Meet Joey

I don't have any idea how we came to this decision, but as of Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve, we have a new member in our family.

Meet Joey!

This is our 1 year old Schnauzer pup. He was adopted from a shelter in Utah. The gal that runs this shelter runs alot of our dogs from the Animal Shelter through the Humane Society. Thanks to all her help, alot of our dogs have a better chance of being adopted than they do in Jerome. So....she ended up having a few schnauzers to pick from.

Ryan, Lucy and I met Joey in the Petsmart parking lot late Wednesday night. We had to meet on neutral ground to see if they would get along. Slate, the black schnauzer was the one we were first interested in, but he was too dominant over Lucy. Joey just sniffed her and sat down like ok, where am I going now?

So we took him home and of course he seemed immediately comfortable. Then we took him all the way to Rigby to meet Mom & Dad. He was a little confused all weekend, and the slightest strange noise would send him running into the bedroom to hide in the bed. I was a little nervous that it wasn't going to work out, but as soon as we got home on Saturday, he was fine! He was dragging toys all over the house, running around, and chasing Lucy all over the place. He is such a love bug.

I was also concerned about my little Lucy being a bit jealous. Much to my surprise, she has accepted Joey. She still doesn't play with him much, but she is getting better. She hasn't tried to bite his head off once, just a few growls. And she shares the bed with him.

I have come to the conclusion that god doesn't send us children, he sends us dogs. :) hehe. Maybe someday we will have some kids running around.

Thanksgiving was great. Got to hang out with my family for a few days, which was nice.

Until next time....

Spiraling Out of Control

Today is a big day...a really BIG day! Everyone is already well aware that today is the premier of New Moon.

My good friend Kiley stood in line for an hour at the Cinema in Twin Falls only to get the last 4 tickets for the 9:00 showing. And they oversold the theatre by 1 so she could get 4. Holy crap. Talk about a close call. I thought I was going to be sick when she told me that. So, there are 4 of us girls getting together after work to watch Twilight, and then venture off into a pool of screaming, drooling young girls for New Moon. I'm excited....way too excited. My obsession with this story has literally spiraled out of control. It's completly and utterly ridiculous. If I make it through this day without combusting into my own pile of anticipation, it will be a miracle. Who ever knew that one could write a set of books that would send the whole world into a Vampire Frenzy. I'm ready for Twilight Part 2, she should really write another story. Something with Renesmee and Jacob would be good maybe??

Ok well enough of Twilight. I think we've all heard enough about it last a lifetime and then some.

This week Ryan started his new job. Turns out he really likes it. What a relief! He can be rather particular in the job department, so I was really nervous about what he would say after his first day. His response was, " My job is kick @$$." Phew...I think I can breathe now.

Wednesday we had the mold removed from the dirt underneath our house. I stayed home that morning while they were cleaning. By the time I got to work I was higher than a kite. Mold cleaning fumes can't be good for you. The smell has polluted our house for 2 days now. I think it's finally gone...I hope. Wow....permanent headaches for days are just not good.

Tomorrow I am participating in my last craft fair of the season. My feelings towards these are rather un decided. I love going to them, but the work to prepare is almost becoming too much when combined with running an online store as well. Especially during the holidays. I'm pretty sure I've exhausted myself and it's not over. This rush won't be over until after christmas. I'm grateful for the success. I couldn't ask for more. And I'm grateful for the talent god has given me.

Lately I have been pondering the thought of going back to school. It's been a rough decision for me because it brings back many memories. Memories of way back when I was young and pretty stupid. If I would have just went to school after I graduated, instead of making the choices I made, I would be almost done, if not done already. Things would have been very different. I can't say I regret everything I guess, because I wouldn't be where I am now, and probably not married to the man I married now. Funny how life turns out. Never expected to be where I am, living where I am. But anyway, I'm going to be trying to take my generals to get accepted into the nursing program. Probably an LPN to start. The hardest part is, I have to work. Working full time, going to school, and running a business is going to be overwhelming. I may have to step back from the bags for a bit. I guess we'll see how school goes. I've never been a fan of school, but I need to go.

Anyway, Happy New Moon Friday! I'm sure I'll have a good story or two in the next few days about attending opening night. It is sure to be a fiasco at the least.

Good Times!

I really need to get better at blogging....but I guess I just haven't been able to get into it lately!

Here's a few things that have been going on.

You all know that Ryan stopped working for US Bank in September. And we were a little freaked out as to what the future would hold. He has been working for his mom and dad in Glenns Ferry. About a 45 minute drive from Jerome. The first few days we were a little sad because we weren't sure if he would have to stay down there during the week or be able to come home. I took this picture on one of the first days he was gone to cheer him up. He probably thought, "Ahh!! I can't get away from this crazy lady and her dog!!" hehe.

Here's the good news, Ryan has a new job! With the City of Jerome in the Water Department. The City is a great place to work, good pay and good benefits. He starts on Monday! Such a relief to have that stressful weight off our shoulders. I was afraid I would have to run a sweat shop out of our house and do some serious sewing to sell some bags to pay the bills!! :)

Next thing, a bit of advice. Well maybe not for all you smarty pants, but for dummies like me.... if you buy a newer car and something breaks, take it to the car dealer and not your local mechanic!! Chances are, the part that broke, may be covered under some type of recall warranty and you won't have to pay a dime. Or, you could be a total dummy and take it to your local mechanic and pay a fortune. And then, have the part break because they put in the wrong one, and then find out it would have been covered if the dealer would have just taken care of it.

Yes, this happened to my poor little beetle juice! Long story short, I had this sexy beast of a car to drive for a day....

A Chevrolet Aveo. I call this the Ugly Duckling of all cars. My good friend Kiley kept me company at the car dealer while we waited for the Prince of Enterprise Rent-A-Car to sweep us off our feet in this bad boy. lol....thankfully he didn't kidnap us. What a chariot! And then it was mine for the day... hot rodding anyone??

Good thing I didn't wreck, I would have been a pancake!! Alright, now I should be more optimistic, my rental could have been worse!

Guess what else! We have MOLD! Mold in the dirt underneath our house in the crawl space!! Who would have known... Over watering, and the extremely wet summer we had caused our ground to be so soggy the water seeped in underneath the foundation of the house and started growing on the dirt. $480.00 later, we will have a mold abatement company come remove it.

Lots of lessons learned for us young idiot kids. Now, be smart and don't over water...you'll get mold underneath your house.

Fall - With a Few Surprises

Fall came this year with a few surprises, and of those few surprises....none of them were very nice!!

The first surprise....Snow....

Last time I checked.....didn't fall consist of beautiful leaves changing colors and falling all around? And the sunshine...fall always has the most beautiful soft sunshine.

I woke up Sunday morning and got up to let Lucy out. Total shock, I screamed, " OH MY GOSH!! RYAN!!! You HAVE to get up and come see this!! IT SNOWED!! It's still snowing!!"

He came running and we both hid behind the curtain peeking out the window glaring at the white stuff covering the ground.

I had to hurry and brush off the patio furniture so it didn't get ruined.

And my flowers!! The day before they were so pretty and still full of flowers! ahhh!!! Now they are drooping and sad!! :(

The next surprise fall brought.... My husband isn't working right now. Not exactly the best time! Anywho, times are tough, jobs are scarce, and its snowing. Ok, it's not snowing anymore, but it was!

I think it's actually a blessing that my husband is no longer working where he was. It wasn't a good place to work and he was so very unhappy. Both of us were. Now we are doing ok, just digging and digging around for a better job. Hopefully god has a plan in store for us! I'm guessing he does, I'm hoping it's a good one.

Everything happens for a reason right?

Happy fall! Or um...winter? Which season is it? And have I been sleeping for the past 6 weeks?

Summer

In about 7 days, I will have lived in Jerome for exactly 3 years. Not sure why I'm thinking about that. I guess because its review time at work and the 18th marks 3 years with First Fed. Yay! Seems like just yesterday that I moved and cried my eyes out as soon as my parents left me all alone in a town where I knew no one.

I remember thinking a few times why in the heck did I ever move here? It's like little tijuana, people shoot people and vandalize everything in sight. I couldn't go outside by myself unless I was on the phone with Ryan.

And now, I look back and I think, "Wow, how different I would be if I never would have moved." Moving has completely brought me out of my shell. I had to grow up, mom wasn't around the corner driving past my house every day, I was on my own, and I had to find new friends to hang out with. It's amazing how one move can change your life.

The other day I went for a drive back behind the Jerome Country Club. I had always known that there was a road back there, but never knew where it went. So I decided to go explore. I'm thinking that the road I took the bug down was probably a little too rough, and skinny I might add. And I totally didn't have a clue where it would go. Luckily I got down in the canyon a ways and there was a turn around spot. Leave it to me to go exploring when I'm by myself. At least it was still day light outside!! Good thing I didn't get stuck...Ryan probably would have killed me!

One of things I love about Twin and Jerome the most is the Canyon. I remember seeing it for the first time 3 years ago, and for some reason I was in awe. So, I took a few pictures while I was on my adventure.

It seems like no matter where you go, if you are in the canyon, there is a waterfall somewhere. They are so beautiful. I love them. Wierd, probably, but they interest me.

This picture is looking down from where I was standing. You could still go farther down, but I figured I had done enough damage going as far as I had gone. I love it. It's almost like an unknown world down there.

Anyway.....

Our summer has been kind of slow, not much going on. Which is ok....here are a few more pictures............. bet you can't guess what they are of. :)


Here's my pretty Lucy again! lol. Poor dog, she is the culprit of all of my camera snapping frenzies. Love my dog, yes! A little too much? Probably! But thats ok, at the end of the day, when I come home, she is always excited to see me and Ryan!!!

And now, Ryan........

One day he got into my facebook and decided to yearbook himself. There was probably 20 different pictures!! I hope he never decides to grow dreads. By the time he was done with my facebook, I had about 10 new friends I didn't even know and 20 more year book pictures to add to the collection.

Today was our first day back to work since August 28th. We had 11 days off work! YAY! We spent the weekend with my parents. Ryan played in an amatuer golf tournament for 2 days. He took 2nd place. I've never seen him so excited in my life. Well, I take that back, he was pretty excited the day he went golfing with Alfred and shot 1 under par. I'm telling you, golf is his first love!!

We came home on Monday and later on in the week we decided to go fishing with Ryan's dad in Glenns Ferry. They just purchased a new fishing boat. That day was probably the most relaxing out of all. It wasn't too hot outside so I was able to just lay on the front of the boat and take a nap while they fished.

The rest of the time we spent hanging out with friends and then I started reading Twilight. Now I'm addicted, just like everyone else!

Anyway, not much else going on, back to work, back to sewing. Vaca is ovvverrr :(.

Lagoon!

Today we decided to meet some friends from Idaho Falls at Lagoon. We almost didn't go because of the weather, but went anyway. I'm glad that we did! It was perfect weather. It wasn't too hot or too cold.

When we were walking around looking for a place to eat Ryan thought he was sooo funny because the sign on this little food shack said "Olde Mill" Well he had to take a picture because he calls me Mill & Mille. I was freezing at this point because it had just started to rain. Can't you tell I'm just thrilled by the look on my face! :)

This one is a little better, but I was still freezing!!

I haven't been to Lagoon for years, I think the last time I went I was in High School and I used to go every summer with my dad. There were alot of new rides which were fun. We didn't go on any of the water rides because we would have been freezing. It was only 60* all day.

I got really excited because Ryan told me that he wanted to ride the Sky Coaster and the Catapult with me. Those are the 2 rides that you have to pay extra for. I had always wanted to go on them before, but noone would ever go with me! So...I was really excited that Ryan was going to do them with me. Well....we had just got off of the Rocket and apparently the free fall made Ryan want to barf and so he decided that there was noway he was going to go on the Sky Coaster or the Catapult. I was so sad!! So I thought, fine, then I'll go by myself if noone else wants to! Finally Dustin's cousin Talia said that she would go with me on the catapult.

We were freaking out the whole time because once you get buckled in, they roll this ball backwards and you just set there and wait to be launched into the air. I swear I was trying to control my breathing because my heart was beating so fast. And my knuckles were white from holding onto the handles so tightly. Finally they launched us into the air. The second we took off both of us girls started screaming. It was the most amazing thing ever!!! That thing goes as high as the ferris wheel! We were just bouncing around like a bouncy ball. There is a certain way you can place your feet, and if you don't place them too high then you won't spin in the air. If you place them too high then you will spin more. I don't think it mattered because we were spinning like crazy and it was so scary because we were upside down and plummeting towards the ground. Wow, it was so worth it!!! Ryan was really surprised that I wanted to go, so he took a video with our cell phones. You can't really see me and Talia, but you can hear us screaming for sure.

I'm so glad we went. I think we will definitely have to plan to go every year. I forgot how much fun Lagoon is!

Petunia the Bobble Head Piggy Bank

Ok, so I have been posting strange things on Facebook for the last two weeks. These strange things have all been about my gigantic bobble head pig, and stuffing chicken wire.

You were all a little confused, but now, I am going to clear all this up!

This is our parade float this year. Completely designed by myself, I guess I'm tooting my own horn because I'm proud of my piggy! I couldn't have put it together without the help of my friends at work, but thankfully we finished it up and it turned out great!

Pictured left to right: Teena, Dawn, Vanessa, Jerrine, Jackie, Camille, Esteban & Rosa

Pictures are kind of hard to see, but yes, I am carrying a cardboard mound of fake money. I wonder what our customers thought when they came in and Rosa and I were coloring fake money at my desk for 2 days straight....

Here is a close up of Petunia's face. I wish I would have taken a video of her during the parade so you all could see her head bobbling. It was hilarious.

Petunia the pig has now made her home in the lobby of our bank. Can I just say that I am so lucky to work for a bank that allows me to let out my creative side at work?