March was Madness

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

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

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

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

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

Christmas was simply beautiful

and

beautifully simple

Bitter Sweet . . .

. . . 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.