Eyerly Family: Gabe, Leslie and Kobe

End of 2011 and Beginning of 2012

2012-01-09T16:39:00.000-08:00

We had a great Holiday. The following pictures are backwards because I still don't know how to really add pictures to blogger so we are going to back track to Christmas. Kobe and I were gone for another 2 weeks. First Christmas in Dallas and then New Years in Utah.. It was wonderful but exhausting and Gabe was only with us for the first 5 days so it is nice to finally be home all together. Kobe is a little over 5 months now. He is getting so big and chubby, we love it. He rolls over and laughs all the time. He is really a good baby and of course the cutest baby ever.

I just love his soft baby skin.

This is what are second room looked like when we first moved in. Slowly we were clearing it out but while I was in Utah Gabe surprised me and finished the whole room and set up the nursery.

He even organized the whole room, bought shelves and finished hanging pictures all around the whole house. He did so much work..it was so sweet. He even framed my college diploma. Our apartment finally feels like home now and I am loving it.

Kobe is getting use to sleeping in his crib. He is doing better and better each day. After his first nap in the crib though this is how I found him. Now I swaddle him every time and he does great, He still manages to get out of the tight swaddle almost every time. He is sleeping in his room and sleeping much better through the night.. usually only waking up 1 or 2 times. He is also taking much better naps in his crib. I am trying really hard to get a schedule down since we are home and not traveling for a while.

Gabe's Christmas present was tickets to a Lakers game since they played here in Portland. Our friend Curtis game up for the game. I guess they had pretty good seats and had a great time even though the Lakers lost. Gabe got to see Kobe Bryant so I think that is all that matters.

We started Kobe on rice cereal. At first, every time I would go to put it in his mouth he would also stick his fist in his mouth. He is doing great now and I can't seem to feed it to him fast enough.

This in one of the only pictures I took in Utah. 2 months ago he couldnt stand in this now look at him. We had a great time though. Flights were full getting out there and I really wanted to make it out there before the 30th because that is when Lachelle was leaving but the only flight I could get was that day. Lachelle however flew American and had a layover at DFW and we got to hang out for 40 min before her flight to Jersey. It was way too short but it was awesome to see her and she hadn't seen Kobe yet. We are definitely flying out to Jersey soon to see her and spend some good time with her. It has been way to long, I miss my little sister. Utah was fun and Kobe loves my family. I got to be home for Prestons 16th birthday... I can't believe my baby brother is 16. I wish we lived closer to everyone to be able to see them all more often, Luckily we get to fly!

We spent Christmas in Dallas with the Eyerlys. It was awesome everyone was there except the Henderson Family whom we all missed a lot and hope to be able to see soon. My in-laws got everyone Les Mis Tickets for Christmas and we all went out for the night the day after Christmas and saw it at the Dallas Opera House. It was awesome. It was fun getting all dressed up and having a night out with the adults. Everyone looked awesome and the musical was amazing.

Christmas Eve and morning were so much fun. There were so many people all around. On Christmas Eve we had a fun family history fireside and sang Christmas songs. We also played minute to win it Christmas games (thanks Casi). It was so fun. Christmas morning was filled with presents and fun. Our stocking this year were cute bags because our old stockings got ruined and I have yet to make some new ones. Family on the stairs.. I think I'll make this a tradition like my family did. Well only if we have stairs around I guess.
Kobe got a Lakers bib in his stocking I got some Lakers earrings and Gabe got Chiefs tie tacks. Santa really wants us to be sports fans I think.

We thought it only appropriate to get Kobe this football pj outfit for Christmas eve. He looks so cute in it.
Becky got Kobe these adorable Christmas pjs for Christmas eve. They were perfect for his first Christmas morning.
My mother in law got us all Snuggies for our Christmas Eve gift it was awesome!!

All in all it was an amazing Christmas vacation. Of course on Christmas we had the opportunity to go to church and celebrate our Savior's birth. It was nice having Christmas on Sunday to help us remember the real meaning behind the holidays. I am so grateful that I was able to spend the holidays with my family. Gabe and I are truly blessed with a wonderful family. We are excited for the year 2012 and what it will bring to our little family. Last year brought many new exciting changes to our lives and we hope that 2012 will be full of just as many excited things.

2011-12-12T10:28:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it is December all ready. November went by so fast. Probably because Kobe and I were gone for 3 weeks. Our week long Thanksgiving trip turned into 3. We had a great time though. Its nice to be home with Gabe though and rest before we set off in a couple weeks for our Christmas adventures.

We flew into Baltimore and got spend a day with Wade, Kellie and Ammon.

We had a great visit even though it was so short. We are excited to see them again at Christmas

We drove down to Richmond to spend Thanksgiving with Lindsay's family. The 3 hour drive took us 6 but we finally made it. We had a great time. Lindsay made a wonderful meal. I know I gained few pounds with all the baking Lindsay does. Gabe was able to stay until Saturday and I stayed until the next Wednesday. I love being able to visit my sisters and wish we all lived near each other.

Gabe and Kobe sleeping in the morning...too cute. Love these guys

My nephews and niece are so cute. They had a fun time with Kobe.

Kobe saw Santa. I think he looks like a little elf.

Rylee loved holding her little cousin.

I love those baby blue eyes

After Richmond I decided that Kobe and I would go to back to Lubbock to visit since we had to go through Dallas anyways and it would break up the trip back. My 3 day visit turned into 6 but we had an awesome time. We miss all our family and friends in Texas. Thank you all for letting us hang out with you and crash your homes. I got to visit lots of friends and the rec center. I really miss my old job and friends and love being able to go back so they can all see Kobe. Don't worry we will be back in a couple months.

Kobe's 10Th flight. Gabe had a meeting in Dallas so we were able to meet him there and then all fly home together. Kobe does great on the plane. So far he has been a great traveler.

Halloween in Utah!

2011-11-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

Kobe and I just got back from visiting the family in Utah. We were there a for a week and really enjoyed spending time with family and friends. Kobe got to meet my Dad and Uncle Preston for the first time and Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jonathan and his 3 cute cousins. Kobe's cousin Brennan is only 8 days older than Kobe but they couldn't look more opposite. I love going to Utah for Halloween. My parents have a great neighborhood for trick or treating. The twins looked so cute going up to the doors. Only in Utah can people hand out homemade cotton candy and donuts and it is okay to eat them. I got to spend time with lots of friends too. I definitely don't miss the snow in Utah but I miss being close to my family and friends. Thankfully we get to fly for cheap and can go back often. If we couldn't I bet my mom would be mad, she hates seeing Kobe go. Don't worry we will be back at Christmas time. Kobe did great on the plane both ways. I'm really lucky that he sleeps most of the way. He better get to use to flying because we have a lot more trips planned! It is good to be home, we missed Gabe a lot and Kobe loves spending time with his dad and I'm sure Gabe missed waking up in the night and changing diapers. Here are few great pictures from the trip. I am the worst about writing under pictures it never works for me, so you just get them all at once.

I made sure we carved a pumpkin before we left. Gabe did a great job and Kris helped me get all the seeds out. This last picture I took a few weeks ago but I just think it is the cutest little face ever!

Kobe at 11 weeks

2011-10-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

Kobe is growing so big. We just had his 2 month appointment, he was 8 lbs 13 oz and 20 1/2 in. He is a little guy but to me he has grown so much. He is smiling and cooing like crazy. He is starting to get baby chub to him and I just love it. My mom came here for a couple weeks at the beginning of the month and we loved having her here. We miss the help and company but we are headed to Utah soon to see the family and I am super excited!

We definitely have fall weather here in Vancouver. Today we went to a farm and picked out pumpkins and did a pumpkin launch. It was nice to get out of the house. Between the rain and not working I have been a little stir crazy and can't wait for opportunities to get out of the apartment.

We have officially moved

2011-09-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

Well we have officially moved to Vancouver WA. Kobe and I have been here for almost 2 weeks. Kobe is a little over 5 weeks now. I can't believe it. I haven't posted much so I thought I would go all the way back to the birth and post a few pictures and then some pictures of the following weeks.

This is me talking to Gabe on the phone since he couldn't be there. We kept him updated the whole time.

After Kobe was born our friends were all so great and let us crash at their houses until we were ready to move. The Bakers let us stay at their house for a week and then we stayed at the Nicholas's for almost 2 weeks. We are so grateful for their help. Karris took these cute photos of Kobe and then my friend Scott took the colorful ones of him at the rec center.

We blessed Kobe in Lubbock 2 days before we left. My mother-in-law made him an adorable

suit with a vest and tie as well. She also made Gabe a matching tie. I made a bow to match as well. Boy! were we a good looking family. Gabe gave Kobe a wonderful blessing. It was great to have so much family there.

Kobe is so precious and we just love having him in our family. We are excited for this new adventure in Vancouver. We have already explored farmers markets and dog parks with chief and today we drove out to the coast. I miss our friends in Lubbock like crazy but I am excited for the new adventures are little family of three are going to experience in this new place.

KOBE IS HERE!!

2011-08-03T13:59:00.000-07:00

Well its a good thing I recovered that chair on Tuesday because I had a surprise on Wednesday night. It was a normal night I went to bed at 10:30pm. About 1:30am I woke up thinking I was about to pee my pant. I ran to the bathroom...lets just say not all of it went in the toilet. I called Gabe kind of laughing about how I pretty much just peed my pants. He laughed and I then I took a shower and washed my clothes. But then I noticed a few other weird things.. which I won't go into detail about but I started to freak me out. I called my sister crying wondering if my water broke and then called Gabe again. Gabe told me call a doctor or to go back to bed. I decided to google what it was like when you water broke and I noticed again some things and started freaking out more. I called my good friend Amy and she came over and I called the doctor. They called back and told me to come in and get checked. At this point I wasn't having any contractions.

When we got in the car I started to feel little ones. We timed them and they were 2 minutes apart. This really scared me because I thought when you first went into labor contractions were much further apart and that 2 min meant you were having a baby soon. When we got to the hospital I was a wreck and I was crying. It was so early I was only 35 1/2 weeks and Gabe was in Portland, I didn't want to have the baby without him. They finally check me to see if my water did break. It had and I was dilated to a 6. Not long after they got me into a room I was already a 7. Not long after that the contractions got pretty painful and were every 45 seconds lasting a minute so I got an epidural which I was very thankful for. At this time Gabe was headed to the airport, we kept him updated through calls and texts. I had some great support in the room with me. My friends Amy, Karris and Kami were all there. And I had a wonderful duola. They all helped me relax so much. Right around the time Gabe boarded his flight I started pushing. I pushed for about 45 min and the little guy was born at 9:14am on Thursday July 28. My friend was sending Gabe emails with photos and video and he was able to check them on his laptop on the flight so he was notified every step of the way. The flight attendant even made an announcement on his flight.

Kobe Oliver Benjamin Eyerly was 6lbs 3 oz and 19 inches long. He had a little trouble breathing right after birth so they took up to the nursery and then to the NICU. Gabe finally made it around 6pm that night. Kobe is doing really good, he is still in the NICU but hopefully he will come home on Friday. He was on oxygen at first and a feeding tube but now is off all those. He just needs to work on his eating and breathing at the same time. We love him soo much and can't wait until he can come home.

Other other news.. I got released from the hospital on Saturday morning..we had movers come to our house that afternoon and pack up everything to take it to Portland. Gabe and I are staying with friends for the next 3 weeks until Kobe is good to travel. Its been a little stressful at times but we are so happy to have him in our family. I guess he just couldn't wait.

Rocking Chair

2011-07-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

My sister in law gave me a rocking chair glider 4 years ago and I kept saying to myself that I would recover the cushions. Well they are moving our things on Friday so I wanted to get it done before they took the chair. My friend Karris helped me with the sewing.. because that is not a strong suit of mine. I think it turned out pretty good. Now I just need to touch up the scratches on the chair and I think it will look great in Kobe's room. I also bought way to much fabric so maybe I will have to make a few pillows.

Hopefully 4 more weeks to go!

2011-07-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

I am a little over 35 weeks. We are hoping to induce a few days early so we can plan on Gabe being there. So I am hoping to have the little guy in 4 weeks from today really. I am getting to the pretty uncomfortable stage. I can't eat much there is just no room and sleeping and sitting are pretty uncomfortable.

My saving grace is my lunch time water exercise. I love jogging in the pool and teaching my prenatal water class. I would stay in the water all day if I could.

We are moving most of our stuff to Vancouver this weekend. Ill be here with the bare minimum. Only 2 more months and ou

r family will finally be together for good. Once Kobe gets here in a month, I know the last month will go by quickly. What doesn't kill you makes your stronger I guess. Gabe will be coming home each weekend from now on.. so that is good. Weekends get boring with out him here and not having work.

I can't believe its already Friday!

2011-07-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

This week went by pretty fast... I love 4 day work weeks. I am excited for a weekend with no plans. Last weekend wore me out, it was very crazy and stressful but fun at the same time. I went out to Portland to visit Gabe for the 3 day weekend. Friday I went to the airport... flying stand by is no fun. I got there around 2pm. I didn't' make the first two flights out of Lubbock. So after waiting for 3 and half hours I had a melt down ( I blame a little of bit of it on the pregnancy). I would make the next flight in another 2 hours but that meant I could only catch the last flight into Portland which got me in a 2am my time. Not fun when you are 8 months pregnant. So I am crying in the airport talking to Gabe on the phone and I am trying to decide if i should even go. I have Gabe call his friends and send my bag back up so I can just go home. But then I start crying again because I really want to spend the weekend with Gabe so i tell Gabe to call back and have them send my bag back down. The people at the airport probably thought i was crazy...

Oh well. I make it to Dallas finally at almost 9pm. Get sick in the airport from eating food in Lubbock and then getting on the plane. When I make it to my gate in Dallas I am number 16 on the standby list.. I was 3 earlier in the day. So now it looks like I won't even make it to Portland.. Pregnant me starts crying again and calling Gabe. He tried to move me up on the list but can't and the flight leaves. 9:35 and I'm all stressed out. Gabe tells me there is a flight leaving for Seattle in 20 min. So I race over to another terminal and make it by like 3 min. I was the last person they let on the plane. So four hours later I'm in Seattle (2 1/2 hour drive from Gabe's apartment) and it is 2am. Luckily Gabe got a hotel room so we wouldn't have to drive all the way home. At this point all I wanted was a shower and bed so I was glad. Once Friday was over the rest of the weekend was Great!

Saturday morning we walked around Seattle. It was perfect weather. We went to the space needle and Pikes Place Market. We ate fresh fruit and fresh bread for lunch Yum... It was nice to be outside and not have it be over 100 like at here at home. We headed back to Vancouver that afternoon. The rest of the weekend was fun and relaxing.. Just driving around Vancouver and Portland seeing where we would be living. The weather was great all weekend. I got to meet some of Gabe's employees and see his work. We walking around downtown Portland and watched some fireworks being shot off over the river.

Luckily Monday's flights home went smoothly and I made it back no problems. It was good weekend overall but exhausting!

I love being able to spend time with Gabe... but flying and being pregnant is the worst.. Airports and planes are not comfortable. Its good to be home. I will be nice when I can finally move out there and we can be together. I only took one picture of me in front of the space needle.

31 Weeks

2011-06-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Okay here is a picture of my belly. The doctor says my weight is perfect. Even though they say that is still frustrating getting dressed in the morning and I can't wait to fit in my old clothes again. I am trying to avoid buying a ton of maternity clothes so I am trying to make due with what I have. I probably try on 10 things every morning before I leave the house. I feel very lucky and blessed to be pregnant but I hoping the next 2 months go by quickly so Kobe can finally be here.

9 more weeks

2011-06-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well not much has been going on in the Eyerly home. I have about 9 weeks left until Kobe gets here. Gabe and I are really excited. I really haven't got a lot of baby stuff done or any decorating because we are moving right after he is born. Gabe has been working in Portland for the last 3 months. He usually gets to fly home on the weekends for a couple days. Things have been kind of boring with out him. I pretty much just go to work and then try to keep my self from being too bored in the evenings. It has been pretty hard but I have great friends around who keep me company.
My pregnancy is going good. I feel huge though and hate the fact that I am going to just keep getting bigger in the last few weeks. I have been teaching water aerobics so that is good and I try to take zumba a couple times a week. I can't wait until I can exercise like I use too.. I miss it and I miss teaching classes.
I am kind of against taking pictures of my belly, so I doubt I will put one up for people to see.. Just picture a basketball under my shirt, that's about what it looks like. I am going to visit Gabe in Portland over the fourth of July so I will post some picture from that trip. Besides that I am just trying to survive the heat of the West Texas summer and keep myself busy while Gabe and I are apart. Gabe is doing great at his new job and We can't wait until our family can all be together including Kobe!

We are Having a BOY!!!

2011-04-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

We found out last week that we are having a baby boy!! We are both thrilled. I was nervous because the little guy was hiding the whole time and the lady had to keep shaking my belly to get him to move. Gabe had been saying it was a boy all along but I wasn't sure either way.. I would of loved a girl to dress her up in all the cute little girl things, but I am equally excited that it is a boy. It makes it even more exciting to see Gabe so thrilled. I have been saying that I am going to be the one and not him limiting the baby purchases. If Gabe could have his way everything our little guy wears would be Lakers gear or sports related. We have already picked out his name. Gabe got to chose the name for his first son and of course he chose Kobe. I think it is cute too. His name will be Kobe Oliver Benjamin Eyerly. So if you notice his intials spell his name just like Gabe's ititals spell his name and they will share the middle name Benjamin. 21 weeks down 19 weeks to go hopefully!

Hawaii

2011-04-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been crazy. I was home for about 3 days out of the last 17.. Our first big adventure was Hawaii. Gabe and I flew down there on Sat the 3rd and stayed until thursday evening. It was amazing. Neither of us had ever been and we can't wait to go back either. We stayed in Maui with some friends of ours that use to live in lubbock. We had the best time. We went to the beach, hiked up to waterfalls and enjoyed all the small shopping towns. One day we took a 6 hour boat ride, where we saw dolphins, whales and sea turtles and stopped in two locations to snorkle. Snorkling was one of my favorite things we did. We also drove up to the top of the tallest mountain on Maui and watched the sunset. Here are a few pictures...I am still waiting on our underwater pictures so we will see how those turned out. It was such a beautiful place!

15 weeks down too many to go

2011-03-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

I am so grateful to be having a baby but I am not enjoying being pregnant at all. I have a book about expecting and it goes through the pregnancy. Every negative syptom one could possibly get while pregnant I have. The first trimester is over so I am just hoping I am one of those who starts to feel better soon and not one of the ones who is sick the whole time. Lucky my worst days seem to be on saturday and sundays. Its like my body knows I don't have to work so it can just all hit me really hard. I know it will be worth it in the end, I just hope the next six months fly by.

Last weekend I drove down to College Station Tx in a 15 passenger van with 13 of my instructors for fitness weekend. I was really nervous about riding in a big van for 8 hours with the way my stomach as been lately but luckily nothing hit me until we had reached the hotel with a nice bathroom. It was fun weekend and I finally have been able to work out lately so it was fun to do a few classes. I really do have the best job ever! 4 more weeks and we get to find out if it is a boy or girl!!

Our Little Miracle Story

2011-02-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

Gabe and I are excited to annouce that we will be adding to our family in August. We are very excited to be pregnant. It is such a great blessing and an answer to so many prayers. Even though there have been many struggles on the road to this pregnancy, I am so grateful for our blessings and I think the Lord as really prepared us to be parents. I thought I would write out the quick story so I don't forget how blessed I really am.

We decided a little over 2 years ago that we wanted to start our family and about 2 years ago I was diagnosed with PCOS so we knew it would be a little difficult. We tried on our own for a while and then were referred to our Fertility Specialist. Things looked promising so we again decided to just try on our own. After the year mark we decided to start looking into the fertility treatments. There were a lot of tests that needed to be done and they all had to be done around my cycle which was so irregular that it was very hard to coordinate them. Also money became an issue. Our insurance only covered diagnoses so everything else we had to pay for. It always seemed like we would save up the money for a test or something, and then something else would happen that we would have to put that money towards. It was really frustrating for a while, and it seemed like everyone I knew was having babies.

I am so grateful for my family and friends who helped me so much through all these trials and for all the prayers that were offered in our behalf. We have so many great people in our lives that gave us so much support and help. In November we finally had finished all the necessary pretests and visits and were ready to start the fertility drugs. We also decided to do insemination to increase our chances of conceiving. On Dec 6Th we had the procedure and everything went well. And then we had to wait 2 weeks to find out if it worked. Only about 1 in 3 who do it have it work the first time. So I was prepared and pretty sure that we would have to try again and that it more than likely wouldn't work. Gabe was so sure that it worked the whole ...what an optimist. I guess I was just preparing myself for the negative so that it wouldn't hurt so bad if it didn't happen.

On the 20Th of December we went in for the blood test. I didn't take any pregnancy test before; I didn't want to get a negative and then still have to go into the doctors. I thought we would find out pretty quickly but they sent us on our way and told us they would call us by lunch. We both went to work and I definitely didn't get any work done. I didn't want to miss the call. At 12:30 I called Gabe and told him it was almost past lunch time and so he called over to the office. He called me while the nurse went to get the results and we were all on the line. I think that is when it all hit. I started crying mostly out of fear that I would have to go through this all over again. When the nurse came back to the phone all she said was positive and I was crying and Gabe thanked her and I couldn't even say anything. Gabe came later that day to my work and by then I think the tears had dried out. There was a chance for twins (which Gabe was hoping for; he is wasn't thinking of all the work just the fun factor; I was a little more realistic that one would be best for us). We found out at week 7 that there was just one heart beat. Thank goodness!

We truly feel like this child is answer to so many prayers. I am so thankful for a Heavenly Father who listens to my prayers and the prayers of others. We had our last visit with our fertility doctor today and she said everything looks great. We got to see the little "it" moving around and everything. They said I could graduate from their office and now I will see a regular OB. We are excited for the months to come to see our baby grow!!
Once the baby looks more like a baby instead of an alien I will put up some of the ultrasound pictures!

Christmas Time!

2010-12-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

Last year we didn't get a tree or even put up any christmas decorations because I went out to Utah the whole time. But this year Gabe will be here the whole time and I am only going to leave over new years so we will get to spend Christmas at home. Gabe has to work a lot but oh well, I will enjoy my time off with a lot of sleeping in and christmas movies!! We got our tree last night and got it all decorate. We went with a lot smaller tree this time, last time we got a tree that filled up the whole corner. But now we have room to put this little elelctric fireplace next to the tree and I even hung our stockings above it!! My goal is to now get the house cleaned this weekend so then I can really just sit, relax and enjoy the tree.

Weekend Get Away

2010-11-29T09:59:00.000-08:00

Gabe and I flew down to South Padre Island early Friday morning. We got in around noon and it was freezing. You would thing because we were going to the southern tip of Texas almost into Mexico it would be warm, but no. A friend of ours has a sister who owns a condo down on the island and let us stay in it for free. Another reason for the trip was because the Texas Tech Basketball team and the BYU basketball team were playing in a tournament down there and Gabe also had another connection and scored us tickets to the whole tournament. The Condo we stayed in was awesome and right on the beach and right across the street from the games. I am definitely a beach girl and would love to live by the ocean one day.

Tech lost their first game by 20 points.. not good, But the Cougars won in double overtime which was very exciting on a buzzer shot. On Saturday Tech lost again by two we shot a 3 at the buzzer but lost. BYU beat St. Mary's in the championship game and it was really close again. Gabe and I were in the front row right behind the players and our family saw us on TV. My cute little niece told me I was in trouble for biting my nails.. it was an intense game. There were so many BYU fans there which made it really fun. I was sad for Tech but I will always be a Cougar fan so I was way excited they won.

There were so many jelly fish all over the beach. The first one we saw we weren't sure what it was, so Gabe popped it. Then we saw tons of them everywhere you walked. Pretty gross looking.

This was the end of the Island. We drove until the road ended I was scared driving because in parts half of the road was covered in sand we would have to drive on the wrong side. But plenty of cars were headed that way so Gabe swore we would be okay. The sand was awesome down there not so trashy and there were shells everywhere. I loved just walking down the beach with my best friend. I can picture us old and retired one day living by the beach and talking walks in the morning along the shore. That would be awesome!! We had such a great trip. I got to enjoy time with Gabe and on the beach and Gabe got to watch basketball so I think it was the perfect mini vacation! Next time we just need to go back when it is warmer so I can get a tan :)

Yeah Cougars!!!!! Way to win!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T09:49:00.000-08:00

Gabe and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break!! Our plans for Thanksgiving Day were uncertain for awhile. We were going to stay here and have it with friends, then we were going to go to Dallas to be with Gabe's Family. On Wednesday it was decided that we were just going to stay here. Well I had a turkey but nothing else and I really didn't feel like getting up early to start cooking and it was just going to be Gabe, Casi, Jonathan and I. So instead we slept in on Thursday, Gabe went and played football we got dressed and the four of us went out to a Japanese Steakhouse for an early dinner! The food was great and I didn't have to worry about preparation or clean up. It was really fun, who needs turkey to celebrate what you are thankful for, I had Teriyaki Chicken and it was delicious! Afterwards we went and saw Tangled and it was great! It reminded me of going with my family to Disney movies on holidays and how I still wish I was a princess :)

Thriller Night!!

2010-10-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

This week we had our annual Thriller week at the rec center. My instructors taught the entire Thriller Dance 3 nights during our group exercise classes. On the last night we encouraged them to dress up and we decorate the room and give out prizes. It is always one of my favorite nights, even though my instructors and I are typically the only ones dressed up. This year we had over 200 people participate in the 3 days. It really was a lot of fun and any excuse to dress up in a fun costume I will take it. I loved the weird looks I got as I was driving home last night stopped at all the different lights. Here are some fun photos from the event. Because not many people dressed up, Abby my student supervisor and I even made it into the campus paper on the Front page I might add! I hope I don't get bombarded with people asking me for my autograph today. I have a tough job but someones got to do it! Also I would like to thank my sister Lindsay for providing me with this dress. It worked great for my whole Zombie Princess look. Who says you can't wear bridesmaid dresses again, and I didn't even have to shorten it!

What I do when Gabe goes out of Town

2010-10-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

So Gabe was gone this past weekend. So I had a lot of time by myself. I decided to go to my favorite place on Friday that Gabe doesn't like to go with me...Hobby Lobby. I know Ive said it before but I love that store, if I had money my house would be overly decorated with everything in there. I have been wanting to make some more hair accessories this time out of fabric. So I found some cute fabrics and got a few cute embellishments. I made 2 headbands and 3 bows. We recently got netflixs so I think I stayed up until 2am making my creations and watching cheesy romantic comedies. Saturday I got the whole house cleaned mopped and everything. Don't worry Gabe I saved the game/Laundry room for you to clean. And then I saw a great movie with a friend. Life as We know it. It was so cute and I recommend it for others who need a girls night out or can convince their spouses to go see it. Gabe definitely wasn't heart broken that I saw it with out him!

I also kind of want to start sewing, I have always said Never that sewing wasn't for me, but I have gotten into Project Runway this season and I kind of want to see if I can create something.. So I might need to borrow a sewing machine soon and see if I can tackle something easy.

Well here a few photos of my cute bows and flowers! Gabe thinks I'm crazy because my whole dresser is covered in these now.

Surprise visit from my Mom!

2010-09-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday night Gabe said he had to go up to work so I was just watching TV in my room, when he got home at 10:30pm He came in and told me to come out to the living room to see something so I went out and my Mom was standing there. I was so surprised I was not expecting that all. I started to cry because no one had ever come to visit me before and I think I was just so surprised too.
My mom stayed until Thursday afternoon. We had so much fun. I showed her around the rec center where I work and then we walked all around Texas Tech Campus. She came to my Zumba class and did a great job. We went to a couple museums and then just went and looked around at a lot of fun shops and stores. It was so fun to have here and show here all around Lubbock, there's not much to see but It it was fun to show here my life here in Texas.
Thank you Mom for coming to visit me!
Gabe thinks he can use this good gesture to earn points. Granted it was really sweet, but this morning a whole week later, he said Hey I have surprise for you, I brought your mom here last week. Sorry Honey you can't milk that one forever. Plus he brought here so I wouldn't be alone last week when he went to D.C to go golfing.

Life as I know it

2010-09-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well I have done a few things in the last month. At the begining of last month I turned the big 26. So that was exciting I guess. I'm not sure if my life is exactly what I thought it would be at 26 when I was younger, but I can't complain. I have an awesome husband and great job I love and pretty much everything I need. We celebrated with tons of friends and then finished the night with the Bachelorette Finale. It was a great birthday.

I also go the change to fly out to Richmond last month and visit Lindsay and her family. It was so fun spending a few days there. I have the cutest nieces and nephews. We played, got to go to the beach, swam and just had a great time. I should of took pictures but i didn't.

Texas Tech Started back up so my job is pretty busy, I love having the campus full though and seeing all the classes here at the rec center so busy. I am even teaching a Zumba class once a week. I might not be able to shake it like other teachers but I think my class is pretty fun.

This past weekend I flew out to SLC to see my family. Gabe works weekends now and I decided I didn't want to spend my 3 day weekend home alone. It was so fun to see everyone. We got to spend a lot of time with Lisa, Jonathan and the twins. We went swimming, ate great food, and went to the Payson parade. I got to hang out with one my best friends Patrice and reminisce. It was so good to be around a family even if it was just for the weekend. It gave me the little break I needed to make it through the next three and half months. The weather was absolutely beautiful and it made me miss Utah, Provo and BYU. I really did have some of the best times ever out there. I did take a few pictures!

A few recent cakes

2010-07-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

I have made a few cakes in the last couple months so I thought I would post the pictures. I really enjoy decorating the cakes I just wish I could just get someone else to do the baking and all the clean up. :) It is fun though and helps fill my evenings when Gabe is at work. So if anyone near by needs a cake sometime let me know!

Wonderful Friends and time off!

2010-07-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend. No traveling for us just staying home and relaxing. Gabe and I spent Saturday cleaning and rearranging the house. I found a cute new kitchen table and chairs on craigslist that fits perfectly in our little eating area. I feel like I have a real kitchen eating area now. Maybe we will actually sit down at the table for meals now, but that would require me cooking so I'm not too sure that will happen. Of course its been raining here forever and so our town was basically flooded over the holiday weekend. I was hoping to spend my weekend out at the pool and we had a BBQ planned, oh well we still had a bunch of friends over on Sunday and enjoyed food and fun. My work gave me a huge brisket and we cooked that up. It was really good and we are glad our friends could come and help us eat it or else we would of been eating BBQ brisket for a year. And of course Gabe had to shoot off some fireworks with our friends and of course I kept nagging him that he was too close to the house or to be careful they were going to hurt themselves or catch something on fire. I had Monday off so it was great to be able to sleep in and have a day off or work. If only I could have a 3 day weekend every week.

Flying Adventures

2010-06-11T09:27:00.001-07:00

The past two weekends Gabe and I have flown to opposite sides of the Country. Over Memorial Day Weekend we flew out to Dallas to attend our good friend Algot's wedding in Dallas. It was really great to see him and his new wife sealed and share that special day with them. I love going to other weddings because I literally have no memory of what was said at my own wedding, so when I go to other weddings it helps me remember the special day I had over three years ago.
Since we were already in Dallas and I had Monday off, i took an extra day off and we flew out to Salt Lake City to visit my family. Lindsay moved this past week back to Virgina so it would be last time I could go out and see everyone minus lachelle (we missed you Lachelle). It was great weekend. We had a great time visiting with friends and family. On Monday we went up into the mountains and had a BBQ and played football and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery. That is one thing I miss about the west, the mountains. I loved playing with all my cute nephews and my little niece. I wish we all lived closer to one another. We were able to make it back home with the only exception of missing the last flight into Lubbock, but we got to spend some more time with some friends in Dallas. We got back Wednesday morning and I went straight to work.
Then on Friday I left straight from work and we flew back out to Dallas and spend the evening with Gabe's family for my brother in-law's birthday. Then we woke up at 5am and headed off to DC for my nephews baby blessing. It was hot and humid in DC we did a little walking around but mostly we just relaxed and spent time with Wade and Kelly and the family that was there. The baby blessing was great, little Ammon was adorable and he made the day special by blowing out of his diaper on his lovely mamma at church. I think he just wanted to make the day memorable. Some great food and games finished our trip in DC. We will have to go back so we can do all the cool sights and museums. We did eat at Ben's Chili Bowl, Bill Cosby's favorite place to eat.
Well we were suppose to catch a 6am flight back to Dallas and then we would be fine making it back to Lubbock. Well lucky for us that flight got cancelled and so we weren't able to leave until 10am and by the time we made it to Dallas all the flights to Lubbock were oversold. Not good for stand by passengers. Gabe's amazing father decided he could do some work a few hours from Lubbock drove us home. The drive actually went by quick just 4 and half hours and we listened to my Father in-law tell stories the whole time. We are so grateful for David taking us home so Gabe could go to work at 4am the next morning.
I am so glad to be home this weekend with nothing to do. Well besides laundry and cleaning. All this traveling as taken a toll on my house, it is pretty pathetic. So tomorrow I am going to sleep in and then take my time to clean. I love traveling around but I am so happy to come home. Nothing beats sleeping in your own bed.

Sometimes you just need a day in bed

2010-05-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

Things have been kind of stressful lately in my little world here in West Texas. Sometimes I hate feeling stressed or worried about my troubles because I know there are so many people with bigger trials in their lives but my own mountains were seeming very heavy to climb this week and I just needed a day a lone in my bed. So yesterday I called in sick to work, which wasn't completely untrue, plus sometimes I think mental/emotional sick days are just as important as physical ones. I woke up at my normal time because I guess my body is just use to that but then I just laid in my bed all morning dosing in and out of sleep. Then I watched TLC and home decorating shows all day. I think in all I watched like 6 episodes of Say Yes to The Dress. Its bad if you are starting to see repeats. I picked up my house a little but mostly just did nothing and ate a lot of ice cream. It was a good day. Sometimes it is just so nice to be alone in the comfort of your room closed off from the outside world. The down side was I was wide awake at 1am this morning so waking up for work this morning was a little struggle, but my "me" day has definitely helped me regroup and I think I am ready for the summer! I miss being a kid when the summer meant sleeping in and playing all day. I guess in a month or two I will just need to take another "me" day.

California for work! I know hard life I live!

2010-04-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to Anaheim California for a work conference called NIRSA( national intramural and recreational sports association). It was a really good time. I got to stay in a nice hotel and attend different sessions and workshops as well as go out and have some fun. We went to Downtown Disney, an Angels Game, and the beach on my last day there. It was a little disappointed that it was cold and raining the first three days and then became nice right when we had to go home. Good thing I live in Texas and we are having nice weather now. It was a great trip and I learned a lot and hope to improve my program at work. Next year the conference is in New Orleans so hopefully i will get to attend that one as well and maybe Gabe will come along. Trips are more fun with him there.

Oh yeah and I might of put a couple of quaters in the slot machine at the Vegas Airport :)

My New Shelf!

2010-04-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

I love Hobby Lobby like most people know and can spend hours in there at a time. I spend a good hour and half in there on Tuesday and picked up an unfinished shelf and brought it home, painted it and added a few things to it. I think it turned out pretty good. I love adding little things to my home, that make it feel so much more homey!

Happy Birthday Gabe!

2010-04-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

Today is Gabe's 27th Birthday! I was out of town all week last week for work (pictures to come later) and didn't get back until late last night so I didn't have time to plan or prepare anything for him but I did pick him up a hat and a pair of basketball shorts in California so he was happy and he bought himself some golf stuff. Today was great just relaxing and spending time together. I love Gabe very much and I hope he enjoys his birthday! Gabe is the best husband a girl could ask for.

Weekend Project!

2010-04-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

Gabe and I painted our living and room and Kitchen this Saturday with the help of Casi and Jonathan. It turned out great. I have been wanting to paint for 2 years now. It feels more homely than just the plan white walls we had before. We did like a beige neutral on the walls with one blue accent wall in the living room and kitchen side. Next task the bathroom and our bedroom, so look for another post in 2 years saying I completed that task!

I need a new hobby!

2010-03-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Gabe works nights Monday through Thursday so I have a lot of free time in the evening and need something new to fill it with. I already work over 40 hours a week so I don't want to get a second job or anything. I have tried painting but I am more all about instant products and it would take me too long to paint something and I am not that great so I don't want a million mediocre paintings in my house. I make cakes every now and then but that is a lot of work and leaves a huge mess. Recently I have made a bunch of flower hair clips, but I think people at work think I am weird because now I wear a different one every day. I need to find something creative and fun to do that doesn't cost a lot of money, and reading is not an option I have never enjoyed that. There is only so much reality tv a girl can watch.

I am glad I don't have anyone like this in my Family!

2010-03-12T13:48:00.001-08:00

So a friend showed me this funny letter. That someone received prior to going to a family Thanksgiving dinner. I thought is was hilarious. If anyone ever sent something like this to me, I would not show up or I would bring something way wrong just to spite them.

The Thanksgiving Letter (back by popular demand)
From: Marney
As you all know a fabulous Thanksgiving Dinner does not make itself. I need to ask each of you to help by bringing something to complete the meal. I truly appreciate your offers to assist with the meal preparation.
Now, while I do have quite a sense of humor and joke around all the time, I COULD NOT BE MORE SERIOUS when I am providing you with your Thanksgiving instructions and orders. I am very particular, so please perform your task EXACTLY as I have requested and read your portion very carefully. If I ask you to bring your offering in a container that has a lid, bring your offering in a container WITH A LID, NOT ALUMINUM FOIL! If I ask you to bring a serving spoon for your dish, BRING A SERVING SPOON, NOT A SOUP SPOON! And please do not forget anything.
All food that is to be cooked should already be prepared, bring it hot and ready to serve, warm or room temp. These are your ONLY THREE options. Anything meant to be served cold should, of course, already be cold.
HJB—Dinner wine
The Mike Byron Family1. Turnips in a casserole with a lid and a serving spoon. Please do not fill the casserole all the way up to the top, it gets too messy. I know this may come as a bit of a surprise to you, but most of us hate turnips so don’t feel like you a have to feed an army.2. Two half gallons of ice cream, one must be VANILLA, I don’t care what the other one is. No store brands please. I did see an ad this morning for Hagan Daz Peppermint Bark Ice Cream, yum!! (no pressure here, though).3. Toppings for the ice cream.4. A case of bottled water, NOT gallons, any brand is ok.
The Bob Byron Family1. Green beans or asparagus (not both) in a casserole with a lid and a serving spoon. If you are making the green beans, please prepare FOUR pounds, if you are making asparagus please prepare FIVE pounds. It is up to you how you wish to prepare them, no soupy sauces, no cheese (you know how Mike is), a light sprinkling of toasted nuts, or pancetta, or some EVOO would be a nice way to jazz them up.2. A case of beer of your choice (I have Coors Light and Corona) or a bottle of clos du bois chardonnay (you will have to let me know which you will bring prior to 11/22).
The Lisa Byron Chesterford Family1. Lisa as a married woman you are now required to contribute at the adult level. You can bring an hors d’ouvres. A few helpful hints/suggestions. Keep it very light, and non-filling, NO COCKTAIL SAUCE, no beans of any kind. I think your best bet would be a platter of fresh veggies and dip. Not a huge platter mind you (i.e., not the plastic platter from the supermarket).
The Michelle Bobble Family1. Stuffing in a casserole with a serving spoon. Please make the stuffing sans meat.2. 2.5-3 qts. of mashed squash in a casserole with a lid and serving spoon3. Proscuitto pin wheel – please stick to the recipe, no need to bring a plate.4. A pie knife
The June Davis Family1. 15 LBS of mashed potatoes in a casserole with a serving spoon. Please do not use the over-size blue serving dish you used last year. Because you are making such a large batch you can do one of two things: put half the mash in a regulation size casserole with lid and put the other half in a plastic container and we can just replenish with that or use two regulation size casserole dishes with lids. Only one serving spoon is needed.2. A bottle of clos du bois chardonnay
The Amy Misto Family (why do I even bother she will never read this)1. A pumpkin pie in a pie dish (please use my silver palate recipe) no knife needed.2. An apple pie in a pie dish, you can use your own recipe, no knife needed.
Looking forward to the 28th!!
Marney

Here is the link as well

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/2009/11/26/awkward-family-story-the-thanksgiving-letter/

3 Years & NEW YORK CITY

2010-03-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

3 Years ago today I married my best friend and we are still in love most days :) I mean everyday! Gabe and I actually celebrated this past weekend. Gabe took me on a surprise trip to New York City. I knew we were going somewhere but I didn't know where. He told me the night before so I could pack the right clothes. I had never been to NYC so it was a fun weekend trip to see some sights and spend some time together. We stayed in downtown Manhattan and had a great time. I am lucky to have such an amazing husband! Here is a photo look at our trip!

NBA Store, Probably Gabe's favorite Store we went into. We will have to go back one day when we can actually afford to buy the things in it!

Central Park. It was kind of cold another reason why I need to go back again to see it all green in the summer

Time Square. Lots of People, Lights and Starbucks. To bad TRL isn't on anymore I could of been screaming under that window for backstreet boys or some other boy band.

Ground Zero.

I was part of street show. This guy did a flip over five of us. I was scared to death. My legs were shaking liking crazy. I just kept telling myself Don't Move Don't Move!

Of course you Gotta eat a New York Hot Dog and Take the Subway!

Because I love Gabe so Much we finished out the night by going to the World Famous Arena Madison Square Gardens and watching a Knicks game. Am I a good wife or what?

This is me exhausted after the day waiting for the bus. Oh yeah that is my new hat I got in China Town. We spent a lot of time there it was fun. If anyone needs a self esteem boast just go to a china town. The guys kept calling me beautiful to get me to come into my store. You feel good about yourself until you hear them say it to next lady walking down the street who clearly doesn't have any since of hygiene but is also female.

It was a great weekend! I love spending time with Gabe and traveling and seeing new things. The last 3 years have been full of adventures and I am excited to see what the next 3 years will bring.

TEXFIT

2010-03-03T14:05:00.001-08:00

Each year there is Group Exercise Fitness Conference called TexFit where all the Texas University Group Fitness Instructor meet up and have a day full of class and workshops. Last weekend My Boss and I and 16 of our instructors travel to San Marcos Texas. It was a blast. Even the 7 and half hours in the car with 13 girls was fun. Bathroom breaks were a little long, but the whole trip went excellent. I had 4 instructors present classes and they all did an awesome job. It is fun to see what other Universities are doing in their classes and get knew ideas. It was also just a great time for my instructors to all bond and get to know each other. I have probably 40 instructors but many of them don't know one another because they only come up and teach their specific classes so it was a great team building opportunity. Plus bonus we got to hit up some outlet malls on our way back. Nothing like shopping after a day of working out! I am truly blessed to have a job I love to do and work with such fun people! (I know I look the youngest out of all these people in the pictures. No one believed that I was in charge. What can you do)

Flower Hair Bow Fun!

2010-03-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago for an activity with my young women at church we decided to make flower hair clips. I looked up online to get a general idea and then just brought the supplies and we all made a bunch. The girls had a blast and made some for themselves and the girls that couldn't make it. I probably spent like 20 dollars and we made like 26 or so flower clips. I had intentions to give away the ones I made but I am keeping them for myself; they are just too cute and such an easy way to help my hair look nice since i just pull it back everyday! I am going to try to make some more to give away but every time I make one I just want to keep it! I have a few siblings and friends with birthdays coming up though so watch out some flower clips might be coming your way!

Life in Lubbock

2010-01-26T19:01:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while. I kind a missed blogging about the biggest holiday of the year. Well to recap we went out to Utah to spend Christmas with my family. It was great and I had a lot of fun. It was the first time the whole entire family had been together since us older girls have all gotten married. Gabe had to fly back to Texas after a few days to work but he was able to make it back out for New Years. And we were able to spend the evening with a few of his siblings. It was so great to spend time with so much family. We had quiet the adventure coming home. We fly stand by since Gabe works for American. After spending all day in the airport and not be able to get on a flight we rented a car at 6pm at night and drove through the night back to Lubbock. Gabe had to be to work at 2pm in the afternoon and we pulled into our driveway at 1:30pm. It was the longest night of my life and there were times I didn't think we would make it but it all worked out in the end and we got to stop and see some good friends on the way. Poor chief he was exhausted after spending the day in the airport. I got a cute picture of him passed out in the airport. He was a trooper the whole trip.

This month has just been back to work for the both of us and back to school for Gabe. Its been crazy making our schedules work driving each other here and there with our one little car. Gabe has been working nights which leaves me to find new things to do. I haven't found any yet but I have a lot of ideas. Paint, organize and cook more are some of them. I just need the motivation to actually do it. I haven't taken many pic but here are a couple.

First this was Gabe's nasty Christmas Goatee(however you spell it). He wouldn't shave from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I made him shave when he got to Utah!

It's hard to pee under pressure!

2009-12-17T11:00:00.001-08:00

FYI this story is about Pee. May not be appropriate for small children :)

This morning at work my co-workers and I had to go do a drug test so that we could drive the University van. I was second to go and I thought I had it in me but I couldn't reach the little line they draw on the cup. So they told me I could have 8 cups of water and then when I was ready try again. Well everyone went and finished their tests and I am chugging freezing cold water in the waiting room. 25 min later I decide to try again... NOTHING couldn't go at all. My boss had a meeting to get back to so I came out and told the lady I would have to come back another day. Apparently that is against the rules. I was not allowed to leave until I peed enough. It was back to 8 more cups of water. Now the pressure was building because we were on a time crunch. I was trying to drink as much water as possible but at one point I felt like I might throw it all up. I started jogging around the waiting room and doing jumping jacks ( yeah I looked totally normal doing this; no one was staring at me). 3rd time is the charm they say; after a little while I tried again. When I came out and proclaimed to my co-workers that I peed! They all started cheering and clapping. I am pretty sure the staff thought we were all nuts. We were there for over 2 hours in all and made it back just in time for the meeting. In the hour and half I have been back at work I have peed 5 times. What a morning! I don't have to take another test for a year but you can bet I am drinking a ton of water an hour before we go. I am not going to fold under pressure next time.

Funniest Video

2009-11-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

This Poor Bride. If this is for real it is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Can you imagine!!

Halloween

2009-11-03T08:45:00.000-08:00

Gabe got a part time job for American Airlines so now he and I can fly pretty darn cheap, so I decided to fly out to Utah for Halloween and Rylee's 5th birthday. It was a great weekend, short but lots of fun. I have the cutest niece and nephews. It was so much fun to go out trick or treating with them. Jordan and Parker were so cute they would just go right up to the door all by themselves. They even tried to go into a few of the houses. Rylee and Gavin also were dressed up so cute. Gavin was more interested in eating his candy then actually trick or treating. It was so fun to just spend time with my family and see some of my friends as well.
I decorated a Princess cake for Rylee's birthday. It was a team effort Lindsay did all the baking and I just decorated it. It turned out really cool. I can't wait for Christmas to see the family again.

THRILLER

2009-10-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

The past couple weeks at work we have been teaching the Thriller Dance during one of our aerobic classes. We had a great turn out about 50 people each time. Last night was the Finale Thriller Party. We had a costume contests, dance contests and prizes. I decorated the whole room and dressed up like a Fitness Instructor Zombie. Some Tech students had a Zombie walk on campus before the party and ended at our Thriller Party. It was a lot of fun. But only about 15 people or so came back to do the thriller dance and contest. There were a lot of others zombies and people watching, but I wish more of the people who learned the dance wouldn't of come back for the Finale Night. It was still a good time though. I do have a pretty awesome job!

Richard Simmons comes to Tech (not really)

2009-10-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of Halloween, one of my instructors thought it would be funny to dress up like Richard Simmons last night for his Cardio Boxing Class. He bought this costume and took a lot of time on it. Made a back drop and put up 4 posters. Now the posters did say Richard Simmons Comes to Tech. Wear you best 70's and 80's workout gear.

Well apparently a lot of people have had the life long dream of meeting Richard Simmons. The idea behind it was just suppose to fun and playful to encourage people to work out and have fun. No malice was in our plans. Well we had quite a few angry people. Like 60 or so. I guess people really believed he was coming. Now we should of put a disclaimer on the bottom of the sign. But we really didn't promote this. It was just 4 signs and he told his class it wasn't really Richard. Well word got out though and a lot of people really thought he was coming. When Blaine came out in his outfit the faced went from excitement to "what'" and about 60 people left. He still had a lot of people in his class and those who stayed had fun.

Today we got a couple angry emails. I understand they were disappointed but some of these emails were quite rude and they made it seem like we ruined their lives and that we were horrible people for playing this joke. It wasn't a joke it was just suppose to a fun workout event. I just thought with it being Halloween week people would have a better attitude. So just FYI don't tell people Richard Simmons is coming if you can't provide him, he has a bigger following than I thought and those fans don't mess around.

Tonight we have our Michael Jackson Thriller Party; Good think I didn't tell them he was coming :)

Layers

2009-10-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

I down loaded this neat new program paint.net. You can edit your pictures in fun ways and layer them on top of each other. I love creating new pictures. Here were my first trys.

Lady Bug Cake

2009-10-02T08:34:00.000-07:00

Last night I finished the birthday cake I made for our good friend's little girl for her 1st Birthday. I also made a little pink cake just for her to dig into. I really enjoy decorating cakes because it is a creative outlet but doesn't take to long to see the finished product. Other artistic things frustrate me because you can work on them for weeks and still not be done. I get bored easily so I need something that keeps me interested. If I only had someone to bake the cakes and clean up all the messes and just let me do the decorating it would be perfect. I need my own Crew. Gabe helps out by eating all cake tops I level off and any mess up cakes. What a sweet husband. So if anyone has a special occasion they want me to make a cake for let me know, the only catch is you would have to pick it up in Lubbock TX. I don't deliver! :)

Fair Time

2009-09-29T06:41:00.000-07:00

The Lubbock Fair is town. Good Times all around. I mean who doesn't like rides that look 50 years old, food you thought couldn't be fried but is, crazy carnival people trying to entice you to blow 50 bucks on a 3 dollar toy and people of all kinds enjoying the fun. Gabe and I have been to the Fair all 3 summers we have been here. Every Year they have a free country concert. You just have to listen to the radio to find out where they are giving away the tickets. In past years it is has been way easy to get tickets and we always got a bunch for our friends as well.

This year was crazy. They only gave out 2 per person and the first day we went 15 min early the line was hundreds of people long and we didn't stand a chance. I listened every morning and on Wednesday they were giving them away at noon, so I picked up Gabe at 10 from work, brought him camping chair and some pretzels and told him after he dropped me off at work he was going to go straight there. My wonderful husband waiting in line for an hour and half and got me tickets. We got the fair 2 and half hours early for the concert last night hoping to get good seats. Again the line was ridiculously long, we weren't going to be up front anyway so why stand in that line. We walked around and enjoyed all the marvels of a country fair. And I mean country, I live in Lubbock Texas now, its definitely not the fairs back in Ohio and Indiana. About 45 min before the concert they were letting people and the rebels Gabe and I are we kind of just merged into the line and bypassed quite a few people. I know we cut, oh well. We actually got really great seats, first row on the second level. It was tons of fun.

I love country music and hearing songs live that I know. The only thing that drove me crazy, was watching people and the stupid things they do. 1. Why do women feel the need to show off so much skin at concerts. And 99% of the time it was tacky or unflattering anyway. and 2nd I saw a number of small babies there, one that looked weeks old. This concert was so loud. Why would you bring a small baby to it. AHH. Really people. In the words of Billy Currington. God is Great, Beer is Good and People are Crazy. So True, except the beer part for me I'll just change that to chocolate!

Florida Vacation

2009-08-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

Last Week Gabe and I went to Florida and had a crazy but fun time. We spend a couple days at Grandma and Grandpa Wade's house, saw some alligators and other cool wildlife. Then we went down to St Augustine where we stayed in an Octogonish shaped house. It was a lot of people in one house, but we all were right on a beautiful beach. We got to do some boogie boarding, tanning, and lots of fun games with the family. Besides having fun in the sun we went to Florida for Dave and Dana's Wedding. The bride and Groom looked beautiful and happy and the wedding was absolutely wonderful. We are so excited for Dana to join the family. The Orlando Temple was gorgeous and I love going into the temple and feeling the spirit. It is such an amazing opportunity to watch two people be sealed together. Weddings always remind me of mine and Gabe's wedding and the promises we made to each other. At my own wedding I hardly remember one word that was said, so it is always nice to hears the words again to reflect on. All in all the vacation was great, but next vacation I definitely need more beach time and more relaxing, I kind of feel like I need a vacation to get over my exhaustion from our vacation.

The Big 25

2009-08-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

Well I am a quarter of century now. I turned 25 yesterday. I bet if someone asked me 10 years ago or even 5 years ago where I would be at 25. I would of never thought things would be as they are. But I am happy and Gabe and I are loving life. Heavenly Father has truly blessed us with so many things. I have had a great life so far. There have been some struggles, but all in all I can't complain. Life is Good. Thanks to all my friends who helped me celebrate my birthday and all my family that called. We had a great lunch with friends and then on Sunday I made an awesome Ice Cream cake and of course we broke a utensil trying to serve it (probably because it was a cheese slicer and Gabe was using as a spatula) Oh well Fun Times and lots of sugar, what more could a girl ask for.

Fourth of July with Family

2009-07-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

Gabe and I were able to take a long weekend and go up to Colorado to spend the Fourth of July weekend with my whole family and my extended family on my Dad's side. It had been about 2 years since I had seen 2 of my sisters and 2 and 1/2 years since we all have been together and probably 10 years since the whole extended family has been together. A reunion long over due. It was so great to see everyone and I loved spending time with my siblings. My niece and nephews are soo cute it was awesome being able to play and be with them. We stayed the weekend up at my Aunts ranch in the mountains. About an hour away from any town. Just us and the mountains. We got to do some four wheeling, rock climbing, and lots of good family time. Then we spend a day and half at my Aunt's in Colorado Springs where I got to see my grandparents and my mom's sister. It was such a wonderful time with family. I wish we all lived closer so it wouldn't be so long in between visits. We took Chief with us and by the time we got to Colorado Springs he was beat. He was great with the kids even though they were constantly hitting him, picking him up and putting their hands in his face. My little niece Rylee kept calling him Cheeto. It was so cute. Here are some great pictures of my beautiful family and the beautiful mountains.

West Texas!

2009-06-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

This is the sight we saw on the way to Gabe's soccer game last night. Once it hit it sounded like a bunch of rain but no it was a dust storm. Pretty Crazy, Oh how we love West Texas!

It so Hot outside!

2009-06-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

Gabe told me I needed to post something new. I just haven't had anything exciting happen in the past little while. So an update. It is hot here. Today on our way home from work it was 106 outside not sure how hot that made it in our all black jeta, with all black interior. I pretty much felt like I ten feet away from the sun. Thank goodness for good air conditioning in our house. I even have to turn in off because I get too cold.
The heat and all the random storms have killed the flowers I tried to plant. I tried to be good by putting them in the sun, watering them frequently, I even planted them in miracle grow. They sprouted at first but now nothing no life. Next time I am just going to buy the already sprouted flowers or maybe go with my original plan and plant fake flowers outside. I'm sure people won't be able to tell from far away.

Ace of Cakes here I come!

2009-05-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

This week I made a cake for a friend's wedding. I have never made one before but I have always wanted to so It was my gift to our friends. I started baking on Tuesday frosted Wednesday and Thursday and finishing touches today, the wedding day. Set up went good with no mishaps. It turned out pretty good for my first one. I'm kind of a perfectionist so there were so many things I don't like but I'm sure with practice I'll get better. Everyone gave good compliments so that is reassuring and all got eaten as well. It did taste really good if I don't say so myself and I'm not even a cake lover. Gabe doesn't want cake for awhile because with every cake I baked he got to eat the top I leveled off. All in all it was fun and I love to create things. So you never know maybe I'll keep practicing and start a little side business one day. What do you all think do I have a future!

Is a Lie a Lie if...

2009-05-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

So is it a lie if you told a lie but later found out the lie you told was actually the truth. I'll explain. Today I had to drive across campus to get a key copied on my way back to the rec I got pulled over by a campus cop. Now the cop was going the opposite way of we and literally turned down a street and turned around and was way behind me and finally pulled me over when I was in the parking lot of my building. He pulled me over because as he was driving by me he noticed my car inspection was expired. He came to my window and of course I didn't have my license on me. A few weeks ago I had lost it and couldn't find it anywhere. I told him I left it in my office . He takes down all my information. Then another cop stops and again comes up and asks me all these questions. They make me test my brake light and of course one was out. Finally he gives me a ticket for expired inspection and no DL on sight and just a warning about the brake light. First why did he pull me over anyway, second I had when they don't just give warnings for that sort of things. I think it is ridiculous.

Well I made plans to go to DMV after work so i could get a new license to show the judge but decide to go through my bag one more time. And I found my license it really was in my office. So originally I told the cop my license was in my office thinking it was lost. But then it really was there so technically I didn't lie to the cop Right?
I hate tickets though especially the ones for dumb reasons, I always think man if I just would stayed at the key place 5 min I would of never passed him and never had to deal with all the hassle. But then again I might not of found my license.

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-05-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there, especially my mom. I love her so much and now that I am older and married I realize more and more every day how much my mother did for me and all I have learned from her. I am also very grateful for my Mother-Law for all she does and for raising such a great son. Gabe and I are both very blessed to have 2 wonderful mothers in our lives. Mothers day at our church is a great day even for us mothers to be. The men teach all the classes and the women get to eat an amazing feast and just visit and talk; eat and socialize 2 things we women do very well.

We Love You!

Yesterday we went to a dinner-get together for a coworker whose wife is having a baby. I made a cake for the event. I found this cute cake online that was a little baby so I thought I would recreate it. In the original cake, the cake was a light pinkish peach color for the skin of the baby. Well I barely added any pink coloring to the frosting and it turned bright pink. I didn't have enough frosting to try again so I had to improvise. They didn't find out the sex of the baby so I turned the rest of the frosting I had blue and frosted half the baby pink and half blue. It turned out pretty cute.

Happy Birthday Weekend Gabe

2009-04-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Gabe's Birthday was yesterday. Friday night he claims his birthday weekend started. He went and played xbox with friends until 4:30am. I didn't call or complain once (that was my present #1). Saturday he did help pick up and clean but he watched the NFL Draft all day and the Lakers Game (again didn't say anything Present #2). He bought a Grill (present number 3). Today we had about 25 people over for a BBQ and party. (Present #4). I made a him a giant cake (present #5).

Now his birthday weekend is over so he gets to clean up the whole mess from the Party!

Here is Gabe and his cake. I am making a cake for a friend's wedding so I needed to practice. That is why it is so big and girly. I added a little manliness though. Happy Birthday Gabe! Love Ya.

A Hard Days Work

2009-04-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

I have really wanted Gabe to do something about the side of the house that leads to the back yard for a while. The grass wouldn't grow and the dogs would constantly bring dirt inside the house. Not to mention the giant hole they dug or the mud that they would get in when it would rain. This Sat. with the help of great friends they laid down a nice brick path to the backyard. I had to go to work and when I came home it was almost finished so Gabe and I put the finishing bricks around the edge. I hung some flower planters and I'm going to attempt to grow flowers. We will see... I haven't been too successful in the past, but we got miracle grow soil and they are in the sunlight so we will see. The backyard is finally getting started, now I might actually go outside. Before I hated it because my shoes would just get muddy. Here's some photos off all the hard work.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T08:27:00.000-07:00

I am so Grateful for my Savior and his love for me and the knowledge I have of his Atonement and Resurrection. I know that my Savior Lives and that he suffered and died so that we might return and live with him and Heavenly Father again. What an amazing gift. Here is special testimony from one our Apostles on the Atonement of the Savior. I am so grateful for a Latter Day Prophet and Apostles that bear witness of the Savior and Heavenly Father and teach me principles that will lead me home.

Youth Talent Show

2009-04-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we had a youth talent show at church. Lets just say my box of dress up clothes came in handy when the young men planned their skit. Here are the high lights.

We did that skit when some one else is your arms and you put makeup on; I don't normally have lip gloss on my eyes.

Spring Break!

2009-03-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

Last week was spring break for Texas Tech. I didn't get to go on an cruise like Casi and Jonathan (which I am pretty jealous about and will probably secretly hate them when I see their pictures), but I did have a nice week. Gabe and I both had to work until Thursday. The Rec Center was so dead. No one is here, so I was able to help out with the kids spring break camp. It was a lot of fun. Nothing beats dodge ball with a bunch of 8 year old. They were actually pretty good except didn't quiet get the concept of when the ball hits you, you are out. We had 2 great parties with friends over the week. Gabe and I are the officially game bringers. Because Gabe will randomly go out and buy yard games. Our Corn hole game got so much use this last week that it broke. Still usable but I bet one day I am randomly going to find a new one in my house. On Friday Gabe and I went to Dallas and got to spend time with Robin, Chris and the kids. I love being around family and am grateful for them always opening their home to us.

I had a Yoga Conference in Dallas for work so that was the purpose of our trip. It was a lot of fun and very informational. I have been teaching yoga for almost a year now and honestly didn't know much so it was great to get some ideas and great knowledge and improve my skills. Now I have mad Yoga skills. Here is me showing off my sweet skills I picked up after one training.

Okay maybe that isn't me, but maybe one day! Okay here is a picture that could be me if I lived on a beach. I can do this and I really wish my training was on a beach. One day I will do Yoga on a beach anyone like to join me!

5 minutes of fame

2009-03-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

So at the end of January Texas Tech's rec center hosted a all night game night. The evening consisted of a Nintendo game room, a Lazar tag room, a ping pong tournament, racquetball tourney, as well as a 3 point shoot out and a slam dunk contest. In November my boss ask me to be responsible for the dunk contest, every last bit. So I took great pride and hand selected the dunkers got everything preped and was ready to go then my boss got a interesting call it was from Foot Locker. They were running a 3 point shootout and dunk contest across the country at 20-30 universities and they wanted to have one at Tech so after a lot of talking we were able to work them into our already existing all nighter. The night went well and we were all excited I met with the guys from Foot Locker and Bic(the razor company) and left thinking I made some good contacts. There were lots of pictures and videos taken and at best I figured I would make some random persons facebook however just this last week my boss received this clip which is now being played at Foot Lockers across the nation. I'll let you watch it to get your own little chuckle but I say tally one more point up Gabe.

2 Years!!!

2009-03-09T07:44:00.001-07:00

We made it to the 2 year mark. Today is mine and Gabe's 2 year anniversary. I can't believe all that has happened in the last two years. It has had it challenges but it has all been worth it. Here are 10 great things that have happened the past 2 years.

10. Spending our first summer in Cincinnati with my family while Gabe sold Pest Control.
9. Moving to Lubbock Texas (you might ask where is that, but it is a great place to live)
8. Getting our first dog Cosmo
7. Getting our Second dog Chief--don't worry I draw the line at 2
6. Buying our First Home
5. Getting a great job at Texas Tech that I love
4. Gabe changing his major to Sports Management--something he really loves
3. Back Packing in Europe for 2 weeks--the best trip ever!
2. Our Wedding Day 2 years ago (It might not have started out perfect but it was the best day of my life so far.)
1. Just everyday I get to spend with Gabe, he is my best friend and I love him a lot!

Gabe and I truly have so much fun together! I am grateful for all the things we have been blessed with over the past 2 years and all the great times we have spent with family and friends. On to year number 3!

I got sucked in and now I'm upset

2009-03-02T22:09:00.000-08:00

So I started watching the Bachelor this season and tonight was the finale and he picked the girl that I really liked and then there was some after show and he dumbed the girl that he had proposed to and asked the girl he didn't pick if they could date. What the heck! I am pretty upset, I know its a stupid show but still. Gabe says I shouldn't care so much but I can't help it. I just feel bad for Melissa the girl he proposed to and then dumbed. The Bachelor contradicted himself a million times. I think he is quite the Loser. I hate reality T.V yet I keep watching it. Its so unreal and they put people in really unrealistic situations to make drama. Why does something that disgusts me so much intrigue me so much at the same time. Why do I keep watching?

Who doesnt love Gifts!

2009-02-20T11:40:00.000-08:00

So I got this from my sister-in-law's blog and I thought it sounded like something fun to do, and I get to give people presents, what could be better?! and she has to give me present too!

The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)
4. You will have no clue what it is going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will win a marvelous homemade gift by me!Let the games begin!!(Oh, and I have to be able to contact you with mailing information!!!)(I promise it will be something good!)

I hope our children are just as Cute!! :)

2009-02-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

I was kind of bored tonight and we have a scanner on our new printer so I found this picture of Gabe and thought I would share it with everyone. Gabe still has great fashion since! Im surprised he didn't do any child modeling. Look at that pose. Work It!

My Awesome Husband

2009-02-09T14:22:00.000-08:00

I'm going to brag on how sweet Gabe is. He had an edible Arrangement sent to me at work with a stuffed Gorilla and a balloon. He said because on Valentines Day I would except something and this way he could surprise me. I do love him! This isn't the exact one he sent me cause I ate some of it and don't have my camera. But it is delicious! Thank You Gabe!

I Got Skills

2009-02-03T13:58:00.000-08:00

We had an All Nighter at the Rec Center on Friday night. It was lots of fun, there were tournaments going on, food, games, a hypnotise show and a slam dunk content. I would of won the slam dunk contest but employees couldn't participate. But I got a few good dunks in. Check out the air I got. Man can I jump!

The Stache is Making a Comeback

2009-01-30T06:22:00.000-08:00

Lots of Famous People wore the mustache, some better than others. I don't know what do you think does Gabe pull it off, or it is just a creepy pedophile stache!

2009-01-23T11:04:00.000-08:00

Gabe and I went back to Tyler Texas last weekend for Dane's (Gabe's little brother) homecoming from his mission. He served for 2 years in Carlsbad California. It was great to see him, and again spend time with the family. It was a great trip except for the drive home Gabe and I spent 2 and half hours driving around Dallas trying to find a Sam's club with the computer we liked. We finally find one that had it and drove out of our way over there. Guess what Sam's doesn't take Visa, and our other bank shut off our card; declined the purchase because they thought it was a fraudulent charge because it was outside of Lubbock. I'm all for my banking protection, but we just wanted to buy a computer. So we ended up going to Best Buy the next day. We tried to avoid them because our laptop we got there over a year ago had problems and they did not help us because it was out of warranty even though they were the ones who broke it when they fixed it before. But there is nowhere else in Lubbock that really has a good selection of computers. So we broke down and went to Best Buy. We got a sweet new computer. The HP touchscreen and we made sure we got a 4 year warranty this time. I can finally do all the important things I need to home; like blog, watch TV shows, and stalk my friends on facebook. And maybe Gabe will use it for some good like school work, instead of just reading ESPN. I would like to say Thank You to all the tax payers myself included for the governement grant money we bought our new computer with.

Cake Mania

2009-01-05T14:21:00.000-08:00

So I have made 2 cakes so far, The first was pretty much a disaster and I had no idea what I was doing. Then I made one with Fondant for New Years Eve. It also is a little sketchy. It took Gabe and I forever to roll out the Fondant it kept sticking to the counter. But it turned out okay. It tastes okay too but you wouldn't want to eat a bunch of it. Gabe just kind of peeled it off his piece of cake. It says 2009 if you can't tell.

Don't worry it was just Sparkling Cider we were drinking. We had a great New Years with friends. Yeah for 2009!!!

Back to Real Life

2009-01-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas Break is officially over for me. I headed back to work today, luckily I can ease my way in I only had to work half day, because the campus closed early for the Cotton Bowl. But next week it is back to real life. The break has been nice, besides the whole being sick the entire time thing. We had a great time with family and friends. We really enjoyed our relaxing time in Tyler with Gabe's family. We recieved so many great things, I wasn't sure if they all were going to fit into the car (Gabes new Basketball Hoop). That boy is spoiled. I am very grateful for the cake decorating kit that I recieved. I have already made a few cakes, pictures to come later. I really just loved being with family and relaxing and not feeling the every day pressures. It will be nice to get back into a rountine though, and not eat so many sweets and get back to exercising.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I thought about sending out cute little Christmas cards like my sisters did, but 1. Gabe and I are so good looking we didn't want other people to be jealous (I'm kidding..kind of :)) 2. I was to lazy and never did anything in time. So the 2nd one is more accurate. But we do want to say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to everyone. We drove to Dallas last night and then the rest of the way to my in-laws today. Normally it is an okay drive to Gabe's sisters in Dallas it's just five hours. It took us over 6. Right as we were leaving Gabe said he wasn't feeling well. Of course in my wisdom I said lets go home and drive it all the next day. Of course men don't listen and he said he was fine. Just when we were far enough away that turning back didn't make since, we had to pull the car over so Gabe could throw up on the side of the highway. Let me premise with the fact that I had been sick all week so I wasn't feeling up to driving, and driving at night on highways is a fear on mine. So with a sick husband I had to suck up my pounding head and fears and drive the rest of the way stopping at various restaurants and pull offs for Gabe. We finally made it and both had a horrible nights rest keeping each other up with our different aliments. But we made it to Tyler today and we are both feeling better. It is great to be with family. I will miss being with my parents and siblings this year, but it is always a wonderful time here with the Eyerlys. I am lucking to have 2 wonderful families. I'm sure this week will be filled with a lot of fun, food, and video games (for the boys).
I hope everyone gets to all their destinations this Christmas safely! Yay for Christmas and Yay for the True reason we celebrate Christmas; Christ. I am so grateful for the blessings in my life that come from the Savior.

More Elfs

2008-12-17T14:40:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Dance Dance

2008-12-11T08:10:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Dance Dance

2008-12-11T08:06:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Gambler in Me

2008-12-04T09:11:00.001-08:00

Last night we had an appreciation dinner for the Rec Center at Mr Gattis, it's like Chuckie Cheese, but for grown ups too. Well they gave us all like five tokens, I used all of mine on that light game; where the light goes around and you have to stop it right in front of you in the bonus thing. I was always so close, just one off. Plus I have won this game before, so knowing that it could be done, I just couldn't stop. Five tokens is like nothing, luckily I have a husband who enjoys games more than me and he bought a whole pocket full of tokens. Boy did that light game make me mad, I was so close eventually I just had to walk away. I found a new game I might like even better. A ball spins around a wheel and you have to guess what color it is going to end on. If you guess right you get a large amount of tickets, the smaller the color section the more tickets. I did pretty well. In all I think I ended up with a little over a thousand tickets. It was fun, and I got some sweet, cheap prizes that I could of bought at a dollar store. But it was worth it! I'm just glad we don't gamble because Gabe and I would probably be broke.

The Perfect Tree

2008-12-03T07:01:00.001-08:00

Gabe won't let us do anything Christmas related until after Thanksgiving, so last night we went out and found our Christmas Tree. Jonathan, Casi, and Chris Talbert came along for the festivities. I got out all my Christmas decorations and we decorated the tree and drank hot chocolate. It was just like a little Christmas movie. I can't believe it is already Christmas time. Here are a few of my favorite Holiday things.
1. Celebrating Christs birth
2. Spending time with Friends and Family
3. Christmas Movies (I love all the cheesy ones especially)
4. Christmas Music (Yeah for my James Taylor Christmas CD)
5. Christmas Candy and Treats
6. How nice and giving everyone is around Christmas

No more Turkey or Jello

2008-12-01T12:39:00.000-08:00

Well I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was very good. Gabe and I stayed here and had two families over for dinner the Ripplingers and Talberts. It was so nice to just relax and not have much to do. I made my first turkey. It only took about 4 calls to my mom in the process. In the end I think it came out pretty good. Gabe has been eating it for the last four day so I guess its good. Everyone brought so much delicious food, I think I was full before I had even tried every thing. We had a ton of turkey left, a whole bowl of jello and a whole pan of another kind of jello salad. Gabe has done a good job in finishing it all off though. I haven't had to cook for a while(not that I cook ever though) but at least I know Gabe has had food to eat. We went to the Texas Tech game on Saturday, thank goodness we won. It made sitting in the cold wind worth it. Now its back to normal life. It was nice sleeping in and lounging around, but I guess I'm ready to be productive again I still wish I could sleep in though.

Carpet Disaster

2008-11-25T13:21:00.000-08:00

Last night after a long day at work--then teaching 2 hours of aerobics, followed by grocery shopping at 3 different stores for all our Thanksgiving needs I came home expecting to to relax for a few hours before having to go to bed. Before I sat down I decided I would just vacuum the living room really quick so I could relax in a nice clean house. I went into our spare room got the vacuum and wheeled it into the living room and began to vacuum away. Aren't vacuums suppose to clean the mess instead of make more of a mess? I noticed all these bluish black spots on the carpet, a trail all the way from the spare room. Don't know exactly what it is but something got sucked up in the vacuum and was leaking all over the floor. I think maybe a pen, don't know. Of course I start freaking out and Gabe is trying to calm me down. Water is not working to get it out nor another cleaner we had. I found some carpet upholstery cleaner, and luckily that and a lot of scrubbing did the trick. So instead of relaxing I spent the next hour and half scrubbing my carpet by hand. What a night. I think I got most of it out, but now I know I am going to drive Gabe crazy constantly asking him if he can still see the spots. I probably will always be glancing down wandering if I missed one. Lets just say Gabe and I both ate ice cream for dinner, no way I was going to expend the energy and cook. I guess I'll be putting a new vacuum on my Christmas list, unless Gabe can fix it ( Christmas it is!).

What a bad Football weekend!

2008-11-24T07:44:00.000-08:00

Well Saturday morning I woke up all excited for the day Saturday night I went to bed not so excited. Two games played both ending in dissapointment. The Cougars held on to a ray of hope for the first half but then it just slipped further and further away. And my Texas Tech Red Raiders never really had a chance. I like football and its fun to be wrapped up in excitment in a game or a season, when we lose, I'm sad, but life goes on. There are those who can't let it go though. I understand it is your team or whatever but why must we bad mouth coaches, players, or whoever. No one is perfect and someone has to lose. I wish it wasn't my teams but life goes on and there is always next year Right? I'll still be a Cougar and Raider fan no matter what!

More Pictures from Utah

2008-11-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

A few more pictures from my trip. My parents are renting a house in Ceder Hills and it was such a beautiful area. Right up by the mountains. I do miss the beautiful mountain every now and then, just not the snow that comes down this time of year. I still have about an inch on Preston. It is going to be so weird to one day look up at him. One of the reasons why we went to Utah was for Gabe's brother, Wade's wedding to our now sister in law Kelly. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception and Kelly is wonderful and they seem really happy. We wish them best. I just love the Salt Lake Temple it is so beautiful and when I think about all the saints who worked for so long and hard to build it I am in awe on how they accomplished it. I already miss my family and wish I lived around them so I could see them more often.

2008-11-12T08:31:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I was able to go out and spend a week in Utah before I started my new job. It was so much fun. I hadn't seen my mom or little brother in over a year. I had soo much fun with my family, especially my adorable twin nephews Jordan and Parker. We got to spend some time downtown Salt Lake which really fun, and it was so beautiful with all the fall colors. I have a cute video of Jordan and Parker playing with a ball!

A Sad Day

2008-11-11T13:09:00.000-08:00

It was a few weeks ago, but Gabe and I went to the TCU game. It was fun even though it was a horrible game. We had a great time with family and Algot. We got to celebrate Isabelle's birthday. We have the cutest nieces and nephews. And Gabe is so fun to watch with the kids.

Happy Belated Halloween

2008-11-11T12:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated in a while and I have a lot of pictures and fun things to share. I will do some back tracking later on this week.

I love Halloween and Gabe and I had a great one this year. We both dressed in our costumes to work at the Rec center. I was Hannah Montana and Gabe was Billy Ray Cyrus. It was fun. That night we had a party at our house and some of our friends also dressed up. We played games, including bobbing for apple in a bucket with dry ice. And then we watched a movie with a projector on our wall. It was lots of fun, but I ate way too much candy and snacks. The only sad thing is we didnt get many trick or treaters. I need to start thinking about what I am going to be next year. If you have any suggestions let me know.

Practice What you Preach

2008-10-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

Everyone who knows me knows I love to exercise, and I work in the fitness and wellness industry, but I am progressively declining in my eating habits. I don't eat enough of the good foods, and way too much junk. I try to justify it with the phrase "I'll burn it off when I work out later", but I know I need to be eating healthier not for weight purposes but for overall health and prevention reasons. Its so hard to eat good with lack of time and funds, to buy and prepare healthy foods. This Sunday I am giving a lesson in church about Healthy Eating Habits, so what better time to make a change in my own habits. A great website that I love, is www.mypyramid.gov . Now this is my tax dollars going to good use. It is all free too. There is a My pyramid plan, you type in your info and it tells you how much you need of everything. There is the menu plan where you type in your info then search for the foods you will eat and it subtracts it from what you need. And also a tracker where you can find what you already ate to see how well you are doing. It is really great you can even print off sheets to right it down and track it that way. There is also a great section for kids.

I know it all sounds great in theory but actually doing it is the hard part. But think about how much you (I'm really telling myself this) surf the net each day; just spend 30 min and plan out the next day or week. I need to change my habits now especially before the holiday season when temptations grow stronger. So if anyone would like to join me, we can all share recipes and healthy tips (because I need help)! Here's to a Change for a Healthier Life!

Election Annoyances

2008-10-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

I have had the opportunity to watch a lot of news the past 6 months, because at my job I have TVs all around, and the older generation doesn't seem to want to vary too much besides fox news or CNN. I am so tired of the election, it makes me not want to vote at all, I will though because I know it is important. Why is it all about what the other guy does wrong or won't do, or who he once meet 30 years ago. The answer to the question What will you do about the economy? is well so and so has no experience, they voted against such and such bill. They basically would suck at being President. I'm not a genius but that didn't answer the question at all. Everyone says thats Politics, but I just which kindness, respect, and over all positiveness ( if that is even a word) was more a part of our government, our citizens, our daily lives.

One other huge frustration of mine is the lack of respect for our President. I am not a political scholar, I don't know a lot about the in's and out's of the government. But I do believe that as an American Citizen I should respect the President of this country. That doesn't mean I have to agree with everything he says or does. But the lack of respect so many people have for the President disgusts me sometimes. I'm sure when the Founding Fathers wrote the amendments, freedom of speech and press, they could have never imagined what limits people would push that to one day.
I love the 13th article of Faith, I wish that these principles where more evident in the world around us.

"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. "

YEAH!!

2008-10-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

I got a new job today!! I will be the Fitness and Wellness Coordinator at the Texas Tech Rec Center. I love working with the older people, but this job will be more challenging, more fun, more money and more interaction with people my own age. I am so excited because this means I also get to go to Utah for a week before I start. I am just really nervous about telling my boss I am leaving. I'm having anxiety over it. I hate disappointing people or feeling like I let someone down. So I guess I just have to suck it up and do it. I'm scared though!

A Creative Idea

2008-09-22T06:54:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to display our Europe pictures on this big wall above our couch and just hadn't found a great way to do it. Picture frames are expensive and I didn't want the wall to have a lot of thick wood frames on it. So I went to walmart and looked around and came up with a cheap idea that I think turned out pretty neat. I bought mirror tiles. They were like 9 dollars for 6 and I bought little jewels from the scrap booking department. I used double sided tape and just put 3 pictures on each tile leaving mirror space and placed the little jewels in the corners. This way I can always change out the pictures and it looks very modern on the wall. Again I would like to thank HGTV for my creative ispiration.

Rain Rain and More Rain

2008-09-12T08:23:00.001-07:00

Well even though we live in Lubbock far away from the gulf coast we are still getting a lot of the hurricane rain. Yesterday it poured all day long, and Lubbock doesn't have any drainage system in the roads or anywhere so all the streets were flooded, and some closed and even some houses have received flood damage. Our house is fine but our car smell because water is somehow soaking the backseat floors. The Mayor declared a state of emergency last night and all the school where cancelled for today even Texas Tech. Hopefully I gave Gabe enough chores to do to keep him busy. The roads seemed to be okay this morning, but they say more rain is on the way. My in laws live in southeast Texas and they say that everything is shut down in preparation for the Hurricane. I pray for all those people out there, I would hate to leave my home and not know what I would be coming back to. It seems like Hurricanes are happining more often, after one hits another one is forming. I would love to live by the beach, but I don't know if I could deal with knowing that hurricane could come and wipe away my home. I guess any where you live you are in danger from some natural disaster whether it be a hurricane, tornado, earthquake. You never know these days. It is definately a good reminder that the scriptures are true and that theys are the last days and I need to prepare and heed the counsel of the Prophets and get my food storage and 72 hour kits ready. I'm totally lost when it comes to that. I'm not sure if I even know what goes in the 72 hour kit. I guess I should have paid more attention in Relief Society. If anyone has any good suggestions let me know.

Gabe's true Beauty

2008-08-26T11:15:00.002-07:00

I found this website on a friends blog where you can upload your photo and find out what celebrities you like. I was pretty excited when I looked like some pretty women. So I decided to see who Gabe looked, maybe Brad Pitt, Freddie Prince Jr, David Beckham. Nope some old guy with a double chin. I LOVE YOU Gabe you don't look like him.......... a lot anyway.

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2008-08-26T11:15:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Blank family tree - Roots

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2008-08-26T11:13:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family heritage - Family tree diagram

I still love him though

2008-08-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

I sympathize with all mothers out there who have, had or will have a teenager who won't get out of bed in the morning. I don't have one my self, just a husband who in many ways still acts like one. I love Gabe to death and one of the things that most attracted me to him was his youthful personality. I didn't however know that I would be the mother figure every morning nagging him out of bed. And then checking back every 10 minutes to make sure he really did get out of bed. We are late almost every Sunday for Church, of course I contribute to this a lot of times, but every week I could probably get ready faster if I didn't have to drag Gabe out of bed. Its like pulling teeth getting this boy up. Yet this morning his alarm went off at 5:00 or so and he was up and out the door before I knew it. What you might ask got him up and out so early? Work? Chores (yeah right)? Making me breakfast in bed?( he did though make me breakfast later) No he woke up at 5 to go and play basketball with the missionaries. Basketball no problem, church, getting me to work on time well that's another story. He also wanted to make sure he was up in time to watch the Olympic Basketball game on T.V. Last Saturday he even got up early to watch a basketball game. Too bad they can't play basketball before church starts; we would never be late. Probably not the best way to start off the Sabbath though. I guess I'll have to result to the old tricks like throwing cold water on him, ripping the covers of him and tipping the over the mattress.

How old do I look?

2008-08-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

I work with a lot of older people, and many times I hear that I look to young to work there, that I look like I am still in high school and when they find out that I am married I have to constantly remind them that I am 24. Just the other day I had my hair in braids and a lady told me I looked like I was 10. Now I am know that most people don't mean it to be rude. But come on I'm a grown women and don't need people telling me I look like a child all the time. Here are few crazy things people have said to me in the past. Some times people just need to think before they speak.

My sister Lindsay and I, Lachelle and Preston all went to a fast food place once, I think I was 19 or so. As we were looking over the counter at all the toppings to put on our burrito the girl at the counter ( who was probably 16) was like "Okay who brought you all here because I know none of you are old enough to drive."

My junior year or so at BYU yes college. I was walking to to one of my classes book bag and all on my back. Some guy came up behind me and asked me what High School I went to.

On the plane to Ohio to get married. Gabe and I sat in the emergency row and the Lady came up to me and said I'm sorry you have to be older than 15 to sit here. (This pretty much happens every time I fly)

Two summers ago Gabe and I lived in an apartment complex in Ohio. They had a club house with a pool table. My brother preston and I were playing some pool, not being loud at all. The office lady came up to me and very rudely said. "Excuse me where are your parents, they need to be with you to be in here." I was like I live here with my husband. Then to try and cover it up she was like oh you look so young I'm sorry. I get that all the time too. (yeah right)

There have been many other stories too, but I can't really think of them at the moment. I know my sisters get it too and have some great stories of their own. Every one at work is always telling me how cute and little and young I look. Sometimes it would just be nice to treated a little bit more grown up. I did just turn 24. Like they all say I guess I'll appreciate it when I get older.

One Year Older, Hopefully Wiser, Definately not Taller

2008-08-04T06:41:00.000-07:00

Well Saturday was my Birthday and it was a lot of fun. I wish everyday was my birthday because Gabe does what I want to do. We went swimming in the morning which was fun and relaxing, then came home and picked up the house a little. We went out for dinner with a group of friends and then had everyone come back to our house for games. It was a lot of fun. The best part of the day was having all my friends and family call me. I loved talking to everyone especially all my friends that I don't see anymore. Here or some pictures of my fun day, minus me in a swim suite.

This is Gabe with a Fo-Hawk, Since it was my day I got to tell him how to wear his hair. It made me laugh.

We went to a restaurant called Zuchini's, it has a great salad bar. Clayton, Ashley, Jeff and Karris joined us!

I made my own Ice Cream Cake. We didn't have any candles so one big one did the trick. It had a cookie crust and an Oreo cream cheese chocolate layer in the middle. It was amazing. I should start a cake company.

The Cake was so frozen that a chunk of the knife broke off in the cake while Gabe was cutting it. We let him have that piece. He survived.

We all played games including Mario cart, and buzz word... The boys might of beat us girls in buzz word, but one day we will rematch them and win. I am studying the cards.

The Bakers are so fun!!

Taylor is my favorite. He is so much fun. The first time he came over after about one minute he asked to go somewhere else, but then we told him we had cookies and since then he loves our house.

A Great Example and Man

2008-07-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight I watched a special about Randy Pausch. He was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and is most famous for a lecture he gave entitiled "The Last Lecture". He died on July 25th from pancreatic cancer. He knew that he was going to die, and yet he had an amazing attitude and out look on life. In his lecture he talks about childhood dreams and how to achieve them and about how to life our lives. One thing that stood out to me in his lecture is he says basically in life things happen and there is nothing we can do about it except we can decide if we are going to be an Eeyore or a Tiger. He talked about how he doesn't know how not to have fun. He had such spirit about him that to me just signifies the word Joy. Lately I have kind of been in self pity mode; wondering why certain trials have come my way. I mean Im good person right, everything should go smooth and perfect. And here is this great man, loving husband, and father of three small children, told he is not going to live and yet he does not go into self pity mode, he decides to share his story, his life and strength with the world. I hope I can have just a little bit of his courage to face my trails. I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life and for the knowledge that families are forever. Even though Gabe drives me crazy every now and then, I am so blest to know that we are married for all time and eternity I love him so much and don't know what I would do if I knew that our time together was coming to an end. Randy and his wife are a great example of love and companionship in the face of trials. I hope that everyone can learn something from Randy's story, his kids have an amazing father and I know one day they will truley understand the great effect he had on millions of lives.

"what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?"
Randy Pausch

I couldn't figure out how to post his video but here is youtube clip of part of his lecture and life. Be Inspired
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ-IxbiI8Ts
Also here is the whole lecture on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

Bowling Night

2008-07-29T06:36:00.001-07:00

I wish I was as good at real bowling as I am on the Wii. I am so good on the Nintendo one time I bowled 7 strikes in a row. In real life I'm lucky to break a hundred. Last night we went with a bunch of friends. It was really fun. I was cursed with always leaving 1 or 2 pins up each frame. The guys of course can throw the ball so fast that it doesn't matter which pin it hits they all seem to fall down. We have a lot of great friends here in Texas. What is really fun is all four guys in this picture were EFY counselors together and all but one of the couples met at EFY. Its nice to already have some friends when you move to a new place. We are very competitive so of course we had to make bowling a competition and see which couple could do the best. Gabe and I didn't come in last which is good, but I defiantly didn't contribute half of our score. Oh well it was lots of fun. And you can't beat that Monday night is dollar night at the bowling alley.

Happy Fourth of July

2008-07-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

Well Gabe and I had a house full for the fourth. David, Gabe's brother got here on Thursday night after his eventful travels from Utah. Robin, Chris and their 3 cute kids came Friday afternoon, along with my in laws and Gabe's little sister. It was a lot of people hanging out in our little house, but it was a lot of fun. I did realize that our house is definitely not kid proof. One day when we have kids we are definitely going to have to put some things up a little higher. The only problem with that is then I won't be able to reach them oh well I can barely reach stuff now. We got to go to a few fireworks last night. We didn't see much because we parked in the wrong place. Oh well fireworks aren't has much fun now that I am older, too many cars and crowds. I do love the fourth of July though, I am so glad to be an American and live in this great Country, my gratitude for this has grown from our travels overseas. We are very lucky.

Today we got to go to the Temple. It was really great being there with family. I wish I was with my family also. They are all in Utah together and It is sad being the only one not there. I wish I didn't have to work and had lots of money so I could fly there tomorrow. Maybe one day!