tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-118773632024-02-18T23:14:34.226-05:00All those words I never saidGently bled, from my mouth.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.comBlogger160125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-48675835330336976452016-07-24T01:01:00.001-04:002016-07-24T01:01:44.055-04:00One year laterI decided to click on this blog despite not keeping it updated and I realized I made 2 topics that I actually followed through with, so I thought it was worth blogging about.<br />
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<b>Exercise</b><br />
In my previous post I said I started working out. Well, I kept working out. I still work out and its now a big part of my life! I lost 30lbs between that post and December of last year. I stopped losing weight because I became pregnant (And still am, 33 weeks today!). One thing I promised myself when I became pregnant was that I would not stop working out. Its been so hard sometimes because pregnancy really takes a lot out of you but I do it. Some weeks I only make it one time, but most weeks I go at least 3. I've kept my weight gain under control and I am looking and feeling so much stronger! This pregnancy is a BREEZE compared to my last. I don't swell, I have more energy and I can do a lot more. Very helpful when keeping up with my now 2.5 year old! Overall, I am so crazy proud of myself. I tried running for years for weight loss and while it was helpful I really hated it, like really hated it. I found weight lifting and it sparked passion! Lifting weights makes me feel like a total badass. I don't need classes, other people or gimmicks. All I need are some heavy plates and my own body to make big changes!<br />
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<b>Gaming</b><br />
The other topic I mentioned was gaming. Its also become a big part of my life. Our group has grown and we have game nights 2-3 times a month with 8-10 people typically. I have made some really awesome friends and I am so glad we branched out and started it. D&D is still going too! My lil halfling bard has turned into an interesting gal. From using her own poop as a weapon to ward off unsavory types to learning special abilities from snatching a mysterious magical lute (more like putting it to good use, it was just lying about looking lonely). I am having so much fun learning the game and seeing my abilities unfold!<br />
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<b>Family</b><br />
I don't mention my husband a lot when I post to social media. Truthfully, I think he prefers to stay out of the spotlight since he barely uses it. But I think its worth mentioning that I definitely married the perfect guy for me. Our relationship continues to surprise me because seriously, how is it really this easy!? Things between us are awesome and only getting better.<br />
Our little girl is 2.5 years old now and last time I posted she was just learning to talk. Well, one year later and she never stops. She's full of curiosity, she has an opinion on everything, and she is not afraid to tell you all about it. Every single day with her is more fun than the last. She can be a handful at times, but learning to communicate with her and be a good parent is fun and so rewarding. When we teach and tell her things and you see those things come out in her words or action, its such an awesome feeling. I love being a mom.<br />
In fact, I love it so much we decided to add one more to our little family. Ewan Xavier will be making his appearance soon. I wonder constantly if parenting a boy is going to be that much different than a girl. I mean, parenting should be different because he's going to be a different person with different needs and learning styles. I guess we'll see.<br />
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No promises on future posts. but if boredom strikes it could happen. I am toying with the idea of a "mommy blog" though. Since I do a lot of crafts, trips and learning activities with Ev. It might be fun to post what we do. Meh we'll see! Until next time!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-66167686808111600982015-05-25T17:25:00.000-04:002015-05-25T17:25:13.215-04:00No titleAs I look over my blog I see that about every 2 months I have a half started post that never came to be. I find myself with a lot of things to talk about and no real order to them. My life over the last year and a half has been pretty much all baby, all the time. I am a stay at home mom now and that has been a really hard change for me. I love it, don't get me wrong. But I also loved having an outside career. I am battling a bit of depression and I think a lot of it is this change in lifestyle. Its a BIG change. Even though it doesn't feel like I haven't been going to work (trust me when I say being a mom is non-stop), I struggle with not having that.<br />
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Anyway, so yea there haven't been any posts because I made a huge life change and I am still trying to find my center again.<br />
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I think I will just recap my day/week/month when I post unless I have something specific to talk about.<br />
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<b>I started working out</b><br />
I've been running for a few years now, its kept me from really getting out of shape and helped me lose all of my baby weight and then some after I had my daughter. But I really want to focus on strength. The more and more I tote around a 25lb human I realize she's not getting any lighter. So based on the recommendations of /r/xxfitness I started Strong Curves. Its been 2 weeks and so far I really like it. I can do the exercises, I feel really well worked out after them and while I don't really see a strength difference yet, I definitely feel more flexible and agile.<br />
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<b>Evelyn </b><br />
Right now miss Rosie Posie is 17 months old. She's into stacking blocks, doing things on her own and making her first attempts at saying real words. I can say with all honesty that while little babies are crazy cute, having a toddler is like the best thing ever. I don't know why anyone says they miss the early months, I do not. I love seeing my baby turn into a person.<br />
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<b>Gaming</b><br />
Right now I'm fooling around in Borderlands 2 with my friends and I just started playing Tera with my husband. Once a week we host a game night at our house. Its been great for getting to know local people. right now I am really into Splendor and Bohnanza. Our little game group started playing D&D as well, I am starting a character the next time we meet. A Halfling Bard. I have never done this before so I'm super nervous but I think it'll be a lot of fun.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-50394748760881405632014-06-30T12:58:00.000-04:002014-06-30T12:58:25.243-04:00PregnancyMy pregnancy was extremely normal. All of the things I expected to happen happened, some better than expected and some far worse. I learned a lot about my body in a very short amount of time. I'll just gloss over the highlights. Pregnancy is different for everyone and you can read a lot of books and forums on what to expect.<br />
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<b><u>First trimester</u></b><br />
The first trimester was a lot of ups and downs emotionally. My body was preparing hormonally for pregnancy and I've never done well with hormones. Due to this I learned a lot about being patient and also about really trusting my husband to take care of things so that I could get lots (and lots....and lots) of much needed sleep. There's not a lot to say about actually being pregnant in the first trimester because besides going batshit crazy, sleeping a lot and your hips getting bigger not a lot happens. I had some morning sickness (all-day sickness) and mostly craved juice and fruits that were really juicy. Ginger drops were super helpful and so was staying hydrated.<br />
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<b><u>Second Trimester</u></b><br />
This is the easy part of being pregnant. You've come to terms with being emotional and with your changing body, all the cool things that happen to your baby happen at this time. She grew little hands and feet and started moving around. Most of the sickness has gone away and (as long as you're careful) you're free to eat whatever you want! My husband loved being pregnant, you didn't have to ask him twice for late night sweets or twice a week pizza LOL. The only "difficult" part of being pregnant was due to a problem I had with a blood clot several years ago I was high risk and had to go to the doctor more often than normal and I had to take twice daily injections in my tummy. The bright side was that my husband was willing to do them for me and could do it (mostly) painlessly.<br />
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<b><u>Third Trimester</u></b><br />
Shit gets real here. Your baby is basically grown, just fine tuning and making sure all system are a go as well as getting super big. Like just when you thought you couldn't get bigger, you do. Lucky for me, my third trimester was cut short (37 weeks) and I didn't have to endure it as long as most women do. Every day was a battle to keep my feet from getting so big that they damn near were going to pop. I gained 50lbs during my pregnancy when my "plan" was to only gain 10-12. The most important thing to remember about pregnancy weight is that (as long as you're paying attention) it will all go away when the baby comes.<br />
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<b><u>Preparing for labor</u></b><br />
At about 32 weeks my doctor told me that my baby was around 8lbs and if I carried her to 40 weeks she'd be 10-12lbs and that would put me at risk of needing a c-section because of size and recommended we induce if she got much bigger. She actually checked me 3 times for gestational diabetes because of how big she was. The thing is, weighing a baby still inside the womb is literally impossible. They just take measurements and guess based on length and diameter. I had opted for a natural childbirth, which included not inducing labor, so I told her I would be waiting no matter what. The thing about wanting a natural childbirth and going to an OB instead of a midwife is that its an uphill battle to get what you want.<br />
This is where things can get tricky. On one side of the coin, I want a natural birth with no interventions but on the other side, I want to be cared for by trained medical professionals who have been to years and years of college and training as opposed to a midwife whose training was watching (sometimes hundreds) of childbirths. I am not saying midwives aren't useful but with something like this I would rather have real doctors with medical equipment at my side in case things don't go as planned.<br />
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So to anyone reading this thinking about going natural but being cared for by a doctor you need to know this: you have to know exactly what you want and exactly what is medically necessary. Otherwise they will do things to you that you had not intended or didn't know about. They will not explain natural childbirth to you, they will explain the easiest way to get your baby out, the easiest way for them, not you. So, armed with the knowledge of what you want for your childbirth, what you aren't willing to budge on and what you will budge on given the proper explanation you are ready to let your doctor know your wishes. BUT letting your doctor know is NOT ENOUGH. You need to tell your partner/coach/doula/whoever will be in the room with you because your doctor may not be the one that delivers you.<br />
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With that in mind, here's my very simple birth plan:<br />
No induction unless medically necessary (2 weeks past due date/signs of distress)<br />
No pitocin<br />
No pain meds<br />
No episiotomy<br />
Intermittent monitoring, ability to get up and move about at will<br />
Necessary staff in the room only<br />
Immediate skin-to-skin contact to nurse<br />
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I've seen birth plans go on for days, down to the tiniest detail. You don't have to be that detailed, choose the things that matter and everything else will go fine, these people have done this tons of times.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-45229610629721296482014-06-30T12:07:00.001-04:002014-06-30T12:07:14.494-04:00First post as someones mom.I can't believe I have a 6 month old baby! It has definitely been an interesting ride. This time last year I was just finding out I was pregnant. It feels like it was eons ago. I have a lot to say on the subject but honestly, being a first time mom I felt a little intimidated about blogging about my pregnancy and definitely about being a parent. Mostly because I have no idea what I'm doing. I've since come to the terms with the fact that I do not have to be the absolute authority on it to at least share my point of view. For those of you that know me, I can be a bit of a control freak and I absolutely have to know everything about everything. So parenting has been a real challenge for me, I want to make sure I am one step ahead of whats happening so I am prepared and giving my daughter the best of the best care. Its just not possible. You can read and talk and prepare but every baby is different and most of what you find are just loose guidelines on what you can expect to see AND parents are incredibly opinionated people. Like, baring teeth and claws opinionated. Its scary.<br />
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So. I'm going to make separate entries to catch myself up to this point. My blog has always been a mix of stuff that interests me and it still will be but I'll be honest, I am a stay at home mom to a very young child so my life right now doesn't consist of much more than baby stuff, so that's what you're going to be reading about a lot.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-57266164282127282332013-08-27T15:09:00.002-04:002013-08-27T15:09:32.263-04:00Start trying now they said, it'll take nearly a year they said...One of the first conversation Nick and I had when we met, like literally the first night because I was just coming out of a relationship with someone who didn't want a family, was how important starting a family was. We both agreed that we wanted kids and couldn't wait to be in a position to get started. Obviously after getting married, buying a home and having good careers the conversation about kids came back up. Spending time with my sister Lindsy's amazing kid Jax kinda sealed the deal for us, we can do this! So we decided 2014 was the year to start. We'd have time to pay off some house debt and plan for everything. Well as most people know it takes about 40 weeks to grow a baby so we thought maybe start trying around the holidays. After telling some friends and family about our plans we were promptly told that it could take months, even years to conceive. Being that I am 32 years old and throughout my life have never had anything near a close call this advice started to get in my head...oh god..what if I haven't accidentally gotten pregnant because I actually <u>can't</u> get pregnant?! Nick assured me that he had super sperm and no matter what a baby would happen, lol. At any rate, the night of our wedding we decided to forgo the birth control and just let things happen naturally. 4 weeks later I was 4 weeks pregnant!<br />
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I knew I was pregnant right away, but I needed to wait for that magic missed period to be totally sure. So the day it didn't happen I ran out to the drugstore and got a test. I was on my way home from work, I didn't want to false alarm Nick so I went straight to the bathroom when I got home figuring if it was negative, no big deal, I wouldn't say anything and just move on with life (but who are we kidding I've never kept anything from Nick because I can't seem to). I brought a book thinking it would be awhile before the results were clear. No sooner did I put the cap on the stick did those two blue lines show up and tell me what I thought wasn't possible! I went straight to Nick and told him I had to tell him something. I handed him the stick and he looked at me in disbelief. His range of emotions in the next 3 minutes was probably the fastest I've ever seen anyone go. He hugged me and said he was excited, went into his "I told you so's" about his super sperm and then started freaking out about money. First we had to sell the house, then he'd have to get a promotion at work, maybe go down to one car. After I reminded him that the reason we bought a home was because this is what we wanted and that everything was going to be ok he calmed down and immediately hopped in the car so we could drive to his best friends house and tell him the news!<br />
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So here we are. I am 21 1/2 weeks pregnant with our baby girl Evelyn Rose. We had originally only chosen a boy name (actually we picked it like over a year ago) because we both really wanted a little boy to camp, hike and climb with. I was worried when we found out it was a girl that Nick would be disappointed but on the contrary, he can't wait to have a little girl to take care of. Only the best for his lil Ev, she's already got him wrapped around her little finger. Its really fun to work on the little changes in our lives that having a baby is doing. Even more so that my husband is 100% all hands on deck into everything!<br />
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Here's the facebook announcement we made. It was supposed to be a shot of our shoes, the dogs feet and Ev's shoes but the look of total disappointment on the dogs faces was too priceless to not include!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoB7cxJim0ioaFhTRRZcPxgOJySR0wET-m0ZdMvq5Tw8oBlnPdRzjejZHcX9O3dgwoMHhzlfR2HTdQQjCd0r3BhKGDLwWXuzVagEPcncvsXv4mxvTTl5jW1d-GCUwdl6eWOek8/s1600/IMG_309345844761975.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoB7cxJim0ioaFhTRRZcPxgOJySR0wET-m0ZdMvq5Tw8oBlnPdRzjejZHcX9O3dgwoMHhzlfR2HTdQQjCd0r3BhKGDLwWXuzVagEPcncvsXv4mxvTTl5jW1d-GCUwdl6eWOek8/s320/IMG_309345844761975.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-67743380582068653882013-06-25T13:31:00.000-04:002013-06-25T13:31:03.557-04:00WE GOT MARRIED!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In light of my back issues Nick and I decided to get married early and add me to his much better health insurance plan. That and we just couldn't freaking wait to get married. Wedding planning is daunting. I tried on dresses and went to expos and honestly all this wedding crap was just that...crap! Its never been my dream to get all fluffed up in a white dress and having all my friends and family staring at me and then drink all night long (not to mention spending literally all of our money to have this event!). When I realized we could just marry each other the way we want to, when we want to and have a celebration of the event with friends/family later. Once that hit me, I relaxed and started planning it the right way.<br />
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So we were going to get married at the courthouse on our 2 year anniversary. It was good timing because I like our anniversary date and my sister was going to be in town visiting. We were telling Nicks friend Jon about the plans and Jon says he's actually ordained (online) and can marry us for free! YAY! This suddenly opened up so many possibilities. So we decided to make our wedding a little more meaningful.<br />
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Nick actually formally asked me to be his girlfriend when we were first dating. I thought it was adorable, I'd never actually been asked like that before. We had hiked up a mountain that day and were enjoying the sunset and he told me he wanted me to be only his. Since our wedding options had opened up recently, we decided what better place to get married than the spot it all began on the 2 year anniversary of the day it happened? Nothing could have possibly been better.<br />
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We hiked up North Mountain in Phoenix with my sister and nephew, best friend, Nicks 2 best friends and our officiant. It was so windy up there! When we got to the spot, we held hands and Jon read some beautiful passages, we said our I do's and it was done. Beautifully done. After hugging and taking photos, we all hiked back down and celebrated with sushi dinner.<br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/109698473340848943535/WeddingApril22013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCK7H5IqfodHICQ&feat=directlink">The photos can be found here</a><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-20594039444148933582013-04-24T11:45:00.003-04:002013-04-24T11:45:34.619-04:00My Back.For the last few years I have had some issues with chronic back pain, numbness and tingling in my back and arms. I never went to the doctor (because that's just what I do..or don't do) just assuming it was a mixture of being a bit overweight, sitting at a desk job, having scoliosis and having large breasts. I got really sick with the flu a couple of months ago so while I was at the doctor having that looked at I mentioned my back issues. She decided to schedule me for an x-ray to see what was going on. The Xray showed my scoliosis and possibly some issues with my disks so I went for an MRI. The MRI was only on my neck and just below but what they found was something called a Syrinx Cavity causing a condition called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syringomyelia">Syringomyelia</a>. So far, the disks in my C-spine are completely desiccated (gone) because of it. My doctor had never heard of it before and did a terrible job of explaining the condition to me, she literally printed out some medical dictionary stuff and told me to go see a neuro-surgeon.<br />
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I'll be completely honest. I'm terrified. I don't even want to go see this doctor because of a million what-ifs. I'm somewhat relieved that I know there's something actually wrong and I'm not just in pain because of my weight or posture. But I don't want to go to this doctor.<br />
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Nick has been the epitome of support. I can't truly express how much I love him and all that he does to take care of me. He started calling the doctors for me when he realized I was putting it off, making my appointments and faxing in all the diagnoses, he even contacted the Mayo clinic just in case I do need surgery. He got me a massage and offers to schedule me one whenever I want.<br />
<br />
So yesterday, finally, all the paperwork was sent in to the neurosurgeons office. They are looking over all the tests now and will call me for an appointment. I really like how the office does things, they read what I've had done already, then decide where to go before ever meeting me. So they don't walk into the appointment blind. I'm anxious but I know no matter what happens I'll be ok :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-48805238479401133122013-03-09T12:22:00.001-05:002013-03-09T12:22:59.367-05:00Cloud of my blog posts.<br />
<pre id="embed" style="background-color: #eeeeff; font-size: 13px; line-height: 21.328125px;"><a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/6465584/Untitled" title="Wordle: Untitled"><img alt="Wordle: Untitled" src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/6465584/Untitled" style="border: 1px solid #ddd; padding: 4px;" /></a></pre>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-68629904464604419432013-02-19T23:50:00.001-05:002013-02-19T23:50:47.915-05:00Food, food, FOOD!After the holidays Nick and I decided we needed to make some changes to our diet. We talked about what we could and could not live without and how we could make enough reasonable changes to help ourselves eat better without sacrificing the things we love. For me it was sweets like ice cream and chocolate and for him it was pizza and pasta. For awhile we worked on portion control, which was nice but in the end we would just pig out and undo all the good works we'd been doing. So for the first couple weeks we weren't doing so hot.<br />
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Then, we decided to try a "cleanse" 5 days on juice, soups and veggies. It was just what we needed to kick start our healthy life. We bought a juicer and found an awesome meal plan and stuck with it for 5 days. Granted we choked our way through some of the recipes, for the most part we enjoyed it. Then, we decided to keep the juices and add in some whole foods. Since then we've transitioned to a "paleo" diet. I use the term loosely because I'm sure there are things here and there we eat that aren't completely paleo in that we still eat rice, used some processed spices and things like that. And we also have occasional cheat days or times when we indulge, like on Valentines day we went to a fancy schmancy place called Prime Ocean. I had a steak and carrots but topped my meal off with peanut butter pie. I think knowing that I am allowed to do that when I want makes me less likely to want it because aside from times like that when I crave sweets some fruit or a juice suffices.<br />
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Health wise this new lifestyle has really helped me. My skin looks and feels great, I have much more energy and of course I'm losing plenty of weight. I went to the doctor a while back for a pretty nasty case of the flu and she had me take some blood tests since it had been awhile since I'd been to the doctor. My blood pressure was crazy high, my cholesterol was so bad she gave me a prescription to lower it and most of my vitamins were really low. No surprise, I was eating like crap and it finally caught up. Instead of taking drugs to regulate my body, I decided to let food do the work.<br />
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As if our relationship needed any improving, doing this diet has really made Nick and I closer. We're able to take a real look at why we're doing this and what is important to us. Not just because we want to be healthier but the things we learn now about eating right are things we'll be passing to our kids someday. We shop together, cook together and plan our meals out. And, we get to share our successes as we go!<br />
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There are some awesome resources that have really made this process easier!<br />
Of course, all of the awesomeness that is Reddit: <a href="http://reddit.com/r/paleo">/r/Paleo</a> and <a href="http://reddit.com/r/juicing">/r/juicing</a><br />
<a href="http://www.thefoodee.com/">TheFoodee.com </a>is the single most awesome website for building meal plans and making grocery lists<br />
<a href="http://marksdailyapple.com/">MarksDailyApple.com</a><br />
and <a href="http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/">Reboot with Joe</a><br />
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And a super special thanks to our great friend Otlyn whole is providing guidance and support as we learn how we're actually supposed to be eating!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-30904553142464898912012-11-20T11:27:00.002-05:002012-11-20T11:27:33.242-05:00FlagstaffMy sweet best friend gave us a romantic getaway to Flagstaff as an engagement gift.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Actually-funny story. A few months ago Shannon sent me a text telling me "Saturday night you're both going with me to see Killswitch!" So Nick and I head over to her house to go see the show only to find out when she said "you're both" she had actually sent that text to me and another girl. My phone doesn't indicate when a text gets sent to multiple people :( So Nick gracefully bowed out and came to pick my drunk ass up later that night. Shannon felt really bad. Honestly, he didn't want to go because this was the same week that Guild Wars 2 and Borderlands 2 came out so he was happy to go home and game. At any rate an "I owe you one" was exchanged and it worked out nicely because we got engaged right before the Shannon found a Groupon for a Flagstaff getaway.</blockquote>
We headed up to Flagstaff Friday night after we got off work. We stayed at the Radisson, it was a pretty nice place. The Groupon included a few free drinks at the bar so after we brought our things in we headed down to the bar for a glass of wine. The bartender was a cool guy, we spent most of the night chatting with him and he recommended the next day that we go to Snowbowl and ride the ski lift up the mountain so we could see the trees changing color. A great suggestion. So we ended the night relaxing in the hot tub and the next morning headed out to explore. Breakfast was at a local place called <a href="http://www.brandysrestaurant.com/">Brandy's</a> a restaurant that had been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The food was great but the coffee was even better! Definitely our go to breakfast spot anytime we're in Flagstaff now! After breakfast we headed up to Snowbowl. The drive was so pretty, all the trees were turning yellow and red. There was patches of snow everywhere. The ski lift took us up on a 45 min scenic ride. Here's a view from the bottom:<br />
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At the top, you could get off and walk around a bit. The whole area is actually covered in snow in the winter and people go skiing up there. Its really interesting to see it all with no snow on the ground. We plan to go back soon and try the skiing (or sliding down the mountain on our butts!). Here's a view from the top:</div>
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After snowbowl we found a great little <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/wine-loft-flagstaff">wine bar</a> downtown that not only had a huge wine menu but also a giant board game selection so we sat around playing board games and drinking wine before heading back home. All in all it was a great trip! </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-80589472084556824612012-11-12T21:59:00.002-05:002012-11-12T22:38:47.662-05:00What is your hope built upon?Rainn Wilson has a pretty neat website called <a href="http://soulpancake.com/">Soul Pancake</a>, one of my new favorite websites. Its designed to open conversations about things as simple as whats your favorite this or that to your innermost feelings about life in general. I love when websites first start out because the part of the internet that goes there are the thinkers, the people that know where to find these things and like to spend time talking with other people like them before the rest of the world finds out and we end up with the likes that post on places like <a href="http://www.uproxx.com/feature/2011/03/100-of-the-most-ridiculous-yahoo-answers-posts/#page/1">Yahoo Answers.</a> So that's where Soul Pancake is right now and hopefully it can stay cool for a very long time.<br />
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Anyway, so someone posed the question "What is your hope built upon" and it made me think back to a time where I had no hope. A time in my life where I literally said to myself every single day "is this all there is?". I was in a terrible relationship, I didn't like my career and I was working three jobs only to never really make ends meet and my relationship with my family had deteriorated so badly because I hardly spoke to anyone. My "friends" were just people that I knew but I really didn't have anything invested in anyone, I really didn't know how to do that.<br />
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It wasn't until I made some real friends that I was able to take stock of what was going on and reassess my life. I moved out of survival mode and focused on relationships, not only making new ones but building old ones and cutting out bad ones. So with that I have to say that my hope is built upon friendship. Never underestimate the power of a good friend. When your life seems to be going nowhere, if you've got a network of people that truly love you to fall back on or just confide in then you're going to be just fine. Relationships give my life more meaning and hope that not matter what things will always be OK.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-37054784165618948452012-10-23T12:46:00.001-04:002012-10-23T12:47:00.303-04:00The proposal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I started my new job on Oct 14th. But that isn't the only exciting thing that happened that day. I got home and Nick met me in the garage as I pulled in, he was all dressed up and freshly shaved (aka looking super fine) and asked if I'd go on a date with him to celebrate my new job. We went out for sushi and had a great time. On the way home he stopped off at the big park in Anthem and said he wanted to go for a walk. I didn't want to go because we had been working out all week and my legs were killing me but he insisted. So we walk to this cute little bridge with waterfall behind it and we're hugging and just being in love.<br />
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Nick gets down on his knee and begins to tell me how much he loves me. I thought he was joking for a minute because he keeps telling me he's going to mess with me about proposing like Jim did with Pam on the office. But then he pulls a little box out of his pocket and asked me to marry him! YES! Of course!<br />
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And so, I will soon be Mrs. whateverwedecide. Nick has decided he wants to start our own legacy with our family. So we're going to choose a last name and use that when we get married.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-19174262242224667362012-10-09T12:49:00.001-04:002012-10-09T12:49:09.463-04:00Rocky PointLast month Nick gave his friend Zach a call just to check up and say hi and whatnot. Zach says he's headed to visit his girlfriend in Rocky Point, Mexico this weekend and invited us to come along! It just so happened that we were on vacation but had decided to stay home with all the house purchasing stuff going on. What a great getaway!<br />
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I didn't realize that Rocky Point is really only like 4 hours south of Phoenix so the drive out wasn't too bad. It was raining a lot though and when we got into Mexico the roads were so bad most cars couldn't get through. Zach had a huge (like I needed a running start to jump into this thing) truck so we made it through.<br />
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So his girlfriend lives down there and we were going to be staying at her house for the weekend. She actually lived on a little "estate" with her house, the guest house/garage and her parents house. The A/C in her house was out so we stayed in her parents house. The place was AMAZING. I'm going to avoid posting a bunch of photos of their home on the internet but here's the view from the kitchen overlooking the ocean.<br />
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The whole weekend was so relaxing. We did a lot of swimming, drinking, eating and lazing around. It was absolutely perfect. Lucky for us Zach and his girlfriend are wine lovers like we are and he brought a bunch of wine from Caduceus with. I think my mouth was purple all weekend lol. </div>
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This photo was taken first thing in the morning, the tide rolls in through the day and all that rock behind us eventually gets covered in water. So we took a morning stroll down to the water and as we were standing there the water kept getting deeper and deeper, it was pretty neat.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-58193167577910902692012-10-08T14:46:00.003-04:002012-10-08T14:46:56.356-04:00All of the things.Pretty exciting last couple of months! After a rollercoaster of a closing process, we actually did buy the house I posted about before. Its everything I thought it would be. We have so much more room, an amazing yard and we live in the most beautiful community. I couldn't be happier. I love taking this next step on our lives together. This weekend we spent time working on the yard and doing odd things around the house like putting together dressers and hanging up the TV.<br />
Its an awesome feeling, but the thing that makes it best is doing it with Nick. Never in my life have I felt so right-in-step with another person. It was always me following them or them following me all while struggling to find a happy medium. With him, there isn't a question, we are simply on the same page or we work together to make things happen.<br />
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Another super exciting development is that I got a new job. I hadn't been happy at my previous job for some time. Not so much the job but that the job wasn't going anywhere, I felt like I had no room to grow and nobody supporting me if I did want to move up. Its a bad feeling and it was making things really hard for me. So I started applying to a few banks that I thought would be a good fit for me. I loved banking but I never thought I'd find a company I believed in and actually liked working for as I did with BB&T. Well, I found a couple of credit unions and one bank and just kept applying at them and a few other various places to see what was out there. I got a call from my new employer telling me that the job I applied for was really meant to be filled internally as it was an operations role and they wanted someone who knew their bank policies first hand. However, they liked my resume and asked if I'd be interested in working in a branch again. Of course I would! My interview was for an assistant position but when I got there they said they had a manager spot open and I interviewed for that. I start October 15th.<br />
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As you might imagine the last couple months have been pretty crazy. Hopefully, once I fall back into some semblance of a routine I'll be able to blog a little more! But today I am going to spend outside. Its finally down to the 80s here in sunny Arizona and my beautiful backyard has gotten overgrown so I'll be pruning and trimming to my hearts content all afternoon.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-15846321773410932362012-09-11T12:16:00.000-04:002012-09-11T12:16:06.541-04:00Mystery Uncovered! A while back I posted about my dad telling me that the swings at the park were <a href="http://kirrya.blogspot.com/2011/04/its-april-fools.html">"doggie swings" </a>because they had 4 holes. My sister Michelle uncovered their real purpose and melted my heart when she sent me this photo of her twins Tanner and Olivia yesterday.<div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-11909115321346642862012-08-11T20:31:00.000-04:002012-08-11T20:31:06.755-04:00A House!This last week or two has been crazy! Tuesday the 31st we decided to meet a Realtor and look at houses. Literally the first house we saw was THE one. We're in the house looking around and <a href="http://ktar.com/22/1564067/Severe-monsoon-rolls-through-Anthem">an AZ monsoon hits! </a> So we got trapped in the house for an extra 30 mins or so, then the roads were so flooded we couldn't leave Anthem or go look at any other houses. We decided to have some dinner and see if it let up, it finally did and we were able to see 2 more homes but they just didn't even compare. <div>
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So we slept on it and discussed the options and finally decided to put in an offer. At first the sellers said flat out no. We were asking for nearly 10k under the asking price and the current price had already been marked down about 30k. Its a great home. We have a great lender/Realtor team and together they worked out a deal for us. </div>
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At this point, we've had our home inspection and the inspector said "this is the nicest home I've done in three weeks". He said it was a great first home and we will have very little to fix before we move in. There's 4 tiles loose on the roof and the outlets in the kitchen are GFS protected in places they shouldn't be. Everything else is cosmetic like chips on the patio and scratches in the tile. </div>
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We are very excited. The only things we absolutely have to purchase are a washer/dryer and a fridge. There's a fridge in the garage but its small and doesn't match the kitchen. We got a great deal from a local appliance store since we'll be buying everything from there. </div>
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The last hurdle is the appraisal. What we need is an appraisal to come back saying the house is worth what we're paying for it and we're done. The house is ours. FINGERS CROSSED. If that goes through we could move in as early as the 20th. In literally 20 days we decided to buy a house, found one and bought it. Like I said, its been a crazy couple of weeks. </div>
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If this house doesn't work out, its not a big deal. There's a lot of homes out there and since we're already through the loan underwriting and stuff, if we have to put in another offer it'll go even faster. Truth be told, I secretly hope this is the one. I can see us living there. </div>
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One step closer to the amazing future of Nick and Stephanie. </div>
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-74355893481492653072012-07-31T14:54:00.000-04:002012-07-31T14:54:16.141-04:00I once visited a crematorium where they gave discounts to burn victims.So, awesome news! Nick and I have been looking for a new apartment because our lease is up. We are doing great with our budget and decided to treat ourselves to this beautiful apartment complex in North Phoenix. This place is amazing. Not just the apartment, but the views, the amenities, everything! We went in there based on the price on the website but we were told that the price online was based on a 6 month lease and included $83 off a month based on this $500 program they were doing. Our rate was higher because we wanted a 12 month lease and the $500 had to be stretched over 12 months instead of 6. We were a little miffed but had talked ourselves into the place so whatever, we signed anyway.<br />
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Nick decides to call the corporate office and verify the website prices and lo and behold they tell us that the prices are based on 12 months and do not include the $500 bonus! So he calls the apartment manager back who tells him "thats incorrect, we post the prices that way as a marketing scheme to get people to call". Little did they know we had both calls recorded. So he contacted the regional manager and told her about the little "trick" and asked for our money back and to be let out of our lease. At first she said no but Nick politely reminded her that this is false advertising and could be considered bait and switch since their website clearly stated "Prices based on 12 month lease" and had the "sign now and recieve a $500 bonus!" but never mentioned it was already included in the price. They did.<br />
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The silver lining to not getting our dream apartment is this: WE DECIDED TO BUY A HOUSE! I am over the moon excited. We've been looking at homes online and in the town we want to buy all week and tonight we're meeting with the Realtor! So for now, I think we're going to sign a 6 month lease and stay in our current place while we shop for our first home together!<br />
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Lastly, I teased Nick that I would blog about this.<br />
I was watching Nick play Fallout 3 the other day and his Wadsworth told him this joke
"I once visited a crematorium where they gave discounts to burn victims.".<br />
Me: *giggle*<br />
Nick: *Stoneface*<br />
Me: Don't you think that was funny?<br />
Nick: No, it was kinda dumb.<br />
Me: A crematorium is where they cremate people...<br />
Nick: Oh...well its pretty funny then.<br />
Me: ...<br />
Nick: I thought a crematorium was a place where the sell salves and lotions.<br />
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hehe.<br />
Now every time I want to buy lotion I'm going to tell him I'm on the way to the crematorium :PAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-90120645508859588042012-06-12T14:09:00.001-04:002012-06-12T14:09:23.265-04:00Chicago (better late than never!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Its a bird, its a plane! Its SUPER STEPHANIE! Just kidding. That was me at the Mythbusters Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Just part of the amazing vacation Nick and I took back home to visit the family. PS my family loves Nick as much as I do. Mom calls him her son, Dad said I could marry him and my sisters have their kids calling him Uncle Nick (though as soon as they can talk they shall call him Uncle PoopyPants MUAHAHA). Who wouldn't love this silly bearded fuzzy man peach??
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1LCalQaA3GY1A4Av3yqXUVyr12daiv8ORvMzeVVr8xyug3lHDXhZzY45sAJMr4hCMVDaLvyrwmlxYu3OyS0q5qmGHMThSHJb72AxkTEUs-ZyoEEvnhw9TXcIvHxXBEvWRH_1/s1600/2002-12-08+12.00.00-82.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1LCalQaA3GY1A4Av3yqXUVyr12daiv8ORvMzeVVr8xyug3lHDXhZzY45sAJMr4hCMVDaLvyrwmlxYu3OyS0q5qmGHMThSHJb72AxkTEUs-ZyoEEvnhw9TXcIvHxXBEvWRH_1/s320/2002-12-08+12.00.00-82.jpg" /></a></div>
Anyway the whole trip was a blast. We flew in on a Saturday and spent the first two nights downtown at the <a href="http://youtu.be/KBL25asxVDk">Wheeler Mansion</a>. We decided to make our own pizza tour but got full after the first two stops! Spent an entire day at the Museum of Science and Industry and our final day in the city walking around Millennium Park and visiting the Bean
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After that we headed down to Kankakee to visit my family. Our first couple of nights were spent at my sister Michelle's house so we could spend some time with her sweet baby twins Tanner and Olivia.
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Then we headed out to my grandpa's farm and saw his bunnies and horses. Short visit with Brian and Cody and the last night was at my dads house so I could see my cool little brother Jake. I got him a new board game called Tiki Mountain and he made me a home made chia pet!
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Of course its grown since then...
All in all it was a great trip!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-8800673345444217442012-03-07T13:59:00.005-05:002012-03-07T14:42:42.459-05:00C25K<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6udRRP6coRZU0xfLVf8MZ450sJThaYvbebhH0f-yRbSf7K1HyiyHWjJGz93kpmQY-lBMJo2oEklaK32RIfWyvmlx6RXg9M1aOlWGr2oIyPzLGJeGIVOWMZnJTLJHYCvUQX1Z/s1600/c25k.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6udRRP6coRZU0xfLVf8MZ450sJThaYvbebhH0f-yRbSf7K1HyiyHWjJGz93kpmQY-lBMJo2oEklaK32RIfWyvmlx6RXg9M1aOlWGr2oIyPzLGJeGIVOWMZnJTLJHYCvUQX1Z/s320/c25k.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717240501335198994" /></a><br /><br />I am excited to say that I have finally completed C25K! This is an app for your phone that helps you run for a full 30 minutes at the end of 9 weeks. I have been working on completing this program for longer than 9 weeks though. It all started in 2010 when I decided to start running. I would fall on and off that wagon for various reasons, mostly my lack of initiative and inability to truly push myself. <br /><br />When I met Nick I told him about the program and he agreed to run it with me. We had a rocky start where we would both find excuses to not run and when 2012 hit we agreed to become serious about it. We were at week 4 at that point. A couple weeks into January I sprained my knee on a trampoline and we had to take a couple of weeks off for me to heal. After that it was on. We committed to three times a week no excuses. We stopped other hobbies just to make sure we could make time to run and I am pleased to say that on March 3, 2012 we completed Week 9, Day three with a full 30 minute run! <br /><br />Running is no longer a struggle for me. It feels good and even when I don't feel like running after I get started I remember how much I love it. <br /><br />In an effort to not give up we have just started the follow up program B210K.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIw8UdDOve8zsxpw51HXVSm0fVjCcMPxHM-b9Zbu1LWhVsnkHltrofiLOHjfekrNSK5IwVGToLUPukSAuDpVndAil70WWzz1ZiDQxuawJkYddW9Qakx35BEZzWL4FP9QAlv87_/s1600/b210k.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIw8UdDOve8zsxpw51HXVSm0fVjCcMPxHM-b9Zbu1LWhVsnkHltrofiLOHjfekrNSK5IwVGToLUPukSAuDpVndAil70WWzz1ZiDQxuawJkYddW9Qakx35BEZzWL4FP9QAlv87_/s320/b210k.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717242121116882354" /></a><br /><br />In just 6 short weeks we should be running a full 60 minutes! <br /><br />My personal goal is to be able to run in a Mud Run by the end of summer. They look like so much fun and I want to be in great shape so we can run, hike, climb and do all kinds of fun outdoors stuff without worrying about being too out of shape for it.<br /><br />*Note, thought I am running for 30 minutes now my pace isn't fast enough to actually go 5K but the more we run the faster our pace gets. So if you're looking to do this program too, don't get discouraged. Get the time down and the distance/pace will come with it!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-16570763041505905932012-03-07T12:12:00.003-05:002012-03-07T12:20:25.990-05:00Pandemic<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3QQio5RKkCE9bbELQWG4Ub8mH-AjwTE_sq5GPWJg8fNfIBjGcmEqPW8ehmGzPTousWbMPRGsXKCDHNadC5A54EPgBRdJUjZ8BaL7v55ZPRdc5NYZpR3b32jcjS8SbblLDkHH/s1600/pandemic.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 237px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_3QQio5RKkCE9bbELQWG4Ub8mH-AjwTE_sq5GPWJg8fNfIBjGcmEqPW8ehmGzPTousWbMPRGsXKCDHNadC5A54EPgBRdJUjZ8BaL7v55ZPRdc5NYZpR3b32jcjS8SbblLDkHH/s320/pandemic.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717204905865690850" /></a><br /><br />One of our new favorite board games is Pandemic. Its a 4 player game where you all work together to cure 4 viruses spreading across the world. Each player draws a role and not all roles are used, makes each game a little bit different! You travel the globe healing the diseases before the spread too fast and try to minimize outbreaks as you search for the cure. Its pretty challenging, there are several different ways to play to make the game more or less challenging. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGORYHyvnu9rZBJMNneY5aBNL5N7nNmlYWVu-PP_rHDSJBiX1FqYAtKqem1djkurzzzzbM8pj3ZcY-xQxb2R3-ernSyB-20UtipREjjUAAGkFqfaSy8uAdFVhHgxw0JJai8a5/s1600/on+the+brink.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 319px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGORYHyvnu9rZBJMNneY5aBNL5N7nNmlYWVu-PP_rHDSJBiX1FqYAtKqem1djkurzzzzbM8pj3ZcY-xQxb2R3-ernSyB-20UtipREjjUAAGkFqfaSy8uAdFVhHgxw0JJai8a5/s320/on+the+brink.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717206114909237874" /></a><br /><br />Well, as it turns out, Pandemic has an expansion! I just got it and can't wait to play it. There's a new virus strain out there, a new way for the disease to mutate, new and improved roles and a bio terrorist role so one of your team is actually working against you! OMG!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-28577335009770866082012-02-22T14:49:00.003-05:002012-02-27T13:50:36.237-05:00First Vacation of the Year!We decided to pack up the pups and take advantage of having a three day weekend! After over a year of living in Arizona I finally made it up to the Grand Canyon. It was awesome! <br />We left early Saturday morning and headed up to our hotel just outside the South Rim. The more north we got, the colder it was! Then we started seeing SNOW! I never in a million years thought I'd be excited to see snow. It was probably because it still wasn't all that cold outside and so you could actually go out and enjoy it. <br />We arrived at the hotel and got the dogs all comfy and headed out to Flagstaff. <br /><br />Flagstaff was fun, lots of little shops and places to see. We had dinner at the Weatherford Hotel. This place was cool, it was a hotel that has been around since Flagstaff was founded, they have 11 rooms, 3 bars and a restaurant. We decided to stay there next time we go to town, the waiter recommended room 42. I think that was a sign this place is going to totally rock.<br />We stopped at a couple of neat little shops, my favorite was a bath store called Fizz. I got some of those stones you heat up and massage with and some shower steamers. Then we found an awesome candle store, you could actually dip your own candles. Very cool, I got some floating rose candles to float around in my bath.<br />Before we left we stopped at a coffee house/bar where the waiter was either a total asshole or we were stupid. He asked what we wanted and Nick asked what kind of coffee they had, all he said was "double espresso" so I said ok I would like one with cream, he says "ok double espresso" I'm like, "yes, with cream" then Nick says "I'll have a coffee" and the waiter goes "ok two double espresso". According to the menu they had much more than double espresso so I am not exactly sure what happened there but we had our espresso and went on our way. Totally reminded me of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUpY1BT9Xf4">Coffee Snobs</a><br /><br />Sunday morning we woke up extra early and headed to the canyon to see the sunrise. Unfortunately they were having a snowstorm and it was too cold/snowy/cloudy to see anything. So we drove around to the watch points seeing what we could see and learning how to properly layer in freezing temps. We went back to the hotel for awhile and went back to the canyon later after it cleared up. <br /><br />Lucky for us, Monday was clear and sunny! We got to spend all day on the rim, letting the dogs play in the snow and taking in the sights. All in all it was a great vacation. Here's the album of photos:<br /><table style="width:194px;"><tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/109698473340848943535/GrandCanyon2012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ha6qsjOjkqM/T0VKtMT1pGE/AAAAAAAADnU/yhva58DPiYA/s160-c/GrandCanyon2012.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/109698473340848943535/GrandCanyon2012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">Grand Canyon 2012</a></td></tr></table>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-7199463294802232822012-01-06T15:45:00.003-05:002012-01-06T16:00:35.243-05:00Christmas/Birthday time of yearIf you know me you know I love unwrapping gifts almost more than actually getting a gift! I knew Nick would use that for my Christmas gift, but I had no idea just how far he'd take it. I thought I'd get something that needed batteries and get individually wrapped batteries or something like that. I never expected to wake up and get to unwrap my apartment!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-SsGBSR8Uw8PJM9YtofYi9hCrbdI0S-wqoBKH_YHbGw15_36-nmZZB8uECdN_DjOwZhYnJGwG5CHJgKwmZQh_-UP540WEXUtdn7ilM2z9ObQMeJ90PxVML0mhX5n72GYZ_tS/s1600/wrapped+kitchen.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-SsGBSR8Uw8PJM9YtofYi9hCrbdI0S-wqoBKH_YHbGw15_36-nmZZB8uECdN_DjOwZhYnJGwG5CHJgKwmZQh_-UP540WEXUtdn7ilM2z9ObQMeJ90PxVML0mhX5n72GYZ_tS/s320/wrapped+kitchen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694624139220598866" /></a><br /><br />Aside from that I got an <a href="http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/hd-6870/pages/amd-radeon-hd-6870-overview.aspx#2">upgrade to my graphics card</a>, some Aperture Science glasses, caffeinated root beer and the best possible thing to drink said root beer from...<a href="http://www.slashfilm.com/cool-stuff-battlestar-galactica-top-gun-mug-replica/">A replica of the Top Gun Stein from Battlestar Galactica!!!</a> OH and I think he got sick of me taking all his dollars to try and win a DOMO from the crane game at the grocery store, because he got me a lil Domo too :)<br /><br />I got him the outfit Dexter wears to kill people (he looks incredibly hot in it), a book of photos of us from 2011, a gift card to buy some climbing gear at REI and some tools for his cool new toolbox so he can be manly and fix things.<br /><br />My birthday is Sunday and in the spirit of never being a real grown up this year my birthday party is going to be at a place called Xtreme Air jump park! My family went in together and bought me a Kindle for my birthday. I opened it by accident the other day thinking it was the Furminator I bought for Ginger and Enzo. Needless to say I was STOKED to find it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-59465664557005951222011-12-21T13:03:00.004-05:002011-12-29T12:31:33.215-05:00<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/376071_10150372425763231_645658230_8481851_1692299770_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 512px; height: 384px;" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/376071_10150372425763231_645658230_8481851_1692299770_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />My friend Shannon found a dog about a month ago. He was wandering around her neighborhood for some time so she decided to take him in and try to find his family. He was malnourished and skiddish but she did a good job of making him friendly again. She called Animal Control to see if anyone had reported him and decided not to turn him in because she didn't want to risk having him being put down. Animal control told her to post on craigslist to search for the owner. <br /><br />She posted on Craigslist and around the neighborhood looking for the possible owners but nobody responded. After about a month of searching she made the decision to go ahead and just keep him. He's a nice guy and makes a good playmate for her other dog.<br /><br />Yesterday Shannon got a call that her dog was out. Apparently the UPS man didn't close the gate fully after he left a package. Someone read his tag and called her, she was at work so by the time she called back they had called Animal Control to come get him. The animal control person was actually at the house when she called and told her that it was required that he take the dog even though she's on the phone saying she's coming to get him right now. <br /><br />Upset, she called the police station to see if there was any way they would talk the animal control guy into just letting her have the dog. They agreed and gave an address to meet him at. When she arrived he asked for her ID and when she gave it to him, he refused to hand over the dog because the address on her ID didn't match the address on his tag. Whats worse, is he actually said "didn't you call me a month ago trying to see if someone lost this dog?". He knew she had been taking care of him yet still wouldn't let her have the dog. He also threatened to give her tickets for keeping the dog and for letting it get loose again. He was condescending and very rude about the whole thing. In the end, he took the dog, refused to give her the address of where he'd be and just kept repeating "he'll be at county". "Where is county?" "Maricopa County". Seriously dude?<br /><br />Anyway. So she's gonna have to pay tickets, fees and fines to get this dog now. A dog she took off the street, tried to find a home for and fed and cared for.<br /><br />***UPDATE*** <br />Though she had to pay the fines and overnight fees from the pound, they spayed and microchipped him as well. So it ended up being cheaper than a vet visit. A little light for a very upsetting situation..<br /><br />Also, upon research of the Maricopa County Animal control she found that there was a lot of issues of not giving pets back, putting pets down and just bad customer service all around. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/12/23/20111223phoenix-man-loses-kitten-thats-his-saving-grace.html#commentform">Story about a guy that raised a stray kitten and brought it in for medical help.</a> tl;dr: The humane society took it, wouldn't give it back and put it down within hours of having it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-45622866207892800502011-12-21T11:38:00.003-05:002011-12-21T11:54:14.812-05:00I seriously have the coolest little brother.I love having lots of brothers and sisters. I love being the oldest because I got to see each of them grow up and turn into different and interesting people. The youngest of my family is Jacob. He's 11 right now and really starting to take interest in some fun things. I wish I lived closer so that I could be there to show him cool things and see what he does, lucky for us, our dad is a bit of a geek too so he encourages Jake in all his interests. <br /><br />They were a little disappointed that he didn't fall in love with sports because his older brothers seemed to enjoy them. Dad hoped he would be a boy scout like he was but Jake didn't really like that either. He likes puzzles and creating things, he likes seeing things grow and change, he likes trying things nobody else would. He's going to be something great someday. <br /><br />Jake started making videos of the things that he did and sending them to me. Dad recorded him on his old Nextel phone from work so the quality is always low. Don't worry, I got Jake something really special for Christmas so we don't have to worry about bad video anymore.<br /><br />Here are a few of his videos. I've been posting them to YouTube, I think I'm going to make him his own channel.<br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fUoEKQ9MhOo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/05ka1J545Tk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_XIlCIzAMHA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11877363.post-88520151349136079862011-12-14T11:55:00.002-05:002011-12-14T12:11:44.119-05:00We've been getting a lot of packages lately! Christmas gifts for each other, for others, from others and things we just order for everyday life. If you know me, you know how much I LOVE boxes. So Nick gets a box from his<a href="http://redditgifts.com/"> Reddit Secret Santa.</a> he has me come sit down next to him and see what it is! Oh the excitement!! He opens up <a href="http://www.worldofmunchkin.com/munchkinquest/portalkombat/">Portal Kombat</a> for the game <a href="http://www.worldofmunchkin.com/munchkinquest/">Munchkin Quest</a>. <br /><br />At first I was like omg what a cool gift I LOVE Munchkin Quest!! But then I realized...wait...<span style="font-style:italic;">I</span> love Munchkin Quest.<br /><br />The look on Nick's face was priceless. He just opened one of my Christmas gifts right in front of me!! <br /><br />Needless to say we pulled out the game and he thought he was going to beat me in it so I had to wipe the floor with him. I was an Elf Theif with 4 arms (one coming off my head) wielding (among others) the Sword of Slaying Everything Except Squid! Have I mentioned how much fun that game is?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08610158227712031224noreply@blogger.com0