Olivia and Anthony

It's About Time...

2012-01-28T14:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, I admit it, I am horrible at keeping this blog up to date. I wish our lives were more exciting, but alas, we tend to do the same things most days. I will however, attempt to make our humdrum lives semi-entertaining for your reading pleasure.

Our little Wyatt is quickly turning into quite the young man!! He is now 7 months old, (closing in on 8 months) and is such a happy, entertaining, hilarious kid. At 5 months old, he FINALLY rolled over on his own. Once that happened Wyatt had the "I can do anything" attitude. A few weeks later he started sitting up on his own, and now he's taken to conquering standing on his own! We keep telling him he needs to crawl, and despite the fact that he has energizer bunny legs (seriously, they NEVER stop moving), he doesn't believe us that crawling is the solution to all his problems. We've discovered that he's a little chatter box as well. He started saying "ba-ba" when he was 5 or 6 months old, and he's progressed to pa-pa, ya-ya, and just this morning he threw in a ma-ma!! It's not just the talking that's got us cracking up, it's how he says things. He'll scream "BA!" at the top of his lungs, then immediately afterwards he'll whisper "pa-pa" under his breath. He also does this thing where he'll stiffen his entire body (from head to toes) and grunt and it just cracks me up! We can already tell he's going to be a class clown...which is entirely fine as long as he gets good grades. :) When he was 2 months old, Wyatt had a pretty noticeable flat spot on his head. The pediatrician send us to see a specialist, and Wyatt was 'sentenced' to 3 months of wearing a helmet. At first, it was a bit awkward trying to get the helmet on and off, but we all got used to it quickly. The specialist is out of Salt Lake, and only comes to town every 3 months or so, and our second appointment was about 2 1/2 months after we got the helmet. We were told to expect to keep the helmet on for another few weeks, but we lucked out and Wyatt wears the helmet no more!! Enjoy the brief photo montage of our man!

Anthony has managed to find a new job, hooray!!! He starts at Centurylink at the beginning of February, and he's so excited! The job pays great and has amazing benefits that are available to our entire family. This is a job unlike anything he's done before, so we're both anxious to see how things work out.

As for me, I've been busy being a stay at home mom, taking pictures, building websites, and doing lots of other side jobs to help bring some money in. Over Christmas my friend and I baked Pistachio bread for people to give as gifts, and it was CRAZY!!! We sold about 100 loaves in a little over 2 weeks. Our kitchen was converted into a bakery for pretty much the whole time, and trying to wrangle Wyatt, the dogs, baking bread, and keeping up on the housework was incredibly difficult. We'll see if I make it again or not... I under went surgery 2 weeks ago to fix a few things from having Wyatt, and I'm just about back to normal.

Other than that, things are pretty average for us!

Our Little Man

2011-08-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

Thought you all might like to see some video of our little Wyatt.

Newborn Pictures

2011-07-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

Hooray! We finally got our newborn pictures back! These were taken when Wyatt was exactly 2 weeks old. Enjoy!

A Quick Word

2011-06-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Despite what everyone has told me, I am taking some time while Wyatt is asleep to give everyone a quick update on our life now before I nod off myself.

Everyone keeps saying what an adjustment parenthood is, but so far we've found it to be fairly easy. Perhaps that's because Wyatt is such an awesome kiddo. Up until the last 2 days, he's been a champion sleeper. He had a couple of nights where he refused to sleep unless either Anthony or I were holding him, so I ended up sleeping in the Lazy Boy in his room (not the most comfortable bed ever), but he's started sleeping through most of the night now. He wakes up a couple times to eat & let us know he needs changed, but then he's back out like a light.

And he's a joy when he's awake! He loves to look around with his wide, bright eyes and take in everything he can. If he fusses, it's usually just for a second until we pick him up and then it's right back to being content with life. He loves having his toes and feet played with as well as when Anthony bounces around 'singing' to him.

Everyone was worried about how our animals would adjust to Wyatt (we never were), and they just love him...especially the dogs. When he cries at night Lucie actually beats me to the nursery door and stays in the room as long as I'm in there. Usually I have to practically drag her out of the room! That's no surprise though. Lucie's loved kids since she was a wee pup and we knew she'd be wanting to sleep in his room; we were actually debating on how long it would take. Regan has taken to him just as well. We actually have a hard time keeping Regan from giving Wyatt endless kisses whenever he's within her reach. Lucie is the same way, but she listens a bit better when we tell her to stop :) And Wyatt eats up the doggie love too. Not once has he cried or anything when the dogs flock to him.

I'm afraid I haven't had time to load any of the pictures I've, taken onto my computer, but I'll post them as soon as I do.

He's Here!

2011-06-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

Our little boy is officially here! My water broke at 9:20 Saturday night, and things went very smoothly. After panicking just a bit because I couldn't reach my doctor or Anthony, it was into the tub for me. Anthony was out paintballing at the time, and didn't have his phone on him. He called a little while later and asked if "everything was copasetic", so of course my response was "not so much, my water broke". He freaked out a little bit and rushed home. It took us a little while to round up a few loose ends and drop the dogs off at Anthony's parents house, but we got to the hospital about an hour later...just in time for contractions to start.

I was in labor for about 10 hours, pushed for about an hour total, and our little man was born at 7:19 a.m. on Sunday, May 29. He was 6 lbs 5 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. It took us a couple days, but we finally landed on the name Wyatt David Lemons. I'll be sure to post more pictures once we get more.

37 Weeks

2011-05-19T15:59:00.000-07:00

Only 3 weeks left until our boy's expected arrival. I can't believe how fast it's gone by! I started training my maternity leave replacement today, and I still can't get over how close my due date is! It seems like this pregnancy has gone by in the blink of an eye.

I had my 37 week check up today, and according to the doc I'm about 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced...which apparently doesn't mean much at this point, haha! She did seem pretty surprised by this however, and also mentioned that baby's head is waaaaay down in my pelvis. So, fingers crossed for a baby soon!

Almost There!

2011-05-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official, I am 36 weeks and in the final countdown for our baby to be here. We're both so excited to meet our little man! I've cut back on my work hours since I've started to get so tired, and after eating a bit of lunch, followed by a decent nap, I spend a couple of hours organizing the nursery in preparation. Everything's a bit squished in there at the moment, but I'm sure it'll all come together nicely. :)

Maternity Pictures

2011-04-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago Anthony & I had our maternity pictures done by my photographic hero, Sara Renee Murray. My original plan was to fly to Tennessee, visit the fam, and do the pictures with Sara at the same time. After much research & deliberation, I figured out that traveling by myself while 8 months preggo probably was the best idea. So Sara being the wonder she is, flew out here to do the pictures & a shadowing/mentoring session with me (she & I did a portrait session with her explaining certain photographic aspects & then we edited some of the pictures together with her teaching me the tricks of the trade). We had such a good time while she was here! Anthony & I both felt like we had known Sara for years, rather than having just met her, and now consider her to be a good friend. Anywho, here are some of the amazing pictures she took! And for those of you wondering, I was 31 weeks when these were taken. It's hard to tell, but I've grown quite a bit since the last picture I posted!

Oh yes, and I would be remiss in neglecting to mention her website so you can all see her amazing work! www.sararenee.com

20 Weeks and Growing

2011-01-17T17:04:00.000-08:00

Exciting Times

2010-10-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Seeing as I'm home today, I thought I'd take some time and update our little blog here. Life has begun moving at a tremendous pace and we've both found ourselves struggling to keep up.

Of course our biggest news is that we're having a baby! And the way we found out is possibly the best pregnancy story we could have ever come up with. At the end of September, the cyst I managed to grown in June became extremely painful. I had been seeing an OBGYN in town for a few months about it, and the pain finally became so great she couldn't ignore it any longer. So I went in for surgery, completely prepared to be done with all the cyst & abscess problems I'd been having for the last year. After being admitted, I was in the prep room with my mom when my doctor came in. She asked my mom to leave for a minute, which I was expecting, and then told me my urine test had come back positive, which I was definitely wasn't expecting! I had just taken a pregnancy test & it had been negative. Even after seeing my lab results, I was absolutely convinced someone had mixed up the urine samples, or results. I mean, it happens all the time, right? I was sent home, cyst fully intact, and a head full of questions. As soon as I got home, it was into the bathroom for me with another pregnancy test. Three minutes later, low and behold...

the hospital was right! I told myself I could wait a couple hours to tell Anthony in person. 5 minutes later I was on the phone, hoping he would actually answer. When I told him, his first reaction was, "How??" And then it was, "You're making me tear up at work". The next day I had my first ultrasound to verify the results, and although it was early, there was a definite baby growing! Last week we had another ultrasound to get a better estimate of how far along I am, and we got to see baby's heartbeat! The doctor put me at 6 1/2 weeks (7 1/2 now), and said I'm due June 9. We're both so incredibly excited! We've got so much to get ready, just like any first time parents, but it's all so exciting to us!

Our other big news is that we became first time homeowners at the end of August! With such incredible interest rates, we figured it was the best time for us to buy a house. After looking around at stuff in our price range, we figured we'd be best off buying the house we've been renting...and then we didn't even have to move! So at the end of August, we all signed papers and Bang! we were responsible for a mortgage instead of rent! It's still kind of hard for us to comprehend...the fact that we own the home instead of just living in it. But we feel so grown up now, buying a house, starting a family...and it all happening at once as well.

Other than that, things are pretty much the same. Anthony's still working at Lemons House Moving, and I'm still at ReMax. Fortunately, work for Anthony has picked up in the last few weeks...now we just have to hope it stays that way. He also applied for a mechanic's job at a nearby shop, and we're really hoping he gets that as well. It would be so nice to know his work schedule in advance!

I'm going to do my best to keep this updated with baby stuff for all you who are dying to know (I know there are a whole 5 of you ;) so keep checking back!

It's Our Crazy Life

2010-05-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

And we'd go mad if it were any other way. Haha! I finally have a bit of downtime (as I type this the dog whines to be let out and I am forced to watch the neighbor girls practice their Spice Girls routine while waiting for Lucie to finish up) and thought it would be good to let people in on our goings on.

Christmas was a wonderful occasion, and someday I will finally post my pictures. Both Anthony and I were spoiled by Papa and Pat with gifts from our family farmhouse in Ohio. Both of our parents spoiled us rotten too with shopping cards, various treats and a new TV (which my blind husband practically begged for), and Anthony surprised me with a new hard drive for my already full computer. Now I can work on my pictures and videos without having to delete stuff first! :)

Anthony has had a bit of a slow year so far. Lemons House Moving hasn't had consistent work for quite some time now, which has meant Anthony has spent many months molding on our couch playing video games. As much as he loves playing assassin, he gets bored pretty easily by now. His brother Brady got him into bulking up just before Christmas, so going to the gym to put himself through his paces has been incredibly enjoyable for him, plus it gets him out of the house. Now that the weather has started leaning towards spring (don't worry, the weather is calling for snow showers tomorrow...this is Idaho after all!), he's able to get out of the house more often. Last fall he started playing Disc Golf (golf with Frisbee's) and is stoked to be getting out on the courses again. On a non-work, good weather day he'll go 3-4 times a day. It makes me laugh how entertained he is by the sport, but it's been really good for him. Work at Lemons has picked up in the last week too, and that's been a blessing as well, however it's still not consistent work. All the jobs they have lined up are contingent on the owner having money, and we all know that's a bit scare. To suppliment some income, Anthony and Brady are starting up a window washing service. My mom made the comment that clients are always asking for referrals, so the boys jumped all over that idea. I'm hoping to get some pictures of them doing their thing once they start up.

I've been dealing with health problems for the most part. In November I found a lump that started to get fairly painful, and I finally caved and went to the doctor. The lump was a Bartholin's Gland Cyst, which is a gland that has clogged for some reason. I won't mention where the cyst was, but let's just say it was painful to sit, walk, or wear pants. Typically the cyst will surface, much like a zit, and the doctor is then able to lance (make a small incision) the cyst & it goes away. Most women don't even feel this kind of cyst, and if they do, one lancing will take care of it permanently. But my body had years of bad health stored up & put it all into that one little cyst! After two lancings, the cyst still hadn't surfaced & was causing me severe pain, so we scheduled surgery. The surgery went well, and I was recovering pretty well, until I went in for my 2 week post-op check up. The cyst wall had grown back, causing the cyst to grow back. We tried lancing one more time, but to no avail. Back to the OR I went, just one month after my first surgery. This go around was much more difficult in all aspects. The surgery was more difficult and intense than the doctor thought because of scar tissue from the first surgery and the depth of the cyst. My pain was far more intense throughout the process because of that, and my recovery was painfully slow. To add to the difficulty, about a month and a half ago I had an abscess form in the same area just as I was beginning to feel and walk better. My doctor lanced it once, and then it ruptured on it's own just before she lanced it again (which saved me about $300!) but as of right now, it is still hanging around and causing problems. I can wear pants (depending on the day), but I still have problems sitting and can't ride a bike. On the plus side, I managed to get a different job while recovering from my second surgery. I'm now working in the Re/Max office for Steve and Shawn Anderson. The job is part-time right now, but I'm hoping to get to full time very very soon. Last week I worked over 40 hours in their office, and worked in Dad's office for about 7 hours. Needless to say, it was a long week. But I really enjoy working in both offices (I help mom out if she needs help and I have time). There's a constant variety of jobs, and I'm learning all sorts of stuff about Real Estate that is bound to come in handy some day!

Other than that, it's business as usual. The animals are still crazy and pester us every chance they get, but we can't help but love them. I figure I should post at least a couple pictures, so below is one for Anthony, and one for me. Anthony took his himself, and it's one of my favorite pictures of him ever, and mine was just after my second surgery and my blood pressure was going nuts. Look for Christmas pictures soon!

Seems like years ago Part 2

2010-01-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

Back home, life has returned to normal...for the most part. Just after we returned home from the trip, I had a wonderful gift. My car! As you all know, my car's timing belt went bad last December (just before Christmas), and Anthony has been rebuilding the engine since. We ran into MANY snags along the way, including a guy in Salt Lake screwing us over on a major part, but my baby is finally fixed, and I couldn't be happier!

One of the random events we experienced just after coming home was our crazy neighbor, who I have dubbed Arson Man. One Friday night he came home early in the evening drunk (yet again) and grazed the side of a neighbor's car. I witnessed this event and watched his car sit high centered on the curb in front of his house, thinking to myself "that seems about right". A short time later he apparently got in another public fight with his wife, culminating in everyone leaving the house. But Arson Man was not yet done. He returned home to an empty house, and for some reason thought it would be fun to light their house on fire, then quickly leave. He was later picked up by the police for getting in yet another accident while drunk. Let's sum up: in one night this man managed to get in two accidents (one being a hit and run), got charged with a DUI, and oh yeah, tried to burn down his house with the animals inside. He wasn't charged with arson, as far as anyone knows, but everyone in the neighborhood knows he did it. Hence the name. :)

My life has most definitely taken some interesting turns in the last few months. I am working as a Data Entry Specialist for a records management company, and have been for quite some time now. This was supposed to be a temporary job, but since Hallmark fell through, I have stayed on for a lack of better job. It's a DULL job, and I hate it, but it's a job and it's been kind of interesting learning about mortgages. Just before we left on our trip, I was told that I wouldn't be given the time off I needed, and was advised to give my two weeks notice so that if need be I would be eligible for re-hire. I was exstatic! There was an end date in sight! The next morning I was called into an executives office, and told that I was too valuable to the company to let go, and they were giving me the time off I needed. I just had to do some paper work. Ok, so the end date was no longer in sight, but at least I didn't have to look for a new job. A plus, I guess. About two weeks before we left, an upper level job opened up, and thinking, "what the hell?" I applied. Low and behold, I got the job above some of my coworkers who have worked for the company for years (literally). And once we got home, I was told that I was also getting more of a raise than originally agreed upon. So not only did I get a promotion I didn't really care about at a job I desperately want to leave, but I got more money for simply having common sense. The irony is so thick it nearly knocked me over. I still despise the job, but at least now I'm getting paid almost a decent wage for it.

Anthony has been out of work for almost a year now. A job will come up every so often, but there hasn't been consistent work save for 2 weeks this summer. So he's been bumming around our house and keeping the animals company; working when the odd job pops up. Unfortunately for us it's better that he stays on unemployment than find a part time job that doesn't pay half what he normally makes. So he tries to find things to keep him occupied, or get him out of the house to prevent cabin fever, but it's been so long that the activities are running thin. In the last month his brother has gotten him into weight lifting, which has been really good for him. It gives him something to focus on and gets him out of the house for a bit everyday, but now that Brady's gone back to Utah it's hard for him to motivate himself. We all know that working out is much more fun if you have a buddy! Otherwise he basically plays video games, either alone or with his friends.

Our endless routine has made both of us a bit restless, me more so than Anthony. As of late we've been searching for things to change up our routine, but in a city like ours, that's difficult to do. Now with Anthony being out of work for so long, we're looking into the possibility of moving somewhere else. Something I've been wanting to do since we were married. Our plan was to only stay here for one year max, but circumstances have forced us to stay longer. If Anthony can find a good job somewhere, anywhere, we're gone. So everyone keep your fingers crossed that something wonderful comes up! Lord knows that after the year we've had, we could seriously use a break.

Seems like years ago

2009-12-06T08:47:00.000-08:00

All right, I confess. I have become horrible at updating our blog. In my own defense, when I started this I had much more free time on my hands, and that's not such the case anymore. However, I know you all crave knowledge of our happenings, so I will once again plop myself down in front of my magical computer screen and wow you with tales of our lives.

Perhaps the most exciting thing to happen since the last post is that we took a trip (albeit a short one) to visit my grandparents at the end of September. Anthony's never met most of my family, so I was extremely excited for the interactions as well as seeing my dear grandparents. There were some bumps along the way in regards to my job, but everything smoothed out just in time for us to run to the airport and settle in for a week's worth of travel.
For those of you who don't know, I have a set of grandparents in Ohio and another in Tennessee. When we get the chance to visit (typically every other year or every two years), we usually fly into Ohio, stay there for a few days, then drive down to Tennessee, stay a few days, and then drive back up to Ohio for a day or two before flying back home. Bouncing back and forth can sometimes be exhausting, but so worthwhile. Oh yes, and we usually visiting during the 4th of July, so it's scorching hot and humid like you wouldn't believe. Most of the time I have to spend indoors because the heat and humidity make me so sick. This was the first trip we've taken since I was little that wasn't in the middle of the summer. This is the first east coast Fall that I can remember, and it was wonderful! A bit chilly at times, but the changing leaves and refreshing breezes were fantastic.
While we were in Tennessee, we did something that we've never done before. In nearby North Carolina there is a privately owned mountain called Grandfather Mountain. The brochure talks of wild animals that roam the area and of a mile high swinging bridge. The bridge is what caught our attention, and of course, it was decided that we MUST go. So up the mountain we went in search of bears, mountain lions, and a mile high rope swinging bridge. Imagine our surprise when reaching the first stop on the mountain we found paved walking trails, a nature museum, and a parking lot. We all shrugged and decided to stretch our legs for a bit and headed down the "hiking" trails. Not far along a sign sprung up in front of us. "Cougar exhibit to the right. Otter exhibit to the left." I'm going to assume you're all intelligent people and know that Otters do not live on mountains. Our curiosity peaked and off to the otters we went. Turns out that the "wild life" roaming the area is actually a very small zoo placed in the side of Grandfather mountain. You can even feed the bears, and they do tricks for their treats! Although a bit disappointing, we still enjoyed the animal area. But then it was off to the mighty swinging bridge where we would all face certain death. We drove up to the very top of the mountain (a steep a windy road), piled out of the Pimp-Mobile (did I mention we were rolling in a baby blue Lincoln Continental? Oh yeah. That's how we roll.), and began the climb to the bridge. The view was breath-taking. You could see almost the whole of the Smoky Mountains, and learned they weren't called that without reason. The family stopped for a quick photo-op out on some rocks, and while Anthony and I were doing our own pictures, everyone else decided to tempt their fate upon the bridge. Now when you think of a swinging bridge, you imagine an Indiana Jones-type bridge right? Made of rope, sags in the middle, only enough room for people to cross single-file. I was so incredibly disappointed to find that our death-defying bridge was actually a walking suspension bridge made of metal. It barely even swayed! Coming as far as we had, we decided to complete our adventure by crossing the bridge and traversing across rock to the tip of the mountain for an unobscured view of the valley.
Not long after that, we set our sights on Ohio. It was my Papa's 80th birthday this year, and my grandma Pat had been planning a big celebration for months. A good portion of the family came into town for the festivities, and we bunked up at a little bed and breakfast for a few nights to clear out rooms for Uncle Bob and cousin Nan. The house we stayed in was built by Pat's brother (hope I got that right) and was really cute, with a wrap-around porch and a Chapel built just off the house. The couple who bought it had decided to retire, but loved the area so much that they wanted to share it with other people. So they dug out a huge chuck of ground behind the house and made a pond that looks out to the fields behind it. The weather was too cold for us to go sit out there, but just looking at the pond from our window there was a sense of peace that overtook you. Unfortunately, the house is fairly old, as are the pipes, and the water coming out of the faucets reeked of sulfur. Anthony and I learned the hard way to open our window when someone was taking a shower so that our room didn't start to stink. But the people were incredibly sweet and we sincerely appreciated their hospitality. I actually felt kind of bad that they had gone to so much trouble and all we did was sleep there. We were out the door as soon as we woke up and only came back at the end of the day.
One of the things that I had to show Anthony was Eerie Lake. So we all bundled up against the wind and made our way down to the deserted shore. One a good day, you can occasionally see Canada on the other side of the lake, or a big liner cruising along the horizon. There weren't any ships out that day, but we spent a long time strolling along the shore, shouting stories to each other and examining the types of debris we could find. Anthony made a collection of golf balls at one point. A whole arm-full! One of our traditions is to walk along the shore collecting any seashells that we can find. At one point we did run across a group of birdwatchers, braving the cold and the spray from the waves. Even though it was freezing, it was so nice to visit "our" lake, especially since we had the whole beach to ourselves. Usually the beach is overrun with people and seagulls.
For Papa's party, a local firehouse was rented and we spent a few days getting everything ready for the party. The day of the party, everyone went to the hall first thing in the morning to set up the tables and chairs, and then returned later in the afternoon to get the food ready and blow up all the balloons. My aunt got helium tanks for the balloons, and Anthony, Nan and a few others decided to experiment with putting balloons inside of balloons. Eventually they wound up having far too much fun with the helium and we had to remove them from their inflation post. ;)
The party was such a good time! I saw more family in those few hours than I have in about 12 years...not even joking. All the brothers made the trip for the party, as well as several cousins, Pat's family and friends from church. And the food! Oh the food! There was so much of it! And we had to make a table just for the pies! I'm not much of a pie person, but even I was drooling obscenely over that particular table. At the end of the night we had a balloon releasing party for the hundreds (literally) of balloons we had inflated. Everyone piled out of the hall to cheer the balloons on their journey into the night sky.
Even our trip home wasn't without incident/excitement. Not many of you know, but I have an intense love of Cheddar popcorn. Normally the only time of year I can get it is around Christmas, when Walmart has those tins of popcorn. So while Strolling through the Cincinnati airport the aroma of popcorn wafted into our nostrils. Idle curiosity and hunger drove us to the stand and I was beyond elated to discover the stand not only sold Cheddar popcorn, but it was the BEST Cheddarcorn I've ever tasted. I quickly bought the biggest bag they had and smuggled it onto the rest of the flights home with me. My kind of souvenir!

Fair Time 2009

2009-10-17T05:21:00.001-07:00

So I promised you all a fun (or at least a non-depressing) post this time, and here we go.

Every year at the beginning of September the Idaho State Fair comes to town, and it is possibly our favorite "holiday" ever! It's a ridiculously huge event, and everyone from towns all over South East Idaho come at some point during the week that it's open. There is a petting zoo for the kids, tractor displays (of course), art exhibits, sales barns, 4-H demonstrations, horse shows, comedy and hypnotist acts, a demolition derby, etc., etc. The best part, however, is the FOOD!!! Anthony and I will go two to three times every year just so we can sample all the food we want. There is a massive food court in the dead center of the fair with hundreds (literally) of food stands. Most of the food you can only get during the fair, and everyone has their favorites. One classic that EVERYONE loves are Tigers Ears; giant scones sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and slathered in honey butter. I'm drooling just thinking about it...

This year our dear dear friend Messina came for a visit right around fair time and brought our little neicey Bailey with her. So on a Saturday morning we loaded up the Suburban with Jared, our friend Ross, Messina, Bailey, Anthony and myself to take our long awaited trip to the fair...

After taking an afternoon siesta, we went back to the fair that evening sans Ross, adding my parents. We went to the early hypnotist show (which was pretty good, I have to admit, if not a bit tame because of the audience), and after wards hit up the food stands before touring the art exhibits.

Mixed berry funnel cake. Well worth the 30 minute wait.

This is the grand champion cake. That's right, this is an actual cake. You can smell the fondant.

Bailey reeeally wanted to talk to Pop Pop Mike about something and decided to climb over the table.

This is a mostly eaten Tigers Ear.

The Inevitable Truth

2009-08-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

It is quite incredible how time can get away from you. I am amazed at how the days will drag, but the weeks and months fly by. At this point in time, Anthony and I are giddy with excitement that the Idaho State Fair opens next weekend, and that means one thing. Food, food and more food. I am in fact so excited that I had a full blown fantasy about tearing into a behemoth roasted turkey leg one of the fair booths provides to the hungry fair-goers. Rest assured, once we enter the fair grounds and lay our hands on one of these mouth watering creations, another post and picture will come along.

Truth be told, I have been dreading this post, and have been finding any possible excuse to postpone the inevitable. This year has been a bit rough for Anthony and I, and no one wants to be a downer, but I've had many requests for an update, so here goes.

In December, the timing belt on my car went bad while it was sitting in the driveway and managed to cause all sorts of damage. In fact, the damage caused was so bad that we've been rebuilding the engine since Christmas time, and are still working on it. Anthony is amazing and knows how to work on VW's, so he's been the one doing all the work, while I've been paying for the parts and anxiously awaiting the return of my car. My parents have been incredibly generous and have let me drive one of their cars this entire time so that we didn't have to pay for a rental. Anthony's got the engine completely rebuilt, but the engine has been making a mirade of noises ever since, and it's working out those little kinks that's been taking so long. Hopefully we've figured out what's been causing the latest ticking, and once that's fixed I'll have my Jetta back. Keep your fingers crossed!

One of the other things that happened to me personally is that I've had to job-hop since November of last year, and it's been extremely difficult for me. I was working for a property management company at the beginning of the year and I adored everything about the job. My co-workers, my bosses, the hours, the work, the office...everything. At the end of January, the owners announced that they were selling the business and would be closing their doors at the end of the month. It gave my co-worker and I approximately two weeks to find new jobs. This was difficult for me because I was going to be out of town at the beginning of February, and who is going to hire someone who has to take time off immediately? It pained me to say good-bye to the job, and I still wonder what might have happened had they stayed in business.

I decided to wait to find a job until we'd come back from Florida, partly because I had a tentative job offer. It came as no surprise to me when the job offer fell through, and I began hunting for a job. It took me just over a month to find a job at a company called Qwest Communications. I was working at an in-bound call center as a Customer Service and Sales Associate, which is something I'd never done before. The job paid extremely well, came with benefits and we had weekends off, so I figured I could tough it out until August, when we would be moving. We were required to take 10 weeks of training, at the end of which we were evaluated and either cut loose or offered a job on the floor.

Training was incredibly boring at first. Much like being back in Junior High where the teacher lectures for hours on end and then you're given busy work and homework. Except I was getting paid, of course. It took a few weeks for the group to get comfortable with each other, but once we all opened up it was a blast! Our class got along ridiculously well and I looked forward to work each and every day, and was a bit sad to leave every night. As much as I loved my co-workers and the office however, I could not handle being on the phones all day.

At first, I had no problem. Talking to people has always come naturally to me, so striking up conversations with people who called in was a real treat for me. I would come home with crazy stories for Anthony every night, and I spent a vast majority of my day laughing. One lady I talked to was the first operator in the U.S.! She had incredible story on top of incredible story. (One of them involved Arsinio Hall) Another gentleman entertained me for two hours with Irish folk stories and recommendations on books to read. My trouble started two weeks after I started on the phones, I won't go into details, but suddenly I was having a serious internal struggle with working for the company. My breaking point came when a lady called with a major problem that hadn't been handled properly, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help her. Being yelled at for an hour straight first thing in the morning isn't the best or easiest way to start your day. After that, it was all downhill, and I began desperately looking for another job.

Thankfully I did find another job and was able to quit Qwest. I'm now working as a data entry specialist for a records company. The work is dull beyond belief and requires no active brain function, but at least it's a job. Technically this is a temporary position, so I've been searching for a job for months with no luck. I'm praying something will pop up in the very near future.

On top of all my job problems, Anthony's been having troubles too. His company hasn't had any work until about three weeks ago, and there has been talk of closing the business. In the meantime, Anthony's been claiming unemployment, but because it's taken so long for the company to start working again, his unemployment for the year has run out. Now we're panicing about what will happen this winter when the company doesn't have work yet again, and Anthony doesn't have unemployment and I'm working a job that couldn't support someone living with their parents and not paying rent. The scooter shop Anthony was working at as a second job closed down a few months ago, so his alternative source of income has run dry. Our hearts go out to our friends who owned the shop, but our concerns are beginning to mount.

And finally, to the news I'm most ashamed to tell. Anthony and I were supposed to be moving to Massachusetts right about now so that I could attend the Hallmark Institute of Photography. All year I've been talking with the financial advisor and filling out mountains of paperwork in an attempt to get as much financial aid as I could for school. When it came time to get the loans I needed, I found out I would need a co-signer other than Anthony in order to get the loans. We talked to my parents for a long time about the school and the loans and asked if they could co-sign. After checking on a few things, my folks weren't able to co-sign on a loan of any amount because of the business. I was (and am) absolutely devestated. I've been looking forward to this adventure for 10 months or more, and suddenly we're staying exactly where we've been for the last two years. It's taken me a long time to get through the mourning process, but I haven't given up hope. My goal is to attend the 2011-2012 school year, and until then I'm trying to get a job or an internship with a local photographer. There is a girl who just graduated from Hallmark, who is an incredible person and has been helping me from afar with my photography and giving me priceless advice. Check her out at www.sararenee.com. She is truly amazing!

I apologize for being such a downer, but like I said, I've had requests for an update, so it had to be done. I promise that the next post will be an upbeat one with lots of pictures!

4th of July

2009-07-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

We had such a busy 4th this year! Most years we take it easy in the morning and most of the afternoon, and then wander down towards the river as it gets dark to watch the fireworks. This year, we were up before the sun was.
At 4:45 we were up and getting ready for a big morning, which turned out to be a big day. At 5:45 we left the house packing a couple cameras and a video camera, and walked to Tauphaus Park, which is about 6 or so blocks away. This little outing is something that I'm fairly used to, but Anthony was not enjoying the fact that we were up so early on his day off. At the edge of the park, there was a marathon getting ready to start, and further into the park was our destination. I was a genius and had decided to wear a new pair of sandals, even though I knew what we would be getting into. Once we hit the dew-riddled grass, I rolled up my pants and off came the sandals. Five steps in my feet were no longer attached to my body and I was seriously rethinking my decision. I got alot of grief for going barefoot through the park at 6 a.m., that's for sure. On the plus side, I figured out that if I stood still long enough, my feet quit hurting and warmed up enough for me to stop thinking about them. Surprisingly, there was a group of people already crowing around the van and trailer that I was headed for. You see, every year my dad's office launches a hot air balloon from Tauphaus the morning of the fourth. Last year they had problems finding people who wanted to take a ride. This year they had so many people they launched the balloon 3 times, giving 3 or four rides each launch. This morning, Anthony and I were to experience the extraordinary treat of a ride in the balloon. It took about 30 minutes or so to get the balloon completely inflated, and for the first riders to get in the basket and take off. For anyone who's never seen a balloon launch, it is one of the coolest things! You would never think that such a giant balloon would fit into a tiny bag, let alone carry you!
For the first launch, we were part of the balloon chasers. There wasn't much of a breeze that morning, so it took a little while for the balloon to go anywhere. Darren, the driver, finally set the balloon down in a cul-de-sac of houses.

One of the home owners came ambling out of her house to watch the commotion, but rather than looking amused or awe-struck, she just looked pissed. Which none of us could figure out. From this point, Anthony and I ran to get in the basket, threw ourselves in, and off we went! The feeling that washes over you up in the air is incredibly peaceful. All the noises of the city disappear (with the exception of a few barking dogs who thought we were the end of the world) and you experience a view of the world that is completely unique. When you're on a plane, yes you get to overlook the city (for the most part), but there's all that background noise of the plane and people coughing, babies crying...in the balloon, there was an undisturbed 360 degree view and it was so quiet we didn't want to speak. Because there still wasn't much of a breeze, Anthony and I got the longest ride. We were floating south of the city, which is all farm land, and just happened to be an area the chasers couldn't get to us, so we had to stay up in the air. After about 10 minutes or so, we caught a slight southernly wind, and the first place we could see to land was behind the Corona plant (yes, Corona as in beer). We watched from 100 feet up as the chasers pulled into the drive and were abruptley stopped. Our radio crackled and we heard, "Hey Darren, there's a security guard here." Silence. "Yeah. He says we can't go back there." Darren replied, "Tell him you have to get the balloon." Silence. "He says nobody goes back there. I don't see a gun though, so I think we could over power him."
We decided not to get the guard fired, and we wound up landing in somebody's front yard and switching riders/chasers. It was about 9 a.m. by the time we got home, and seeing as we'd had such an eventful morning, we treated ourselves to breakfast at Smitty's (a local diner known for it's coffee and breakfasts), followed by a stroll through the farmers market where we stumbled upon some mouthwatering raspberries and strawberries. Naturally, they came home with us.
On the way home, our friends called to see if we'd like to check out the parade with them. We figured, we live just down the street, why not? So once home it was off to the parade. We haven't been in a few years, but not much has changed since our childhood. We were most amused by the...ahem..."dueling" club, decked out in their finest Renaissance gear and toting plastic swords around. One guy even had a bow and arrow, which he continually shot the dueling fiends with.
By the time the parade ended, Anthony and I were a bit worn out, but Anthony's brother Brady had just come back from a month in California, and they wanted to spend some time together. So Brady, Brady's girlfriend, Ross and Kevin appeared at our house not long after we'd come home and we meandered over to the neighborhood park to play a bit of ultimate frisbee. Unfortunately for us, the 4th was the first truly warm day of the year, and it wasn't long before we were all dripping sweat and desperate for a cool down.
Off to the sand dunes we went, piled on scooters, in order to play in the canal that runs along one of the borders. Anthony had set up a tree swing a few days earlier, and was dead set on getting his brother to jump out of the tree and into the canal. The thing about the sand dunes...there are horse flies. Everywhere. Some years are worse than others, but Brady and I started getting eaten alive the instant we got to the dunes. Needless to say, the two hours spent at the canal were less than thrilling for me. The last of my bites is just now disappearing. Sad, huh?
I was I could say that Anthony and I just kept on trucking and made it down to the falls to watch Idaho Falls' spectacular fireworks show. Alas, the day in the sun had taken it's toll. I rented my scooter out to Jared for the evening, and was in bed at 9:15. Anthony wasn't far behind.
Despite conking out early, it was the most enjoyable 4th we've had in many years. We did something we've never done, spent the entire day with friends and family, and had actual activities to participate in.
For anyone who's interested, here's the video from the balloon ride/launch that morning.

Disney World Adventures

2009-02-25T07:28:00.000-08:00

Last year Mom turned to Anthony and me and said, "Would you guys rather go to Costa Rica, or Disney World?" so last February, it was off to Costa Rica for 10 days of adventure in the "wild". Mom's compromise was to hit up Disney World THIS February.

So on February 3rd, we arrived in Orlando to explore the "wilds" of Disney mania.

Our airport experience was definitely interesting. Our instructions were to go to the B-side of the terminal and find the Disney transport center. Once we figured out the terminal in question wasn't the area we were currently in (which wasn't what our Disney map told us), it was onto the train and into the main terminal. We were good little sheep and followed the crowds (baahing the whole way) all the way down to the parking garage. Hm. No Disney inside, no buses outside. Back into the airport, up a floor and back outside. Buses! Hooray! Standing in line for one of the many MANY Disney buses lined up, the driver tells us we have to go back inside to check in with Disney. Back inside we trudge. All six of us. Dragging our luggage. And feet. Finally, the Disney resort check-in is discovered! (Is that a Mickey glove on that guy's hand? He must use it to lure all the innocent children over..) We follow the perceived "lines" towards the awaiting buses..only to hit a dead end before we reach the magical doors leading outside. The *ahem* "friendly" Disney workers shove us back behind the ropes, order us to wait, and refuse to answer any questions we may have. We finally make it onto the bus, and it's onto the "Magical World of Disney".

Now, for those of you who have never had the pleasure of navigating through a Disney park, let me clarify. Wilds is NOT an understatement. People are EVERYWHERE. Children running away from their parents, parents screaming at their children to "get back here or we're not going to see Mickey!" while dragging a stroller and their other child behind them to fetch the run-away, people posing in the middle of the street (or sidewalk) for a nice Kodak moment, and tourists. Lots and lots of tourists. You can usually spot them from a mile away. Their the ones who are roaming around the park decked out in Disney from head to toe. We even saw one guy (had to have been at least 50) walking around in a LEATHER Disney jacket.

Despite all the mayhem, we had a really good time. We stayed at the Disney Polynesian Resort, and had easy access to all the Kingdoms while we were there. Not to mention food. Lots and lots of food! Checking into the hotel was torture. Dinner was served right above our heads, and the luscious smell of cooked pork wafted into our nostrils.

We headed right into the Magic Kingdom once we were settled (after stuffing ourselves with pork of course!).

And now for the pictures!

Our arrival at the Magic Kingdom

Mom actually went on all the rides this year!

We tried soda from countries around the world. China and Mozembique were the best.

Mom and Dad starring in their own video game.

Eating dinner in Japan just before Cirque du Soleil.
The boys spent an afternoon driving race cars.Our last day there we headed to Blizzard Beach.

We saw Giraffes while on safari in the Animal Kingdom.

The incredible wall of swords.

Had fun playing with Segways in Epcot.

Froze while waiting for the Tower of Terror (which Mom went on).

Look at the size of those Koi fish!

Me and the old man in Italy.

Mom and Dad in Epcot.

Brady's pretty good at amusing himself.

Just doing my thing.

Waiting in line for the much dreaded Expedition Everest.

Checking out the Zebras before dinner at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Wandering through the streets of New York. Or was that San Francisco?

Christmas and such

2008-12-29T11:23:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting to give everyone an update on our lives for a while now. Seems like everytime I get a chance to sit down at the computer something else comes up and I decide to wait, just a teeny bit longer. Next thing I know it's been a month!

Well, we had a very good Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with Anthony's family and our good friend Ross. Linda brought home a bingo set, so we all played bingo for extra prizes. And for the first time in my life I won! Until then bingo and I had an ongoing feud. Why? I'm not completely sure. But I wound up with a case of Dr. Pepper (the perfect prize for me)...which Anthony promptly lost out the bed of the pickup on the drive home. Oh well.

Christmas morning Anthony and I spent together. As usual, we spoiled our animals with treats and toys...turns out cat toys are apparently husband toys as well. We got the kitties a laser pointer so they could get some exercise in the winter months. Anthony's hand has been attached ever since. In his words, it's the best Christmas present he got this year. Not really sure how I feel about that. Haha! I had a wonderful morning watching the cats go crazy over the lazer pointer and enjoying my grandma's fudge while watching A Christmas Story.

Later that night we headed to my parents house for our traditional Woods/Hicks get together. Now that Jessica and I are both married it has transformed into the Woods/Hicks/Lemons/Dixon party. Still just as fun though! My mom likes to come up with a fun dinner idea every Christmas, so this year we had a Mexican buffet; fajitas, tacos, salad, rice...pretty much any Mexican food we could think up. Dinner was followed with Mom's holiday Jello dessert (anyone who hasn't had it is missing out) and many rounds of MarioKart on the Wii.

It was a wonderful Christmas Day to be sure.

On to the updates...
Anthony is still working for his dad and at the scooter shop. Business has slowed down significantly at both places however, so Anthony took up soccer to keep preoccupied. He started playing with a couple of friends this summer and decided to join the indoor league once winter hit. Unfortunately the indoor season isn't very long, but he had a great time playing while he did. We're both eager for the outdoor season to start so he can stop complaining of boredom at home. ;)

As for me, I've had a few major changes happen in the last little bit. First, I no longer work at Great Harvest. It's been an adjustment, but looking at things from a distance, I now realize that I was quite miserable...at least for the last little while. Thankfully it only took me a week to find a new job, and I am really enjoying it. I'm now a secretary/office manager for Open Spaces Property Management. The job really is much more suited to my personality. My bosses just expanded their business and are in the process of setting up the Idaho Falls office. So I got to come in here and set things up/organize things so they would make sense to me. Not to mention I'm beginning to thoroughly enjoy real estate; took me by complete surprise!
The second change for me was that we had to put my family's cat, Stripes, down the Monday before Thanksgiving. I did and am still having an extremely hard time adjusting to the fact that when I visit my parents he won't be there anymore. However, he was 16 years old and was having an incredibly difficult time surviving day to day. It's hard to accept that it's time to put a loved one out of their misery, but it really was the kindest thing we could do for him.
Well, after a streak of bad Mondays, good news finally paid a visit to the Hicks/Lemons household. I was accepted to a top notch photography school! The acceptance brings with it the most drastic change Anthony and I have experienced so far. The school is in Turners Falls, Massachusetts. So, come late August/early September...East Coast, here we come! We've both had a hard time wrapping our minds around the concept that we ACTUALLY will be moving. Before everything was hypothetical. Now we HAVE to figure out how to pack up all our belongings and drive them, plus two cats and a dog, clear across the country. I'm beyond excited though. We'll be living about three hours from both New York and Boston, so we've got some road trips planned already. Obviously, it's still a long ways off, but we've started planning already.

A Week in Denver

2008-10-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

It's been over a year since Anthony and I had the fortune to take a trip just the two of us, so when my best friend Jordan invited us to Denver we jumped at the opportunity. Normally we're only able to visit for about three days (one day to drive, one day to play, one day to drive back), so this time I forced Anthony to take time off so we could go for a week. How else were we going to see New Found Glory and International Superheroes of Hardcore play twice?

Poor Jordan had school and work the whole time we were there, so most afternoons we were on our own. The first day we were lumps...and I loved every minute of it. I haven't been able to just sit and stare at walls in FOREVER. In the rest of our downtime we spent a great deal of time at the malls, eating loads of food, going to amazing shows, having actual dates....basically enjoying our lives. One thing we got to do that we've never done before is visit the Denver Aquarium. Jordan is always raving about the place, it's right up my alley and Anthony's never been to one before, so spending an afternoon there was a no-brainer.

We also went to Estes Park one day to visit the Stanley Hotel. (For those of you who are out of the loop, it's one of the most haunted spots in America..also where "The Shining" was filmed & the inspiration for Steven King's novel.) Anthony and I have been wanting to go to this hotel for YEARS, and it was definitely the highlight of our trip. On the way there, Jordan warned us that it was a private hotel & that we may have to sneak onto the grounds in order to see anything. Karma was smiling upon us however, and the hotel was having two weddings and an open house so there was no security what-so-ever and we were able to explore the inside of the hotel. The hotel itself is absolutely breath taking, but every so often the hairs on your neck will stand straight up & you feel as if you are intruding. It was the most bizzare feeling. The next time we visit will be to stay the night inside the hotel.

Sun Valley

2008-10-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

At the end of August (whichever holiday that may be) Anthony and I joined my family, Jerri and the Jones for the annual car auction in Sun Valley. Most years Garth and Nancy manage to come back with at least one car, and the last few years dad has come home with Corvettes. Anthony and I needed a break from small town life and figured it was a win win situation. So everyone piled into the trailer-pulling 'Burban and bounded off to a weekend full of exhaust and classic cars.

Turns out it was a good weekend to go.

Garth and Nancy did in fact buy a car...a 1958 Chevy Impala (the boat if you will), Anthony and I found our dream car (Audi Quattro wagon) and best of all, we "bumped" into Bruce Willis. As fate would have it, old Brucy bought the 'Vette both dad and Garth had their hearts set on. But when a movie star walks up to a car, looks for a second then says to the auctioneer "I'll take it", there's no competing with that. Despite Nancy's best efforts, Bruce would not trade the Corvette for the Impala. So late Sunday afternoon the gang gathered our things, squished into the boat for the ride to the parking lot...and scratched our heads as to how this monster of a car was going to fit into the car trailer.

Oh yes..did I mention a VW Thing is my ultimate dream car?? (Yes Pa, it's so ugly it's cute.)

A General Update

2008-09-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

Anthony and I have been incredibly busy for the last three weeks. From August 9 on we've been going non-stop, but we've been grateful for the distractions.

The weekend of August 9, Anthony was in Pocatello for another auto-x. The day of practice runs brought a surprise for Anthony. His race tires wore through the day before the race, which meant he had to run his street tires for the weekend. Street tires aren't as sticky as race tires, so cornering is much more tricky.
While Anthony was racing I was in town getting ready for a fashion show. Earlier in the week I was getting my hair done & one of the stylists asked me if I wanted to be in a fashion show that Saturday. Why not? So I spent all Saturday practicing my runway walk & being pampered. It was so much fun! I don't care that it was a small town thing, it was such an experience! Despite my schepticism, Anthony left the races early to come watch the show. My stylist put my hair into a frohock for my second outfit, and the crowd was so shocked I could hardly keep from laughing!

The following week was full of preparations for our friends' wedding. Kate and Sam decided to get married at my parent's cabin in Irwin, ID & I was their "wedding planner". In reality, Kate did most of the planning herself. I was just backup for anything that might have been overlooked. We headed to the cabin Friday night & Saturday was all about the wedding. Sam plowed down weeds so they would have an isle to walk down, Anthony chopped wood and helped move around furniture, and Kate & I gave the house a hardcore cleaning plus set everything up. The wedding was absolutely beautiful! I ran around making sure everyone was happy while taking pictures & Anthony manned the grill and entertained all the Great Harvest girls.

In our "downtime" we've been kept busy with work. Anthony's now the mechanic at our friends' scooter shop (Scoot 'N Powersports). It's a perfect job for him since he's always playing with his car or our scooters at home. There seems to be a new scooter rolling in every other day, so he's preoccupied all the time now. He's also taken up soccer in the last few weeks, so he spends a few nights a week with that.
As for me, I'm now a baker at Great Harvest. Baking's essentially a promotion at the store; given only to the few people they deem responsible & capable enough. So I work mornings all the time now, and three to four days a week I'm up at 2:30 in the morning. It sounds a bit off, but I absolutely love it. Most days I'm done with work by 11 a.m. so I head home for a power nap and then have the rest of the day to do whatever I want. During Christmas I'll head in around 10 at night and stay at the store until 8 or 9 the following morning. From what I hear, Christmas is the baker's favorite time of year and I can't wait to see how things will work out!

4th of July

2008-07-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

So I thought it was about time to post some pictures from our 4th of July adventures. Anthony had an auto-cross in town, so we both spent the majority of the day in the sun. This was my first time watching an auto-x, and despite my nervousness I had a pretty good time.

Anthony and his brother Brady took turns driving Anthony's car through the course. Anthony was the first to drive.

An auto-cross course is usually set up in a parking lot, and is essentially an obstacle course. Drivers try to make it through the course with the fastest time, without hitting any of the cones. Auto-cross is all about handling and cornering. As you can see, most of the drivers try to come around the corner fairly fast, and tires can get "picked".
The whole crew came out to watch for a bit. Ross, Mom, Dad, Jared, our family friend Jerri and my friend Kate. Jerri and Kate got so involved in the racing, they both took rides with Anthony! The races ended around 3 in the afternoon, so we headed home for an afternoon siesta.

Every year my dad's company launches their hotair balloon on the 4th of July. Most years I get up at the break of dawn and watch, but this year Anthony and our friend Marie decided to join. If you've never watched (or helped) a hotair balloon inflate, you're missing out.

Anthony and I spent a little time at the fireworks, but the crowds were too much for us after a long day spent in the sun and we decided to call it an early night. Besides, we had to be rested for the next day! We spent July 5 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the annual car auction, surrounded by beautiful classic cars. It's unfortunate we didn't have enough money to invest in one of those fine automobiles, but we had a fantastic time sitting in the front row of the auction tent breathing in all the fumes.
This was the view we ended our wild weekend with, and it was such a perfect ending.

Anthony

2008-07-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

Anthony underwent surgery today to fix a hernia. He noticed it about 3 weeks ago, and a few trips to doctors and specialists confirmed our suspicions. Thankfully EIRMC was able to schedule him in extremely quickly. The surgeon was worried about the hernia getting worse before it could get fixed, and Anthony was put on a strict no lifting, squatting, exercising regimen. Back to today, we arrived at the hospital ridiculously early and were whisked up to surgery. Anthony was taken into pre-op around 9:30, and went into the O.R. at 10. Everything went well, except for the fact that the hernia was much larger than the surgeon thought. So now Anthony has a four inch incision rather than 5 teeny tiny cuts. Can't get the boy to stop talking about the scar he'll have. He's extremely sore (which is to be expected), but should be back to normal in about two weeks. Feel free to stop by and keep him company during the day!

Our First Anniversary!

2008-06-17T16:54:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it's been a whole year since Anthony and I finally tied the knot! The time has absolutely flown by, and it feels like the wedding was only a week ago. Probably a good sign! Since we couldn't have a full blown anniversary celebration on our true anniversary (gotta love weekdays and work!), we spent all Saturday and the first part of Sunday celebrating. And what a perfect weekend to celebrate! It was the first truly nice weather of the year, and we took advantage by taking a family bike ride.
We stopped off at the canal around the corner so Lucie could cool off before we ran her around in the hot sun, and she just ate it up.

It wasn't long before the heat was too much for Anthony and he jumped into the water to play with Lucie.
A quick photo-op, and we were off on our bikes.

Later that evening Anthony had a surprise for me. A romantic dinner at a fancy restaurant, and then a night at the hotel we spent our wedding night at. Fancy restaurants aren't part of our everyday life, so we decided to go all out.
Now don't we clean up nicely?? Dinner was ridiculously delicious, and the two of us waddled out of the restaurant vowing to return next time we find ourselves sitting on a small fortune. Afterwards it was off to the Destinations Inn. Many people would call this hotel cheesy (each room is themed after a different location), but we enjoy a bit of cheesy in our lives. We stayed in Venice this time, and thoroughly enjoyed our jetted tub, steam room/shower and breakfast in bed.

The one and only minor hitch to the weekend was my clumsiness on a bike. That's right, I had my first bike crash in about a decade, and gave myself a nice little sovenir in the process.

And what anniversary would be complete without a gift exchange? As a combination birthday/anniversary gift I got Anthony a scooter alarm system. It's really cool actually. The alarm will go off if the scooter starts, gets nudged or even if someone sits on it. It even comes with a remote for your key chain (yes, just like your car) that will work up to a mile away! Depending on how well it works, I may have to get my scooter one...
Anthony got me a wonderful purple orchid. Anyone who knows me knows I absolutely LOVE orchids and I'm so excited to have this one in the house! He also gave me some gorgeous picture frames. They're made locally, and are solid wood. I've never seen anything like them before. They're very simple, but I love the rustic look they have to them.
All-in-all it really was the perfect way to celebrate our anniversary.

Home Improvement

2008-05-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

It has been nearly a year since Anthony and I moved into our home and the transformation is incredible. It took four people working 12 hours a day, 2 weeks straight for the inside of the house to become livable. We were so focused on getting the house up to code, we didn't think to take before pictures. We've got great after pictures though!
The bathroom had a huge makeover. The tub was so worn the bottom felt like sandpaper, and no matter how hard we scrubbed it was a permanent gray/brown color. The faucet in the tub and the shower nozzle were rusted out, and neither Anthony nor I wanted to touch them. Turns out there was no insulation in the shower, which explains why we would freeze in the middle of June. So we installed insulation, put in a new backsplash, replaced the window (so the neighbors couldn't see us and we wouldn't have metal blinds in our shower), put in new hardware, and refinished the tub. We also put in new lighting, a new vanity/mirror, new baseboard trim and re-painted the whole bathroom.

This is our guest bedroom, and it was in the best shape out of all the rooms. It had brand-new carpet when we moved in, which was a definite plus. After patching a few holes and repainting the whole room, it was good to go.

Our living room required even the ceiling to be painted. The bookcase had wooden doors and non-functional shelving that we removed/replaced. There were holes all over, especially around the heating vents. Since our house doesn't have air-conditioning we put a new window on the front of the house. The old picture windows were installed poorly, had paint on them, and wouldn't open, so at least one new window was essential. Of course painting the walls and baseboards were necessary.

As far as the kitchen goes, we have a brand new one! The only things that remain from the old kitchen are the sink and the stove. Even the windows are new.
We don't have any great pictures of the old kitchen, but if you look in the background of this you'll get the general idea. When we pulled the drawers out to begin sanding, we found there were 7 different layers of paint on them.

We had the entire kitchen redone about a month after the wedding. New cabinets, backsplash, countertops, lighting, windows and refrigerator. We also added an island along one wall to add some storage space. Oddly enough, the kitchen looks bigger now.
The outside was pretty bad too. There was no landscaping at all, and the yard was in rough shape.

The Front Before
The Front After

The Backyard Before
The Backyard After

We planted three "flower" beds in the back, put in fencing to hold Lucie, planted trees and added flagstone (by hand) to the end of the patio. The biggest chore was weeding through the lilac bushes in the back. Vines had grown over them and killed about half the bushes, but we pruned them enough that the lilacs are actually blooming this year! It may not look like much, but we've worked so hard and are proud of the change!

A Rainy Saturday

2008-05-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

Our fair city was caught in the midst of a severe thunderstorm earlier today. This is the most rain I can remember since I was about 8. Sewer drains all over town were clogged, including the ones in our neighborhood. Anthony made fun of me, but I was in shock at how much water was sitting in the drains.

This was the smaller of the two puddles next to our house. Anthony decided to take Lucie for a romp at the church, which just so happened to be where the BIG puddle was.

Of course, the moment Lucie saw the puddle she decided playing in it was a necessity. It was then we realized just how much water was pooled. At the deepest spot the water hit Lucie's chest! Getting the Luce out of the street was a chore.
Despite the rain, the fam was able to finish the last of the landscaping. Pictures of all our home improvements are soon to come; both indoor and outdoor. We are just waiting on the inside of our home to become...ahem..presentable. Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend!

Kitty's First Beach House

2008-05-09T19:02:00.001-07:00

Anthony and I decided to surprise our kitties this week with their very own beach house! The girls are always climbing up and on everything, so we thought a little playhouse of their own would be perfect. Our good friend (and now roommate) Ross even came over to help with the assembly.The kitties weren't sure what to make of the new toy at first, but once Anthony showed them the cubby holes they couldn't get enough of it. Jade's favorite part is the palm tree conveniently placed at the top.

Charly preferred the bottom half, and when the two were inside they would attack each other through the holes or the nylon separating them. Lucie insisted on joining in the fun too.

A Car Show, A Sister, and A Niece

2008-05-06T17:12:00.000-07:00

We had a most wonderful surprise mid-April. A quick visit from our favorite little "sister" and her baby girl, Bailey.

Bay is such a character! She's 14 months now, dances to any music that might be within earshot, and keeps us all on our toes. She was at our house for about 30 seconds before she figured out the remotes.

To add to the excitement, Pocatello decided to host a fantastic car show full of our favorite classic cars. So the whole family piled into the 'Burb and made the 45 minute drive to see the beauties.

Mom and Dad may say they're not ready to be grandparents, but they both love Bailey to pieces. Despite Messina's protests, the two of them kidnapped Bailey for the majority of the car show. Dad spent the time explaining the cars to her (focusing on the Corvettes, naturally), and Mom entertained the Boo with a stolen balloon.

Who could have bought Bailey that rockin' shirt I wonder??

Even Uncle Tony has to spend some time with his irresistible niece.

It was an absolute treat to spend the day with two of our favorite people. Of course a trip to visit the horses was a must after we had finished with the car show.

Patches has always been quite the lover.

Beyond a few pets from everyone, the horses were ready to make a break for the open pasture, and we were all ready to head home and call it a night. It'll be interesting to see what antics we get up to next visit.