This is their couch... you can sit on the other one.

Neighbors

Sunday night I was doing laundry which is something Kenny usually does (I'm spoiled I know!) and I heard a buzzing/growling coming from laundry room... it broke again! This washer was free when we bought the house. It came as part of an appliance incentive package and has given us nothing but trouble over the last couple years.... We decided not fix it again and just let it rest in peace.

We looked everywhere and ended up getting this Whirlpool front loader at Spencer's appliance. Apparently it is discontinued, but was like a $850 washer and we got it for $500... still A LOT of money, BUT we also bought a 5 year warranty so it shouldn't break ; )

Well, since we have 2 trucks we rarely have stuff delivered and just brought this baby home.... it took two large men to load it and they struggled. When Kenny got it home we just couldn't get it off the truck without help. Luckily, my parents live just down the street and my dad came down and helped Kenny unload it.

THEN, Tuesday my mom got a screw in her tire and needed Kenny to change her tire so we headed to her house- isn't it nice to have family so close! ??

Booooooooooooo

I've been out boooooing...

FYI booing is leaving a bag of goodies for someone...

The ding dong ditch part is the most thrilling...

October catch up...

This is so random and not very well written, but here goes...

I have sorta stopped putting a whole lot of time into this blog because I felt like no one was really reading it... although my page counter says otherwise. Anyway, a friend of mine uses her blog as a journal... and I really like that. So I will start trying to do better on keeping up with my blogging for personal history.

On 10/16/2009 Kenny and I celebrated 10 years as a couple! Can you believe that?! This picture is from that day... Homecoming dance. After the dance we all went to Swenson's for ice cream. So to celebrate this year that is what we did! It

would have been really fun to get Tony and Janesse and maybe even April, Zach and their spouses to come have ice cream with us, but I didn't think of that until it was too late.

It's been a great 10 years and I know I couldn't have picked a better partner, Kenny is perfect for me. In 10 years we have...been married for 6 years, both graduated with BS degrees from ASU, bought

two houses, bought 10 cars, lost loved ones, got "real"jobs, made friends and lost friends, traveled to a dozen states, adopted 4 dogs and had to put one down, had roommates, been roomates, become aunt and uncles, search and search and finally found a church we love, gone through family crises together, loved, laughed and lived! And we still love each other!

In other news... the first radish has appeared in the garden... and I ate it ! Yummm. Only half of our garden sprouted and I am not sure what happened, but I think I will get some tomato plants to fill in the empty space.

A girl I work with, also named Amanda is getting married in just a few weeks. SO naturally a few of us girls felt compelled to through her a Bridal Shower.

I wish I had more pictures to share, but basically I have this one of the poster I made. I used my cricket for the letters and some sparkles from the dollar store to make the "bling". She really liked it and has it hanging in her cubical.

The shower was SO nice! My friend Jackie gave us all assignments of what foods to bring and we ended up with a delicious catered type lunch. Amanda got so much stuff she couldn't fit it all in her little car (its a little 2 seater).

Amanda is new to AZ and didn't really want to have a shower and impose on her work buddies, but I really encouraged her to have one... my bridal shower is one of my favorite memories. My mom and Blair thru mine and we just had sub sandwiches and some sides nothing fancy. It was at my parents house and I remember the living room was just full of girls. I was really surprised how many people came. I remember being so tickled when they played game where you design a wedding dress out of TP and my grandma was the model. And I remember being SO embarrassed when I opened the lingerie items. I still have the cookie sheet Lola gave me and the cookie jar my Aunt Barbara gave me with the coupon to refill any time with a visit. I loved all the lotions, recipes, towels etc that I received. What I especially loved about that day... being showered with love, advice, well wishes etc. I think every bride should have a bridal shower...

All this wedding talk got me thinking about our wedding and my wedding dress... As I was cleaning out the closets I came across my dress... I tried it on, but I couldn't zip it. I told Kenny "Oh come on just zip it!" and he tried... and tried but the fabric was about 2 inches from even touching, it was pretty comical actually. Anyway, I asked him to take some pictures of me just for fun... here are some.

After I saw the pictures it really made me want to go on a diet...

This last weekend Kenny and I had a yard sale. I really wanted to be successful so I handed out fliers to all the neighbors to get them to join in... out of 42 houses 5 others joined us. Doesn't seem like a lot, but Kenny and I aren't the most social people so we met more neighbors that day than the other 4 1/2 years we lived here! Our friends Jereme and Blair brought some stuff over and hung out too. Jereme made us some delicious cinnamon rolls from scratch which my mom and I agreed they were the best we ever had. It was a nice day out so the guys (my dad, Jereme and Kenny) ended up ditching us to play golf, but we were fine with sitting back and chatting. I ended up making $55, Blair $40 and Jereme $30... not bad, but really my biggest success was getting Kenny to clean out his closet! The man saves everything!! It looks so much better now : )

Well, I think that is everything...

SO excited

I have been in the market for a cedar chest for some time and found one on Craig's list last week! We drove all the way out to Apache Junction to get this beauty! The funny/ironic thing is the original price was $59.95 and I paid $80.... it is in excellent condition and they estimated it is a 1950's or 1960's model.

My mother-in-law has a cedar chest and keeps all her keepsake items in it and I have always thought that was so neat... now I need to gather all my treasures!

Kid Funny

I already mentioned that Kenny and I met up with my mom and took the boys to McDonalds and the park last week, but a funny thing happened on the way home that I don't want to forget... let me see if I can tell this story well...

My brother doesn't usually give the boys soda... but when we take them out we pretty much let them have whatever they want (and my brother is fine with that). SO at McDonalds we let the boys get Coke...

As we drove the boys home Little Brian was just yacking away telling us all about something or other and right in the middle of his sentence he let out the biggest burp ever! I mean a burp that sounded like it came from a grown man! Kenny and I couldn't help but laugh (actually we were cracking up for several minutes) and then Little Brian explained to us that his face farted! I don't care who you are that is funny!

Joy

Tuesday we took the boys to the park and McDonalds...

XOXOX Love these boys!

FREE

Saturday was the day we had planned to go sky diving, but it just didn't work out. For a few reasons everyone cancelled... I contemplated going alone, but thought I would just save it for another time...

So, Saturday morning I dragged my sleepy family out yardsaling.... no one really wanted to go, but did because I wanted them to. One of the first houses we came to had this awesome porch swing out front.... for FREE! It is missing the canopy and the cushions, but is still pretty comfy to sit and relax in. The guys went home to get a truck and came back to take my treasure to the house. So far the dogs haven't bothered it and I am really hoping they won't.... I am planning on making some cushions for it soon... when I get my next allowance!

Kenny and I have been keeping busy with Pastor Lee's Bible in 90 days challenge. We ended up purchasing an audio Bible- which wasn't cheap, but oh so worth it. Neither one of us love to read out loud and were really struggling with some of the names, cities etc. Now we just sit back follow along. We are learning so much, but it seems the more we learn , the more questions we have.

Toby is officially on a diet... he is way over weight for a miniature dachshund... Also, Kenny and I are going to share the job of walking him a few times a week.

Kenny is doing really well with his golfing. Last Saturday him and my dad got a super deal on an ALL DAY PASS for $25. They ended golfing 45 holes !! They ended up loosing something like 50 golf balls (which they had collected from behind the driving range), but the last 9 holes they actually kept score. I am happy he has a hobby and is working at it. I also just love to see my dad have so much fun with it too. When they tell their golf stories my dad laughs so hard his face turns red.

Hiking

Kenny and I have been hiking.... and I started another blog....

Hitched Hikers

Papago Park

Papago Park is a fun hike because it is a choose your own adventure type hike. You don't have to worry about getting lost in the park because there are huge landmarks to guide you... Also there are many metal markers with trail numbers if you choose to follow a specific trail - we kind of just made our own. The park has lots of fun places to explore and "caves" to climb up to.

Also it is an atypical hike because you walk around the mountain (buttes really) instead of up them.

We took about an hour to walk around

the park, but you could easily spend a lot more time or even less depending on what you want to do.

This is a great beginner hike.

Album Club

Yikes it's been a while, but here are some pages I have been working on.

English Muffins

I guess I made English muffins today... I started around 3:30 and finished at 7:30... they are cooling now. I am not the biggest fan of English muffins, but it is a recipe in the book so I gave it a shot. Pretty interesting that you brown them in a skillet before baking them in the oven. The recipe made 6 so I will pass them out to my taste testers tomorrow and the their comments will be found in the comments section of this blog.

Vegas!

Ah Vegas... the lights, the sites, but most importantly for us- the family time. Kenny's Uncle Jerry, Aunt Kathy and cousins Brett and Jerry Jr, who live in Illinois, go to Vegas once or twice per year. Since Kenny works in Vegas a lot it is a perfect opportunity for us to meet up and spend time with them.

This week we spent Wednesday - Friday in Vegas- I took vacation, but poor Kenny had to work. Even with him working we had enough time to visit the buffets, see a show (Defending the Caveman), gamble a little and just hang out with his awesome family.

The first day we went to the Paris hotel buffet where they serve French food! This was really fun for me because I loved the Julie and Julia movie so much and am reading the Julie & Julia challenge book right now. It was quiet and experience to try all those"frenchy" foods-- although to be honest I didn't like much of it and either did Kenny. But hey we tried it!!

The guys like to go to Boulder Station Casino (off the strip) since they have $3 craps tables. We went there one afternoon and all of us (including me and Kathy!) played for about 4 hours! At one point I was down to my last $1, but ended up making most of it back. I think Kathy ended the trip down a whopping $1.50!

Anyway, the rest of the time Kathy and I spent hanging out in the hotel room while the guys gambled. Their suite was not just any room either! It was a beautiful Terrace suite with an amazing view of New York New York

and the Exaliber hotels. The balcony even had a Jacuzzi on it!

It was a fun trip and we can't wait to meet up with them next time.