Spooky Birthday

Happy Halloween! Cyndi and Pat had their annual Hein Halloween Party. This year it was on the night of my birthday.

Laurie and James -- James loved this costume!

Brandt and Tanalie

How would you feel if a room full of strangers was singing happy birthday to you? I was the party pooper that didn't dress up.

James and Katie -- show no fear.

Time for USU football!

Words can't describe the persona that James is portraying in this picture. It screams "hick". Please admire the hat though. James found it at the DI, unstitched the previous logo, and painted the "A" on it. Go Aggies!

I swear he likes me more than just a shopping partner.

Long story here: Christy and James were friends at Oakridge. Apparently they hooked up once. She worked at Uinta Academy with me, and now we all hang out. Don't worry, she is married and has a kid on the way.

This made history! USU beat BYU! Suckers!

James was still giddy a couple of days later.

In other news, the townhouse is underway to be sold. It was suppose to sell back in August, but silly taxes weren't filed correctly. It should sell anytime this month. James and I moved into the apartment complex he works at. It's very nice to have discounted rent and to see him more often. James is in his last year of school, thank goodness! And, I'm in the process of applying to grad school. I'm very nervous about this! What if I don't even get into my backup schools?! Stay tuned!

Dedication to "Kitty Galore"

But first, what's another picture at a baseball game? I swear, this summer I have tripled the amount of baseball games that I have watched in my life. We received free tickets to a Bee's game so we took Kinta and Jeremy with us. Kinta is from Australia which also happens to be where James served his LDS mission. I wonder what they talk about while trying to convince me to move there.

She meows like it's life or death if she doesn't get her milk. Here's the cat drinking the remnants of the milk that she clawed and attacked us for. Not really, she just climbs over every limb of us to attempt to get it.

Who doesn't like king crab? We have created a monster by allowing her to eat human food.

Where's Abby?

We call this her gopher stance. She has really strong hind legs and it's amazing to see her development.

Who says cats don't like water? She has even showered with us. Whenever we are at the sink for any reason, she wants to play or drink water. She is such a snot now, because she won't drink out of her water bowl.

Summer...

Happy 4th of July! James and I spent the evening with his family in the USU football stadium to watch the fireworks. I'm a bad wife for not remember this aircraft, because James says it all the time, but it was pretty cool to watch how close it flew across the stadium.

Oh, in the life of Abby the tabby. She certainly loves to get into things. I've found this kitten on top of our double towel rack not knowing how to get back down. The places she explores is remarkable for how small she is. She is smart to figure out how to get to her destination but is dumb on how to get herself out of it. I've googled her to figure out what breed she belongs to, since a tabby is apparently just a coat coloring. I've come to the conclusion that she is a Eyptian Mau with maybe a little Ocicat in her. It's amazing the terminology that a person develops by watching animal planet and surfing the web.

She is delightful to have around when she is sleeping. Between the two pictures of her, you can see the transition between the PC and Mac.

Leaving Logan to visit....

Los Angeles....This is the original power plant to the Edison Electrical Company that was converted into an underground club.

The club manufacturered the original light bulbs and displayed them around the club. The chandelier was my favorite.

The Rotating Lounge. It was fun to see the cityscape of LA.

Michael and I. We have to represent the "coolness" of the clubs in LA. It was awkward.

Its like the gates have opened in heaven for James!

I have proof of Michael in a baseball cap, lol.

James caught a home run ball. It really is heaven.

Joanne and I. I'll miss her, but she is moving to Phillie for grad school.

Happy Birthday Mom! I love the misspelling, it makes it that much cuter.

Changes...

Will the townhouse ever sell? I married the right man who knows how to fix any problem in the house. First the dishwasher and than the oven broke. We have continued to try and do little (but major looking) updates to the townhouse. We replaced everything that was gold and put silver and oh man, does it look ten times better.

James and I met up with his ENTIRE family to attend a Bee's Baseball game.

I'll be honest, I was baby hungry until she came into my life. Her name is Abby and she is six weeks old. James wasn't thrilled about the idea since it was completely random. We were at Summerfest and James read aloud "Free Kittens". He claims to regret the fact he read it out loud, but he melted the moment he held her. His mood changes daily, depending whether or not she pees in the litter box or on our comforter. I keep telling him that she is much easier than a baby even if she woke us up at 5:30a.m. the first morning together.

Didn't you get the memo about wearing red with military cargo? James is such a trend-setter with his nephews and cousin Scott. This is the second time this month.

In the beginning of May I went down to LA to visit my mom while the rest of the family was in Europe. Sadly, to report that after the doctors had done a few more tests, they found that the cancer had spread to her ribs and she started chemotherapy this week. Boo! Other than that the trip was a success. As you can tell I'm standing with my HS friends Kristen and Joanne with Mary Poppins. The only reason why my poster was as proper as it was, was because she told me to stand up straight. You have to listen to Mary Poppins!

I wish had the before picture but the dresser looked nothing like this. Once again, James sanded down the front of the drawers and put new ones on. I love it and it's a solid piece of wood!

Happy Birthday James! Our awesome brother-in-law Patrick aloud us to take his precious Harley out for a ride. Don't we look cool in our motorcycle jackets, lol! James did feel cool however, because he had the chance to give other bikers the super cool hand signal.

You should of seen the shock on his face! "I have to think about this. I need to go mow," were his exact words. Don't worry, we still have it. Happy Birthday baby!

And so it's begins...

I was nervous all day yesterday. I spent a good portion of time outside of the house to keep my mind off the fact that my mom was having surgery. I think James was doing everything he could yesterday to please me. Since we completely forgot about fast Sunday we opted to fast yesterday. James and I both agreed that each time our bodies reminded us that we were hungry we remembered why we were fasting. Due to my hunger I eventually ate a whole Costa Vida salad and some Aggie ice cream. I would say yesterday made my "top 3" on the list of opportunities that I've been to the temple. I immediately called my family the moment we got out. My mom is "stage 2". The surgeon found cancer in the lymph nodes, but the doctor is positive that things will continue smoothly. I'm very anxious and scared to go home in two weeks. I hate being so far away.

The good, the bad, and the ugly...

This is how James spent his Saturday down in Clearfield. The backseat and all the side panels had to be taken out so that he and his dad could rewire everything.

Give James another day and he wouldn't have been acting silly about the project.

Happy birthday Patrick! Dress up as someone over the hill! James is dressed up as his gay uncle Bob. That's really what he wears every day and in the summer time replace the sweatpants for shortie shorts. Laurie, Eilyn, and Cyndi are all dressed up as their Aunt Rula.

Getting into costume is one of my least favorite things to do, let alone spending money on something that I will only wear once. So, I looked through my closet and found an outfit that resembles my mom . I put on gold earrings, bent my hair under, and put on a pair of glasses that I haven't worn in years. You can't see much of the outfit since it was freezing in the garage but both James and I looked at each other and said wow. He wasn't aloud to kiss me or do anything that night because he looked and acted like a creep.

Happy birthday Gerik and Brandt! We always make fun of Gerik because he has the "bee stings" for me. All I have to do is bat my eye lashes and I can get him to do whatever I want. Brandt is becoming even more handsome these days. Girls are already giddy over him.

And, this is a tribute to my mom. I wasn't there for this tribute but that doesn't make this cake any less funny. Only my brother Michael could get away with it. Sadly, the situation isn't funny at all. I think this will be more of a journal entry than a blog, but here goes....If I could just stop crying...I need someone around so that I can put up a front...My mom has breast cancer and it was found in both breasts. I've always hated being so far away from my family, but this just sucks. I'm in Utah and there is nothing I can do to help. My mom has done everything within her power to help me over the years and there is nothing I can do for her. James and I were already planning on going down to California in July, but oh my gosh, that needs to come sooner. It's good that I'm writing this because I just put up a front whenever someone asks, and I think I have cried more while trying to write this than during this whole circumstance. I love you mom!

February wasn't too chilly...

It's amazing what marriage will change about a person. I used to hate fish but now I'll even eat crab legs.

James was having fun pushing the tendon inward so the claw would move.

Happy Birthday to Dick and Frank!

Katie, Frank, and Brooke

There has to be a God...

Story time: So, yesterday at work I had two girls that were struggling with their emotions. I took the girls to the gym to give them a chance to work some steam off. One of the girls that was struggling decided to "just leave". I followed her and tried to do some teaching so that she wouldn't run. Luckily there were other girls around that I could tell to inform the other family teacher, but I was going to be on my own. The other family teacher had the other ten girls to worry about. So the girl that was "leaving" left the gym with me following behind her (I don't have a coat but yet a purse on my shoulder). A lot of time passes and a lot of teaching has occurred (with no such luck of changing the circumstances) and finally we have walked to one of the busiest streets in Logan. At this point in time my house manager has arrived and another family teacher that happened to be in that area of Logan are cornering us. The girl reacts and runs into the street (she had been threatening this the entire night). S***! I can't tell you the profanities that entered my mind at that point in time. So, what do I do....I have to run into the street to attempt to restrain her. The house phone falls out of my pocket and my purse goes flying and luckily lands in middle of the street. Here is where there has to be a God, because I had no time to look for on coming cars and the other family teachers had to do the same thing. Somehow we make it to the other side of the street, get our business done, put her in the van, and go home. When we arrived back to the house I saw what the phone looked like and it was demolished. We all hated that phone anyways. The rest of the night was still rough. I was soo emotionally drained by the end of the shift. I love my job, but I'm so glad I have today off to recuperate.



Not the actual phone, but R.I.P little phone.

Good News!

No, I'm not pregnant. I've got even better news! So, James has been working for Oakridge STUDENT Apartments for about five years now and hates it. The maintenance man at Oak Meadows MARRIED Apartments (both owned my Triton) is quitting and James is taking over that position. Why do you say this is good news? Because we will live there as soon as there is an opening and not only is there a employee discount but a even bigger one for an on-site maintenance man. How much do you say? Half the rent??!! DONE! We are so excited! We thought of this as a great opportunity to be able to spend some money on ourselves for once, but as agreed by the both of us, the extra money will go into savings. I told James that this is why we pay our tithing, because he wants a truck after his precious car dies and who has the money for that??!! Well this extra money will definitely help out and James is meant to have a truck for future contracting. It will be so nice to be on the other side of town, because that's where everything is located. James won't have to drive to work, neither one of us has to drive to his work or home to have lunch, and its a shorter distance to my work.





In other news, Happy Valentine's Day! James was so sweet. I could care less about the holiday, but James will do anything to spoil me. Roses and a hand-made necklace holder for me and a bag of circus cookies for him. Thanks babe! You are the world to me!

Home Improvements

A bonus of James working at Oakridge Student Apartments is that we can utilize the jacuzzi.

Skiing/snowboarding the "Beav"

James is so handy! There was a piece of furniture that I found at Downeast Outfitters and he took an old piece of furniture and sanded down the drawers and glued new ones on to match the one that I found. All of the furniture will have the same notches. I know, it's hard to see since the room is poorly lite, but oh man, I love the contemporary look!

I love Ikea! This was my problem solving technique to battle the lack of room to hang multiple towels without the bathroom looking cluttered. And, the rods move!
The bathroom has a bad floor plan with doors on both sides of those rods.

James built this in the closet

The combination of the above and below photo make up the "real" master bedroom = guest/office room. The floor plan in this room wasn't done well either.

We sleep in the second bedroom.

I don't know what the official name of this room is, but I will just call it the entertainment room.

The dining area. We received the table for free! Thanks Christy! I hated the old one which had captain seats and it was very outdated. This one has a country home look, but anything is better than what we had before.

Downstairs bathroom

We were going to originally buy the townhouse, but with a stipulation on the tax credit it wasn't going to work out. There was a lot of added changes we were going to make, but we will reserve that for something else. I love this place and I will be sad when it finally does sell.