Can't believe it's been so long...

Wednesday I finally checked the mail (we're not so good at that) and as I dug through it, I noticed a funny little postcard addressed to Tara Moss, my maiden name. As I read through it, my stomach dropped! It was an announcement for my 10 year high school reunion! My first thought was that there was no way that I should be getting this because it just had to be years away still. As I finally came to my senses, I realized that in fact, it was time. I'm not quite sure how I feel about going. A friend of mine from high school text me to ask if I was going, but I just can't decide, so I need everyone's opinion! Should I go? Remember that if I do go, there definitely needs to be some significant weight loss before I go!

Random Moment Sample

Again, I've decided on a new career today. A couple years ago, me and my family took a western Caribbean cruise. One of the places we stopped was St. Thomas, which back in the day was supposedly a hot spot for pirates. We even paid a visit to the Pirate Museum while we were there! My mom and I had day dreamed about moving there someday and concocted a pretty sweet little plan on how we were going to go about it. After the snow this weekend and the drastic drop in temperature and with the ever increasing work load, I've again decided that I'm selling everything, moving to St. Thomas, buying some little bungalow to live in, and opening up a pirate gift shop!

Not So Much Christmas Spirit

I don't know what the deal is this year, but I just have not really been that into Christmas. Christmas spent in Utah is just never the same for me. Every year since I can remember Christmas meant sunshine, sleeping in, a trip to the Mission Inn to see lights and the scary elves, some outrageous meal typically at the Claim Jumper, and of course the usual drama that surrounded my mom and dad trying to wrap Christmas presents together at 1 am. It's just weird how things change so much. This year, Chad and I are spending Christmas in Utah while my parents and my sister head to London. Not fair, I know, and they've already heard an ear full from me! My Christmas shopping has been done for days now and the presents are wrapped, but I still can't get into it. Typically I put up all the decorations the day after Thanksgiving, but it took me almost two weeks after to put them up! Seriously, I'm afraid the Grinch has taken up residence in my house this year!

Today I decided that I am done with it! I love Christmas, I always have. I even love the neuroticism that often surrounds the holiday! Every year since I've been in Salt Lake I've made a point to walk Temple Square and see the lights after grabbing a cup of hot chocolate or a vanilla steamer from Starbucks. I have yet to do this and no matter how many times I bring it up to Chad, he refuses to go this year. So I've compromised and said that we can go to Thanksgiving Point for the drive through lights display they have there. I'm hoping that I can get out and do some Christmas-y related stuff this week to pull me out of my Christmas funk this year!

Backsplash!

I decided to undertake yet another home improvement project! Melissa had tiled her backsplash in her kitchen and I just adored it, so since she had some extra tiles, we decided to do mine! Melissa is a dream come true! It was a lot more work then I thought it was going to be, but we got it done in two nights. I think it looks pretty good!






We ended up having to replace all the plugs in the kitchen too since the white plugs didn't match anymore. That was probably the toughest part of the whole thing- not the actual replacement, but finding black plugs and plates for them! After five stores, I found what I needed and I think it looks great!

(After pics to come, the camera died!)

Update on Oh My Head!

Well I tried the new medicine and all I can say is, NEVER EVER IN YOUR LIFE TAKE TOPAMAX! I kid you not, the medicine literally made me crazy, gave me a severe anxiety attack, had me talking nonsense, and sent me into convulsions so bad I had finger nail marks in my hands hours later. I had Chad up and ready to head to the ER in the middle of the night. It was the worst experience of my entire life. Guess we're on to plan B!

Oh My Head!

I've always been plagued by migraines, but they usually creep up on me maybe once a year. Starting in June, they have been occurring more and more frequently. Before I start feeling like I've recovered from one, there's another one knocking me out. After two right in a row this week, I decided it was time to head to the doctor. I joked about having a tumor or something, but really it does make me nervous!

My appointment was today and I ended up walking out with three new prescriptions. A new medication to help prevent migraines has recently been released and the doctor suggested I try it out. It's a pill I take everyday, but I'm willing to try anything to stop the insanity! So for now, no MRIs or any other testing until I see how things work out with this new medicine.

Random Moment Sample

I've again decided that I am going to quit my job and become an Alpaca farmer!

Good 'ol Tooele!

I think most of our friends and family know that back in June I decided that I needed a change and transferred out to Tooele to try out the office there. I just love the office and love the people that I work with. It really makes a difference in your work when you are somewhere where you feel important and supported. Anyway, I am finding that Tooele is quite an interesting place. While it is growing, there is still very much a small town feel and a small town mindset, which is a whole new world to me! One of my coworkers has lived in Tooele her entire life and it's just interesting to leave the office with her since she knows EVERYONE any time we go anywhere within the city limits. One of the funny things about Tooele is that every Wednesday at 4 pm, there is an test of their emergency notification system. A voice comes on from a very large speaker somewhere saying that this is a test of the emergency notification system and then there is a siren that goes off for a while. It's really quite entertaining, although I was a bit freaked out the first time I heard it! As I type, I'm listening to the wonderful siren sound! You gotta love Tooele!

Random Moment Sample

I saw this on Cara's blog and of course had to do it! I'm quite excited with my results since Alice has to be my absolute favorite!


Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Random Moment Sample

At work we get these things called random moment samples. We were all talking about it this week and I got to thinking, while I was getting ready the other morning (I tend to do most of my random thinking while I'm doing my makeup and hair in the morning), that it might be fun to have a little ongoing post and call it "Random Moment Sample." I often have very random thoughts and have random little things that happen to me that never really seem blog worthy, but I think they are kind of funny and out-there. So hopefully it will be fun and a way for me to get out some of these things!

Oh and my prior post really should have been a random moment sample!

Enough Said...

I am so over forking over all sorts of crazy amounts of money to get poked and prodded by the doctor. That's it, enough said!

Kittie Kids

Well as I peek through everyone's blogs, I started realizing that I'm totally out of the loop. I don't have kids and fun little anecdotes or lessons to share with the world that my kids have taught me. So this blog is dedicated to those who don't have kids, can't have kids, or just plain don't want kids. If you can blog about how your kid learned a great new trick like blowing spit bubbles, then I figured it would be okay for me to blog about the stupid little things that my fur babies do.


These are my kids, Rilee and Gracy. This is what they do best- sleep!

Gracy is our oldest. We got her shortly after we bought our townhouse. We were just so excited to own our home so that we could finally have a pet! When we went to the Humane Society to get a kitty, we found Gracy and pulled her out of the cage to pet and play with her. We decided that we wanted to take her home and so I tried to put her back in the cage so that we could get someone to help us out. Well Gracy refused to let us put her back and jumped out of my arms and across the room so she didn't have to go back in. Gracy was really needy for a long time. She would be waiting right by the door crying any time she heard the garage. It was really sad! We decided that we should probably get her a friend so that she wasn't so lonely all the time.





Rilee is our gray striped kitty. She really is the weirdest cat I have ever met. The first six months of her life were spent as a boy. We ended up saving her from a family that had a baby that ended up being allergic to cats. They were planning on sending Rilee back to the pound and I just couldn't have that. They told us that Rilee was a boy and so that's what we went on thinking. When I finally took a trip to get shots done, I was nicely informed that he was really a she! I was horribly embarrassed, but they told me that it happened a lot with cats and that at least she wasn't named something like Princess and then ended up being a boy.


I know her eyes are all weird and glowy, but I love this picture. She sits like this all the time. One of her favorite things is to lean up against the wall while she sits like this. Rilee's new favorite toy is the sandstone tile that Auntie Melissa brought her! Rilee loves to run outside at any chance she gets so that she can rub her face on the concrete steps. Since she's not allowed outside, Melissa came up with the great idea to bring home this tile. The cats love it, especially Ms. Rilee! Rilee also likes to get herself locked in rooms. One time she got locked in the pantry and ended up slicing open a package of Splenda and covering herself in it. I wish I had pictures because she was completely white! It was hilarious!



This was Rilee watching Chad play Skate. She loves to chase stuff on the tv and the computer.

It Makes Me Weak in the Knees

I know that Chad is going to make fun of me for posting this, but I can't help it! I'm sure as all my fellow women know (and some men who have realized that it really is a good story and is packed full of action), Twilight the movie comes out on November 21st! It seems so close yet so far! So for now, we just drool over the brand new trailer that was just released!

CHECK IT OUT HERE!!!!

OMG Update!!!

So I was messin' around online again and happened to stumble across Stephenie Meyer's website where she is posting a series of "making of the video" for "The Resolution."

Check 'em out!





And there's more episodes to come! And by the way, if you haven't gone out and gotten the new album, what are you waiting for!? It's amazing!

OMG!!!!!!

Well kids, it's finally here! The new Jack's Mannequin video for "The Resolution." It's been long awaited ever since we heard that our dear Stephanie Meyer (author of the Twilight books for those who don't know!) would be directing it. I've always had my little crush on Andrew McMahon since the Something Corporate days, but every time I see him play or see a new video my crush gets bigger! He's my age and it's amazing to see all the things that he's accomplished including overcoming cancer. Check out his BIO while you're at it!

• Jack's Mannequin
• New Music

Finally!

I've been wanting to change up my house a bit for a while, but have never really had the courage to do it. Well let me tell you, having a friend that is also an interior designer is amazing! Melissa came over and helped me come up with a way to just change things up a bit with some paint. I was really dreading painting, but it really was easy and went by a lot faster with Melissa's help. I'm so happy with it and it makes a huge difference in my house!

And the process begins...







Thanks to Melissa for taking pictures of my butt!

And the finished product...

It's a Great Day!

Yes, I am at work today, and yes, everything at work has been falling apart lately, and yes, I am still sick and can't seem to get through the night without waking up with a horrible coughing fit, but it is a great day! Today is a day that I have been waiting months for...



Yep, that's right! The release of Lego Batman is today! Need I say more?

It All Starts With an Oil Change...

Chad has been on me about getting my oil changed and so after a small tiff we had last week when I chose to get my hair done on my day off instead of taking the car in, I pretty much had to do it today. Well here I sit waiting for my car and I'm just thankful for my little laptop that I have to keep me entertained. And now to the reason for my post... why is it that it always starts with an oil change? Well I guess I can't say that I'm only here for an oil change. I also need my tires balanced and some SRS light thing checked, but that was all I was here for! Not even ten minutes into it, they come out to tell me that my two front tires are really worn and that I need to get them replaced and that there is a small nail in one of my back tires that has caused a leak. Well great. Just what I wanted to hear! So on top of my oil change, tire balance, SRS light check, now I have to buy two new tires and get one patched. Now I'm just waiting to find out what the little SRS light is on for. Maybe it means my car is going to blow up! And it all started with an oil change...

Happy Birthday Dad!

The reason that Chad and I actually went to Cali was for my dad's birthday. He turned the big 5-0 this year. On Saturday me Chad and the fam piled into the car and took a trip into L.A. My mom and I had always loved driving around Beverly Hills to see what there was to see, so we decided to head there. On the way to chill down Rodeo, me and my mom spotted Jerry Stiller driving down the road in his Rolls Royce. It looked like he was decked out in his Balls Models track suit from Zoolander! We parked on Rodeo, did some window shopping, and when we decided that we were way too hot and wanted to do some real shopping, we headed over to the Beverly Center.

After scouring the makeup counters in Bloomingdale's and picking up a new shirt at H&M, we headed out to find a place to eat for my dad's birthday. We ended up at the Cheesecake Factory in Brentwood. It was a fun leisurely dinner and of course we had to order cheesecake. All of a sudden all the servers head over to our table with a plate of cheesecake topped with a candle and they started singing happy birthday to my dad. Chad, my mom, my sister, and I looked at each other trying to figure out who had told the restaurant that it was his birthday. Once the servers finished singing, I asked my mom if she had done it. Everyone said no and my dad then told us that when he had gotten up to use the restroom, he told the host that it was his birthday because he wanted someone to sing to him. Yep, that's my dad for you!

Californ-I-A

A couple weeks ago Chad and I took another long weekend trip to Cali to hang out with my family. We didn't do a whole lot, but it was nice to get away from work and take a little mini vacation. We took a trip to Disneyland with my sister and her friend Caroline and we had a blast.


Aww, special. Me and Chad at the entrance to Disneyland.


Caroline and Adrienne on the Winnie the Pooh ride.


So you can't really tell, but I have on a Mickey ears hat with a pink pirate bandanna on it. The hat had glittery skulls and crossbones on it and said Pirate Princess! Super cute!


Ok, so I promise we weren't trying to take engagement pictures!


Just being us on Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin (lame-o ride, but there wasn't really a line). This was also where we saw the guy with the crazy eyes! Some dude went up to one of the workers on the ride and started screaming and swearing at the worker. it was nuts! He got these weird crazy eyes and a manager had to step in to cool things down. The sad thing was that it happened in front of a bunch of little kids!


Adrienne was escaping!





So since there isn't a "T" in California, I felt left out and just decided to pose in Chad and Adrienne's pictures!

Hooray for Labor Day sales!

For those who have been to our house you're probably familiar with the pathetic piece of crap we called our dining room table. I bought that table the summer before my sophmore year in college for $99 at KMart. I've also re-covered the chairs twice. It has a lot of memories, but it was really time for it to go. I have looked everywhere for a table that I liked. I had to have a counter high table that was either black or dark brown and was modern. Not at all picky, right!? Well unfortunately for me, whenever I get an idea in my head for something that is so specific, it never goes well. I looked at every furniture store I could think of trying to find exactly what I was looking for. Well I finally ended up having to resort to going to RC Willey, which I wasn't too happy about. Of course I found the exact thing I was looking for. I found it back in April, but this Labor Day it was finally on sale and in stock! So our house finally looks like a real house now with our new table. Steve and Melissa even came over to help christen our new table by playing games! Thanks guys for helping us pick it up and put it together.

I like to do things too

So, Tara and I flew to Californ-I-A this morning and it has been a pretty relaxing day. I'm glad it has been pretty relaxing, 'cause we had some friends over the night before while we were packing and such and we didn't end up getting to bed until 2am! That isn't the worst part. We had to be up at 5:30am to finish packing and getting ready to leave for the airport. All in all, it was worth the late night episode.

While everyone puts posts about the "best book in the world".... I think it is called Twilight. Well, here is my post about the best game in the world.. Call of Duty 4, or sometimes known as CoD4. I know what you are thinking... "those stupid video games.. blah blah blah.." I"m just gonna leave it at that... I don't want to get in trouble.

Moving on....

Before we got to Cali, Tara kept asking me, "what are you going to do for a week without your xbox!?" Well, I don't have my xbox, but I can sure dream about it and remember the good 'ol times. So this blog is going to help me remember my good times. This goes out to you CoD4. Thank you for keeping me sane while the Twilight hype hopefully starts to wind down.

We Are Everywhere!

This morning I've been sitting in front of the tv enjoying the Olympics. I sometimes can't help but get choked up watching these athletes put in everything they have to earn a medal. A lot of them have sacrificed quite a bit to be in Beijing to represent their country. After watching a recap the U.S. relay team winning yet another medal, sending Michael Phelps to break the record for most medals won over a career, I felt that little knot in my throat. Well up next was the women's basketball. Not really my thing, but I figured I'd check it out. Well the announcers were talking about the different teams, the United States versus New Zealand. They started talking about how the New Zealand team was really at a disadvantage today, and I thought well of course they are! They're playing the U.S.! But it turns out that the reason they were at a disadvantage was because two of there starting players were sitting out today, and not because of injury. The announcer said that the two were members of the Mormon faith and that they were sitting out today because it was a Sunday and they were honoring their beliefs. Well my little knot in my throat got bigger and even caused my eyes to well up. I thought this was just amazing on so many different levels. It just goes to show that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints really is a worldwide religion and that I can flip on the tv and watch something completely unrelated to the church and see two women standing for what they believe in. I also was honored and inspired to see these two women continue to honor their beliefs and the Sabbath day in all aspects of their lives. They're at the Olympics! I mean, how often does that happen to someone!? For some it's once in a lifetime and for most it's everything they have worked for. And yet, these two women on the New Zealand team knew what the most important thing was to them and chose to stand as a witness even when they could have easily flown under the radar and just played anyway. Kudos to these women and for the example that they are to the entire world!

"My apologies" - Chad's side of the story.....

So, I thought this whole "apology" below was to me..... until i finished the post. I guess I really can't complain, 'cause if I was able to have a day off while Tara was at work, I would just play video games, play my guitars, watch a movies, watch tv, be bored, maybe check the mail.. I am good at cleaning the house... But at least I would go to the store and buy toilet paper!!!! out of all these important things... Toilet paper is the most important! That is all I have to say.. so now I am off to go buy toilet paper, 'cause everyone who knows me know I need toilet paper!

My apologies

Once again I am enjoying a leisurely Friday at home since I'm now required to work on a 4 ten's schedule. This morning as I lay in bed while Chad was getting ready, enjoying the fact that I didn't have to wake up at 5 am to get to work, he lovingly informed me that I "needed" to do laundry today and I "needed" to go buy toilet paper in addition to my plans of scrubbing our nasty bathtub today. Well guess what!? I'm not doing it! I'm sitting on the couch, watching Spongebob Squarepants and messing around with our blog. Well in the process of changing things up a bit I somehow deleted our friends and family list. So if you're a regular visitor to our blog and your link is missing on our page, please let me know so I can fix it!

What I do when Chad's away...Pt. 3- My respsonse to Chad's view!

So I felt a need to defend myself after Chad's little comment about me not being too happy that he was going to see a movie instead of practicing like they were supposed to! I've always tried to be good about letting him have his own interests and hang out with his friends. I don't feel the need to always be attached to his hip or feel that we have to do everything together all the time. So with that said first of all, band practice is band practice and if they're are going to be gone every Wednesday night working on stuff I would expect them to do so! The three of them want to play shows coming up soon and how in the world is that going to happen if they're blowing off practices to go and see movies! Second of all, and most importantly... um, hello! Maybe I would have wanted to see the Dark Knight again! Really, who wouldn't want to see that movie over and over again. Heath Ledger is absolutely amazing and I have yet to see a performance in any movie that I have been that impressed with! The action is amazing! I like the romantic comedy type of movies, but I'm not that huge of a fan of them. I'd much rather see stuff get blown up and an awesome high speed chase any day. And of course, Christian Bale! Need I say more!? So there you have it, the real reasons why I "didn't seem happy!"

What I do when Chad's away...Pt. 2 (Chad's view)

OMG! Now it is my turn to let everyone know what goes down at band camp. So, here we are last night (Wednesday)at band camp about ready to rock our little hearts out. We go through our set list once and take a break. We started talking about movies and such and our dear friend and drummer Sam just randomly said; "Screw practice, let's go see Dark Knight." He has not seen the movie yet, so we check the movie times. It is 7pm at this time and we decided to pick the 8pm movie. But first we had to play more music. As we leave, we are like little kids, giggling and laughing, feeling like we are breaking a rule or in Utah terms "rebels." So i started to feel bad that we were going to attempt to watch a 2.5 hour movie w/out telling Tara. So i text her and it is hard to read people's emotions through text, but to me, she didn't seem happy, 'cause I know she wants to see it again. N-E-Ways... so we get to the movie and Sam paid for us, 'cause that was his way to convince us to go.

So, this is the perfect set up for my next part....
I like to people watch and I did a lot of that since I have already seen that movie (it was even awesomer than last time!)
Here is my things that "must go"
-People playing with their cell phone making noises right when the movie starts, -children under the age of 5 at a late night movie, -people who pull out their cell phone and text or see who is calling during the movie, -the couple in front of me getting all cuddly and "romantic" during a non romantic movie, -when people are asking what is happening in the movie, PAY ATTENTION! -when people on the same aisle as me that have "restless leg syndrome" during the whole movie (it shakes the whole row, knock it off people!) -when people walk past you making you try to make yourself feel skinny so they can pass by, then they realize they are at the wrong seat, so they walk past you again (this is assigned seating, amazing when people know how to use it) -people who decide they need candy halfway through the movie and they buy the loud packaged kind and open it during the quietest part of the movie! and the last one i can think of; -people who clap at the end of a movie. Why do people insist on clapping at a movie! this isn't a play or a Broadway show.

So that is my view of Wednesday night "band camp"

Now i wanna play Call of Duty 4 and imagine the people I am killing in the game are the people who like to ruin movies for everyone!

What I do when Chad's away...

It's yet another Wednesday night and Chad is at band camp. I try to reserve these nights to get caught up on stuff like laundry or the dishes since on nights when Chad is home I'd rather spend time with him. Well as is very typical I have been doing everything but the things that I need to be doing. This has been a problem for me ever since I can remember. During finals week I would have an extremely clean apartment in my attempts to ignore all things related to studying. So as is typical of me, a pile of laundry sits there desperately needing to be folded (Chad was kind enough to help with the actual washing of the clothes last night), the dishwasher needs emptying, and the whole house in general needs a pick up. The following is a list of things that I have done tonight to avoid the things that I actually need to do:

- Attempting to actually do work! I'm fortunate enough to be on a team now where all the workers get laptops and remote access to the database so I decided to try and get the program to run. I had to try to get this whole thing downloaded to my laptop before I can use it. Well an hour and a half later I realized it's not going to work and had to abandon that idea.

- Watched an hour of Jon and Kate Plus 8. I love this show! I'm not really sure why because really, screaming kids drive me crazy, but there's just something about Kate and her fantastic ability to handle that many kids. Since it's not exactly Chad's favorite show I TiVo episodes and watch them when he's not around. I found this great clip of one of the episodes where we find out that Alexis is a great pooper!

Check it out!

- Also watched three episodes of Steven's Untitled Rock Show. One episode had an interview with Angels and Airwaves and another one had an interview with Alkaline Trio.

One of my favs from AVA


And one of my favs from A-Trio


- Tried to fix the bbq. Rilee was freaking out at something that she saw outside so I went to check to see what was outside. I ended up finding our new bbq knocked over! We got hit with a horrible storm last night and I'm guessing that's when it happened. I went outside and tried my hardest to pick it up, but with no success so it's still sitting on it's side outside.

- Snack- a lot!

- Played with my kids (aka my cats).

- Played like 10 games of spider solitaire and only won about 2 of them!

- And of course wrote this stupid blog and searched all over YouTube to find all those videos! Oh, and I might paint my toe nails next! Hope you enjoyed it and maybe gave you all some ideas of things to do to avoid the stuff that needs to be done!

2 Years and Counting

As of a week ago today, Chad and I have officially been married for two years. It's been a fun, yet interesting, couple of years and honestly I've really enjoyed all of it. Last year for our first anniversary we were so busy and my sister was in town so we didn't get to do much. This year we promised ourselves that we were going to actually do something fun and so we decided to head to Las Vegas for the 4th of July weekend. We didn't do much, but we had fun and it was nice to get away. Friday night we just hung out around the strip and I got to go shopping at one of my favorite stores ever, Sephora! On Saturday we spent the morning lounging by the pool. After cleaning up from that we headed over to the Mandalay Bay to star watch since there was a huge UFC fight that night. Sadly we didn't get to go, but when the cheapest tickets are almost $200 a pop, there's no way! That night we got dressed up and went to Rao's at Ceasar's Palace. It's a fun little traditional Italian restaurant and it was amazing. We ate way too much and spent way too much, but it was great. The highlight was this amazing dessert that our waiter recommended. Sunday we checked out, headed to that Paris hotel for crepes and then headed home. (Sorry Jarad, once again I have no pictures to show for our whole trip to Vegas!)

A while back I was talking with a friend about how much I missed Cali sometimes. She asked me if I had ever regretted moving to Utah. Right away I told her that I had never regretted it because I would never have met Chad. He's really changed my life and I couldn't imagine being without him. In the last few months we've spent a few weekends apart and it has turned out to be harder then I ever thought it would be.

I made a post about five things that I was grateful for and Chad was slightly offended that I didn't list him as one of the things. In the spirit of that post I decided to list five things that I love about Chad (although there are way more then five!)

1. His ability to make me smile even when I want to be angry and in a bad mood.

2. How he reminds me that things don't have to be so complicated.

3. The fact that I got my tattooed, guitar playing, skater that could take me to the temple!

4. I love that Chad really helps out around the house and takes just as much responsibility for the house I as do. I was talking with a coworker about how her husband won't help with laundry, rarely takes the garbage out, and never helps clean up. I for sure count myself lucky that I have a husband that is more then willing to help out around the house.

5. And of course I love him because he can deal with me and all my craziness!

(And I have to note that I love that he loves cats just as much as I do!)

So without sounding too much on the cheesy side, I love you Chaddy and happy anniversary!

Tag You're It!

Another fun little survey after being tagged by Melissa...

FOUR PLACES I GO OVER AND OVER AGAIN:
1. Work- which really isn't all that fun, but working in Tooele now has made things at least a bit more interesting.
2. Target- Yes it's true, I am a Target fanatic. Something is seriously wrong if I haven't been there at least three times in one week!
3. Church- my ward is way too loud, there are way too many screaming children, I don't know anyone, and I don't care much for my calling, but it's church and I need to be there so I keep going!
4. California- I love everything about it and miss it everyday! Even traffic on the 91 freeway at 7 am can be fun! Where else can you see people reading the newspaper, putting on makeup, trimming nose hairs, and eating a bowl of cereal- all while sitting in traffic!!!

FOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO EAT:
1. In-N-Out- this might really fit into the prior post too! Who doesn't love this place!?
2. Cheescake Factory- Come on, the name says it all!
3. California Pizza Kitchen- Big fan of the California Club Pizza or pretty much anything that comes with avacados!
4. Miguel's Jr.- okay, so enough California places, but really I LOVE Miguel's! It's a Corona original and everytime I go home I have to eat there. Their tacos and burritos are to die for! Think great homemade taste of those scary taco stands, but without the scary lack of sanitation!

FOUR PLACES I'D RATHER BE:
1. Home, just chillin'
2. On a cruise anywhere!
3. Shopping (and like Melissa, have unlimited funds to do it with!)
4. California

FOUR TV SHOWS I WATCH ALL THE TIME:
1. The Office
2. Lost
3. Re-runs of Friends
4. Sex and the City (the edited ones on tv!)
Really, I could name like a hundred shows that I watch all the time! Oooh, and the new season of Project Runway starts tomorrow!!!!

I now tag Carina, Angela, Jayme, and Jessica!

Our dear friends and neighbors, Melissa and Steve, happen to come across an interesting website. Now being a social worker, this was the last thing that I should be interested in. In fact, I should be down right disgusted by such a thing, but who would have guessed that I would score so high! I actually couldn't stop laughing!

17

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

And Chad's results...
20

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Maybe we should reconsider kids...

Happy Graduation, A Trip to Urgent Care, and A Near Miss!

Last weekend I flew out to Cali to watch my sister graduate from high school after four very long years. After a horrible attempt at finding somewhere to sit, we enjoyed watching Adrienne take her walk across the field wearing her shiny gold stoles. Adrienne was of course herself and was jumping around, being a big dork. Since she was Associate Student Body President, she had to give one of the speeches at the graduation. She did a great job and I was so proud of her. I must admit that there was a slight tear when I realized that my baby sister is growing up- or maybe I realized how old I'm getting!?

Since the graduation was on a Thursday, I got to hang with the family all weekend. Everything was great until we were getting ready to go to a movie Saturday and my eyes suddenly tweaked out and I knew what was coming...duhn...duhn...duhn... a dreaded migraine! I couldn't kick it and so my mom decided not to mess around and took me to urgent care. Oh, it was great fun. The doctor wanted to give me a shot, which seemed all well and good until I found out where it went...in my butt! Yeah, I don't think so. I took the alternative which was a nice little pill, I just had to wait a little longer for relief. The pain finally subsided and I was able to go to dinner with my parents (Adrienne was out with friends at a grad party) to my favorite little Mexican restaurant in Corona.

On Monday my plane left bright and early. My mom and I did are usual early morning stop at McD's for an egg McMuffin and hopped on the freeway. Not too far down the road we had quite the experience. We were driving along in the FastTrack lanes when out of nowhere a car coming spinning out into our lane of traffic. It was nuts! My mom swerved and missed the car by inches as it slammed into the median. We swerved for a while and my mom finally got a hold of the car. Thank goodness for traction control! When we finally got the car stopped we were both shaking. When we finally hit reality again I called 911 and my mom jumped out to go check on the other car. While on the phone I realized that there were two other cars involved and they were pretty smashed up and sitting on the opposite side of the freeway. An officer finally stopped and talked with my mom while I checked on the car. I was shocked. I couldn't find a single scratch or nick on the entire car. I know that we both thanked out Heavenly Father for watching out for us that morning. I finally made it to the airport with not much time to spare.

It was a good weekend, but much too exciting for me! I'm just happy that I got to share graduation with my sister and am excited for her to start on the road through college and all life had to offer! Congrats Adrienne and good luck in everything you do!

I'm Grateful For

This post is all Sam's fault! No really, I saw on her page that she posted a blog about five things that she was grateful for and I thought it was just super cute. The last two days have been a huge let down for me and I decided that I needed a little boost, so I decided to go ahead and copy her and post my own five things that I'm grateful for. I figured that when things just don't seem to be going right, looking at the things that are could help out with an attitude adjustment. So here it goes:

I'm grateful for...

Memorial Day!!!!

After a long couple of months with no three day weekends, Memorial Day comes along and saves us from our work rut and gives us a lovely three day weekend! Not to mention, the amazing sales that pop up at your favorite stores!

My Kids




They never fail to add a smile to my face and entertainment to my life. And they always know when you're upset and try to make you feel better.


My Mom

It's her birthday this weekend too! She's so good at rolling with the punches and just making things work out, even after they've gone to pot!


My sister for getting me a signed copy of The Host by Stephenie Meyer!



And naps...


I love naps!

The right man for the job...

I have never been an American Idol fan. In fact, I couldn't even tell you who has won over the years besides Kelly Clarkson. For some reason, I got into it this season. I mean, I wasn't like a crazy person about it, but if I was home and around then it would be on. I must admit that I even threw in a few votes here and there for my girl Brook.

Of course since I had been following it all season I for sure had to watch the last two nights! Can I just say that I loved it!? I really think that the right two people were left in the finals- Archuletta and Cook, and what total opposites for sure! Archuletta has the sweet melodic voice that makes you want to cuddle up to your sweetheart, and then Cook's got the rocker sound that makes you want to completely forget about your sweetheart and go groupie!

I know people will criticize me and say that I'm doing a disservice to my religion, the state I live in, or whatever, but I am a Cook fan through and through! And heck, I even tossed a vote in for him Tuesday night! I just really cannot get into Archuletta. Maybe it's the punk rocker at heart that lives in me that wants to see someone like Cook be considered an "American Idol" or maybe it's the fact that lusting over him isn't something that could possibly land you in jail, I don't know. But I must say that I'm so glad to see that he won and that we finally have someone different from the rest in years gone by. Way to go David Cook! And I can't wait till the album comes out!

I'm becoming a lazy blogger!

I was checking out everyone's blogs today and realized that it has been a while since I posted anything new. I racked my brain trying to figure out what I could possibly blog about and realized that there is nothing! So maybe it's not that I've become lazy, we've just been really boring lately! Or maybe since we finally tracked down a Wii, our lives only involve Wii sports, Mario Galaxy, Mario Party, and Mario Cart, which let's face it, is not all that interesting to most people. And on top of that I ended up with the stomach flu last week and have been out of commission for a few days because of it. I'm sure you're all interested in knowing how I survived my illness, but I'll spare you the gory details!

But, there is no need to worry! There are new stories to come soon! Wedding season has kicked into full force and we've already been to three since the end of March and have two more in the near future. In less then two weeks, Chad and I head to St. George for my cousin's wedding and then a week after that my dear little sis-in-law gets hitched! So till then, our lives will probably remain boring, but I promise more to come soon!

New Additions to the Family

Chad and I have been excited this week to celebrate two new additions to the ever growing Gailey clan. On the evening of April 29th we all gathered at the hospital to welcome little Brooklyn D., Kevin and Jackie's newest addition. She was born 5 pounds 13 ounces 19 inches long. She's a little tall and skinny thing for sure! She definitely belongs to Kevin and Jackie! She looks just like her sister, Wynter!



This morning as I dragged myself out of bed at around 6:30ish, I went downstairs to feed the cats and had a text message announcing the birth of yet another one! Justin Tyler was born early this morning, two weeks early. He was born 7 pounds 5 ounces. I hate to know what he would have been if Emily would have gone full term! Congrats to Emily and Tyler! They've been waiting for a boy for such a long time and we're so excited for them. We get to go and visit Justin after work later and we can't wait.

Taylee and Justin


April being a good big sister


Justin Tyler- he's so adorable!

I Have a Confession!

I've always been a fan of reading and have always prided myself on reading books that mean something and have something to say. In fact, my favorite book of all time is 1984 by George Orwell, which makes a profound statement about Orwell's idea of what the future may hold and the role that government may take in society. I won't get too much into the story and what the ideas are, but it's always been one of those books on the controversial list. I've read it and reread it many times. My copy of it is pretty torn up and the spine is about to split! It's had quite a bit of influence on our society overall and some may not know that the title of the trashy reality show "Big Brother" is actually a reference to 1984!

Though I have my favorites that I always keep close, I am always open to trying out something new. I had kind of heard something about an LDS woman who wrote a series about vampires and let's face it, who doesn't love vampire stories!? Chad and I were in Bakersfield for last Thanksgiving and I was out with the girls doing some Christmas shopping when I realized that I had forgotten to bring a book with me for some extra entertainment. I walked down the aisle of books at Target and there it was-Twilight- the first book in the series. I figured I'd just pick it up and take a chance on it. If nothing else, maybe it would just be a quick, fun read.

Well if you've checked out my little section that lists what I'm currently reading, you'll probably already know that I've since moved on. I got through Twilight in two days and wanted more! Locating a copy of New Moon (the second book in the series, duh!) proved a bit difficult, but a couple months later I finally located a copy! And like the first, I plowed through the second and that's when the addiction started! I headed out to locate Eclipse (of course the third book)a couple days later and probably ended up paying twice as much as I should have for it, but I had to have it!

Needless to say, my addiction has become greater (with some fueling of the fire by my sister) and I think I have officially diagnosed myself as a Twilight fan! Through word of mouth of other fans, I discovered that in December we will be blessed with a Twilight movie! So now, on most of my lazy nights, or when I'm avoiding work, I can be found searching the internet for any pictures or movie clips from the movie that doesn't even come out until December!

So here it is, my confession! I love Edward and Bella! I want Bella to become a vampire so that her and Edward can be together forever! I can't wait for the movie and I want to go to the midnight showing of it! And...I LOVE TWILIGHT!!!! So there it is, bring on the scoffs and scorns! I'm ready for it!

But maybe you should check out this awesome link before you pass judgment!
Clicky!

Tagged by Sam!

4 Jobs I have had:
Copy Center at Staples
Day camp counselor
Secretary at a law office
Social Worker (or a Crazy Person as I like to call it!)

4 TV Shows I watch:
The Office
Lost
May Name is Earl
30 Rock

4 Places I have been:
St. Thomas
Mexico
Jamaica
Caymen Islands


4 People that email me:
Chad
My mom
Target
24 Tix

4 of my favorite foods:
Cookies
Ice Cream
Antyhing Mexican
Sandwiches

4 Friends I Tag:
Ashley
Jarad
Angie
Carina

4 things I am looking forward to in 2008:
Raises!
Collecting more vacation time
Outdoor fun in the summer
Vegas for our anniversary

Our Children

Well many may already know that Chad and I already have two kids, Gracy and Rilee. We adore them and they never fail to bring a smile to our faces. After much debate on the subject, Chad and I decided that if we were ever going to get new furniture for the house then they would have to be declawed. I went back and forth about it for such a long time. The day that we rescued Gracy from the shelter, I talked to one of the employees there about declawing a cat. When she told me that declawing a cat is like cutting a person's finger off at the knuckle, I couldn't bear to put my kids through that and I dropped the idea completely.


Many months later, we adopted Rilee from a family that could no longer have her since they just had a baby that ended up being allergic (what are the odds!?). Unfortunately, Rilee was allowed to scratch on everything at the prior owners home, a habit that I knew had to be broken. So here we are about 5 months later, and while she has gotten better, Rilee just can't kick her habit. Gracy was even falling victim to Rilee's influence and also began scratching on things she wasn't supposed to. Chad and I revisited the idea of having them declawed and decided it would be the best choice. Our decision became completely solidified when I found out that both of them have been secretly scratching on the coat rack in our living room!


The kids went in on Tuesday to have the deed done. Chad dropped them off and picked them up later that evening. All was well at first. They were still out of it from the surgery and pretty much slept. The vet wraps up their feet pretty good and it looks like they have huge white boots on their feet. Gracy however, decided it would be fun to jump off my lap and run upstairs, something she should not be doing after having her surgery. Well things turned into a mess once that happened. Gracy was meowing like crazy, Rilee was bleeding all over, Chad was gone visiting his family, and I couldn't stop crying. It was a disaster! Things ended up working out and the kids are doing much better now, though they are both still walking funny even without their boots on their feet.

I couldn't get a picture of Gracy and her boots, but here's Rilee. This was after the fiasco with her bleeding all over. She ended up falling asleep on my lap.


Another one of Rilee. Gracy pretty much hid until we took her boots off her.

The Happiest Place on Earth!

I just wanted to do a quick post about the greatest and happiest place on earth! No, I'm not talking about Disneyland! It's so much better! My sister just came in for her annual spring break visit on Saturday morning. After catching a movie, we were on our way home when a giant red sign reading CLEARANCE! caught our eyes at the DSW shoe store. Now, I've always meant to stop in to see what there is to see at DSW, but never have. What an error of judgement on my part! I think I found the most amazing place ever! There are shoes as far as the eye can see! Well at least that's what it felt like. They carry just about every possible style and color of shoe that you could even imagine. And we're not talking cheap Payless shoes here. We're talking anything from Rocket Dogs all the way up to Micheal Koors and of course the designers that are high end enough that I've never even heard of them! Once Adrienne and I found the clearance section in the back, we were on fire! I was good at containing myself though and only ended up with an adorable pair of black, round toe, wedge heel Steve Maddens and Adrienne scored a pair of fun red plaid, pointed toe, kitten heels. We walked out the door for $35! What an experience! By far, one of my new favorite stores!

Cali Adventures, (cont.)!

We finally rolled into the hotel in San Diego at about 12:45 Friday night. Unfortunately it was yet another early morning for us. Chad and I went with my family to Sea World the next day for my sister's final cheerleading competition. With her going away to school, this one was it for the rest of her life so we wanted to make sure and be there for it. It's not a huge competition, but we still had fun anyway. If you haven't experienced (which Chad hasn't) the world of competitive cheerleading it is something else. Ever heard of soccer moms? Well don't dare try and cross a cheer mom! My mom will attest to this since she has spent 8 years as a cheer mom! I don't think that cheerleaders have any other volume besides loud and louder, so between the nose, the parents, and the hair and makeup competitions are quite the events. Despite it all, I was able to catch some shut eye before awards were handed out and of course Chad couldn't help but catch a picture of it. The competition did provide us with lunch and chocolate cake, which was nice. Except we were being watched closely by several hungry seagulls that ended up being able to sneak away with with a few hamburger patties that some girls had left unsupervised on the table. We spent the rest of the day playing and smelling fish. We took in the shows and sights, but finally called it quits kind of early.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day accompanied by my wonderful 4 hour nap! Chad would say I had a coma, not a nap! We went to church with my parents' which is always fun since it's the ward that I pretty much grew up in. It was great to see some familiar faces. Early Monday morning we headed to the airport. When we arrived they refused to let us on the plane because they said we were too late. We got listed on the next flight out which was fine. Well long story short, we weren't able to get a flight out till that evening. Everything was booked, if not oversold. The flight out that evening ended up having 90 available seats, so we just got listed on that one. We lucked out since my mom just works 10 minutes from the airport. She came and picked us up and gave us her car so we could hang out around Newport Beach for the day. We just ended up doing some window shopping, having lunch overlooking the beach, and seeing a movie. We made it back home that night finally after what seemed like the longest day ever.

It was a fun trip, not so much on the relaxing side though! It was great to see my family and hang out with them. We usually end up having fun with them.