12th Anniversary

I could just title this "The week of our 12th anniversary." It seems like we did something small to celebrate almost every day. On Tuesday, the first half the of Josh's gift came. I had a friend of his help me get him a few new beaver traps. I knew he would be setting traps on Wednesday, so I gave them to him Tuesday night.

 

Then on Wednesday, I took the day off. One of the things I really wanted for our anniversary was a deep, cleaned house. Josh does his best, but sometimes it just needs a woman's touch. So while he went to set traps, I clean. I finished around noon. Then we spent the rest of the day watching movies together.

 

On Friday, I came home to a dozen red roses. They smell divine!

 

 

After that, we got caught up in the excitement and exchanged gifts then. I have just started getting into the doTerra Essential Oils. So Josh told me to get a preferred membership and place a large order. I also got a book about the oils and one of the newest books by my favorite author.

 

For Josh, I got him some more stuff to use for his trapping and the 2nd book to a series he has been reading. 

 

On Saturday, the actual day of our anniversary, we had planned to go horse riding. But the night before, there had been a snow storm and we couldn't get to the horse trailer. So instead we made a delish Valentine's Chex Mix and watched movies all day.



 

That night, we got all dressed up and went to the Steakout in Altamont. (Notice my dress! I wore it to a high school dance in January 2000 and haven't been able to fit into it since. So proud of myself!)

 

The Steakout has been open for a few months, but we hadn't been yet. Luckily, a friend had mentioned we get reservations ahead of time (which Josh did all on his own). When we got there, they were packed. But when we mentioned our name, we were led to an empty table. Their food was so good and I can't wait to go again.

24. A Place You Have Traveled To UPDATE

My mom reminded me of our Park City Trips. Those were FUN! There were a few summers were we would go stay in a friends condo and then ride the Alpine Slide. This would've been back when you could actually afford to, I've heard its gotten pretty expensive. I think that is one of the reasons we didn't continue that trip every summer like we had been doing before. One year we also went on a horse ride. My brother was too young, so my mom stayed behind with him while my sister and I went on the trail ride. It was pretty neat. And for some odd reason, I also remember people telling me that year that they loved my hair. Not sure why that memory sticks out the most...

I guess in my vacations post, I was only thinking about big vacations. But we had lots of fun mini vacations too. Each year we went to Lagoon, and most often we went at least twice, sometimes more. We'd usually go with my mom's family. Then later in the summer my dad's employer would've give him tickets for the family, so we'd go again. :) During that second time, Lagoon was usually running their "bounce back". You had to validate your ticket, and then you could come back for free (or half price, I can't remember) a few weeks later. We'd usually go as a family the 1st time, but then we would only validate some of the tickets. Then we'd go to the other end of the park and sign our friends names so they could come with us the next time. ;)

I also remember camping a lot, until our family outgrew the camper. The last time I remember going, my brother slept in his car seat on the stove. I think one of those trips is where I said my first swear word. (Again, another odd memory to have.)

24. A place you have traveled to

I wish I had pictures to go with this post, but I don't think I do. Josh and I aren't big into traveling, so we've never gone too far from home. But we are planning a cruise to Alaska next year and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to make up for the lack of pictures on this post.

As a kid, my mom was big on vacations, so we went on one about every year. Sadly, mostly all I remember is fighting in the car, fighting in the parks, fighting in the hotel. Well, you get the point. I think that is why I don't like traveling.

Nevertheless, here are a few of the non fighting memories from those trips.

I was young the first time we went to Disneyland. There was just me and my sister at that time. We drove all the way to California in my dad's truck with a camper in the bed. I don't remember this part, buy my parents relate it often. They had prepped us for a long time that the trip would take us 2 whole days. TWO DAYS! We left home and headed down the road. They stopped in a town only 30 minutes away where they told us that we were there. We were pretty disappointed after seeing the town of Duchesne. What I do remember from that trip was the truck lost a hubcap and my dad had to look for it on the freeway. And I remember the ride "Its a Small World."

The 2nd time we went to Disneyland, we went with half of my dad's family. My grandma wanted to take all the grand kids, but the family is so big, she decided to split it in half. She took the older grand kids and then a few years later took the younger ones.

The highlight of that trip was meeting Belle. We went to a restaurant in the park where some characters walk around the tables and Belle was supposed to be there that night. But she somehow got held up and we ended up waiting FOREVER to meet her.

One year my family went to the Black Hills. I don't think my parents planned it on purpose, but we ended up going during Sturgis. The closest hotel we could find was in Wyoming. I've never seen so many motorcycles! I don't remember much else about the trip, except that just about every morning we ate at the same place because it was so good! I think it was call Perkins, but I can't remember.
Another year we went to Yellowstone. I'd love to go there again with Josh. But we have conflicts on when to go. He wants to go in the fall when the elk are bugling, but that is also the same time he usually hunts. Hopefully someday.

The only big trip we've been on since we got married was to Lake Powell. I LOVED it. Josh endured it. We went with a friend and his two younger sisters. I loved living on a boat for a few days, the tubing, all the water fun. Josh is not so much a water person, unless we are fishing, but we didn't do much of that. I think the only part he enjoyed was a nap he took on a sand dune. We had hiked up a canyon one day and made it to the sand dune. He slept while the rest of us played in the sand. He still talks about the nap and how wonderful it was. I don't know if we'll ever go back, but I'd love too. This trip has actually led to a dispute. We both want a boat. But Josh wants a small fishing boat while I wanted a much larger boat.

Josh and I aren't completely boring, we just both seem to prefer to stay close to home. We both enjoy camping and try to do that every year, even if its just for a night. We also try to go somewhere new every year on our anniversary. I think my favorite place we stayed was a Bed & Breakfast in Cedar City about 6 or 7 years ago. It was the cutest place and they were running a special so we were able to stay in the honeymoon suite for half the price. Last year we talked about going again, but the place is no longer there.

Now we are looking forward to Alaska. I can't wait!

17. The story behind one of your scars

I have a scar on my right arm, close to my elbow. Its about 1/2 inch wide and 1-1/2 inches long. When I was about ten (or twelve, or, I'm not sure, but younger), I had a wart there, but it was always sore. Probably because I would pick at it. It finally got real bad where is was very tender and a little bloody. My mom took me to the doctor, and he got us all freaked out that is was some kind of skin disease. I was allergic to something, and we needed to figure out what it was, probably a perfumed body soap. (I'm probably over exaggerating, but I was young at the time.)  He gave us the option to either freeze it off or cut it off. He said if we froze it, it would probably come back. If we cut it out, then it wouldn't. So we had it cut out.

No wonder I'm so scared of doctors. Between that and the time a nurse made my IV squirt across the room, I don't like needles! Sadly, the scar is bigger then the wart ever was, about twice as big. We did go see a specialist AFTER the wart was cut out, and he told us it was a wart, why didn't you just freeze it? If only....

Josh cooked lunch & dinner today

I love the weekends because Josh usually ends up doing the cooking. I love to cook, but I also love it when he cooks. Today we did a little bit of housework and then I fell asleep on the couch while Josh did a load of dishes. When I woke up, it was to a beautifully cooked lunch, Burritos. (He also added ham into his burritos.) They were so good!

While eating his delicious meal, we talked about how far our cooking skills have come over the years. I think he meant MY cooking skills. During the first year we were married I tried to copy a dessert dish from one of my favorite Mexican restaurant, a chocolate chimi. I didn't think it would be hard. You take a chocolate bar and wrap it in a tortilla and then you fry it in oil, and in my case, smoke us out of the house. I still not sure how I did it, but when cooking the chimi's, the house got so smoky we had to sit outside for over an hour to wait for it to air out. At the time Pyro was still strictly a "house cat" so we took her out with us and set her under a laundry basket. While living in that house I also tried to make chili once and it tasted just like refried beans. It was YEARS before I tried to cook chili again.

Tomorrow Josh's family is going up the mountains for a picnic and his mom asked me to bring a dessert. I decided to try my hand at Snickerdoodles. We started breaking cookies in half just to have an excuse to eat them. :) I posted the recipe I used on my cooking blog HERE.

Josh also made dinner, Mexican Chicken Strips. They were so good! The recipe called for Fritos, but I don't like those chips so we used Doritos instead.

I saw this bird while sitting at my computer working on this post, so I thought I'd take a picture and include it in the post. :)

Formspring question answered - Childhood memories

What are some of your favorite memories from childhood?

Here is a random sampling of the things that come right to mind.

Selling pumpkins with my dad. I always looked forward to October so we set up his stand. I think that is when I decided I wanted to be a secretary. I liked helping people pick out the perfect pumpkin and then counting back their change. But, I did not enjoy wedding said garden. I also remember a few times I would get up early and go help my dad change the water lines. It was towards the end of summer when the watermelon were ripe, so we would have that for breakfast.

I loved playing Barbie dolls. By far, my favorite thing to do growing up. :) Who knows how many late nights we stayed up playing all night. I remember my friend and I used to think that we would be old ladies, hiding in our attics, playing Barbie.

I think the funniest memory is when we went to Disney Land the first time. I remember two things about that trip. The "Its a Small World After All" ride and on the way down, the hubcap fell off of the truck and I can remember my dad looking for it on the side of the interstate.

I loved playing in the ditch by my grandparents house. When it had water in it, we would wade it in (it only was a few inches deep) and when it was dry we would make sandcastles.

The alpine slide in Park City. My mom had a friend who had a condo, or worked for a condo, I forget that detail. But we would go spend a weekend in Park City and do to the Alpine Slide. That is back when they didn't charge you per trip up the mountain, but instead you could buy a day pass and go as many times as you wanted.

We went to Lagoon every year, usually 3 or 4 times. I loved it! They used to take your picture right inside the park, and then you could have it made into a key chain where you looked inside to do the picture. We always seemed to hit the bounce back and if all of the family couldn't come the second time, we would sign our friends names instead so they could come with us.

Ask me a question on Formspring. Also be sure to view my page there, I'm not posting all the questions and answers on my blog.

A few updates...

I HAVE MY CAR BACK!!! I picked it up Thursday night and I am so happy. I missed it so much. Every day I would frantically look for my car keys thinking I had lost them! I am trying to make sure I don't hit any more deer.

We have not heard back from the possible adoption situation. I debated all weekend about calling them, but it really was a bit out of our comfort zone cost wise, so I've decided to let it sit. If we hear from them we will move forward. I know several people think we should pursue this further, but it doesn't feel right. But it was fun to submit our paperwork. It made me feel... excitement. At least I now know someone has seen our profile. Also on that note, I just looked at our Parent Profiles info. Our letter has been viewed almost 1000 times! Our contact us page has been view 85 times and we've even been added to someones favorites list twice! At times I feel like it is a waste of money, but we are going to continue to keep it running. I also want to thank everyone for their prayers last week. They were defiantly felt. After we mailed our paperwork I thought I would be a wreck wondering about it, but I felt so calm. Thank you so much. We are still pondering something else at our home so please keep those prayers coming!

I am trying (but not hard enough) to give up soda pop. On average I was drinking 2 cans a day of Diet Dr. Pepper. I am drinking lots more water and so far I have managed to drop to one soda a day (with my lunch) and I have been able to give up Diet. Dr. Pepper for...

AND

Sadly, I am not impressed with my results. But I promise that once I run out of those to increase my efforts. I don't want to quit cold turkey and I am telling myself that I can still have one on special occasions, like dates (fun) and dividends day at work (not fun), than maybe I can really do this.

Truthfully, I did quit once. It was years ago. I went 18 months without carbonation or caffeine of any form! I even had a Dr. Pepper that sat in my friend for 13 of those months before I finally threw it away. My employer had a machine out in their shop and for months I begged the Pepsi guy to put Country Time Lemonade out there. Seriously MONTHS! Finally he did. I walked out with my two quarters and came back with... Dr. Pepper. But if you had to work there you would understand I why I needed to be drugged in some form. Even if it was only a soda.

I think I am finally figuring out this blogging thing. So far I have 6 comments on my Attention kittens post. I want more! Please leave a comment, even to just say hello. I want to get at least a dozen comments. Also if you are following my blog, be sure to click follow. I want to see my readership increase! If you have anything you would like to see me blog about, just let me know. I love to talk and I love to write!

25 Reasons I Owe My Mother

This is so funny, and yet so true! *I should add that this was an email I received, it's not actually written about my family, but still there was so many I could relate too. See my notes at the bottom.
1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE .
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."
2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."
3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL .
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
" Because I said so, that's why."
5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me.."
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
7. My mother taught me IRONY
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA..
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"
13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father!"
15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING .
"You are going to get it when you get home!"
18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE..
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way."
19. My mother taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
20. My mother taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT .
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"
24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."
25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you.
----
In regards to #3 - when we would travel, my dad would tell us to go to sleep so he could drive really, really fast. He told us that if we stayed awake it would make us sick. I'm sure my parents enjoyed those quite drives until we figured out he was lying to us in hopes to get us to sleep so we wouldn't fight.
In regards to #10 - my mom never made me eat spinach.
In regards to #15 - my little sister used to get mad and declare that she didn't like our family. My dad would always tell her that if she had been born elsewhere they would have named her Milicent Mugwump Magilicuti! I have no idea where he came up with that name, but it usually shut her up!

My favorite Christmas picture

I took this picture in 2004 at Josh's family Christmas party. I think it is my favorite picture ever. This is Josh's dad's parents and I love them so much. Grandma was the first person to welcome me as a part of the family when Josh and I started to get serious. I will never forget the summer that Josh left to fight a forest fire and grandma hugged me as we were leaving (I was taking him to the meeting place). There was so much love and acceptance in the hug. I was so sad when grandma passed away. I loved her so much. At times I am jealous of Josh that he got to spend so much time with her growing up.