Trey & Jami...

7 Months Old Today

2011-08-03T14:46:00.004-04:00

Last month flew by. I honestly don't know how it happened so fast but Indie is 7 months old already. She still won't roll over. Whatever, I still like her.

These two will be best friends someday. They're both already making an attempt so I can tell it's a step in the right direction.
I am much too lazy to be a good blogger anymore. Where did my motivation go?

My baby is chubbier than your baby

2011-07-18T16:18:00.002-04:00

Indie turned 6 months old a couple weeks ago and I am loving every second with her. She is the happiest, most content baby and I love hanging out with her and her squishy little body. I took a few pictures of her and ended up getting only one good one. She is always so smiley but as soon as I pulled out the camera this time, she pulled out the stink face.
Here she is loosening up a bit...
And I have about 15 more that look like this...
She wasn't upset or anything so I thought it was hilarious that this is how she chose to look at the camera.

I still have no news to report about her rolling over or sitting up, but she is enjoying some solid foods now and sleeping great unswaddled, praise the heavens above. She also has two teeth now that poked through about a week before she hit 6 months. I love them except when she bites me and makes me bleed...my own fault, I know.

5 months old!

2011-06-03T21:02:00.005-04:00

This little darling hit the 5 month mark today and I don't really feel like much has changed since month 4 except that she's sleeping through the night much better now and has probably packed on a little more chub. Actually I take that back. She's finally grabbing at toys and trying to eat them and sucks on her fingers every chance she gets. It's nice because sometimes she can even put her pacifier back in her mouth. I guess where I feel she hasn't really changed much is in the physical development, as in no rolling over, no straightening her legs and trying to stand. Just still kinda being a big baby blob. But a cute one at least.

She does drool much more now so that's fun! Luckily it's not so bad that she needs a bib or anything. We've been going to the pool a lot lately and when I hold her up against me she always has to suck on my shoulder. I think it's so cute.
These are her two favorite fingers. Usually it's just the pointer, but every now and again the middle finger gets lucky enough to be in there too. Definitely not a thumb sucker.
Indie used to be super squealy, but in the last few weeks she has toned it way down. Now, it's almost as if she's taking everything in and just more content. At the pool, she doesn't get super excited, she just chills. And when we walk around the complex in the Bjorn, I wouldn't even know she was there if the extra weight wasn't digging into my shoulders. It's really bizarre to me how quiet she can be! That's all for now, I guess. Just a little Indie update for those who care, which you all should.

It feels good to give!

2011-06-03T09:09:00.003-04:00

In the last week, we have found out that Clara will have to undergo at least 6-8 months of treatment. As if that's not awful enough, the hospital is two hours from her home, which doesn't make it any easier on my brother and his family. Cameron, my brother in law, called me last week to see what I thought about getting some wristbands together to support Clara and keep the fundraisers going. Well guess what?? They are here and ready to be sold!! Click on the link below to go get yourself one!

Love For Clara Link

Love for Clara

2011-05-25T10:31:00.004-04:00

This is Clara. She is 2 years old. She is my brother's youngest child. Two days ago she was diagnosed with high risk Neuroblastoma cancer. She is currently in the hospital undergoing many tests to really find out what she is up against and it seems that each test result brings more bad news. About 3 weeks ago, Clara started getting sick and the doctors thought she had strep. After the antibiotics failed to work, they questioned whether it really was strep. Clara was in a lot of pain and was having a hard time even walking, along with trouble breathing. They finally decided to take her to a hospital in Spokane, where they discovered the cancer, first around her kidneys, then in her leg, now on deep eye sockets, sinuses, and behind her eyes. Today she is having another bone scan done and then a biopsy on the tumor around her kidney. I'm receiving most of my updates through Facebook, thanks to my brother's sister-in-laws, but comments like these are just breaking my heart:

"Clara is in a lot of pain. They are having to give her morphine sooner than she is scheduled for it. As soon as she saw all of the presents and goodies from her friends, her face lit up and she wanted to hold the toys and dolls."

"Clara is sleeping and Brian is holding her hand. She opened her eyes for a moment and said, "Thank you Daddy." My mom said she has been saying similar things to the nurses and doctors."

From my brother, Brian: "You'd think we'd be better at this after what happened with Carson, but this seems so much harder."

That's the next thing. This sweet family has been through this before with their second son. When Carson was about 6 months old, they found a brain tumor and operated on it a little while later. I remember his head was so swollen after that surgery, but luckily they got it all and he is the most angelic boy you will ever meet now.

Less than two months ago, Clara and her family came to stay with us in Utah. They live in Washington so I don't get to see them much. Before this trip, I really didn't know Clara too well, but she made a huge impression on me in a short amount of time. Within ten minutes of being in my house, she ran up to Walter, only to realize that he was an actual living dog, so she turned and ran away screaming. Every time I put Indie in her swing, Clara was right there to help push it, usually much too hard :) When her cousin Cash was being whiney, Clara took it upon herself to discipline him by shaking her pointer finger at him. When we went to Kangaroo Zoo, which is a children's play place with tons of bouncy toys, Clara really loved the biggest slide. She would come up to me and back up into me so I would pick her up and take her down it. This happened time after time.

A fundraiser has been set up on Clara's behalf, as she has a long road ahead of chemotherapy, radiation and many other things a small child should never have to go through. Many have already donated that don't even know her, which means so much to my family. I'm adding a link to the fundraiser so that if you are able, you can donate as well. Thank you in advance.

Click here to help Clara

Bored on a Saturday

2011-05-21T13:46:00.010-04:00

It is 85 degrees outside right now and so beautiful but I am stuck inside while Indie naps so I thought I'd be a good little blogger for the time being. Our days out here in Charlotte are much like the movie Groundhog Day...same routine every day with slight variations if we are motivated enough. I usually have no idea what day it is, which doesn't even matter since all the days are the same. Somehow 5 1/2 weeks have flown by and Indie is growing like a weed!

We spent our first few weeks relearning how to sleep because apparently she forgot when we changed time zones. I have read so many sleep books but one was recommended to me by a friend, called The Baby Sleep Solution, and it is, by far, the best one out there. It claims to have your baby sleeping 12 hours by 12 weeks old, but I can't vouch for that since I started when Indie was around 17 weeks. I'm already excited to train our next baby!

I've been snipping away at Indie's hair lately because it's starting to look so retarded. She rocks herself to sleep by moving her head from side to side over and over, which means she is rubbing all her hair off. If it weren't for all her hair on the top, her and my dad would have the same hairstyle. I took the clippers to the back of her head last night just to even things up a bit and it looks much better. Sad that she's making herself go bald but I guess it was inevitable.

Indie giggled for her first time on Mother's Day and it hasn't happened since. You could tell while it was happening that she was confused and had no idea what was coming out of her mouth. It lasted for about 30 seconds and that's the last we've seen of that. She mostly just squeals all the time. I can get her squealing just by making the noise and she will mimic me until she gets bored. Speaking of bored, you may never meet a baby that gets bored quicker than Indie. We are constantly switching up the activities because she will definitely let you know she's over it.

We did a mini photo session today that only lasted about 5 minutes and you can see by the end of it that she was done.

Geez, how many rolls can you count on those arms?!

I'm realizing that my blog is mostly consisting of Indie these days but I guess that's to be expected when a baby comes along and consumes your whole life. I absolutely love being a mom to this little one and get more excited everyday as she gets bigger. Some moms are sad to see their kids grow up, but I love it because she's able to interact with us more and more and that's way more fun than boring baby blob. Is that mean? Don't get me wrong, newborns are precious, but I enjoy the growing up part much more!

4 Months Old!

2011-05-05T20:59:00.002-04:00

For Indie's 4 month old birthday, she got a double chin, two thunder thighs and some roly poly biceps. Oh, and let's not forget calves that pretty much fold over her ankles. You'd never know this was a low birth weight baby, that's for sure. Trey and I both feel like she's totally chunked out since we moved out to Charlotte, which was just over 3 weeks ago. I just love squishing all that chub. And go ahead and judge me, I pierced her ears.At her 4 month appointment, she weighed in at 13lbs even and 24 inches long. I don't remember the percentages because this doctor out here doesn't really get specific, just does ranges. I think her head was in the 10-25th percentile. That's too big of a range for me to take them seriously with anything. My favorite part about her appointment was when the doctor asked me how much time she is spending on her tummy. I was proud to report that she can stand it about 6 minutes a day now, real improvement! The doctor then went on to tell me that she should be on her tummy for 3 hours a day. I just laughed. No way in H-E double hockey sticks that that will ever happen.

Since moving out here, Indie has backtracked a little on her night sleeping so we are in the process of fixing that as soon as possible. My eyes burn all day long as my night's sleep has likewise backtracked. Aside from that, she's smiling all the time now and loves squealing and kicking her legs to Ellen. She gets the whole kitchen wet when I bathe her because she just loves to kick those legs. She absolutely hates riding in the car, I think because she needs constant entertainment and staring at the back of the car is not that cool. My rotator cuff is frequently sore from reaching back and putting her binky in her mouth. Needless to say, I now hate riding in the car too. Notice a pattern? If Indie doesn't do it or doesn't like it, neither does mom.

So behind! 3 months old...25 days ago!

2011-04-28T12:02:00.003-04:00

This little one is not so little anymore. Things have been crazy busy so I haven't had a chance to update. Since I'm nearly a month behind, I'm just going to skip the last month and leave you with a photo of her at 3 months. She'll be 4 months next Tuesday so we'll fill you in on her life sometime around then.

2 Months Old!

2011-03-08T21:26:00.003-05:00

I'm a little devastated because my computer crashed last week and of course I hadn't backed it up since Indie was born so all the pictures of her birth up until now are gone. I'm hanging onto the slight hope that my bro-in-law can recover those photos so we'll see. Anyway, Indie had her 2 month check up today and she weighed in at exactly 10lbs and 22in. She's in the 29th percentile for her weight, 37th for her height, and 11th for her head...still a small little thing, but from where she started I think she's pretty big. I think she looks bigger than she really is because much of the weight has resided in her cheeks. Just like her mama, the first sign of weight gain goes straight to her face. She is really a good baby and sleeps anywhere from 5-7 hours at night. I have been pumping for the last 2 months since she struggled a little with nursing in the beginning, but last week I tried nursing her for the first time since her first week of life and she picked it up so easily. Definitely the backwards way to do things and I don't know if anyone has done that before, but it seems to work for us and I'm stoked about it. She also seems to be a happier baby. She was originally the gruntiest baby you've ever heard, but ever since nursing she has toned it way down. I'm guessing maybe there are less air bubbles in her belly, but what do I know. Here are some pictures of this sweet thang...

Starting to smile all the time now...
Walter has yet to care one bit about this new person in our home, but I'm positive they'll be best buds before too long (this is just about the closest he has come in proximity to her)...
Indie loves to be talked to and tries so hard to talk back...
In other news, we will be living in North Carolina for the summer and will be leaving April 13th to head out there. Trey loves to choose the farthest areas for our summer residency, but strangely enough, I love the hot humidity and we always get lucky with that on the east coast.

I should have Indie's birth announcements tomorrow so if you'd like one and don't think I'd have your address you can email it to me...jwoo42@hotmail.com

Gosh, she's beautiful

2011-01-17T16:55:00.003-05:00

We are so in love with this little girl.

And we like Bri, too, for taking her pictures...and for many other reasons :)

A little sneak peek!

2011-01-13T20:30:00.002-05:00

Bri did a great job taking pictures of our little princess and family. You can see more on her blog if you want!

Here she is...Indie Lyn Warner

2011-01-11T22:06:00.007-05:00

On Monday morning (January 3), I woke up at 2am to my water breaking. We went to the hospital about two hours later and the nurse told me I was barely dilated to a 1. Awesome! After three hours of no progress and being hooked up to many monitors (Indie's heart rate kept dropping), they gave me some Pitocin to try to get things moving. That also caused her heart rate to drop so my doctor told me we were in for a long day and Indie might not arrive until the following morning. However, Indie kicked it into high gear and I was fully dilated just 5 hours later. What a blessing! This is Trey and I right before they gave me the go-ahead to start pushing.
I hate to be that person but I seriously pushed for 15 minutes tops and Indie flew out of me. Everyone kinda jumped back because she came out so unexpectedly fast. They had many nurses in the room waiting for her since they weren't sure what her condition would be once she came out with all the heart rate droppage, but luckily they didn't need to be used at all. The little girl was absolutely perfect, weighing in at 5lbs 7 oz, 19 inches long. Here's my team of amazing people that helped bring Indie into the world...
When they let me hold her, she was wide awake and staring right at me. They kept her extremely bundled because she was so tiny and they said she had no fat on her to keep her warm.
She got to wear this sweet hat the whole time in the hospital to help keep her temperature up. I thought it was pretty funny since it was so huge, but she didn't seem to mind.
The proud father holding his little girl, who looks very much like him!When she is awake, she is very awake and alert. We don't get to see this too often, but every now and again she will shock us and stay up for nearly an hour.
I just don't think this picture does justice to show how small this little thing is. She doesn't fill out anything, including her own skin. It's so loose on her body, it's hilarious!
My friend, Bri, came over today and took some pictures of Indie so hopefully those will be available soon so you can see her cute little naked body! Overall, the whole day was pretty amazing with how everything worked out. I was never nervous like I thought I would be and never worried that anything would be wrong with my little baby. We are so happy that she is here and even happier that she decided to grace us with her presence 11 days early. I was planning to be induced a week early just because they knew she was small and thought she might have a heart arrhythmia but I guess she didn't think that was soon enough. Thank heavens!

Is there sugar in syrup?

2010-10-27T19:52:00.004-04:00

After years of being told he looks like Will Ferrell, I finally convinced Trey to dress up as Buddy the Elf. He's never embraced his celeb look alike status, but this year I practically forced it on him. And since I'm fat with child, I thought being Santa with a natural big belly would fit perfectly.
Our doctor/friend let Trey borrow this nice, velvet costume, while mine was of the homemade sort. Not quite as fancy, but it got the job done.
Jenna and her little family were perfectly coordinated. Cash's costume even had pads in the shirt and pants.
Ash and her two kids were jockeys, while Cam had absolutely no coordination with them and was a rocker of some sort.
I didn't get pictures of the other two families but we did take a group shot. We had a great time partying as much as we know how when Monday Night Football is on simultaneously.
In all honesty, I don't love Halloween and I hate the pressure of dressing up. I prefer to leave my house and turn the lights off to avoid trick-or-treaters. The kids are cute and all, but when the truckloads of teenagers show up, it's not so cute anymore. This annual party with my family, however, is actually something I look forward to since we can all make fun of each other and look ridiculous without actually going in public. Tomorrow night, however, Trey and I will be in public in our costumes and you better believe we are for sure not dressing like this. It'll be much more toned down.

The Relaxi Taxi

2010-10-13T20:58:00.003-04:00

Recently, Trey's lease on his car ended and we decided to be a little more thrifty so instead of getting him a new car, he downgraded to my Xterra and I downgraded to one of the summer work vans! Minivans aren't necessarily considered cool, but they're probably even less cool when you don't even have kids to put in them. Here's what I'm cruising in these days...
It may not be cool, but it sure is hard to deny the convenience of a minivan. I can only imagine how nice it will be when the baby comes. If you're jealous that I get to drive this car around the town, just let me know because we have another one just like it (a white version) parked side-by-side in the garage that we will sell you! I know, it's tempting.

Last Vacation Before the Baby

2010-10-08T20:08:00.004-04:00

My parents did something pretty awesome and took 5 of their 6 children (with spouses) on a cruise to the Caribbean last week. We had a great time and I definitely added some pounds to my 26 week pregnant bod. We ate ALL the time. Here's a shot of the group one night at dinner, minus my parents, who were nice enough to babysit the 6 grandkids that came on the cruise at the other table.
Of all the places I've been in the Caribbean, Jamaica is one of my favorites, only because of those waterfalls you see in the back of the picture below. It's about a 2 hour hike up them and so much fun. Other than that, Jamaica is dirty. So dirty.
This was our last port in Cozumel Mexico. My poor ankles turned to cankles after walking around so much through all the shops and on the beach, but luckily they went away a few days later.
These were the waitresses we had through the whole week. Ezgi on the right, Devvy on the left. They are the reason I look fat here. They just kept bringing out more food!
These boys are all smiling now, but maybe I shoulda taken another picture when their luck was running out.
This baby will be here before we know it and this trip was a great last one to have before she gets here. Thanks again mom and dad for hookin' us all up!

Furniture Refinishing Class

2010-09-19T11:53:00.003-04:00

My sister Ashley is amazing when it comes to finding old, outdated furniture in the classifieds or at thrift stores and then bringing it home and refinishing it to make it look completely awesome. She's going to be teaching a class in about a month to help other people learn how to do this. She makes some pretty good money when she buys an old dresser for $25 and then turns around and sells it for $250. Not bad, huh? She's helped me finish an old cradle and I'm already trying to think of new things I can do.

You can check out her blog and see the info on the class and some of the pieces she has refinished or just read her info on it below:

Ok, it's official, the date will be Saturday, October 16th, 10:00am-12:00pm at my home for the small price of $35 :) . Please let me know if you're planning on coming as soon as possible. You can either leave me a comment on my blog, facebook, or call, text, or email me (ashleytreu@gmail.com) if you have any questions. I'll be going over pretty much everything you need to know to start refinishing furniture- or whatever it is that you want to refinish! It will be a hands-on class so you'll learn and get a feel for what you're doing and I'll teach you tricks and tips I've learned the hard way :) . Hopefully that date works for any of you who are interested, if not, hopefully this will be the first class of many! Thanks!

It's a Girl!

2010-08-03T23:47:00.003-04:00

I totally forgot to blog about this but we found out last Wednesday that we are having a girl. We found out a little early so there is definitely still a margin of error but the doctor said he was 100% sure so we're taking his word for it. Trey was absolutely shocked. I think he had the deer-in-the-headlights look for about 2 hours following our appointment...he thought for sure it was a boy.

People told me I'd go crazy buying things once we found out what we were having, but for some reason I have no desire. I have not purchased one single baby thing. I would rather give someone I trust my credit card and tell them to get everything I need for the baby and then decorate a nursery. Any takers?

Multiples or Singleton?

2010-07-08T20:01:00.003-04:00

Once upon a time we did In Vitro and transferred 3 embryos. Oh wait, I already told you that long drawn out story. Well, after we got pregnant, they told us that around 7 weeks we could find out how many embryos had actually implanted. We could be having triplets for all we knew. We moved out to New Jersey when I was just about 4 1/2 weeks along so I got online and found some random doctor under my insurance list to go to. I made the appointment for an ultrasound on the day I would be exactly 7 weeks. When I was about 6 weeks and 5 days, Trey decided he didn't want to wait the extra two days so I called our doctor to see if we could come in that day. I called over and over and every time got a machine saying they were closed. It was a Tuesday so I didn't really believe the machine. Being impatient as we are, we drove over to the doctor's office to call their bluff. They were, indeed, closed. Dangit.

So we drove back to our apartment and I got online to check the insurance list for more potential doctors. I called the first one but they said we couldn't come in until the next day because our insurance would have to be verified. Click. I called the next one and the receptionist said we could come in right away, no insurance needed, just pay upfront. You know if you can get in to see a doctor that day they probably aren't your best option, but we were too anxious to care.

We pulled up to the South Jersey Women's Center and went through the first set of doors. Weird, we had to be buzzed in through the next set. Oh well, the place smells gross and not at all doctor-like but I go up to the front window and pay for the ultrasound. The receptionist hands me a cup to pee in. "Is there a cabinet to put it in once I'm done?" "No, just walk it back out and give it to me, " she says. Gross. Lucky for me there's no one else in the waiting room. Nobody wants to see someone else holding a cup of fresh, warm pee. I do my thing, hand her the cup, and sit down, waiting to be called back.

As Trey and I are sitting in the waiting room, we're looking around and noticing this isn't a normal doctor's office. There are posters all over with Obama's face on them, promoting change. There are pro-abortion decals on the receptionist's window and "free to choose" stickers all over the place. Have I been sheltered living in Utah for 8 years? Is this a normal doctor's office?

The nurse calls my name and we both get up to walk back together. The nurse stops Trey and says, "Sorry sir, you're not allowed back here." Oh okay, maybe they'll come get him when they're ready? She takes me to another empty waiting room and I start texting Trey..."What is this crazy place? I am alone back here, go ask the receptionist if you can come back..."

Meanwhile, Trey has made conversation with a random man in the waiting room, asking him questions like, "So is that your wife back there? Are you guys finding out what you're having?" Normal questions potential dads might ask each other in a normal waiting room. He gets my text and goes up to the front desk.

He asks the lady, "Don't I get to be back there with my wife?"
"No sir, I'm sorry."
"But in the movies, the guy is standing next to his wife and they get to see their baby on the screen for the first time together, right? So why can't I go back"
"Sir, due to the nature of what we do here, we have to respect the privacy of the women back there and so that's why men are not allowed back."
Trey notices the decals on the window and sees a piece of paper taped to the wall which is in memory of some doctor who was murdered, who was still doing 3rd trimester abortions.
"Wait," Trey says, "Is this an abortion place?" loud enough for the 4-5 people in the waiting room to hear him.
"Yes sir."
Oh dear, Trey takes his seat.

I've now been called back to my room and am completely second guessing this whole thing. I have the darkest, sickest feeling in my gut. I don't remember a smile on any of the faces I'd seen. The doctor and nurse come in, completely expressionless. The doctor is rude; he can't understand why I wouldn't be using my IVF dr. for this ultrasound. Clearly sir, the insurance list didn't make a side note to tell me what this place really was. Can you just do the ultrasound and let me go? So he does the ultrasound. I have to ask him how many are in there and he just says, "One. You're about 6-7 weeks. Good luck." And out they both go. Wow, I think I dressed in 15 seconds and was out just as quickly as they were.

I walked out to Trey and held up one finger to him. We both smiled and got the H-E-double hockey sticks outta there.

So creepy. Glad I'm still pregnant.

In Vitro Part 3

2010-07-07T17:32:00.006-04:00

After our first attempt at in vitro had failed, we decided we didn't want to waste any time before trying again. Every year, we move away for the summer for Trey's job so we really only had 2-3 months before we'd be leaving again. We spoke with the nurse and got things underway to be in the April grouping for the next round of IVF.

I felt extremely nervous from the beginning. I second guessed my gut feelings and intuition. With the first IVF cycle, I felt good throughout the whole thing. I felt like I was pregnant. My own intuition had failed me. This second time around, I wanted to really know if it was the right thing to do so we wouldn't be throwing away so much money again. I had more negative feelings this time, but I know it was coming from a more pessimistic version of myself, the bitter side of me that didn't think we would ever get pregnant. If it was up to me, we probably would've waited a while to try again. I felt like we were spending so much money and my stupid body was just going to fail me again. I relied completely on Trey to make this decision and without hesitation, he said the money didn't matter and we would try again and it would work.

As much as I didn't love the shots before, I was actually anxious to start them and get things going. I documented so much of the first IVF with pictures and whatnot, but the second time I did nothing. I didn't want to jinx it or have memories of it not working. My biggest fear this time around was actually a new shot I'd have to be taking everyday in my upper butt and the needle was much bigger than my usual half inchers. This would be a thicker, longer needle and if I did get pregnant, I'd have to continue it for 9 weeks into my pregnancy. Yikes.

Things were much better from the beginning and to make this story shorter, I'm going to jump ahead. When the retrieval was all said and done, we went in for the embryo transfer. This time, our doctor's lab was complete so we only had to drive 10 minutes instead of all the way to Boise. They brought us back and showed us what we had to work with...4 healthy embryos this time! Though there was a risk of multiples, I felt good about implanting 3 and nobody was going to change my mind about that. So they put in 3 and we froze the 4th and went home to rest for a few days.

Luckily for me, my mom was in town and made it so I never had to move a muscle. She cooked for us and cleaned when she got bored. It was wonderful. But she also had to wait out the 10 days with us. I hate that wait. By the first night, I had cramps already. Of course, I cried. This was a bad sign last time around and I was sure it was menstrual cramps this time too. Trey calmed me down and tried to help me stay positive. Every day I tried to notice symptoms, but it was so hard because I was on so many different drugs that had so many side effects, I didn't have a clue what was going on with my body. If I ever felt any bit of hope, I never told Trey because I didn't want him to get his hopes up. Around day 6, I remember sitting on my bed at night and telling Trey that I didn't think it had worked, I didn't think I was pregnant. I still, to this day, don't know if he was just faking it for my sake or if he really believed it, but he told me that night that he thought I was pregnant and I needed to stay positive. I didn't believe him so I dropped the conversation.

The next few days I was more exhausted than I had ever felt in my life. I took naps during the day and was in bed by 10:00...not my style at all. My mom and Trey would give each other suspicious looks as if they knew I was pregnant and I would just roll my eyes. Blame it on the drugs, don't get your hopes up, I'd tell myself. On day 8, I went in for a blood test and then had to return again on day 10 for another. I went in by myself both times and on the 10th day, the nurses were very giddy with me. They asked how I was feeling and asked if I'd taken a pregnancy test yet. I told them no way, I did that last time and it had backfired. I wasn't about to do it again. After nurse Brenda took my blood, she kept asking me all these questions. So I finally said, "Do you know something?" and she said smiling, "Maybe..." I said, "Does that mean the first test was positive?" She smiled and told me that yes it was. I said, "So unless something crazy happens, this second test will be positive too?" And again, she told me yes. I couldn't believe it. I drove to my sister's right after and didn't tell anyone. I was skeptical and wanted to hear the official phone call later that day before revealing anything. I did, however, call Trey and let him know. He was with the contractor working on one of our rental properties, so that guy was officially the first one to find out we were pregnant. How special!

Once again, the doctor's office took forever to call us with the results. Trey ended up calling them and asked Brenda if they had any news for us. She told him to hold on and came back a few minutes later. I have the whole conversation recorded because this time, I knew it was going to be good news. When she got back on the phone, she said, "Well...I have really good news for you. Yes, yes you are. It is definitely positive." On the recording, you then hear Trey screaming and laughing really loud. She went on to tell us some numbers and how great everything looked because those numbers were so high. We thanked her and hung up the phone. I think I remember Trey high-fiving me, kissing me, and hugging me. I can't believe I didn't cry at this point. But I sure did once we started making the phone calls. I called my mom first, who was over at my sister Jenna's house. I guess Jenna had a bunch of her in-laws over so when I told my mom the news, everyone over there started crying too. Called Ashley...cried again. And on and on with all the phone calls.

The road was long and definitely hard, but we are so happy now and closer as a couple than we ever would have been had we gotten pregnant right away. Trey has been the rock in our marriage by always staying positive and never once making me feel like I was to blame for the infertility. It was hard on both of us, but he was able to see the bigger picture and knew that we would get pregnant someday. I love him and I am sure glad he was right.

In Vitro Part 2

2010-07-06T17:45:00.005-04:00

I was scheduled to start my shots December 31st. I remember that day because my baby sister gave birth to her son that afternoon. This time around, I was cleared to begin. Have you ever had a needle in your hand and been told to stab yourself in the stomach with it? How bout 4 times a day? That was a little nerve racking for me. Some women have their husbands do it but I didn't want to have to plan my 4 shots a day around Trey's schedule. After a few days of shots in the stomach, I had to switch to my thighs because my stomach was so sore. After my thighs got sore, I'd switch back to my stomach. It was only 2 weeks though, I knew I could handle it. Here's what I was working with...

After about a week and a half had gone by, we had an appointment for an ultrasound to see how the drugs had affected my ovaries. The drugs were follicle stimulating hormones, designed to produce as many eggs as they could muster up for that one cycle. With a normal woman on a normal cycle without drugs, you'd produce one a month. This is the appointment where you get excited because you get to see how many eggs you'll get to work with.

The nurse was the one who did my ultrasound, but after about 3 minutes with us she left the room. Probably not a good sign, I thought. She came back and told us that she had called the doctor to come over and check for himself because she wasn't seeing much activity in there. Our doctor showed up about 10 minutes later and confirmed that we only had one egg to do this upcoming in vitro with. He explained how slim the odds were with just one...not only does that one egg have a 60% chance of fertilizing but then it's got just a 50% chance of surviving the 3 day development and then after that a 33% chance of implanting and getting pregnant. Or in other words, it would take a major miracle for this to work. Trey and I were praying for that miracle and did not want to give up on that one little egg so we decided to continue forward.

For the actual egg retrieval and embryo transfer, we had to travel to Boise because our doctor's lab was not complete in Utah. Day 1 was the egg retrieval, where they put me out for half an hour, removed the egg and sent us on our way to wait it out for 24 hours to see if the egg fertilized. We tried to stay busy while we waited so we wouldn't stress and drive ourselves crazy. That, however, is hard to do in Boise, ID. The following day, we waited all morning for a call and never got one. We continued to wait until 3:00 when we just got too impatient and Trey decided to call them. They didn't answer so we actually drove over to the doctor's office to find out for ourselves. I made Trey go in to get the news because I didn't want to get bad news in front of anyone. I waited in the car for about 10 minutes and then looked up as Trey came running out of the office shooting his arms up and down in the air. It had worked! That one egg made it through the 60% and fertilized. Now we just had 2 more days to kill, waiting to see if it could survive and be a good embryo.

Two days of boredom later, we went back to the doctor for the embryo transfer. They hadn't told us if our embryo made it and I was so nervous. A nurse came out to the waiting room and gave me a Valium to take. That was my answer...they wouldn't give me this drug unless we were going through with the transfer. They brought us back and showed us a picture of our embryo that was the best it could have been. All these miracles were happening right before us and I could not believe that this was really going on. Luckily for us, my parents drove down from Washington the night before to hang out with us so they got to be in the room during the transfer. We all joked that not many grandparents are in the room when their grandchildren are conceived.

After the transfer, I had to take it easy for a few days so we drove back to Utah immediately. We then had the long wait of 10 days to find out if we were pregnant or not. I had read all about pregnancy symptoms, trying to know my body before those 10 days, which was probably a mistake looking back. Every time I felt anything different, I would think, oh man this is it, I've got to be pregnant. Trey and I both felt that so many miracles had happened to get us this far that it just wouldn't make sense if we weren't pregnant. On day 8, I decided to take a pregnancy test to confirm my feelings. It came out negative and I was devastated, but still had hope since it was a little early. We went to church a few hours later and I remember this moment so vividly. We were singing a hymn and in the song the line read, "For courage to accept Thy will..." After that I broke down. I had just had my own confirmation that I was not pregnant. I knew it. We left church soon after because I could not stop crying and did not want others to see me like that.

Two days later, we waited around all morning for the phone call to tell us whether or not we were pregnant. Even though I didn't think I was, I still had a tiny ounce of hope that I was wrong. All of our friends and family knew we were getting the news this day so they were also anxious to hear. After 1:30pm, we got impatient and Trey called in to get the results. They told him they would call between 2-3. So we waited a little while longer and then my phone rang. I handed it to Trey to answer. I didn't want to be the one to get the bad news. Trey answered and the woman explained she was calling from the doctor's office to give us our results. I remember her saying "Unfortunately, your blood tests were negative. I'm sorry." Trey held it together to talk to her a bit, but I was already sobbing next to him and as soon as he hung up, he joined me.

We cried together for maybe 30 minutes and then decided we should probably let our friends and family know. I think we both sent out mass text messages because neither one of us felt like talking about it. That was a very hard day for both of us. We were back to square one and didn't understand why it was so hard for us when so many others got pregnant so easily. We spent the afternoon together, crying off and on and then went to Taco Bell for some comfort food. I remember holding back tears while I sat and ate. I also remember seeing the word "fart" etched in pencil on the table we were eating at. And that put a smile on my face and I knew we were going to be okay. Look close in the pink stripe and you'll see it too.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 3.

In Vitro Part 1

2010-07-05T17:20:00.003-04:00

I must admit, I am a very impatient person. After 3 months of trying to get pregnant, I called up my doctor to see if he thought something was wrong or had any suggestions. We tried every trick in the book and were still unsuccessful. We started doing some testing after 5 months and everything came back normal. We tried artificial insemination. We tried fertility drugs. Still nothing. "Keep trying. Sometimes it just takes some people longer than others." I heard this statement all the time. "It will happen when it's supposed to happen." That one, too.

After Trey and I spent about 18 months trying to get pregnant on our own, I finally went to see a doctor I'd been referred to. I had two separate blood tests throughout the month and after the results came back, they scheduled me to come in again. I could tell as soon as the doctor walked in that something wasn't right. She sat down right next to me and showed me some of my results, which I didn't fully understand. When I asked her to explain, she basically told me that I might be 25 on the outside, but my ovaries were like a 45-50yr old woman's who is nearing menopause. Awesome. Then she said, "The only chance you have of getting pregnant is through in vitro." I took the news bravely and drove home to where my mom, sister and friend were waiting. I walked through the door and they asked me how it went. I said, "Not good," and instantly, the tears started to fall. I guess it took the drive home from the doctor for things to really sink in...life wasn't going to be as I'd always planned. Is it ever? I really had no idea what in vitro (IVF) entailed, but if it could get me pregnant, I was up for it.

The doctor referred me to a fertility specialist, who I made an appointment with immediately. Without doing any testing, he scheduled us for the next cycle of IVF. Two months of preparation went by and the day I was supposed to start my shots came. I went in to get an ultrasound to make sure everything was good to go first, which they should have done from the beginning. They found two large cysts on my ovaries. In other words, in vitro cancelled. I held my composure until I got in the car, but started crying as soon as I shut my door. Why do I always go to these appointments alone?? I drove home completely discouraged. I had already calculated my due date based off this IVF working and now it wasn't even going to happen.

Two weeks later, I had another ultrasound by the fertility specialist's partner where he confirmed that I most likely had endometriosis at its worst stage and would need surgery to remove it. He made me feel better by letting me know that 60% of women who are trying for a baby get pregnant on their own after this surgery. Leave it to me to be the 40% that doesn't. We tried on our own for 7 months, though halfway through that time I was pretty positive the endometriosis was back already.

When the 7 months was up, we took a referral from my good friend, Shea and went to meet that doctor. What a difference between this guy and the other! If you ever need a fertility specialist referral, I can definitely tell you who to go to and who to stay away from. This time around, they scheduled me for an ultrasound right away and of course, found endometrial cysts on the ol' ovaries again. They weren't as large as the time that called for surgery so I was put on a very high dose of birth control to combat them. In a month, we would reevaluate and figure out when we could try another stab at IVF.

After the month was up, cysts were still present but much smaller so the doctor felt much better about that. He told me that the endometriosis had most likely depleted much of my egg supply so we might not get as many embryos as a normal couple but we would sure try our best for the most that we could get. In Vitro was scheduled for January 13, 2010 in Boise, ID.

Stay tuned tomorrow for part 2.

Evidence I'm not in Utah anymore...

2010-07-02T17:26:00.011-04:00

Whenever we move away for the summers, it's usually to a big city and near the hood (which I don't think exists in Utah). I was thinking this morning about all the many differences that we get to experience whenever we move.

You know you moved east of Utah when...

1. You're sitting in sacrament and you hear a cell phone ringing and the woman answers it and loudly tells her caller, "You know I'm in church. Don't call me when I'm in church." This has happened twice now.

2. You're waiting at a stoplight and if you don't already start moving before the light turns green you get honked at immediately. In Utah, everyone is a bad driver so the person behind you probably doesn't notice the light changed either because they are too busy texting.

3. You can eat at Panera Bread whenever you want. And I do. Chipotle Chicken Sandwich if you ever get the chance.

4. There are more than a handful of minorities. In fact, sometimes I'm the minority.

5. You accidentally schedule your first ultrasound at an abortion clinic. More details to come on this one.

6. You count down the days until you are back in Utah.

7. You're getting in your car in the middle of Brooklyn and some guy wants to know if you're really from Utah. He's never met anyone in his life from there. I think he's the one that needs to get out more, but somehow the Utahn becomes the alien.

8. Costco doesn't even offer the Polish Sausage Dog. You have to get a plain old hot dog, which is still delicious, but pales in comparison.

9. Squirt does not exist. Just lots of Mellow Yellow in its place.

10. Everyone has a dog. In Utah, everyone has kids.

Hello Teeny Embryos

2010-07-02T09:00:00.002-04:00

After 3 years of trying, 1 surgery, 2 rounds of In Vitro and 16 weeks of daily shots and other fun drugs, we are FINALLY pregnant. It was definitely a long road to get here, but now that it's here all the rough stuff doesn't seem so rough...it was all worth it. And lucky enough for us, we'll probably have to do In Vitro each time we want to have another child so it's nice to know that it can be done. I'll probably do a post all on it's own to describe my experience with the In Vitro process. It really is a miracle how it all works.

Not many parents get to see their baby at this stage in it's life, but when you're lucky enough to be the proud parents of that little 8-celled blastocyst, it's the most beautiful thing in the world. This picture right here is just an example of what we have stuck on our fridge back in Utah. Isn't it cute?

We are so grateful for all the love and support we have received from family, friends and even complete strangers. I heard of so many people I didn't even know who were praying for us and who cried when they found out we were pregnant. I am amazed at how many people pretty much wanted this just as much as we did. Thank you everyone for being there for us when it was hard and for sharing in our excitement now.

We are 12 weeks along now and due January 14, 2011. So far I feel like I've been pretty lucky with the pregnancy symptoms. I like to think I deserve it after all the other stuff I've had to go through. However, with the glimpses I have seen of the sickness, I think I prefer the daily shots in the bum.

Covered in poop, literally

2010-05-27T22:09:00.005-04:00

A few years ago we bought a rental property that got completely abused by the renters who were living in it. After they left, large amounts of cockroaches and their poo were discovered, along with mildew, mold and all kinds of other damages. I wouldn't step foot in that place so I never got the luxury of seeing the disgusting mess but Trey took a few pictures of some in-between fixes. We basically had the whole place gutted and it now looks like a brand new house on the inside. Here's a before picture of the outside...
And here's an after picture after ripping out those ugly trees...
Here's an in-between shot of busting out the gross shower...
And after...
I wish Trey would've taken a picture sooner but this is the kitchen minus the cockroach poop cupboards and mildew floors...
And after...
This was not planned to be a fixer upper house but thanks to the crappy renters and the other 4 families living in there with them it turned into one. Some people.

Chicken Curry in a Hurry

2010-05-25T20:46:00.003-04:00

I don't know where my mom got this recipe but it's my latest favorite and it's so easy to make.

1 1/2 TBS olive oil
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 c. plain yogurt
3/4 c. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 rotisserie chicken
2 c. cooked white rice
1/4 c. fresh cilantro leaves (which I hate and don't add, still great without)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion & cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 mins. Sprinkle with the curry powder & cook, stirring for 1 min. Add the yogurt & cream & simmer gently for 3 mins. Stir in the salt, pepper & tomatoes. Remove from heat. Slice or shread chicken, discarding skin & bones. Divide the rice & chicken among individual bowls, spoon the sauce over the top & sprinkle with cilantro. (I just added the chicken to the sauce, makes no difference I'm sure).

Hope you like it as much as I do!

The Latest

2010-05-23T16:30:00.002-04:00

We moved out to Cherry Hill, NJ about a week and a half ago. The selling area is technically Philadelphia but when I came out here 2 months ago I could not find anything worth living in over there so we're just across the river, about 10-15 minutes from downtown Philly. I think our apartment is my favorite of all the other summers, which makes it a much smoother transition. I just can't wait for the pool to open...it is huge! We live right across the street from a big mall. It looks nice, but I haven't found one minute of spare time to go there yet. I do all the office work out here, usually from about 11-2pm, then I babysit a cute little 2 year old from about 3-8pm so I stay fairly busy. It's been great though so far.

We got hooked up with a 2 bedroom apartment this year, which could only mean Pinnacle wants people to come visit us. Of all my 5 summers moving, my family has only come to visit when we lived in San Diego...go figure. I think they just used us for room and board, which I'm fine with, but I guess we haven't lived anywhere that compares to Southern California. If only they'd come to visit me and not the area :) Manhattan is only about an hour and a half away if that is more enticing for you fools.

Pros and Cons

2010-04-16T00:22:00.004-04:00

Trey has already left for the summer in Philadelphia and I don't leave until May 5th, which means lots of alone time spent with Walter.

I was thinking that there are some upsides to having your husband out of town. For example, I can stay up as late as I want. If it were up to Trey, we'd be in bed by 10:30 at the latest. When I'm in charge, it's never before midnight.

Next, I never have to worry about the toilet seat position. It's always right where I want it...down.

I also don't have to feel guilty about eating cereal for dinner. I cook for one reason only...Trey. If it weren't for him, I'd spend a max of 5 minutes in the kitchen preparing either my cereal or my ham sandwich.

And lastly, a nice little bonus with having Trey out of town is that I get to drive his car while he's gone. I know I drive it faster than he does. Sometimes I tell him he doesn't deserve to drive the car he does because he doesn't take advantage of what it can do and therefore, we should switch cars. I have yet to win that argument.

There are also some major downsides to having your husband out of town and being alone in a big house. One came about the other night as I tried to open a new bottle of Odwalla juice. That lid was not budging and it's doesn't help that I am the biggest wuss when it comes to opening lids. Where was Trey when I needed him?

Whenever Trey leaves, Walter takes it upon himself to become the man of the house. He never barks at night when he hears outside noises while Trey is home, but the second he leaves, Walter gets ultra protective. The 6lb dog is not protecting anything and I miss the real man of the house.

One reason I stay up late when Trey is gone is to watch all my scary shows. The only problem with this is that I'm terrified by the time I need to go to sleep. This happens on a regular basis and you'd think I'd be smart enough to stop, but I'm not. If Trey were here, I would not be scared. Oh well.

In sadder news, I am iPhoneless until next Monday. I feel lost.

Rough Week

2010-03-17T00:40:00.005-04:00

Last week my friend Becca and I flew to Philadelphia to find our apartments for the summer, which was going just fine until about 4 hours before our flight left on the last day there. We were stopped at a stoplight and a Gospel Choir tour bus from Michigan was in front of us and just decided to back up, right into my little micromachine of a rental car. Not cool. We had to wait around with the bus driver and police officer for over an hour while he wrote up the police report and then another hour and a half waiting to be towed. We got to the airport with just enough time to spare and luckily got dropped off at the wrong terminal so we had to run about 1/4 mile with our heavy bags. That was easily the most exercise I've gotten in quite a while. Here's a picture of the damage to the rental. I really wish I would've gotten a picture of the beautiful bus driver named Norma wearing a Detroit Tigers jersey with a permed mullet, long nose hairs and a beard to go with it, smoking cigarette after cigarette while we waited. I miss her already.
We got home Thursday night at 12:30am (so technically Friday morning) and I had to leave for Vegas about 12 hours later to meet up with Trey. That night BYU lost their game so we drove home the next day and hit the worst snow storm I've ever been in. Unfortunately, we were in the worst car possible and eventually our tires wouldn't even grip anymore. Guys tried to push us, but finally gave up when a cop showed up and called a tow truck. We waited for over two hours in our car off to the side of the freeway for the truck to come. When he finally showed up, he told us he had to go pull someone out of a ditch real quick but would be back shortly. An hour later, he came to our rescue, but couldn't pick up our car because he already had one. So he dropped us off at our hotel (which is a miracle in itself because all hotels were booked and they opened up a church for people to sleep at) and told us he'd go get our car and bring it to the hotel. After waiting two more hours in the hotel room (which had no hot water) our car arrived. We eventually made it home safely the next day. When we waited in the car for the tow, all we had to eat for dinner was donuts, cheetos and red bull...so heathly. Here's Trey having the time of his life...
The details of these stories could go on forever but I summarized big time. I'm very glad last week is over and don't want to go on vacation for a long time now. I could, however, use a spa treatment pronto.

Avatar on Ice

2010-03-05T17:53:00.001-05:00

I know the Olympics are over, but did anyone else think the girl (Meryl Davis) from the USA team looked like an Avatar on Ice?

Pawned off

2010-02-16T18:24:00.003-05:00

I am uninspired by last night's ridiculous episode and I have more important things to do, like pack for Arizona and run a basketball league tonight. Plus, all that comes to mind when I recall the episode is Jake dancing on the streets of St. Lucia with Gia. Took me back to some strange Mexican Middle School moves. If you want to be entertained by someone else's commentary (which is scarily my identical thoughts), read this.

I can't wait for this season to be over.

Jake your tears are fake

2010-02-10T00:50:00.003-05:00

Who else was extremely disappointed with last night's episode? For me, it was lacking in the drama that The Bachelor is typically used to so they ended up focusing all their air time on Ali's weeping and wailing. Once upon a time I liked Ali. Now I hate her. The end. In the beginning, Ali was in my top 2. I thought I had good judgment, but after watching her last night I have lost all credibility. I used to think she was pretty. Now all I see is bean teeth, a witch nose, and messy ponytails. Poor girl lost respect that took her weeks to earn in less than 5 minutes. I feel like she came to Jake with her ultimatum hoping he would beg her to stay. Why are the producers allowing this Ed/Jillian repeat? Been there, done that. But please, Ali, do not come back like Ed did.

First home date...Gia. Is her brother a Jersey Shore guido or what? And her poor mother with that intuition that is going to prove to be dead wrong next Monday. Sorry mama Gia but you're a bit off just like your Taro cards. Who else thinks Gia and Ellen Pompeo could be sisters of a different ethnicity? It's that creepy joker mouth. My final observation of Gia...save the cheesy lines with Jake for a 1990's Meg Ryan movie...ie: "Ever been kissed on a stoop?...No...Should we change that?" or "Is it okay to fall?" Sure, if I can kick you while you're down there.

Tenley is easily my pick for Jake and I'd be surprised if anybody disagrees with me. There really isn't much competition at this point. They are both just so nice. Tenley would make a better Relief Society President than I ever would, I'm pretty sure of that. If only we could just erase that awkward dance she choreographed for Jake.

Vienna Vienna Vienna. What can I say about you? Maybe that I think you're a tranny. Or that your hair extensions look ridiculous. Or that you would not have made it past the first rose ceremony if I was the bachelor. Or that you put out more than any other girl, which might be the reason you're still here. In short, I don't like you. I didn't like Jillian either though and Jake was in love with her.

As much as I love the Bachelor, I'm almost ready for this season to be over so we can start a new one. If Michelle was still here, I might be more into it. She was great, wasn't she?

Talk to Me

2010-02-04T02:24:00.003-05:00

I went back and read a few of my old Bachelor blogs and it made me feel kinda sad (and a little pathetic) that I'm not doing it this time around. Cause you know I'm watching. Are you? How do you feel? Hating Vienna yet? Do tell.

And A Happy New Year!!

2009-12-24T14:17:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-23T18:55:00.002-05:00

I suck at blogging, forgive me

2009-12-06T11:21:00.005-05:00

We went to Washington for Thanksgiving but somehow I failed to take any pictures worthy of this blog. We had a great time, but you will never know how great since there are no pictures to prove it. I did manage to take a million pictures of Taya so maybe you can stay tuned to Ashley's blog to see those. Moving on to December...

Our ward had an ugly Christmas sweater party last night, which seems to be a popular party theme around here as of late. I remember having one of those about 6 years ago and there were so many great sweaters to choose from at the local thrift store, but I went this past week and they were few and far between. What Trey lacked in a sweater, though, he definitely made up for in other ways...

Trey and Scott wanted to take a fruity picture together and we have laughed so hard over this one because they really do look "together" if you know what I mean.

October Sum Up

2009-11-07T18:52:00.004-05:00

So much has happened since I last blogged, but most importantly, we moved back to Utah. Praise the heavens above for the six months we get to relax and gear up for the next summer move. What have I done since being home? A little bit of everything and a lot more of nothing. It's been great.

Ashley had her baby a few weeks ago so my parents came from Washington for that. My mom spent a lot of time helping Ash, but somehow fit me in too and accomplished so much at my house! My dad framed our whole basement in about 3 days and now we just have a few weeks left of work before it's all done. He was amazing down there and Trey even got to learn a few things from him and help a lot.
I did a lot of standing around and observing, but helped a little by sawing wood and standing up walls. Other than that, hopefully I was just good company to my dad when he was working alone.
Ashley was in the hospital for 4-5 days and her daughter wasn't allowed there thanks to silly swine flu business, which meant lots of Jami/Taya time. She is one 2 year old that I could spend all day, day after day, with and never get sick of. We are best friends. I was pretty proud of the pumpkins my mom and I carved to announce the birth of Dodger. Taya reminded me to light them every time I came over, which was probably pretty close to every other night or more. The weather has been in the 60s since we got home, but I'm starting to get excited for the cold. I picked up my season snowboarding pass today so that might have something to do with my excitement. I need girlfriends who like to ski/snowboard this season cause Ash will be in recovery and I'm gonna be able to go much more than Trey. Otherwise, it's just me and the iPod. Any takers?

Pointless. Totally pointless.

2009-10-08T16:55:00.005-04:00

Out here in Kansas, I have way too much time on my hands. And that is an understatement. I work for my husband's company, but that work takes up about 30 minutes of my day. The other 15-16 hours are left wide open. I check my blog list at least once every couple of hours to see if anyone in my sidebar has updated their blog. I wish you would all update every single day just to give me something to do. If you are not in my sidebar, send me a link to your blog so I can have additional reading material. Please. I'm bored.

On account of my boredom, I've taken up a new hobby...online shopping. I'm a social shopper, which means when I have no friends in Kansas to shop with, I don't make it to the mall too often. I don't go shopping with a list of things I need and only leave with those things. I go with an open mind, a friend or two, and come home with things I definitely don't need. I like it that way. Take all these factors into account and I am a perfect candidate for these online sites. And not just any site but the ones with the sales. The ones that are all about the daily deals so it's easy to justify spending money, even though you never would have bought the item had you walked past it in the store. Something about knowing I saved money and anticipating the package is too hard to resist. Take this for example...two days ago I was directed to a daily deal for an innovative baby bottle shaped just like a boob, proclaiming to help babies eat better when they can't be breastfed. I don't have a baby or even one on the way, but I just couldn't resist how cool it sounded. I even researched a little and discovered that J.Lo buys those bottles so you better believe I have 6 on the way.

I used to have about 4 sites I'd check every few hours to scope out the latest deal but then I found a website called dealsucker.com that combines every daily deal site into one. Whiskey Militia and Brociety are easily the top sites, but there are some other good ones on there too if you wanna check it out.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

2009-09-10T17:38:00.004-04:00

Three years ago, Trey and I lived in San Diego while he managed an office selling security systems. One day while out selling, he spotted something moving in the grass. With no regard for the sale he was in, Trey abruptly asked his customer for a bucket and some gloves. What he came home with that night was something he called an alligator lizard or something I called a bad word. After explaining the sentimental reasons for this stupid lizard (I guess they had one growing up named Jordan), I decided to allow him to keep it as long as I didn't have to ever touch it, feed it, interact with it, etc...

Trey put the alligator lizard (I can't just say lizard or you will think it's cute. This thing was hissing at me) in a cardboard box until we could get a more permanent home for it. The next day, Trey left for work and left me alone, in the same house with the reptile. All afternoon I could hear this thing crawling around the box, which creeped me out to say the least. What creeped me out even more, however, was when I couldn't hear it anymore.

I went over to the box to check on the alligator and sure enough, it was gone and in its place, a lizard-sized hole he had chewed through the box. After searching all over the apartment, I found it on the balcony. I called Trey and told him the situation, which was basically that the lizard was gone forever since I wasn't going to touch it. He begged me to get a towel from the bathroom and catch it. If I was a tear shedder, this is where they would've come. Like a stupid wife, I obeyed and attempted to catch the dang thing. Unfortunately it scurried behind the washer, which meant that I had to coax it out by beating it with an unwound hanger. Just my luck. And after that proved unsuccessful, I watched as the lizard ran through a hole in the exterior wall. All that work for nothing.

Trey heard the full story when he got home and rather than feeling sorry for the trauma I had incurred, he suggested we go to the pet store to replace his day old friend. So what do you think happened? Well, we came home with a snake, tank, and a freezer full of frozen mice. The lizard was looking good at this point. Trey left for work the next day, not only leaving me alone with another reptile, but also accidentally leaving the top of the tank open. Later that evening, I realized I couldn't see the snake and noticed the open lid. The tank was on our kitchen counter so after looking EVERYWHERE, I assumed maybe the snake went down the sink. I assumed this mostly to help myself feel better about Trey not being home for many more hours.

Trey came home that night and once again, rather than feeling sorry for me, he decided we should go buy another snake as a replacement. Sure enough, we brought home one more snake. What was I thinking allowing this? That night, Trey went to bed and I decided to stay up and watch a movie. When the movie was over, I walked passed the kitchen and saw the snake out of the tank and on the counter. I panicked. How did this one get out? I would have to wake Trey up since I was not about to catch it and return it to the tank. But wait, there was already a snake in the tank. Snake on the counter=snake we thought we lost. Awesome. Two snakes. Kill me.

I was reminded of this story a few nights ago when Trey told me we were getting a new pet...a snapping turtle. Regular turtle, no problem. Snapping turtle, problem. One of Trey's guys found it in his neighborhood and knew Trey would love it, so he brought it home to join the Warner family. Trey got a home all set up for it and, though it was so tiny, I could not bring myself to go near it. The word "snapping" just ran through my mind and I was afraid the stupid thing would bite me. And before I allowed Trey to put this turtle in yet, another cardboard box, I made sure he wouldn't be able to chew his way through it. Why am I such a wuss? Here's Trey with the tiny little turtle.
Aww, so cute. What a nice little pet, even though it still creeps me out to hear it walking on the cardboard. But wait, that thing is just a baby, which only means that it won't stay tiny forever. Maybe we should google it and see how big this thing plans on getting. And this picture is no joke. Our tiny little turtle is only years away from becoming this...
And now the tiny turtle has become a resident of the lake behind our house. I think I'm done allowing Trey to bring home pets he finds in the hood.

Gotta Love 'Em

2009-09-08T18:40:00.004-04:00

Whether you're married to a man or not, you have at least had boyfriends or brothers or hopefully fathers. You've been around men enough to know that most of their quirks are not unique to just them, but seem to come with the species.

This post is motivated, of course, by something my special husband did that may be surprising to some, but not to anyone who knows a man. Not just any man, but a man who finds himself helpless in seemingly simple situations. A man who, for some reason, though grown well into adulthood, finds himself vulnerable and childlike when in the presence of a woman. A man who is the epitome of the Youtube video "Man Cold." This man is the kind who will tell you he can't find something he has searched everywhere for, upon which you move one very obvious item to discover the missing "something." The man whose idea of doing the dishes is rinsing them with water and returning them to the wrong cupboards. The man who you won't even let do the dishes anymore because it's just too much hassle to undo the damage. My man doesn't do any of these things, but my attention has been brought to this question...are men really this helpless or are they manipulating us into thinking they are so we will give up and do the work ourselves?

I never considered the manipulation idea until I was enlightened by "Everybody Loves Raymond" a few years back. Raymond's brother, Robert, was getting married and he was semi-annoyed with all the pre-wedding tasks, but felt obligated to be a help to his fiance. Raymond offered advice from his own experience to just do a bad job, offer bad suggestions...basically do poorly whatever was asked of him. This way, the fiance would appreciate him for still trying, but would slowly let him off the hook. Genius, I thought. Do men really do this in real life? Was my husband one step ahead of me? A few nights ago, my question was answered.

Trey takes Ambien on occasion to help him sleep, but the effects can often be annoying to me, ie: he does/says weird things he doesn't always remember in the morning, until the moment he does fall asleep he won't stop talking, etc...) So I decided we should also try a more natural sleep aid called Melatonin. The second night we had the pills, I took one and left the bottle by the kitchen sink. Trey asked me a few minutes later where the Melatonin was and I told him where I'd put it. The next day, I saw some pills on Trey's nightstand. Walter, our dog, sometimes has a bad habit of eating his own poop. It's disgusting, but apparently not too uncommon. I went to the pet store to get some pills to remedy this and had left them on the kitchen counter...nowhere near the Melatonin. However, Trey picked up the first bottle he saw and popped the pills without a second thought. He did notice they were very grainy and pretty gross tasting but went right on swallowing. The second I saw the dog pills on his nightstand I knew what had happened. He'd mistaken the don't-eat-your-own-poop pills for his sleep aid medicine. I told him the pills were in the kitchen and he didn't doubt me for a second, not even enough to actually read the medicine label.

And that's when it occurred to me...men really are that helpless. They trust us women with their lives. They may not clean so great or find things so great or be sick so great, but they sure can trust us pretty well. We can't blame them if their natural inclinations are not to clean at the first sight of mess or take care of themselves when they have a minor cough. I love that Trey can rely on me for absolutely anything and he knows that I will always come through for him. I'd rather have a man who trusts me to the fullest than one who can clean my house. At least that's what I'll tell myself as I slave over the dishes.

And just in case you were wondering, the pills worked. Trey didn't eat his own poop the next day.

Where would I be without my iPhone

2009-09-01T18:16:00.002-04:00

Right now I'm coming at you live from my iPhone, which on an everyday basis is, in theory, retarded in my opinion. No one would rather blog from their phone than from a nice Macbook. Today, however, I've run across some bad luck. After getting out of the shower, the doorbell rang. I went downstairs, turban towel and all, answered the door to a mean electricity man telling me he was shutting off my electricity since I haven't paid my bill since February. Funny, since I've lived here one month and the company takes care of my utilities. Too bad, he doesn't care that my name is not Collin Gehl. He doesn't care that my hair is still wet and could use the electricity to run thru my blow dryer. He simply flips the switch to the off position and leaves, not without showing me that Collin's balance is 420 something dollars. Normally, I could survive this situation. Normally, my husband wouldn't have gone out of town this morning and left me carless. Normally, I wouldn't be stranded in the middle of Kansas with no friends, family, Internet or cable. Aside from all that, I called the electrical company and luckily they can't come for two days. Goodbye delicious produce and other food I bought at Costco yesterday. Hello tears. I called Trey to see if he could rescue this damsel and sure enough, he did...mostly. I guess the company forgot to take care of the utility situation and were getting right on it because as the lady on the phone put it, I was in panic mode. Wouldn't you be? After waiting for an update, I learned that the soonest they can turn my power back on is sometime tomorrow. My survival skills kicked in as I loaded up a huge suitcase full of fridge/freezer food and dragged it down one flight of stairs and up another into our empty office fridge. I only spilled pickle juice and salsa everywhere. Other than that, no problems. Here's the part in my story where I'm proud of myself. I did dispose of most of the produce as I'm not going to walk to the office everytime I want something but I did decide to make the best of my raspberries by making some jam. Mom would be so proud. It's only been 4 hours and already I'm so bored. But, the moral of the story is, I love my iPhone. I'm a person that needs technology in any form. I'd even read a book if I had one. All I have is my phone and my two dogs to keep me company. And less than 3 hours of daylight until I'm just sitting in the dark. Looks like I'm popping a sleeping pill at 9:00 tonight. Tell me, how would you entertain yourself if you were me? Maybe you're better than me. Maybe you don't need a car or tv or Internet or friends or books or noise or cold food or lights in your bathroom or your hair done. If you don't, maybe you were born a century too late.

Update on Kansas

2009-08-07T17:36:00.004-04:00

We moved from Atlanta to a suburb of Kansas City a few weeks ago called Overland Park and shockingly enough, I really like it here. I thought it would be desolate and lame like it sounds but it's actually very nice. We probably live in the nicest city in Kansas, which helps...so I guess the rest of the state could be lame. Where was Dorothy from? We got to visit some church history sites last Sunday. The one in the above picture is Adam-Ondi-Ahman, which is basically just a big green parky area if you don't know what went on there or what will go on there. I think we're planning to go to Liberty Jail this Sunday.

My job since we moved here is to babysit this little guy. His mom sells out here and since I quit that long ago, I'm available to watch him for 6 hours a day. He loves playing in this dog cage and sometimes I lock him in there when he's naughty. Just kidding Carrie :)
Life is going good. We move back to Utah in 2 months or so. Is that sad that the only reason I don't want to move back is because there are way better restaurants here?

The Bachelorette

2009-07-28T13:20:00.006-04:00

This whole season I've always felt like Ed would be chosen in the end, even when I liked others better. Even when others had much better bodies and much longer shorts, Ed just stood out to me and I couldn't understand why until a few weeks ago. I can basically sum it up like this...Ed is a dork and Jillian is a dork. Together, they are perfectly dorky. Side note...Did anyone laugh as hard as I did when they showed the guys getting ready for the final rose and they showed Ed in his boxer briefs? He has received some serious leg time on this show.

Kiptyn was a nice, cool guy. That second adjective is why he wasn't really in love with Jillian and why it never would have worked. He was cool. She was not. If those two met randomly on the street or got set up outside of reality tv (which I would like to discuss later), maybe they would have gone on two dates. Jillian would have wanted more, but Kiptyn probably wouldn't have given her the time of day. This whole season I felt like he was forcing it for the sake of the show. Maybe it was wonderful and magical at the time, but once their dates/trips weren't paid for by ABC, their relationship would have been over. Deep down, I think Kiptyn knew this and that's why he didn't propose. That's also why he accepted defeat much too easily. That's also why the cameras stayed on him awkwardly too long in the limo waiting for him to shed a tear and he just couldn't do it. Have you seen The Holiday with Cameron Diaz? That's what it reminded me of...like he was trying so hard to cry but he just couldn't muster out a single tear.

Reid...nice try. You got dumped not once, but twice. The best part is that you were 100% certain she would choose you and those white shoes. You said that you had to pull some serious strings to come back to Hawaii but I'm going to call your bluff on that one. I guarantee ABC was just eating that one up. Oh, the drama! I feel bad for you because you were funny and made fun of Jillian to her face, but life goes on. Mine already did.

I think I laughed more during this episode than any one before it. Jillian's facial expressions were to die for. She kept reminding me of a beaver last night. Fast forward to the last 20 minutes and you'll see it too. Which kind of brings me to my next point...reality tv. Why do they call it that when it definitely isn't? They should call it semi-reality tv. First off, 30 attractive, successful men going after you at the same time is not reality. If it is, I got screwed. Secondly, reality is not traveling to Canada, Spain, Hawaii and wherever else with all these men you've known for weeks. And third and most important, I do not see reality every time Jillian stands on her balcony or a cliff and stares into the distance, pondering all that is before her. What I see is the producers saying, "Ok Jillian we wanna get a shot of you doing this or that. Go stand over there and look over there and pretend to be deep." I'm not buying it.

I could make fun of this show for many paragraphs more but I will refrain. Many have asked if I will be watching More to Love, the overweight version of the Bachelor. That all depends on how desperate I get for entertainment, but I can tell you now I will not be blogging about it if I do!

Joey and Janice's Day of Fun!

2009-07-16T18:40:00.007-04:00

On Sunday we are moving to Kansas City to finish out the rest of the summer so Trey and I decided to at least attempt to visit some of the places Atlanta has to offer before we take off. We started out at the aquarium, which is apparently the largest aquarium in the world. We went in this tunnel under a very large tank full of fish and I think it made me claustrophobic cause I was not feeling so hot afterwards. It was either that or the 8 foot dead squid they had on display.

This whale shark is supposedly a big attraction here. They have 4 of them that were shipped over from Taiwan thanks to UPS and watching the video on that process was pretty cool. You can pay $225 to swim with them, but we weren't trying to get too crazy. Who spends $500 for one aquarium visit? Just go to the ocean and swim with the sharks for free.

After the aquarium we walked over to the World of Coca Cola. Coke was invented in Atlanta so they've made an attraction out of it with some exhibits, a 4D movie theater (my favorite), and a tasting room full of different Coke products sold on all the continents. The majority of them made me gag. I think pee probably tastes better than most of the drinks I tasted. Here Trey is toasting his free Coke Zero that they hand out to everybody.

4D movies are one of my favorite things in life and luckily we got to go see 2 on this day. Even though I always cover my face when the water sprays I can't stop laughing and loving it. The best one I've ever been to was with my mom out here in Atl. So far, nothing has come close to that, but the 2 from this day were still pretty fun. On a side note, I got an iPhone this week and I am in love with it. Why have I not gotten one before now when I am the second biggest Apple lover I know?

28 down, 1 more to go

2009-07-13T23:40:00.002-04:00

Well well well. Look who the final two are. The two I initially liked from the beginning. Do I still like them? That's beside the point. I can tell you that I liked Kiptyn more after this episode and apparently Jillian did too. However, when those two are together they tend to turn into Mr. and Mrs. Winky McWinkster. What is it about them winking all the time? Ultimate cheesiness.

Poor Reid just could not express himself if his life depended on it. I think maybe he'll do better though with a girl he actually has time to get to know and love. I don't blame him for being logical and not falling in love so dang fast. It was funny when they sat on the bench after he got dumped and Reid just would not take a hint and leave. Was he hoping she was going to take it back? He says, "So what do we do now?" And Jillian says, "We say goodbye." Ouch.

Ok guys, let's not blame Ed for forgetting his swim shorts and having to borrow Jillian's. Wearing hers was better than wearing nothing, right? But seriously, that's where my laugh out loud moment came this week...seeing that first sight of Ed in those shirts and gasping aloud to myself, "What?!" Oh and also, I laughed when Jillian sat on the bench and cried after Reid left. I guess I laugh every time someone cries. Except when Ed's dad cried, that was cute.

I see Jillian picking Ed in the end. Kiptyn doesn't seem serious enough and Ed is ready to propose and that seems to be the only thing Jillian cares about. She has wanted an engagement from the very beginning and hasn't really considered the possibility that she might need more time. The whole "leap of faith" speech is semi-retarded. I see that to a certain extent, but to take a leap of faith on a ridiculous reality show is one of the dumber things a person can do.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out

2009-07-06T21:49:00.006-04:00

Not only has Kiptyn slowly been climbing down the ranks in my bachelorette book, but after the Spain date, he took a major leap to the bottom. Somebody should sit down with Jillian and have her watch the movie "He's Just Not That Into You" so that she can get a clue as to what's going on in Kiptyn's head. In Kiptyn's defense, Jillian is an awkward girl who seems to fake sincerity so maybe it's hard to have a connection with her naturally. I decided that she is a tomboy who wishes she was more girly and genuine causing her to try too hard to be someone she's not. That's why she blurts out feminine phrases in manly voices.

Reid actually impressed me more on this episode, but he may have had some help in the fact that he followed Kiptyn's date. I like that Reid jokes around and makes fun of Jillian, but I don't like that he can't seem to talk when it comes to anything serious. Reminds me of myself at 20 and luckily I grew out of that...mostly :) Maybe it's just annoying because Jillian has to fish so hard for compliments.

At this point, I think it's hard to say who will win in the end. I still hope that it's Ed, but comparing to all previous bachelors, it almost seems that Jillian isn't close enough with any of the guys to be getting engaged any time soon. Who knows though? It could very well be Reid, the guy she said she'd normally never go for but the only one she can really be herself around.

ABC wasted our time by even having a rose ceremony this week, except to show what a dirtbag Wes is, along with being a horrible dresser (is that brown jacket the nicest thing he owns?). Jillian should've said goodbye to Wes at the end of their date since we all knew he was going home anyways. That was an awkward dinner and I'm shocked it lasted as long as it did, but it was entertaining to see how uncomfortable they both were as Wes finally decided to give up the act. I did enjoy that he thought he might have a chance at going to the fantasy suite, though. That was funny.

No laugh out loud moments this week. Mostly just lots of awkward and uncomfortable ones, which still hold a place in my heart, right next to Michael. Speaking of Michael, why does Jillian let go all the guys that are actually falling in love with her? Have any of the remaining three even come close to saying "love?" Wasn't it cute when Michael said something about straight up loving that girl? She blew it. Move on, Jami.

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-06T17:42:00.004-04:00

Real humidity is when you land at the Atlanta airport, walk out to your car in the long term parking lot and notice all the water drops on all the other cars. You wonder if it rained, but the ground is perfectly dry. Driving home, you have to turn on the windshield wipers even though it's still not raining. Call me crazy but I love this hot, muggy weather. Trey doesn't understand it, but I am always cold so it's nice to walk outside and feel a big wet/hot blanket wrap around you.

Trey had an office to visit near San Diego this past weekend so I went along with him, which rarely gets to happen. The weather could have been better (low 70s) but Trey was loving a break from the heat and I was loving a little vacation. We got to go to the Dodger/Padre game and had some great seats. I love this picture of Chase, Trey, and Scott. Chase got in a silly mood after this so it was hard to get a picture of him looking normal, but this one turned out great.

My favorite part about baseball games...hot dogs. And on this 4th of July weekend, my favorite part about being an American...hot dogs. Doesn't Trey look great in blue?
I also got to hang out with my best friend who lives in San Diego, but unfortunately no pictures of that reunion. Highlights of the trip: my favorite smoothie shop in the whole world, Wahoo's Fish Tacos, Dodger game, 4th of July beach party with cousins, BBQ with friends in HB, and redeye flight home arriving at 5:40am. Just kidding about that last one.

Goodbye Michael

2009-06-30T16:55:00.005-04:00

Ahhhhhh!!! Ed is back! Did I call it or what?! I knew there was a reason I wasn’t ready to let him go yet. There was definitely a look of fear in Michael’s eyes when Ed showed up to the rose ceremony and I was praying that that wasn’t some clever foreshadowing. But then Jillian didn’t call his name at the end and I wanted to reach through the TV and uppercut her in the jaw. How in the world does Wes get chosen over Michael? As excited as I was about Ed coming back, I couldn’t help but end the episode in sadness seeing Michael leave. He was so cute and genuine in his final speech. We’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed that he’ll get chosen to be the next Bachelor so we can see some more of him!

On with the hometown dates…

Jillian showed up in Philadelphia and most definitely interrupted Reid’s sleeping schedule. I dunno how early it was when she arrived, but he should have at least splashed some water on his face to look more alive. He seemed half asleep the whole time she was there, not really that phased that she was meeting his family for the first time. Something about him reminds me of Chandler, but not in a good way. So I guess that makes Jillian the annoying girlfriend, Janice.

Next hometown date went to Michael and awesomely enough, there are 2 of him! I can’t say anything bad about Michael, except that maybe he’s not as cool as I think he is if he likes Jillian as much as he does.

Kiptyn is still a front runner in my opinion, but he has slowly gone downhill in my book and I really just think it has everything to do with his kissing technique. He almost acts uncomfortable when its time to kiss so he goes in super fast to avoid any pre-kiss awkwardness. Aside from that, after meeting with his mom, the only advice I would offer to Jillian is to run. When a woman is that intense on your first meeting, I guarantee you will not just be marrying her son, but she’ll come along too as an added wedding bonus. And by bonus, I mean nightmare.

Jesse, oh Jesse. I can barely remember your hometown date because your scraggly wag brother keeps flashing in my head. He would make a great beast from Beauty and the Beast, eh? When you marry somebody, you get their family too and maybe Jesse would have gotten a rose last night had he not invited his werewolf brother to the family party to scare Jillian away.

Wes makes my blood boil, especially since he got Michael’s rose. I hope Jillian is feeling like an idiot as she watches the episodes now because she sure is acting like one. And if Wes really does have a girlfriend, that girl is an idiot too. Aside from the music and girlfriend thing, Wes isn’t even cool. He is boring and cheesy. And thank you Jake for trying to save the day, but apparently Jillian is blinded by love…or stupidity.

Speaking of Jake, I’m sure you can guess my laugh out loud moment this week. Sure enough, anyone leaning over a balcony bawling their eyes out is going to get a laugh out of me and Jake is no exception. He’s a very nice guy, but man, that was funny.

No title tonight

2009-06-24T22:27:00.003-04:00

I just got reprimanded for slacking on my Bachelorette blog so I'm here, but I admit, it's semi-unwillingly. I don't know where my heart is, but it just wasn't in it this week. Maybe it left with Ed. Or maybe it checked out with the boring train episode. Oh well, next week should be much better.

To take it from the top, I'm not sad to see Robby leave. I don't like the way his mouth moved when he talked...maybe it was that hint of a lisp. Luckily, I'm allowed to be as shallow as I want with these strangers who volunteered for this sort of thing. What I loved when he got dumped is that the train was slowing just as she was breaking it off. Nice planning ABC. And way to leave him stranded in the middle of Canada. Kick him while he's down, why don't you.

The other one-on-one went to Reid, who is a complete dork in my opinion. I guess I'm quick to label anyone that wears glasses though as being a dork, even if it is just for fashion. Old habits die hard. I can't think of a worse first date than going snowboarding for the first time with a teacher whose no good either. There is nothing romantic about falling down all day, getting frustrated, swearing, sweating and being so sore you can barely move by the end. Regardless, Reid instantly turned into a girl when the fondue came out and he confessed all his phobias/weirdness with food.

Would you be flattered if a guy you were dating told you that you reminded him of his mom? Can't say I've ever been told that before, thank heavens. Poor, innocent Jake would be better off paired up with a nun. I felt bad when he was pouring his heart out to Jillian because you knew he wasn't getting a rose. You also knew Tanner was going home empty handed for sure. What a gaybo for wishing Jillian's toenails were mango-colored! He definitely put the nail in the coffin when he showed everyone his tighty whiteys. Why do guys think that girls want to see that? You're laughing...we're dry heaving. A man must have designed those underwear cause no woman in her right mind would ever think of something that stupid looking.

Can someone please tell me why Wes is still here? The producers are obviously setting us up for his dismissal or they wouldn't be showing us scenes that make all us women hate him. Jillian continues to lose credibility in my eyes the longer she keeps him. I don't care if he's a perfect angel to her...can't she see through the cheesiness? Maybe some girls like that. Maybe I'm not one of them.

My laugh-out-loud/rewind moment this week was literally miniscule, but I might as well mention it just in case you forgot that I don't like Jillian. When they got to their final stop and everyone got out of the train, Chris was there to greet them and tell them where they were. The camera cued to Jillian who just blurted out, "Beautiful." It sounded so repulsive and man-ish that I couldn't help but rewind and laugh again.

I'm glad that Michael is barely hanging on by a string. He sorta reminds me of Ashton Kutcher and if that guy can marry someone who is 15 years old than him, Michael and Jillian should be able to make things work. 4 years is nothing!

I don't think I have ever mentioned Jesse on this blog and I think there is a reason for that. He seems like the biggest nobody to me who is almost not worth bringing up. I get bored just looking at him. Sure, he's nice and all, but he doesn't really offer anything that someone else can't. However, he did kind of have a nice voice when the guys were singing in the cabin. Wes, on the other hand, sounded like an idiot. On that note, I don't see who, at this point, is going to beat out Kiptyn. Ed was his biggest competition. What do you think? Maybe I'm blinded by my own ego and am missing something.

So late

2009-06-19T19:51:00.004-04:00

After a devastating few days of having no cable or internet, I have had to resort to other methods of entertainment, ie: the 1069 page book that I cannot seem to put down. However, I was finally able to watch the Bachelorette moments ago and I don't even want to do a full blog about it for two reasons. #1 Since I'm about 5 days late, the drama has passed for all of you, and there's gonna be a new episode to worry about soon enough (I cheated, that was 3 reasons packed into 1). #2 I'm in mourning over the loss of Ed. I can't believe my man Ed just bounced with the quickness and blew it like that. Thanks to ABC and their schemingly, manipulative ways, however, I can't get rid of the hope in my heart that he could return. I'd like to let it go and move on, but ABC is always pulling the rug out from under me so I just don't know what to think anymore. Deanna came back...why can't Ed?

My laugh out loud moment this week happened twice...once, of course, when Jillian and Kiptyn were kissing (I've come to realize that maybe he sucks at it too...it's that overly-aggressive lower lip of his) and second, after Ed left and Jillian was in the elevator fighting back the tears over her loss. Sometimes I can be so heartless, I know it.

If you're completely lost in the romance of all that is the Bachelorette, just start noticing the way that Jillian rubs her lipstick in. It will bring you back to the reality. Until next time!!...(I have 350 more pages to read by Monday night).

Dear Jillian, Keep It Coming

2009-06-09T00:29:00.007-04:00

You know, as much as I hate Juan, I was honestly hoping that he would get a rose last night and that Wes would get sent home. His cheesiness is becoming unbearable for me to watch, ugh (who really falls for that stuff?). The only reason he didn't sing his stupid song tonight is because he couldn't bring his guitar on the plane ride to Canada, otherwise you know it would've been in the mix again. Good thing he will be gone next week, but I don't know why Jillian sheds a single tear for that tool.

As for Dave, big shocker that he didn't get a rose tonight. Sarcasm? Um, yes please. He shot himself in the foot when he grabbed Jillian's boob...and when he went in for a kiss...and when he wouldn't stop talking about her butt...and when he decided to be a psychopath...and when he cared more about the snitch than the guy with the girlfriend. That, to me, spoke volumes. This guy is a serious whacko. Does any girl love to be told that some creepster is walking behind her staring at her butt the whole time with his head tilted to the side and his jaw to the floor? According to Dave though, Jillian is just playing hard to get. Is that why she kicked you off, you moron?

Poor little Mike also had to go and I could have predicted that one from the moment he ran to Jillian straight out of the limo. Somebody was trying a little too hard, I think. What normal boy sprints across the lawn to a girl he's known a week? Wait, slow down...what normal boy sprints across the lawn to any girl no matter how long he's known her? None that I ever dated luckily. The guy wouldn't let Mark get a word in and expressing his feelings to Jillian in front of Mark was nothing but awkward. On a side note, why did Mark tell Jillian that every now and again he thinks about living in the mountains with a dog and no woman? That seems like the opposite of what you'd want to tell a potential wife, I dunno.

Every week there is at least one moment that makes me laugh out loud on the couch as I watch this show by myself. This week's moment was at the rose ceremony when Jillian gave out the final rose to Tanner. He accepted the rose and then they hugged and that is where I laughed, hit rewind, laughed again, rewind once more, and final laugh. Jillian's face was priceless. If you're bored today and have it on DVR, check it out. You won't regret it.

There's a big underdog in town and his name is Michael. Turns out I love him now, followed by Ed and then Kiptyn (I got a weird vibe from Kiptyn last night but maybe that's just because he feels the need to kiss Jillian after every minor transition, ie: change of topic, sit down to stand up, next activity, etc...). Michael hasn't had a one-on-one so we haven't seen a ton of him, but he's so cute and goofy that he's been able to make an impression on my heart. I guess I am just a sucker for the goofy, entertainer-types...uh, do you know my husband, Trey?

I asked my sister Ashley last night, "Why did I ever say I was going to quit watching this show?!" The drama is just too good! I overreacted to Jason Mesnick and threw out a statement that I absolutely did not mean, I apologize. I will never quit watching this show! Unless, of course, I decide to get a life. Then, and only then, will l consider it. Man, I wish it was Monday night already.

Come back Ashley!

2009-06-07T22:01:00.006-04:00

I had so much fun having Ashley and Taya here this past week. We didn't do anything super exciting on account of a 2 year old that takes a mid-day nap and me still having to work a little but we still had a great time. Lots of parks, dog walking, grocery shopping, sunbathing, and Panera Bread. There's a park here that kinda reminds me of Central Park so we went one afternoon and just enjoyed walking around. Taya loved all the dogs and this particular fire truck below.

It's pretty obvious that Taya likes to be in control. She wants to push her own stroller and steer every steering wheel she comes in contact with (example above and below). I wish I was kidding when I say I think the grocery store was her favorite part about Atlanta. This cart made her day and made Ash and I crack up laughing trying to steer the monstrosity. The cashier even gave Tay a balloon...it felt more like a circus than a grocery store trip.
I think when I have my own kids I will probably stay skinny forever if they are like Taya. She is the happiest when she is being pushed around in her stroller and I probably walked more this past week with her than I have in the past few months combined. One morning I wanted to let Ashley sleep in so I had to keep Taya out of the house which means we went for a stroller ride for about an hour and 15 minutes. What a life! I'd love to be pushed around everywhere I went.

The only title I can think of sounds something like "bleh"

2009-06-04T14:26:00.008-04:00

Ashley and Taya have been hanging with me out here in Atlanta so I thought it'd be best to postpone the Bachelorette blog so I could entertain them better. They're both taking naps right now though so I'll get right to it before they wake up.

I've been hoping to see more of Ed and luckily he got the one-on-one date this week. Unluckily for him though, he got to go on the slowest zip-line in the history of the world. There's no way that could have been much fun. Sasha got the other one-on-one and I'm happy to see him get the boot...for shallow reasons mostly. He was nice, but not so cute to me.

There have only been 3 episodes so far and already so much drama! I love it and you know you love it. Dave has reached his boiling point and I'm shocked Juan doesn't have a scratch on him yet. He is an absolute time bomb and I sure hope the cameras are present when he decides to go off. I will be front and center with a bowl of popcorn and a smile. In the meantime, I wish Dave would take out his anger on Wes' guitar...maybe by bashing it into tiny wood chips. Could he play that stupid song anymore than he already does? Probably not. One of the other guys needs to hide it and see if Wes has any game without it. Not likely.

I don't need to say much about Tanner P. We all know he is a weirdo. What did he say...I'm just here to suck on some toes and meet some Jillian? He did some creepy little dance that looked like he was eating Jillian's toes like corn on the cob. Please get kicked off soon, PUH LEEEZ.

I don't care much about too many others. You know who I like and who I don't. The others sorta fall into the gray area. Either way, I don't like Jillian enough to even care if she picks Juan in the end. Actually, I would love it if Juan and Dave were the two finalists. She actually deserves them both if she hasn't been able to figure out by now that they are both idiots.

For those of you who don't pay close attention to the kisses and rewind them over and over like I do, please start. Jillian is by far the worst kisser ever to be a bachelor/bachelorette. Trey might not watch the Bachelor with me but I sure make him come in the room to re-watch the kissing scenes. Our relationship is stronger because of it, I'm sure.

Coming to the ATL

2009-05-31T17:41:00.004-04:00

My brother-in-law Cameron text me this morning wanting to surprise his wife by either flying me to Chicago or flying Ashley to me in Atlanta. Since I lost my wallet 2 weeks ago with my license inside it, I can't get on any planes anytime soon. So it looks like I'm going to have a couple visitors and I could not be more excited. Wouldn't you be excited to play with her all day?

Let The Games Begin

2009-05-26T11:30:00.003-04:00

And by games, I mean making out. It's only the second episode and already Jillian has hooked up with half the guys in the house. I'm not great with these guys' names yet so bare with me. Most awkward kissing moment goes to the blondie that got the one-on-one date. He didn't even wait for the right time or the perfect moment. He basically just assaulted Jillian in the middle of her serious conversation, which I loved. Two things on the bachelor that make me laugh out loud...awkward kissing scenes and crying. It gets me EVERY TIME. Hardest I laughed last night...when the guy at the end cried for being sent home after knowing Jillian maybe 2 seconds. Along the kissing lines, I gotta say my guy Kiptyn is definitely one of the front runners. That kiss was not romantic to me in any way because first off, Jillian does not look like a good kisser. She looks like she's blindfolded trying to find the donut dangling in front of her mouth. That was a pretty steamy first kiss though if you ask me and they didn't even need a hot tub.

Guys that need to be gone pronto, but probably won't be because they make good television and producers have begged Jillian to keep them around a little longer...Juan, Wes and Dave. Juan is the biggest cheeseball of all the dudes and seems more like he should be dating a dude. I loved it when he lifted Jillian up to dunk the basketball and then dropped her on the ground. Real smooth Don Juan. Why does he remind me of David Arquette? Wes is going to play the same "They say love don't come easy" song to Jillian every chance he gets until he gets the boot. He acts like he's trying to be so sultry and seductive. If a guy acted like that to me, I would think he was either some sort of sexual predator or addicted to porn. Run Jillian! Now Dave was the dweeb last week that couldn't speak when he first met Jillian. The only reason I like him is because he wants to fight Juan so bad, which I'm crossing my fingers for. He cares more about hating Juan than loving Jillian...this can only end awesomely I'm sure. I'm also glad that Jillian is on to Tanner P, the creepy foot freak.

Last night, Jillian once again said that she is looking for her best friend. I could not help but cringe. I think every human being on the planet knows by now that "at the end of the day," Jillian just wants to find her "best friend." Blah blah blehhhh.

I've still got my money on Kip and Ed.

Oh Jillian, you bug me

2009-05-19T11:08:00.003-04:00

With the Bachelor each season comes many awkward moments and last night was no exception. Let's start with the goomba who stood silently with his head down when he first met Jillian. We all felt embarrassed for him. We all hoped he would snap out of it and say something clever, as if he was planning this. Is that a tear? I hope not. This guy, I think his name is Dave, actually ended up winning over Jillian in the end. Luckily for him, she must have a weakness for social retards. I, however, would not have given him a second chance I'm afraid. As for the guitar player, he seems nice enough to me but much too cheesy. It's awkward enough to have a boy that you know sing to you one on one, but for a complete stranger to do it your first time meeting...no thank you. I also thought it was funny that they had to use sub-titles for the English guy. Did they have to translate for Jillian too? Everyone else is inside drinking champagne or whatever and he offers to make her some old granny tea. Yummy.

The award of the night, however, for being the dumbest contestant on the Bachelorette this season goes to the idiot with the foot fetish. "I could probably find my wife in 10 seconds just by looking at a woman's feet" or something along those lines. Within seconds of hanging out with Jillian, he had to come up with a scheme to get her shoes off so he could determine whether or not she was worth the effort. And while they were talking he was making more eye contact with her feet than her eyes. What a creepo.

In the end, there were two guys that I liked and I'm sure that will change through the course of the show, but for now they are Kiptyn and Edward (who I think was in the group of 5). I like the break dancer too, but not for Jillian, or anyone older than 22 for that matter.

Do you know what tonight is?

2009-05-18T17:40:00.002-04:00

Yes, it is the season premiere of The Bachelorette, starring the annoying Canuck Jillian Harris. After Jason Mesnick, I said my bachelor days were over, but then 2 months went by, I cooled off, and I'm ready for some more bachelor drama. Also, for all you parents out there...think about what you might blog about if you weren't allowed to blog about your kids, then think twice about calling me pathetic :) I already call myself that after each blog, so spare me the judgment.

If Jillian is just too unbearable, don't be disappointed if I bow out early, but I will try to be as unbiased as possible for all you Jillian lovers. My intentions in the past have been to criticize the poor losers vying for the proposal in the end so I will do my best to stick to that. On the contrary, Jillian got herself into this mess and if she overkills the "at the end of the day" or "my best friend" phrases I may not keep the gloves up. 3 more hours and it begins...

Happy Mother's Day...yesterday!!

2009-05-11T16:52:00.006-04:00

I know this is a day late but I thought it'd be better than waiting 364 days to get it on the exact day. Forgive me. My mom recently drove across the country with me to Atlanta and we had a great time doing it...as great as you can have when you're in the car for 28 hours. We got to spend a few days together before she had to fly home to Washington, which was lotsa fun. My mom is so much fun to be around and definitely likes to have a good time. I made fun of her on the drive because she popped a Vivarin and wouldn't let me get a word in afterwards. Little miss chatty Kathy on a caffeine pill :)

This was at a place we went to called Stone Mountain...basically named for exactly what it is...a very large mountain made of stone.
The Target near our apartments was 2 levels and mom thought it was so crazy how you get the carts up and down the 2 floors. They have their very own escalator!
This shot was taken right before we went into a 4D movie. If you've never been to one, I highly recommend it. We were laughing so hard through the whole thing because we were both screaming and jumping and getting sprayed in the face. It was awesome.

My mother is an amazing woman, one of my best friends, and I loved spending so much time with her 2 weeks ago. I love you mama!

Isn't She Lovely? Isn't She Wonderful?

2009-04-10T18:24:00.004-04:00

I am finally feeling much better, thanks for asking. I remembered Trey took some pictures of me in the hospital and they seriously made me laugh out loud, especially the second one, so I thought, why not share them with the world. This first picture is before surgery. The smile is completely fake. I know this because they jacked up my first IV and I was not happy with the pain and bruising it left in my arm, all for nothing. You might also notice how long my thumb looks and how ugly I would be without hair.

This second one I don't even remember Trey taking, but apparently it was right after surgery. I don't really look like I'm buying the whole thumbs up, do I? This picture is so funny to me, I love it. Gosh, I'm cute.

Road to Recovery

2009-04-04T18:59:00.002-04:00

Most of you probably already know, but I had surgery on Tuesday. A couple months ago I had an ultrasound that found some endometrial cysts on both ovaries, so I had a laparoscopy to get them removed. They say you can't technically diagnose endometriosis unless you take a look inside your body and actually see it, but my cysts were large enough that the dr. pretty much guaranteed that's what it was. After the surgery, my dr. said it was the worst case of endometriosis he has ever done surgery on. Normally, I like to be unique, but not in this case. Surgery was supposed to be 45 minutes or so but I had Trey waiting for 3 whole hours.

No surgery would be complete without a few complications. The first complication was minor, I won't go into it. The second, however, made Trey say a bad word :) With laparoscopy they do a few incisions...one to insert the camera and two more for the tools to remove the bad tissue. Luckily for me, I had to have an extra incision because my insides were such a mess. And luckily for me, that fourth incision was the icing on the cake. Apparently, the tool they use to make the incision isn't supposed to be able to cut through blood vessels, it's just supposed to move them out of the way. My dr. said he'd never seen this before, but it cut through my blood vessel and created a big leaky mess inside of me causing lots of swelling and bruising and most importantly a beautiful hematoma! When I showed my 5 year old niece my side (where the bruising is the worst) she said, "Eww, pull your shirt down. That is disgusting!" She came over again today though, and that's the first thing she asked to see.

According to my doctor, recovery is supposed to last a week. I think in my case, it might last just a little bit longer. If it weren't for my best friend Percocet I don't know if I would have made it through these last few days. Speaking of Percocet, it's kicking in and I need to lay down.

Clearly a blog of boredom

2009-03-26T00:47:00.006-04:00

These last few weeks before moving for the summer are definitely some of the most hectic we have all year. I have become Trey's personal secretary just so he doesn't have a stress-induced heart attack before we even get to leave. Last Wednesday, Trey called me and asked if I wanted to go to Atlanta the next day so that we could find some apartments (we should have had them by now but things just weren't working in our favor) and to check out the area. I checked for flights online and just decided that maybe we could make it work to leave in a few hours. So we ended up taking off about 4 hours after Trey called. Luckily (sarcasm), there wasn't much availability booking that late so the only seats left were in First Class. Never done that before. Trey enjoyed talking like a pompous rich guy and referring to the rest of the people as peasants. And on a side note, we stopped at Rubio's on our way to the airport and I am so happy it's in American Fork now!

Turns out I really love Atlanta. After walking through the airport (even though it was 6am), I was already "feelin" it and the air just smelled sweet. We spent one day checking out the area and the next desperately looking for apartments. We had some that were a last resort and I am thanking the heavens above that we didn't have to fall back on those. These (below) are the ones we ending up getting and they are in such a hip part of town. Can't wait!

Speaking of can't wait, I'll tell you what I can wait for and that is selling. After spending a delicious and enjoyable 6 months unemployed, I've decided that I might as well knock doors again. Awesome huh! No, not really. I felt completely justified not getting a job when we got back last September because of how hard I worked in the summer and I wouldn't mind feeling that feeling again after this summer.

Aside from all this, here's what's been on my mind today...puppy potty training. Not fun. Here's my advice: before you buy a 2nd dog, make sure the first one is FULLY trained. Walter was doing pretty good for the most part, but now that Penny has come along, he has followed in her footsteps. I've completely devoted myself to making them be trained this week, starting yesterday. I followed them around everywhere, I took them out every couple of hours, I stayed up til 3 freakin a.m. waiting for Penny to just poop before bed, which she never did. Awesome. If you don't have dogs, I'm sure you can sympathize with your toddler training. Let me ask you this though, have you trained 2 toddlers at once? Have your toddlers each individually pooped 5 times a piece after having only been awake for 12 hours? That's the main thought on my mind today...where does all the poop come from? Can you tell me?

And for all my old Bachelor readers, are you guys watching Melissa on Dancing with the Stars? If you're not, you should be. Eat your heart out Jason, you idiot.

Mahalo Hawaii

2009-03-17T12:33:00.009-04:00

We had so much fun last week going to Hawaii with some family and friends. It went by way too fast and I was so sad to leave. I'm also sad that my tan is slowly leaving, soon it will be just a memory. The 2nd day there, we went to the north shore to see the big Pipeline waves where only the pros can surf. Trey wanted a picture with this sign to show just how dangerous the waves really were.

After watching Pipeline, we drove to the set of Lost, the beach where they were filming. Unfortunately, we only got to see a whole bunch of extras, no Sawyer, Kate or black smoke monster. We had to hike through the wilderness to get a closer look. After this picture is when I starting feeling some itching going on with my foot. Luckily for me, it turned red, swelled up, and itched for the rest of the trip. All for nothing.
Everyone was taking pictures with this statue. I didn't take the time to read what he was all about, just wanted to steal a lei since he had so many for himself, but the others told me it would bring me bad luck so I didn't. But since I am a crowd follower, I made Trey take a picture with him. I think tourists will take pictures with any kind of statue, no matter what the significance.
We got to go to Pearl Harbor our last day in Hawaii. This was the memorial for the USS Arizona where most of the people died. It was crazy to see the ship still sunk in the water. This is my sister Ashley and sister in law Mickell.
And last, but definitely not least, my favorite picture from the trip. No description required, except please don't let the speedo distract you from the puka shell necklace.

Girls Getaway!

2009-03-17T12:19:00.004-04:00

About 3 weeks ago, my mom flew in from Washington and took all of us sisters (and sis in law) up to Park City for our own little ladies weekend. We spent the day at a spa, where I had a massage by a man for the first time...never doing that again. I didn't really appreciate his hairy forearms rubbing on me or being able to hear him breathe, one of my pet peeves. It was a wonderful massage, but I just can't do it again. We had a great time going to dinner, shopping, and staying up til 2 in the morning. And I'm sure all the mothers had a great time getting a break from their kids. I really hope someday that I have at least 2 daughters so they can always have a friend. I feel pretty lucky to have 3 of my own sisters and 2 married in. We missed having the 2nd sis in law there but she is fairly pregnant and living in Washington...maybe next year Tash!

Last Night's Part 2 Recap

2009-03-04T17:13:00.001-05:00

I hate Jillian.

Give me a break

2009-03-03T14:18:00.005-05:00

Where do I even begin? Oh I know...most of you are probably upset about what happened last night. I, on the other hand, am thrilled because I hated Molly all season and now I hate Jason just as much...match made in heaven? Probably not. There's a Part 2 to last night's episode tonight where he probably changes his mind again. Did someone call Jillian to let her know she's next?

Before I get into all of it, does anyone else hate watching Jason play with Ty as much as I do? Talk about putting on a show so the world thinks you're a better dad than you really are. I'd rather watch him awkwardly make out with all 25 girls than see him play with his own son. I did get a good laugh last night though when he got to see Ty for the first time in a week and ran to him at top speed on the beach. That was embarrassing. A nice jog would have been sufficient. Instead he had to over-exaggerate so that America would think he was such a great dad for missing his son so much in one week. What a drama queen. Can you tell I hate him yet?

Moving on to Deanna...they might as well have just shown the cue cards she was reading because that whole thing was completely scripted in my opinion...It probably went something like this...Producer: "Hey Deanna, we know you blew it by picking Jesse during your season, especially since your engagement lasted two weeks, so we wanted to offer you a proposition. Jason has 2 girls left to pick from and he's in New Zealand right now. We will give you a 2 week all-inclusive vacation if you will confront him and pretend to still be in love with him. We know he won't take you up on it because you've gained a few pounds and look like a chubbo but it will help out our previews for the whole season. We will make America think it's gonna be a huge deal, but really you will just accept the rejection much too easily than you would if you really cared and leave within minutes." Deanna: "What about my dignity? Just kidding, of course I'll do it."

If anyone was excited last night after Molly got sent home, thinking that Jason had picked who we all wanted him to, then you must have missed the sobfest on the balcony. Anyone who cries that hard over a breakup clearly isn't 100% sure about their decision. And anyone who breaks up with their fiance on national television is a complete doucher. Can I say that? Please don't break up with a girl in front of the whole world who calls herself a "dumpee." Obviously Melissa has issues with past boyfriends and even if she didn't, she will now after being dumped last night for all to see. Maybe ABC was trying to set that up so that she could be the next bachelorette...the girl that always gets dumped finally gets a chance to be the dumper. Didn't she look gorgeous though when she got proposed to?

What are the odds that they filmed the "After the Final Rose" episode on one take? I'd say zero percent, which is why Molly ended up showing what a horrible actress she is. You're telling me she had no idea why she was flown to the set to see an engaged ex-boyfriend. If ABC tried to fly me out to meet up with an ex who was presumably engaged I think I'd be a little suspicious. They told her to act surprised and since she didn't know how to act, she just decided not to talk at all. Instead, she let her jaw hang wide open as she stared back and forth between Chris and Jason. Why did she keep looking at Chris? Maybe she thought she was being Punk'd. I wish that had been the case. Someone should've called Ashton. I could have done without that awkward hour. A short note at the end of the finale that said "Jason changed his mind 6 weeks later and went back to Molly" would have sufficed.

I think my Bachelor days are over. Last night was too ridiculous to justify it anymore.

P.S. Good luck Molly. Apparently Jason can't control his feelings/heart/mind so there's really no telling how long he will last with you. Don't blame him, he just can't control it.

One more week!

2009-02-24T14:48:00.003-05:00

This weeks "Women Tell All" just made me wish it was next week already. I was bored through most of it except the drama when the girls all told Natalie that they didn't like her. Awesome. Even awesomer when she tried to make excuses for being a dumb, superficial, too tan, airhead and Chris totally called her out on it. Love it.

Just a few observations I made while watching the show...did Shannon get a spray tan minutes before the recording? She looked ridiculous. That fake tan just made her teeth look whiter and bigger. Stephanie's appearance never seems to amaze me but her rockstar hairdo tonight was a bit much. Just throw on your bonnet and nightie and accept that you are old. I thought she was so nice and sincere to begin with but now I'm over it and want to see some negative emotions out of her...I know they're in there somewhere. Nikki surprised me tonight with how vocal she was about hating Natalie. I thought after seeing herself on national television she might quiet down so as to make less of a fool of herself. She did hide the sideburns though and for that, I give her two thumbs up. Jillian looked somewhat leprechaunish in the emerald get up with the black santa claus belt. Please don't let her be the next bachelorette. Or maybe do so I can give up my addiction...I don't know if I could sit through that season.

I'm starting to accept the possibility that it could possibly be Molly next week. I've already thought it out and hopefully it's a win/win situation for me. If Molly wins, maybe Melissa will get to be the next bachelorette. If Melissa wins, we all go home happy and realize Jason is smarter than we gave him credit for. If Deanna wins, you just really can't plan better television. I hope she doesn't, but wow, would that be a shocker! I'm curious to see what causes Jason to bawl his eyes out on the balcony. I wish it was Monday already.

Oopsy Daisies

2009-02-22T20:56:00.003-05:00

This is the view Trey should have had today. I am usually his travel agent for all of his trips to AZ and any trips his guys need to take. Until last night, I was a really good travel agent. I got online last night to find out when his flight landed today from Phoenix. I had to double take as I looked at the time...4:50pm on Sunday, March 22nd. I was pretty sure I booked his flight for February 22nd but turns out that I didn't, I was just a month off. So I guess I won't see my husband for another month. Whoops.

Sayonara Jillian!

2009-02-17T00:46:00.005-05:00

So far I'm undefeated with picking who is going home next. Feels pretty good to be this intuitive. Last week I was a little nervous that Jillian might be pulling ahead but luckily her skankiness tonight lost her the battle and helped me pull down another victory. Parental discretion advised...would have been a nice warning before the hot tub session. I wish they would've warned me so I could have left the room...that was awkward. That business is meant for Showtime, not ABC. Yikes. Despite the hot tub scene, Jillian lost me the moment she pulled out the hot dogs, which I'm pretty sure was the very first night so I can't say that I'm sad to see her go. In fact, I will not miss how often she says "like" and "best friend" or HOW she says "again." Bluh.

Tonight, Molly proved that she is an absolute dud when it comes to anything serious. She can have a great time til emotions start to come out and then she realizes that she has none! Their little dinner was so rough for me to watch...say something, anything! Speaking of saying something, I love how when the girls express themselves to Jason he doesn't say anything in return, just leans in for yet another kiss. Sorry Mall Ball but your turn to go is coming, just don't cry like your dad advised. Great advice Dad...looks like being a dud runs in the family.

Continuing with the "I'm not allowed to really tell you how I feel so I'll just kiss you" side of Jason, Melissa could barely finish telling Jason that she loved him before he smashed his face into hers. With all the other girls, he waits out the confession until he realizes he has nothing to say back, so he goes in for the kiss. I think tonight told the world how Jason really feels and who will be left standing in 2 weeks. Congratulations Melissa, you did it! And your parents could not care less. They probably won't even come to the wedding because there will be real, live people there. Just the thought makes the poor hermits cringe.

I guess this season there is going to be an "After the Final Rose" episode where something happens that was so intense they didn't film it in front of an audience. Here's my guess...Jillian is pregnant with Jason's baby after that steamy sesh in the hot tub. Ty is going to have a brother/sister! Actually, if it's not that, I'm guessing Melissa is going to dump Jason on national television because of that scene with Jillian in the hot tub. I know I would.

I was really hoping Deanna was going to make an appearance tonight. This show loves the drama and so do I. Keep it coming.

You Guessed It, Another Bachelor Recap

2009-02-10T11:16:00.002-05:00

Last night's show was anything but comfortable...I'd say pretty awkward and pretty awesome. It's my theory that the producers of the Bachelor talk to the families beforehand and tell them to meet and greet Jason with something that is uniquely their own little weird family thing. Why else would Jillian's dad wrap a Canadian flag around him and her grandma make him wear Canadian boxers while they sing their National Anthem? Why would Molly's weird mom make everybody wear those stupid hats and make Jason draw that ridiculous picture? (What you don't see is that Jason played beer pong with Molly's family for a few hours...I would too if I had to hang out in that house). Why would Naomi's mom make everyone have a hula hoop contest? Who has that many hula hoops laying around? And why in the world would she collect a dead bird off the road to bring home, refrigerate and wait for Jason to bury? I loved Jason's facial expressions throughout the show because you know he thought it was just as awkward as we all did. I don't think families are normally this weird and that's why I think the producers have something to do with this. Melissa's parents probably didn't want to go along with the "just do weird things, it's good television" idea so they bailed. And we got to see what a normal night should've been like...dinner, talking, playing pool, hanging out...no eulogies, hula hoops, or stupid hats.

With this episode, I think Jillian is making her move to the top. She still bugs me so I hope I'm just seeing things, but it seemed like she pulled ahead of Molly this week...or maybe the editing of the footage just wants us to believe that. Either way, I'm glad Underbite is gone. Her family could not have been any weirder. I love that her dad gave Jason a huge religious talk with 2 slot machines in the background. That talk was definitely the most awkward. I'm surprised Naomi's dad didn't try to baptize Jason on the spot. And Naomi was right, she should've discussed her faith with Jason before this trip so he wouldn't have been so caught off guard by all the reincarnated whackos.

I feel bad that Jason didn't get to meet Melissa's parents because, as you know, I want her to win and it's a little discouraging for me. However, when I told Trey this, he said something like, "Oh, so they did they appropriate thing," which was not wanting to meet their possible son-in-law on national television where no one could be themselves. It is weird, though, that her friends don't even know Melissa's parents. Are they recluse? What's the deal? Why is Melissa normal? Parents like that usually have weird kids, don't they?

On a better note, Deanna will be coming back soon, which is what I've been waiting for all season. Talk about drama! Looks like Jason bawls like an absolute girl, so we'll see what that's all about very soon. I'd still like Jillian to go home next week because I think Melissa will have a better chance going up against Molly. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Really quick, I wanna know what you think. Do you think Jason knows much earlier in the season who is going to be left standing in the end? I honestly would hope so. I don't like the idea of him getting kissy and snuggly with all of them and then just picking one in the end that he was 51% sure about where the loser was just 49%. If I were the one he proposed to, I'd want to know that he was totally into me the whole time and was just pretending with the others to keep the show going. Thoughts?

Dancing With The Stars

2009-02-09T11:14:00.005-05:00

I don't normally watch Dancing With The Stars but I'm watching Regis & Kelly right now and they announced who the new "stars" would be this season. When they said "Shawn Johnson" I had to get online to verify. Turns out my favorite little Olympian is really going to be on the show. She was easily my favorite athlete to watch this past summer in the Olympics and I'm excited to see more of her with this show. Hopefully she'll wave and give the peace sign like she did throughout the entire Olympics. Such a cute little mouse. Starts March 9th for those who are interested. I don't really care for any of the other contestants, except maybe Steve-O, so you know who I'll be rooting for.

A New Addition To The Fam

2009-02-05T22:19:00.005-05:00

I've been looking for a second puppy lately because Walter is extremely needy for my attention and I wanted to pawn him off on someone else. Enter Penny...

She is the calmest, cutest dog in the world...what they call a "Morkie" which is basically just a stupid name for a Maltese/Yorkie mix. I decided that I like the mixed dogs better than the purebreds. Maybe it's the silly names they give them...like Maltipoo, or my personal favorite, Cockapoo. Genius.

Walter has welcomed Penny into our home with open arms and has not left her alone for one single second. She must be so annoyed by now but she seems to put up with him pretty well.

The Bachelor Recap

2009-02-03T23:19:00.003-05:00

Okay so it's no surprise that Mother Teresa (Stephanie) is gone. Jason is a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy and Stephanie has a perfect Barbie outfit for every hour of the day. I've never seen so many matching sets in my life. Either she has too much money and just doesn't know what to spend it on or she knows she looks too old and hopes her clothes can knock off a couple years. I knew she wouldn't make it to the end but I have to admit I wasn't ready to see her go...mostly because I HATE Naomi and it should've been her turn. Luckily, we won't have to see much of Eva Mendez past next week. I'm confident she'll be getting a swift kick in the bum. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Do you think I spend too much time caring about this stupid show? Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I have a competitive spirit and I can't help it. When a girl I hate gets sent home, I feel a small victory inside. So I guess I don't care about Jason Mesnick and his future ex-fiance, I care about whether I picked the right girl from the start or not. So far, I'm on the right track. Next week, goodbye Naomi. Following week, goodbye Jillian. Finale...Molly or Melissa? Goodbye Molly. You heard it here first people.

The Bachelor!

2009-01-30T23:06:00.003-05:00

I just Wikipedia'd The Bachelor and discovered there have been 13 different ones, I've seen 5. As for the Bachelorette, there have been 4, I have seen 3. To me, this doesn't show that I am a Bachelor fanatic, as I have only been a viewer 47% of the time. However, this season I would definitely fit in the "fanatic" category, which sounds somewhat crazy but is really just a longer word for fan. Irrelevant...moving on.

One thing I find as I watch the Bachelor is that I love to criticize all of the girls, except the few that I am rooting for. This has been a great season to be able to do that. If you watch the show I am almost positive you will share my sentiments on a few of the girls. Starting with the easiest to criticize...Sha Nay Nay, or Shannon. From Day 1 she has bothered me with her huge chiclet teeth and her stalker-like ways of trying to get to know Jason. This woman should not have been allowed on the show, she is crazy. She was entertaining to watch though, but in a very annoying sort of way. Second, who I like to call Sideburns, or Nikki. Despite her uptight attitude and need to control everything in her life (which was a red flag in itself), I could not get past her thick, coarse sideburns. Some girls have these, but most that I've seen try to hide them and don't trim them perfectly to make them look even thicker. She had a kiss with Jason that I had to rewind at least 10 times and then call Trey downstairs to come watch. So awesomely awkward that I'm glad it's still on my DVR. Next is Megan who reminded me too much of someone that I don't like so she didn't have a chance in my book. I think she dropped the F bomb every single episode and basically devoured Jason when she got to kiss him. Not the classy mom type in my opinion. Lastly on my list is Lauren (luckily all of these girls were eliminated on Monday). I think she thought she was funny trying to boss Jason around but clearly he wasn't catching onto her humor that wasn't even funny. I personally enjoyed how cocky she was, just knowing her time was coming to an end. Also, her singing voice is comical. I don't usually criticize people that can't sing (because I can't!) but if you think you're amazing and you aren't, you've got it coming.

There are now 5 girls left for Jason to pick thru. Stephanie, who has the body of an 18 year old and the face of a 45 year old woman after 3 face lifts, is the most genuine and mature of all, probably because she is by far the oldest. I like her as a person, but there's no way Jason will pick her. Naomi reminds me of Eva Mendez, with an underbite. I have nothing against her but after Jason's speech to her the other night, I'm pretty sure she doesn't stand a chance. Jillian is nice and seems to be mature about everything but her first time talking to Jason she talked about her weird hot dog theory and lost me as a fan. I don't like it when the prospective girls make Jason do things. He's there to evaluate them, not the other way around. Molly is a girl that has gone farther than I wanted her to. After revealing that her secret talent was kissing, I saw her as pathetic. She's grown on me a little, but I hated how she was after the camp out with Jason..."I'm so tired. I'm going to be sleeping all day. Blah blah blah." Lame. Melissa is the one I'm wanting to win. I've liked her from Day 1 (ask Mickell) and she looks just like Mandy Moore (luckily she doesn't act like her too). So that's my prediction, Melissa is going to win, hopefully.

Don't judge me, Trey is out of town and I'm bored on a Friday night. If you watch the show, let me know who you're rooting for!

Long Live Mexico

2009-01-21T20:01:00.008-05:00

Trey and I randomly decided to go to Cancun eight days before actually taking off last week. The Jazz 100 Club has been going a few years in a row now and we got lucky enough to sneak in with the rich folks. Scott and Mickell were there with us too. We haven't had a tropical vacation in more than 2 years so it was wonderful. Except that the sun didn't come out until our last day there and we had to leave for the airport at 1pm. Big time bummer.

This was just at the shopping mall across the street from our hotel, right before eating a good American meal at Chili's. I was not impressed with the majority of the food we ate there so Chili's was a breath of fresh air. Soda, on the other hand, was delicious. I probably drank a gallon a day.
Look at that sexy, seductive beach babe! This picture was making fun of a woman who was doing all these poses on the edge of the infinity pool and Trey just couldn't resist. He's still got it, doesn't he ladies?! :)
The view from our hotel room...or in other words, all those stupid pools gone to waste by the thick cloud cover making it too cold to even put a swim suit on.

After hopelessly laying out on Saturday with no sun in sight, we decided to get off our bums and go tour some Mayan ruins. I complain about the sun, but it was about 50 degrees warmer than Utah so that's better than nothing. I'm ready for another vacation.

Let It Snow!!

2009-01-07T00:21:00.004-05:00

It has been snowing for 2 days straight and I am just as happy as all the little kids that get to go sledding...I even asked Mickell to send Chase out to play with me if he wanted to! I haven't taken Walter on a walk for months cause it's been cold (and I'm lazy) but the last two nights I've taken him out for at least 45 minutes just so I could be in the snow too. Trey's been out of town so I've been in charge of shoveling the driveway and I've had to do it about 4 times now and I don't even care. Those snow blowers look kinda fun though so I think it's time to make a new purchase.

We just got in from being outside and unfortunately all the snow has taken out my directv. It also took me out 3 times in the last two days. All three times I had a leash in one hand and a phone in the other so I didn't really have a chance at saving myself. I was hoping somebody would see me each time cause it was hilarious but no one ever did. I hope it stops snowing long enough tomorrow for Trey's plane to land but after that I'd like it to get started again. Who wants to go boarding with me? I'm serious.

These pictures were taken with my phone so not the best quality and it was dark outside. Walter was happy as could be.

Best Friends!

2009-01-03T22:50:00.004-05:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of my niece, Taya, and my dog, Walter. They are best friends! Taya can't say much but she can say "Dobby" and whenever she sees Walter she crawls over to him and opens her mouth so he can lick inside it. Gross? Maybe...but too cute to matter. Taya has kind of corrupted Walter though, because now he thinks he can lick inside any child's mouth. Most parents aren't super cool with that, especially when Walter will go inside a kid's mouth to steal the food out of it.

Warner Family Christmas '08

2008-12-15T23:29:00.003-05:00

Tonight we celebrated Christmas with Trey's family since we'll be in Washington with mine on Christmas day. We tried to get a family photo in but Walter was not being very cooperative. I think he was embarrassed of his outfit. He did look a little ridiculous, but no Christmas is complete without Rudolph the Red Nosed Maltipoo.
Merry Christmas everybody! This is by far my favorite holiday and I can't wait for Trey to open his presents. I think I get more excited than he does. Maybe it's because I start making a list for him somewhere around August or September. Maybe I should get a life.

Rated Hero Show Coming Up!

2008-12-08T00:07:00.004-05:00

This is a flyer for Trey's band's upcoming show. Everybody should come, it's gonna be lots of fun!

Party TIme!

2008-11-24T18:12:00.002-05:00

Ashley posted already on her blog about the party we're having at my house on December 4th. To avoid repeating what she said, just refer to her post about it. Click here :)

California to Arizona

2008-11-18T00:32:00.002-05:00

Last week Trey and I took a little trip down to California, mostly to visit some friends and in my case, to go shopping. I bought some sweet sunglasses in LA, but accidentally dropped them off the Huntington Beach pier the next day. So sad. They were pretty cheap but for a split second I debated jumping in after them. We also had tickets to the Arizona Cardinals game the following Monday so we thought we make a road trip out of it. I am mostly only posting the picture below because it looks like Trey has an earring. He could be in New Kids on the Block. The guy waving is Jeff. He is probably wasted by this time in the game. Cameron, on the other hand, has no excuse.
Our seats were a little high up as you can tell from this picture. It was my first NFL game and it was so much fun! I wish Utah had a team cause I sure hate the Jazz.

Carving Pumpkins

2008-11-02T21:58:00.004-05:00

I'm never satisfied with the easy pumpkin carving of a few strategically placed triangles, I always opt for the more challenging designs. This year I went with your typical skull pirate. I'm working so hard in the picture I don't have time to smile. Trey would rather mingle in the background than relieve my aching hands. And here he is trying to take some credit for my work of art :)
It turned out pretty well for the most part. Kind of a waste of time though since it was carved a day or 2 before Halloween. Oh well, the kids had fun. I was too busy to notice, but someone told me they did.

Rated Hero

2008-10-25T23:15:00.003-04:00

Trey's band has been writing a lot of new stuff lately so we want to see what the world thinks about it. Here's a demo of one of the songs. Let me know how it makes you feel inside.

Helpful Hints…or in other words, I’m Bored

2008-10-23T14:19:00.002-04:00

I don’t have anywhere to be for about an hour so I thought I’d share some words I like to call wisdom.

1. There’s a common phrase about having a “buttload” of something. Did you know it’s actually supposed to be a “boatload?” Think about what you’re saying with the first one and you realize how stupid you sound. Trey brought this to my attention.

2. If you want your house to smell better, put some potpourri in your vacuum bags. It smells amazing and you might enjoy vacuuming even more. Or you can be like Ashley and pour it directly into your vents.

3. Speaking of vacuums, if you have 2 levels in your house buy 2 vacuums. I find that I don’t vacuum the upstairs as much because I hate carrying the vacuum up there so I recently purchased a second one. Now I’m just waiting for it to come in the mail so I can vacuum upstairs. Lazy American? No, smart American.

4. Don’t quit eating a delicious food you love for the sake of a diet. It will only make you miserable. That’s why I’m never quitting Diet Pepsi again…it makes me happy. Just work out a little harder if you need to.

5. Shop more on eBay. I save so much money on dumb things like razor blades or even perfume when I get it on eBay instead of paying full price at the store. And plus, it’s fun to get packages once in a while.

6. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t get gas til the light comes on in my car. I recently found out that you should not go below 1/4 tank because there is actually a lot of crap at the bottom of the tank that will clog your fuel filter and pump. After spending more than $2000 this summer to fix both of our vans fuel pumps and filters I have learned my lesson.

I can’t think of anything else off the top of my head but if you have any ideas that would improve my life and well-being please share them with me.

Cold Blooded

2008-10-22T14:13:00.004-04:00

I'm sure most couples are the same as us...wife likes a normal temperature in the house, while husband likes it a bit colder, usually uncomfortably colder. Trey takes hot showers every night before bed too so that makes his body temperature even hotter. Usually I'm okay with opening the window, I like it colder when I sleep too. But last night Trey opened the window and put a fan in front of it to bring the cold air in faster. He also thought it was funny to point the fan straight at my face. It was 39 degrees outside and our heat was turned off, so there was nothing to combat the pneumonia I was sure to wake up with. Under 10 lbs of blankets I actually slept pretty good (and Trey woke up in the middle of the night to shut the window...he was cold :) ). After I got home from working out this morning I told Trey it was time to turn on the heater. He jokingly said no because even he knew it was freezing. I checked the thermostat and it said 59. Poor little Walter gets so cold without much hair since we shaved him but luckily with his new purchase he was okay with the winter weather inside our house. What do you think?
I'm not as lame as you think. I don't ever dress my dog up in clothes, but he really does shiver when I take him out. And plus, this is a very manly hoodie. And his collar has fake spikes on it.

Road Trip

2008-10-03T19:25:00.003-04:00

After 5 months of agony, Trey and I left Detroit for good...hopefully. We made a stop on our drive home in Chicago to hang out with our family there. We ended up staying for 2 days and got a chance to go to the Chicago aquarium. Luckily I had Ashley snap this photo before the lady came over and said no flash photography. We are cheesy, but mostly just so happy to not be in Detroit anymore.
The aquarium had a 4-D movie theater, which included water being sprayed in your face, a stick jabbing much too hard in your back, a nice mildew smell and lots of screaming children who did not appreciate being sprayed in the face. Taya and Ash had to spend most of their time outside.
Once we decided to leave Chicago, our next destination was straight home to Utah. Unfortunately, after just 3 hours of driving, the stupid van wouldn't start after we filled up for gas. We left it at the gas station and called the tow truck the next morning to come get us. So it turned out that Williamsburg, Iowa was our next destination, since we had to stay there overnight in a hotel room that could've been decorated by your local grandmother, with plenty of quilted and cross stitched items to go around. I was really surprised Trey wasn't that mad...he said he was just happy to be out of Detroit and going home.
After 5 hours of chilling in the auto shop we were finally back on the road again. Not the funnest time of my life but really no surprise since the vans have been breaking down all summer. We've made auto friends/enemies from Orem, UT to Jersey City, NJ and hopefully we will never have to see any of them again. I ended the summer with 90 sales, which was 10 short of my goal but 90 better than what I expected after that first week of tears. Hallelujah.

Do You Know Your Facial Hair?

2008-09-04T23:21:00.005-04:00

Trey has been growing a beard for the past few days but this morning he stepped out of the bathroom and I couldn't help but laugh. He had shaved part of the beard into what we both thought was called Handlebars. However, after doing some research I discovered that he had shaved "Friendly Mutton Chops." Not as tough sounding, but definitely tougher looking. He's got to look tough if he's going to become a cage fighter when we get back to Utah. Look out Chuck Liddell.

For your information only...

Site Seeing In The Dirty D

2008-09-03T18:54:00.006-04:00

When you live in a place as beautiful as I do you really need to take advantage of every opportunity to see the sites. That's what we decided to do last week while we waited to pick up some of the guys. I thought, Let's try to capture how clean and well landscaped this place is. So Trey helped me out by striking a pose in nature...

Just around the corner we found a lovely neighborhood that really helped to capture the beautiful architecture you will find here.

And across the street from this burnt down beauty was this...

I guess instead of putting a sign and balloons in the yard to announce a party it's easier just to spray paint "Party" on the boarded up windows. Very efficient. And last, but not least, my favorite sign of the summer...

Nothing like some inspiring words from the local church.

Night at the Rock Show

2008-08-30T11:12:00.003-04:00

Last night we went and saw a friend's band...Scary Kids Scaring Kids...and another one called Finch. Some people would call it loud noise, but I for one enjoyed it. Made me miss going to Trey's shows.

I think the boys would've liked the show more if they weren't all wishing it was them up on the stage. Soon enough love!

Ashley Tagged Me

2008-08-28T15:21:00.007-04:00

Ashley tagged me and she's right, normally I wouldn't do these things but because she called me out, I'm all about proving somebody wrong.

4 things I like about my husband
-His hilarious sense of humor. Trey has at least 3 different voices that crack me up immediately.
-His sexy dance moves that make me laugh so hard. He's not embarrassed to do them in public either.
-He's an amazing musician and songwriter. I think this might be why I first fell in love with him.
-He will do anything for me (he shaved his head just because I love it).

4 movies I'd watch more than once
-Elf
-A Knights Tale (I always had a thing for Heath Ledger, r.i.p.)
-Ocean's 11
-Runaway Bride

4 shows I watch
-Friends
-CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
-That 70s Show
-The Ellen Degeneres Show

4 places I've been
-Spain
-Morocco
-Jamaica
-Puerto Rico

4 places I'd like to go
-South Africa
-New Zealand
-Greece
-Home

4 people who email me regularly...
-Grandma Warner
-My mom
-Bill Collectors
-Facebook invites

4 things I like to eat
-Taco Bell
-Chocolate Ice Cream with Bananas and Strawberries from Coldstone
-Banana Cream Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory
-A healthy Bacon Cheeseburger from Chili's with a side of ranch dressing

4 things I'm looking forward to in the coming year...
-Going on a cruise
-Getting pregnant
-Not selling security systems
-Going to a Dallas Cowboys game

4 people I tag
Anyone that reads this blog that hasn't already been tagged

UPCOMING VACATION...ALL FRIENDS INVITED

2008-08-22T15:30:00.002-04:00

I'm forcing Trey to take a vacation in the fall (October or November) and I'm going to plan a cruise to the Caribbean for us to go on. We want all of our friends and family to join us so if you're reading this you are probably invited, but you need to let me know if you're interested so we can start planning. If you think the picture below looks like fun you can come. If not, you're lame.

Stick a Fork In Me

2008-08-22T15:20:00.002-04:00

I'm done. After 4 months of waking up at 9am, putting on the same blue polo and cargo shorts, meeting at 11am, lunch with the boys, then knocking til 9pm I've finally decided to throw in the towel. We are going to be out here in Detroit for 34 more days but I don't want to knock another door. And since my husband is the boss, I can do whatever I want. I might spend the time remembering what it feels like to be a girl and maybe even relearning to dress like one.

Detroit...The Land Where Dreams Come True

2008-08-09T19:01:00.003-04:00

Last Friday we made the big move from Chicago to Detroit. This is the final city in our tour of summer selling. For those of who you have never been to Detroit, this is what they want you to think it looks like...
But this is the reality...
Big stars like Eminem and Kid Rock have come out of Detroit, making us all believe that's the caliber of people you will find there.
But this is the reality...
Let me know if anyone wants to come visit me.

So Ridiculous It's Sweet

2008-08-09T18:45:00.002-04:00

When you're in the hood, you come across cars all the time that are worth about 2G's and their rims and lift jobs are worth double. I was entertained the whole time we were in Chicago and took pictures of every one that was worthy of holding a spot in my phone library. They came to be known as "Calendar Cars", or cars worthy of a calendar if we were to make one of ridiculous cars in the hood. In the above picture I'm glad there is a mini van in the back to help you judge how lifted this car really is. You also can't tell from the picture but this car has Lamborghini doors. Awesome.

Outside the Bubble...

2008-07-31T15:48:00.003-04:00

Even though I grew up outside of Utah, I've lived there the past 7 years of my life and grown pretty accustommed to the way things go down there. It is definitely like no place on earth, it is not the real world. Anyone who thinks otherwise is only kidding themselves. Time for a reality check.

Every summer when we leave to some random place for summer sales, I am reminded of this concept. And luckily I've taken pictures of all the many things that have brought me back to reality.

One thing that has boldly stood out to me is the sanitation issue in these eastern states. It is literally impossible to walk into a women's restroom and find a toilet seat cover in the stall. Since I work about 11 hours a day I get to use many different public restrooms and I can honestly say I have never seen a toilet seat cover. Needless to say, I've been forced to hover. One of the grosser things I've come across in a public restroom was when I had to sneak into the men's because the women's was broken. Trey stood guard for me luckily. I looked into the trash can and saw lots of toilet paper with an unknown brown substance covering it all. I quickly learned that substance was poop. I guess in Latin countries it clogs the toilets if you flush paper down them so you have to just throw it in the garbage. Unfortunately, nobody told these guys they are in America now. Toilets work here.

Another great site you won't see in Utah is lawn ornaments. People decorate their yards here like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It is entertaining and ridiculously tacky. And the ornaments don't just stop at one or two. People can't even mow their grass because there are so many fake animals in it. You can name any animal and I guarantee they make it in a lawn ornament. On top of that, nobody takes down their Christmas lights. Also entertaining.

I just realized I could write a book about this stuff. So maybe I should wrap it up and save the rest for another day. Stay tuned for 26"inch rims on a jacked up Chevy Caprice.

Things I Miss When I'm Stuck In New Jersey For The Summer...

2008-07-04T22:15:00.008-04:00

Being away from home for 5 months out of the year is hard enough but it's even harder when those 5 months happen to fall during the nicest time of the year...summer. You feel me. While everyone else is laying out by the pool, vacationing to wherever, I find myself at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. So here are some things I am missing while I'm out here knocking door after door:

#1 My Family
#2 My Best Friends
#3 Vacations With Trey (Hawaii)
#4 Lake Powell With The Fam
#5 Rated Hero Shows
#6 Having a Tan
I could go on and on, but I don't have enough pictures to go along with every single thing I miss. Stay tuned for things I don't miss.

Day in Philly

2008-06-22T22:30:00.005-04:00

Since we are leaving for Detroit in 3 weeks we decided we need to see as much of this area as we can before we take off. So after church today we headed to Philadelphia, only about 1 1/2 hours away. We had so much fun and loved the city. It was so clean and surprisingly uncrowded.
Clearly, this is a picture of us in front of the Rocky statue. And the one below is a Paul Revere statue I think. Who knows.
And I guess this place is the originator of Philly Cheese Steaks.
I'm going to leave the rest of the blogging up to Jenna. I don't have as much time on my hands as she does. Thanks.

Handsome Hubby

2008-06-05T21:47:00.003-04:00

Trey walked out of the bathroom the other day looking like this. I begged him not to go to work with that hair do and luckily he told me he was planning on wearing a hat. I was wondering why he was using the blow dryer for so long. He showed up to the morning meeting and everyone thought it was hilarious. Hopefully he doesn't mind that I'm sharing this picture with the world. It's not his best look.

Some Days You Just Want To Cry...

2008-05-30T22:01:00.004-04:00

Story #1

So last Friday I was out knocking doors and it was about 4:45. I had an appointment with a home at 5 but really needed to use the bathroom so I went to the local Dunkin Donuts to use their bathroom. I was wearing a jacket since it was chilly outside and as I hovered over the toilet and starting to go to the bathroom, my phone in slow motion came out of my jacket pocket and plopped into the toilet. Though grossed out by my own pee, I dove in after it as soon as I could but watched in horror as the screen went black. I am happy that the bathroom was only for one person or I would've struggled at this point. I wobbled over to the sink with my pants still down and washed my hands. I debated about whether or not to wash the pee off my phone but decided that would make it even worse so I just held it until the hand dryer. I walked out of their with my head hung low and drove to my appointment and luckily got the sale. I explained to them what happened with my phone so luckily they let me use theirs. I went to T Mobile after that and they said they would overnight me a new one. The next morning in one of my sales, the technician came in and I asked if I could use his phone. He said laughing, "Oh yeah, your customer yesterday told me you dropped yours in the toilet." Not funny.

Story #2

Memorial is a pretty big day for selling because it's a holiday which means most people are home, not at work. So we went out knocking bright and early to get a head start on the day. The very first door that I knocked went like this...

Me: Hey I'm just here about that security sign out front. Did you guys put that in or was the system in the home when you moved in?

Man: We had that put in, why?

Me: Oh we're just coming through the area to some homes that were set up a few years ago with the older equipment wanting to update the systems.

Man: Well we don't even use the security system anymore so we're not interested, but do you have a card?

Me: Actually I left them in the car. If you're really interested I'll go grab one but if not no big deal.

Man: Oh ok, then no.

Me: Ok see ya

5 minutes late I'm driving in the van and a cop flips around and pulls me over. It went like this...Just picture the cop being a total jerk and loving that I'm crying...

Me: Hey

Cop: What are you doing out here? Are you soliciting?

Me: Huh? What do you mean soliciting? We sell security systems...

Cop: Why are you doing that on a holiday?

Me: Holidays are a big day for us cause everyone is home.

Cop: That doesn't make sense at all. No one is working today. Don't you see how that would be suspicious? Someone called in saying that you were asking if their security system was working and you wouldn't give them a business card.

Me: I didn't ask them if it worked, I just asked about it. And I told them my cards were in the car but I'd get one if they wanted it.

Cop: What company are you working for anyways? How long have you worked for them? They just send you out here to bother people on a holiday? I need your license and registration.

Me: Its called Pinnacle, we do this every summer and this is my second year.

(He goes back to the car with his buddy. My tears start to flow. 5 minutes later...)

Cop: Have you ever been arrested before?

Me: No

Cop: Are you sure you've never been arrested before?

Me: Yes I'm sure. Why?

Cop: Because your license pulls you up as a convicted felon. Why would it say that if you've never been arrested.

Me: I don't know, because it's wrong. Are you guys just messing with me?

Cop: This is no joke mam. What were you arrested for?

Me: I've barely even been pulled over, I've never been arrested. What does it say I'm convicted of?

Cop: It's still trying to pull that up. Why would it say you were a felon if you weren't?

Me: Sir, I don't know but I'm not a convicted felon.

Cop: We're probably going to have to tow this van. Have you been to jail before? Is there someone else working with you here?

Me: Can I call my husband?

Cop: Sure but I'm not talking to him.

Me: (calling Trey about 15 times in a row and he won't answer...more tears)

To make a long story short...Jeff showed up to help me out. They told me they were giving me a break by not towing my car and not taking me to jail, just giving me 2 tickets and suggesting I look into why it says I'm a convicted felon. They were totally nice to Jeff as soon as he got there. Meanwhile I was traumatized for the rest of the day and had sporadic spurts of tears. I now hate all cops and get nervous every time I see one. Rewriting that dialogue brought back the emotion, now I'm pissed.

I was just gonna say...

2008-05-25T18:36:00.002-04:00

Every Sunday in church I find myself so annoyed with people who make comments because they always start out with "I was just gonna say..." You should all notice how often people begin their sentences that way and maybe it happens in other situations but I notice it in church. I guess it annoys me so much because it is just stating the obvious. Of course we know that you were "just gonna say" something...you raised your hand for that very purpose. Here's a word of advice...if you decide to raise your hand and comment in Sunday School or wherever just get straight to the point. You don't need to preface your comment by telling everyone that you are planning on saying something, I think they already know that.

And now for Jenna's debut

2008-05-10T12:48:00.003-04:00

This video takes a little longer but it's worth the wait. I don't know why my family is so jumpy but it makes for good video I guess. Trey continues to be amazed at how easily I jump. He doesn't even try to scare me, it just happens. A few weeks ago we were watching Law & Order and I freaked out so much in one scene that I almost fell off the couch. Trey just stared at me, completely unaffected.

Do you have the hands of a surgeon?

2008-05-08T21:43:00.002-04:00

This video is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I could watch Ashley over and over and over again. This was taken about 3 years ago but I just found it on my computer and felt inspired to share with the world. I also uploaded it to Youtube trying to make Ashley famous. If you want to try this on your own friends that haven't done it before go to www.winterrowd.com/maze/