LOTS OF CHRISTMAS PARTIES!!!

I've had some scheduled event every night starting Friday through this Wednesday. December is always way to busy! Friday night was my work party for treasure Valley Pediatrics. It was at the Botanical Gardens. It was really pretty but rainy and cold! We didn't spend much time walking around because Matthew didn't take my advice and ended up leaving his coat at home. My parents catered so of course the food was good. They ran out of potatoes and got pretty close on most everything else due to inaccurate RSVP's. It was kinda scary. We always bring extra food just in case but it wasn't enough this time. I forgot my camera so I stole this pic off a co-workers blog.

Oh, Friday was also my mom's b-day. I told a few poeple at work and by the end of the night most everyone at my work party had told her Happy Birthday. That was kinda fun!

Saturday, I spent most of the day at the church. It took a long time to set up for our Ward Christmas party. Some volunteers didn't end up showing up so that meant extra work for those of us that did. It turned out pretty good though. We served breakfast for dinner. It worked well because our ward has so any kids and it was a lot less expensive too!! I was a little disappointed, however, because I found out at the last minute that my Three Wisemen that were supposed to take the place of Santa in handing out the gifts had a different plan in mind. Someone decided they could just hand the bags out in regular clothes. How fun is that? So much for my long thought out ideas :( Oh well, what could I do at that point??

Sunday was church, lunch at my mother-in-laws, take back deocrations to Melba for the next ward to use, stop at my parents to celebrate mom's b-day with the family, then the company party for Vic's Family Pharmacy. It was at the Rodeo Club and the Idaho Center. We had a pretty good time. We always have dinner and a gift exchage. This year Vic decided to do a relay game. It was pretty fun.

Monday was work then I was invited to Jenna and Quinn's school Christmas program. I skipped out though and went grocery shopping instead.

Tuesday will be work, running errands, making cookies for visiting teaching, then Jenna's dance recital.

Wednesday is work and a visiting teaching get together with my old companion and our new sisters an old sisters we visit. We thought we would just combine it all for Christmas. It should be fun! Hopefully I will still have energy and a desire to socialize!

Oh wait, Thursday, my visiting teachers will probabkly come over. Friday is my dad's b-day. Then Saturday is Matthew's family Christmas party. I will be so glad when December is over. This is way too crazy for me. Too much to keep track of. I come home every night and tell Matthew the plans for the evening. If I tell him too far in advance he gets anxiety and doesn't want to go. Poor guy--He likes to stay at home where it's quiet. He will be very glad when all the holidays are over!

Wanted--Photoshop tutor!

I'm wondering if anyone out there knows how to use photoshop--even the basics--and is willing to teach me a few things. I currently use picasa but have photoshop on my laptop and would like to learn how to use it. There are so many more possibilities. I'm willing to pay for your time.

TAG!!

This one is kinda fun. It's interesting to see what other people have done. I have done everything that is in bold.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (school)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (tithing)
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (Not me personally but I have several adopted family members)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch-hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (i think)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (didn't last too long)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (sort of...Matthew & I got a chalk drawing on our honeymoon)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie ( Not exactly, but I've been in several commercials)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (Tried, they didn't want my blood. I take steroids--albuterol inhaler)
65. Gone sky diving (It was awesome!! Especially because it was free. Some crazy guy paid for me to go with him. It was our first and only date. I was kinda mean to the guys in my singles ward!)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (I still have my favorite blanket)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (with no helmet--scary! Another crazy date from my singles ward)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (for seminary)
86. Visited the White House (I've stood outside the fence)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone's life (Kinda--I'm a nurse--that's my job! I've helped with some codes in the hospital)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (Thanks to our catering business, I've meet a lot of Country singers--Clay Walker, Jo Dee Messina, Martina McBride, Trent Tomlinson, Emerson Drive. I can't think of all of them. Also we've catered for Butch Otter's fundraisers and his wedding.)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (Hope to some day)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (Possibly, when I was younger)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
I tag anyone else who wants to share...
Just paste this list into your blog and bold the ones that you HAVE done, and unbold any I have done that you have NOT... (I changed the font size also on the ones I bolded.)

HELP!!

I just realized on Sunday in my 7:00 AM meeting, that Christmas is approaching very fast! I am still the Ward Activities Director and once again my committee has been taken away from me. I have a few people that are going to be called but I don't have anything planned. I lost my old committee members before we planned Christmas. I was thinking about doing a breakfast for our ward party. I have the building reserved for Saturday the 13th. (Unless it too gets taken. I originally had it for the 6th but found out at my stake meeting that someone else also thought they had it and already had things planned). Oh well, it gives me another week to plan. What do you think about a breakfast? I have a bag of pancake mix that never got opened from our ward campout. It's already payed for and my budget is pretty low. I was also thinking of maybe having a toys for tots drive, a table to write notes to missionaries, and instead of Santa have the Bishopric dressed as the Three Wisemen and they hand out the treat bags. I'm hoping to find a Large Nativity scene with a manger if anyone has one of those. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!!!! Thanks in advance!

Another long update!!!

Where should I even start?? It's been too long. I'm sure I'll miss a few events but here is a little about what we've been up to. We finally got Matthew's turbo fixed in his SRT-4 so he wanted to take a test drive to Banks a couple Sundays ago. The drive was very enjoyable. The colors were beautiful! I didn't get any pics of the really neat places because the car was movng too fast. We did stop to stretch for a few minutes, however, and these are a few of the pics we took.

Matthew sure loves his car. Especially now that it can go FAST again!!

Next, I think, was Halloween. I was in charge of the Ward party of course. We had a carnival in the gym on the Wed before Halloween. It was a lot of fun. I was pretty busy keeping candy and prizes stocked so I didn't get very many pictures of the different booths. I did get Santa though. I thought that was pretty creative. Also, I had the Bishop get a cotton candy machine--the kids LOVED that! The witches brew was a little interesting with a bloody hand, spiders, and who knows what else in it. I had Matthew and Braden pay me for their hair cuts by blowing up balloons. What great help!

Matthew's family party was Halloween night. We had fun taking the neices and nephews trick-or-treating. Jayden had a broken leg so he rode in his wagon. We had a baked potato and chili dinner and played games afterwards. Matthew and I were Thing 1 and Thing 2. We were a little nervous and embarassed but it turned out pretty good. Here are some pics of the family. Some of them are during the lifesaver game. We are passing a lifesaver down the row of teammates from one toothpick to the next. No hands allowed. Also we passed an orange in our neck. That was really funny to watch!!

Here are some random pictures of different times when we had Jenna, Quinn, Micah, Haylee, Braden, and Zach at our house. Matthew has WAY to much energy. He pulled us around with his bike because the battery is dead in the toy jeep. Way to go!! It was actually pretty fun. I might try and post a video later. The pictures of Braden and Zach are after the ward Halloween party. I made them try out my games to see how fun they were. Braden was a good sport. Zach decided to try and hit me with the nerf gun instead!

And last picture for the night is our new truck!! On Saturday we traded in the 4-runner for this Dakota. The 4-runner was getting too old. It leaked oil, the clutch needed replaced, it wasn't very powerful (took forever to get up Horseshoebend hill), and if you haven't forgotten, it had a HUGE dent on the passenger side from my wreck last year! We are a lot happier with this newer vehicle. Now we need to take it for a test drive to Banks!!

In Remembrance

After arriving home tonight, Matthew and I found a very unfortunate event when we checked on the dogs. If everyone would please take a moment of silence for Bessy's beloved elephant. Unfortunately Touille lives up to her nick name "Chewy Touille". She too loved the stuffed elephant but we believe she is the murderer. The cotton innards were spread all over the patio. Unfortunately it ended up in the garbage can. There was no way to save it. The duck was also destroyed a few weeks ago. Now both of Bessy's favorite toys are gone. I'm actually quite sad about the recent happenings. All of you who have seen Bessy most likely know the story behind her extremely messed up leg. She often slept on the elephant . We think it was for comfort. I only paid $1 for it at the DI and don't think I will find another good deal. At the present time I don't think it would be a good decision to buy an expensive stuffed animal. Touille will only rip it to shreds. What a sad night. Maybe Bessy will get to sleep inside tonight on her pillow and Touille will sleep alone outside. I don't know how Touille would handle that though. She's never slept without Bessy since we brought her home. I bet Bessy will forgive her.

Long Update!!

It's been so long since I've blogged about what we're up to. I get so busy looking at all your blogs plus blog stalking other people I don't really even know that I forget to update my own blog. I bet it's boring for all of you when you click on my page. SORRY!! I will try to do better. This will be a long post to make up for it. Break it up and read it on different days. :)

Not much is new in our house. We still go to work everyday and come home to excited, barking dogs who want in the house. Touille has recently learned how to do a circle. We make them do this before they get a treat. On occasion Bessy just starts running in circles indicating that she wants a treat. It makes us laugh so of course, she gets her treat. They are pretty entertaining. Who needs kids when you have dogs??? They are both potty trained and sleep through the night!! They do get a little car sick though. I found a product at Zamzows that makes them drowsy. We are still experimenting with the time frame of when to give the pill prior to the car ride. We've had a few messes to clean up.

We went on a camping trip to Donnelly with my side of the family last weekend. The dogs got to come too. They didn't enjoy the car ride very much (left us a few messes) but had fun with the other dogs in the family who also came. The dogs did really good on the ride home after their pills kicked in. They were both so tired Bessy fell alseep on Touille's head but they didn't seem to mind and I wasn't going to wake them up and risk more nausea. While camping, we went four-wheeling, played games and found a rope swing that was a lot of fun. It's so nice to be in the beautiful mountains and enjoy the scenery. It was kinda gloomy but it only rained on us when we were sleeping. We were lucky!



I'm still working on decorating my house. I tried a new idea in my bonus room. I think I like it but need more colors of paint for additional squares. (pics on bottom of next collage)

A couple weeks ago I found some individual metal square art at Craft Warehouse that match my big collage on the wall in our front room. It's nice to finally have more decoration on my walls!

Also, I finally found the mirror I've been looking for for about 6 months to put my vinyl lettering on!! It was at Bed Bath & Beyond. I was so excited but I was in my car and didn't have enough room for it. I drove back home, got Matthew and the 4-runner (bc the mirror is so huge!) and went back to the store. Nothing I've found prior to Saturday was long enough so I had to jump on the opportunity. When we got there we couldn't find anyone to help us get it off the top shelf so we had to go up front and ask for help. Then we waited for at least 10-15 minutes for someone to finally come. I guess Matthew gave the guy a bad look and he said, "Sorry about the long wait, we'll give you 10% off." I was even more excited!! It was supposed to be $99.00 but I had a 20% off coupon plus the additional 10% off that we got for waiting so long. What a fabulous deal I got!!

Matthew and I put most of the lettering on last night. We have to order a #6 though bc my mom realized (after multiple people have seen it tacked on my wall for 6 months) that I ordered est. 2005. Funny thing is Matthew and I were married in 2006! Opps! Good thing my cousin sells vinyl lettering.The mirror is almost the size of a pool table and I know because we have a pool table in our front room. In case you didn't know, we are "storing" it for Matthew's brother. What a nice sister-in-law I am. I apologize for the not so great pictures. I'm not very good--Espscially with a reflective mirror and glass.


The empty room is Michael's old room. Matthew's other brother. He moved out last month after living with us for about a year. We felt like empty-nesters for a while but have now adjusted. The night he left, Matthew and I were giving him advice and telling him to come back and visit and blah,blah,blah. We felt like our child was moving out. A while after he left, Matthew looked at me and asked what we were supposed to do now. Our entertainment moved out and our house was surprisingly quite. It was weird!

I am Snow White!

You Are Snow White!

Pure and trusting. You are a gentle soul who can get along with just about anyone. Everyone you meet instantly falls in love with you. How can they resist? You have a pure, lovable nature that's irresistable. Just don't trust everyone who comes across your path.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Wow, I must be a pretty good writer! I hated writing in high school and college but I guess my efforts paid off.

Ratatouille!

I thought I better get a post in with pics of our new puppy. We got her from Juliette's little brother about 1 1/2 weeks ago. They called her Ratatouille because she was the runt and looked like a little rat when she was born. We decided to keep the name but we call her Touille (2E) for short. Ratatouille is actually one of our favorite movies and we thought it kind-of fit her but the name was too long. She and Bessy get along great! Bessy hardly ever whines now--We think she just needed a friend to keep her company when we are at work. We don't know what happened to her cow friends. They've been gone for quite some time now. She's been bored all alone. But now she has a playmate!! Look how cute they are.

MEMORIES!

1. As a comment on our blog, leave one memory that we had together (Matthew, Elizabeth/Beth, one of each, or one with both of us). It doesn't matter if you knew me/us a little or a lot; anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.
If you leave a memory about me (Elizabeth/Beth), I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. Have Fun!
(A little side note, I add Elizabeth/Beth because I don't know who calls me what these days. It sounds weird for certain people to call me either name. I always introduce myself as Elizabeth but am actually fine with either name.)

2nd Anniversary

Ok so our anniversary was May 25 but I just got my new laptop and put my pics on it.

For our anniversary we went to Hagerman and stayed at Miracle Hotsprings. I reserved the heated king dome suite. It was pretty nice. Especially during the rain storm when people around us were in tents. It of course had a king size bed and also had a table which was nice because we brought a cooler with food. The side was like a window with a nice view. One of the neatest things was how it amplified our voices if we sat in the right spots because of the shape. We had fun with that. We could whisper to each other but it sounded incredibly close. It was crazy!!! We were right next to the alligators however. They can be very noisey if you didn't know. They woke us up. I thought it was a bulldozer or lions or something else loud--NOT the alligators. The hotsprings were nice, but a little too hot. They had individual rooms you could go into. Hagerman has a lot of fish hatcheries. We saw one fish with a broken fin. It swam on its side. Sad but interesting to watch. The sturgeon were close to 6 feet long. HUGE! We saw catfish too. Oh, I can't forget to mention we saw the Hagerman Horse fossil. It wasn't very exciting to us but we can say we've seen it. The pic got cut off a little. I loved to windmills. I'm not sure why but I did. We saw a few cool waterfalls too but I wish we could have gotten closer. We stayed one night then came home and went to the Carrie Underwood and Josh Turner concert. That was a lot of fun! I didn't take my camara in because Matthew wouldn't let me. I was upset but later found out my friend once got hers taken away. Idaho Center rules--No camaras. Our seats were pretty close and we got our tickets free so it was even better!! Overall it was a nice break and a great way to spend our anniverary--Just the two of us for a couple days.

NEW JOB!!

I know I've been neglecting my blog. I couldn't upload pics for awhile so I got out of the habit of blogging. I will add more posts later but I wanted to post my most exciting news lately. . . I GOT A NEW JOB!!! I will start working at TREASURE VALLEY PEDIATRICS on Monday, July 21. I'm so excited to only have to work at one job per day. I will still help at the pharmacy on Tuesdays but no more at Dr. Thornburgh's office. Also it comes with many benefits and I'm just across the freeway from Matthew's work so we can have lunch together. (Oh, how sweet) Anyways, if anyone is looking for a pediatrician I can lead you in the right direction!

Triplet Tribute!

A friend of ours has triplets and it was their birthday last week. You may have seen pics of them on Kimi's blog. Jasmine, Olivia, and Alexis. They are so darn cute!! These are a few pics from their b-day party. They got new swim suits and insisted on wearing them. It looks like Olivia is doing exercises in the jumping thing. Later she was posing with her baby. Jasmine was running from the camera most of the time so I didn't get very good pics. Alexis liked getting her pic taken but kept making silly faces. What a handful. Mamie and Jeremy you're amazing! Your girls are lucky to have such great parents! We will miss you guys soo much. Have fun and good luck in Montana!!

TWO YEARS!!!

Sunday, May 25 was our second wedding anniversary!! We went to Hagerman Saturday and stayed the night at Miracle Hot Springs then went to the Carrie Underwood/Josh Turner concert last night. We had tons of fun. I have pics to post later. Somehow Bessy chewed through my camara cable so I can't upload any pics--Matthew isn't a very good dog sitter :) I guess he will be buying me a new one.

The joys of being a home owner!!!

We thought it would be nice having a large yard instead of a little slice of grass at our apartment. After our most recent excitement, we're thinking it was nice having a manager who took care of the yard!! Our yard started as partial grass, weeds, goat heads, and crab grass. You name it--we had it. Soo, we weighed our options and decided to haul in some dirt so we didn't have to re-do the sprinkler system. It was a lot of work! We woke up at 7:oo on a Saturday and Matthew, Michael, my dad, and I all went to work. It's nice having a brother-in-law who owes rent money that we can put to work!!! I helped a little but had to get pictures, then luckily had the excuse of a bridal shower and work at the pharmacy to get me out of the rest. Actually, I felt bad. It's hard work being out in the sun. Now we are just crossing our fingers that the grass will grow!

My Birthday!!

Well, I guess I've been slacking a little lately. We've had a couple really busy weekends. I have a lot of pics to post. We'll see how much I get done tonight. My birthday was Sat, May 10. I got to spend the whole day with Matthew! Actually we started Fri night by renting "27 Dresses." I was pretty good. Sat morning we woke up and I finished painting moulding. Matthew then gave me a birthday card and pink slippers with rubber bottoms so I can wear them outside. Then we let the paint dry while he took me to breakfast at his brother's restaurant--"Starvin' Marvin's." It is at the Nampa Municipal Airport. He just opened. They have really good food. Anyways, then we came home and cut and hung the moulding. Corners are hard to cut when they aren't 90 degrees! We did it though.

Next, he helped me put up my vinyl lettering above our bed. The pics make it look more pinkish than it really is. It's actually very red. Now, I just need to add a red lamp and a few red pillows. (Mom got me some for my b-day but they didn't quite match--Great thought though!) Eventually we will get a new bed set too.

After working on the bedroom all day, we went to dinner at Grandma Black's new place with my mom, dad, all my siblings plus the triplets. It was pretty good but over priced. To end the night we went to another girly movie (two nights in a row--He does love me!) We saw "Made of Honor." We liked "27 Dresses" better. They had similar story lines and probably would have both been better had we not watched them back to back. What a great day I had!


Sunday was Mother's Day. We usually celebrate my birthday and Mother's Day together with my family. This is a pic I took from my sister's blog of me blowing out my candles. I'll admit it took two tries to get all twenty-four out. Man, I'm getting old!!

Elizabeth Walker

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 3,119 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Bessy's Birthday!

Bessy had her first birthday on April 26. I thought it was the 27, but I work with the girl who owns the mom. She corrected me and then I was a guilty parent. Just kidding. We do enjoy having a dog but don't treat her completely like a child. Anyways, I thought she needed a new bed and this was the perfect opportunity to buy one. So. . .for her birthday she got this nice comfortable bed and a big bag of dog bones. What a lucky girl!! She loves both of them. She has a bad shoulder from previous injuries and seems to do better in the mornings after sleeping on this nice, soft pillow! I just realized she also got new dog vitamins for her birthday too. She takes glucosamine and omega-3 pills for her shoulder. Okay, so I am a little over the top. Oh well.

My most recent project

I guess I could have posted this a while ago but I was too caught up in all the chaos. My most recent project for my house is working on our master bedroom. My mom and I made the curtains, quite some time ago, out of sheets and D.I. curtains. They turned out great and match my bedding. I also painted the brown border. I want to buy moulding to put between the dark brown and cream. It will be red. My decorating budget got put on hold however. DARN! It will happen soon though.

Also, I bought some vinyl lettering from my cousin (she sells Uppercase Living). It is red and says "Love one Another." It is currently tacked above our bed until I get the moulding up. I'm not sure what height to put it yet. I love to decorate! I just wish it wasn't such an expensive hobby.

HAIR CUT TIME!

During all this recent chaos, I forgot to post that I got a hair cut! It is a little depressing. I miss my longer hair but am also enjoying the shorter cut. It depends on the day. I don't regret it at all though. I've been considering it for a long time. Finally I was sick of my plain hair and everyone elses cute short cuts. I'm still experimenting with styling it. Some days I think it makes me look like a 10 year old but what can I do now?? 6 inches are gone!! I don't have any picks of me yet. SORRY! I will try to remember to take some. I'm in my p.j.s now though so not a good time.

Another Day in the Walker Home!!!

Last depressing post before I find something good to write.
I promise!!!

Monday morning I thought I'd do a little picking up before work, like usual,
but things took a little longer than expected. I started in the spare
bathroom that Matthew and Michael use and this is what happened!!

All I did was open the cupboard door to put Matthew's toothbrush away and the whole cupboard came crashing down! The cupboard landed on top of the toilet and caused some serious damage. The cupboard and I survived though. Needless to say, I spent more time cleaning the bathroom than was planned for. We now have a beautiful cracked toilet lid. You all should get one. I think I will start a new trend because we aren't spending money to fix it right now. Cars come first!!!

Tagged!

Sorry, this is going to be long. Finally something nice and enjoyable to talk about!!

How did we meet: We first met about age 10 in primary but were both very shy and didn't talk much. We've lived about 15 minutes away from each other our entire lives! However, we were reintroduced in 2005 by my sister and her husband before they were married. Matthew and Chris lived together.
Where did you go on your first date: We have decided to call going to the Haunted corn maze our first date. We had only "hung out" previously. Matthew held my hand that night then we didn't talk for a couple days. I don't know what I was thinking.
How long have we been together: Starting October 2005, we've been together for 2 1/2 years. Dated 2 months, engaged for 5 months, married almost 2 years.
Who eats more: I probably eat more frequently but Matthew eats more at one sitting. However, I do have my picture on the wall at Big Jud's in Ashton for eating the whole 1 pound hamburger in my college years!
Who said I love you first: Matthew did. About 2 or 3 weeks after we started dating, I went to Rexburg to fill-in at a Dr's office for 2 weeks. He surprised me and drove all that way (4 1/2 hours) to visit me. When I saw him, I knew he loved me! He said it just before he left. I quickly repeated it. (Thanks Jeff and Andrea for letting us stay at your house! I will never forget that trip!)
Who is taller: Definitely Matthew. 6'4" vs. 5'6" I think.
Who sings better: I used to sing in middle school and my mom always encouraged me. I think I buried that talent and lost it though because I'm not that good anymore. Matthew is a pretty good singer. He sings all the time at home. I like it!
Who is Smarter: I'm the college graduate but I think Matthew is probably smarter in general. He seems to know something about everything. He has a memory like no other too!
Who does the Laundry: I do most of it. He has learn ed to sort his laundry into the hamper for whites and the hamper for colors. That helps a lot. I'm a little--okay, a lot--obsessive compulsive and organize our closet by color so he doesn't touch my clothes. He keeps his pretty well organized though. Very impressive. Certain color hangers actually mean something in our closet. Yikes! Too much info!
Who does the dishes: I would like to say both but mostly me. He doesn't load the dishwasher quite right. OCD! Need I say more?
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: If you are standing at the end bed, I am on the right. However, Matthew says I sleep mostly in the middle and he gets pushed off.
Who pays the bills: I keep them all organized on a calender. Darn OCD gets the best of me. Matthew has a couple that he is responsible for paying online. It requires reminders though.
Who mows the Lawn: That would be my brother Zach's job. We both claim to be allergic!
Who cooks dinner: Usually me. Matthew will cook if we have breakfast foods. Unfortunately we eat out more than I'd like to admit. We both enjoy cooking but I work late 3 nights a week which makes it hard.
Who drives when we are together: Usually Matthew. Occasionally he can convince me to drive. I don't like to when he's in the car.
Who is more stubborn: Depends on the situation. We're both pretty stubborn. I've been working on it though. We have a one hour limit to be mad then we must talk about it. Sometimes we forget (or ignore) this rule.
Who kissed who first: I say I kissed him. He says we both kissed each other at the same time. "The moment was right so it just happened." It was all about the googley eyes!

Who proposed: He did. In the evening on Christmas Day after being with me and getting nervous all day long. It was in this cute little Santa. It took forever for me to figure out how to open it. I actually set it aside and Matthew said, "Umm, That's your best present!" I eventually figured it out. (Thanks Kimi for your help)

Who is more sensitive: Probably me. I breakdown about the most stupid things sometimes. I've only cried in two movies though. I think. Charlie and ??? hmmm I can't remember. Matthew is sensitive about certain topics though.

Who has more siblings:Equal-- we both have 2 sisters and three brothers. I'm second oldest, hes' second youngest.

Who wears the pants: Matthew says we both do. At times we even try to wear the same pair! I don't recommend it. Things get a little cramped and uncomfortable. Then we talk it through and decide who gets what pair when.

Some how I completely messed up this text. Each time I try to fix it, it just gets worse. Somehow it's auto-formatting or something and I can't get rid of the bold words. Who knows? I'm done trying for the night.

I tag:Andrea and Megan. I think everyone else has done it. To copy a better template, look at another persons blog. Cut and paste and try not to mess it up like me!! It was all fine and dandy until I added pictures! Good luck!

More depressing news!

I bet you can all guess it has to do with one of our vehicles. AGAIN!!! If so, you'd be right! On Friday, Matthew was driving the 4-Runner home from work and had a tire blowout on the freeway!! We were blessed in the fact that no one was hurt. He got to the side safely. FYI if you ever breakdown on the side of the freeway you only have 3 hours after the emergency response car thing (whatever is it) comes and puts an orange check-mark on your window. How inconvenient that this puts us in rush-hour traffic. No way we were going to risk our lives trying to change a tire. Actually we realized it doesn't even have a spare. We ended up having it towed($65) and fixed on Sat. Sounds simple right???? Not in our case. They towed it to the wrong place so it didn't get to the correct place until after they closed. We had to take the keys to them on Saturday morning. We gave them the keys at 9:50 and they told us it would take 20 minutes. We decided to have my tire fixed too. It had a slow leak and we didn't want any more problems. Well at 11:32 we got our keys back!!! We didn't have to pay. GOOD THING!!! I would have caused problems had they asked for money!!! Well, we are starting a new week. Maybe I will have good news on my next post. At least we are safe and our most recent problems haven't cost as much money.

Quick SAD update!

Just a little pitty party for me. Apparently the 4-Runner felt left out and when Matthew tried to leave for work today, IT WOULDN'T START!!!! We got it fixed though. No money involved either. Luckily. Our "fix car fund" that has recently been started has no money in it. We just had to jump start it then Matthew took it in to check the battery but it's still good. The connections were just bad. Walmart cleaned it and diagnosed it free. They also did another 31 point free inspection and everything (except the dent in the door!!) looks great!! We are trying to stay positive and look for the good in all our trials. Some days it's pretty hard but then I think--It could be worse and things won't change if I'm in a bad mood and depressed so I better look for something to be happy about!! At least the sun was shinning and there wasn't snow today!!

LOTS of CAR PROBLEMS!!!!

WARNING--THIS IS A LONG ONE!!

Matthew and I have been having quite the time lately with our vehicles. We bought a used 4-runner in December for Matthew's Christmas present. It was awesome! A little hill-billyish with the custom made rack on top and the lift kit but lots of fun and it holds a lot more than either of our cars. We were excited to take it to the mountains to go tubing and camping. THEN. . . In January I decided to drive it in the snow for the first time (while mad) and slid through an intersection in our neighborhood and got hit. NOW, it has a big dent in the door and the running board is no help when trying to get in or out. Due to unfortunate circumstances, insurance will not pay to fix it. BUT, it's still drivable. (I just almost fall out every time because of the lift) It's very tall. Anyways, the back brake light and the front head light are also out. Last week we were driving it in the dark because of reasons you will soon read about and Matthew got pulled over. Luckily the cop was nice and he didn't get a ticket. Finally a little luck! (With that vehicle!)

Next, Matthew's car. A few years ago, he hit a cat. We didn't think it caused any damage so we didn't take it in to get worked on. Bad mistake #1. A few months later, the turbo stopped working. The warranty wouldn't cover it because apparently the cat had caused some visible body damage and they blamed the cat for the turbo. Dang!! We decided not to pay to fix it. Bad mistake #2. Then just recently it started making weird noises when he stopped or went over bumps. We realized it was dragging something but Matthew didn't seemed too concerned about getting it fixed. Bad mistake #3. Last month, he was on his way to work and every time he slowed down his car died. He barely got it back home. Because it has the turbo engine only a few places can fix it. We couldn't find a place that day so again, put it off. He thought he would just drive the 4-Runner. That was bad mistake #4 because NOW. . .
My car decided it was being left out!! I borrowed my moms car to move some furniture last week so she had my car. She tried to drive it to Kimi's house but, you guessed it, it wouldn't start!!!! We left it alone for the night and tired again the next day. NO luck! One good thing is that I have free towing up to 15 miles through my insurance. So. . . it got towed to get fixed. My car is an Oldsmobile Alero that is not made anymore so I was worried they wouldn't be able to find parts for it. They did but for a very high cost!! They had to replace my fuel pump which is located in the gas tank. I haven't picked it up yet but the news is that is cost around $600 to fix it!! Yikes!! Oh, well. I guess that's cheaper than buying a new car and having a car payment. Mine is paid off. Hopefully, things will get better. I get to pick it up tomorrow. Then Mom will get her car back, which means Dad will get his van back. We all traded and made sacrifices for each other. I'm so glad my family lives close by. They are so great to help!! Now we just have to find the money to fix Matthew's car so we don't have to spend so much in gas for the 4-Runner. The dent in the door will have to stay. I guess we will continue to look like red-necks when we drive it around. Oh well, at least we are safe and have a roof above our heads. We are seriously considering buying bikes now!!!! Just in case we ever need them!

FMX

Matthew and I decided to go to the FMX (free style motocross) event at the Idaho Center on Friday night for date night. It was a lot of fun!! I accidently left my camara on my seat in the car so I didn't get any pictures. I downloaded these for examples. It is basically what we saw but we were inside. At some points it was almost scary how close the riders were getting to the rafters in the Idaho Center. That ceiling is high too! Very impressive. My favorite was the flips. They have to be sooo strong to do all these tricks. The bottom left picture reminds me of when I went sky diving. I bet he feels like he's flying. The middle right picture go tcut off but you can still get the point. It was pretty cool!!

Bessy the Bassador

We got a dog from my friend/co-worker shorty after we moved into our house. She is a Bassador (3/4 Basset Hound, 1/4 Labrador). She has short-crazy basset legs, a long body, big floppy ears, and more of a lab face. Because of the lab, her skin isn't as saggy as a basset and she's supposed to be some-what more trainable. She is pretty obedient when we have a treat for her but otherwise ignores us. She has learned a few things though. Maybe it just takes more time. My mom named her Bessy because she has black and white spots like a cow. Funny thing is our back yard shares a fence with a field of cows. She spends most of the day trying to "talk" and make friends with the cows. She is pretty fun and entertaining most of the time.