Mike Marci and Mayzee

World in a minute.

2009-08-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Get it? Like the news updates. I just realized how lame it is that I haven't posted ANYTHING in forever. Not that there hasn't been a lot going on. Time just got away from me. So to make up for it here's a year in a minute update.

OK so it's not really world in a minute. It's really just a couple photos. But better than nothing right! RIGHT!

Hmm, I can do better than this. I'll take some good pics this weekend.

Oh and our chickens! You have not lived til you've seen our chickens? Oh my are they adorable. And their finally earning their keep by laying eggs too!

Mayzee likes to hold them.

I don't think the chickens like it as much as she does.

Stay tuned for the weather.

Testing your skills!

2009-05-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Ok time for a guessing game. Can anyone tell where we've been for the last week?

Any guesses at all????

Come on you can do it! Don't give up!

Did you guess?

Sad Sad day...

2009-05-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

We had to let my dear old Friend Loki , My 15 year old Black Lab, go today. His back legs had been getting weak for a while but the last few days it accelerated quickly for some reason and he could hardly walk. Although I know it was the right thing to do I also know my heart will never fully heal.

We will always love you Loki and our lives are smaller without you in this world. We'll miss you. Love you baby.

Mama

Wooo Wooo high fivin' is cool!

2009-03-12T15:10:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to drop a quick hello to all my peeps out there and let you know we're alive and well! SOOOO excited about spring and can we all high five for daylight savings time! Woo wooo

Feeling good about this new year. Feeling strong and healthy and like my head is screwed on right for a change! :)

Hope you are all doing good too!

In fact I would love it if you would tell me about your fun plans for the year! Any trips planned? Any big events or milestones your looking forward too? Events you get to attend that you can actually get dressed up for? All the above? Let me hear ALL about it!

At LAST

2009-01-29T09:07:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been a while since I've posted anything. It's been a crazy month! Came back to work and half my coworkers were no longer with the company which makes for a busier workday for those of us left. Don't get me wrong I'm glad and know I'm blessed to be one of the people nowadays that still has a job but just sayin...it's busy!

So I FINALLY got down and dirty last night and organized and cutified Mayzee's room. It had started to become the catch all for everything she ever looked at and said ohh that's cute! So as an adult in the situaion I needed to step in and get things under control before one day she couldn't find her way out of that mess! So just thought I'd share a couple pics of the end result. I think it turned out great for the only expense being the new girly curtains :)

Mayzee hasn't seen it yet since she's been over with Kolleen this week so it is a surprise! I'll let you know her reaction. Maybe I'll capture it on video and post it next time.

As a side note the bed and I believe dresser with the TV on it were Mike's mothers, then Mikes and now Mayzees. How great is that!

Crap end to a very strange year!

2009-01-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

Hello all. Don't you just love my title! It pretty much sums it up right. Ok maybe it's just my personal perspective right now but I betchya 20 bucks I could find another person in less than 5 minutes who agrees with me on this one. It sure as hell isn't hard to find that person around my office right now as it seems everyday I come in another office is unexpectedly empty. Just poof one day they are no longer there to say my polite "how are you" too or the wonderful "how's it goin?" even though you don't really expect a response.

Where ever these disappearing coworkers land I hope that they find happiness and fulfilment in these trying times. I sincerely do wish this for them.

So on another downer note we lost the baby or I miscarried..pick which one you'd like because to me neither of them are terms that make the least bit of sense. I did not "Mis-Carry" anything..makes it sound like I fumbled the ball half way through an important play right! I also did not "lose" the baby..It's not like I misplaced it or was distracted and someone walked off with it when i wasn't looking. So I will tell you what we told Mayzee which is that the baby wasn't ready yet and it didn't feel well so it decided to leave mommies tummy for now. Until it IS ready and does feel well. She of course immediatley asked me when that will be. To which I could only smile and fight back the tears while I held her on my lap and said "Well sweetie that's the fun part it's a SURPRISE! We don't know WHEN he's going to come back but when he does you'll be the first to know and we'll have a BIG party!" She thought about it for a second and then looked straight at me and said "Are you sad mommy?" and I thought my heart would break in two right then and there. I thought about it before answering and said "ya know what, I am kind of sad but it's ok to be sad". She seemed to agree with that, gave me a big hug and hasn't much mentioned it since. What a great person she is growing up to be. I think she teaches Mike and I much more than we will ever teach her.

Our trip to Vegas was a bust. Mike got violently sick within 5 hours of arriving so we spent most the trip in the hotel room watching old Rocky movies on AMC! Thank god we had splurged on a super nice hotel so it was a pretty pleasant place to be stuck. Big flat screen TV, Jetted tub, cool art work, full kitchenette stocked with all new kitchen ware and cooking supplies all wrapped up in fancy mood lighting. Mood lighting to puke by anyone? :)

Poor Miss Mayzee got pink eye in both eyes the night before we were heading out for our "romantic" getaway. She was with her mommy Kolleen who took good care of her and by the time we got home you wouldn't even know she had it.

So all that being said I am very excited and HOPEFUL in SO many ways for what 2009 has to offer. With our new President being sworn in in just days now and Mike and I lucky enough to still be employeed we have some large goals for ourselves to become debt free in the next year which will free us up to do some of the exotic traveling we are always talking about. Berma, Thailand and Brazil anyone?

My hope and one wish for you all in this new year is that you find YOUR version of peace and to then spread it like an infectious disease!

Day of Thanks

2008-11-27T16:36:00.001-08:00

I read a friends blog today and it compelled me to share a little note on this special day set aside for thankfulness.

Our friend Lindsay lost her dear grandfather yesterday as they were all just arriving at his home in Colorado for the Holiday Celebration. I don't know all the details as far as his recent health and age but I do know that reading her blog I was in tears with my heart aching for them. I think I was especially touched because I have a grandfather of my own who is ailing in health and also in Colorado. Their story hit quite close to home.

After I wrote Lindsay a note telling her our thoughts were with her family at this time and got myself pulled together I started thinking of my own family and just how wonderful and precious each of them are. To my Parents Gary and Joanne who raised me with such love and tenderness and to always see the beauty in the world I am thankful.

To my brothers and sisters Brett, Greta, Trina, Garet and David who have been my life companions on this crazy journey. You are not only my family but my friends. I respect and admire each of you and who you have become in your lives. The way you parent your children is something to be in awe of, especially now that I face parenthood in a new light for the first time myself. And last but for sure not least you keep me laughing even when times are hard. For you I am thankful.

And last but never least my dear husband and daughter Mike and Mayzee. The lights of my eye, the air in my lungs, the sun in the sky after a long cold night. I love you both so much. Mike came along at a time in my life that I was really starting to wonder if the person for me was really even out there. And suddenly when I least expected it there he was standing in front of me...with a crazy little red head in tow! For them I am forever thankful!

There is much much more that I have to be thankful for but today I wanted to make sure that not one of my family members close their eyes tonight without knowing what is in my heart. We aren't guaranteed anything in this life and sometimes, as Lindsay just discovered, tomorrow never comes so say today what you would have put off and live each day as it could be your last here on earth because one day it will be.

I love you all! Happy Thanksgiving 2008!

Lions and tigers and.... babies...oh MY!

2008-11-24T12:13:00.000-08:00

For those of you we have not been able to tell in person yet I am Pregnant! Holy COW I'm actually pregnant! It only took over a year and a half of trying...and I'm not complaining about the fun of trying but we are definitley excited it's finally happened. Our official due date is July 15th so we're still pretty early on ...7 weeks to be exact. But I am feeling really good and you know me I can't keep ANYTHING to myself for long. Let alone something this exciting and news worthy!

So I thought I'd share the news publicly and officially here on our family blog and also give you all an update of what 7 weeks pregnant means as far as what is happening in my Uterus! Speaking of..I had to explain to Mayzee the other day that the baby was not in my stomach with all my food but in the uterus where babies go to grow before they can come and be with us. Not looking forward to trying to explain how they get out! Maybe I'll be mean and let Mike handle that one!

So alright here it is..week 7 in all it's glory according to the What to Expect website...and why I had my first wave of nausea today at 11am! This little guy! :)

Week 7 of Pregnancy: Your Baby's Limbs Develop

As fetal development continues, your baby's length is approximately a quarter of an inch — the size of a blueberry. Consider this for a little perspective: Your baby is 10,000 times bigger now than it was at conception a month ago.
How does your baby grow? Pretty fast, actually. At 7 weeks pregnant, your baby's length is approximately a quarter of an inch — the size of a blueberry. Sounds pretty tiny still? Consider this for a little perspective: Your baby is 10,000 times bigger now than it was at conception a month ago. The biggest fetal growth this week is your baby's head (the better to store all those smarts in), with new brain cells being generated at the rate of 100 cells per minute. How's that for a budding genius? And talking about buds, your baby is going out on a limb this week as his or her arm and leg buds begin to sprout and grow longer (and stronger), dividing into hand, arm, and shoulder segments — and leg, knee, and foot segments (though the limb buds look more like paddles than hands or feet at this early stage).
Also forming this week are your baby's mouth and tongue. And although your embryo is just one month old, it's already gone through three sets of kidneys. The ones in place now are the permanent set and are poised to begin their important work of waste management. In about a week, your baby will start producing urine. Lucky for you, there's no need for diapers (yet). As your baby matures inside you, much of that urine will be excreted into the amniotic fluid, swallowed again by your baby, and then excreted again in a continuous cycle.

Weird note for them to end on right! :) In anycase I'll keep you all posted as things develop and my belly gets bigger.

Til next time hope this post finds you all healthy and happy. Happy thanksgiving!

Better late than never

2008-11-07T12:00:00.001-08:00

Fall has arrived and winter is knocking at the door already! What a busy time it has been. Busy but wonderful!

I've been meaning this whole week to get pictures of our little "Good Witch" uploaded for you all to see. Finally the day has arrived! (crowd cheering background noice) Here she is!

We had a really great Halloween just the three of us. It was really fun to see what a big girl Mayzee has become in the just the last year. She was brave and confident and respectful and polite all at the same time. It was precious!

Hope you all had as good a time as we did!

Now on to THANKSGIVING!!

Picture tag anyone...

2008-10-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

Picture Tag
The object is to go to your 4th picture file then copy and paste the 4th picture from it.

My 4th picture file is.."Family Portrait 2007"

and the 4th picture in it is.. "We love our Mayzee."

That was almost a year ago now. Crazy how time flies. She gets smarter and funnier and more wonderful (if that's even possible) every single day! Just like her dad :)

My thought for the day is that even when things seem tough there is always something to be grateful for if we just takek the time to look.

Just like I'm grateful for all of you!

Nephews blessing

2008-10-13T09:29:00.001-07:00

Hello all it's been a while! Hope this post finds you all well!

My brothers and sisters continue on their quest to repopulate the world and I have 2 new nephews in the last 3 months! Little Asher Mortensen born in July who just had his baby blessing yesterday and little Daniel Mortensen who is just a few weeks old born the end of Sept. They are both so precious as all babies are when you get to leave them with their parents! lol Seriously though how blessed is our family. We now have 15 beatiful little children between my 6 brothers and sisters and each one is such a beatiful individual person with so much to teach us. I'm a proud auntie can you tell!

Here are a couple pics of the new little tykes as well as Mayzee and I getting ready to go to the luncheon yesterday.

Love you all and I promise to post more often!

Little Asher

Little Daniel

Miss Mayzee

We survived IKEA in UTAH on Labor day and all we got was this lousy meatball!

2008-09-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

We got hit with a black as night, thunder cracking hail storm yesterday first thing in the morning. We knew there was a storm in the forcast, not the WILD hail strom we got necessarily, but a stormy, non picnicy Labor Day none the less.

So I suggested to Mike "let’s get out of the house and head over to the new IKEA store". Fateful last words it turns out. They do have lots of fun stuff to keep Mayzee entertained which had him half sold and I/we thought it would be fun to day dream about a new entertainment center for our back den so after short consideration Mike was in. It didn't take us long to get loaded up and out the door so that shortly after this initial grand idea we were pulling in. Well let me just say when we got there it was like Jesus was in that store! I am not kidding, there were people flocking in from the farthest flung reaches of the parking lot. And if you've ever been to IKEA you already know their parking lots are bigger than some small countries. So it was either Jesus or the free breakfast they were using to lure the Utahites in that had the masses flocking. I'll let you be the judge on that one.

We missed the free face stuffing party by the time we arrived and made it through the parking lot madness however we were already hungry for lunch. Now luckily they have a café to beat all Cafe's at IKEA with inexpensive, surprisingly good food. So we headed straight away to grab a bite getting there luckily just before the second wave of hungry masses started arriving. We know this because we only waited 30 minutes in line and we actually got one of their nifty little tray carts and a table, which by the time we were done eating were in such short supply I swear we could have started a bidding war for ours and made some cash!!

With our bellies full we moved safely away from the glazed over, crazy eyed masses still standing in line to get their hands on some of those Swedish meat balls. We had planned on dropping Miss Mayzee off to play in their supervised "Smaland" kids area but they had a 2 hour waiting list for accepting anymore children so after Mayzee got a complimentary black spider painted on her cheek by the sweet helpers trying to console the wee ones (and their parents) when they couldn't get in to play world...we decided to hoof it with the now spidery 3 year old in tow. She climbed on every thing and had a great time so it was still fun for all of us. Amazingly Mike and I even both ended up liking the same entertainment center I'd already narrowed it down too via their catalog! Hmm a wasted trip? I think not.

So we survived IKEA in Utah on Labor Day leaving having only spent 13 dollars for lunch and our sanity still mostly intact! Although Mike did go fishing for nearly 4 hours right after we got home. To help restore the balance? Possibly, I didn’t argue one bit!

The Omnivore's Hundred

2008-08-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

I ran into this on a foodie blog I like to read and thought it was fun to reminise about the strange things I have eaten and to plan for future strange things still in store.

Enjoy and hopefully it will expand your horizons as it did mine.

The Omnivore’s Hundred
A Meme With Very Good Taste How the Omnivore's 100 Works:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional: Post a comment at Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

56/100 is my Omnivore’s Hundred result! I better get eating!

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (even in NY's Central park no less )
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream (just the other day in fact, and it was Goats milk pistachio ice cream even!)
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese (I don't think I could do it!)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (I'm sure while riding on friends motorcycles..don't know if that counts)
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (haven't eaten one but we actually have a snake breeding business so if anyone wants to try you know where to find us!)

When all else fails redecorate the living room!

2008-08-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

So I got an itch I had to scratch for redecorated and painting the living room last weekend. It's something I've thought about since we bought the house but we had always had bigger and more important projects to keep us busy, until now! So in hind site I should not have done it quite yet because I knew my back was already kind of tweaked, somewhere on the edge of moderate discomfort and major pain. But for those of you who know me when I get an idea I can't drop it til it's done SO inspite of the risk of forever being crippled I decided to go for it anyway. I already had my colors picked out and was ready to go so Sunday while Mike got ready to take off for a day of fishing I got started. Well he did do one or two rolls of primer but in his own words "he is no good at this kind of thing"...which after a couple rolls I agreed with and promplty took the roller away from him and sent him on his way.

So yes the living room looks divine but OH how my back is trashed! I was in agony all last week! I barely made it through most the day at work Monday the 11th and just couldn't take it anymore so went to the Chiropractor for what turned out to be the final death blow to my spine! I was in so much pain Monday night ALL night that Mike insisted I go to the insta care on Tuesday morning where we waited for what seemed like 10 hours to get a prescrip for some low dose lortab and instructions from a very strange doctor on how to do low impact exercises for a while. hmm not working doc! NOT Working! So by Wednesday still in blinding pain with no end in site and with one crappy lortab left Mike got on the phone and made about 15 calls to specialists offices who would hopefully be able to see me immediatley. We finally got one who could see me Thursday at 4pm with a referral from our chiropractor. There is a god!! So we got down there in olympic speed time and got right in. Within minutes the doctor was telling me I most likely have a herniated/slipped naughty naught disc in my spine and that he thinks an epidural shot would keep me from committing suicide. Well holy cow that was an experience. I was in the little "operating" room within 15 minutes of having walked into this place! So I first have to say Kudos respect to all the women who have had this procedure. I had no idea! I pretty much passed out on the table and i was just getting the shot not trying to push a baby out at the same time! So again Much Respect to the ladies of the world who have done this while in labor

So after getting my spinal shot I was sent on my numb butt merry way with a new prescrip for STRONGER pain pills and a muscle relaxor. Yea!!! Finally the spasms stopped and I could sleep through about half the night before needing another dose of meds but what a huge differance. I was feeling half human again on Friday afternoon when we went in for a doctor ordered MRI. OK now that was intense. I mean how much can one person take in a week right! I just got a message from my doc today that they have the results and I'll know if this time I've finally done it and will need surgery or not to get back to normal. I'll keep you all informed of the findings. And please if I can ask one thing of you all, please give Mike a big hug next time you see him. I'm sure he needs it after what I've put him through over the last 7 days! :)

Ok so all that said I do love the end result of the living room. Well not quite end.. I am still going to paint the fireplace wall a beautiful warm cream color...eventually...when I'm ready to go through all this again. OR next weekend! Do I never learn!

Peace and love

When I rise..

2008-07-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Sorry I've been missing for a while. Life seems to get ahead of the time in a day it seems. And well you all know how it is!

So I have just made time here to say hello and share a few quick things about what's been happening in the Jenks home. We had a wonderful July full of busy, fun times. Although our AC went out last Saturday ..not so good when it's a 100+ degrees each day! It turns out upon futher investigation that it's a miracle it's ever worked with how the previous home owners put it together during their tenure in our humble abode. So we tossed and turned in the heat the last few nights while Mike was figuring out what needed to be done and then started to work on it all, but last night, FINALLY, we had COLD air! Wow what a great invention central air was! I want to french kiss the person who figured it out!!!

Ok what else. Our garden is going nuts! Spinach, 3 kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, zuchinni, cucumbers, hot and bell peppers, 4 kinds of tomatoes, carrots, eggplant not to mention the 20+ herb plants! We are slowly learning by trial and error what will live in our yard. We've killed our fair share of trees, shrubs and perrenials. Although I do have to say Mike's sprinkler system he installed earlier this year for the lawn and the subsequent soaker hoses in the veg and flower gardens have made life heaven compared to last year! We're gonna mulch the crap out of everything this fall and hope that we can keep more plants living than dying next year and keep the weeds at bay!

On some personal exciting news I got my yearly haircut! lol Ok maybe Bi-Yearly! Seriously I don't get in nearly enough to keep myself looking presentable. I had maybe just an inch or two taken off the actual length but they took a TON off to shape it and they put in some fun color too. I am really enjoying it.

Work has been really busy due to a reduction in staff in my department. I guess I should just be glad that I wasn't the reductee. I will hit my TEN YEAR anniversay with the company on the 1st of Sept! Kind freaks me out that I've been with the same company since I was 23! WOW is it a good or bad thing. hmmm

We've been seeing lots of our new baby snakies born in the last couple weeks which is exciting...it does make it hard to ever pull Mike away from the animals and the website. Oh and if you haven't checked us out lately you should. Mike's wesite is the RADDEST site ever seen on this planet. There's your plug hun! http://www.solarserpents.com/

Well hope all is well with everyone. I'll try to get some pics of the garden and of Mike and Mayzee in here soon. In the meantime Peace out from the dancing princess!

Holy Buffalo Batman....

2008-07-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

Did everyone else have as much fun as we did on the 4th?

We went up to Mike's folks in Ennis, MT which is a beautiful fly fishing town about 40 minutes SW of Bozeman and just a little over an hours drive to Yellowstone (buffalo to the left). It is truly beautiful country up there. Such a pristene untouched feeling with all the wildlife and big blue skies. We came back feeling rejuvenated and refreshed remembering all that is truly important in life.

Mikes parents just built a beautiful home on the 6 acres of land they bought a few years ago and they hired Mike to do all the electrical. What a commute right! If my memory is correct it took him 4 trips up in the last 9 months with this one being the 5th! He did a great job and i am always so proud of him and impressed by what a hard worker he is! Here's a pic off their front porch at sunset. Can you say GORGEOUS!

Thanks John and Paula for a wonderful time!

......and some video for your watching pleasure. :)

Dress up is fun!

2008-06-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

We were playing at a friends house last weekend and Mike snapped this great pic of Mayzee with a fairy tu tu on her head. We tried to tell her it went around her waist but she would have none of that content in her decision that THIS is the way it belongs.

We have always known she's had a strong personality and very great mind. She definitley marches to the beat of her own drum and the older she gets the more she let's us know this. We can't wait to see what a wonderful, passionate and exciting woman she will become!

Go Mayzee Go!

Happy Fathers day all you great Dad's!

2008-06-13T12:00:00.001-07:00

I was just watching this little clip and it made my heart swell with love and appreciation for all the dad's of the world and especially the dad's in my life.
My own father who would lay down his life for me if I needed him too and has always been there for me, thick and thin, wonderful and not so wonderful. LOVE you dad!
And for the wonderful father in law I now have you cares so much about his own children and grandchildren and did such a great job raising such loving confident successful men! LOVE you John!
And for my brothers who without them I would not be who I am today. They are the most wonderful group of upstanding men I know! Love you Brett, Garet and David! (David your not quite a dad yet you still have 20 days to go!!)

And of course the love of my life and best dad I've ever known who 2 1/2 years ago when barely out of his twenties was faced with raising a precious little baby on his own while working full time and running a small business and didn't hesitate a second on what the right thing to do was. And has never once been resentful or bitter but spends every minute of everyday thinking of nothing but what's in the best interest of little Miss Mayzee and myself. We love him and all he does for us and want him to know we see all he does and appreciate it more than he will ever know.
I love you Mike!

Phew all that said here is the little clip that got me feeling all these wonderful warm fuzzies.

http://www.parentsconnect.com/happyfathersday08/index.jhtml

I hope you all have men in your life as wonderful as mine and that we can take a moment not just on Sunday but everyday to share with them how much they mean to us. Not with fancy gifts or expensive brunches but a hug and kiss and the thing that means the most ...the words we all love to hear... I love you and thank you!

Happy Fathers day all!

In loving memory of Robert the cat

2008-06-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Sad news to share. Our dear sweet cat Robert left this world today. He had been losing weight and looking worse by the minute it seemed so Mike took him to the vet this morning and he was diagnosed with advanced Kidney cancer. Mike made the humane decision to have him put down. It was very sudden and we are very sad. We will miss his head butts and his funny ways. Goodbye sweet boy.

Where does the time go?

2008-06-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

Seriously does anybody know where the time goes and why it goes so slow when your young but so fast as you get older. Isn't life interesting.

Well I just wanted to update everyone real quick about Mikes stomach issues and how he's doing. We went in yesterday afternoon to St. Marks for an endoscopy to have a closer look so to speak at what's going on in his stomach. The doctor said that he saw some scar tissue from what had been causing all his issues with not being able to eat or keep food down somedays. Pretty much what we already thought which is an overproduction of stomach acid that was actually eating a hole in his stomach. He feels that the last few months on Prilosec have already helped things heal up and gotten the stomach acid under control. We knew he was feeling better, obviously, so this was more of a cautinary procedure to make sure there wasn't something more serious going on that needed to be addressed. So there ya have it a clean bill of health and he's on the mend.

The drugs they used to knock him out had him pretty loopy so that was funny for me! Not so funny for him when he was nauseas the rest of the day and night. :(

Other than that life is good. We are still officially in spring and never know from day to day what the weather will be but that's a good thing. Keep the rain coming! We are attempting our hand at quite a few new vegetables for us this year and can use all the help watering we can get!

Can I wear white now?

2008-05-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't been on to post in what seems like forever! Mike was laid up with back problems over the entire holiday so I was playing full time mommy to Mayzee and nurse maid to Mike. It was challenging at times and put a bit of a damper on my 33rd birthday celebrations having a husband who couldn't move let alone throw me a party but that is what life is about sometimes... Compromise and understanding and LOTS of patience! :)

So on a very exciting note I finally bought my new commuter bike on Memorial day. I opted for something quite a bit cheaper than I originally was looking at since after thinking about it rationally I realized it's not like I'm signing up for the tour de france so I figured I could get away without all the REALLY high end stuff!

I ended up getting a Scwhinn "Women Inspired" road bike. I have been kind of building it myself with the extras and it's been pretty fun. I still need to find the rack and panniers/saddlebags for the back so I don't look a total mess by the time I get to work but other than that I'm ready to go. I've got my headlight and flashing rear light so I can be seen and I have a computer I installed that tells me the time, how fast i am going, how far I have gone and can even get into detail like top speed and average speed of the current trip. then of course the necessities like flat repair gear and a multi function tool incase I get any loose bolts etc while out and about.

Here is a picture of the stripped down version of my bike...before I added all the bells and whistles.

So anyway I'm stoked and Mike officially thinks I am a dork because I can't stop staring at it and talking about it!!

Tonight it our first ride. we're going to pack a picnic and load Mayzee up with us and ride up to wheeler farm. We always have so much fun up there so the ride will be fun but the destination and the company will be just as delightful! I sure do love my little family and most days feel like the luckiest woman alive!

Love you all and hope all is well! Where ever you may be today you are never far from our thoughts.

May Day

2008-05-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

As promised here are some pics from Mom's surprise party!

Enjoy....

Almost May

2008-04-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

Well we're almost through April and it's been a crazy ride! One day it's 35 and the next it's 75! Really I don't mind though ,I think spring is my favorite time of year with everything so fresh and new after the long Utah winter.

We successfully pulled off a surprise party for our mom on her 60th birthday this last Saturday. It was quite the event and I think we owe Greta a big thanks for dreaming the whole thing up and Trina and Rainbow for pulling it all together. My biggest job was just to get her out of the house long enough for everyone to go over and fill her house with black balloons and over the hills quotes hung from the ceiling. I did ok but almost lost her in an art supply store downtown! Luckily everyone else was runnign as far behind as we were so it worked out perfect.

I'll attach some pics of the big event as soon as I get our camera back from mom. I apparently left it at her house in all the party excitment! :)

Love you all and hope you have a great week.

6 Truths of Life

2008-04-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

6 TRUTHS OF LIFE

1. You cannot touch all your teeth with your tongue.
2. All idiots, after reading the first 'truth', will try it.
3. The first truth is a lie.
4. You are smiling now because you're an idiot.
5. You will soon forward this to another idiot.
6. There is still a stupid smile on your face.

I don't care if you lick windows, take the special bus, or occasionally pee on yourself...
You hang in there sunshine, you're special.

Hope you all have a lovely Hump day Wednesday and that you are all staying out of trouble!

May you always..

2008-04-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

I've been Tagged!

2008-04-15T12:43:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Joanne! The rules are that you give 7 weird or random facts about yourself, then tag 7 more blogging friends, leaving a message on their site inviting them to play along. I am tagging Brett and Greta! Okay, 7 weird or random facts about me:Seven wierd things about me....1. My left foot is a half size larger than my right foot. 2. I like to read magazines starting from the back.3. When I get mad I start to deep clean my house automatically...seriously no thought about, completely automatic. 4. I dont like to get the bath rugs wet when i get out of the shower. (Joanne's answer but I agree!) 5. I sometimes sneak fabric softener into our laundry because I like the smell so much even though I know it could give Mike a rash. 6. I have probably 75 pairs of shoes but wear the same pair almost every day! 7. I lick my fingers. When I eat, when I cook, seriously if there's something yummy on them they are in my mouth! I didn't ever realize how bad I did it until I met Mike...who won't lick his fingers to save his life. He will just stop and stare at me in amazement sometimes! Oh well there go my dreams of ever becoming a world renowned chef! I'd be kicked out of a professional kitchen in the first five minutes when I got caught with my fingers in my mouth! NOW who is crazy???

Happy Monday!

2008-04-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

Hello all and Happy Monday! What a gorgeous day in Salt Lake city. It's not even noon and it's over 70 degrees outside! It is a bit frightening that it warmed up so quickly when you couple it with the near record snow fall we had this winter. I don't know if anyone remembers the UT flood of 83 but I do! We lived in Bountiful at the time and I was young 8 years old and in 2nd grade I think. I remember getting let out of school early and walking home with my brother Brett and watching people on rafts go past us down the middle of the street! It was wild! We have some pics of us standing at the end of our driveway while the water lapped at our toes like we were standing at the edge of a lake. Like I said Crazy and not something we necessarily need to experience again!

In anycase the unusally warm weather made for a wonderful weekend although we miss our Mayzee. She's been with Mommy Kolleen since Thursday night. We go through withdrawls during her time away from us every other week. The first day is a nice break and it's wonderful for Mike and I to get some alone time together but by day two we don't know what to do with ourselves. lol

That's not exactly true because we've been plugging away on landscaping of our yard. It's been fun and quite the challenge. I love this time of year getting to see what plants made it through the winter and getting the vegetable and herb gardens ready for planting. I fear we may be buried in vegetables by this fall if we plant everything we bought seeds and starts for! Maybe i'll have to try my hand at canning! Waste not, want not right! And if my herb garden does anything close to last year I'll be begging people to take some! Seriously I wish I had a booth at the farmers market last year, I could have made a killing. This pick below was the start of the season '07 and the little corner plot is all herbs. I should have taken an after pic because it was seriously out of control by seasons end. Abundance is a nice thing.. in small doses! lol

On a different note Mike's got an appointment with a specialist tomorrow to hopefully find out why his stomach has been bothering him so badly these last few months. Hopefully they can diagnose it and start treating it so we can get some meat on his bones!! :) Keep him in your thoughts and we'll let you all know what we find out.
Love you all.

Today

2008-04-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

I got this poem from my mother in law today and liked it so much I thought I'd post it for you all to ponder as well. Hope you all have a wonderful day and that you take a moment to see the beauty in everyday life and share that gift with someone else.

TODAY

Outside my window, a new day I see
and only I can determine
what kind of day it will be.
It can be busy and sunny, laughing and gay,
or boring and cold, unhappy and gray.
My own state of mind is the determining key,
for I am only the person I let myself be.
I can be thoughtful and do all I can to help,
or be selfish and think just of myself.
I can enjoy what I do and make it seem fun,
or gripe and complain and make it hard
on someone.
I can be patient with those who may not understand,
or belittle and hurt them as much as I can.
But I have faith in myself, and believe what I say, and I personally
intend to make the best of each day.

Author Unknown

cha cha cha changes...

2008-04-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

I've only had our blog up for one day and already changed most everything about it! lol I think I like this template better. I'll work on getting a picture slide show going too. We have some of Mayzee that will make you laugh so hard you'll pee a little! lol

I'm doing my first test run bike ride from my house to my office tomorrow! It should be fun and if all goes well then I'll start riding to work in the mornings and have Mike pick me up after work so we can do our strength training at the gym together. We're really looking forward to this gym for the summer because they have a HUGE indoor and outdoor pool with all sorts of fun stuff for Mayzee so we'll be spending a ton of time there I'm sure. It may be the first time I've had a tan since we moved to Utah from Cali! lol Speaking of pools doesn't this one look SO relaxing~

Little Miss Mayzee Sat on a daisy eating her poridge and pie...

2008-04-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a little video I put together of Miss Mayzee. All her pics from 0-3 yrs so a little long but too cute to pass up!

a couple pics for your viewing pleasure ...

2008-04-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hello world!

2008-04-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

Wow entering the blog world FINALLY! My brother Brett and his family just started one and it got me thinking, hey self, what's this blogging phenom all about. I should jump on in! Why not what am I waiting for. There's a whole big world out there full of people who want to know every mundane detail of our little happy world right? RIGHT! So Hello World here we are! :)

In case you couldn't tell I'm in a weird mood today! lol Ok well that's all for now. I'll see if I can get our little sweetness Mayzee to help me with the next post. Heck a post from a 3 year old might just be better than my attempt above!