December??

Where has the time gone?? I have so busy between work and school.



I celebrated my 31st birthday on Oct. 18th had a nice dinner at Kona Grill and then we went and saw Paranormal Activity.



Halloween we celebrated out in Tonopah with Shawn's brother Travis and his fantastic gf Amy. They went out all combining a couple of the kids birthdays and Halloween with a bbq, a kick ass band and a cozy bonfire.
Shelby & Grandma
Shawn & Travis


Thanksgiving we spent with my family at my parents house, sneaking away in the early afternoon to catch a showing of New Moon (LOVED IT!!!!!!).

With Christmas just around the corner it saddens me how quickly this year has flown by and reminds me yet again, how I have taken life for granted. I am so grateful for my wonderful parents and my family and friends for all of their support. This last year has been FULL of trials and hard times for me. For those who had stood by my side you mean the world to me. I know I am not always (or ever for that matter) the most positive person to deal with, but please stick with me I will get it right one day!!

Please pray for my Aunt Beverly and my cousins Doug, Jason and Sean- their family had a horrible tragedy on Monday night when Walter (uncle) suffered a stroke. He is currently on life support, in a coma (medically induced) and the doctors are going to try and bring him out of the coma to see if there is any brain activity (they are estimating that he went without oxygen for anywhere between 5-15 min). My aunt is an incredibly strong woman and has indured a lifetime of lows and could really use a few extra prayers and blessings right now.

Merry Christmas!!!

XOXO

Blanket

I finally got around to making myself a blanket on Saturday. This is the 4th blanket I have made since getting my sewing machine back in February. I totally cheated and had it finished within a few hours. I found an adorable sheet set at Target that was on clearance so I used a queen size flat sheet as the backside and on the front I had found a soft and fluffy piece that I added some patches on the sides to make it as big as the flat sheet. TADA!! As you will see in the pics, the dogs think it is for them and get more use out of the blanket than I do.

Whoops

I totally missed the one year anniversary of our little blog...oops.

Happy October to everybody, I am super excited for October. I may have already mentioned this but harvest/fall is my FAVORITE season. I love the weather, love the mood it sets and I LoVe everything that has to do with pumpkins, spice...and all the good smelly stuff that you can get at Bath & Body Works. Speaking about pumpkins...I had the most delish pumpkin cupcake the other night! My fabulous coworker Melissa (awesome hygenist...need your teeth cleaned?? come to our office...odd I know since I am looking for a new job!) invited me to her SILs cupcake tasting/open house kinda party. It was fun! And the cupcakes were AmAzInG!! I made it out the door with samples of every flavor so Shawn could have samples (told him he wasnt allowed to go, I didnt think guys were allowed...muhahaha). Definately check out http://www.mysugarmamasweets.com/ YUM! I definately recommend the pumpkin, margarita and carrot cake.

I recently introduced Shawn to Schnepf Farm, which is a few miles from our house. We discovered that they have a dang good breakfast at their Fresh on the Farm Restuarant. They have a theme for the month of October with their pumpkin patch, chili party. It's a little pricey for what it is (which really isnt much) but it was just nice to go out and stroll around. I went with my sister and her kids back in 2006 and I remembered it being a bit more fun back then, I imagine it was probably the element of having been there with kids. Regardless it is nice family event.

Today was one of those fabulous days where I didnt feel like leaving the house. I woke up to the sound of yet another accident behind the house so I scrambled to find some shoes and run out to see if anyone was hurt or needed help only to find that the sound of locked brakes and tires screeching and the impact was a jackass who was speeding and overshot the turn into the neighborhood or lost control of their vehicle. The ended up jumping the curb and hitting the stop sign which is maybe a few feet from the blockfence of our backyard. I am starting to really dislike this house, it makes me so nervous being backed up to the main road and on the corner one of these days someone is going to come barreling through the block wall and into the backyard, hopefully the block wall will slow them enough so they dont hit the house. This has got to be the fourth or fifth time that this has happened in the last couple of months, heaven forbid that the dogs be out there if it ever happens.

On another note...do you recall me sharing the story about our little visitor the white cat?? Well he has been visiting on such a regular basis that Shawn asked the neighbors if it belonged to them. Turns out the neighbor said that he thinks that the family that lived here before had a white cat and that they must of left it behind....frickin lovely! How the heck are people so horrible as to leave their pet behind and not care if it lives/dies or haunts the new family??? Shawn has "adopted" the poor thing, it now has its own ziploc containers of yummy (insert expensive) cat food that Pierre refused to eat and a thing of water. I know how lovely of him huh...I know Shawn will be reading this so I just want to reiterate....NO THE CAT CANNOT COME IN THE HOUSE TO LIVE!!!

School is dandy, as odd as it may seem for as much as I love to read, I despise writing! I am not creative enough to come up with something to write about. Today I should have been working on my english paper that is due on Monday, however I decided to make myself a blanket instead! haha I will post pictures tomorrow.

XOXO

September

Well I havent been doing very well with keeping the blog updated. It has been a very busy month for us or at least for me between school and work. Work has gone speeding downhill so I was told to cut my hours to only when the office is physically open which is seriously only about 20 hrs a week. So I am looking for a new (or old) job, I am hoping to get my job back with MPHASIS Healthcare which is where I worked before going to Oklahoma. I am keeping my fingers crossed to get back on there.
School is just dandy, already have 3 papers due and have an exam on Wednesday. Overall I am enjoying it. Speaking of school I am going to leave this post short and sweet since I should be studying.
Cant wait for fall to set in- it is my favorite season!!
XOXO

School

We have been busy little bees! I started school on Tuesday. Kind of an awkward experience that made me wish that I would have just gone to school right out of high school and finished. But as is life, when do I ever go about things the easy way???

We went to Vegas with our friends Jay and Sandi about 3 weeks ago, had a blast!! Pictures to follow...

Other than that not much else is going on. We are going camping this weekend so I will post some pictures next week.

August

We are only a couple of days into August and it is already proving to be quite a busy month for us.
I have made the decision to go back to school...finally! My dad is thrilled and Shawn is equally supportive. My goal is a toss up between dental hygiene and nursing. So far I am leaning more towards dental hygiene since dental has been my life for the better part of the last 13 years. I spent 2.5 hours at the campus last Thursday just waiting to speak with an advisor to get direction of where to start. I never applied for financial aid before and had always paid for school with cash out of (my empty) pocket which is why I never finished. I never understood the whole financial aid/student loan ordeal, but I am happy to report that I just finished my first ever FAFSA application and am super excited!!
Shawn now has Facebook...I tell you what that is another huge milestone for that guy of mine. First with the new cutting edge of technology (complete with touch screen!!)cell phone he got when we moved back to AZ and now FB...WOW honey I am super proud of you for the exposure you are stepping up to. Anyone want his old Jitterbug phone?!?!
We are going to Vegas this week with our good friends Jay and Sandi. This is the 2nd time (for me at least) to go to Vegas with them. It somehow always plays out that we go in August- one of the freakin hottest times of the year. Last time we went we thought it would be a relaxing trip since Sandi was 7 months pregnant with Lexi...HA she was insane with energy and the desire to shop, I had never seen anything like it in my life! Maybe this time our salvation will be Lexi being a nearly 2 yr old independent little girl who will hopefully refuse a stroller.
As far as my diet goes...I have lost 17lbs!!! I decided to work my diet around Vegas (muahhaahaa) and am going with a 23 day round and then 2 weeks off before starting a second round. My current goal is to stay within 2lbs of what my last weight was as of the last day of injection which was on July 26-which has not been a problem. I have been extremely impressed and excited about the results that I have already seen and it motivates me to keep going.
My younger brother Tommy (or Tom as he refers to himself) is also on a mission to lose weight and has already lost 20lbs following the South Beach Diet (I think). I am super proud of him!!!

A pic of my brother, my dad and I at my brothers wedding last year.

Kelton

Our friends Shawn & Nikki had their baby boy Kelton on Tuesday- Happy Birthday Kelton!! He is adorable and perfect! They have one of the cutest baby rooms I have ever seen they have a pirate ship, palm trees and monkies theme it is super sweet. I just finished making him a baby blanket.

YUM!!

I have just discovered the BEST salad dressing ever!! And to top it off it is FREE... as in sugar, calorie, carb, gluten and fat free so it is totally compliant with my hCG program! The only thing it is not free of is taste, I was pleasantly surprised that it was still completely delish!! I bought the honey dijon dressing, but they have a huge selection to pick from everything from ranch to thousand island, caeser, french, creamy bacon and many other flavors. As if that wasnt enough to make my day I also found their chocolate syrup which is also free of all the bad stuff. Holy smokes it totally made my day having a little chocolate syrup with my strawberries and apple. Where you ask might I have found this wonderful dressing and syrup???????? Wait for it...








SUPER TARGET!!!! I love Target!! But please try it for yourself it is made by Walden Farms.


We caught a fabulous sale at IKEA on Saturday they had 50% off on olid wood furniture!! We had been searching for a new tv stand/entertainment center, I think we made out pretty darn well!!

I also started another blanket today, however this one is a baby blanket for some good friends of ours that are going to be induced tomorrow morning. We cannot wait to meet baby Kelton!! Be nice to your momma Kelton and make a quick, painless, smooth grand entrance into the world!

Deja Vu

The cat came back. I wish I had a camera set up in the bathroom to catch what I am about to tell you on video.
I dont think Shawn fully believed me about a cat coming in through the doggy door and causing at the havoc cause he slept through it all!! So Tuesday morning he got up before me and working on some stuff from home in the living room and decided to use the other bathroom since I was still sleeping. So he is in the bathroom, sits down to do his business and all of a sudden is attacked from the white cat who was behind the commode!!! LMAO he didnt see it there and the cat was scared out of its mind meowing and trying to get out of the bathroom. Well Shawn was trying to grab it by the scruff but it was tryin to bite him so he just opened the door to let it out. Scared the crap out of him from catching him off guard with his pants around his ankles HAHAHA. I crack up just thinking about it!! Well needless to say we have been putting the dog door blocker in at night to deter our unwelcome guest. Shout out to poor Shawn who says that I never say hi to him in the post....Hi! XOXO

Random

Random is the only word that comes to mind to describe the silly stuff that always happens to us. Last night of course being no exception. Last night was Sunday (duh) and Shawn went to bed earlier than I did because we no longer have the priviledge of having a dvr (I am lost in the world without my dvr :*!) I stayed up late to watch one of my favorite shows Army Wives (you have gotta watch!!! LOVE IT!!). Anyhow I ended up falling asleep on the couch and about an hour later (bout midnight) I hear Pierre (the cat) meow and hiss. Now for those of you who actually know that I have this old cat, know that he is the most mellow cat in the world. Most people do not even know that we have him because he is not a social fella by any means. Basically he loves me and over the years has grown to love and tolerate Shawn, he adores Lily and tolerates the two boys dogs...and thats about it! K back to the story, I wake up to him meowing/hissing and it freaked me out cause last time he meowed and tried to get our attention was in Oklahoma when he caught a mouse in the house, so I automatically think that he is warning me that there is a snake or some other critter in the house. He came running to me from the kitchen and is anxiously looking at me and the pantry door in the kitchen that is ever so slightly open. I get up and am scanning the floor for snakes and get a few steps into the kitchen when this white cat comes flying out of my pantry and shoots out the doggy door. I am stunned!!! Not able to believe my eyes I go to the back door and look out in the backyard and sure enough there is a pure white cat sitting at the gate tot he backyard, sees me and jumps the gate. I figure the action is done for the night and go to bed.
Skip ahead a few hours...once again I am woken up by cats meowing and a chase going on in the living room!! Now the dogs are all up running around playing tag in the living with this cat- over the couch thru the kitchen, round the dining room over the recliner...total CHAOS!!! Finally they all go out the dog door make a few rounds of the backyard and the cat is over the block wall again. I would almost swear that this house guest of ours was my old cat Harley who I rehomed when Shawn and I moved in together because Shawn's allergies just could not tolerate the cat. Pierre followed me around all morning while I was getting ready for work acting like he lost his best friend all over again, and the dogs are on hot pursuit of this new guys scent all over the place. At least now we know that we were not crazy when we thought that the dogs had a sudden increase of appetite and chowed down 2 bowlfuls of dry. Glad to know that we filled the lil guys belly for a night or two but now the dog door is being closed off at night. As I type this Pierre is sitting by the dog door staring at it waiting for his new friend to come back for round 3. Too bad for him I prefer my sleep.
My 1st checkup for my hcg program is on Wednesday...so far it is going awesome!!! Hopefully I will be able to report back on Wed being 15 lbs lighter than I was on July 3rd when I started. As of this morning I was down 12 lbs but Friday I was down 14 lbs when I weighed myself and then did not do so well with my water and teas over the weekend. I am just curious...does anyone else have the same OCD habit as me of not trusting the scale and weighing myself at least 5x in the matter of 2 minutes??? The 1st 2-3 times usually project the same number but then by the 4th or 5th time it creeps up a pound or two so then I get pissed and step off and conclude that I should use the 1st weight that came up (haha).
I should start posting receipes as I come across them. My latest thing is making organic salsa (well its more of a pico de gallo) to eat as a side with my protein. I am craving Mexican I mean spicy flavor even tho I am able to use any herb/seasoning as long as its organic and does not include using butter/oil. I was getting burnt out on eating tomato and cucumber slices all the time. I wore myself out on wrapping my protein (chicken/hamburger patty) in romaine lettuce so I havent been eating lettuce anymore either. All I can think about is having Vegas Toast when I am done with this program! I LOVE breakfast, more so when I come across what I call Vegas Toast. Toast that is perfectly buttered and toasted just right, no matter where you go in Vegas for breakfast I swear that the toast is always to die for!! Shawn and I are going to Vegas in August with some friends- I will just be finishing the last of my 1st 6 weeks and am supposed to be going right into the Phase 3 of the program, but I will admit right now that I fully intend to cheat at that time. I am committed to sticking with the program and not cheating just in order to not feel guilty when we are in Vegas so I can eat a yummy breakfast!!!! Try and think of me being skinny!!!
XOXO

Zoe

Well I must start off by saying that I do NOT have any idea of how I forgot to mention this before (like over a week ago...) but...I got a brown Coach bag!!! YAYYYYYYY!!!! Its a khaki Zoe bag and I love it! She is safely tucked away in her duster bag in the closet. I need to find a brown wallet (perhaps I will be able to hit up the Coach outlet when we go to Vegas next month... :D) but I cannot wait for fall to come around so I can bust her out!
Thank you Shawn for the new addition I loves her!!

House

TAAAA DAAAA

I totally forgot that we took pictures of the house before we moved in not very many and not very good ones. They just show the very basics of the house the front door opens right into the living room which flows into the dining room and the kitchen is off to the right. Behind the kitchen is the master bed/bath and then down the hall opposite of the front door are the other two bedrooms, another full bath and the garage. I will have to take more and get them posted once we decorate and feel moved in. Dontcha just love the special Coach bag nook tho!!!!

I came across them today because I went out and took pictures of my new garden...well it is mine now but the previous residents started a small (3x3ish)garden in the backyard and there are two tomato plants. I havent done anything with them since we moved in because I thought for sure that they were going to die off from the summer heat. Well I was certainly wrong!!! YAY! I weeded it on Saturday and plucked an overripe one. I went to have a peek today and there are several more that are about ready....I think...I have never had a garden before so I am not quite sure when I sure be picking them. But now that the garden is started I certainly want to keep up on it and even add to it since I am now all over being organic. So please if you have tips and advice then post it up for me!!!

July

Well for those of you who follow our blog you should know by now that whenever there is a rather long lapse in between posts it means we have moved!!! HA!
We have been so busy since we got back to AZ and it was so chaotic living at my parents that I was itching for us to get our own place and start getting things back to normal. So the day before we left to go camping I was searching craigslist for a house to rent and we found one out in Queen Creek. We signed the lease the next day a couple of hours before leaving for our camping trip (Diesels in the Pines) and moved (AGAIN) by that Wednesday.
Things still have not slowed down for us yet, we have been overwhelmingly (is that a word??) on the go between us moving, helping our friends move, Fathers Day, get togethers for Shawn's shop, get togethers for our truck group, National Hotrod Diesel Assoc race in Tucson, visiting my sister and her family in Tucson, 4th of July, good old summer bbqs with friends...the list is never ending.
Last Friday one of my best friends and I started a new journey on the road to getting fit/healthy- the plan that we have started is the HCG diet. I had heard about it a few years ago but never really looked into it, but upon moving back to AZ another friend mentioned that she and her mom were going to try it. The more I looked into it the more people I find have tried or want to try it (my brother and sister in law even did it!).
First and foremost I would recommend that if you are interested in learning more about this program to go out and purchase a book called The Weight Loss Cure it is by Kevin Trudeau (you may want to order it online I had to look up which Barnes & Noble had it in stock after ransacking 2 B&N and a Border and not finding it!). I was amazed at the common sense about the plan, basically you are cleansing your body of toxins/poisons that have been consumed over all the years from pesticides, hormones and other garbage that is in foods by eating organic. Now granted this is only a piece of the puzzle, the diet also includes the hcg hormone (hormone present in pregnant women) which can be taking as either an injection or orally. My friend and I chose the injection route (we figured it would absorb better!) however my other friend that completed the program with her mother went with the oral method. She lost 14 lbs and 12 inches and is still losing!!!! AMAZING!!!! I myself just started the program on Friday 7/3 and have lost 4.5 lbs already. I must say that I am impressed more so about NOT feeling hungry than I am about losing almost 5 lbs. If you are interested in learning more please feel free to email me, not that I am a spokeperson (cause Im not!!!) but because I am sure that there are so many people out there that are feeling the way I felt about finding a program that actually works and can change your life. Eating all organic has certainly proven to not be a cheap/easy route but it is definately a change that I am willing to pay for!
Now that we have internet I will do my best to keep my progress posted- wish me well!!!
XOXO

Finally!!

We finally have all of our beloved chihuahuas home and healthy!! Choco was released on Monday but we were still having to give him iv fluids and antibiotic shots, but he is eating and keeping food in/down. Rolo is back to being our chipper little Bosie and is zooming all over the place like a normal, healthy puppy. Lily has not shown not one sign of getting sick- so I think it is safe to say that she is good to go.

We had a grand opening bbq for Ragin Diesel this last Saturday- what a blast!! We are thankful to all the great people that attended to show support from as far as Sierra Vista ( I totally fell in love with a guy from Sierre Vista, check out his picture at the bottom of this post!!) Next on the agenda is the 2nd annual Diesels in the Pines where a large group of us go camping (cabins for those of us that are too spoiled for tents) up north on the rim. It was such a blast last year that we were planning on coming back for the week even when we lived in Oklahoma.

Tonight we went to a happy hour get together for an old coworker of mine that is moving to Colorado, its so funny how you miss the people but not the crappy environment that we were all prisoners of. Oh the memories!!! We wish Jenn and Joe the best of luck and wishes in Colorado- what a beautiful family!!

Thinking back over the last few weeks just makes me thankful to be back in Arizona while enduring these trials. We have barely had a moment to stop and relax in the month that we have been back, everyday has been a whirlwind of gogogogogogo...but I wouldnt trade it for the world!

Meet my new little boyfriend Lucian (aka Lil Busa)....he is soooooo cute and hilarious lil guy we got glowsticks for the kids at the bbq it had necklaces, braclets and earrings so he decided to accessorize and kept asking for the earrings to be put on his nipples...crazy lil kid!!

Choco cont'd

On Friday Choco started throwing up one of oral medications that was supposed to coat his stomach/throat. We called the vet and they told us to go ahead and bring him in for observation until the office closed. They ended up putting him on different IV fluids and a stronger anti nausea med, but wanted to keep him for the weekend since he had not eaten. We went and visited him yesterday and he was alert and cuddled us but still wouldnt eat. As of last night he finally ate and Dr. Sherry John called us herself at 7:30pm (the office closes at noon on Sat) to give us an update that he had finally ate some food! We are just overly impressed and satisfied with Arizona Animal Wellness Center. What a wonderful group of people to have take care of your furry family members.

Last night we had the grand opening of Ragin Diesel (Shawn's diesel shop) at its new East Valley location. We had an awesome turn out and a great time. We appreciate all the support that has been received. We are in the works for planning some great upcoming events and I am sure that we will have a couple more bbq's before the end of summer!

Choco

The last two days have been complete chaos. We were able to bring Rolo home on Tuesday and all was well in the world, or so we thought. Tuesday night as we were going to bed we noticed that Choco is not acting like his snuggly self. Shawn and I both looked at each other and feared the worst...Parvo. Choco ended up vomiting a couple of times during the night so Shawn called Arizona Animal Wellness Center 1st thing in the morning and they got him in and confirmed that Choco was indeed sick with parvo :( Now do not get me wrong, our vet is THE BEST!!! But since we had not even had Rolo home for 24 hrs the vet bill was about to double and the initial $1500 bill was already hard enough to absorb so they kindly asked if we would like to try and treat him at home for a quarter of the cost. They taught us how to administer his IV fluids and antibiotic injections and the couple of oral medications that he would need. It is kind of funny but its not considering that both Shawn and I do not deal with with needles. I do better than Shawn (or so I thought) from having to give myself daily injections- but the needle I use is extremely fine and ridiculously easy to handle. While the vet tech was showing us how to inject the IV I decided that I needed to let Shawn hold my poor Choco so I wouldnt pass out and embarass him :) Thankfully Shawn did a great job and didnt bust a (cold) sweat or freak out. We managed quite well and successfully with his IV and injections last night and tonight. Hopefully Choco will be feeling better tomorrow, otherwise we may have to admit him if he is not showing signs of improvement.
Our good friend Jody underwent an emergency appendectomy today- thank heavens he is now resting and feeling well enough to send out a text stating- DONE! Like he just won a tire changing contest or something :)
I am so grateful tomorrow is Friday!!

Update

My sweet puppy is home!!! He is well on his way to recovery from Parvo. It was a long (and expensive) 4 days without having him close to snuggle. I know it must seem silly to people who do not have pets, but I can only compare it to having children.
A huge thank you to Dr Heetland at Arizona Animal Wellness and his wonderful staff for taking care of my lil guy.

Bosie

I just got back from taking Bosie to the vet and it is not good...he has parvo. They admitted him to start his treatment which is basically IV fluids and anti-nausea meds. Thankfully the other dogs here in the household are vaccinated. Please keep him in your prayers that he will get well soon!! The vet and assistant gave a pretty good diagnosis for him to recover, but the next few days will tell.

May

The last few weeks have flown by for us, I cannot believe that we have been home for almost a month!!! Things have been going well for both of us work wise so hopefully we will be able to find a house to rent soon. We certainly appreciate being able to stay at my parents until we get back up and running, but between 4 adults, 7 dogs and a cat- its a bit more cozy then I am comfortable with. The story of my life always looking for a place to live...

Bosie (Rolo) has been sick the last few days, poor thing has lost at least a pound or two which is not something that chihuahuas can afford to do, so I am taking him to the vet today to see whats up.

Shawn is having a grand opening bbq for Ragin Diesel on May 30th, we are very excited as he been busy and consistent the last couple weeks with trucks being referred. The only downside that I have complained about from day one is that people do not respect business hours what so ever and call/text at all hours, 7 days a week. He now has TWO cell phones that he carries with him at all times- I cannot even recall the last time we had dinner without someone calling him. The real test will be in August when we go to Vegas with some friends to see if he will leave the work phone at the shop. The website (http://www.ragindiesel.com/) for Ragin Diesel is up and running but still under construction, so tell all your friends!!!

I just about have Newman's blanket finished (Newman is pictured above with Bosie from our journey from OK to AZ) I just have one last edge to pin and close and TA DA....two blankets will be completed in the span of one month with my handy dandy sewing machine that I got for Valentines Day!!! There are sooooo many people having babies (it seems to be a year for boys, out of 5 people that I know that are pregnant nobody is having a girl?!!??) so I will be crankin out some more blankets in the next couple of months. I am also wanting to start a line of dog clothes/accessories!!!

The summer heat is looming, the neighbors kids are outside playing in the pools screaming at the top of their lungs...yet I am so happy to be back in Arizona but we miss our dearest friends back in Oklahoma. I keep them in our prayers that they will move to Texas soon!!! Sarah I want you to have a Target and PeiWei too!!!

Yikes

I have been awful about getting our blog updated since we got back to AZ. We have been going nonstop since being back. The round about of everything that has been going on in no particular order...
I started work last Thursday at Smiles at San Tan Ranch...LOVE IT!
Shawn has been busy with getting a small diesel shop up and running out here in the East Valley. It is very exciting because we have so many great friends here that have bent over backwards to make moving back a possibility not to mention are bringing in customers for the new shop!!!
The animals are doing great, I think they even missed the wonderful Arizona sunshine because the dogs are itchin to go out in the backyard and would stay out there for hours on end if we would let them.
Mother's Day was nice, it is always a double whammy for my family since my moms birthday is Cinco de Mayo and MD always falls on the following Sunday so we usually combine the two and celebrate on MD. This year my brother and his wife came over and Shawn grill steaks, potatos and asparagus (sp??) and threw together a salad. We completed the night with a healthy competition of Wii Sports :)
So we are still looking for a house to rent (preferrably in Gilbert!!!) for under a grand...yeah I know good luck on that huh...private party lease as we do not want to deal with a property mgmt.

I promise to get some pictures up on here soon!!!

XOXO
Miss & <3 ya Smith Family!!!

Moving!!!

We are moving back!!! I accepted a job offer while we were in AZ on vacation, we came back to OK to tie up our loose ends. My last day of work here in Oklahoma is April 30th and then we will be heading out that Sunday morning. I am so excited to come back home, it is such a HUGE relief that I cannot begin to express. Of course this also comes with great sadness of leaving the wonderful friends that we have made here in Oklahoma. I am going to miss seeing our friends children grow. It has been quite the experience for us here, but the countdown in ON!!!

Busted

Well I sure have not been doing a good job of keeping my blog updated :( We have gotten moved and settled out at our new house but our newest issue is that we now live in such a rural area that the only way that we can get high speed internet is to go with a satellite internet like hughes net and they are sooooo expensive and we just have not heard any good or even decent reviews from anyone to make it worth while.
Another issue is that Shawn was laid off. NICE. We moved all the way to Oklahoma for him to take this job and 6 months later it is proving to not being worth it. We went home last week and it really rubbed my homesick nerve. I just dont think I am cut out for Oklahoma- granted the people are nice and we have finally found a beautiful house on a nice chunk of property but things are just constantly stacked up againist us. Shawn was not about to let me go home for a visit by myself because he says that I would not have come back, and he is right. Only time will tell what the answer will be. Email me if you know of job openings!!!
I have tons of pictures that need to be updated from Shawn's birthday and our vacation but due to the lack of internet to the laptop its gonna be awhile.
Tata for now!

Done

Ever have one of those weeks when the word of the day was done every single day of that week??
Well done has been my word of the day for a few weeks now! I am done with stressing over work, money, living here in Oklahoma 1500 miles from our family and friends, but most importantly I am done with my weight. Those of you who know me either for a few months or for years have seen me go from chubby to chubbier to fat and I have just been plain disgusted with myself for a very long time.
I had about a week and a half where I was doing really well and getting up to go workout before work, and then my excuses started...Shawn was home from work, I got sick, and then I just couldnt talk myself into getting out of bed any sooner than I had to. Part of this rut and lag that I am feeling is due to the fact that I havent taken either of my medications for months now.
Today at work a fax came through about a "contest" that is being sponsored by the local hospital in Ponca City, its called the Lose to Win Challenge. In order to register you have to be in a team of four, there was a kickoff seminar that had a very inspirational speaker Sean Anderson who is a local radio personality for KLOR. I have added Sean's blog as a friend, so please check it out. I was quite impressed with his story.
Brenda, Christy and I went to check out the seminar and paid our $10 registration fee, the ride back home was buzzing with our nenewed energy to succeed. The challenge offically kicks off on March 2nd with a weigh in and will end on May 4th.
I am looking forward to the changes and challenges I will endure in the next 8 weeks, between moving to the new house and the Lose to Win Challenge I should have plenty to share so please stay tuned until I am done!!!!!

Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Shawn and I celebrated last night (since he went back to work this morning) by going to Stillwater (50 miles away) to go to Kyoto (Japanese hibachi place...yum!!!). The food is delicious and we had a good time interacting with an older couple that was seated with us that had never been before. Its funny cause it reminded me of the (oh so many) characteristics that I love in Shawn like his out going personality. Over the years we have created so many memories together one of which being Shawn's 1st experience at a Japanese restuarant, and here he was last night explaining the mood/atmosphere and menu to this couple. I love the way he cracks me up regardless of how ridiculous his jokes are. Afterwards we went to Lowe's to check out some upcoming purchases for our new home!! Yes thats right we are moving AGAIN!!

One of the hardest parts of moving/living here in Oklahoma is not feeling 'at home' at either of the places that we have lived. It has taken 6 months to finally find a place that we are both in love with and excited to make our home. There have been so many moments where I have been steps away from my truck and just ready to just leave this state and go back home, with or without Shawn. BUT now that we have found this house it finally feels like everything is going to be alright and that we will not only survive but flourish. Shawn has actually made a few comments about us getting married at the house (which I said is not gonna happen!) and how he can see us in our 60s and still living there. So...the time has come for a washer/dryer and new grill (RIP to the last grill that I got him for his birthday a couple years ago) and a couple of quads and few other toys that I am sure will come out with us living at this wonderful piece of lake front property. I am gladly embracing a new view of Oklahoma since we have found the cornerstone of our life and future here, as this house represents our future together complete with marriage and babies.

So we finally got a new camera!! It has been awhile since I have posted pictures of our babies! So here they are...can you believe how big Rolo has gotten?!!?

Sick

I have been so incredibly sick this last week- with bronchitis and just plain homesick :( I just had an hour long phone call that was soooo needed from one of my closest and oldest friends from back home. It is so funny how she always texts me when I am thinking about her!! I got an adorable pic text from her of her 2 yr old daughter, and it floored me that I had just been thinking that she would be so proud of me today since I just got home from making sugar cookies from scratch at Sarah's. I have never made sugar cookies...which is something that is so very "Kim." I met Kim when I moved into an apartment that she shared with Maren and another mormon girl, and I can honestly say that she was the 1st mormon that I had ever met that was always fun to be around, good clean fun. She makes being a good person (per LDS standards) look so darn easy!!! She is an awesome baker (made my brothers wedding cake!!), she sews and is one of the best moms I know (for someone that was afraid of having ugly babies has the 2 most beautiful children!!). Looking back on the memories that Maren, Kim and I made back at our apt on Higley brings so many great times to mind, however I was always the odd man out at the apt (not intentionally or in a bad way)...I wasnt born and raised mormon so I wasnt familiar with what was considered 'normal' and 'routine' behavior. I didnt make peach cobbler...shoot I dont think I even owned any type of baking paraphernalia. So when I texted Kim back saying that I was helping to make sugar cookies and that I got a sewing machine for Valentines Day she immediately called (I guess to make sure that someone wasnt playing with my phone since those are two things that are not what come to mind when you think of me...). She had me cracking up the entire time, regardless of the wheezing and coughing I am so grateful for the call. It makes me realize what wonderful friends I have old and new and that I am so lucky to have them in my life.

Dang!!

I swear that I have not been a slacker for the last two months!!!! My laptop was down with a broken cord that was just miracleously fixed tonight!!! YEA Nick....thank you so very much!!

I do not even know where to begin with the updates...
Christmas was good!! Shawn was lucky enough to make it home for a couple of days for Christmas. We (mostly I) moved us into a new place closer to my work.
News Years was lonely since Shawn was not home. And the puppies (Mojo aka Cash and Chunky) went to new homes :( It was heartbreaking for me and I still do not want to talk about it. We did however keep the brown puppy who has since been named...Rolo aka ZoomZoom!! We STILL do not have a working camera so the only pictures I have are the ones taken on my blackberry. I did go and visit Shawn on one of his rigs for a weekend, that was an experience! It was nice to actually see for myself what it is that he does.
We also finally got a couch!! Which may not seem like a big deal but it is to me after sitting on camping chairs for the last 5 months! Since no washer/dryer but I guess one step at a time.
Lily got spayed so we wont have anymore "accidents", as much as we love our accident we cannot handle another batch of them!

With Valentines Day around the corner I decided to try out my nonexistent crafty side and am attempting to make Shawn a quilt of denim patches from my old jeans and some flannel. In order to accomplish this task I got my Valentines gift early from Shawn today....my very first sewing machine!!! Please let me know of any secrets or tricks you may have to make my first sewing/quilting experience a nice one!!!

Hopefully from here on out I will be better at keeping our blog up to date now that my laptop will be able to charge/power up!!! Hope everyone had a wonderful new year!