Monday, December 22, 2008

Good Times

So, this past weekend, I got to watch my niece and nephew while their parents took a little time out to California. They were so funny. We went to see the lights at the temple...and they were all about random poses.

One night, another nephew joined us and we ventured to the Imax to watch The Polar Express "with glasses on"-as Zoe told her parents. I think the some of the animation got me for squirmy in my seat than any kid there. Bringing my dogs is always a hit. But these two had more fun playing and locking and in and out....with this cage than anything.

Cimmeron (my nephew) has turned into quite the trombon-ist. I went to Sierra Vista for his winter band concert. I was quite impressed. He participated in the Jazz Band, regular concert band, and even a low-brass quartet which had to practice on their own time in order ro perform. He is such a good boy. I canNOT believe he will be in high school next year. I'm so proud of him. (the little guy is Kameron, another nephew.)

Here is most of Cimm's personal crowd. His mom, CJ, Kameron, Marnie, Kaulin, Tom, Eric and Ali.






Sunday, November 30, 2008

More of Cabo: and Thanksgiving

Here is the awesome sunset on our last night....on the walk to our suprise picnic.

A couple walking by offered to take our photo....this is minutes after the big Question.
We went on a dinner cruise Thursday night. Although once again it was completely Over-priced---The band was awesome....the food was fantastik....and the sunset/view was killer. Ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Here is the main attraction in Cabo. "The Arch." Where the Sea of Cortez meets the pacific ocean. Plus a whole lot of awful smelling sea lions. It was cool tho.

Hard to believe, this was actually Eric's first time in the ocean....This is us before we burned ourselves on the trip.
Thanks to everyone for the supportive comments and excitement for our big news. We will tell more as we know more. RIght now just concentrating on the move to Boise. Eric was supposed to leave yesterday, however there are some issues with the office he is moving into. Some kinks have yet to work themselves out. So, he is here for a few more days. Good for me! He is busy moving his stuff and building a dog house for his Drake! His pit-bull Border Collie mix who will take residence here with me til I move. Good dog. Nervous around other animals I think, and my dogs are not sure/terrified of the giant. Good times.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Thanksgiving was awesome. We spent the day hanging out with Marnie....then ate dinner at her in-laws with all my family except Scott and Julianne. They were not able to make the trek to Sierra Vista. We missed them, but had a wonderful dinner. After long conversations that day, it sure made me thankful for my family and parents and the awesome support and love they continuously showed not only us, their own family, but EVERYONE and ANYONE who knew them. It gets especially hard on the holidays to be reminded of every tradition ever known to me is no longer fully there...and our hearts long for our parents. Still....we know they are in a better place, helping us from the other side!





Sunday, November 23, 2008

Vacation!!!!!

We Just got back from an incredible week in Cabo San Lucas! Talk about doing nothing but nothing! I don't know when the last time was i did so much nothing! It was great! We stayed right on the beach in someplace by Melia, and everyday went outside in the morning and layed on these little beds, and looked at the ocean and bathed in the sun! This is a small portion of our view....and picture below is where we stayed. It was really nice. We spent some time on wave runners, kayaks, (me once, eric twice cause I was chicken) Eric did some snorkeling while I got a massage. We ate a lot of overly priced, tiny portioned, not the greatest mexican food compared to here.....but found a few awesome plates as well. We were asked a billion times each hour if we wanted to buy something...(whatever it was they were selling....)....as you can see by all those people in white.....I can't believe how many times they walked up and down that beach.

Anyway.......Now we are getting to the greatest part of the entire trip! So, I don't know how many people know how Eric and I met. Well, we were set up on a blind date by Briauna and Cameron. When talking about it, neither one of us really wanted to go. Another long distance thing....plus the whole Blind date angle. Reluctantly, we both agreed, and finally met late one night in Mesa. Eric picked me up and we went and ate (shared the food even) wings and salad. We chatted for hours (well, he did...) jk. He was rather chatty in a good way. It was comfortable and easy and we laughed A LOT! It was kind of down hill from that point. We spent a lot of weekends together, and had lots of fun. We went up mount lemon, and I took him to a Rascal Flatts concert (front row)....and to that point he still had not kissed me :)
Well, we have been dating for over a year.......and while we were in Cabo he got sneaky. We planned on going on a dinner cruise one night. I asked him to set it up, make the reservation, etc. He did. He was out talking to the concierge lady a LONG time. And when he came back, it was ready to go for that night. Nothing strange. So we went and that was amazing. (I"ll post pics later) There was an awesome live rock band on the top deck, the food was the best I've had...and the entertainment was......entertaining. It was a great night. We only had one more full day left in Cabo.
So the next day, I spent on the beach after a massage and Eric went snorkeling and stuff. We didn't really know what to do for dinner, so after cleaning up, we just went for a walk. Or,,,,what I thought was going to be just a walk. I figured it was the last night, and whatever was fine. Eric was acting perfectly normal. We took off walking in a different direction than most the food places, but I didn't think too much of it. He had mentioned getting ice cream earlier, so I thought we were just getting ice-cream. We kept walking, and occasionally I would ask, "where are we goin." He would just say, "for a walk." and that was fine for me. I was walking slow however, cause I was tired and my feet hurt.
As we got past a majority of the resorts into a small local beach area before the next resort, he started to push me up the beach area a little. I still was looking down at the sand, completely oblivious to my surroundings. Finally, after a few more urges up the sand, I looked up and saw this:

I kept saying, "what are you doing?", completely believing we were about to walk through somebody's perfectly romantic little picnic. He somewhat motioned to it, and again I asked "what are you doing?" Finally he said, "this is for us." AND I WAS SHOCKED! Instantly my heart started pounding out of my chest, and I was screaming inside to myself, "THIS IS IT! THIS IS IT! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
So we sat down after taking some pictures of it.....and he told me the story of how he had conspired with one of the girls who works at our resort to help him out on her day off. She put it all together and IT WAS PERFECT! She (Elena) was an angel. She told us she put all her love into it and was so excited to be a part of his surprise!
With the planning on his part, the only thing he couldn't do was get me to "not" snack prior to our little adventure. So by this time, I am not that hungry. But we snacked and tried a little of everything and drank our soda's in our wine glasses...and just chatted. At this point time has gone by, and I am thinking the surprise is the romantic picnic, at sunset, and nothing more. And I was quite content with all his effort and energy he put into it...and how amazing it was.
I got up to run to a resort for the restroom. When I got back, we ate some more. In looking back, Eric was a little fidgety. He was sitting, then standing, then sitting, then standing. Then out of no-where he is standing and says "I also got you this." and handed me a poem. I read it in the little light we had, but it of course brought tears to my eyes. I still just thought it was a nice touch to a special night.
Then: Eric pulls my hand upward, to stand me up, and I did. But....as I was standing, my hand ran down his arm and into his hand.....where I felt the little white box. My eyes had to be the size of quarters and I started to freak out (in the best way possible) as I was freaking out, starting to cry, Eric was kneeling on one knee and asking me to marry him!!!!!!!
Seriously! Of course you see this set up and you suspect....but he really had me believing it was not gonna happen with all the non-chalantness....then BAM! he truly surprised me. My heart was crazy, I really did cry......and It was absolutely perfect!
Unfortunately, he had to talk over my freak out cause I felt the box too soon.........but it worked out perfectly for me anyway. I said Yes!!!!! and that's about all we know for now.
Here is a picture of the MOST AMAZING RING EVER! and he picked it out all by himself! What can I say.....the man has great taste!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Half Marathon---Everyone Runs!

SO......Somewhere about 11 weeks ago....I got the crazy hair to try to run a half marathon again! TMC was sponsoring the event.....so I decided to do it. Ya. Of course the weekly runs were no fun, and I kept asking myself "why?" Well, last Sunday came and went and I ran......after a week of not feeling well, going out of town, missing runs, I thought I was in big trouble. However, I made it! It's not pretty....as you see, but I made it!!!
I ran a half in Dec 2006....wait, 05 maybe....can't remember. I finished it in 2:21, so this race I shaved off 10 minutes. Which, for me is awesome! I think I wanna do it again. then maybe again.

About 3 miles in....I kinda hooked myself onto these two older ladies who seemed to have a good pace. I kept up for maybe.....4-5 miles, and then had to drop back a bit. The first race I ran with my friend Nikki and her husband Kenny. So the time went fast....and they pushed me. This time it was all me.....Me and the IPOD! Could NOT have made it without it. Good times.
The first picture I swear is me taking the biggest breath of relief. The last mile was horrible! My shoulders felt like bricks I was so tense, and blisters were appearing on my toes. I think the bottom one was the last 3 miles stretch....just begging my mind to keep going.
It was awesome! I'm def doing that again!




Monday, October 20, 2008

Crazy Eights....(thanks Jen....thought this was fun.)

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH:
Chuck
One Tree Hill
Grey's Anatomy
NCIS
House
Criminal Minds
Numbers
Dog Whisperer

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS:
Nico's
Olive Garden
Outback
Short Stop
Booga Reds
L&L BBQ
Taco Bell
Macaroni Grill

8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:
Drove the course of my half marathon thats in two weeks
Laundry in my new LG steam washer/dryer
Put all my favorite things from my truck into my new 4-runner
Changed the bedskirt on my bed
Turned in almost 3000 pennies for dollars
Watched football with Eric
Cleaned up after Eric made dinner
Took the garbage out

8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO:
My trip to Idaho next Monday to finalize my new job
Eric and my trip to Cabo next month
Thanksgiving dinner (home cooked! I worked last year.)
Working in the ICU
The half marathon
The move to Boise
My nephews band concert. (he rocks the trombone!)
The cold weather

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST:
A new phone
Massage!!!!(stole from Jen.)
Pedicure
Spoiler for the 4-runner
Learn how to cook for real
Cold weather
A Big raise. :)
For my dog to quit chewing on furniture! and destroying my headphones!~


This is for anyone just for fun!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Twelve Long years....

I had woken up early on Sunday, the 12th, for whatever reason. I think the dogs had been walkin around on the bed. And, the days before, I kept thinking about this morning. And the memories it had. I was laying there....and remembered back twelve years....
It was Homecoming weekend 1996. Most of my siblings had come home for the weekend, though not for homecoming. I was trying to be a normal teenager, out having fun with my friends and cousin, playin and tryin not to get in trouble driving under age. Friday night, my cousin and I went to visit another friend. Somewhere in the midst of it, an ambulance drove by, with the sirens on. Celine Dion was in the Cd player. (weird thing to remember) and the whole truth about my dad hit me all at once. Finally, after a few months of trying to be strong and pretend my life was still the same, I burst into tears. I cried and cried...knowing and realizing, and possibly accepting my dad was going to die.
I went home later that night....and spent a little time with my family that was there....and after saying good night, went to sleep.....only to be awakened, early that Saturday morning, the 12th of October, to the news dad had passed. Now this is just a small portion of the story.....and its a story that is slowly fading from my mind. Twelve years ago, I lost my father to that awful C word! The same word that took my mom as well. Grrrr.....But the memories of them are still there.
I know I posted this picture earlier, but I had not been able to get another picture of him on my computer. They are all hard copies.

Since I lacked a variety of pics, I just picked a few.

This is a picture of my mom back in the day my dad married her....or at least there abouts:)

This is who is left! From left to right, my brother Scott, Sisters Leisel, (me) Angie and Marnie. This was actually taken at my mom's services. We sure have been through a lot, but I love remembering the acts of service and the love people showed our family. Especially after dad left us. As the child....you don't realize how cool your parents are. It's an interesting thing to see them from the communities perspective. Thank you to everyone who offered your love and support. Your comforting words and shoulders. Again, my parents were the coolest! It has been 12 years since I've had my dad......3 1/2 since mom passed! It feels like forever!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Re-Arranging!

We did quite a bit of rearranging at my place this weekend. Just wanted to show off some of the results. It's so much better than it was. This is the kitchen, well half of it. The other half my landlord has some awful, greenish-yellowish yucky color. But this wall is great!

This is the office. Still needs some fixing and putting away. I also wish we could paint, but again the landlords said no. :(

This is the rearranged living room. Unless you saw it before, frequently, you may not realize the difference. Ha! Look in the corners by the couch. The rug is amazingly soft, so definitely wanted to keep it, but a bit too big for the room. We had to improvise a bit. Reminds me of Elvis, or that commercial where the dude carpets the entire walls and ceiling.

Oh...and gotta love this Monster! Sure makes Greys anatomy so much better:) Ok, and everything else!



Monday, September 29, 2008

The Skank Tank!

Just wanted to post this pic of Eric on his dad's "Skank Tank." Yes, that is my own personal nickname for the bike. Why you ask? It's one of those bikes that has a picture of a not so nice girl on the gas tank and back fender. Don't get me wrong. The bike is awesome! But needs a paint job. Sun-glasses at night? Ha. That's just funny. Isn't he so cute?!!! Just love him!


Sunday, September 14, 2008

Pinnacle Peak

Eric's dad Robert came to Tucson with Eric this weekend. Fun times. We went out to eat at this place called Pinnacle Peak. Kinda this old western-y looking, show, singin on the street, old general looking stores steak house place. Good times. The food was good and the entertainment.....was ok:) Here's a few pics.... This is lookin down one of the mini streets.

Around back, there was a mini train to take people for rides....apparently its broken right now.


Eric and I on our way in. Isn't he so adorable.....(even the gum you can see in his mouth...:)

This is Eric and his dad watching the banjo playin fool.
Didn't get a pic of him.
HA.


Thursday, September 4, 2008

Camping!

Our last morning camping, Eric and I took cimm on a very fun and muddy ride around the mountain. We ended up at the New Mexico border. Somehow I was the only one who ended up muddy. Eric rode to fast, and Cimm has all his wheel covered on the quad. So as you can see, I was a mess...but it was fun!
It doens't look at bad as it was. BUT.....It was fun! I'd do it again in a heart beat.


Eric, trying to be a good sport at our family talent show. It was raining :)

This jeep belongs to a friend of my sister who camped with us. He bought it from a friend of his who restored the entire thing. Every gauge and gadget on that jeeps works like new. I hear it was even in the movies (or one movie) in its earlier days. I just thought it was amazing!

All the kids begged and begged for Eric to take them for rides on this quad. Even after one casualty, (my neice hit her head and got a gash in her forehead on the handlebars) and supergluing it back together, the beggars kept begging. Good times! I decided we actually needed at least 3 more days camping!

Camping in Luna!

It has been awhile since I put up any pictures. Not much going on. Over Labor day, Eric and I headed up to Luna to attend my many year standing family reunion. I think I have only been one time since 2000, and it was especially sad without mom there. Dad hadn't been there in so many years, the difference was mom. Not to mention the camping has changed. I remember when there were mostly tents....and everyone stayed together. Now there are very few tents....and lots of trailers, motorhomes, and toy haulers. Fun times no matter what. Probably 50 quads, a few Rhino's, a 1940's completely restored army jeep, 1 motorcycle, a couple Zip lines, a tire swing, and all the water and rain a kid would want to play in! I don't know what it is about water and catching crawdads (sp?)
Anyway, this is a pic of Eric's and my camp, with his Bike and a friend's quad we borrowed for fun!


Did I mention there was one outhouse for a lot of us to share? Ha! Good times!

Every time I looked at this part of camp...it just made me smile! I Love my cousins the gibbons'. They have an awesomely large fun family, and take up an entire end of the meadow. I think they were the first family to ever bring a trailer to the reunion....and now look how they've grown. :)

This is my way awesome cousin Jay-boy! He is a reason this reunion is so....fun. He lives for the company of family every year....and makes us all laugh histarically. Love ya Jay!


Monday, July 28, 2008

A Little Look Around....

So the other day, we were outside doing some yard work at the house i rent. Including weed wacking....mowing the lawn....spraying the weeds.....re-planting some things....etc.etc. Well, I went to move the garbage can, so i could spray around it....and I found THIS! The tarantula must have been squished when I moved the can cause his stomach-gooey contents were squished out of him, and his legs still twitching a little. I HATE THESE CREATURES! Talk about heeby-geebies! To think of all the times I've walked out there in the dark with no shoes. Yuck!


So, then we moved to the front porch....where spiders started taking over the corners with webs and such...so after we started spraying, we found two additional wasp nests that were starting (forgot to picture those) and those are on top of the one the landlord already knocked down....and then I took a step out, and found this next right about the entrance. I loved it, though the more I stared at it, the more I swore that mother bird was gonna swoop down and polk my eyes out. The last two days I've seen 2 baby birds up there. So neat.

Another pic, just for fun. So.....lesson learned. One must take a closer look around their home. All sorts of things are awaiting...

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Riding Quads:

So....Over the 4th, Eric and I went up the mountain and rode quads up to a look out where you could see Eagar. As a family, when I was little we would go to the same spot for a cook out and just to hang out. I miss those days. dutch oven biscuits and Gravy.....MMMMMMMM.

Eric got to ride the real fast sporty quad.......


While I got to ride my sister's bigger, not so fast, however fun! I hindered Eric in his speed racing....Oh well. :)

Just a quick glance at the trail we followed. Such a beautiful place.

Here's a not so great picture of us at the top, with Eagar in the background. I had to scrounge for "play" clothes at my mom's. Kinda funny.


Sunday, July 13, 2008

4th Of July.....

I have always loved the 4th of July. I can only remember a few I have not gone home to Eagar. This time I especially loved it. The weather was nice....we had a small family reunion (which I missed most of....) and I got to bring Eric home to hang out and celebrate Eagar style. I really don't think he was excited to spend his time off with my somewhat crazy family (in a nice, and always doing something, noisy sort of crazy) but he was a good sport anyway. This is a pic of my truck actually being a truck. We took a quad up to Scott and my sister's boat to hit Lyman Lake. My truck was so low. It's not used to working this hard.

Late at night after the kids went to bed, Tom and Eric found some quality time with the Wii. As you can tell by Tom's face....they looked completely goofy, but were seriously loving it!

After spending the 4th watching the parade and rodeo, plus another family BBQ, it was time for the Lyman Lake fireworks. Everyone in the family except Eric, Kameron , and I watched the fireworks from their boats on Lyman. Dunno why, but us 3 decided we would kick it old school in the back of the truck, cuddled up in a blanket and goofing around. kameron is one funny kid. We had some good quality time with him.


Then of course there is me cuddled up next to my cutie! He was such a good sport. I love him to pieces!