a lay over in Seattle and decided to take advantage of the restaurants there too!

Jake about to enjoy Swordfish at Anthony's.

From Seattle to the Tri-Cities we got to fly on a new plane! It was only two weeks old and smelled so nice!

Even though it started out rocky we ended up having a great time. I was able to meet up with my friends, see family, and relax. In the end it was pretty stress free and relaxing.

On to our next adventure.

March was Madness

2011-03-31T15:52:00.000-07:00

So it started pretty tame. Well if you call a ton of snow tame. Although it was pretty much melted by the next day.

A benefits of working at the station:

if your car is buried you will get a ride to work.

We drove to the Tri-Cities for Jake's dad's birthday! Enjoyed the family time and whisked back home.

We went to the last couple of basketball games here. Basketball soon turned into this non-stop, based our lives around it, craziness!

The student section . . . always great entertainment during the game.

Klay Thompson. He's our star player and might be drafted to the NBA.

The WSU Cougars didn't make it to the NCAA, which I'm thinking is okay because they would have lost in the first round. They did make it into the NIT tournament (aka Losers Bracket). We went to the first three games and it was pretty exciting. Then they went to NYC and blew it. Royally. We played Wichita State, which just so happens to be where my sister lives. I guess I could have cheered for either team. WSU was taken to the cleaners and couldn't recover.

We had the NCAA games on non-stop. We usually have dinner on Sunday with Jason and Andrea. So much for turning off the t.v. This is what it was like during our dinners in March . . .

The Brashear Family fills out brackets every year. This year not one of us had a team in the final four! That's pretty bad for 7 brackets (not everyone filled one out this year).

Sometimes we like to purposely watch movies with animals in it just so we can watch our dog watch the movie. I'm pretty sure the dog was talking to her.

Our dogs were invited to a dog party. It was formal and they were given pearls and bow ties to wear. This is another sign people should have kids.

And if we lose all hope in finding a job when Jake graduates . . .

he and Belle can join the circus!

We ended the month on a rather interesting note. Jake was notified that his birth father passed away and he was the only next of kin they could contact. Jake is child #8 of possibly 15+ (we don't have an exact count yet). Jake had never contacted his birth dad but knew where he lived. The doctor did contact one ex wife and as far as she knew he didn't have any other family. Well it was a bit of a surprise to her to find out he had a big family. In the end we added two more kids to the list! As of right now Jake's youngest sister is 15 and we're hoping she's the baby of the family.

WSU Basketball

2011-03-05T21:50:00.001-08:00

We've managed to keep our Thursday nights busy by attending the WSU Basketball games. They were a lot of fun and was even better when we won!

These were from the Stanford vs. WSU game.

The Cougars always kept it close.

And as usual, we lost!

We coug'd it!!

(a term used frequently meaning we do so good and then blow it at the end)

We went to all the games with our friends, Jason and Andrea.

One game Jason bought our tickets and we got a good laugh when we found out we were in row II. He thought it was roman numeral 2! Although, there really isn't a bad seat in the house.

Our photographer (Andrea) couldn't seem to focus!

So I guess now that we've become "professional" college basketball analyzers we can move on to the baseball season.

Go Cougs!

Rabbit

2011-02-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

Maybe this is a sign that I've been away from the city too long.

Maybe I've just started expanding my palate.

Maybe I found a recipe I've wanted to try for years.

Maybe a co-worker raises them to eat.

This is half of the rabbit.

Jason and Jake were in charge of cutting it in pieces.

All ingredients were tossed into a crock pot and then we waited.

Nervously.

It looked pretty scary but it actually wasn't that bad.

It's true . . .

It tastes like chicken!

#7

2011-01-21T09:24:00.001-08:00

We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary this month. It was by far the best mini vacation we've had. We had so much fun! We stayed at a lodge a couple of minutes away from the top of the mountain. The room included a jacuzzi tub! The people were super nice and the food there was awesome!

This is our bed.

The rooms weren't huge but perfect for the two of us!

I'm getting ready to leave for breakfast and then off to the mountain!

Jake is waiting for breakfast.

The food was made fresh and didn't sit under a heat lamp!

Jake tubing!

We had a blast on the tube run.

At the top.

A trip to the mountain would not be complete without snowboarding.

Sadly this is my only picture!

On my second run down I took the lift with less people on it.

It turns out it was to the top.

We stuck to our traditional Applebee's for dinner. It was where we had our first date. We go there every year. We can sit, talk for hours, and people watch! The appetizer was amazing, our main course was pretty good, and the dessert topped off a great night. Although I have to say the best part about this year was our entire bill was comped. Good food. Good times. Good company. No charge (except a fat tip).

I always think it is fun to see where the "world" thinks your marriage should be at. There are articles about "the 7 year itch", "will it last", and "love 'em or leave 'em". I was shocked at how negative people view marriage. I felt bad for people that didn't have what I have. A happy healthy marriage. So after skimming through some different links I found this. If you don't want to read it there are five things to rate yourselves on. Date night (check), financial status (check - we're getting there), in-law involvements (check - thank goodness for amazing in-laws on both sides), recreational activities (check), and sex life (check - TMI right?!).

Then I look up articles on LDS.org about marriage. There is a great talk from Russell M. Nelson on Nurturing Marriage. Click here. I loved it. It leaves you at peace (especially reading all the negative worldly advice). It also gives great advice but more on a spiritual end on nurturing a marriage.

Eternity doesn't sound so bad.

Good bye Gus Gus

2011-01-08T07:09:00.001-08:00

A new obsession began this winter. The field mice have become braver and ventured to new territory, right outside of our back sliding door. I think one little mouse, named Gus Gus, enjoys teasing the dogs stuck behind the glass door. They will sit for hours waiting for Gus Gus to appear. When we let them out they will sniff everywhere looking to find him.

being teased

He looks like a ball of fuzz.

The other morning after the dogs had gone out and come back in. Jake heard Sage growling in the bedroom. So he went in and told them to knock it off. They all ran away. So he flipped the light on to see what they were growling about and Gus Gus was lifeless on the bedroom floor! Apparently the mice will tunnel through the snow and the dogs can hear them. They will pounce on the snow in hopes to catch them. It grosses me out so much. The other day Belle tossed one in the air! I tried to save it but he was gone.

This is the only reason I can't wait for spring!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T10:55:00.001-08:00

Christmas was simply beautiful

and

beautifully simple

Bitter Sweet . . .

2010-12-12T07:16:00.000-08:00

. . . this phrase will always sum up the feelings when you are released from a church calling. We've been the Activities Chair for the last year. I've loved it. Actually, I love it just as much as when we were the Activities Chair in the North Las Vegas Stake. I love spending hours on the little details on posters, hand outs, and sign ups. Then there was shopping! Who doesn't like to shop for a party? Then setting things up and making sure they were in the right spot. When people started arriving we would be running around making sure food was stocked, drinks were filled, trash was tossed, and things were running smoothly. I'm not sure anyone even saw all the behind the scenes.

Which is why there is that "sweet" feeling. No more last minute (literally) runs to the store. No more phone calls and emails to the committee and not getting a response. No more putting together and running Christmas Programs and dinners by ourselves. No more early correlation meetings. Oh I could go on!

After every activity Jake and I would get in the car to leave and say, "well, that was a success". We talked about the "next time" and what to do differently. Although I never really sat and ate at one function the food must have been good because it was always gone. People always stayed way passed the expected end time so they must have enjoyed themselves. Best of all we had zero injuries. That just itself is a success.

After a couple years of this it's still hard to list my favorite activity. Pioneer Day would be at the top. Even though we didn't have the funding that the North Las Vegas Stake had, we still had a killer party up here. It was a combined ward activity and we were amazed at the turnout, the food, the games, and the weather! Success. Movie Night is definitely up on the list. Success. Easy and super fun! For my third choice I would have to say the Taco Bar with Broom Hockey after. Everyone ate and so many people played. Loved it!

Last night was our last activity, Christmas dinner. A bitter sweet.

So even though the Activities Committee is no more I will still keep my binder of activities and wait for our next church calling.

Favorite Things

2010-12-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

Although I do love cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels

these are some of my favorite things . . .

The story of the Three Trees

The Nativity

Different nick-nacks that remind the reason of Christmas!

Our simple little Christmas tree.

We've had this for years and set it up in a corner even when we have a real one.

And most of all friends and family!

(I'll have to find a good picture for here)

2010 Thankful Tree

2010-12-03T17:25:00.000-08:00

Our tree looks rather squarish this year. We missed about five days and I think that would have "rounded" it out.

(in no particular order)

We are thankful for:

Patience

Remote start on the car

Friends & Family

Vicks Vapo Rub and grapefruit juice

The new WalMart

Jason & Andrea

Massages every week

Missionary moments

Temples

Homemade PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

The weather (experiencing 4 seasons)

Taste buds

Nyquil

Our home

Good appropriate humor

Home and visiting teachers

FHE

All the many birthday gifts and wishes

Emily

Good neighbors

Buster, Belle, and Sage

Journals

Jesus Christ

Jacob's laugh

Jobs

Eyes

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Ears

A happy marriage

Tithing

Puppy breath

A new car

and

The Thankful Tree!

Testosterone Day

2010-11-13T15:32:00.000-08:00

When men get together with A LOT of guns . . .

This is a 50. cal sniper rifle. Apparently it has a loud bang and a big kickback.

Jake's friend, Jake, holding a tactical shotgun brand new just out of the box.

Jake's favorite gun.

Too many guns not enough shooters!

Click here to see video

. . . they come home happy!

Wow it has been awhile.

2010-11-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

It's been too long. Here's a quick update of our lives.

I'm working graveyard this rotation at work. It's not as bad as I thought it would be but not something I could do more then 4 months out of the year. It's a busier time of year during grave because of the football games and Halloween. Come January the only adjustment I'll have to make is sharing the bed! Right now when I come home from work Jake is getting up. I jump in bed and when he gets home from school I get up. We spend the day together and then I'll head off to work and he heads for bed. The sun hits our window at all hours of sunlight. I woke up a couple of times with the biggest headache. I felt like my eyes were staring straight into a light for 7 hours. The solution: an eye mask. I never thought I would be able to sleep wearing it. Surprisingly when you're so tired you really don't care and your eyes love you when you wake up. Apparently Jake doesn't have a problem wearing it either. I came home from a Dr. appointment to find him wearing the eye mask napping.

We went to the only WSU football game they won. We ended up nabbing some great seats away from the Student Section. We were under the press box with older Alumni, which was nice because in the Student Section you end up standing the entire time! It was fun but probably because they won. We haven't gone to another game since and they haven't won since.

The day was perfect and there was only a slight breeze!

It's very rare that WSU has the ball this close to their end zone!

It's a Kodak moment when the score looks like this!

Showing school support!

We planted tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, and herbs. We had plenty of tomatoes. Because of the chilly weather we had to pick them red or not. We have a box of green tomatoes that slowly change to red. It will probably hold us over until Spring. We planted the bell peppers and the jalapenos in the same bucket. We think they cross bread! Ha! Our bell peppers were spicy. We didn't get very many bell peppers but we made out like a bandit with jalapenos. The herbs grew well too. Our spices are well stocked. We had a frog family living in our pepper plants. They had cute babies.

As the Activities Leaders for our ward this is our "busy" season. We had a great Halloween Party but now begins the adventure of Christmas. We didn't carve anything fancy in the pumpkins this year.

Fall is officially here and we love it! I love finding the perfect leaf.

Our newest addition came in the color of red. As an early birthday present we finally gave up on the Honda and bought a new car. I feel a little more comfortable driving on the two lane highway to Spokane, Lewiston/Clarkston, or the Tri-cities with functioning airbags.

We have a lot to look forward to in November. The Thankful Tree, Harry Potter, snow, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday.

july is gone and august is here!

2010-08-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

And again I post with no pictures because 1) our computer had a major malfunction and the more recent pictures are gone 2) I’ve just been too lazy to take pictures.

I’m not so sad that I lost the few pictures I had on that computer. There weren’t a lot and most of them were random. What I’m more sad about is losing all my iTunes. My music is gone. Lots of money gone. The classics: Wilson Phillips, Amy Grant, Tears for Fears, Johnny Cash . The later: Match Box 20/Rob Thomas, Ben Folds, Goo Goo Dolls, Good Charlotte, Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill. The latest: Kris Allen, Michael Buble, Plain White T’s, John Mayer. Oh I could go on. Sadness. The lesson learned. Use Time Machine today, not tomorrow.

On a happy note:

We have community BBQs all the time. The invitation is pretty much to anyone and everyone. We provide the grill they provide their own meat. We’ll sit around and chat for hours and eat until we’re about to explode. It’s nice to live in an area where you actually get to know your neighbors.

We had a great Pioneer Day on the 24th! Surprisingly the wards up here don’t participate in the traditional get together celebration. Being the Activity Leaders and have helped with the best Pioneer Day celebration in Las Vegas (North Las Vegas Stake has the best celebration in Las Vegas – hands down) we couldn’t pass this chance up. We had homemade stews, rolls, side salads, dutch oven potatoes and desserts, more desserts, lemon aid, and homemade root beer. We had people playing their guitars, kids on the playground, sack races, kick ball, and a cupcake walk. Some families even did a small “trek” in the wooded area. The turnout was amazing and everyone had a great time.

Jacob is a year older. We celebrated in style . . . presents, dinner with the folks, cobbler for dessert, ice cream cake for dessert! He played golf with his buddies and relaxed at home. That following weekend we had a birthday BBQ which was no different than any other except there was cake!

Jake’s parents brought up some peaches! Yahoo! We managed to get them all peeled and frozen before they went bad. We’ve already had some yummy peach enchiladas and a smoothie every morning. We are going through them quick! They also brought zucchini but that was gone within a couple of days! Our tomato plants are getting HUGE. There are tons of tomatoes but they’re still green. Ugh. I’m a very impatient farmer. We do have three bell peppers growing too! Our herbs have been harvested this year and we should be stocked up until next.

Well, I think that’s all I can think of. Maybe next time I’ll post a picture or ten.

~duck face~

2010-07-16T02:23:00.000-07:00

antiduckface.com

I support this website 100%.

I wish this pandemic would stop!

Yes, it's a pandemic.

Hiking Kamiak Butte

2010-06-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

Two weekends in a row we hiked Kamiak Butte. It a very pretty hike. One weekend Jake and I just went by ourselves. The next weekend we went with a group of friends.

heading to the top

a view of the wheat fields

almost there

jake, garret, valerie, jaimie, nayt, and bronx the dog

the trail runs along side of the mountain so there is a nice panoramic view along the way

jake at the top of the main hike. there is a summit where you can go to the very top.

at the top of the summit.

nayt, bronx, jaimie, valerie, garret, and jake

2010 and 1/2

2010-06-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

2010 is pretty much half way done. I was looking back at some of my goals for this year and I've done fairly well. For my traditional goals: I work out more, eat healthier, and spend less. I haven't saved all too much but there is still six more months to start that.

As far as the other realistically fun ones:

We've found a couple of recipes we really enjoyed. We've tried new things (well new to us) like Spaghetti Squash, homemade Sweet and Sour Chicken, Italian Rolls, and homemade tortillas. All in all I've kept up with a new recipe monthly.

I have not finished the blanket that I've been working on for years. I did get passed the halfway mark. It's going to be the biggest blanket in our house.

I started printing out my pictures that are stored in my computer. I'm even scrapbooking them as I go. The pictures I don't use I'll store in a photo album.

This next weekend will be our official first camping trip. The weather up here comes and goes. Just yesterday Jake said to me, "who would of thought we would still be wearing sweaters in June". It's been pretty cold the last couple of days and on the nice days we've already had stuff planned.

We've been reading a lot more. I've read about 7 or 8 books. That's a little more then one a month. Not too shabby.

And finally I finished the journal that I had for two years. I've started another one that will probably take just as long!

So far 2010 and 1/2 has turned out pretty good. I feel half accomplished.

a mush pot of our lives

2010-05-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

Where have we been? Sometimes I wonder that too but we really have accomplished a great deal in the last two months.

Like everyone else another semester is over. That's a great relief. Jacob's feet still haven't hit the ground since he found out he got a 100% on his final. Not curved. I guess I would be up there too. He keeps talking about framing it. I'm not sure we'll go that far.

This is at Spokane Falls.

My schedule changed from days to swing. I love not getting up to an alarm clock. We seem to do more before I head out to work. We manage to run, take the dogs to the dog park, and run errands all before lunch. That always seems nice to get out of the way first thing.

We went to the doctors AGAIN. In April the news went from "you can have kids" to "Jacob might have a tumor in his brain". He has low testosterone and high prolactin which is an indicator of a tumor in the brain. After a MRI it was determined the only thing odd up there is a small cyst in his sinus area. That was a big relief. We were referred to an Endocrinologist in Spokane and now Jacob is back to giving more blood. After they balance all of his hormones out we'll be parents in no time (or at least heading in that direction).

We visited the Brashear family last weekend. We had a few fierce games of Lasso Golf, ate scrumptious food, and laughed a bunch. It was well worth the drive!

We drove to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho after a doctor's visit in Spokane, WA. It is a very pretty town. We stopped at Lake Coeur d'Alene and enjoyed the great outdoors. We always fall in love with places in the spring and summer. Maybe we should vacation more in the fall and winter.

I like moose.

I officially learned how to use my Embroidery Module on my Bernina. It's amazing. I'm in love. Although I have found something just as tedious as weeding vinyl. It's removing the drag (or string) between the letters or pictures on embroidery. Ugh it can get nerve racking. Jacob was afraid I was going to embroider every towel and shirt in the house. I didn't.

Now that the weather is nice we can start marking things off of our check list.

We're going to extend our running route.
We're going to bike to Idaho and back and not turn around half way. (it's only 8 miles one way)
We'll be camping/hiking Hells Canyon and hopefully master the area.
We're getting ready to plant our veggies!
We're looking forward to harvesting peaches!
We'll be going to many Saturday's Markets too!

I think that sums it all up. Hopefully I'll have more to update in May and June!

Campus on the Run

2010-03-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

Campus on the Run is a race that WSU puts on every year and the proceeds go to local charities. This year Jake participated in this gruling 5k. I opted out. He and his buddies have been preparing for it. For this being his first 5k he didn't do so bad, especially considering there were quite a few avid runners in the race. We were pretty impressed he placed 221st out of 459.

I was in charge of cheering and photos. I did pretty well at the cheering but not so well on the photos. I actually forgot I had the camera until it was almost too late. Of the 4 pictures I took these two were the best.

Next year the goal is to place closer to a friend of ours name Brian. He placed 20th.

addictions . . .

2010-03-14T10:25:00.001-07:00

We really shouldn't be addicted to things.

But not all addictions are bad, right?

The Amazing Race. It really is amazing.

Cadbury Eggs.

Vegetable Quesadillas. I can't stop thinking about them.

Homemade dehydrated fruit.

Reading the obituaries. I don't even know anyone here!?

Busy weekend!

2010-03-07T06:34:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's nice to have a busy weekend. A fun weekend. Our adventures started on Friday.

After class, Jake and I ran around and did some errands and then I was off to Spokane with some friends. We did some much needed Costco shopping and canning. At Costco we manage to lose our driver, fill up on free samples and polish dogs, fill the cart, and fill up the car with gas all in a record time. At the cannery I managed to "fling" sugar everywhere. Not on purpose! I thought the lid was on the can when I went to seal it. It wasn't. The can spun at what seemed like Mach three, full with sugar. Everyone just stopped and looked at me. Then we took a small time out of our smooth running assembly line to clean. Overall we had a blast and the hour and 15 minute drive up went so fast. We even had a good scare on our way home as we watched two vehicles directly in front of us nearly hit each other head on at 65 mph! That always wakes everyone up!

Late Friday evenings our house is the hot spot for movie night. Jake's coworker always has the latest and greatest hits available. Sometimes they are not so great and everyone starts adding their own commentary. We watched 2012. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I thought it was rather lame.

Saturday morning we met up with some friends to go for a run. Jake has been running this 5K for a couple of weeks and so I thought I would give it a try. I thought "this should be cake". Until I realized we live in a valley of hills. I'm not talking about gradual incline. I'm talking about a straight up run and then straight down and then up, down, up, down. I think there are two stretches of flatness. They total 0.2 miles. I did well but not as well as I could. I might be ready to run this beast perfectly by race day.

Saturday afternoon we went to the baseball game. WSU was playing Utah Utes. WSU might totally suck at football, can hold their own at basketball, but ROCKS in baseball. I know it's early in the season but they are 9-0. They didn't slaughter the Utes but made quite the dent in the score board (10-4).

VS.

Saturday evening was the main event. We car pooled over to the Beasley Event Center and watched a once in a life time event. WWE Smack Down: Road to Wrestlemania. It was so stinkin' funny to watch! It was the most pathetic acting ever. I have to admit it was fun to yell and boo the wrestlers. There is this one wrestler that did some cool flips and swings and jumps. At one point I was told I had to put my camera away because they thought I was recording the show. Seriously? Why would I record WWE? During a break Jake talked to the ushers about the camera. I was then given the okay. I didn't think I took a lot of pictures but when we got home I had taken 66! hahaha there were just a lot of good action shots! What am I going to do with 66 WWE pictures!

And today starts Sunday . . . hmm what to do . . .

Here's the scoop . . .

2010-02-21T10:29:00.001-08:00

I went to the doctor last Tuesday and received the results for my Upper Endoscope. This is what the doctor said:

I have Eosinophilic Esophagitis (say that three times fast)
I have a very thin esophagus
As a result if I ever need to be tubed they should never "expand" my throat more than 15 mm. (or it will tear)
I will be on Fluticasone FOREVER

So here's a medical lesson. Eosinophils are white blood cells that help promote inflammation, mainly in allergic reactions. They like to hang out in my throat. That is why they are called Eosinophilic Esophagitis. They decrease the ability of my esophagus to stretch so my food would get stuck. If I remember right the doctor said the normal cell count that should be there is about 15-20. I have 50. So my throat is trashed. It swells up pretty regularly.

As for treatment, some people get this balloon thing stuffed down their throat to try and stretch it. As for me, I can't do this because 1) it won't do much good and 2) my throat is very thin and more prone to tear. I have to take 4 drops of Fluticasone every day for the rest of my life. This is normally a nasal spray but I drink it! It tastes like a regular asthma inhaler. Sometimes I gag. The only real side effect is thrush.

I guess it could be worse.

What a month . . .

2010-01-29T09:04:00.001-08:00

January has turned out to be quite eventful for us. It started out slow and mundane. Work was super slow because all of the college kids were home for the break. Now they are back and it's back to business as usual.

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary by going out to eat and exploring the Snake River. I'll have to post those pictures later because I forgot to download them. It was very pretty and we're excited visit during the summer.

We ended up having to put the truck in the shop to get the ball joints fixed on both sides. That was a pretty penny and always a damper.

Then I had my doctors appointment for my throat. I've been having trouble for the last couple of years swallowing my food. I usually just force it down with water. I couldn't stand it any longer and went and saw my Gastroenterologist. The results could have been one of four.

Cancer
A narrowed esophagus
Scar tissue from my multiple anaphylactic shock moments
Or an inflamed esophagus that creates rings in your throat

The visit was quick and painless. More painless for me then for Jake. I was sedated. Jake had the fun job of repeating himself a million times. A good time had by all I guess! The results were immediate. I have Eosinophilic Esophagitis (or #4). The doctor also said that I was allergic to more then just nuts and shellfish and the biopsy would give us the answer to that. So here are the pictures of my esophagus.

Top Left: Your esophagus should not have rings in it.

Top Right: Your esophagus should not have stretch marks or blood vessels showing. This is a result from my many times of eating nuts.

Bottom Left: a closer picture of my esophagus while swallowing and the stretch marks/blood vessels.

Bottom Right: A look from my stomach up my throat. The black tube thing is the camera.

My esophagus was so narrow that they had to give me a steroid shot to open it to get the camera in.

The good news is this can all be fixed. I will be taking a drug that will be opening my airway. It is called Fluticasone Propionate it is the same steroid like drug used for those with asthma. I will drink it instead of inhale it.

So there you have it. I'll take it over cancer any day.

And last but not least. You may all be jealous for this reason and this reason alone.

What else is there to do in a small town!

Goodbye 2009

2009-12-31T20:06:00.000-08:00

Fairwell 2009!

You were loved.

I always love the beginning of a new year. I love the fresh start, new adventures, and "resolutions".

I was reading a newsletter from our health insurance the other day and it stated "having resolutions can be stressful"! I thought that was pretty funny because sometimes it's true! They suggested that instead of having a resolution and cutting your bad habbit cold turkey, only to relaps a week later, you should have "switcheroos". This means change bad habbits slowly. For example, if someone cuts you off while driving you would traditionally give them the old finger (or fist). Instead, grit your teeth together and smile at them! Slowly but surely your jaw will losen and your future responses will be a friendly smile. That is what the experts say.

I will have to think of some reasonable "switcheroos".

I always start the traditional New Year's Resolution list:
Work out more
Eat healthier
Save more
Spend less

But those get boring. So I'm going to try and spice things up! Here we go:

I'm going to take adavantage of my cook books. I would like to try a new recipe weekly but realisticly I'll aim for monthly.

I would love to finish this blanket I'm making and start a new one.

I plan to print all of my pictures and put them at least in a photo album ~ just in case my computer crashes. I would also love to update my scrapbook.

Travel more for less money. High end trips are nice but camp outs are a blast! We are in a prime location for so many places to adventure to.

Read more often. I'm just catching on the the reading craze ~ slowly.

Journal more then twice a month. I've had the same journal now for two years and an empty one on the shelf waiting.

So . . . that's my start. Who knows how far I'll get.

Gladly welcoming 2010!

Chilly Willy

2009-12-09T23:58:00.000-08:00

It's cold.

It's 11 degrees outside right now but they say it feels like -4.

I'm not complaining but snow would make it feel a little more wonderful.

Thankful

2009-11-30T20:32:00.001-08:00

We're Thankful For . . . (in no particular order)

Working vehicles

Adoption

Winco's cheap good food

Wheat Warmers

Sleep

Pumpkin pie

Family games (especially when I beat Jake!)

Visiting Teaching

Families can be together forever

The dog park

Morning scripture studies

Uncle Bob

Coupons (now we just need to learn to use them!)

Modern technology (internet, cell phones, digital cameras)

Winter clothes

Buster, Belle, and Sage

My professors

Road trips

Fun

My mom teaching me how to crochet

All my birthday wishes and gifts

Modern medicine

Monopoly

Snow

Family and Friends

Being alive

Good books

Education (spiritual and temporal)

Indoor plumbing (especially on cold windy days)

Prayer

Dyson vacuums

A clean house

Heavenly Father

Wholesome family movies by Pixar and Disney

The restoration of the gospel

The Holy Ghost

Family Home Evenings

Weather

Being PHAT

Jacob and his willingness to do the Thankful Tree

Living prophets and apostles and their counsel

A well paying job in Pullman, Washington

Emily

and

The Gospel

SNOW!

2009-11-29T19:03:00.000-08:00

We love snow. It's just a white blanket of goodness! We've been blessed with it twice this year and we can't wait until it stays for the season. The last time I measured 5.5 inches in our yard. Yipee!

On a side note: Remember when Sage thought she was a cat? We thought that passed.

Until we found her on the window sill.

Birthday #28

2009-11-29T18:43:00.000-08:00

My birthday was pretty low key this year but it didn't get unnoticed. I can't believe I'm 28! That seems so old! I've been asked if I felt 28. The truth is I don't. I've worked or have been surrounded by youth since High School. I feel like I'm still part of the young crowd. Hopefully I feel that way when I'm in my 30's!

So here goes the pictures. Here I am with my cake:

Jake and I have this thing with giving gifts. Maybe I explained it before. We'll get a gift for each other that is from the dogs. The catch is it's really something the other person wanted. Buster was watching me open my gift (from him).

It was WSU pajamas. Jake has been trying to get me to get a WSU shirt since we got here. I keep refusing, I'm a Rebel not a Cougar. Thanks Buster.

Lately on Sunday we play board games. Okay we only play Monopoly. My sister had bought us an American Edition one year. This year it was the Monopoly Champion Edition. It came with a trophy. We're so competitive we needed a trophy! We got a good laugh. This was from the dogs too! Haha we're lame.

I'm very grateful for all my gifts. I received some pretty neat stuff like books (real books and sewing books), my dad's journals, an awesome tea cup, money, candy, crafty stuff, and movies. I received a ton of birthday wishes and appreciated them all. Here's to another year!

A Month in Review . .

2009-11-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

Let's see . . . what have we been doing? Hmm not much of anything of importance or fun.

Except . . .

This was before work. Jake snapped my picture. Really close!

and then far away. one extreme or the other, I guess.

When Sage sleeps her tongue hangs out. On this day it was really far!

In the early mornings we think it's funny to mess with the dogs. On this particular day we stuffed Sage in the WinCo bag. She didn't move or anything. It was like she really wanted to go with us shopping. Move over Paris Hilton's rat dog.

We have this amazing Pizza book and just so happened to have the ingredients for a true Chicago Deep Dish Pizza.

And here I am in action! I wish I could say I learned my skills from my days at Pizza Hut but they use frozen pre-sized crust.

So everyone thought his picture was pretty sad . . .

it only gets worse.

We save our weekends for Scrabble and Whitetailopoly.

And we are in a PRIME location for checking out the stars, moon, and planets. This is totally nerdy but we loved tracking Jupiter and it's moons. It was super cool. One night we saw 3 of Jupiter's moons. Jake thinks 4 but 3 for sure.

Drumsticks!

2009-10-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank the Zinser's for this amazing idea.

Homemade drumsticks.

You will need:

12 ice cream cones

1 bottle of Magic Shell chocolate

1 tub of your favorite ice cream

1 handful of nuts (we used the honey roasted peanuts)

1 empty egg carton, some wax paper and tape

This is your cone holder. I put my finger all the way through to make the holes deep. Then I set the carton in the freezer and prepared the cones one at a time.

We used the Smores Magic Shell that is why it is clumpy. I squeezed some around the top of the cone and then used the handle end of a plastic spoon to smooth it all the way to the bottom. If you do all the cones at once and then put them in the freezer the chocolate will be more thick at the bottom. If you do one at a time they stay pretty even. So I would coat one and then stick it in the freezer.

Of coarse I skipped a bunch of steps in pictures but next I cut the wax paper into squares to roll around the cone. Then I took one out of the freezer at a time and filled it with ice cream (make sure you push the ice cream far enough down), taped the wax paper on top, and added another scoop of ice cream. You can put a straw down the middle and add caramel if you would like. We didn't on these and they still were scrumptious. At the end I took them all out and sprinkled the nuts on the top of each one.

The finished product.

We made 12 and they didn't last very long. And i didn't get a picture of us eating them either. They are a little time consuming but well worth the time!

Done with the drive.

2009-09-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

I have become quite the weekend warrior away from home. These last couple of weeks I would commute from Pullman to the Tri-cities for work. My record time was 2 hours 10 minutes. I've lost count on how many times I drove this road. But I could tell you where the police sit, how many miles between turn offs, and where the right places are to pass (it's a two lane highway). I think this drive has finally ended. Well, we're hoping. I've been hired on with the City of Pullman Police Station and will be starting soon. These two pictures are while I was driving.

The farm land come right to the edge of the road.

This was a pretty cool sunset.

And when I'm home I have a crazy husband that thinks he owns a lamb. Jake kept himself pretty busy by studying and working while I was gone.

Our dogs will sit and look out the window all day.

So now we're back into the daily grind.

". . .I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree . . ."

2009-09-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Peach Tree,

We would like to thank you for a wonderful year of production. We have been blessed to enjoy the fruits of your labor in the following ways:

Peach Enchiladas:

Frozen Peaches:

Peach Bread:

Peach smoothies (every morning!):

Homemade Peach Ice Cream with Homemade Caramel! It was delish!:

We also enjoyed homemade Peach Salsa and just plain Peaches. We will miss you so much!

Until next year,

Jacob and Emily

it's us

2009-09-01T22:32:00.001-07:00

we are still alive. just back into the old routine of school and work. the combination of the two can become very drag and mundane. i'm seriously considering going back to school. jake was making fun of me the other day because i was reading his text books. there is something about text books that i like. although i do have to admit, i have been reading "real" books lately too.

here's proof:

(don't mind the hair it was right before bed)

jake had to attach a picture to one of his first assignments. we had some good laughs of all the pictures we could choose from.

i was voting for this one because every time i say, "smile", this is what i get. a big fat cheesy grin.

we ended up using a different one.

so that's life for us right now.

FYI

2009-08-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

This is a conversation between a girl in Juvie and I.

Me: "Use that phone."

Juvie girl: "It's broken."

Me: "Is it really? Are you sure?" (some times the kids just don't know how to use it)

Juvie girl: "Yeah! What do you think I'm a liar?"

Me: "Well, you are a Juvenile Delinquent and in Juvie (for falsifying information to the police I will add) and criminals tend to lie."

Juvie girl: "I'm not a criminal. I'm just a felon."

I ended the conversation there but still got a good laugh.

So just in case you were wondering, you can be a felon but not a criminal.

Toe-mate-oh?

2009-07-26T20:51:00.001-07:00

Do you have tomatoes growing like crazy? We do. Regular and Cherry. We're not complaining, we're just running low on ideas to make and/or can. This morning Jake and I peeled 43 regular tomatoes and made homemade spaghetti sauce. We pulled a Stuffed Cherry Tomato recipe off line and tried two of those. They were delicious. We've done salsa and BLT's, now we need help. What else can you do with tomatoes?

{pre-spaghetti sauce}

{and we have cucumbers and green beans too}

{stuffed blt cherry tomatoes and stuffed guacamole cherry tomatoes}

Send recipes soon. The growth is not slowing!!

River Rats

2009-07-26T20:36:00.001-07:00

The Columbia River is a happening place in the summer. It's the best way to cool down, relax, and totally enjoy the summer. We've been lucky enough to live 5 minutes away. We toss the dogs in the back of the truck and away we go.

~Belle is our water dog. She would swim away if we let her. We keep her on the leash so she isn't whisked down stream!

~ Buster is learning how to grab his ball in the water. It was pretty funny because as the tide would go out he would go for the ball. Right when he would grab it a wave would splash him in his mouth and he would drop it!

~Most of the time he sat and watched the ball come in and go out.

~You can't tell here but he finally got his ball.

~Sage was a bit timid at first. Jake had to help her.

Good thing summer just started here.

~Salsa~

2009-07-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

Because everything is a friendly competition here . . .

Two salsas. One fancy homemade (or painted rather) chip dip bowl. One Winner.

Emily's Homemade Dip:

Jacob's Homemade Dip:

One Fancy Homemade (or painted rather) Chip Dip Bowl for the winner's salsa:

And the winner is:

EMILY!

I have a confession. Mine was WAY too hot. Well for me too enjoy. So Jakes truly won the rights to the winner's bowl!

2009-07-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

I've talked to a couple of my friends about people who blog about how much they LOVE something or someone. Some times you wonder if they are trying to convince themselves that they have made a good decision or make it a point to tell others they really are happy. But then sometimes that someone is you. And you really do LOVE what ever it is. That's how I feel about Washington. I know it's not my final resting spot in life, but it's definitely a place I truly enjoy, or LOVE.

This last weeks weather:

I'm not sure I'd have to explain why I like it here. It's July and the high is only 95! The kicker - there is always a breeze so it never really feels like 95!

NOTE TO SELF:

When your husband goes out of town and your not sure if you really want to go . . . GO! Even if he's on a tight schedule and you're not sure how much exploring there is to do . . . GO!

Jake's been out of town and that leaves me at home. The house is clean. The dogs are fed. What more is there to do. I wasted two hours of my life watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey. LAME. What a waste. So I turned off the t.v. and went outside.

The Potatoes:

If you weren't sure what plant the potatoes really were, you weren't alone. So I sat and weeded the garden. I found a slug. It was pretty gross. There were some worms too but they didn't bother me. A bunch of ants too. The slug was gross.

My favorite part of Spring/Summer is the fruit. Every morning before work I would go out and pick a bowl of raspberries, boysenberries, and cherries. Delicious.

These berries are for my smoothie.

The boysenberries were pretty big. I was impressed. This was a fat one!

These cherries are delightful!

The birds wouldn't settle for the ones on top, they intruded the bottom layer too. So I climbed the latter to save the ones in the middle!

The strawberries became a home for a quail family.

We've now watched the babies grow into little quail. Jake would like to shoot them.

The tomatoes are out of control. Salsa here we come!

And of corse the peas! They were good while they lasted!

Belle is doing the clean up!

There are so many other things that's going on. The river, the parks, our running course, house sitting (and we're getting good at watering plants!), and much more! Our adventures are just starting to begin up here.

Life is good.

From Scraps

2009-05-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

Last night I was thinking of something to do.

I started cutting material to make a new bag for church.

This morning I got up and sewed it all together.

Two hours later . . .

I have a new Primary bag from scraps.

Gone Fishing

2009-05-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today Jake and I ventured out fishing. We've been a couple of times before and thought it would be more fun on the blow up boat. We spent all day at the lake/river and had a blast! Much more fun then our traditional dinner and a movie.

This is Jake right after we launched.

This is just the beginning!

In the middle of the river, relaxing.

LESSON #1:

DON'T FORGET THE SUN SCREEN

(even when it feels amazing outside)

I couldn't get a good picture of our raccoon eyes but it's just as defined as our leg line.

Covered.

2009-05-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

This week my project was a grill cover.

We finally prepped our grill for a good season of grilling. I would hate for the random rain shower to get the grill dirty again, especially since we cleaned it up real nice. So after I measured, cut, and sewed . . . VOILA!

The grill is covered.

It's not every day . . .

2009-05-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

The whole Brashear family is together!

Megan, Joelle, John, Paige, Jillise, Jaren, Brian, Brandon, Jimmy, Mike, Katie, Karla, Jacob, Emily

Bernina, Buddies, Veggies, and Work!

2009-04-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

~Bernina~

OOHH YEAH! It's up and running! In fact it has completed an entire project too! Many many more to come. I finally signed up for a Bernina class this last week. We made this scissor/pencil/what ever you want it to be bag. Surprisingly it was easy and fun. Plus I learned how to use a couple features I didn't know about. I'm very impressed. My skills are lacking but soon will be perfected!

~Buddies~

The other day we were sitting outside and our dogs were being pretty playful. I think with the nice weather the dogs like to be outside more. And since we're not super exciting with funny stories of our kids . . . we've made up for it with dogs!

Self portrait - again!

The grass is extremely green! It almost looks fake.

~Veggies!~

I know, I know, enough already about the blasted peas. But it's pretty exciting to see some results of planting a big huge row of seeds. Probably because every attempt made in Vegas was dead by late spring. We're still waiting on the beans, carrots and potatoes but the brussel sprouts, zucchini, and peppers are poking through. All in good time.

~Work~

It's really hard to explain what it is about Juvenile Delinquents that is so appealing to work with. They are normally repeat offenders, filter through the system, and/or totally misled. Many lack stability, structure or direction in their life. This makes Detention more appealing because they have a roof over their head, a place to sleep, 3 meals, warmth in the winter, a/c in the summer, and nobody will take their stuff (along with amazing Probation Officers and staff to talk to). I'm not justifying anyone's action, in fact they pretty much deserve what they get. However, there are three things that I've come to enjoy.

One, during diversion kids are sometimes instructed to write apology letters. We have them read them aloud (especially if they are to a family member who is present). Many kid become emotional when reading their letter. I'm not taking joy in them crying. I enjoy seeing this punk kid actually show heart felt emotion especially towards his family. He may never have told them how he felt. But maybe he has.
Two, I was releasing a kid from the Detention Center to his family. He had served quite some time and hadn't had much contact with his family. When he saw his parents, girlfriend, and son (yep he has a 2 yr. old) a plane could have crashed 500 yards away and not one person would have noticed. It was almost like a missionary returning. Everyone was waiting for that moment for a long time. Whether we see him in the system again or not, that one moment was pretty happy.
Three, sitting down and talking to them without their thug buddies around. Most of their families aren't around to listen or talk, so they will sit and talk to you forever. They will tell you almost everything. Some kids are so stinkin' smart you wonder why they are wasting away making dumb choices. My sister in-law had told me about how a kid reacted when she gave him a cookie. I never knew how much a cookie could change someone's attitude. You would think it was Christmas.

I didn't pick a heroic profession but there are times when you feel like you may make a small difference.

Okay, I'm off to bed.

Life is good.

Tax Day

2009-04-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

So part of me is a little hesitant to post this. Mainly because it has no factual basis behind it. This is just a story that my father made up. However, if you ever knew my dad, he was a great story teller. He could make up the best reasons, stories, and jokes on a dime. Here is one of those very stories, in memory of dad, on one of his favorite days!

TAX DAY

by Thomas D. Harris

Every April 15th for the past few years I have driven to the main U.S. Post Office to mail my income tax return. I wait until nine or ten o'clock in the evening before setting out on my pilgrimage. My coworkers and a few of my family don't understand my attraction with this annual ritual. I feel a certain spiritualism with the trip, as if I'm reliving a 2000+ year-old tradition of paying taxes.

The story begins with Joseph, husband of Mary, Mother of Jesus. A decree went out that a census and tax assessment should be made of the Roman world. Now we know that Christmas, the symbolic birthday of Jesus the Christ, is December 25th but scholars, astronomers, and historians surmise that his birth actually took place in the springtime. I'm guessing it was around the middle of April. The new tax regulations were probably issued at the beginning of the year, and Mary was probably six months pregnant when the decree was announced.

Joseph was a carpenter, an artisan. We are sure he was experienced at planning projects and very analytical in their development. Most artisans prepare well ahead and we must presume that Joseph was no different. I'm sure that as soon as Joseph received his Form MXL he completed it and was ready to take off to Bethlehem. Anyone who has endured life with a pregnant woman can see what came next.

"Joseph, there is no way in this world that you are traveling alone to your hometown with me down here carrying this baby. You'll get up there and meet an old friend or two and who knows what trouble you'll get yourself into while I'm here swelling up like goatskin filled with new wine. You can just wait a month or two and I'll have this baby, then we can go visit our families and make a small vacation of it."

So Joseph waited and soon it was the middle of March but Mary wouldn't let him go then because the baby would surely come any day. He had to wait. Finally it was April 13th and they had to leave in order to make the two-day trip and get there before close of business on the 15th.

By now Joseph was up to his eyes with the whole thing. Knowing that he would have a hard time finding medical services since Bethlehem had closed all the Quick Care offices. His HMO would dispute his claims because he was outside the zone for their primary care unit. And, he knew he would be buying a donkey seat to carry the baby back. He could only hope all the dreams had been correct and it wasn't twins. Well, we know he made it to Bethlehem, took care of business and then the baby came. But, that is another story all together.

Bottom line is that it is very Biblical to pay our taxes the last evening of the last day. When I drive to the post office on the evening of April 15th, I feel spiritually renewed.

I wonder if my dad is hanging out in the spirit world, next to the post office tonight!

EASTER FUN!

2009-04-13T20:53:00.000-07:00

Our 1st Easter up in Washington was not going to start off without EGGS! Jake and I have colored eggs every year and have always had a BLAST!! This year we colored 9 and Brandon and Katie colored 9. We get our $1.19 worth from the dye kit. We played the memory game (Katie won - best two out of three), applied every sticker to the eggs, and used the holders given. I would like to point out that this was the first year that the kit did not come with stickers that said, "DAD", "MOM", "SISTER", or "BROTHER". In fact they didn't include any stickers of a religious nature - like crosses and church buildings. I couldn't believe they have managed to take the religion out of Easter kits. There were plenty of bunnies and flowers though!

~no fancy colors this year~

Sunday we enjoyed a nice hunk of ham! It was pretty tasty! We have enough ham now to last us until next Easter! We'll be eating ham sandwiches, ham and eggs, ham a-la-king, fried ham, cold ham, honey ham, ham on our pizza, ham and egg casserole, ham here, ham there, ham ham and more ham. Until it's gone!

I'm not a big candy eater during Easter. EXCEPT Cadbury Eggs. I'm in love with them. I'm especially in love with the Cadbury Caramel Egg! Caramel is my down fall.

So you can only imagine my excitement when I opened the box of 4!

So this year I've had my dose of Ham, Cadbury Eggs, and bunny impostors!

~okay so she doesn't quite look like a bunny~

As the weather continues to stay nice, we'll continue with the daily grind!

~visiting jake for lunch~

~jake mowing the lawn~

I keep forgetting to take a picture of the peas but they are getting HUGE!

Nothing new is going on. . .

2009-04-10T00:15:00.000-07:00

In mid February we planted peas in the garden. On afternoon I went out to see if any were poking through. I got more then just peas! There was a dead pigeon with it's head poking through the fence - well, minus the head. It had been eaten off by this hawk we had seen the day before. So I came inside and told Jake that he had some cleaning up to do! He took the pooper-scooper that he got from Christmas and used it to grab the bird and chuck it. It's now a carcass carrier!

This is Jake doing his duty!

Earlier in the year, when we had nothing going on, we volunteered to assist the neighbor in her paper route so she could go out of town. I guess it's hard to find substitutes for three weeks! This wouldn't have been so bad but we seem to make things harder then needed! We would stay up until 1:00 a.m. or sometimes 2:00 a.m., sleep for 3 hours, get up, toss papers, come home, sleep for 2 hours (if we were lucky), and then be back up and heading off to work. Repeat for three weeks! This last Wednesday was our last day and it felt great! Things we learned from the experience:

It really wouldn't be so bad if we had more sleep
It really wouldn't be so bad if it was our only job
Our record for delivering 52 papers was 25 minutes.
Two days in a row we lost a couple papers to the wind. We had to put them back in order which STUNK!
We only had one complaint that we were late.
Don't wear your nice shoes when there is dew on the grass.
Some people don't read the newspaper - they just let it build up in their box.
If you're going to be the driver don't snack on chips while the other person is running their brains out. And don't gas it - the person in the back may fall out!

Jake was trying to fall back asleep after our last day of delivering papers.

One of my absolute favorite thing about Washington is the weather. It is beyond amazing. I've taken multiple naps outside on the grass. We've eaten lunches and dinners outside, played with the dogs, and rode bikes. Now that it's spring all of the flowers are blooming and they look SO pretty. Jake's parents have some pretty awesome flowers in their front yard.

This white flower is one of my favorites because the center is orange. It looks pretty amazing in person!

Same with these yellow ones.

Giving Credit!

2009-03-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

I must give credit where credit is due! The set of bows that I posted I did not make but a good friend of mine did! She has a little business of making them but the prices can add up. I guess I should have explained that my laziness included having someone else make the bows for me! I can make a mean bow but I always think others look so much better! For Keri's information click on my link For Giggles 'n Grins.

A Whole Lotta Somethin'

2009-03-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

Where did all the time go? So many things going on, it's hard to keep track of the time. Early March the temperatures would drop pretty low at night and the car windows would frost. I thought they made some pretty cool designs on the trunk! I just so happen to have my camera on me one morning and snapped a couple of pictures.

I thought it was pretty neat.

Then we got an awesome phone call that Katie (Jake's sister) was having her baby!

James Whiteley Crook looks just like his mom! He was a 10 lbs. 5 oz. baby and he's really cute!

Since there are plenty of girl babies on their way, I've decided to take the easy way out on shower gifts. Bows. A hand crafted bow a month.

And if they are totally hated, they can be re-gifted.

Today, Jake and I went out and checked the peas we planted in the garden. They are coming up! We did have our doubts but we see some poking through. When they get a bit more noticeable we'll post some pictures! Doesn't that sound so exciting?! Ha ha!

April 1st is the start of fishing season. We're ready to go. I refuse to eat the fish but I think it will be fun to go out and give it a try to catch them. Especially since we live next to quite a bit of lakes and rivers.

To sell or not to sell?

2009-02-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

That is the question.

Jake and I have been debating back and forth to sell our property or to keep it. I'm for it and some days he's against it. It's not the best time to sell but you just never know. We've gotten calls in the past and we just laughed. Now I'm thinking we should take them more seriously. Here's the history. We bought it thinking that we were going to end up in Arizona. We would build and life would be good. We have 38 acres. The back of the property borders BLM and some Arizona State Trust. It reminds me of Cedar City, Utah. There are two rolling hills that run through it. Our neighbors have started to develop so dragging power out wouldn't be so costly. Now that life has changed courses for us, we're not sure we'll use it to it's fullest capacity. BUT maybe someday we will.

If we keep it, it may gain more value. We may even one day end up in Arizona.

If we sell it we could purchase land up here and build.

Oh the decisions to make as a grown up.

What's New?

2009-02-11T12:41:00.000-08:00

Let's see . . . we began tilling the garden by hand until Jake's dad can fix the other tiller.

I look half asleep.

Jake is a better digger then I am.

Then one day I actually got to see the fog "roll" in. It was pretty cool.

It's hard to actually take a picture of fog but usually you can see the pine trees behind the neighbors house.

This is the sun. I know, you're not supposed to look into the sun . . . but it wasn't even bright!

The view of the city at night.

Life is good.

Hour of Power

2009-01-21T22:56:00.000-08:00

It's 11:00 p.m. and I just completed the best "Hour of Power" on the treadmill. I'm hoping to feel the burn tomorrow. Right now, I feel like I'm speed walking everywhere. During my run I read the owner's manual. There were two pages really stressing the use of the correct power source. Interesting. People must not know how to plug it in to a power adapter. I also counted food storage cans. This is not much of a surprise to my family. We count everything. Well, Jake's off tomorrow so we're going to some museum. I'll post those pictures.

5 Years and it still fits!

2009-01-18T16:42:00.000-08:00

Jake and I celebrated our 5th Year Anniversary yesterday. Time sure does fly when you are having fun! We have a two distinct traditions. One is to go to Applebee's and eat dinner (or lunch) because it's where our first date was. This year, we pulled up to Applebee's and there was quite the wait. So, we opted to go to Olive Garden instead. The second tradition is to climb back into our wedding gear and dance. We have grown a little in 5 years but we still fit!

Jake grew just a little around the center

I fit perfectly fine in my dress but it looks like I'm busting out the top!!

We celebrate with the finest!

Flashback: Instead of having a guest book that sits in a closet, we have a plate that sits on our shelf.

In the 5 years of being married we have had some great times and some crappy times. I'm pretty sure the fun thrills of life out weigh the downer moments! When we think we've been through it all, the excitement begins again . . . just how we like it!

Recipe Scrapbook

2009-01-11T00:20:00.000-08:00

Last year, my sister and I spent multiple Fridays creating a "Time Machine" scrapbook for my mom's birthday. We ended up creating a pretty hefty book. It started when she was young. It included her childhood, wedding, kids, pets, and more kids. Her brother and sister wrote a short "memory" for her and they each had a page. It was a great idea and a great gift to give. Mainly because it was literally made from the sweat of our brow. Every time I went to my mom's I flipped through every page admiring our work. I think my sister is a million times better at scrapbooking then I am. She takes more time on each page. Either way, my mom loved it and it was a great hit! I've never put forth that much effort on a gift EVER. So after that huge project, I retired scrapbooking for a little while. Like 7 months. But it's that time of year again (Mother's Day and Birthdays are quickly coming). So I pulled out the tote, trays, crates, and bins of scrapbook supplies.

The project this year: Her mother's recipes that were just sitting in a box. I organized them and the work has begun.

This is just one page of Croissants. It's actually really hard to arrange recipes.

Some are hand written and some came from a newspaper. One dates back to the late 60's. It's pretty neat to see the old advertisements and coupons.

If the recipe continued on the back of another I just color copied it. That's why the second card is white.

The work has begun. This is what I will consume my life with for the next month or so. I've made a pretty good dent already!

Sorry mom, it's not a surprise anymore! You knew I had them anyway.

Columbia River

2009-01-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

Jake and I decided to go to the Columbia River today. It was a quick trip because it's still freezing outside and being by the water didn't help. The river is 5 minutes away from the house. It's beautiful. And we can't wait until it warms up. Here are a couple of pictures from our adventure!

Self Photo

Jake loves pictures...can you tell?

Me by the river.

Anyone who has a Mac has seen the pebble picture. This is our pebble picture.

These are the dreaded geese. This should be the state bird.

The Columbia River is really wide but not too wide where you can't see the other side.

This is a tree that someone carved in. They have the same thing in Reno but of fish. This one tells some story. I was too cold to figure it out.

This is our view from our "love swing". There are spots around the park that you can stop and sit. We always sit on the swing. Jake calls it the "love swing". I thought it was pretty funny.

Squirrel # 1, 290, 876. They were everywhere. Jake thinks they are like rodents. They are good at taking pictures.

I was infatuated by the "rodents". I couldn't believe how many there were. It was pretty freaky.

Official.

2009-01-06T16:22:00.001-08:00

1. When you register both of your vehicles and change your driver's license - it's official.

2. When you love the weather so much you can't wait until it snows again - it's official.

3. When you realize it's nice to live in a town where everything is 5 minutes away - it's official.

So here's the latest. Both vehicles are registered, YAHOO!, and we're official Washington residents. Driver's Licenses and all! The taxes up here will take a little adjustment but for the most part it's not too bad. Here's some pictures of our "changing the plates" (boy, we are lame)!

Jake has this thing with wanting to do things at night when it's FREEZING! He came in the house and asked me if I could come hold the flash light for him because he was changing the head light on the car. I didn't understand why he was choosing to do this at night when it's snowing. So, not too my surprise, he wanted to change the plates on the truck at night! It wasn't snowing but it was still freezing!

Yes, we support Washington's Wildlife.

We had a great Christmas and a Happy and fun New Year. Jake's family gathered. We ate lots of food, we played some really fun games, and we opened gifts many different times!

We are loving the snow and hopes it stays a little longer. The other morning we woke up to a couple of inches - it was great! I love to shovel the snow too. The weather channel states that it will be warming up this week and possibly drop down again on Friday or Saturday. The other day it snowed and then melted a little. Then it turned to ice. Then it snowed and then melted. We're waiting for it to snow. Right now it's REALLY windy!

We're Here...

2008-12-26T09:55:00.000-08:00

We did make it in two days. Day one we stopped in Salt Lake City, slept, and then picked up the next day. The worst was between Cedar City and Salt Lake but it wasn't to terribly bad. Saturday was a very long day of driving well under the speed limit. I was going crazy. But then again I wasn't pulling a trailer on icy roads like Jake. So we got here late Saturday. The dogs love the snow. They will burry themselves or tunnel a path in the back yard. Hence the pictures!

This is Sage covered in snow and Belle starting to tunnel.

This is a cool icicle outside of our bedroom window. We can't reach it to break it off.

This is Buster and I (with Buster's bear) relaxing and surfing the net! So for the most part, we are loving Washington and the cold. And I got a camera!! YaHOO! So we'll be able to post the amazing city!

The Time Has Come

2008-12-13T20:21:00.000-08:00

Well...school is officially over. I will probably go through withdraws in about 3 weeks. When I realize I can pick up a normal book that doesn't speak about serial killers, sex offenders, fetishes, or prostitution, I might go into shock. So now what? Well, since Jake and I plan, re-plan, re-plan some more, we've finally made another plan. It goes likes this...

1. WE'RE LEAVING LAS VEGAS!

We'll be heading up to Washington state.

We turned down Corvallis, Oregon and Eugene, Oregon after my dad passed away. We'll be in Kennewick, Washington which is very close to Jake's family and the Columbia River! Our big journey will happen this coming Friday, December 19th. This way we'll be able to spend Christmas with the Brashears!

2. I'll be applying to the FBI.

I already applied for the Portland, Oregon area but because I'm not living there I have to apply where I'm living. I'll start this process after the holidays.

3. In my new spare time I will be using my new Bernina!

I'm super excited to get this thing out of the box!! This isn't my model but it gives you an idea of what a Bernina is and what it can do! I can't wait to hook it up to my computer too! Oh how the fun will begin!

4. Get into shape!

I will spare the pictures but wow...it's about time.

5. Relax!

I'm totally hitting the spa and then the MOUNTAIN! I'm in much sadness that I'll be missing the great and many snowboard trips with my friends this year. And the snow is actually decent! And then we'll miss night tubing...oh how sad. But it's okay. We'll find more friends to introduce it to.

6. Finally buy a stinkin' camera!

I can't post or scrapbook anything if I don't have a camera.

So those are the plans... and they are easy to accomplish! And as my friends slowly migrate back to Henderson, I will be the one to arrange dinner dates around. We'll be back in the Spring!

4 day weekend

2008-11-30T08:46:00.000-08:00

Turkey Day

Of course we forgot to take pictures during our Thanksgiving brunch and dinner, but it was quite the day. We went to dad and Linda's for lunch, read through the Will, rummaged through stuff, and just visited. After we left there stuffed, we went to my mom's for the turkey dinner. She always makes so much food and it's so good you really can't stop eating! We laid around there, visited with my aunt and uncle, and watched Wall-e. It was a packed day of eating, visiting, and eating some more. I'm truly grateful for my family. I'll miss the days where we don't want to make anything for lunch or dinner so we drop in and raid the fridge.

Friday

I had the thought to go shopping but I was way too lazy. I didn't want to battle the crowds, the crazy people, and the long lines. I guess the money saved wasn't worth my time. I love the fun stories though that come from the early morning shoppers! Plus, "I still have 26 more days to shop, why go now!" So, I sat around and did nothing. I played Zelda, I vacuumed the floor, and...I did nothing. It was really nice.

Saturday

I still didn't have the drive to go shopping and I think it's because I didn't have anything in mind of what I was looking for. The great deals are nice, if you need that item. Anyway, Jake and I had put up a couple items on craigslist, so we don't have to haul them up, and people started calling. Around 11 a.m. one guy came and bought our end table and coffee table. We went to my mom's to visit (and to raid the fridge for left overs) for a couple of hours. When we were there someone called and wanted our bed. We arranged to do that later that evening. After mom's we went to dad and Linda's to meet up for BINGO! Linda is a huge bingo player. Dad and Linda would go all the time, so we thought this would be a great way to get her out of the house. She could sit there all weekend and do nothing if we didn't get her out and about. So Tommy, Jake, Linda, and I all decided to go play bingo. Tommy has played once or twice (I think), I've only played once, and Jake had never played. So the fun begins. Tommy and I decided to play two cards, Linda is doing three, and Jake is sticking to one. It was non-stop looking for numbers! With two cards it was chaos! As soon as you were done looking for B12, they had already moved on to the next number! No time to look up, no time to even see if you had a bingo, no time for a drink! Since Jake only had one card he didn't have much pressure. So about two games from the end, Jake takes a drink of pop and then spills it! All over the table, all over his board, and it's running towards Linda's! The game didn't stop. Jake jumped up and grabbed napkins and when he was cleaning it up the judge lady had walked by and told the caller lady to stop the game. She went and brought Jake two new games of bingo. She helped him catch up and we were back in action. As of now we had no luck. Nobody had won. We missed the chance to win the $10,000 pot, the $5000 pot, the $2500, and the $1000 pot. So on our last board and last game, we had to get blackout. Jake needed one number I19. They didn't call it. Someone else got bingo and won $450. BUT there is a second chance for $200. The next number called was I19! The conversation then went like this:

Jake: bingo (just saying it)

Linda: You have to scream it!

Jake: bingo (not screaming it!)

Linda: Scream it! (Hitting Jake in the arm!)

Linda BINGO (screaming it!)

Jake flinched so bad and we all started laughing! If she wouldn't have screamed it they would have gone on and if someone would have won with the next number, Jake would have had to split the pot with them. So...the lucky I19 brought us all a little happier! The family rules are, if you go as a group you split the money. That way everyone has fun and everyone feels like they won. We all walked away $50 happier!

(the computer camera flips things!)

After that we went back to dad and Linda's to eat and hang out. Jake and I had to go deliver our bed to the guy in Henderson and meet up with some friends for dessert. We made the drop and headed to Town Square. We walked around, chatted and went to Claim Jumper. By time we sat down it had almost been an hour and everyone was hungry. So we ate. After dinner we called it a night and headed home. It was such a good day. We had a lot of fun and loved to be busy with relaxing things! Not school or work!

Sunday

Now it's Sunday...almost time to get back into the daily grind.

Why I'm Not a Vet

2008-11-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

Valiant, Arthur, and my dad

I have a new respect for my sister in-law, Megan. Megan is a vet at a pet hospital. She has a lot of letters after her name...I'm not exactly sure what her real job title is. Either way, I could never do her job and this is why...

My dad left behind two Britney Spaniel dogs. They were his hunting dogs. They both are boys. One named Valiant and one named Arthur. He paid a good wad of cash to have full bread, papered, AKC registered, trained dogs. The problem: he wouldn't get them neutered. I think it he thought they would be less of a dog or something. I don't know. So twice a year (normally around mating season) they became territorial. Valiant always had to dominate. Anyway, last Monday, Linda called freaking out and said the dogs were in a big fight and needed to have Jake come and separate them. The problem: We were at UNLV and 45 min. away with no traffic. So Jake went. By time he got there Valiant had Arthur pinned in the corner of his cage. Blood every where. So Jake separated them loaded Arthur up in the truck and went to the vet. Linda had already made an appointment earlier that day to have them neutered on Wednesday. They came back picked up Valiant and took him in. The outcome: Both dogs neutered and Arthur had a tube in his leg to drain out fluid and prevent infection. To let them recover without fights we took Arthur in. He's a good dog. Probably better because he's on drugs! Our job was to clean the area where the tube stuck out. One at the top of his leg and one at the bottom. It was gross. Then we had to squirt some sort of tea-colored liquid behind it! He didn't like it. On Friday he went back in and had the tube removed but now we still have to squirt and clean. For not having a major part of his manhood and being beat up...he's doing pretty good. I'm not sure I could do this as a profession. Jake can't. He nearly passed out on the first day of cleaning. It was pretty gross. So I give Megan a gold star, pat on the back, and more respect for having to deal with things like this everyday!

Family in PA

2008-11-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

There are so many pictures that I'm going to post from our trip to Pennsylvania, for my dad's funeral, but here are just a few.

Tommy (my brother) and Tommy (his son) outside of the funeral home.

This is at my dad's cousin John and Ester's house. They live up the hill from Dad's cabin. Tommy wasn't to hip to be next to the stuffed animals. One time he "sneaked up" on the bear, punched it, and ran away! It was so stinkin' funny!

Tommy found a pipe that his little hand could fit into! I just want to squeeze him! We have pictures of my brother when he was this age and they look so much alike!

Then he had to check it out!

This is me and my Dad's Aunt Betty. She told me that I didn't look like a Harris. I'm definitely a Harris. We have the same forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin! I think I'll have to send her this picture! She's the last sibling left from my grandfather's generation. I think she's in her late 80's. I love old people. There's something about them that is so fascinating.

Bad Idea...#1

2008-11-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

Don't read your father's journal and think you're not going to cry when he talks about you.

My dad. My Hero.

2008-11-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, October 30, I boarded a plane to Eugene, Oregon at 12:30 p.m. The plane landed safely and Jake was waiting to pick me up outside. I turned on my phone and it rang immediately. It was Jake. I was right in the middle of grabbing my bags from the over-head compartments and told him I would be right out. As soon as I hung up, my phone did the little ring that means you missed 13 calls. Then it started ringing again. It was my sister. I answered it. The conversation went something on these lines:

Mandy: "Did you hear?"

Me: "No, what's up?"

Mandy: "Around 4:00 p.m. Pennsylvania time (1:00 p.m. Nevada time) Dad had a massive heart attack and passed away."

My phone volume was so loud that the guy in front of me turned around. I didn't notice anyone or anything else around me from leaving the aisle way on the plane to meeting Jacob in the front. I was numb. It didn't seem real. It hadn't set in. In my mind I kept thinking this was a dream or a test. A test to see how I would react. It wasn't. After making a million phone calls, Jake and I drove to Portland, flew to Chicago, and then flew to Pennsylvania. I'm tired of flying! So this is what happened:

My dad was at his cabin with his cousin John. They had plans to go put up his hunting nest in some tree Thursday evening so they could hunt all day Friday and Saturday. He wasn't feeling good but insisted on getting it done. Originally he thought he had indigestion or heart burn. He took a Rolaid. Then he thought it was his gallbladder. John told him to rest. He was stubborn. He put on his boots and went out the door. John followed. As they were walking about 100 yards from the cabin my dad asked to stop and rest for a moment. John knew something was wrong. So when they stopped, my dad bent his knees to sit against the hill and continued to roll all the way back. He died immediately. John called 911 and performed CPR. The paramedics came immediately and took over. Nothing improved. He flat lined.

We were able to go to the place where he died. It was peaceful. It was beautiful. I couldn't imagine a better place to go. He was with the people he loved. He was in a place he loved. He was doing what he loved, hunting. It was so quick, we assume he didn't suffer. Although I don't want to face the fact that he's really gone, I know he is. Gone for a time. He was my dad. I love him and he knew it. I have no regrets. The last time I saw him I gave him a big hug and he told me he was proud of me. He came to soccer games. We went to Disneyland when I graduated high school. We went to the Dale Evans and Roy Rogers museum. He walked me down the aisle when I got married. We worked together. He took me to college and filled my refrigerator. He always encouraged me. He loved my husband. He counseled us. We knew everything. He was smart, educated, and had so much experience. He was funny. We joked and laughed. He taught us to be kind, loving, and giving. Oh, how I could go on. I know we will be together again. It just doesn't seem real.

Winter Love

2008-10-15T10:13:00.001-07:00

When it is so cold and I can't manage to get myself warm with out aid of Starbucks, something is wrong! I LOVE the Carmel Apple Ciders! Although I only get them once in awhile, it's the best spent $2.80. I'm now experimenting with my own recipe of Carmel and appel cider - move over Starbucks. (just an FYI - this doesn't help the figure either...)

BFF

2008-10-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

There are not many people in the world that they can honestly say that they've been friends with FOREVER. I'm one of the luckiest people to say that there are a group of us that have been friends FOREVER! I started to realize this when I filled out an application that asked for references and years known. Sometimes I have to sit and do the calculations! So I decided to post on my friends. Those that I have known FOREVER.
Britney (Scoble), Me, Melissa (Gibson), Jill (Hales), Amy (Crum), and Sara (Sorensen) - not pictured!

Britney - I have known Britney since Kindergarten. Wow 21 years! We were in the same classes growing up and I pretty much lived at the Scoble's house. We've had sleep-overs, birthday parties, movie dates, played soccer together, and so much more. During High School we hung out on the stairs in the cafeteria every morning. We hung out after school on occasion but it was mainly big events like Reverse dances, soccer games, football games, and birthday parties, but we've always been friends. I remember going toilet papering for the first time with Britney - getting caught and running through the desert! We played board games like they were going out of style! Her mom makes the best crepes, her sisters are hilarious, and her brothers aren't so little anymore! She now has the cutest little girl and is being well taken care of by her husband in Utah!

Melissa - I've know Melissa since the second grade! We've also been in the same classes and played soccer and ran cross country together (Good 'ol Coach Spitty!). We did some pretty dumb stuff together in high school. I'm pretty sure we should be dead or in jail for reckless driving! Melissa cut and dyed my hair, we did home ear piercings, we went to girls camp together, we tortured her sister and friends, we went swimming and tanning on the trampoline, we had sleep overs, stalked the boys, and hung out all the time. Sonic was a staple in our diet and stay clear of Olean chips! Melissa was the first of our friends to venture out and get married. Now she has a little girl that looks so much like her! On top of all of that, she back living in H-town!

Jill - Jill has this will power like I've never seen. Jill looks amazing. She's lost so much weight (in a healthy and good way) and makes me look lazy and pathetic. Jill and I started hanging out in the second grade. I remember when I was at Jill's house and her brother locked us in her bedroom - so we climbed out the window! There also was a time I jumped from Jills balcony to the basement and landed on the chair - her parents would have killed me! I wasn't the best influence on my friends! Jill used to be in love with N'SYNC. We would go to the store and cut out pictures and post them on her wall. She had a shrine! Hahaha. We've had many discussions on boys!

Amy - Amy and I pretty much dated the same boys. I think I always dated her sloppy seconds! I must have been the rebound! Although it's safe to say, I've never dated her husband and she never dated mine! We didn't really start hanging out until high school but I remember when Amy moved here from New Mexico. I think we were in 7th grade. In high school we just clicked. When I went on my 1st date (with Tim Gansen), we ran into Amy and Matt Harris - this made my date a little less awkward! Amy and I played soccer together, did the Reverse Dance thing together, and sat in seminary together. Amy's Uncle was our seminary teacher - he was pretty cool. Until the invention of the blog, Jill was my "Amy update"! Amy's little girl is so tall and is pretty freakin' smart!

Sara - Sara and I have been friends since High School. I remember Sara in Jr. High but not very much. We did everything together in high school. We went to the dances, played soccer, hung out after school, stalked the boys, did the slumber party thing, and went to Sonic, Taco Bell, and Wendy's all the time! One time, we made up our own game of water polo - it was amazing. We would go watch her brother (and Chet!) play hockey. She learned how to drive the Subi with me as a passenger! We think we are hilarious! We scared her sister and friends so good in the basement - I wish I would have recorded it! Sara made me a blanket one year, we still use it! I sent a singing telegram to Derek (from Sara) and Jeremiah Neil sent one to Sara (from Derek) and they didn't figure it out until that night! Boy that was good! I could seriously go on and on with how much fun we've had and the countless hours of talks! We don't get together that often but we still talk all the time.

The best part about growing up is that I still have these friends. I remember people telling me "when you grown up you won't have the same friends as when you were little". It's good to know they were wrong. Maybe it's because of the Internet - maybe not. There have been the friends that have come and gone but we've really all stuck together. Even those that leave, we still get the updates of what they are doing every once in awhile. So until the next shin-dig. Peace out.

El Torrito

2008-09-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

El Torrito has a place in everyone's heart in Henderson. It's this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that has been around FOREVER. It's cheap, fast, and SO good! Technically, I've only eaten the Bean and Cheese Burrito, but it's amazing! Last time we were together (Jill, Melissa, Amy, and I) was at Melissa's baby shower. So a year of so later, we got together for a nice lunch at El Torrito. We had a lot of fun catching up on babies, boys, and life in general. Thanks to Melissa our photo shoot was a hit too! (I stole all of these pictures from her blog!)Melissa, Amy, Jill, and I waiting for our food!Jill eating her salad!

Melissa snacking on chips!

Me drinking water!

Amy and her not-so-huge belly! You can't even tell she's got a bun in the oven!

Melissa and Amy

Jill and I! (Melissa - I'm not sure the whole chin down and head tilt is doing my round face and knobby nose justice!)

After 2 1/2 hours of gabbing and eating!

Next time we'll have to plan with more people or anyone that comes into town. We definitely need to get together again! It was totally worth it!

Updates and Crazy Eights

2008-09-21T11:36:00.000-07:00

The job hunt is still continuing but it's looking a little better every day. I officially applied for a state job, a county job, and the FBI. I'm still going to hit up a couple private entities next week but those three are a good start. The state job would be ideal except getting selected is the hard part. It's a Probation & Parole position. I have a little pull...but not much. My professor put in a good word for me through his buddy (or so he says). The county job is a little more social work-ish. It's a Juvenile Counselor. The down fall is the pay is low (equivalent to a social worker) and I'll have to negotiate and that will more likely decrease my odds. The FBI is always hiring and as long as I can pass all the exams (not too worried about) I'll be fine. The down fall is that it's a long process, my station will be in the Portland area, and I'll have about a 21 week training in Virginia (I think). There is nothing wrong with Portland - just another big city. And yes, Jake would go with me to Virginia. We'll see what happens. I'm still on the hunt. The hiring process is crazy for government jobs in my field. I have to close my myspace (not that we had anything on there of ever used it) but it's against policy to have one. I don't know about Facebook or blogspot. I do know they check out my friends so I might have to get rid of a couple of you...Just kidding! As for everything else we are plugging along.

Here are my Crazy Eights!

8 t.v. shows that I love to watch:

Intervention

Cold Case Files

Forensic Files

Dominick Dunne's Power, Priviledge, and Justice

American Justice

Amazing Race

House Hunters

Home Make Over Shows

8 Favorite Restaurants:

Applebee's

Olive Garden

Fuddruckers

Famous Dave's BBQ

Chili's

Some Bar by my house has really good food!

Red Robbin

El Torrito (I stole this one from you Sara!)

8 Things that happened yesterday:

Cleaned the Stove

Dropped my brother off at his buddies

Ate a bunch of crap

Applied for a job in Eugene, Oregon

Watched t.v

Played the Wii

Did homework

Took the dogs to the park

8 Things I am looking forward to:

Finishing school

Moving out of Vegas

Having kids

Being able to go camping where it's green!

Going fishing with Jake

Selling our land (accepting all offers!)

Going snowboarding

A new year

8 Things I love about Fall:

The weather

Halloween
Football games (even though I think the game is dumb)

Not running my A/C anymore!

Girls on campus having to wear clothes!

Work actually picks up so we're not bored

My dogs don't over heat

It's okay to have open camp fires

8 Things on my wish list:

A house of my own

New hair clippers for the dog (and my husband)

A new bed

A personal trainer

Some new clothes

Lasic eye surgery

A tandem bicycle! Wouldn't that be so fun to own!?

Socks...you can't have too many

8 People to tag:

I don't know 8 people that haven't done this...

Jaimie

Carolyn

Amy

Shanae

Britney

Mom

Beth

Jacque

The Latest

2008-08-27T10:11:00.001-07:00

Still no camera, that means there are no pictures. I'm not sure what pictues I would post anyway, but it seems that when you have a camera you always have a reason to take a picture. Well, my latest and greatest activity is...bike riding. I'm addicted. I'm in a groove and it's not as bad as I thought. I ride to work and it only takes me 15 mins., it's down hill, and a straight shot. At 6:30 a.m. it's not too hot either. Lately it's just been a little humid. The ride home is a little more abrassive. At 5:00 p.m. going up hill I feel like I get a great work out in. I haven't busted out my spandex shorts yet (with padding in the bum), but if my butt doesn't stop hurting from the seat...I just might have to. The best part - I'm saving $120-$160 a month for not having to pay gas! But wait theres more! I car pool to school and bus it back to work! YES I RIDE THE BUS! It's actually really fun. The people are super nice and it is almost quicker then driving. It only takes 5 mins. longer. I never in a million years thought that I would ever ride the bus (although I always really wanted to)! The down fall - the bus drivers are a little snooty...but I can deal with that.

We have officially picked a place to live. Eugene, Oregon area. It is 2 hours south of Portland, about an hour away from the beach, and about an hour away from snowboarding. Unfortunately we'll be about 15 hours away from the Harris family but on good days we can fly home for $29. We'll be closer to the Brashear's. It's green. It does rain but not all day like I imagined. We'll be making the trek up in early January (whenever the pass opens). Now the hunt is on for employment and housing! This move was strongly inforced when the State of Nevada did major budget cuts. One of the cuts was the Corrections Area. That means less jobs available. It's just another excuse for us to leave!

Well, that's our life in a nut shell.

It's been long...

2008-08-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

I've been away for the last month because of school, work, and life. It's been so super busy around here that it's hard to keep up. The only problem...I can't think of one thing we have done. This last summer class was by far my most interesting. It was on Hate Crimes. I've never been on so many hate websites in my life (or ever)! And I learned that people really don't have a good reason to hate. I get a week off and then I'm back to the books. Work is slow, but I have to be there all day - so I just deal with it. As far as the home life...nothing. But yet we are so busy. I'm making a list of things that we'll put in the garage sale before we move away. I figure if we move at the end of December, I'll pack a room a month. It won't be to hard. Since I dropped my camera in the ocean at the family reunion I don't have any amazing pictures to post. OH! Jake's sister and husband came down from Washington to celebrate their anniversary. It was a lot of fun to hang out with them. We would have done more but it was finals week and I had a paper to write. We did go see the pirate show at the Treasure Island. It sucked. Don't bring your kids under 12 because it's not so family oriented. It was good to see them again. I'm reading a good book Jake's parents gave him. It's called Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey. It's really good and I would recommend it. It teaches you the in's and out's of money. How to use it properly and what not. Jake loves it. If anyone wants to borrow it let me know! I'm officially addicted to the Olympics. It motivated me to get back in shape - so the work out program has begun! GO USA!

Randomness!

2008-07-15T22:35:00.001-07:00

Our cute nieces and nephew!

Yeah...we're moving to where it's green!

The Goonies House

Megan's freak cat! It has thumbs!! Hurley is really cute and nice though. And yes he's real!

Beach houses near Cannon Beach. These have amazing views!

You have to leave your mark there too!

At the camp fire - with the rotisserie marshmallower John made!

Tattoos from Saturdays' Market. This lady was making bank! We paid her $15 (for both of us) and we were only there for probably 5 minutes. You had to put your name on a list! Crazy busy!

This picture carries a million memories alone! Brian, Jake, and Dad Brashear thought it would be a good idea to fix the pond scum bridge to the dock! Jake held Dad's hand as he reached out and drug it back in. It probably weighed 300 lbs wet! They struggled to pull it out but managed to get it up and functioning. Jake gave us a good laugh when he started gagging when he was splashed with nasty pond water and managed to get it on his shirt! Wonder if the bridge is still up?

Family shots...

2008-07-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

Brian, Paige, Dad Brashear, Megan, me, Jake, Katie, and Brandon

Posing by the Underground Tour location.

Alotto Gelato - SO GOOD!

Amazing beach and mountain view from the road!

Me, Brian, and Brandon - We all married in! No Refunds...?

Before we walked to Haystack Rock (between Megan and I)

Great Eatery...

An intense game of the Simpsons! This is at a huge arcade in Seaside.

The family portrait!

Just before we cheese-out at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I ate squeaky cheese and pigged out on ice cream!

Pictures of Nature

2008-07-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

this sunset was amazing! I was blown away that the sun went down at 9:15 p.m. It was freezing too!

This was only one of 5 or 6 water falls! It was huge and we hiked to the bridge!

Vacation is over...but not forgotten

2008-07-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

So after a week and a half away from Vegas...it's hard to come back. Jake and I flew to Washington and drove with his parents to the Oregon coast for a family vacation. We had a blast! We went to Cannon Beach and saw the anemones and star fish at Haystack Rock. We also went to Seaside to eat, shop, and play in the amazing arcade! We played games at the cottage like bocce (I wasn't so good in grass!), kickball, and frisbee. Not to mention the dice game Greed and the card game Spite and Malice. We went to Astoria, saw the Goonies House, the school from Kindergarden Cop, and one Sea Lion. We ate a ton of good food and they say the Clam Chowder is amazing there - if I wasn't allergic I may have tried it. We watched Brashear home movies, went shopping, had a camp fire (and sang songs!), and ate some more! We celebrated 5 birthdays too. We went into Portland and got to go in the underground tunnels. A must if you're going there. We also went to the Portland's Saturday Market. This was a free loving market. A vast variety of people and junk/crafts for sale. On the way home we stopped by these amazing waterfalls! I'm in love with Oregon. Yep it's official. It's green, the weather is better then HEAT, and I can people watch every where I go! The only problem on the vacation was - I dropped our camera in the ocean! It never worked again after it was dried out so we had to toss it. So thanks to the rest of the family - these pictures are borrowed!

Unlucky

2008-07-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

Unlucky. Truly there really isn't a better word to describe our family. It's only Tuesday and I'm already posting!! Only this is to inform everyone that we are rather unlucky and if you are hoping for any bit of luck - stay clear! It starts out with an accident, being locked out of the house, and then a giant miscalculation of funds in the budget. First things first, Jake called me today and all I could hear was, "Ma'am I am SO sorry. Are you okay?" repeated like 3 times. Then he realizes I picked up the phone and tells me that he's been in an accident and he'll call me back. All I could think of was that it was his fault and we'll be sued because that's what people do in America. Well, it turns out that Yes it was fault but as of right now we're not being sued. The lady t-boned Jake as he was making a left hand turn. Lesson for everyone - when you're crossing traffic and cars that are backed up let you squeeze through, the right lane might not stop. Not only that if a guy on a bike decides to cross the entry of where you're turning into he might just jump off his bike and toss it in front of your car - causing you to stop and the lady in the van to slam into the side of your car. Welcome to Las Vegas. P.S. both passengers doors are not able to open and I now sit in the back. Bad luck - 1 Brashear's - 0. So after zooming over to my dad's house to eat dinner we came home stuffed and ready to relax. Only to realize that I had taken the house key off of the key chain and we were locked out. Nobody in the family has a spare. So, we hop the fence, take a piece of firewood from the pit, reach through the dog door, and swing it up to hit the lock. After a few tries...Success! Hopefully the neighbor rats didn't watch - but most likely the did. Bad luck - 2 Brashear's - 0. Lastly when we opened the mail we realize that insurance, registration, increase of rent, and now a $500 deductible is due. On top of the regular bills. This somehow = low funds! Which is always a nice feeling right? Right. Bad luck - 3 Brashear's -0.

On a more positive note, we are truly blessed and have a million things to not go unnoticed but sometimes - just sometimes - it feels like life just SUCKS. Well, now that everyone knows that we are normal and have rough moments, we'll be back in action soon. In fact, this week can only get better! We're leaving town on Saturday.

Toyota Prius, Chauffeurs, and Bocce

2008-06-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

So last weekend we had volunteered to help a company called Las Vegas Parking at an event. Long story LONGER, Absolute Vodka was sponsoring a "Green - love a tree" concert featuring Gnarls Barkley. LV Parking was to drive concert goers to their destination in the environment friendly Toyota Prius.

So we got to the Mandalay Bay around 8:00 p.m. and assumed the concert was out around 10-ish, boy we were wrong. It didn't get out until 12:00 a.m.! Not only that, we found out that Tim McGraw's concert was going on at the same time. So we sat there for 4 hours dinking around in our fabulous Hybrids. Not that I would buy one but I did think they were pretty snazzy. The pros were: 1) the start and park were a button, much like on your computer. 2) it was very quiet. 3) it could put off some cool air quick. 4) you could monitor when you were using battery and gas. 5) it would show you how many mpg you were averaging. BUT the down falls were...well, down falls. 1) the seats were very uncomfortable for long periods of time (more then an hour!) 2) One girls screen didn't work so she couldn't control the stereo or see any of the cool features - when the computer crashes it's going to cost a pretty penny! 3) There wasn't much room in the back seat - less then in the Civic. 4) and if you gas it a lot you're going to end up spending the same amount of money in gas! - making the "gas saving" hybrid pointless. Well back to us waiting. Finally when the concerts got out we loaded up people who wanted a free ride and off we went. I had a full car (2 couples) and Jake only had 1 couple. Neither were from the Absolute Vodka concert (the reason why we were there) and then after our pitch of "remember to choose Absolute because the want to help the environment" we asked were they were heading. If you were able to get lucky (which not 1 of the 25 cars were) you could convince them to go to Skin the strip joint and earn $50 a head (possibly making $200)! Not everyday do I encourage strip joint attendance! Well no bite, we dropped them off at their hotel and headed back to the Mandalay Bay. I made $15 and Jake made $5. Before I got back, I got a phone call saying everyone was gone just cruise the strip. So a night that was supposed to be full of tips ended up being a night of joy riding in a rental car. Still fun! Jake and I hadn't eaten any thing all day so we spent half of our winnings on Jack in the Box! However we did make $15 an hour playing and we got to keep these ridiculously funny hats!!

BOCCE BALL (this weekend)

Every couple of weeks a big group of people from work and many friends get together to play Bocce at the park. More or less it's a safer, cheaper way for many of them to get drunk and hang out. It's $5 a person to play. The winner gets the pot. We do a full blown bracket. It's single elimination. Last time Jake had already made plans so I went by myself. I partnered up with a drunk Indian named Denny. We won! We split the pot and walked away with $70 each. I ended up buying a text book, Denny bought booze. This weekend I wasn't sure if I was going to go. I had told a couple people at work that if they needed a designated driver I would pick them up and drop them off for $20. At 3:00 p.m. they called and said they would pay. I guess we were going. Jake came this time and I made sure he was in it to win! I had a title to keep! We picked up Sean and Cheryl wearing our dorky chauffeur hats and headed to the park. Because it was so hot not as many people came but the pot was still $90. Jake and I barely squeaked our way to the championship round. All to throw it away! We got skunked. 5-0! I was totally bummed. I hate losing but worse I hate loosing to drunks! I encourage heavy drinking when I can earn a little cash off of people! It was still pretty fun and even though we were the only sober ones we still made out ahead with $30 from being a chauffeur! After the games we went over to a co-workers house and played pool and the Wii. Once again Jake and I lost $4 to a pool game but won it back on a double or nothin' bet. After Jake became the bar tender, I lost at boxing, and we ate some nasty pizza, we called it a night. Cheryl fell asleep on the ride home, Sean requested Del Taco and ate some stinky fish tacos, and Jake and I finally arrived home around 1:30 a.m. We slept most of Sunday away!

A Productive Tag

2008-06-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

This should be super fun! This actually makes you walk away from the computer, do something productive, and then post it! So how crafty are you? Well here's how it works. Paige tagged me and now I have to make a skirt! I'm really excited because now I'll have something new to wear and NOBODY will have the same one! There is a group online that has a sew along challenge/project and when you are done you post your pictures in a Flickr group. This tag is to join that group! Check out how you can do it here and then explore this site! Well the rules go something like this:

Link the person who tagged you

Agree make a skirt!

And no tag can be complete without listing 5 random things about yourself!

Then tag three other people.

Paige tagged me and now I'm going to attempt this project!

As for my randomness...

1 - Even though it's summer and swimsuit season - I have not found the motivation to do an ounce of exercise. And that is why I have a flabby gut right now.

2 - I don't eat anything else after dinner or 7 p.m. - no snack, no munching, nothing.

3 - Every time I try to read a book (other then a school book) I fall asleep! Shouldn't it be the other way around?

4 - I enjoyed having 2 jobs. I like to work at places that I think would be fun - no pressure and no real responsibility. I like to learn the ins and outs of places I frequent often. I really think it would be fun to work at a grocery store, a Walgreens or CVS, and at Target. At one time in my life I actually applied for all of them and was never hired.

5 - I'm in charge of picking up the dog poo. I made a deal with Jake that if we got a dog door then I would pick up the poo. He quickly agreed because he has the worst gag reflexes. I wanted the door because I'm lazy and don't want to keep getting up to take them out! Probably another reason I have a flabby gut!

I'm actually tagging everyone that has access to a sewing machine! But especially Jaimie Mills, Mandy Pavlovich, and Sara Patchett. I know Jacque and Beth could bust this out in an hour too! I'm sure Mandy Frehner can sew (didn't your mom sew alot?) Anyway, everyone should give it a try!

The Search Is On

2008-06-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

Well with nothing else to do at work today, I started the official "career" search. I wasn't planning this until September but it doesn't hurt to start looking now. On top of that, every time we make plans to move somewhere or pick a school to attend, it falls through. Sometimes I pretend that we'll be moving somewhere where I don't want to be just so it doesn't happen! Moving is the great debate in our house right now. I want to move north, Jake wants to move east. Because I graduated first, I get to pick the place where we live. There are conditions though. The conditions are:

1) it has to have a grad school close - a decent one.

2) a law school - just in case!

3) Four seasons

4) it needs to be close to a ocean/lake/river but close enough for me to snowboard during the winter.

5) a yard for my dogs - this scratches out New York City :)

6) a place where there won't be a street light shinning in my window!

7) a place where we can actually see stars!

So this cancels out Las Vegas, Reno (UNLV has the only law school in Nevada), most of Arizona (even though our property is there), I don't want to afford California, and I wouldn't last in Utah. So Oregon!! Washington!! Colorado!! Those are my three picks. I don't really want to live in a big city either, maybe something on the out-skirts. Even with all of my wants, I will saturate the market with my resume and pick from what I'm offered. After a couple of years living where I want and Jake gets settled in his career - I guess we'll move to where he wants! BUT we'll see! Wish me luck!

Day #4

2008-05-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

Well...last but not least we went to Central Park. We ended up walking around the entire place! It took forever and we were spent. I don't think that my legs have ever walked that much. It was a busy park too! We thought that maybe it was because it was a holiday.

Maybe this is why New York does not have an obesity problem. This is part of Central Park where walkers, runners, bikers, and roller bladders are free to roam. I wish I would have been prepared to run! It would have been a blast. It was really busy.

This is another squirrelly picture of me standing by one of the lakes in Central Park.

Has anyone seen Enchanted? This is the bridge! That's such a good movie.

We took a break half way. The grass was soft! Nothing like Nevada grass - if you still have some that is real.

Em and Jay laying down in Central Park.

Day #3 in NYC

2008-05-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

I know I'm totally behind (and it's getting boring for everyone else) but I want to make sure I journal this! Some day when I'm old I might forget all of these fun moments. Before we left for New York we hunted around to find some tickets to the Yankee's game. We didn't want to pay through the nose but we didn't want to be way up top. So we found some - right in the middle. Our seats were pretty dang good for being last minute. The game was Sunday at 1 p.m. and they played the Seattle Mariners. The score was 6-5 Yankees. Jake and I are far from Yankee fans but we were for a day! It was really exciting to be in the stadium that Babe Ruth played in before they tear it down. I could only imagine the atmosphere back then. The new stadium is looking mighty nice though.

This is a view from our seats - but the players didn't look this small in real life. My camera must be zoomed out in or something. There wasn't an empty seat in the house!

This is closer to the actual size they appeared to be from our seats. And this was the first pitch of the game. The Seattle player swung, hit the ball right in front of home plate, and was out. All in a matter of 5 seconds.

Me, Jake, and Ray. Ray was able to come down from Connecticut to hang out for the day! Jake was so excited!

So have you seen the commercial where in the baseball huddle they are talking about what kind of gift to get someone and not talking about baseball at all? This is what I thought of! One of the best moments at the game was when the entire stadium did the wave without the help of the commentator guy. It started in a little corner and after about 5 tries it made it around the entire stadium. Then it didn't stop until the Yankees got on base! It was pretty funny!

After the game we went to Time Square and Rockefeller Center again with Ray. This is the "guy shake"!? Boys are crazy.

Buddies that could hang out forever. We walked Ray to Grand Central Station to "see him off"!

This is on e of the entrances to Grand Central Station. This place is amazing!

This is the inside...kinda crazy to think of a grungy subway/train system having a beautiful station.

Limbardi's Pizza, Rockefeller Center, and the Brooklyn Bridge

2008-05-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

Limbardi's Pizza is the very 1st pizza place in the United States. Very small restaurant but very busy. Pizza on the east coast is extremely different from the west coast. I think east coast pizza is an acquired taste. We ordered a small pizza and a calzone. The calzone was pretty good - not the worst I've ever eaten. The pizza was different. I'm not used to thin and crispy crust. Or better yet I'm not used to cutting my pizza with a knife where the cheese follows your knife and your fork stays with the bread!! It was different. Some like it - some don't.

This picture is for Alex and Mandy. Look at the wine Lombardi's carries for being a small little joint! I was amazed!

Memorial Day flags in Rockefeller Center.

Saturday was the official 125 birthday of the Brooklyn Bridge. Our bus tour guide said that there were going to be fireworks. There wasn't just a crazy light show on the bridge. It was still pretty neat.

Way blurry but I did walk the Brooklyn Bridge!

And so did Jake! - A crazy twisted Criminal Justice side note - someone could easily jump off this bridge to commit suicide and/or dispose of a body! There was only these side beams that lead over the cars and then a straight plummet to the water. We wondered how many people have done it.

A night shot looking back toward Manhattan.

More Pictures of day #2

2008-05-27T18:34:00.001-07:00

World Trade Center Construction. I wasn't too impressed. Maybe I should reword that. I didn't feel the "oohhh" special moment that everyone says they feel. Maybe because we were on the back side of the memorial. Either way, right now it's still just a hole.

Jake's love of the stock market grows further to the American Stock exchange!

They say that they don't clean the floor of the stock market until the day before - like Sunday night for Monday. They have it blocked off so you can't go up to the door but it would be pretty cool to see. Because everything is going digital or stocks are being bought and sold online the offices above the main floor are being renovated and rented out. So there is hope - you may rent a space above the main trading floor. Jake would never come home!

This is some historic church. I think it's where something was signed (I want to say the Declaration of Independence but that's not it...) either way it stuck out like a soar thumb among all of the other structures in the area.

I thought this was pretty cool. A bit patriotic. It's off of Wall Street. I think it's another entrance to the Stock Exchange. We didn't go look we turned and went up the opposite street.

Day #2

2008-05-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

This post is from Jake because he has a lot of fun memories with our day #2!

In the late 80s or early 90s my parents took our family to NYC for a vacation. We went to a Met's game and of course we visited the Statue of Liberty. I remember standing in the long line waiting to get on the ferry and while on the ferry looking back and seeing the NY skyline with World Trade Centers. Back then there were no security check points and screeners. No cops or National Guards men with m-16s. All that were present were park rangers, millions of people and seagulls. I remember standing in the long line waiting to get inside the statue and climb the billion stairs to the top. I remember my younger brother crying while we were standing on the spiral staircase inside the statue. I remember looking out the windows located in the crown of Miss Liberty and my father pointing at the many boats while my mother was telling us the history of the Statue of Liberty.

This past Saturday, Emily and I went and it was a different experience. Security check points, National Guards men with m-16s, NY cops and Park Rangers wandering all over the park. The NY skyline without the Trade Centers and hardly any boats in the water. The line was fairly small and we had a guided tour inside the pedestal of the monument. Instead of climbing the billion stairs to the top it was only 156 steps to the base of the monument where were get to look up the skirt through a glass window. There was a posted sign stating the park does not intend to open the spiral staircase that leads to the top, to public again. I stood there silently thanking my parents for allowing us at such a young age to visit the statue and see the skyline from the crown.

Looking back at Manhattan.

The Statue of Liberty - I know some pretty good random facts now!

The sad sign of closure.

This is the original torch - it was removed and replaced with one that is covered in a fine sheet of gold.

Looking up Lady Liberty's Dress! Believe it or not but the inside steel braces is a miniature Eiffel Tower. Yes, it's designed by the builder of the tower in France.

It was extremely windy up there!

More pictures...are you bored yet?

2008-05-23T20:12:00.001-07:00

The entrance to Columbia University. Everyone can dream right? That's Jake's reflection from the window on the side.

On the good 'ol tour bus!

UUMMM chocolate!

Get your tickets now! They're coming back!!

Just starting out at Time Square.

Jake in front of a Rush Limbaugh TV show sign in Time Square. He's a big Rush fan.

Our hotel is one block away from the Chrystler Building.

Our sad attempt to have a family picture! We look squirrelly and tired!

NYC Day 1

2008-05-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

This is Jake waiting to get on the airplane and scamming the net!

Today was the "adjustment" day. Adjusting from a 4 1/2 hour flight of sitting and little to no sleep. Adjusting from sitting in traffic waiting to get to our hotel and having to listen to people who did get sleep, talk. Adjusting to fast moving crowds, over priced EVERYTHING, and a truly multicultural city! But it was well worth it! Today we started out walking around getting familiar with the streets and people. We bought the Hop On Hop Off bus tour tickets for 48 hours. Our tour guide got pretty annoying but on the flip side he knew his stuff. We went around Central Park, through Harlem, passed Columbia University, through Time Square, passed a bunch of famous people's apartments, and passed a ton of museums. We took some pictures but since you can't trust anyone to take your picture and return the camera, they are singles of Jake or just me. Tomorrow we'll set off to the Statue of Liberty, China Town, Lombardi's Pizza (1st pizza shop in the U.S.A.), another tour bus ride, and the Subway! I'm so excited to ride the subway, I can't contain myself. There a million things that I'm loving about New York, surprisingly I love the humidity. My skin has never felt this soft. We came at a good time too, it's only in the mid 70's. Not even cold enough to wear a jacket. So here's what we've taken so far. Oh, and I had to pay $10 to use the internet PER DAY! RIP OFF! So, I'll post more pictures later!

We're staying at the Grand Hyatt New York, this is our bed.

This is a crappy picture of the lobby. The lobby is amazing and you really can't get a good angle of everything.

This is a huge high rise that is under construction on the corner of 47th and Broadway. It reminded me of home - and no I don't miss work!

What Mormon goes out of town, passes the temple, and doesn't take a picture?

I think this was a church. It had so much detail and it's really old that I was in aw!

Leaving On a Jet Plane

2008-05-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

Oh yes.. we are gone! NYC or BUST! We'll post pictures soon.

Summer is here!

2008-05-17T18:14:00.000-07:00

This picture is pretty blurry - but you can still make out the 88!

It's official. We turned on the air conditioning today. The highest it reached inside was 88 degrees. It's been lingering there for a couple of days. Usually at night it drops a few but last night it just seemed a bit warm. I don't think that it's going to get any cooler any time soon. I didn't think that it was that warm in the house but maybe I'm just used to it. Jake and I play this game - How Long Can You Go? We see how long we can make it into the summer until we just can take it any more. Then when winter rolls along, we see how long we can go without turning on the heater. Last winter we made it for a long time. We would turn it on if we were going to have guests over though - well, depending on who they were. Family and close friends can use a blanket! So Mandy called me to tell me that at 5:30 p.m. it was 100 degrees outside. I thought that we did pretty good going without. Maybe I've just lived in the desert too long.

EVEN YOU!

2008-05-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

that is to everyone

we love moms