Honest to Blog!?

On Our Way...

2009-12-15T11:52:00.002-07:00

For those who didn't already know, Chad and I were finally officially approved for adoption. I get lots of questions about what happens next and how long it takes and there is not really a simple answer for that. We are trying to adopt through LDS Family Services and with this agency, the birth parents pick a placement. So in short, the wait could be 2 month or 2 decades! It just depends. The most important thing our caseworker has told us is to spread the word. Most adoptions these days come from someone who know someone. That's where all of our friends and family come in. We would be more then delighted if everyone could help us spread the word! We have created "pass-along" cards with our blog, email, and way to access our profile through LDSFS. We have sent them out with our Christmas cards this year and if you did not receive a card and would like to, or need some more pass-along cards, feel free to let us know. We hope and pray that the more people that support us in this, the sooner we will be blessed with our little one.

We have also decided to start a new blog since this blog is not always dedicated to just our adoption news. Our cousin-in-law, Anna, has been wonderful and helped us create a cute background and button for our new blog. You can view our blog Here! There is a button that you can access and add on your own blog and website if you want too! I'm not sure what will happen with this blog, chances are I'll still add things here or there so don't delete it yet! Thanks everyone for all of your support and we wish everyone a wonderful holiday season!

Help Support Adoption!

2009-11-07T22:12:00.002-07:00

I don't normally get involved in politics, but this issue is very dear to us. I don't know if everyone realizes how costly adoption can be. Fortunately, in the past the government has supported a tax credit for the money that goes into paying for an adoption. Come 2010 the tax credit is set to expire unless it's passed through Congress again. Please help us! Help support families and adoption! And please spread the word!

A CALL TO ACTION

RAISE YOUR VOICE TO ENSURE THE ADOPTION TAX CREDIT REMAINS PERMANENT

Private and independent domestic adoptions can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $40,000, and expenses for intercountry adoptions generally total between $7,000 and $40,000. Domestic adoptions out of foster care are typically much less expensive, usually costing the adoptive parent $2,500 or less.

Congress introduced the Adoption Promotion and Stability Act in 1996 to “help families defray adoption costs.”

Unfortunately, while the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) made the adoption tax credit permanent, the provisions which raised the amount that adoptive families can claim and increased the income eligibility phase-out range will sunset on December 31, 2010. Thus, beginning in 2011, the amount adoptive parents will be able to claim under the adoption tax credit will revert to the pre-EGTRRA levels of $6,000 per special needs child and $5,000 per non-special needs child. Additionally, adoptive families reporting $75,000-$115,000 in annual adjusted gross income will again be restricted in the amount they can claim, and those reporting more than $115,000 in annual adjusted gross income will again be prohibited from claiming the tax credit at all. Several bills have been introduced in Congress to repeal the sunset and make the EGTRRA reforms of the adoption tax credit permanent.

At the center of this debate is a recent Treasury Report which found that parents who adopted children internationally account for a disproportionately large number of adoption tax credit recipients, while parents who adopted children from foster care represent a disproportionately small number. More specifically, international adoptions accounted for 34 percent of all adoptions supported by the tax credit despite making up only 15 percent of all adoptions in the United States, while domestic adoptions out of foster care made up 18 percent of adoptions supported by the tax credit despite making up nearly 40 percent of all adoptions in the United States. This finding has led some to claim that the adoption tax credit is not fulfilling a primary goal of promoting domestic adoptions out of foster care. Some advocates have suggested that the federal government should therefore eliminate the adoption tax credit and redistribute the funds saved to other pro-adoption programs.

The Adoption Promotion and Stability Act of 1996 had two purposes, first among which was “to defray adoption costs for families seeking to adopt” by establishing the adoption tax credit. The bill made no distinction between adoptions out of foster care and any other type of adoption.

Increasing subsidies to adoptive parents has been one of the most effective ways of boosting the adoption rate.

Most importantly, the EGTRRA provisions to the adoption tax credit due to expire in 2011 should be made permanent.

For 2009, the maximum adoption credit has increased to $12,150. This amount is phased out if your modified adjusted gross income is between $182,180 and $222,180. You cannot claim the credit or exclusion if your modified AGI is $222,180 or more.

For information on Special Needs Adoption Tax Credit for 2009 go to www.nacac.org/postadopt/taxcredit.html.

To take the credit or exclusion, complete Form 8839 (PDF), Qualified Adoption Expenses, and attach the form to your Form 1040 (PDF) or Form 1040A (PDF).

See irs.gov (topic 607 adoption credit)

“The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009, H.R. 213.” Written to repeal the sunset of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 with respect to the expansion of the adoption credit and adoption assistance programs. This legislation will make the tax credit permanent. Unless legislation is passed, the Federal adoption tax credit that allows many adopting families to take a credit of up to $12,150 (2009) is scheduled to expire in December 2010. (For information on other legislation involving adoption go to adoptioncouncil.org/policy/fed_leg.html.)

Help Make the Current Federal Adoption Credit Permanent by Writing to your Representative

Here is how:

1. Find the name and Washington, D.C. mailing address of your Representative and Senators at www.congress.org. To find e-mail addresses, click through to the Senator’s or Congressperson’s Web site.

2. Next, log on to http://thomas.loc.gov/ to find out whether your Congresspersons are already co-sponsors of the legislation. On the thomas.loc.gov opening page, under “Search Bill Summary and Status,” search by bill number for H.R. 213. Then click on “Bill summary and Status.” On the page that comes up, click on “Cosponsors,” “Text of Legislation,” or “All Congressional Actions” to follow the progress of the bill.

3. If your representatives have not signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, send them your request that they do so. Tell them how important the tax credit was to you when you adopted your children, or how much you and other families you know are counting on it to be available in the future.

Act today, your efforts make a difference.

Almost There!

2009-07-27T13:10:00.002-06:00

I haven't done an update on our adoption progress in a while, so I thought I should, that's of course if anyone even still reads my silly blog! For those who don't know, completing a home study to even be considered as an adoptive placement is a long and often tedious task. When we first started, we plunged into it head first and were working hard to get things completed as fast as we possibly could. Lately, things have been moving a bit slower then we would like. I am happy to say, however, that the end is in sight. At this point we are just doing some waiting as we wait for Chad's birth certificate to arrive, our marriage certificate (that my parents had for some reason!), and my doctor's appointment to be completed (which happens on Friday). We also have to complete our letter to the birth parents that is part of our online profile. It may seem like a lot to still complete, but believe me, in the grand scheme of things this is nothing! Once these things are finally completed, our caseworker can write up the home study and work on getting us approved for a placement. At this point, it becomes a waiting game, but we know that what is meant to happen will happen in the Lord's time.

For anyone interested in doing some exploring in regards to adoption, check out the Families Supporting Adoption blog. It's a wonderful resource to connect with others who are experience the same things that you are. Also, my dear friend Melissa and I are working on a new blog specifically dedicated to infertility, adoption, and all sorts of "what ifs" that women face. It's just starting and between my work schedule and Melissa's, we haven't had much time to work on it, but check it out anyway! Check it out!

Different Trips to the Same Place

2009-06-29T21:22:00.002-06:00

by Diane Armitage from April 21, 1995 Dear Abby Column

Deciding to have a baby is like planning a trip to Australia. You've heard it's a wonderful place, you've read many guide books and feel certain you're ready to go. Everyone you know has traveled there by plane. They say it can be a turbulent flight with occasional rough landings, but you can look forward to being pampered on the trip.

So you go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for a ticket to Australia. All around you, excited people are boarding planes for Australia. It seems there is no seat for you; you'll have to wait for the next flight. Impatient, but anticipating a wonderful trip, you wait-and wait-and wait. Flights to Australia continue to come and go. People say silly things like, "Relax. You'll get on a flight soon." Other people actually get on a plane and then cancel their trip, to which you cry, "It's not fair!"

After a long time the ticket agent tells you, "I'm sorry, we're not going to be able to get you on a plane to Australia. Perhaps you should think about going by boat."

"By BOAT!" you say. "Going by boat will take a very long time and it costs a great deal of money. I really had my heart set on going by plane." So you go home and think about not going to Australia at all. You wonder if Australia will be as beautiful if you approach it by sea rather than air. But you have long dreamed of this wonderful place, and finally you decide to travel by boat.

It is a long trip, many months over many rough seas. No one pampers you. You wonder if you will ever see Australia. Meanwhile, your friends have flown back and forth to Australia two or three more times, marveling about each trip.

Then one glorious day, the boat docks in Australia. It is more exquisite than you ever imagined, and the beauty is magnified by your long days at sea. You have made many wonderful friends during your voyage, and you find yourself comparing stories with other who also traveled by sea rather then by air.

People continue to fly to Australia as often as they like, but you are about to travel only once, perhaps twice. Some say things like, "Oh, be glad you didn't fly. My flight was horrible; traveling by sea is so easy."

You will always wonder what it would have been like to fly to Australia. Still, you know God blessed you with a special appreciation of Australia, and the beauty of Australia is not in the way you get there, but in the place itself.

And off we go...

2009-06-23T20:44:00.003-06:00

Well it's official! Chad and I began the long journey to become adoptive parents! It started many weeks ago when we attended an orientation through LDS Family Services. We had prayed and thought long and hard about the decision and decided it was the right path for us. We knew that there were going to be lots and lots of challenges involved in it, including the cost, but we know that we will be able to overcome them and get through them. We turned in all of our paperwork and were eager to get started. Weeks went by and we finally got a call from our caseworker! Today we had our first intake appointment, put down our homestudy payment and off we go! There's more paperwork, more interviews, and tons more steps involved, but we're ready for the challenge. Our caseworker was wonderful to make such an effort this week to fit us in or else we would have to wait a few more months to complete our adoption training courses, which we start this weekend.

Words can't express how grateful I am for the help and support that we have gotten from our friends and family. We will forever be indebted to you and thank you for your words of kindness and encouragement.

Our New Little Project

2009-06-01T13:54:00.002-06:00

Well as many may know, and I guess some may not, Chad and I have been looking into adoption to help us start up our family since the traditional way hasn't seemed to be working out so well for us. We've already done the initial paperwork and during orientation, it was suggested that we start up our own "adoption" blog. I'm hoping to find some time in the near future to start this up, but since I am sometimes lacking when it comes to creativity, I need some ideas on names and other fun ideas. I haven't seen any other adoption blogs and I don't know if I should just go ahead and use our current blog for it, so any ideas would be helpful!

My Total Meltdown Courtesy of Hollywood

2009-04-08T16:04:00.003-06:00

Well I realized that I haven't really blogged in a while, so I thought I would share this funny little story. Plus, I'm absolutely bored at work and can't write anymore court reports, service plans, and assessments or I'm going to go crazy! A couple weeks ago Chad and I thought that it might be fun to head to a movie just for the heck of it. After assessing what was out, we voted to go and see the new Nicholas Cage movie, Knowing.

I must say that I really enjoyed the movie, except for the part where it sent me into a major freak out like I haven't had in a while. The next couple days were spent with me analyzing and comparing parts of the movie to references to the last days, the plan of slavation, etc. I decided that this was how it was going to happen (I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it!) and I was not even slightly prepared. This then led into my obsessivness with working on our food storage, 72-hour kits, and all that good stuff. In the last few weeks I have searched the Provident Living website probably more then most people do in a year, researched what we need to get in order to live for a year, figured out what I should be doing to have a three month supply, signed up for an Enrichment activity to make four 72-hour kits (2 for each car!), gone through my already existing 72-hour kit, counted and gone through our existing food storage, arranged with a coworker to go to the canary to work on my year supply, talked to everyone at work about my new hobby, considered getting a handgun to defend my supply in the event that people go crazy (which if anyone knows, I have always been WAY against owning a gun), and even called my mom to tell her that all I want for next Christmas and my birthday is anything related to food storage particulary one of those big Shelfreliance can shelves and a fire/water proof safe!

So I've turned into a crazy person, but I figure that at least it's something productive! I was talking to my supervisor/friend at work about it and he commented that he thought it was funny that all the Ensign articles, lessons at church, and direct words from the prophet to work on food storage and become prepared have no impact on me. But I see some totally fictional Hollywood flick and I'm sent into some major panic about getting prepared for the worst. Oh well.

Provident Living -My new favorite link!

That Can't Be Good...

2009-03-23T21:45:00.001-06:00

Thanks Melissa for reminding me that I should not be a parent or care for my parents when they turn 90! Guess it's up to my sister!

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

Rilee's Favorite Trick

2009-03-17T21:25:00.002-06:00

Well we've all seen what a character our dear chunky Rilee is, but she's taken it even further now! I have this old blanket that my grandma gave to me like a million years ago that I still have around and still love. A while back the binding started coming off of it. One day a couple months ago, I pulled it out and Rilee showed us her new trick! She started playing tug of war with it! We're starting to think she's part dog or something.

Fight FOCA

2009-02-09T16:45:00.004-07:00

Hey guys, I get into politics occasionally, but never really voice my opinion about things too often. I saw this on Jayme's blog (I hope Jayme doesn't mind that I cut and paste her blog entry!!!) and thought I would pass it along. This has always been a major issue for me and after really reading up about exactly what partial birth abortions are, I can't help but want to stand up for what I believe in on this subject. I had no idea that there was a petition out there that you could sign to help support the fight against FOCA.

So here is the post from Jayme's blog:
I am by no means a one issue voter. However, abortion is a huge issue for me and especially with the extreme radical views that our new president has on abortion, I feel the need to speak out. Obama has stated to Planned Parenthood that, "The first thing I’d do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing I’d do."

What is the Freedom of Choice Act? It basically eliminates EVERY restriction on abortion.

1. Partial-birth abortion will now be legal.

2. Parental consent laws for minors will no longer be in effect. Although a seventeen-year-old girl has to have her parents present in order to get acne medicine, a thirteen-year-old can get an abortion without her parents knowing.

3. Laws prohibiting public funding of abortion will be struck down. The American taxpayer will now have to fund something many of us consider to be murder.

4. Laws requiring women to be shown information about (including being shown ultrasounds) and alternatives to abortion will be struck down. Think about any other surgery that's performed: you are bombarded with information. And yet, in one of the most invasive medical procedures, women would be kept ignorant of the facts.

5. Laws allowing medical staff and hospitals to refuse to perform abortion on grounds of conscience will be struck down. (Where's the freedom of choice here?)

6. Laws prohibiting medical personnel other than licensed physicians from performing abortions would be invalidated because they may "interfere with" access to abortion. (Talk about protection for women!)

7. Government agencies and officials are prohibited from taking any action that would "discriminate against the exercise of" the FOCA-created legal rights, with respect to any "benefits, facilities, services, or information," would leave government officials open to lawsuits for anything that anybody thought "discriminate(s)" against abortion.

Basically, people that are PRO LIFE are given NO CHOICE in the matter of abortion. Catholic hospitals have threatened to close down if this passes because they will refuse to do abortions and Obama does not want them to have that CHOICE. Obama already took away our choice to use our taxes to fund abortions.

SO...what can we do? Here is a website to sign a petition against FOCA.
Fight Foca Petition- Click and sign

The better thing to do, in my opinion, is to email your Congressman to make sure that this bill never even gets out of Congress and to Obama's desk. http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

Thanks Jayme for your thoughts and I hope that you don't mind me sharing with my blog viewers!

Aspiring to be an interior designer!

2009-02-08T19:39:00.002-07:00

Melissa is my idol when it comes to home decor. She's been so kind to help me out with decorating my house and I LOVE it! We went to Tai Pan the other day, mostly to use the bathroom, but also to check and see if there was anything fabulous that we just had to have. Well I spotted these giant marbles and Melissa helped me put together a new centerpiece for my kitchen table. I think it's quite fantastic, so I though I would share!

In With the New!

2009-02-08T19:26:00.004-07:00

For the last two and half years, Chad and I have suffered with mismatching couches. When we got married, it was expected that we wouldn't have the greatest furniture since we were newlyweds and that's usually how it goes. And then when we moved into our brand new townhouse, the mismatching (and chewed up with Chad's green couch!) just looked awful. Well we were finally able to purchase (with the help from Mom and Dad Moss' Christmas present!) new couches and have been thrilled at how much they've changed the look of our home! The greatest part too is now instead of busting out with the lint rollers to get off all the cat fur when guests come over, we just wipe it right off!

So the throw pillows are about the most awful things I have ever seen, but I'm working on finding some new ones to replace them!!

The Life and Times of Tara Lynne

2009-02-08T18:53:00.003-07:00

I saw this on Carina's blog and thought it would be fun to try it out. I'm not going to analyze any of it, so hopefully the titles will speak for themselves! Guess we'll see what I get!

To create the soundtrack for the movie about your life, do the following:

1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every category (see below), type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.

So, without further ado, I present to you the soundtrack to the sure-to-not-be-a-blockbuster-movie, The Life of Tara Lynne Gailey!

Opening credits: Save Us by Cartel

Waking up: Get F-ed Up by Saves the Day (how appropriate!)

First day of school: Talk Is Cheap And I've Got Expensive Taste by Search The City

Driving: Rest of My Life by Unwritten Law

Prom: Brighter by Paramore

Falling in love: You Need a Hug by the Ataris

First love song: Reckless Abandonment by the Spill Canvas

Breaking up: The Night Will Go As Follows by the Spill Canvas

Getting back together: Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner by Fall Out Boy

Wedding: Selfishness by Rufio (not really sure how this would fit!?)

Birth of child: Direction by the Starting Line

Mental breakdown: Plays Ugly for Daddy by Anthony Green (don't know this song yet, so not sure if it fits or not!)

Flashback: XO by Fall Out Boy

Final battle: Fall Back Into My Life by Amber Pacific

Death scene: Are You Alone by the Starting Line

Funeral song: Emergency by Paramore

End credits: Losing Streak by the Ataris

So, great music, but I'm not so sure that it all fits!

Tagged!

2009-02-08T18:38:00.003-07:00

Well I finally got around to checking up on everyone's blogs and found that Angela tagged me!

8 Favorite TV Shows
1. The Office
2. 24
3. Chuck
4. Lost
5. 30 Rock
6. My Name is Earl
7. Heroes
8. Spongebob Squarepants!

8 Things I did yesterday
1. Went to see He's Just Not That Into You with Melissa
2. Bought my sister a birthday present
3. Took Chad's car in to get fixed
4. Went to Tai Pan with Melissa and bought a new table centerpiece
5. Went to visit one of my foster kids
6. Sat on the couch and played Skate 2 while Chad, Melissa, and Steve cooked dinner!
7. Ate yummy waffles that Melissa made
8. Watched our shows with Steve and Melissa

8 Things I look forward to
1. Having kids
2. Vacations
3. Spending time with family
4. Sleep
(I'm finding that most of my choices are the same as Angela's!)
5. Being debt free someday!
6. Italy in 2010!
7. Not working anymore
8. Holidays

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Cheesecake Factoy
2. California Pizza Kitchen
3. PF Chang's
4. Cafe Rio (only salads and quesadillas, no burritos!)
5. Fudruckers- sometimes you just need a good burger or chicken sandwich!
6. Miguel's in Cali
7. In 'N Out
8. Squatters

8 Things I wish for
1. A baby or two
2. Being skinny without all the work!
3. A Honda Pilot totally tricked out!
4. Never having to work again
5. Have the most stylish house ever!
6. World peace- no, really I do!
7. To live in Cali again someday
8. Be in a position where I never have to worry about money again!

8 People I tag
Melissa, Emily, Richelle, Jackie, Melissa Pero, Jessica, Jayme, and Carina!

Seriously!?

2009-02-06T10:31:00.002-07:00

Birth of Octuplets

Really, I can't even tell you how much this article got my blood boiling this morning. From the perspective of someone who has gone through infertility and someone who is a social worker, I can't help by get angry that there are people like this out there. I really can't understand why people think that having children is going to fix every problem in their life, but apparently this woman thinks it will. Seriously, get some therapy! Don't have 14 kids through invitro to solve your problems or to cure your needy-ness!

Random Moment Sample

2009-01-12T20:52:00.002-07:00

Random is for sure! I had a late night at work tonight and couldn't wait to get home and relax. Well my dear children were at the door waiting for me to get home as usual. I walked in, set my stuff on the counter, and on my way to the bathroom I noticed the kitties hovering over something in front of the couch. I didn't think much of it and figured it was one of their toys...And then I saw it twitch! I finally realized that there was a half dead bird laying on the floor of the living room! Of course, I did what I do and started freaking out and of course, today of all days Chad is gone at band practice. I ran upstairs and tried to figure out what to do, called everyone nearby and couldn't find anyone to come to my rescue (Chad refused to come home and save me).

When I realized I was the only one that could take care of it, I locked Rilee and Gracy in my room and tossed around ideas at to how I was going to take care of it. I remembered the snow shovel in the garage and figured this was probably the easiest way to deal with it. Well trying to shovel it didn't work out so well and it just slid across the floor. Then I found an old shoe box (good thing I buy lots of shoes!)and was able to push it into the box, scooped up the box on the shovel, and set the box out on the porch where it sits as we speak waiting for Chad to come home.

So that, and scrubbing my floors, walls, and everywhere else the bird left it's "mark," was my big adventure for the night! Think I'd rather have boring any day compared to this!

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

2008-12-19T10:00:00.002-07:00

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

2008-12-14T18:33:00.004-07:00

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

2008-12-14T18:16:00.004-07:00

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!

2008-12-05T08:58:00.006-07:00

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!

2008-11-17T21:17:00.002-07:00

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!

2008-11-14T16:04:00.002-07:00

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

2008-11-13T22:11:00.001-07:00

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

Good 'ol Tooele!

2008-10-29T16:01:00.002-06:00

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

2008-10-26T22:06:00.001-06:00

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!

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Random Moment Sample

2008-10-25T11:14:00.002-06:00

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...

2008-10-20T21:40:00.002-06:00

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

2008-10-17T09:53:00.001-06:00

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

2008-10-10T10:18:00.002-06:00

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!!!

2008-10-03T17:07:00.002-06:00

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!!!!!!

2008-10-03T10:14:00.002-06:00

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!

Finally!

2008-09-26T11:05:00.004-06:00

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!

2008-09-23T07:32:00.002-06:00

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...

2008-09-19T12:39:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-09-14T21:09:00.004-06:00

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

2008-09-14T20:33:00.013-06:00

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!

2008-09-14T20:21:00.004-06:00

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

2008-08-27T21:42:00.005-06:00

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!

2008-08-17T09:32:00.002-06:00

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.....

2008-08-15T18:04:00.003-06:00

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

2008-08-15T09:36:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-07-27T08:57:00.003-06:00

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)

2008-07-24T09:07:00.007-06:00

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...

2008-07-23T21:51:00.002-06:00

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

2008-07-15T18:12:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-07-15T08:35:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-07-10T21:51:00.002-06:00

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!

2008-06-18T20:38:00.002-06:00

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

2008-05-24T10:26:00.009-06:00

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...

2008-05-22T08:40:00.003-06:00

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!

2008-05-19T11:36:00.002-06:00

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

2008-05-01T08:36:00.005-06:00

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!

2008-04-23T21:12:00.003-06:00

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!

2008-04-21T09:28:00.003-06:00

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

2008-04-14T08:42:00.008-06:00

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!

2008-04-07T11:38:00.002-06:00

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.)!

2008-04-07T09:38:00.003-06:00

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.

Cali Adventures, (cont.)!

2008-04-01T22:30:00.003-06:00

Friday came really early the next day, but this was the most important day! It was RACHEL'S BIG DAY!!!! Thursday night ended late and Friday morning came really early! Rachel and Shad were getting married in the Los Angeles temple, which is about an hour and a half to two hours from my parents' house, which is where we were staying. Since I was a bridesmaid, I had to get there early to pick up my clothes and get changed before heading over to the temple at about 9:45ish. Well I wanted to be up by 5:30 so that we could get up and ready in enough time to leave by 7. Well when we went to bed I asked Chad to set his alarm so that we would be sure to wake on time. He assured me that he did and I went to bed. I heard some rustling around in the morning and decided I would get up to check to see what time it was. When I realized that I had woken up 45 minutes late, I started freaking out! Now in any normal situation it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but we're talking about traffic on a weekday morning in Southern California!

Well someone must have been watching over us that morning because the traffic was clearer then I have ever seen it! We got to Rach's hotel by about 9 am, leaving us plenty of time to get ready and to the temple by 10. The ceremony was beautiful and I balled like a baby. I think the only two people in the room crying that hard were me and her mom! It's amazing the wonderful feelings that the temple brings. I was so happy for her and for the choices that she made to get there. We then spent about an hour or two taking pics with the wedding party. Rach looked amazing! She's going to get some great pictures! Poor Chad stuck it out, even though he was starving since I refused to stop for food on our way out there.

We then headed up to Lancaster for the reception. Chad and I were the first ones to get there so we helped get things setup as much as we could. The church looked awesome! Her mom did a lot of work! The reception went well, except for the part where Rachel and Shad got caught in traffic on their way up, making them about an hour late for their reception. Things worked out okay though and it went great.

Chad and I unfortunately had to leave before we could help clean up because we had a three hour drive ahead of us to San Diego to meet up with my family for my sister's cheer competition! It was a long trip and we finally got to San Diego at about 12:30 or 1. It was a long day, but I was so glad that we got to share it with Rachel and Shad.

Here's some pics that Chad took at the wedding

Cali Adventures!

2008-04-01T09:50:00.010-06:00

Okay, so we finally made it back from Cali in one piece. It was definitely a fun, but short weekend. Most of it was spent running from one place to the next, but it was still a great time. Since we did so much in just a few days, I decided to do a post for each of the exciting things we did.

The journey started off with trying to fly stand-by during spring break. Uh, yeah, not a good idea. Getting there was fine, but later on I'll tell you all about trying to get home! So heading to Cali, we were supposed to leave on a flight at 5 pm, but weren't able to get on that one so we ended up on the next flight at 9 pm. It seems like a long time to hang out in the airport, but Chad and I were able to entertain ourselves. We finally made into Cali around 10:30 ish.

Thursday night we drove out to Hollywood to see Wicked! I've always had a deep love for L.A. I remember as a kid going to the Natural History museum, the Getty, and the Museum of Tolerance. I saw my first musical at the Pantages when I was about 10 or 11. There were also quite a few times when my mom would have to go to court, so I'd skip school and we'd ride the train out there and go shopping after her court appearance. So despite the traffic and crowds I can't help but love to be there. So I've been to musicals and plays before, but this was absolutely the best thing I have ever seen! We had a great cast Thursday night which just added to it. Chad even loved it and he's really not into stuff like that. At intermission my mom asked my what I thought and immediately I told her that this was the best day ever. Well Chad felt a little offended by that, but he knows how excited I get about the little things!

So here's a pic outside the theater. Isn't Hollywood fantastic!

I took these pictures with my cell phone, so they're not the greatest. Here's the inside of the theater. The set is amazing. There is this giant dragon thing above the stage that moves and roars during the musical.

Me and my sister in the theater.
And Chad!

And of course we got to see a variety of characters hanging out on the Hollywood strip. Even Spongebob was out that night! The popparazi were also out in full force that night. There was a huge crowd in front of a red carpet outside the Egyptian theater. We never could figure out what was going on, but it sure was exciting.

A Teaser for the Next Post...

2008-03-26T08:39:00.002-06:00

Chad and I are off to Cali once again. This time thank goodness it's in an airplane (thanks to Rach and her lovely benefits as a flight attendant)!!! So, when we get back I'll have lots of stories of Wicked, Shamu, Rachel's wedding, cheerleading competitions, crazy outings with the Moss family, and of course all the quirkiness California and Los Angeles has to offer! See you on the flip side, yo!

Update

2008-03-20T08:52:00.002-06:00

Well my sister heard back from UCLA late last night. Unfortunately she did not get in, but this was her dream school application so it didn't hurt too much that she didn't get in. Truth be told, I don't know that she was really wanting to go to UCLA anyway. Adrienne is somewhat competitive, but not enough to handle what could await her at UCLA. She has a bunch of friends who are planning on attending UC San Diego and I think it would just be an all around better fit for her. So far her current plan is UCSD, now it's just a matter of funding...

Your Tax Dollars at Work

2008-03-19T16:17:00.004-06:00

So I must say, it's been one of those weeks at work. Some weeks I'm so productive and get a ton done at work, but other weeks- nothing! I must say this week (and it's only Wednesday!) has been one of those nothing weeks. I just have had no motivation. I think it might be because I know I'm leaving for a few days next week, but who knows. Well turns out I'm not the only one in my office who is struggling this week. My coworker, Megan, and I have been dealing with our anti-work attitudes together.

So since we have a very stressful and emotional job, we try to have a little fun sometimes even if that means annoying our coworkers in neighboring offices. A while back Megan and an old coworker found a huge roll of shrink wrap lying on the floor of the office. Rather then try to find it's rightful owner, they hid it in one of their offices with plans to cause a little mayhem later. Later never really came, and the shrink wrap sat in Megan's office.

So with our anti-work attitudes in check today we decided we needed to go on a hunt for the shrink wrap as it had been misplaced since we had changed offices about a month ago. Megan quickly returned to my office with the giant roll of shrink wrap in hand! Our friend and coworker, Diana, is leaving us and moving to Wisconsin so we've been giving her a hard time about it. Diana decided she was going to leave early today and Megan and I decided she needed to be punished for leaving early and for leaving us for Wisconsin.

Well long story short, we wrapped her desk and everything on it in shrink wrap! It was great fun and I was laughing so hard my eyes started tearing up! I guess work isn't so bad all the time, but I don't know how people would feel about knowing that this was what their state employees were doing with their time today!

Miss Smartypants

2008-03-19T13:12:00.004-06:00

My sister, Adrienne, is finally in her last semester of her senior year in high school. For some it's the end, while for others it's just the beginning. My sister is one who is just starting out on her big adventure that is called life. Most know that if you plan on going to college, the last part of your junior year and beginning of your senior year are awful. Adrienne took both ACTs and SATs and applied to schools, and applied for scholarships. Well after months, even years, of headaches her efforts are finally paying off! She just found out that she has been accepted to UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and University of Utah! She's also applied to UCLA, but hasn't heard back yet. I'm just so proud of her! She's worked so hard to get where she's at and I know that she's going to have a blast when she goes to college! Congrats Adrienne!

A Star is Born!

2008-03-17T08:56:00.002-06:00

Well I don't know how he did it, but Chad somehow talked me into letting him by the game Rock Band for his XBox 360 a few weeks ago. Honestly, there are days when I think the XBox is the devil, but then there are the times when I to find enjoyment in all it has to offer. And I must admit that Rock Band is just one of these such times. For those who have not experienced it think Guitar Hero, but with drums and a singer in addtion to the guitar! It's the total experience! It's for sure not a game for the quiet reserved type, especially if you plan on singing in front of everyone.

So this weekend resulted in two fun filled late nights of all out jamming. Friday night Samantha and LaMar came over and stayed until 1:30 in the morning! I don't know if it was the excitement of playing or the chocolate fondue that kept us up that late, but we had a blast! The highlight of the evening was Sam and LaMar singing the Timmy song from South Park. Sunday night Jarad and Ashley joined us for our second jam session. Jarad told us that he was so excited he had been dreaming about Rock Band the night before! I found it pretty funny when Jarad suddenly got really shy and didn't want to sing. Are you serious Jarad? How long have we been listening to you belt it out whenever you feel so inspired? And now you're shy!? Ashley did some serious trash kicking on the drums.

Now normally I am more on the quiet and reserved side when it comes to things like this, but for some reason the rock star in me comes out whenever I play Rock Band. I've found that I absolutely adore singing on the game! Seriously, the thoughts of being a lead singer in an actual band or even trying out for American Idol have actually passed through my mind during and after playing. I know it's crazy, but hey we can all dream can't we!

We love you Tom!

2008-03-12T10:51:00.007-06:00

On Tuesday the 11th, Chad and I decided to venture out of our humble abode and head downtown for the...wait for it... Angels and Airwaves show! Heck yes! Chad and I met up with our friends, Samantha and LaMar, who we had planned on attending the show with at about 5:30ish. Doors were supposed to open at 6, so we figured this was just about perfect timing. Well 6 pm came and went and we're still in line waiting. Now, this would be fine and good except that for some reason on this very night it decided to feel like it was about 2 degrees outside! 6 turned into 7, and 7 quickly approached 8 and still waiting! I think we were told "10 more minutes" about five times.

Well long story short, after watching the owner at the nearby Chinese reataurant yell at a girl wanting to use the bathroom, after LaMar and I went to buy some soup just so that the mean owner would actually let us use the bathroom, after my toes went completely numb, and finally after we had actually considered selling our tickets we got in! At about 8:30! The show started right away with a band called Ace Enders. I didn't catch much of them since we were actively trying to find a perch on the balcony to watch the show from. Next came the Color Fred, who I was anxious to see. For those who don't know, Fred from Taking Back Sunday left the band to do his own thing and the Color Fred is it. I was quite impressed. Fred has always been one of my favs in TBS, so I knew it would be good. After they finished up, good ol' locally grown Meg and Dia were up. Pretty awesome couple of chicks, but for some reason Dia felt it would be okay to not wear shoes on the stage! Um, hello!? Does she even know how many boys have spit on that stage!? I just hope she did not have any open wounds on her feet!

And last, but certainly not least...Angels and Airwaves! They've been to Utah before, but this was the first time Chad and I had been to see them. Let's just say they completely delivered and made the wait well worth it. The lights, the sound, the dancing from Tom- all fantastic! I have to say, Tom has still got it and even though the music he plays with AvA is more on the serious side then Blink was, he still has not lost a bit of his humor and is still the same guy we grew to love back in the old days!

I'm a blogger!

2008-03-12T08:49:00.003-06:00

So I must admit that as I get older I seem to be becoming more technology illiterate (or maybe it's just a lack of interest in learning how to use new things!). It all started back in college (years ago!) when I got a palm pilot. My first thought was wow! Now I'm going to be super organized and know when everything is due and it's so super cool! Well after attempting to use the thing for a while, I finally gave up and went out and bought one of those cheap little paper planners. I still consider myself pretty in-the-know when it comes to the latest and greatest gadgets and coworkers often come to me with their computer crises, but I still prefer old school 16 bit Nintendo to whatever new high-tech gaming system is out now and still like my little Dell laptop that I've had for a few years now over the next generation of Mac Books, or whatever.

Apparently one of the new great things in the tech world is to start a blog and to share fun and exciting thoughts with friends and family, or even the whole world if you so choose. So in an attempt to stay in-the-know about cool new stuff like this, I have decided to create a blog! Now who knows who will read it or if anyone will even be all that interested because truth be told, I don't have all that many friends! But hey, Chad and I have some wacky adventures every now and again that are pretty entertaining and believe me, stories that I could tell from life as a state social worker could provide hours of entertainment! So here it is, for our friends and family who are interested in finding out just what is going on with Chad and Tara lately...I give you our new blog! If I can figure out how to work this thing!