Two Days News

The Great Condo Remodel of 2011

2012-01-01T20:31:00.001-08:00

Finished.

We are finally finished.

For the last 4 months (YEAR really, but mostly the last 4 months) we have been attempting to get our condo "rent ready".

We decided to add laminate wood flooring in the kitchen, hall, laundry and storage rooms and tile to the bathrooms and to build a "tub" for the laundry area (instead of the disgusting fiber glass tub that was there).

We didn't know what was a head of us.

We thought the project wouldn't take too long - maybe a couple of weekends - then we could rent it out quickly and not worry about it. Yet due to work and school getting in the way (Husband finished a 6 month statistics course in 7 weeks) our "quick-two-weekend-project" took well over 4 months.

But it is finished.

AND our renter is all moved in. We are starting the new year on the right foot.

We had my brothers; Bryce, Tom and Kurtis as well as my dad, Bryce, help tear up and put in flooring. My brother, Eric, and my mom, Maxine, came and helped as well. They all put in many hours! And boy are we thankful!

Husband put in many many hours. He is a hard worker and I am sooo thankful for him!

I didn't get as many pictures of the "finished project" as I wanted, but our renter moved in pretty much the second we were done, so I didn't get much of an opportunity to take pictures, but here are a few:

One of the women that came to help our renter move in was quite vocal about how much she loved the condo. She walked in and said, "oh this is beautiful!!" "Oh wow! That is so beautiful!" "Oh the laundry room! (GASP) This is soooo beautiful!!" I am not exaggerating. She literally kept commenting on how beautiful the condo was - at least 15 times when she first arrived and about 10 other times in the next 2 hours I was there. You'd think she never saw a decent home before. But it made me feel good.

And she wanted me to make sure to tell my husband how beautiful the laundry room was.

I agree. It is beautiful. And part of me is sad to not be enjoying our hard work - but I know that renting while Husband is completing his nursing program is the right thing to do.

Thank you again to everyone who helped!

Randomness

2011-10-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Posts on this blog happen few and far between. Husband and I have been so busy as of late (always it seems) that my blog isn't really my priority. I will truly try to be better at documenting our going ons.

Around Thanksgiving of last year, my sister, Teresa, convinced my brother, Tom, and me to participate in the Utah Grand Slam in 2011. In which you run 4 Utah marathons in one year and get an extra medal. For some reason I'm a sucker for extra medals (Disney World Goofy Challenge & Coast to Coast Challenge is exhibit A. See 5 Medals, 3 Races and 2 States).

So this year has been a busy year. It began with running the Thanksgiving Point 1/2 Marathon in which it SNOWED (uh...should I say blizzard-ed) on us. We ran that race with our other brother, Kurtis, and my friend, Kara. Note: Kurtis ran the Grand Slam 1/2 Marathons this year...he caught the running bug, but didn't want to commit to the 104.8 marathon miles. And Kara also ran the Utah Valley Marathon with us.

We then spent the remainder of the summer running long runs together every Saturday morning. We ran the Utah Valley Marathon in June, the Park City Marathon in July, the Top of Utah Marathon in September and the St. George Marathon in October. I kept track of all my miles (training and races) and I ran 419.9 miles (give or take a few). That is A LOT of miles. Next year I will not be running nearly as many. Probably some. I'll keep you posted.

We adopted a puppy in July. He is a Shorkie (a Yorkie/Shih-tzu mix). We named him Teddy Roosevelt, because he has such a teddy bear face. We are commonly calling him Teddy, Roosevelt, Mr. President, President Roosevelt, Commander in Chief, etc. It's fun. He is a good dog, and we love him.
The cats feel quite differently.
Surprisingly Peter Parker doesn't mind him, the two of them will actually play a bit here and there. Bruce Wayne (who is usually the more-friendly-toward-other-animals cat is ornery toward him. ESPECIALLY in the mornings. I think Bruce Wayne is like me, and is very impatient and not in the best of mood when I first wake up. But he is warming up to him each day - I hope.

On September 11, my sister in law's mother, Sherri Winder, was killed in a car accident just north of St. George. It has been a very emotional last month. With the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the sealing powers in the temple, the Winder Family is holding together, supporting one another and are comforted in the knowledge that they will see Sherri again. She was (and still is) a wonderful, kind, loving, thoughtful, lovely and classy woman.

Husband will begin his Nursing Program at the University of Southern Nevada (they have a campus in Sandy) (it is now called Roseman University) in January. Once school starts he will be in class and studying full time and may possibly only work 10-15 hours a week. Because of this, my wonderful parents have agreed to take us in while he is in school. And we will rent out our condo because if we were to sell it right now we would be out a great deal of money, thanks to the housing market being what it is.

Husband has been VERY busy getting everything ready for us to move in with my parents. He put up a wall in one evening (by himself), has rewired most of the lighting for the two rooms, put a mantle on the fireplace, put up some lights/fan, replaced the sheet rock in another room, then spackled (thank you Tom for your help) and painted. He also tore out the old carpet and put in some nice laminate wood flooring (thank you Michael for your help). We are also trying to pack up everything in our condo so we can move quickly once everything is ready. He's done all of this while working 2 jobs and finishing up 2 classes.

I am married to Superman.

Since July of 2010 I have been working as a part time manager at Macy's department store. I have thoroughly enjoyed working there. The people are pretty fun, and it has worked perfectly with my full time job schedule. However, with everything that has been going on in getting ready to move, training and running marathons, school and the increase in hours at my full time job, Husband and I have decided that it be best if I end my employment at Macy's. I will miss it as it has been a great blessing, monetarily, and because of the friends that I enjoy working with.

I will completely enjoy having my weekends and evenings off! I will finally have time to concentrate on my homework, help out at my parents and at home, exercise more, go to church!, sleep in and see my family and friends more often. Aww, it will be grand.

Husband and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary this year! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown! I love being married, and I truly have the best husband. I look forward to MANY years to come!

There you have it folks...some of the tidbits of our life!

2011-04-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

Oh boy am I glad the semester is over.

I'm Done

2010-12-09T23:59:00.001-08:00

I'm sure that Tim feels the same.

Though I'm done with classes for the semester.

Tim still has more to finish.

Poor guy.

Broken

2010-08-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Husband and I went with my brother and his wife, Tom and Tami, their cute little family and our other brother, Kurtis, to Capital Reef. Its this beautiful national park, made mostly of sandstone. You should go. It's beautiful. Even my 2 year old nephew kept pointing at the rocks saying "ooooohhhh!"

We all made the trip down south-east to celebrate the 7th birthday of my niece, Lily. We stayed in a town called Teasedale at The Laforborn Ranch. It's this cute barn/hotel (it's literally a barn with some rooms and a kitchen attached...though these are definitely not you basic country bumpkin rooms/barn). It was quite nice. Check it out!

As part of the celebration festivities, we went down to ride some of Tami's aunt's horses. Tami's Aunt JaNae lives in Torrey, UT, and houses her horse at The Laforborn Ranch, so it was easy access to her horse, Old Oxbow.

Saturday morning we got all "cowboyed up" and went out to ride the horses. Husband was THRILLED. He grew up with horses and couldn't wait to ride one. Lily got to ride first as she was the birthday girl. Then Tami got on Old Oxbow just as we saddled up another horse to ride. Kurtis was going to ride first, but the horse was stubborn and refused to move. So, Husband, with all his horse-riding wisdom, got on the horse, determined to make her do what he wanted. Well, after several minutes of a battle of stubborn wills the horse lost her footing and down she went, right on Husband's left leg, and SNAP.

We immediately got Husband in the car and Aunt JaNae and I took him to the small clinic in the nearby town. No one was there when we got there, due to the clinic being closed because the county fair taking place. We had to dispatch the doctor....it took him about 20 minutes to get there.

They took an x-ray and confirmed it was broken. They put a splint on it and told us to go to a doctor in Salt Lake to get it completely taken care of.

Poor Husband. No more horse riding for the weekend...and for awhile.

Husband didn't want his broken bone to ruin the weekend for the rest of us, so he was content to stay back and sleep while we hiked in Capital Reef and then ate at this fun pizza place.

Overall it was a fun weekend, even if there was an injury involved.

Monday morning I took Husband to see an orthopedic doctor. He took new x-rays as the ones from the clinic were quite fuzzy. And again confirmed the ankle was broken. The medial malleolus was broken clean through and had turned and with where it is sitting, if we just put a cast on, it would not heal properly. Therefore, surgery is necessary.

Due to the ankle being swollen, we scheduled the surgery for this Wednesday as they have to give the ankle time to reduce the swelling or they won't be able to close the incision after the surgery.

Husband must stay off his foot for 6 weeks after the surgery. We are in for a long recovery. Which will be interesting with work and school. But we'll get through the semester just fine, Husband is strong and will be able to do it all.

PS - If you want to see more photos from the weekend, just check out Tom and Tami's blog.

The New Job

2010-08-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

Husband and I decided that we want pay off our debt faster than we currently are. And as I cannot work overtime because I am on salary at my current job, and we want Husband to finish his degree as quickly as possible, we decided that I would find a part time job to help us get to where we want to be while Husband finishes his schooling.

For the last several months I have been applying everywhere, I mean, EVERYWHERE.

Finally, I found an add for an "on call associate" for Macy's. I didn't know how well that type of a position would work with my schedule, but I opted to apply anyway.

I went in for the interview and no more than 5 minutes into the interview (which was not your typical interview, mind you) the store manager said that he had a position for me that was not the position that I applied for.

I was a little surprised but happy. He said that he'd had a supervisor position open for 3 months that he had not found anyone to fill until now.

Happy day!

So now I am the Sales Floor Supervisor at Macy's at the Valley Fair. I work 20 hours a week, mostly 3 nights and Saturdays. The people are fun, and the job is great.

Life is pretty busy (working a full time, and a part time job...with school starting the end of the month). We'll be lucky if I can find time to blog. Don't miss me too much. Ha ha.

But overall, we feel this is the best thing for us right now, and yes, yes, I'm going to say it, but I can't deny it, we have truly been blessed.

Backgrounds

2010-07-02T21:06:00.001-07:00

A few days ago I chose a new background for my blog, just to discover today that it was the same background as my brother and sister inlaw's blog. So of course I had to change my background. So I did. Just to find out as I looked at my friend's blog that she had the same background I'd just changed it to! So I changed my blog background again.

I'm just hoping that no one that my blog is linked to has the same background as myself.
Because that is lame.

Study Crazy

2010-06-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

Currently Husband is trying to finish his pre-requisits for his nursing degree (yes, go ahead and poke fun all you want, but once he gets his Master's Degree he'll be rocking it with the monies...hopefully).

He needs to finish 7 classes before January to be able to enter the program he is applying for in August. And this program is awesome! Its expensive as can be, but it will be well worth it as he will be graduating 18 months after beginning the program, with his bachelors degree (unlike any other program that would only be awarding him an associates degree after 2 years).

So, because the stakes are so high, he is studying like MAD. He has 3 classes (and a lab) this summer, and 4 (and a lab) in the fall. Seriously, he is at class until 9 o'clock during the week, comes home, eats something, then is up until 1 or 2 studying, just to get up the next day and do it all over again. Then on weekends, he is at the school library for 8 hours and spends most of Sunday afternoon studying.

And I admire him for all of it. He is so dedicated to his studies, because he knows how important it is for the grade and for us

Yeah, I wish I could spend more time with him, but I know that this small sacrifice will be worth it in the long run.

And I love him for it.

Father's Day

2010-06-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

This Father's Day, my younger brother, Eric, and sister in law, Carlee, spoke in their ward (my parents ward). And they were assigned to speak on their fathers or other influential men in their lives. So Husband, my other brother, Kurtis, and I went to go support them and hear all the good things they had to say.

They both did an AWESOME job, it was great to hear the wonderful things they had to say about their fathers. It was especially great to hear the wonderful things they had to say about my father. Eric is an especially tender man, when he speaks of something that is very dear to him, he gets quite emotional, which in turn, caused myself (and my father) to get emotional.

My father has been an incredible influence in my life. He is one of the most selfless people I know (my mother is one of the others). He has worked incredibly hard his entire life, and all of that hard work was for his family. He has taught us all to work hard ourselves, to be honest, to love others, and to love the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has an incredible love for his wife and for his family. Its wonderful to see him with his grandchildren and how tender he is, he's gotten soft in his old age. =)

I love my father and I am so thankful for all that he has done for me and my family, he is the best father I could ask for.

Green Thumb

2010-06-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

I am my mother's daughter.

My mom has always had a garden. Filled with zucchini, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers and whatever other veggie she has decided to try that year. So when the back yard is filled with greens, the front garden is filled with color - purples, yellows, reds, and pinks.

Now that I live in my own place, I don't get to enjoy the sweet benefits of having a garden.
Or do I?

Last year I tried to plant tomatoes - but I got started quite late and I only had a few edible tomatoes come of it. This year I decided to get started with the best of them and try my hand er, thumb -green thumb that is! at the whole garden thing...well as much as I can living in a condo. I have but a balcony - which doesn't get nearly as much sun as I'd like. Regardless, I now have 6 planters with tomatoes, zucchinis, and a cucumber plant.

Now we will see how well they grow.

I also planted some hanging baskets with flowers, just like last year. They look great. And they did last summer as well.

Fingers crossed that come August I will be reaping the benefits of a home "garden".
If sadly, I am not - I will have to settle for planting flowers until I can get a house with a real garden.

Sick II

2010-05-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

Now I am getting sick.

I can feel it in my throat.

I cough.

I sneeze.

You should now stay away from me.

Sick

2010-05-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

Husband has been sick all weekend, poor guy. He came home from work on Thursday, stayed home sick Friday, slept most of Saturday and all of today.

I wish I could wave some magic wand and make him better. It breaks my heart to have him not feel well. And the Nyquill doesn't seem to cut it. Sad.

Get better soon honey!

Slow

2010-05-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

Husband and I are waiting on our psychology grade. Why must this teacher be soooo slow? My other two teachers had our grades posted 5 days ago! One of which posted it within 24 hours of our final! Why can't this teacher be like him?

Maybe I'm just extra anxious because thus far I've received AWESOME grades, and I hope to get something very similar with this class. I guess I'll just have to be patient.

....

Still waiting....

...

Patience isn't all its cut out to be.

Sky Diving

2010-04-25T17:58:00.001-07:00

Husband's family arrived in town on Wednesday for his brother's wedding on Saturday. We had planned to go sky diving on Friday with his brother, Charly and his sister in-law, Rachel. However, for those of you who live in Utah, it was extremely stormy and rainy. So, Friday's plans were ruined, much to the dismay of Charly and the rest of us.

However, the wedding day was BEAUTIFUL and the bride and groom were as happy as can be. Lucky for us, the reception and all the other wedding festivities ended early in the day, so Husband, Charly, Rachel and I headed to Ogden to hopefully catch a plane ride, high in the sky.

We arrived around 5, and started the preparation for our flight - we put our diving suits on, and received some instructions. To the north the sky was beginning to darken, and we knew if we didn't head up soon, we wouldn't be able to.

I was more anxious than nervous as I have always wanted to sky dive. My dear friend, Suzy, was able to go a couple of years ago and I was crazy jealous, and then I'd hear of friends here and there who went. Again, jealous.

And here I was, climbing into a plane, ascending to sky, where I was going to be able to join the ranks of those who have jumped before me.

My tandom instructor, Farris, strapped me to him and his parachute and instructed me further as to how to best jump. As we got higher, we entered the clouds and could see snow and ice surrounding the plane. Technically we weren't supposed to jump through clouds, but we prepared to do so anyway.

Charly jumped first of all of us. He's working on certifying and he has already been 17 times so he jumped solo. His wife, Rachel, is also working on certifying, this was her second jump, however, she went solo with an instructor by her side.

I would jump next, then Husband.

As I scooted to the door, I was nervously excited. And then next thing I knew, I was falling.

It was exhilerating. The force of falling was intense. It felt like major pressure, and I had to remind myself to breathe. I didn't feel that "stomach in the throat" experience that comes from amusement park rides, which generally tends to make the experience less than desireable. And the good thing was, we jumped into the cloud, so I couldn't see a thing, but I had the wind and snow pelting my face, but I paid no mind to it as all I could think of was how cool it was!

I exited the clouds and enjoyed the incredible view of falling from 12, 500 feet towards the earth. The moment my instructor pulled the chute, I felt a moment of weightlessness as we had stopped free-falling, but the chute hadn't deployed completely, so there wasn't the jerk upward that came a moment later when we would then more slowly descend. It was amazing.

We coasted toward the earth, enjoying a spiral here and there as we headed to our landing site.

When my butt hit the earth, and I was on solid ground, I was sad that it was all over, because it was the time of my life!

Husband and I can't wait to go again...however, that will have to wait for awhile, but go again we shall!

The Red Dress

2010-04-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

Husband's brother is getting married next week. And for this wedding I needed to find a dress.
Up until today I hadn't looked much because I had no idea what their colors were. There was some jesting about showing up in bright orange or some color that would most assuredly clash with whatever colors they had decided upon.

As luck would have it though, the soon to be bride and groom did drop by dropped off Husband's tie, which was a lovely deep red, much like unto the red of my own wedding. And I was also informed that their other color was gold.

Red and Gold.

So now I can go dress hunting. However, I decided that I most likely wouldn't be able to find a red dress, and there is pretty much no way that I would be caught dead in a gold dress. So I began searching for a black dress as black would look good with red and gold and would not clash.

I visited a few stores with now avail with even a black dress. I wasn't feeling very hopeful.

But I made one last stop before I headed home - JC Penney.

Surprisingly they had a decent selection of dresses though not many that would match. I finally found 2 black dresses that I decided to try. On my way to the dressing room, right there, hanging on the end of the clearance rack was the perfect red dress. Ahhh! Perfect!

I tried it on, and it fit like a glove. And to make it even more perfect, when I looked at the tag, the originally $80 dress was 80% off...making it $15.95!

I aslo tried on both the black dresses, the first one was so-so. But the second was quite cute, fit well, and, dun dun da dah! was originally $98 but was also on sale for $20.

Double score!

So I headed to the checkout, feeling pretty good about my findings.

But wait!

When Rebecca rang up the dresses at the register, they were $10 and $13! Oh blessed day!

So when I left JC Penney, I had 2 dresses, valuing $178.95 for $23. And a dress for the wedding.

I can't wait to dress it up with my red lipstick. Dubonet here I come!

The Cruise

2010-03-29T19:59:00.000-07:00

In January, Husband and I went on a Caribbean Cruise with my family.

We flew into Puerto Rico and stayed the night at the Holiday Inn Express.
EIGHT of us squeezed into 1 room with 2 full sized beds. We had to get creative. My brothers slept on the floor....

I slept on 2 chairs pushed together....

And Husband slept in....yep...that's the bathtub!

CRAZY!

Here is the Carnival Victory - our home for 7 days.

We enjoyed food.

Fun. (The Gun Show).

Game nights.

The beach. (In St. Thomas)

And the wildlife (this lizard jumped on my leg and proceeded to crawl up my leg - me screaming all the while).

The Emerald Pools (In Dominica)

The odd shipmates (WHY!?! OH WHY is he wearing those socks!?!?).

More Gun Show.

The odd towel animals (if you can call that THING an animal).

Getting our hair braided in corn rows.

The view.

The Kayaking (on St. Lucia)

More beautiful views. (Puerto Rico)

Husband and I enjoyed ourselves immensely.

If I could choose, I would just move right in on the ship and sail the high seas for the rest of my life.

It was heaven.

Blog Smarts

2010-03-28T20:31:00.001-07:00

Apparently I'm not very blog smart.

Back in February I started a post about the cruise Husband and I went on. But I didn't have time to complete it, so I saved it as a draft.

Tonight I finished the posting.
And it posted it in chronological order, back as a February post.

Not cool.

And I don't know how to move it.

So if you want to read about the cruise and see some photos, scroll down or click here.

Wanted

2010-03-15T20:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, our neighbor's condo was robbed. So therefore, Husband and I have been more cautious about locking our doors and keeping our eyes open for anything suspicious in our neighborhood.

Today as I got home and pulled up to my parking spot there was a black car parked there. A man was sitting in the driver's seat. I pulled up near the spot and stopped so that the person could tell they were in my spot. But I kept far enough away so as not to be thought rude.

He backed out and as I pulled into the spot, I waved "thank you" at him and made sure I got a good look at the driver.

I pulled into my spot. And kept my eye on him. I memorized his license plate number and the make and model of his car.

He drove to another part in the parking lot. I was suspicious.

I got out of my car and watched him drive back to where I had parked. He rolled down his window.

He flashed a police badge at me.

By looking in the interior of his car, and noting his laptop and a few other objects, I could tell he was an undercover police officer. He looked like Sayid Jarrah from Lost. Hot.

He showed me a photo of a woman and asked me if I had seen her in the condos across the way from me. She is thought to be living there.

I didn't recognize her.

I apologized that I didn't know who she was as I wasn't very familiar with my neighbors in that building.

I wished I could've been more help.

He apologized for parking in my spot. I told him it was fine but that initially I had been suspicious of him as my neighbors had been robbed and he was just sitting there. He complimented my awareness of suspicious individuals.

I thanked him to trying to keep our neighborhood safe by looking for criminals.

I walked to my condo feeling like a superstar because I had the police asking for my help, but I also felt like a failure for not being able to help.

I will be keeping my eyes open for that woman he was looking for.

Black Iris

2010-03-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

My brother, Eric, and his super-soon-to-be-wife, Carlee, are trying to break into the photograpy business. And they are making a run for it! They've done a couple of photo shoots but are looking for more opportunities to build their portfolio. They are currently doing some "pro bono" shoots, so if you have any photo ops that you are in need of, Easter, family pictures, new babies, children, engagements, bridals, etc. Check out their blog and contact them and they will get you taken care of!

Go Back

2010-01-28T18:22:00.001-08:00

Home has too much stress and work. I want to go back on my cruise. Lame.

My Floor Mat Saved My Life...

2010-01-10T21:26:00.000-08:00

....er...saved my car.

Husband and I were driving home from my sister's house after our monthly family dinner and Husband stopped quite abruptly causing the crock pot on the floor at my feet to tip over dumping all the contents onto the floor. These contents being Little Smokies in barbeque sauce. "NOOOOOOO!!!" I screamed! There was NOTHING left in the crockpot as it was all over the floor!

Thankfully...we had purchased floor mats not too long ago and not one bit of barbeque sauce or Little Smokie tainted the actual carpet of the car. Yes, I did have to sit with barbeque sauce all over my hands, leg and shoe for the remainder of the 45 minute drive, but the clean up to the "Crockpot Disaster of 2010" was surprisingly minimal for the mess that was created.
I promptly dumped the barbeque sauce and Little Smokies in the garbage and used the lovely spraying mechanism on my sink to spray off the mat without making a mess. Now I just must wait for the floor mat to dry.

I do have a small fear in my heart that the floor mat with forever have the "essence of barbeque sauce", however, if that be the case, I guess I can fork out another $20 at Wal-mart to buy new floor mats.

Floor mats have now become a necessary possesion. The crockpot however, may be re-thought.

"Everyone Loves a Panda"

2010-01-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

Over the years I have watched many a films and many a television shows. Some I've enjoyed more than others. But one of the things I enjoy about these experiences is all the random one-liners that I've gathered from the shows. Maybe I'm this way because my brothers have always quoted lines from movies and shows. It's all their fault. But here are some of my favorite, most of which come from Gilmore Girls.

"Yeah! I'm a llama again!"
-The Emperor's New Groove

"My dear boy, if the good lord intended us to walk, he wouldn't have invented rollerskates"
-Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

"Lorelai Gilmore. Disappointing mothers since 1968"
-Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls

"Me? Raising a kid? I don't even like kids! They're always sticky, ya know, like they've got jam on their hands. Even if theres no jam in the house, somehow, they've always got jam on their hands. I am not the right guy to deal with that!! I have no patience for jam hands!!!"
-Luke Danes from Gilmore Girls

" And don't get the tights with the lines down the back or you'll look like ten cents a dance"
-Emily Gilmore from Gilmore Girls

Wishing You A Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T18:43:00.000-08:00

After we got all snazzed up for my work's "Year End Celebration" we opted to take a few photos...of the which I found the perfect one for our Christmas cards.

Therefore, if you didn't get your Christmas Card yet....Tim and I wish you a Very Merry Christmas!

Our Temporary Tennant

2009-12-01T22:14:00.000-08:00

For Christmas my brother, Eric, his girlfriend, Carlee, Husband and I purchased a Miniature Schnauzer for our Mom (and Dad).

We got a screamin' deal for him, so we purchased him over the weekend. He was going to stay with us for the month, but we decided it would be best for him to go to his permanent home now.
So he boarded with us for a few days, but they were a fun few days.

In Two Months!

2009-11-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

Two months from today, Husband and I will be relaxing here:

And here:

Whilst we cruise about here:

I'm SOOO EXCITED!!!

My Mad Driving Skills

2009-10-31T18:20:00.001-07:00

Oh yes, I have some mad driving skills. Today my 3 year old nephew, Jefferson, kicked my trash at Mario Kart. He came in 1st place on every race. I came in 12th on each. Go figure.

WWDLS?

2009-10-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

Whenever I get a chance, I enjoy listening to Dr. Laura. She is awesome. People call her for advice, she gives it straight to them if they are being stupid, making a big deal out of nothing, doing the right thing, or are not acting like a man because they are whining about taking care of a baby that they were just as much involved in making as the mom.

She is very blunt, and she has no shame about it. And I love it.

I love it when someone calls her for advice, she gives it to them and they start to argue, "but...." and she cuts them off and says, "You called ME for advice. I told you what I think, now don't make excuses. Either continue doing what you want, or actually listen to me. But don't try to change my educated opinion!" Wham!

The other day she was addressing the issue of Roman Polanski because of all of the media attention he is getting these days. And she NAILED IT!

Many people say he should be pardoned by Obama because he is such an amazing director and has contributed so much to us artistically.
Hmm...interesting how because someone can tell others how to dim the lights, say a line and has won an Oscar for it, automatically means they above the law and it doesn't matter that they drugged and raped a 13 year old child, pled GUILTY, then fled the country and has been hiding out in France like a pansy for the last 30 years. I think he is, to quote Dr. Laura, "an animal and a coward."

To also quote Dr. Laura, she says, "I am thoroughly disgusted by the world’s film community for supporting him just because he makes good movies. I understand that Hitler was a good painter…Maybe we shouldn’t have closed in on and bombed his bunker because good painters are a treasure."

I mean really people? If he had drugged and raped YOUR daughter? Do you think you'd care if he made great movies? I think not.

Go Dr. Laura for being willing to speak some sense when so many others are speaking nonsense!

You should read her entire blog entry about Roman Polanski here.

Because I have been listening to this amazing woman, I have also been asking myself in many situations, and on many occasions, and even to others, "What would Dr. Laura say?"

You should too.

The First Year

2009-09-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

Husband and I celebrated our 1 Year Anniversary on Friday. It's amazing how fast a year goes by.

For the celebration we slept in (oh, how I enjoy the sleeping in), we went to The Original Pancake House to feast upon their amazing Bananas Foster French Toast. Oh, you'll never eat plain french toast again without wishing it were this heavenly version of french toast!

We then made a trip to the Jordan River Temple to perform some sealings. It was awesome to remember the covenants and promises that we made and received on our wedding day.

Husband then enjoyed a nap, which he enjoys as much as I do sleeping in, and I read my book for a good couple hours as he napped.

We then attended the theatre! On our honeymoon we went to the Tuacahn Theatre in St. George and to continue that tradition, we went to Hale Centre Theatre to see The Scarlet Pimpernel. Husband had never been to this theater nor had he ever seen this play...we left the theater quite entertained. Husband can't stop talking about how much he enjoyed the show.

Once home we pulled out the top layer of our wedding cake that had been frozen in my mother's freezer. We even pulled out the wedding utinsels to cut and serve it. The flavor was fantastic, however you could definitely tell it was a year old. We also watched our wedding video to remember the fun moments and the people we shared the day with.

I have definitely enjoyed this past year. Its been one of the best of my life, if not THE best. I think with how wonderful the first year was, our life will be a breeze. We'll have our ups and downs and our disagreements for sure, but I believe that we both made the right choice last year.

5 Medals, 3 Races and 2 States

2009-09-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

In January of this year, I joined my brother, Tom, and my sister, Teresa on a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida. The sole purpose of this trip: Come home with THREE medals. How would we do that? Complete the Goofy Challenge. What is that you ask? Complete the 2 Disney World races: The Disney World Half Marathon one day, and the Disney World Full Marathon the next. 39.3 miles in a little over 24 hours. Yes, you would have to be Goofy to do so. Therefore, you would get a Donald Duck Medal for the half, a Mickey Mouse Medal for the full, and a Goofy Medal for completing both. And complete them we did. However, we didn't stop there. My friend, Barefoot, and I were planning to do the Disneyland Half Marathon, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to as I was running short on the monies. But when she informed me that I could get TWO medals for participating, my siblings and I could not pass up the opportunity. Why would we get TWO medals? One for running the Half Marathon. The SECOND for participating in the Coast to Coast event...running a race in Florida and a race in California in the same calendar year.

Over the Labor Day Weekend, the race had arrived. And as Husband and Tom's wife, Tami, were not able to join us in January in Florida, we decided to make a fun time of the trip to California.

First we drove through the night. I drove the first stretch through the most incredible lightening storm of all time. I could see it a good 2 hours outside of St. George which is where the storm was centralized. It made driving worth it.

Husband was a complete sweetheart and helped drive for my sister so she wouldn't have to all night...And so Eric and everyone else could get some sleep.Once we arrived we picked up our race information, then because we could not check into the hotel until 3pm, we drove to the beach! We spent a few hours there enjoying boogie boards and the sun.That night a few of us went to Dodgers Stadium and watched the Dodgers kick the Padres' trash while sitting in the all you can eat section. Yum.

The runners got about 3 1/2 hours of sleep, as we arose quite early the next morning. We ran our little legs off, stopping to take pictures with the Disney Characters, running through Angels' stadium, and finishing in 2:42. Oh, it was quite the experience.

And now I am the proud owner of 5 Disney Medals for the 3 races we ran in 2 states.

After the race we all were off to Disneyland!

Husband quite enjoyed his first trip to the Happiest Place on Earth...and honestly, I think it was the best time I've had there...and I contribute it to the fact that I was there with, not only the family that I so love and enjoy being around, but mostly for the fact that I was there, enjoying that Happiest Place on Earth with the man of my life, the Husband. Oh, how I love him!

Sold

2009-08-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

Recently I was in Petco and was waiting in line to return an item for my cats. And there was a television showing an "info-mercial" about The Furminator. It is a brush for animals that removes the undercoat of the animal, making them less sheddy and more soft and shiny. I thought it looked fantastic as my cats have long sheddy hair and our current brush basically sucks. So I checked out their prices for it, and GOO! It was priiicccy! So, I decided to google it. I found one on Amazon.com for uber cheap and I bought it wondering if the pile of fur on the TV that was supposedly from one cat really was from one cat. Peter Parker, or so lovingly referred to as "Fat Petey" recently, was my first Guinea pig. Oh my. I could not believe how much fur came off him. I knew he was fluffy, but, WOW.

And yes, that fur, was all from one cat!

I think you should get one.

Only A Spectator

2009-07-27T20:08:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, I went with my brothers, Tom and Eric, to Burley, ID. The purpose of our trip was the Spudman Triathlon. Tom was participating this year, and I was but a spectator. I participated in said Triathlon last year. It is an Olympic Triathlon, which means it begins with a .9 mile (1.5k) swim, about 24 mile (40k) bike ride and a 6.2 mile (10k) run. My times were as follows: 25:47 for the swim, 1:34:18 for the bike, and 1:15:12 for the run. My overall time being 3:24:51 (that includes transition times etc.). I enjoyed the race quite a bit. And I intended to participate this year. However, last year a man drown during the swim. This really hit home to me, because I struggled quite a bit during it, I kept telling myself, "just swim to live" and that is what I did. So this year, every time I thought about signing up for the triathlon this fear took over my heart and I felt I shouldn't participate.

So when Tom told me that Tami wasn't going to be able to go to Idaho for the triathlon, I wanted to come along so Tom had a cheering section, a small one, but a cheering section nonetheless. So Eric and I came along for the trip.

When we arrived and once the smallest bit of triathlon hype reached me, I knew that I had made a mistake. I wished I had signed up to participate. I missed the thrill of picking up your number, making you an official race participant. I missed the anxiety that comes with getting all of your race items ready, setting your bike etc. at the transition areas...pinning your number to your shirt. The jitters in your stomach as one goes to bed and arises early...not wanting to not hear the alarm clock and miss the start of the race. Oh how I missed the comradery that the racers have with each other, encouraging each other and helping you through to the end. But what I missed most of all was when you come around the last corner, and the finish line is in sight. You SPRINT to get to the end because you've come so far and accomplished so much. And its not because you are aching for it to be over, but because of the incredible accomplishment that you just completed. And then you can proudly show everyone your medal, proving that you are a tri-athlete, and showing what you accomplished.

Therefore not participating in this year's race tugged at my little heartstrings. Being a spectator is a noble part of the race. It would not be at all as much thrilling without them, cheering everyone on. And so I played my part with the specatotors. Giving back to those who gave to me.

Next year I will again join the throngs of those participating in the triathlon, not only spectating. And next year, my husband will also not only be a spectator, but will be swimming, biking and running as well.

Sleep Walking

2009-05-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

I have discovered that my husband is a sound sleeper. He soundly sleeps through all the outrageous things he does while he is soundly asleep. I however, do not have such a luxury.

Here is a taste of some of the crazy things he has done while counting z's:

Last night he got up and completely opened the blinds to the balcony door in our bedroom and went back to bed.

Husband: Maren! Maren!
Me: What?
Husband (while holding his hand up like he were a waiter) Take this!
Me: What is it?
Husband: Its the kittens
Me: Okay (I motioned to take it)
Husband then crawled back in bed.

Husband got out of bed, stood next to the bed for a minute.
Husband: I better go put him back in the freezer.
Husband then leaves the room. I hear him open the freezer. He then comes back, climbs into bed.
Husband: I put him back in the freezer where he belongs
I began to worry what he put in the freezer.

Husband gets out of bed and stands there for awhile. He then proceeded to come to my side of the bed.
Husband: Scoot over!
Me: What? Okay.
I scooted over.
Next morning:
Husband: What are you doing on that side of the bed!?
Me: *Sigh*

Husband gets up, begins to remove all the blankets and sheets from the bed and places them in our closet then proceeds to climb back into bed.
Me: Hey! I need those!
Husband: Oh.
He then goes and gathers the blankets and attempts to put correctly put them on the bed, and fails miserably. Needless to say, I froze all night.

And these are just a few of the MANY examples.
I go to bed wondering what odd thing he is going to do next.

Relaxing Mountains and Beaches

2009-05-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Ahh, school is over...for the semester...we start again in a week. Boo. Good ol' summer school. But, you do what you've gotta do. We are now waiting on our grades. We both passed math, now we just have to see what we get in Biology. I think the outlook is good.

Since I last wrote, we went and spent Easter weekend with Tim's family in Clayton, WA. We were on our way up there when Tim informed me that his grandparents had no idea we were even coming. It was quite the surprise when we arrived Thursday morning. When we approached the front door, all you could hear was a screech of happiness and see Tim's grandmother go running around the corner to greet us. It reminded us of when a dog tries running around a corner on a wood floor and the legs move, but they don't. It was cute.

We spent the weekend enjoying the peace of the mountains and making projects in Grandpa's woodshop. It was really nice to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa, as well as see other relatives, aunts and uncles. Tim's dad came into town a few days earlier than he said he would, so we all gave the grandparents good several surprises that weekend.

Today I told Tim that I am in major need of a vacation but that we don't have the time or money for one, so Tim came home and surprised me with one. He brought me a palm tree, a few leis and spread out a towel for me to "lay out on the beach" on. It was really sweet. I am married to the best man. How I love him. =)

Welcome Home!

2009-04-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

Today was an important day, it may in fact warrant a new holiday. Today my car came home! Norah, my Nissan Altima, completed her repairs, and after 6 months of being shut up and engineless in The Parent's garage, she is home. Over the past 6 months we have been attempting to get her fixed, however anything and everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. We thought it was the head that only needing fixing, however once that was fixed we realized that we needed an entire engine (blah!). Then it was the hunt of finding a good engine. We finally found one, but then on it's way up to Utah, the truck that was transporting it was in an accident (go figure!) so then the engine was no bueno, and we had to begin the hunt again. At last we found another and took it to The Parents. Then being the great men that they are, Brad, James and Tim all spent their entire day off on Wednesday working on her. And after putting a new battery in her this evening, we drove her home, like proud parents of a new baby!
Oh, I've missed my car. It is as though I have a new car, but was reunited with an old friend all at once. So let's all begin to celebrate April 2 as Norah day and give this day the due it deserves.

Vigilance! Constant Vigilance!

2009-04-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

Tim and I celebrated 6 months of marriage a few days ago. Honestly, the 6 months went by so fast, I was thinking it was like 4. But to think it has been half a year already is quite fantastic. It is a manifestation of the old adage, "time flies when you are having fun" and we have definitely been having fun.

However, to the outsider there is not much to report in those 6 months of marriage: school, cats, new jeep, broken washer, new kitchen table, still broken car, tv addiction...you know, the basics of new married life.

Though there are some unfortunate aspects of time passing so quickly:

When one says, "we can do that in a few months" and next thing you know, its been a few months and you still don't have the money or time
Time everywhere has passed quickly and events that seem like they took place last week really took place months ago
And the WORST of all: people will expect you to start having kids soon (which by the way, I am still attempting to dispel the rumor started on Facebook that am prego. I AM NOT PREGNANT!!!)

Wanted or not, time is going to pass regardless. But I have decided that am going to attempt to keep track of it more vigilantly. And while keeping track, I shall make the most of it while my husband and I continue to have many, many months of marriage ahead of us. =)

Out With The Old, In With The New

2009-03-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

Recently Tim and I decided that we need to reduce our 4 vehicles to 2 as there are only 2 drivers in our little family. We decided that we should sell his motorcycle and truck and my scooter and find vehicles we can both drive.

We listed Tim's motorcycle for sale, however, no one was interested. But a couple weeks ago, Tim attempted to list it again, and within a day or two we sold it. Regardless of what Tim says, I know he was sad to see it go (and I was too...I loved riding with him). The next day we found a '98 Jeep Wrangler for a killer deal and couldn't pass it up. We are now proud owners of a "new to us" Wranger. Though, I will say that my brother, Thomas, seems quite thrilled for us to have one. He owned a Wrangler years ago and I know he misses it, and he will be able to re-live those days vicariously through us.

We now need to: a) Get my car fixed; (it has been broken and sitting all dejected and lonely like in my parents garage; b) Sell Tim's truck and, c) sell my scooter.

My poor car is closer to getting fixed now than it has been in the last 5 months. We FINALLY have the engine all ready to set in, we just need to find some time for Tim and Brad to do so. Am hoping it gets done soon. I want my car back. It'll be like am getting a new car!

I guess with the new year, and the extra cash that the tax return seems to offer, we have the "new to us" car fever. And hopefully, as we attempt to see the truck and the scoot, we'll find others that have the same fever.

The Singing Telegram

2009-02-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

We have all seen it done, on television, or on the Silver Screen, however, I have never seen it actually done. Until Friday around 2:30 in the afternoon.

It was the day before the infamous Valentine's Day, where husbands and boyfriends alike demonstrate their love for that special woman in their lives. This is usually done by the sending of flowers or chocolates, the romantic dinner or the perfectly planned out marriage proposal. All of which are cliches, which, deep down inside, every woman is thinking of and hoping for (though most of which will deny it to their graves).
I, however, was quite surprised at what my husband of nearly 5 months devised. I was surprised, but as I look back on it, I shouldn't have been, for it was just like something he would do.

I was going about my typical work day, not anticipating the roses or the flowers, as my husband tends to do these things sans the need of a holiday to profess his love, and I found no need for him to do such on this day. That afternoon the receptionist knocked on the door to the training room and asked if she could interrupt for a moment. I didn't think anything of it until I saw the massive crowd gathered outside the door and four men dressed in tuxedos proceed to enter the room. I hoped that they weren't there for me, but deep down inside I knew that they were.

They presented me with 5 roses (1 representing each month Tim and I have been married thus far) and then they serenaded me with 2 cheesy songs that were once written with the sole purpose of professing an undying and an unconditional love for another.

As they sang these songs in perfect 4 part harmony, as my huge audience gathered around and as the initial embarrassment of the current situation wore off, the reality of what it all meant buried itself deep down into my little heart. And I couldn't hold back the tears that rolled unashamedly down my cheeks as I thought of my husband, and what he means to me. It wasn't the fact that he delivered more than just roses to commemorate this day of love, but it was the fact that he will do whatever it takes to let me know just how much he loves me. This brief moment hit me pretty hard.

Not meaning to sound cliche or mushy or to discourage you to continue reading this, I cannot express how truly, madly and deeply that I love Timothy. As our Valentine weekend continued, the fact that I love him and he loves me right back was only made more evident to me by our time together. We didn't have the perfect candlelight dinner with all the extras that many women did (which I in no way object to), but this was my best Valentine's Day yet. I was able to spend every moment of it with my husband, the man I love with all my heart. And I get to spend every day with him. We don't need a day put aside to show that we love each other, we have each day to do so. I am incredibly happy to have found him. He is my life and I look forward to spending the rest of mine with him.

Timothy set a high standard for all the husbands and boyfriends at my employment that day.
It's not every day that a girl is delivered a singing telegram. It was however, a day that will remain noted as one of the thousands of ways that my husband has shown me how he loves me so.

Evidence of That Wonderful Day

2009-02-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

The Parents

The Siblings

The Joy

Recent Happenings

2009-02-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

Tim and I are both engaged in school this semester. We are taking the same classes; math, biology and a biology lab.
Its enjoyable to take classes with your husband for you have your own study group and you get to spend time together in doing so. Tim is very study oriented. I, however, have always been the procrastinator, so its a good thing I have Tim, or I wouldn't study nearly as much.

At the beginning of this month I left Tim at home and ran in the Walt Disney World Marathon and a Half. It was quite intense (see www.firecatmaren.blogspot.com for all the details) but I completed my 39.3 miles and have 3 medals to prove it. Running somehow weaseled its way into my life, and now I shall have a life long love affair with it. I actually roped Tim into doing the Salt Lake Half Marathon (13.1 miles) with me in April. I am excited to share my passion with my Tim, and enjoy that together as well.

We watched the Super Bowl with my family and we all were saddened as the Cardinals lost. And tomorrow we'll continue the Groundhog Day tradition of watching "Groundhog Day" as a family.

We continue to work and press through school. Life is good. Stressful at times, but its all part of the adventure.

Finally

2009-01-02T14:52:00.001-08:00

After 2 months of having this blog am going to finally write something worth reading. =)

I shall give you "The Story of Us" just to get this parade going.

Timothy and I met through a mutual friend, in other words, we were set up.

Cassie: "I want to set you up with my boyfriend's roommate!"
Maren: "I don't know, have recently decided to be anti set ups as they are the most pure form of rejection on the planet. You go out, have a fun time, he says he'll call you because he'd love to go out again and he never calls. Am agin' it!" Where as you crush on some dude from your anatomy class and he nevers asks you out, oh well...you don't really know what you are missing out on. No rejection."
Cassie: "Oh c'mon. I'm your best friend. You think I'd set you up with a loser!?"
Maren: (Thinking) "You have a point"
Maren: "Okay, just because I trust you."

So she set us up, we go to The Symphony at Temple Square on October 26, 2007 and then to the Olive Garden for the first date. I had a great time (as did he). And then he said the infamous words, "We should go out again." Rrrrright...I didn't believe him. In fact, I stressed out because I'd invited him to a Halloween party the next night and I had to have a date, and I didn't think he would ever been seen again by the likes of me. But, surprisingly enough, he called me the next day to determine when he'd pick me up. We went out, and from then on out he always set up our next date during the current date. I tried to play hard to get, but that quickly faded into oblivion as he so religiously chased after me and won me over.

We did have a rough time and broke up for about a month, but things were honestly a million times better when we began dating again.

About 2 months later we decided to get married, and on the lovely day of May 27th 2008, in the most romantic setting of all, after the sweetest words, Tim got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. And I, of course, said, "YES!!"

We were married 4 months later on September 25, 2008 in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a beautiful day and everything was so perfect (see www.firecatmaren.blogspot.com for the whole day's events).

We now live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo in Salt Lake. We have 3 cats (2 were planned the 3rd was a surprise) and are loving married life. It is SO great to be with your best friend at all times. We compliment each other well, like we found who we'd been looking for our entire lives (imagine that). Just the other night we were reminiscing about when we met, and the journey we've taken thus far, and the destination we plan on reaching together. I love him so.

2008-12-28T21:10:00.000-08:00

Two Days

2008-11-02T16:41:00.000-08:00

Well, we did it. We got married, and then created a blog. Typical. =)