the smiths

2011-08-29T22:05:00.005-07:00

Ok after way too long of a hiatus I've decided to started blogging again. It seems like this year has gone by so fast, and yet it seems like a life time away that I was first meeting my precious little girl. Natalie is now 8 MONTHS!!! I can not believe it! She's crawling everywhere, pulling herself up on anything she can get her hands on, and she "talks" constantly. I LOVE this little girl so much, she really is so amazing! So besides enjoying Natalie and all that motherhood has to offer Brian and I bought a house back in May. I love having my own place and the freedom it brings. I DON'T love the mortgage payment every month,but that is what you get when you decide to be a grownup. So This is our house:

And I guess I should post some pictures of my Amazing girl:

I know one is blurry, but just love it! She's so curious she just had to check out my camera before I'd taken the shot. These were both taken when she was 6 months, every month I put her in that chair with her elephant and take a few shot of her. I was intending to post them all so you could see her growth, well March is missing, and so I haven't done anything with them yet.

So what else have we been doing since febuary? Has it really it really been that long since I posted? WOW I've gotten lazy, or my priorities have changed, a lot. I've been working 3 nights a week at the hospital, it took sometime getting used working again, I had been working as the Unit Clerk and a CNA for the last 2 1/2 years, I came back as an RN, there's a lot more responsibility and expectation with this job, and its taken some time to get used to, but now feel like I've found my groove, and I like it, well as much as I can, I still really want to go to day shift. Oh what I would give to have a normal sleep schedule again.

One thing I really do love about my job is I get to play mom 4 days a week. It is the most amazing job ever. My little girl is so awesome. I'm not bragging or anything, but she's way cooler than your kids. She's doing so much these days, I really feel like I need to keep a better record because she is already growing up way too fast!

We haven't done much else the last 6 months, just getting settled into our house. Since we decided to build our house some time in febuary I've been a little obsessed with decrating our new place. Only problem... I'm a perfectionist. You wouldn't know it from the look of my house on any given day, but once I decorate a room, I want to do it once, and do it right. It kills me everytime I buy something or take the time to make something and then when I'm done I hate it or its not what I envisioned. So lately I've done nothing. Well not nothing, I call it research. And by research I really mean Pinterest. I love that site! It is so totally addicting, thank you Camille for getting me hooked. I've got a lot of great ideas off of there, I just need to use them.

Natalie

2011-02-09T16:28:00.009-07:00

Just wanted to post some photos of Natalie's first 7 weeks.

Natalie her first day home.

Christmas Eve.

2011-02-08T17:56:00.007-07:00

It's been way too long since I've posted anything. My baby is now almost 2 months and I still haven't posted a single picture or written down Natalie's birth story. I've attempting a couple of time but then I get distracted and never seem to finish. So here goes...

Natalie was due on December 18th. When I was about 35 weeks pregnant I started having contractions after a little while the stopped, but the next morning they came back so I called my Doctor who sent me to the hospital, once I walked through those doors my contractions stopped. But they kept me for a couple of hours then sent me home with instructions to take it easy for the next week till the baby was term.

After this I thought for sure the baby would come early, I stayed pretty active but all the contractions stopped, I didn't even have braxton hicks anymore. Once I reached 38 weeks I started trying everything I could to start labor, I was asking EVERYONE for advice, but nothing worked. So when Lizz came down the weekend before Christmas I had strict instructions from her that I was going to have this baby before she went home. So I tried everything again, went shopping all day with her and my mom, I even tried tea (not my favorite) and did jumping jacks. So Monday night after trying everything I could Brian and I went home thinking this baby was never going to come, we watched the lunar eclipse and just enjoyed spending some time together. We went to bed around 2am and right at 2:30 I woke up with contractions. I layed there and tried to sleep, which is the last thing you can do when your contracting and SOO excited!! So after a couple more contractions I woke Brian and told him I was in labor but to go ahead and get some sleep since it was going to be a while. He's so obedient, without much more then a grunt he was sound asleep again (I really envy his ability to sleep through anything). I packed our bags, and timed the contractions, then I went for a walk down to Trent's apartment since he never sleeps either. I told him I was in labor and he was so excited that he wanted to come to the hospital with us, he's the best! I went back up stairs and woke up Brian, we called the doctor and then we were on our way to the hospital. This was all within an hour and a half and during this time my contractions went from 20 minutes apart to 2 minutes. When she decided to come she did not mess around.

When we got to the hospital they checked me and I was dilated to 4cm, the baby was really on her way! They offered me the epidural, but I wanted to try going natural first. Dumbest decision of my life. It's one thing to have contractions, but its another to have contractions and vomiting on top of it. It was horrible, I vomited into the basin and then it shot back and hit me in the face, but at least after that they let me sit in the shower for awhile, which really helped the contractions. At
7am I wasn't progressing very fast so they put me on pitocin. After that every time I moved I would have a contraction. If I'd thought about it at the time I would have aggreed to the epidural then, but by this time I was so exhausted I couldn't think straight. So at 9 when I was complete I was too tired to push. I pushed a couple of times but the baby's head couldn't get past my pelvic bone. This whole time I had been getting pain meds every hour, but it barely helped. They offered the epidural again and I agreed to it. The epidural was amazing!! It took away the pain, but just enough that I still felt pressure when I was having a contraction. After this I slept for 1 1/2 hours, seriously some of the best sleep I ever had. At 1pm I started pushing again, the baby had finally descended completely, but I still couldn't get her past my pelvic bone so the Doctor had to use suction to help her come out and by 1:49 Natalie Anne was born. She was 7 punds 4 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. She was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen.

Maternity Photos

2011-01-18T04:03:00.010-07:00

While I was pregnant Brian and I had the opportunity to get some professional photos done of us. We had them done by one of the nurses I work with at mt Graham and his wife who have their own photography business, yellow skinny photos, and they did the most amazing job!!! Dan and Becky I wish you were going to be around to do photos of Natalie too! So I just had to post some of my favorites:

My Pregnancy so far

2010-10-10T20:13:00.008-07:00

So I haven't posted any pictures of my pregnancy (sorry Emily). Mostly because I've been crazy busy and I didn't think I had very many, well turns out Brian's been taking a lot so this is me over the last 30 weeks:
Me on my birthday, the day I found out I was pregnant, I think that's why my grin is a little cheesier than normal. Look how flat my stomach was, Ooh I miss that.
Me and Lizz's kids in July, I was about 20 weeks, I'm was barely showing then, looks more like pudge than a baby bump.
This might be another reason why there aren't very many pictures of me, I'm usually in my scrubs, and while I could still fit in my scrubs tops you really couldn't tell I was pregnant. I was about 23 weeks here, can you believe it? Scrubs are awesome.
This is about the same time as the other one, just without the scrub top, man they really make a difference. Then 3 weeks later, things are really starting to pop.
This is me and Kim last night at the fair, I'm now 30 weeks and most definitely pregnant, no more people thinking I've put on some extra weight or asking me when I had my baby, seriously someone asked me that. I wanted to slap them. So I have 10 weeks left to go and I am so excited!!!! Brian and I keep talking about what we think she's going to look like or how she's going to act. I can't wait to meet little Natalie!!!

The first 5 months

2010-07-22T19:59:00.003-07:00

I've been pregnant for almost five months now and I can't believe its gone so quickly and so smoothly. Pregnancy has been so great to me, there are time that I forget I'm even pregnant because the baby has caused so small of a change on my body its hard to notice sometimes. I've only gained 8lbs so far, and I still fit in most of my clothes, I am having a problem buttoning my pants these days though. I still have abdominal pain that can stop me in my tracks, but its never been constant enough and never come with any other symptoms for me to really worry. I getting my energy back and trying to get back into some sort of workout routine, which it seems like I never really have time for,but as I look back on the past few months and I am so grateful I am healthy and that I'm actually going to be a mother.

It's all so crazy to me that this baby started out so small and now I got to see her yesterday sucking her thumb!! AND yes I said her, we're having a GIRL!!! I'm so excited to meet her and I want these next few months to get over quickly, but at the same time I want to enjoy every minute of this, and I can't wait till I can feel her moving inside me. It's just such an amazing experience.

This is her at my first appointment at about 5 weeks, you barely tell there's something inside my uterus. Here she is about 12 weeks, she kinda looks like shrimp right here.
This was her yesterday, and she looks like a baby!!! I can already tell she gonna be the most adorable girl. I'm still saying "her" and "she" right now cause we haven't decided on any names yet, we've been throwing around Maryn and Kira a lot, but we're still open to ideas, just remember our last name is Smith, so we can't go with anything to common.

Catching Up Part 2

2010-07-22T19:04:00.002-07:00

Well I was going to catch up on all things I've failed to blog for the past two months, then I realized I don't remember much of what happened, it's all kind of a blur. So I'll do a quick run down. We've had the chance to see a lot of family lately, Brian's siblings came down for a week, and we had a blast hanging out and playing games. Then my Aunt Carol and her family came down. I haven't seen them in what seemed like ages, it was really great to catch up with them. Ted and his kids were here the first of July, the girls came and swam in our pool a couple of times. I wish I had seen them more, but this was also the first week I started my new job!!

I finally got a job as a NURSE!!! I'm working at the hospital in Willcox, it about an hour away, which isn't too bad of a drive but I'm not looking forward to going to nights and then having to drive that. I work on the Med/Surg floor, it has about 24 beds, so its small but it gives me enough variety too. It started out a little bumpy with the other nurses. I finally understand why the say Nurses eat their young. It's because they do, they pretty much leave you on your own and then attack you for not completing something you've never done before correctly. I'm not saying this is all nurses, I've had some great experiences with nursing, and met some amazing nurses. But there are a select few that should have chosen another career. So anyways after by supervisor realized how awful the whole thing was for me, she stepped in and my training had been great ever since. I really feel like I can handle my own and I will really love this job. That is if I don't die from exhaustion first. I'm working about 60 hours a week right now since I still work two nights a week in Safford as the Unit Clerk. I'm hoping someday soon they will decide to hire me as an RN and all the waiting will pay off. But this all makes saving up for a house and planning for a baby a lot easier. So hopefully it will be worth it in the end.

Some time in July Brian's grandma and aunts came down to visit too. It was really nice to see them, and finally meet Patsy's sister Renee. I feel bad I've barely met any of the Robbins family, I guess we'll have to go to a family reunion sometime so I can get to know the rest of them.

Catching Up Part 1

2010-07-02T23:01:00.004-07:00

I can't believe how long it takes for me to blog everything but I feel like I should document it all anyways, even though I'm a month behind. So for memorial day weekend Brian and I went camping on Mount Graham. We had such a great time hiking around and indulging our inner piro. We've been talking about going camping for a long time, but never really found the time. We even bought a tent, two years ago and never opened it till that weekend. Once it was up we realized we're gonna need a bigger one before we go again as a family of three. Wow that's still weird to say.

The tent that was really too small for two people. We could bariley fit our stuff and a air matress in there. Proof that we really are piros and never needed a fire this big!

Posing

Us, actually not too bad a picture. We had such a great time, getting out of the routine and enjoying the outdoors.

Tubing Down the Gila

2010-06-19T09:12:00.003-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Brian and I decided to tube down the river. Starting at the Solomon Bridge and ending at the Safford Bridge. We thought this wouldn't take more than a couple of hours and would be tons of fun since the river was still pretty high after all the rain we had.

Well turns out it takes 3 hours to float down the river, which would have been fine except we didn't leave till 4 in the afternoon, which meant by 6 it was getting a little old and I was freezing, mind you this was more like the beginning of May before it became in credibly hot. We still had a great time, and if we hadn't gone so late we wouldn't have been able to see this...

I love Arizona!!!

Change of Plans...

2010-04-27T02:01:00.004-07:00

Well I was really excited to get my yard finished, and possibly my bathroom done this summer. But not anymore. In the last few weeks things have kinda taken a turn we weren't expecting, and we now find ourselves faced with some new challenges and opportunities. So the remodeling has been postponed indefinitely, and we are now looking into buying a house or renting. Hopefully we will be able to find something to buy (I would go crazy in a rental where I won't be able to paint or really feel welcome to decorate), and hopefully it will be cute with lots of potential. We'll see. But we're waiting a couple more months till we know what's going on with me on the job front, I have an interview on Friday for a full-time position in the department I've been working in for the last 2 years. I'm really hoping I can get this job, if I do everything else should just fall into place. So in the mean time while we wait for the job Brian and I are trying our best (not that's it getting us very far) to get out of debt and save money. So why all the changes? Most of you have probably already guessed or have been told that
I'M PREGNANT!!!!

We are both so excited (and a little scared) we're not really sure how to go about things yet, its still early and there are still a lot of decisions to be made, but we both feel so blessed to have this little baby coming to us. I'm just so excited to be pregnant, I almost don't mind the nausea, the new aversion to all my favorite foods, as well as the constant fatigue and inability to sleep any more since I pee constantly, and the mood swings from hell or the fact that I've already seemed to have gown a full cup size in the first few weeks are nothing at all. No none of that seems to bother me, I'm in complete bliss. Oww, gas pain and boob pain, ok yup totally loving this pregnancy thing. Can't wait for that second trimester! Bring it on baby!!

SOO Excited!!!

2010-03-30T00:10:00.006-07:00

So every spring I get the insatiable desire to landscape our back yard and create some amazing outdoor retreat, and then every year I go outside and realize why I haven't done anything about the horrible mess that is my yard: One, I am still living in an unfinished house and should be dedicating my time to making it more livable and less of a death trap, and Two it is a MESS!!! It needs so much work and I haven't had the time or money to do anything about it!

But not anymore!!! I AM GETTING MY RETREAT!!!! OK retreat is probably the wrong word since I'll most likely be retreating back to the cool ACed house when its 115 in July. Anyways. I've decided to do this as cheaply as possible so no Sod like I wanted, we'll be settling for gravel since Smith & Bell are just across the street and always willing to help. Thanks Max, though you don't know it yet we appreciate the help. Instead of the cedar fence, I'm going for a something a little less pleasing to the eye, but wont distract from the gorgeous views, it's some kind of wire fencing (it'd be nice if I knew what the fencing is called but I didn't listen that closely to the sales guy at Home Depot, although I did hear him say it can be used for an electric fence! Watch out Havolina!! HA!! ) That's why were even bothering with the fence, we're so tired of them knocking over our trash cans all the time! So other things I'm going with out: no flagstone, we'll probably use pavers we can set in the gravel, and no fancy outdoor furniture. But that's just fine, I'll have more fun finding alternatives, like these amazing Adirondack chairs in happy blues and greens. I'm probably going to make my own table with pots for legs, and then I tile or glass Mosaic on top!! I'm SO EXCITED!!!! Its gonna be tons of fun!! Still not not sure what I'll do for chairs, either I'll buy some from Ikea of I might make benches, we'll see. There is ONE thing I really don't want to budge on and that's a Pergola! They are so beautiful and make such a great statement. Oh and there not very hard to build. Sounds like I'm gonna spend all summer building my outdoor area I wont get to use it! Well hopefully that's not the case since there still a lot to do before I can even think about the fun decorating part! Anyway I included a "before" picture so you can see the progress!

I know, it looks kinda hopeless! But it's gonna be AAMAZING!!

In Memory

2010-03-08T16:54:00.004-07:00

Benson passed away on March 6, 2010. He was thirteen years old. He was more then a dog to us, he was a member of the family.

Benson came to us in the spring of 1997, after Ted left on his mission, mom felt the "nest" emptying and decided she needed some company. He was the cutest ball of fur you'd ever see. We had some really good times with him, Dad would play Spin the Puppy, (not like spin the bottle, that would be weird, just spin him on his back till he was to dizzy to stand) Eraser Puppy, we would dress him up in all of our clothes from when we were little and he would run around the house trying to get them off. He was such a kind dog, even with our Rabbit Hoppy he never tried to hurt him, he would just chase him for hours and hours in the back yard then when Hoppy would get tired and give up, Benson would just come and lay down next to him. The only time I ever saw him be mean was when someone tried to take his food away. And did he love food. Especially cheese. That dog would do anything for cheese, he would dance on his hind legs, give you a high five, shake your hand, sit and even stay put and wait while you balanced it on his nose. The one thing he could never do was roll over, we tried so many times to teach him that one, but I think that fact that his legs were only 4 inches long made it a little difficult for him to do that.

Benson was so full of energy and feeling, he always knew when something was wrong, and he would come and sit there with you to comfort you. And he also would do ANYTHING to be with the family even if that meant being pelted by Dad's bean bags he used to train him not to come on the carpet, which he never did after his first six months with us, except for the little strip in the hall by the kitchen doorway, that was OK. He would sit there all day if you were down the hall just waiting for you to come back and pay attention to him. When we got older and stop taking him on all the family trips he really started to hate being alone. One summer when Mom, Dad and I were in Virginia, he decided to join us, and escaped out of the back yard and got all the way to Dorthy Stinson before someone brought him home. He tried again after that but didn't get very far before he was brought back again. When we came home from vacation he was sick with worry that we would leave him again, and I mean literally sick, that was not a pretty site to find he'd vomited all over the kitchen floor. He always wanted to be so close to all of us when ever he could.

The last few years we've started to notice him slowing down, especially after Blanche and Henry came along. He couldn't keep up with them, he couldn't run as fast as he used to and the arthritis made things worse; then his eyes started to get cataracts which just made him more and more like a grumpy old man. Then about Thanksgiving this last year he had a stroke, he slumped to one side when he walked, he could only see with one eye, and when you called for him he would turn the wrong way and fall over. It all became to much for him, he could barely walk the last few months, mostly just dragging his hind legs behind him. So Mom and Dad opted to put the old guy down, I know it was best for him, even the pain meds he was on weren't helping anymore, but I sure miss that little guy. Rest in Peace little Benner, we're gonna miss you.

Great News!!!

2010-02-18T15:36:00.003-07:00

I'm so excited to finally say I am a Registered Nurse!!! I can't believe it, really it still hasn't sunk in yet. But I am officially done with school and can now work as a nurse!! I'm so relieved and excited. Now if some one would hire me. This is the part I think I hate most, applying for jobs and trying to convince people to hire me. I've never been good at selling myself, I guess I better learn. Brian and I are really looking forward to this next phase in our lives. Working and starting a family, maybe even buying a house in a couple of years. I can't wait.

So for now I'm still have my job at the hospital and Brian's still at the bank and taking online classes. But hopefully I'll find something in Las Cruces or Texas where Brian can finish his engineering degree. Wish us luck, 'cause we're gonna need it!!

Blessed

2010-02-04T03:09:00.004-07:00

Once again I can't sleep and so I've been blog stocking again. There's that little button at the top of the blog "next blog" I've been pushing it for the last hour. It's an amazing thing. I feel a little weird about it, reading about random strangers lives, but it really seems to help me when I'm feeling a low. There are so many people out there who have gone through so much more than I have, and are so Happy and are continually stating how blessed they are. There was the woman who has been dealing with policystic ovarian syndrome for years and all she had to say was good things. Then the family that couldn't have children and now feel so blessed to have adopted three little girls. So many people who are striving every day to find happiness in there lives. It makes me ashamed that I get so frustrated with my life.

This last year has been a roller coaster of emotions for me. Getting sick again or sicker I guess was so draining, and with that it renewed my fears that getting pregnant might be hard or even impossible, and nursing school didn't help either. But there were good things as well, I finally found a doctor who was willing to do something about my symptoms, and FINALLY get a diagnosis. AND now I know that I can have children, that everything will be ok. And I guess BEST of all I am now done with school, and we can start our family. I should be SO happy. But still I find my self frustrated that things don't happen when I want them to. I feel like things are at a stand still, waiting to take my state boards, waiting on job applications, waiting to find out where we're moving to, and worst of all for me waiting to get pregnant. I know I'm not even 23 yet, but Brian and I have been married for almost 4 years now which makes that seems like a long time to wait for children. Especially since it seems like everywhere I look ther are pregnant women and babies, it driving me crazy. Plus we are the only couple in our ward with no kids. I know I say it a lot, but it really is difficult to sit in Relief Society and listen to all the lessons on being better mothers. It's like they're rubbing it in. At least no one asks anymore.

Well this was supposed to be a happy post about all that I've been blessed with. Guess it didn't turn out that way. I'll do better next time to write something happy. I really do feel so blessed to know that I have Endomestriosis and no longer wonder, now I can do something about it. I am REALLY glad I'm done with school. AND I feel extremely blessed to know I can be a mother when the time is right, even though I'm impatient about it all. NOW I think I can sleep! Goodnight!

Graduation

2010-01-03T14:12:00.004-07:00

On December 18th I finally graduated!!! WhooHoo I can't believe I did it.

Thanks everyone for your support during the last two years, I haven't been the greatest friend, sister, or wife. But now I have so much more time to spend with everyone! I love being a college graduate!! So awesome!

Home Videos

2009-12-09T23:31:00.002-07:00

I was going through some old videos of us and found this really great one of Brian I had to share.

Noon Creek

2009-11-12T16:12:00.005-07:00

Yesterday Brian and I were lucky enough to get a day off together, so we decided to get out the usual routine of movies and video games and went for a hike up mount graham.

The colors are changing up there and it was just so beautiful.

Of course Brian was more interested in taking pictures of everything and testing out the new lenses for his camera then really hiking, as you can see as I'm trying to patiently wait for him.

The creek had so much water in it we made our own trail and followed the creek for a long time.

Waiting again.

I always feel bad there are no pictures of Brian so I stole the camera for a while to get some of him, sadly I'm not as a good of a photographer and this is the only blog worthy picture.

But at least he brought the tripod too so we got a couple pictures of us together.

2009-10-31T22:44:00.001-07:00

The past few weeks all of us nursing students have been counting down the days until were done. Right now there are 47 days till graduation, or in other words 7 weeks, 10 class days, 3 tests, and my new favorite 0 clinicals left!!!!!

I finished up my last clinical today, I have to say it feels so good to be done, actually I'm just worn out and tired, not really sure how I'm still awake or why I'm blogging right now. I loved all the great experiences I've had and I have learned so much. the last two weekends of clinicals have been some of the best, I got to see open heart surgery, a cardioversion, and spent a day in the cath lab. SO Cool!!! Loved it. Cardio kinda freaks me out so it's really nice to feel a little bit more comfortable with it and understaed it better. The nurses I was with at Chandler were all so great and helpful, they were always ready to answer questions and give me great opportunities.

It's funny to look back on the last two years, I got into nursing because the hours were pretty good and the pay is'not too bad either. Now I love it so much and can't imagine doing anything else. It's been super difficult getting through nursing school but I'm so glad I have such a amazing husband that help's me get through. He's put up with a lot, I've been gone almost every weekend, really haven't kept my house clean at all, and I'm not sure of the last time I made a home cooked meal. Brian's just taken it all in stride, he never really complains and he's done so much to help out. I really couldn't have done this with out him.

My Surgery

2009-10-07T23:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy few weeks and I've started this post multiple time but I haven't been able to finish it. So here goes...

On September 22 I went in for a laparoscopy to diagnose all of the abdominal pain I've been having for the past 5 1/2 years. My Dr. has been saying for the last 6 months is probably something wrong with my bladder, but possibly be a small amount of Endometriosis. So during my surgery they found LOTS of endo, and the only thing wrong with my bladder was the endo had grown so much there were a lot of adhesions attached to it and also all over my sigmoid colon. The Dr. also told me at my follow up that there was almost no endo on my ovaries and fallopian tubes!! So I should have no problem getting pregnant!!!! I am so relieved, I had really started to wonder if I would even be able to get pregnant. To keep the adhesions from growing back my Dr. is having my start these injections that will last 3-6 months that should wipe out any remaining adhesions, and hopefully pain too. I was really against the idea at first, and then my pain started coming back a few days ago and realized I need to do this. These Depo Lupron shots are going to be rough, they will temporarily stop my hormone secretions that feed the endo, but put me into Menopause, with hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and a possible 50 lbs weight gain. Oh and it can also make it harder for me to get pregnant when I am ready to. But I feel right about it and I don't want those adhesions coming back, so I guess I'll forget about trying to loss that last 5 lbs of post-honeymoon weight and just try not to gain any.

I really hope this goes well and I don't have any problems with the medication, since one injection lasts 3 months. I thought I would have no problem recovery from my surgery since it was pretty minimal (they went in through my belly button with the scope and only had to make one other 1 inch incision to remove all the tissue). But I was so wiped out from the general anesthesia I had no strength and then my antibiotics and percocet had me vomiting for days till I just stopped taking the pain pills. I ended up missing a week of work and a couple of classes. So this med better not mess with me too much.

Kitchen Update

2009-09-08T20:37:00.001-07:00

This summer I've been working on our kitchen and my goal was to finish before school started. Well that didn't happen, but I did finally decide on a color for the walls, it took me for ever to decide on paint. I think by the time I decided on a color we had at least 10 different paint samples on the wall. So the weekend before school started Brian and I painted the WHOLE thing!! WOW that was a huge job, now I know why most homes don't have 12 foot ceilings.

Brian had to make sure everything was taped off before we could start, I hate that part I'd rather just jump in and deal with it later. Thanks to Mr. Cautious we didn't get any paint on our new tile.

The washer didn't fair as well, I did end up chipping off blue paint when we were done, sorry babe!

I just love how the paint in our kitchen and the green in our living room look together, it's so me!

Up next: more shelves, a ceiling, and real floors!!!

I can't wait!!

BAHAMAS!!!

2009-08-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

So Brian and I decided to be completly irresponsible (what's new) and go on one more cruise before we feel like we have to get really serious about life. We are both going to school full time this semester and working, so it's going to be very busy around here for the next couple of months. Here's some pictures from our trip.

The Boat!

The Beach in Nassua, this has got to be my favorite beach I've ever been too, the sand is so super soft and the water is the perfect temperature and so clear you think your swimming in a pool.

The beach in Cococay

Brian really enjoyed relaxing in the water,

I perfered the land so I would avoid these

Yeah sea animals are not my favorite.

Key West.

There are these great staues all over the city

He said he could eat is all if I would let him take it home

We just settled for the smaller version instead.

Our last night on the boat we finally got to see the sun set.

So there really wasn't much of a sunset, not in our photos at least. It was beautiful but Arizona sunsets are still the best I've ever seen.

My Sad Kitchen

2009-06-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

This was my kitchen a couple of weeks ago before I decided I couldn't wait any longer. I need to have a finished KITCHEN!!!

So I've been texturing the walls...

and texturing...

and look more texture!!! But also my favorite part we finished the countertop!

Well no, we still need to grout it.

But I have to say for a first time tile job it doesn't look to bad. So once I finish texturing, hopefully by tomorrow, since my wonderful mother is coming to help all I will have to do is pick a paint color and then we can finish putting everything in like shelves and tile. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Frye Mesa

2009-06-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

Brian and I went bike ride up to Frye Mesa today. It was a lot of fun, but I wouldn't recommend taking a small motorcycle again, the road is way to rocky for that. It's been about a year since we went, so it was really nice to see how much vegetation has grown since the fire. And have to say despite the few charred trees it was beautiful.

We walked up the creak a ways to the water fall, I can't get over how gorgeous it is there.

Of course we didn't just go to see the plants. We also, well tried to swim. But the water was so cold.

This is as close as I got to swimming, well more just huddling in the water.

So that didn't last long so we walked down to the bottom of the dam and took some great pictures!

breath taking!

2009-06-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

What to say... what to say. This is bad, it's my second post and I'm already out of things to say. Today was a lazy summer day for me as usual. Brian went to work, and I got to read most of the morning. That's one thing I love about summer break I don't have to read anything that has to do with nursing, though I should be studying, I'm so burned out right now that's the last thing I want to do. So instead I read eclipse. Again. I'm not sure why I keep reading the twilight books over and over, the characters really annoy me sometimes, but I'm still addicted. Worked on the texture on my kitchen walls today, I remembered to take pictures for once while I was working so you could see the progress and, of course, my camera wont work. Nothing, it wont even turn on. So no pictures again! Brian's screaming must investigate. Bye!

2009-06-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have a Blog!! Not sure what to blog about, but here goes... Brian finally got a job about 4 weeks ago at Arizona state credit union, very exciting. He plans to go back to school this fall to finish his engineering degree. And me, I have one more semester left and then I will be an RN!! Also very exciting, ok no terrifying. I'm still working at the hospital as a PCT and occasional unit clerk; love it, its so good working at a job that you love, and with people who feel the same way, I'm working nights which not always glamorous, but it works a lot better with school and if nothing else its entertaining when were all sleep deprived. Well I think that's it for the moment, I need to get to my home computer and upload some pictures.