The Dunn's

Strawberries

2011-10-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

David is home and we are enjoying just relaxing at home together. We have been going out and doing fun things, but what we have really been enjoying is baking and cooking!

I feel like I should almost make this blog into a food blog, I just love the food I have been cooking lately.

Last Saturday, we had the missionaries over for dinner. We had super delicious french dip sandwiches. They are so yummy and easy, but dessert was what everyone was looking forward to as well.

I made CHEESECAKE STUFFED STRAWBERRIES! And yes, they are as good as they sound!

I feel like I should almost make this blog into a food blog, I just love the food I have been cooking lately.

They are a show stopper and only took me about 15 minutes to prepare.

If you want to make some, click here.

The only thing I would add is if I had it was drizzle chocolate over them as well.

Today we are making homemade butterfingers for David's marines and I can't wait to try my 1!

Apple Butter

2011-09-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I made apple butter. It was so yummy and easy!

All the apple skins and cores

5 1/2 lbs of apple cut up

cooking away

after cooking for 8 to 9 hours

almost 6 lbs of apples only made 2 pints!

It was a very simple recipe.

The only thing I did different was omit the cloves (I didn't have any) & I used 3 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup of honey. I also sliced up the apples in the evening and let it cook all night so it would be ready when I got up in the morning.

I then gave it away to 2 of the sisters I visit teach in my ward. (I had just enough left in the crockpot to sample on a slice of toast).

I'm making more this weekend to give to the last sister I visit & also one for me!

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

Labor Day Weekend has come and gone already! I can't believe it's the middle of September already!

I had a great Labor Day Weekend. I took the Friday before Labor day and the Tuesday afterwards off and flew out to NC to go visit David! I forgot my camera, so no pics this time!

I took a red eye flight Thursday night and slept about 2 hours waking up feeling not so well. I made it through the flight though and got some water during my layover at Washington Dulles Airport. I made it to Raleigh, NC and hopped into my rental car and off I went.

I got to Jacksonville around 1ish in the afternoon and headed straight to David's hotel, got a key and went to sleep!

When David got back to the hotel room, we were both starving so we went to one of our favorite places to eat at, Mike's Farm! YUMMY!!!! We loved going to Mikes Farm, not just for food, but for the pumpkin patch, strawberry picking and the christmas light show! You can't forget the small goat and peacock area either! But when we eat at Mikes Farm, you just can't get enough of the homemade mac 'n cheese.

After dinner, we had to go get David some allergy medicine (I think he's secretly allergic to me because every time he comes near me after a school, he has really bad allergies!) Needless to say, David fell asleep immediately at 8:30 pm his time, meaning it was 5:30 back in San Diego! I watched tv, and read, and watched some more tv. I think I finally fell asleep around midnight his time!

On Saturday we saw a good friend who I use to work with. She is now married to a Marine and has a toddler girl. I can't believe in the time I left NC, she 1. met a guy 2. got married 3. had a baby! It was so nice catching up with her and finally meeting the rest of her family.

That night, we went to another one of our favorite restaurants while living in Jacksonville...Shoguns! They are a cook your meal in front of you place (it's getting later so my brain isn't working on the right name right now). We ended up sharing a meal and the steak is to die for!

On Sunday, we were planning on going to church but I forgot to set an alarm and we slept in until noon! I don't even know the last time I slept in until 9 at home, let alone noon! David's hotel room is so dark with the blinds closed. Needless to say, we missed church. We actually missed half the day! That afternoon we had dinner with some friends who were stationed in NC after NM. It was good to see and we stayed until almost 1 am just talking and catching up. Us girls in NM use to have girls nights and our husbands were always calling us around 1 or 2 in the morning to make sure the rest of us were ok! It's so nice when you find friends who even if you don't stay in day to day contact, when you do see each other it's like nothing has changed!

On Labor Day, I was starting to feel really sick (I picked up a nasty bug on the flight out) so we took it easy and met my friend from the previous night and went to a movie. Later in the early evening we met my friend my Saturday and grabbed ice cream.

Tuesday was a sad day, I was really feeling sick, taking medicine but still feeling awful and flew home. It's always hard when David leaves but I didn't think it would be as hard leaving when I left knowing we only had a couple weeks left, but it was still so hard.

I was pretty sick all of the week after I flew home. My ears were clogged until just Monday and I was coughing really badly and I had a fever!

David comes home on Thursday evening. I can't wait to have my husband home! I have a list of things I need help with in the house!

Japanese Friendship Garden

2011-09-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine and I went to the Japanese Friendship Gardens. It's a small area in Balboa Park but absolutely beautiful.

We had a pond with fish.

They are pretty big fish and very colorful.

A small tree area but were amazing as they look like the large trees.

My dad has taken a lot of pictures of doors from the Countries he has visited and I was thinking of him as I took this photo. I love the engraving on the door and the handles.

I really loved the trees.

It was a great little area with lots of thinking time and very peaceful. It was a hot Saturday afternoon and walking through all the shade was very nice.

Special Time

2011-08-26T22:21:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I flew my mom in for some girl time for just us two girls. I don't know about you, but I absolutely love spending time with my mom and I never feel like I get enough time with her as we don't live in the same city. She came in town last Saturday morning. We had fun at the grocery store, making nutella crepes and then we ate at Point Loma Seafood where I will take all of my guests who enjoy delicious but outdoor casual dining. We then went to the San Diego Padres game! We had so much fun, even if we froze and should have brought blankets! Who would have though in August to bring blankets to a baseball game! We won, had a bunch of home runs and did the wave multiple times. Who doesn't love a good baseball game!

On Sunday, we went to church as normal, but we packed a picnic lunch before we left. We came home, changed and grabbed our lunch. We were on our way to the free outdoor organ concert. It was amazing. We then walked around the little international houses that is only open on Sundays. It was fun walking through about 20 different cottages.

On Monday, I worked all day and mom sewed all day. Mom had so much fun while I struggled to work and not play! We then went out to see The Help. It was probably almost just as good as the book.

On Tuesday, I worked int he morning and then that afternoon, we went to our favorite place in Coronado for Pizza. I have been 3 times and mom once, every time I have had something different and have loved it.

Here is mom and I after enjoying a delicious lunch. The weather was perfect and we loved eating outside!

Afterwards, mom and I went to the zoo! If you have never been to the San Diego Zoo, I highly recommend it. It's huge and beautiful. Mom and I took the 35 to 45 minute bus tour and then had unlimited use of the express bus. It was a great way of seeing so much. We saw probably 90 % of the zoo in 2 hours.

Here is mom & I with Monkey King Stilt Walkers. They looked amazing and were so tall!

Here is mom getting ready to go see the Panda's. They have added an additional panda since the last time I came, a red panda. They are so cute and I just want to take them home!

All in all, mom and I had a blast. It was a great couple of days to help me get out of my rut of David being gone and I know mom had a blast as well! I couldn't think of a better way to spend a couple of days with mom!

Busy Busy

2011-07-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

It's been busy around here again. That's nothing new for us. It will be slowing down in a day or so as David is leaving until the end of September.

The weekend of the 15th, David & I went to the movies and saw the final Harry Potter. It was really good and I enjoyed it. Maybe when he leaves this week, I will go back to a before noon showing when it's only $6 and watch it again!

We also went that weekend to the San Diego Padres vs. San Francisco Giants game. It was a lot of fun and we won!!! It would have been better if the new doctor from UCLA wasn't bragging about himself the whole time right behind us. But thankfully, we were able to ignore him for the most part!

That Sunday evening, our good friends from North Carolina who are also relocated to California came over for dinner. It's always nice to see them and we always have a good time! Plus, they have 3 really cute kids!

The next week we didn't do much. We normally just relax around the house in the evenings after long days at work.

This past Friday, another couple from church & us went and saw the Maroon 5 & Train concert. It was really good and it was fun hanging out with another couple! It was a lot of fun and it was good getting to know another couple. It was funny because my friend Janelle and I were on our way to church one evening to print some visiting teaching reports when she asked if we liked Maroon 5. We bought tickets that night and her husband said on the way home from the concert that good things do come from visiting teaching! It was pretty funny.

Saturday, we had lots of errands to run as we were getting everything David needed for his school he going to. We came home and a couple hours later I needed to run to target. I had a few things on my wish list were on sale at Target for a really good price. We went over and came back and we were thinking, man the house is really hot. Why did we turn off the fans. We started to try and turn on fans and then lights and realized the power was out. It had been out since 3 and we got home around 4. Thankfully our computer had enough juice in it left for David to finish the last couple of paragraphs of his final paper for school. But then we didn't have internet! He had to turn in his paper on Saturday or he wouldn't get any credit for his final. We decided to drive over to McDonald's and sit in the parking lot to use the free wi-fi! After that, David said since we didn't have power and it was starting to get dark, we were going to the drive in. We saw Captain America. It was really good, except I kept falling asleep. After that we came home to find out the power had just been restored! YAY!

All in all, it has been a good couple of weeks.

Calm

2011-07-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

Stella, for the first 2 to 3 years was known as the opposite of calm. She was always running and making her funny sounds at us.

But since she turned 3, she is still crazy, but we have a calm between the craziness. Here is one of Stella's calm moments. I love it because her teeth are showing...lol! She has turned into a big lover, on her terms, no one elses.

Pictures

2011-07-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

Being a military family, we seem to move at least every three years (and at the last 2 duty stations, even more within the city).

We can usually unpack the boxes quickly except for a couple that we seem to never unpack (and they are always the same boxes but I don't have the heart to throw them out).

One of our big struggles as a husband and wife is figuring out where to put the pictures. We are slowly putting up the pictures, but it takes us time. We have 1 up in the kitchen, 1 up in the dining room, 4 in the office, quite a few going up the staircase.

This morning, I decided the perfect spot for this lovely sign my sister made me for Christmas. I have been wanting to put it up for a while, but didn't know where. I was up before David and it was about 9 this morning. I got out the hammer and a small nail and started to put the nail in the wall when David came down. I woke David up this morning by nailing in the nail, but the sign is up and I love it! As soon as I'm done with this, I'm going to ask David to put up a new family portrait we had taken 2 weekends ago.

I'm excited for this house to become our home slowly but surely. We have put up curtains, our things throughout the house and now we are finally getting all the pictures up! I guess between all these moves, David & I don't rush to get everything up anymore, but we love it once everything is up!

Freedom Rules

2011-07-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

This Fourth of July was a fun quick 3 day weekend. The Hansen's came to town and arrived Saturday Afternoon.

It started off fun, the boys & David got "marine cuts" up on base. We then came home and made Easy Hawaiin Kalua Pork Pizza and it's amazing! We had a nice easy evening of just hanging out and playing around.

Sunday morning, we went to sacrament meeting. We had a lot of fun listening to testimonies. For the Hansen's, they said it was nice being in a military ward and not in Utah so it was focused on America's freedom rather then the Pioneers as that celebration is also in July. One of the first testimonies was from a 12 year old boy and he talked about how he was glad we won the Revolutionary War so we could have the freedom to practice whatever religion.

After Sacrament Meeting we came home real quick, put the dogs in the kennels and left to go get some lunch and play downtown. We went to the The Corvette Diner and us adults all ate some yummy cheeseburgers! We then went to downtown and caught a 2 hour cruise around the bay. It's always lots of fun and we enjoyed seeing everything. We then went to the Maritime Museum where we toured a Russian Submarine & an American Submarine. Made me really appreciate being an American when differing the living conditions!

We finally made it home late that night and David cooked us up some amazing carne asada that we put in burritos. I'm going to say it, David is amazing with the grill! We then had ice cream cone cupcakes for dessert and they were yummy as well!

Monday morning, we all got up around the same time, but we took it easy. Donna & I made us French Toast with Berry Butter and replaced the half & half with buttermilk. We also didn't have enough maple syrup so we made Buttermilk Syrup. I had never had buttermilk syrup, but I don't know if I will ever be able to go back! It was so good.

That afternoon we headed to Coronado Beach where we had a fun afternoon and that evening we went to the La Jolla Fireworks. They were beautiful, felt like we were right under them!

We had so much fun this weekend and are missing then Hansen's when we woke up Tuesday morning. Thanks for visiting!

Pillow Hog

2011-06-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

Moose is a HUGE pillow hog! Every night, after brushing my teeth, I come to my bed and Moose is in my spot taking both of my pillows! In the above picture he is not only snuggling with the pillows but the nice warm clean clothes! He does know the good things to snuggle with. As I write this he is snuggling with the arm rest.

Stella the Clutz

2011-06-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

Stella recently cut her paw on something in the backyard. She didn't like us when we bandaged her up! But it's healing really well!

Company

2011-05-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

Life is good when Moose is surrounded by gorgeous women!

David had a Birthday!

2011-05-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

David had his birthday this weekend. We had a lot of fun. On Friday night, I made his cake. It was 15 layers...yes 15 layers! I was inspired by Bakerella at this website http://www.bakerella.com/fourteen-for-the-fourteenth/

Look at all those cake pans!

Fifteen layers! They look like pancakes but so yummy looking at the same time.

With cute star candles!

It looks massive!

Then after we had cake for breakfast and David opened his presents, we went to the USS Midway downtown.

It was a lot of fun and lots to look at. I recommend the USS Midway if you come to San Diego.

Then we had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe and went to the movies. We came home around 7 and the missionaries stopped by around 8 ish and made them eat some delicious cake! All in All, I think David had fun turning 30 this year!!!

Warmth

2011-05-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Stella likes to lay down with me while I work. This day, she obviously wanted to lay on me while I worked.

Flower Fields

2011-05-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, David & I went up to Carlsbad, CA for the Flower Festival. It was so pretty! It's just field upon field of flowers. We took a tractor ride to the top of the hill and on the ride we could see the ocean from our seats. Here are a few pictures of our fun time.

The Fields when we first get through the entrance

A tractor I saw on our tractor ride

Our Tractor...love the Starwberry Shortcake

A really pretty tree

I love the rows and rows and rows of flowers

You can see the ocean!

A little bit of white

What You Looking At?

2011-05-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

Mom, Seriously...another picture!?

Corvette Diner

2011-05-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

Tonight, David came home from work and as I hadn't left the house other then for grocery shopping on Tuesday and church on Sunday, I hadn't done much this week other then work...a lot of hours. I was aching from working all week, not wanting to cook tonight and David needed some new socks for his hump (a long hike) that he has tomorrow. One of my really good friends asked if we had ate at the Corvette Diner yet, which we hadn't. We had received an awesome military coupon in the mail this week for the Corvette Diner, so we decided to go on over. It's not super close, about 10 miles away, but we are always up for trying out new places.

This place was AWESOME! We were seated in a black lighting area and the tables glowed after some pressure was placed on it. When I picked up my silver wear, it was bright green! Our server was a bit loud, but she made sure our drinks were filled. The food was pretty good, the dessert was delicious!

Some of the things that made the place so AWESOME:

1. They had a REAL DJ playing 50's music

2. They had a dessert that was a platter of cotton candy. We saw it, it was a platter of cotton candy...it was way cool!

3. They had a guy who made fun things out of balloons. I got a blue dog with a leash!

4. The wait staff danced with pom poms.

5. They had a game room (we didn't go in it.)

Lets just say, the place rocked. If you have kids or just 2 adults, it's a way fun place to eat at.

Looking Good

2011-05-01T15:31:00.001-07:00

Easter

2011-04-28T19:49:00.006-07:00

This Easter, David & I went to Sacrament meeting and then left. We drove up to Santa Monica, CA to meet David's youngest sister for Easter dinner. Bekah drove down from Santa Barbara, where she is in her last semester for school. It was about half way for both of us, which was nice and we were able to have a great time. We walked the Santa Monica Pier. I can't believe how much weight that pier can sustain!

We then walked a little bit around the Promenade area (not the whole thing) as we didn't want to miss our dinner reservation.

We ate dinner at this yummy Italian Place that had the best bread! Some of the bread even had olives cooked into it! That was all mine as Bekah doesn't like olives and David just didn't take any. We shared a "salad" for an appetizer. It was grilled tomatoes with fresh mozzarella on top. It was SO good! This is something I am going to have to learn for an appetizer when family comes to visit. DAvid & Bekah had ravioli, I believe different kinds and I had a fluted pasta, with vodka cream sauce with bacon. It was to die for! We all got the small sizes, so it was just enough.

After dinner, we continued to walk the whole promenade. It was fun to see the street performers. Then afterwards, we went for dessert at Pink Berry. It's a frozen yogurt spot with toppings. It was extremely yummy as well and would recommend it to anyone

After that, we said our goodbyes and headed home. It was really nice to see Bekah and just have a fun afternoon together.

Padres!

2011-04-28T19:28:00.006-07:00

This past weekend, David & I had a ton of fun.

On Saturday, we took the trolley and saw San Diego Padres play Philadelphia. It was a lot of fun sitting next to everyone. People jumping up and down, dancing, booing when the opposing team would come up to bat. It was a lot of fun. We lost in the 11th inning. Here are some photos from the base ball field.

Baby Stella

2011-04-24T08:42:00.001-07:00

Stella as a puppy. She was so small and cute. the dog toy was about the same size.

Watching

2011-04-17T08:45:00.002-07:00

They love to people watch as much as we do!

Fun Weekend

2011-04-16T21:40:00.006-07:00

This weekend David & I hosted my oldest sister, husband and 2 boys for a long weekend. We had TONS of fun!

It started off going down to La Jolla Beach.

The next day, David & I both worked all day while our fun visitors went back to the beach and cove.

That evening, we went to MCAS Miramar (where David works) and walked around the base exchange, looked at old airplanes and drove real slow by the air strip to look at all the cool airplanes & helicopters!

On Saturday, we were going to go the zoo, but unforunately, I had to take David to the emergency room instead.

The visitors went to old town and checked out the mormon battalion and then we all met up for lunch.

We had a great time together and sad to see my sister and husband and boys to leave early Sunday morning.

Nap Time!

2011-04-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

Cooking Adventures

2011-04-04T19:29:00.003-07:00

The last couple of weeks, David & I have been trying lots of new recipes for different reasons.

1. We are tired of the things I make normally

2. We are trying to be more healthy.

The cookbook we have been using is It's Good For You by Pampered Chef. Most people know I covet anything Pampered Chef, so while using my cookbook, I'm using all of my items too!

Last week, I was making Quick Curried Chicken for dinner. I bought the wrong spice at the grocery store the weekend before hand. I bought Cumin Powder, thinking Curry Powder (I know, silly me). Not even realizing it even when making the meal, I used the Cumin Powder. Now for the spices, the Curry Powder is the big ingredient in the recipe. Once I poured all the Cumin powder into the bowl, I was choking. I couldn't even finish making the dish, so I bagged it all up and threw it in the trash. David came into the house about 15 minutes later and started choking as soon as he walked in the door, from the Cumin powder. We ended up eating out that night.

Tonight, i re-tried making the Quick Curried Chicken, with curry powder this time. It was a big success. We LOVED it! Glad that when I use the correct spices, dinner is a big hit!

Our Children

2011-04-03T09:08:00.004-07:00

Sally has inspired me to post a picture every Sunday our children, Moose & Stella. Since we don't have children and have 2 doggies, we have lots of pictures!

Stella is a bit of a loner dog. She kind of reminds me of a cat. She doesn't like to be touched unless she wants to be touched. She would rather sleep upstairs while everyone is downstairs. It just cracks me up!

A Week Later

2011-03-31T17:33:00.002-07:00

Lion
Originally uploaded by DanMcLean

Almost exactly a week after we moved into our new house, my parents came for a long weekend visit.

We had lots of fun.

On Friday, we ate at Rubio's (yummy fast mexican)

On Saturday we went to the Wild Animal Safari Park - it's part of the zoo. I got a year pass and David gets in free year round due to being in the military. The zoo wasn't enough for my dad, so we also went to Lowe's & IKEA. = Long day. Thankfully, I thought ahead and we had pulled pork for dinner that I had put into the crock pot before we had left that morning. After the zoo, we felt like this lion!

On Sunday, we went to Church and took a walk.

On Monday, I worked while David & my parents went to Old Town to check out the Mormon Battalion. I heard it's way cool & David is going to take me back once he has a free weekend. After I finished working, we walked around an outdoor mall & then went to Old Town for dinner. I LOVE mexican!

On Tuesday, it was a hard day. My parents left.

Finding a House

2011-03-24T16:02:00.002-07:00

The Monday after we arrived, we went to the military housing office. David had called ahead of time and for all them military housing in San Diego (which is a lot) they only have 2 neighborhoods that allow dogs. We were not actually expecting to get a house on base. David had called ahead of the move and we were told we would only get a 2 bedroom of 900 sq ft and the wait was 6 to 9 months!
When we sat down, the housing assistant tried showing us houses that wouldn't allow pets. We kept reminding her we had 2 dogs, we were not giving them up! Then she found us a 2 bedroom in a neighborhood that allows pets. I asked how many square feet and she said about 900.
I then told her that I thought it was crazy that just because we don't have children we only get 900 sq feet. At our last duty station we had 1600 because the Air Force went by rank and not how many dependents David has. She goes, oh, wow, we don't have anything with 1600 square feet, but let me talk to my boss.
The housing assistant talked to her boss and she authorized us to get a 3 bedroom if any were available. None were available and we went back out to the waiting area as we were going to get someone to help us find a house out in town.
As we were sitting, our housing assistant came back and said she found us a house if we were still interested. We went to the neighborhood and checked out the house. We loved the house, it has a big backyard, a living room, a dining room, a smaller kitchen and another room (suppose to be family room but it's my office) & a laundry room. The bedrooms are really small, but that's my only complaint!

I totally love my house and we signed the lease the very next day! Our household goods came the day after that! It was a miracle we had been praying for!

Seasoned Driver

2011-03-24T15:54:00.003-07:00

It has been a while and I will do more short posts.

We left Albuquerque, NM for San Diego, CA on Feb 25 late that night. We drove for about 5 hours and then stopped late that night.

The next day, we continued our drive. It was a pretty good drive.

I was super excited because we drove on Interstate 8. I had never been on that interstate. I realized at that moment, that I like to travel and move, a lot.

We made it to San Diego safely. It was a bit crazy coming down the mountain right outside of San Diego. It was SNOWING! Other then that, it was a great drive!

January

2011-01-26T21:00:00.002-07:00

Can you believe how fast this month has gone!!! Where has the time gone!

For us, we have been sick, working and getting ready to move! (in that order)

We did make a fun trip to Old Town to grab a few things for when we move so we can take Albuquerque with us!

I'm counting the days down to perfect weather!

I'm ready to be a California Girl!!!

December & January

2011-01-11T22:02:00.002-07:00

Well, it's been a couple of crazy months again! I can't believe how quickly time is moving right now! I'm not ready for Feb and to move!

A few highlights:

I turned 26 - David took me out to the Melting Pot & we walked around Old Town that evening

David worked a third and last year for Toys for Tots (great program, excited to be done though)

David's work had a Christmas Party 3 days before Christmas

We went to Denver and spent it with the Allen's. We had SO much fun!

Spent the New Years with David's co-workers playing poker to bring in the new year.

David was promoted to SSGT (E-6) rank - this is about 2/3rd of the way up the enlisted (no degree) rank.

We had a party for David getting promoted - he made his extremely yummy Carne Asada - if you come visit us we will be sure to make you some!

It's been a very eventful year and in just a little over a month we start our trek to San Diego. We will be visiting both of our parents along the way while also looking for a house. We are EXTREMELY excited to be moving. We are very lucky for the fact that my work wants to keep working for them and will have me working from home. I feel very blessed for this opportunity and I know Moose & Stella will love it!

We hope everyone had a great new year.

September, October & November

2010-12-02T17:13:00.002-07:00

Well, it's been a while again since I last posted.

In September, David & I, along with another Couple, The Hawks, & us went to Phoenix for a long weekend to go see Tom Petty in concert. We all took the friday through monday off to just have a great time. We got an AWESOME rate and stayed at the Legacy Golf Resort. It was the perfect location for us. We were within 10 minutes of anything we wanted to do.

The first night in we went to a major league baseball game at the Chase Field. It is such a nice field! It's an indoor field, but the roof retracts and a portion of the wall of the outfield opens. It was absolutely gorgeous because looking out and watching the sun set, you had the high rises on one side and the mountains on the other.

On Saturday, we mainly wanted to just hang out at the really nice pool. My friend from high school who lives in Phoenix came out and we all just relaxed and played in the pool. My friend was saying though that the pool is cooled (instead of heated) so it's not to warm! I thought that was funny!

We also had to go to the Heart attack Grill. Everything at this grill is cooked in lard...I'm so serious! But it was by far the best hamburger ever! David & I shared one.

On Sunday, with our tickets for the baseball game, we received free admission into the Sea Life Phoenix. It is an aquarium in Phoenix that is in the mall. It was a smaller aquarium, but it was fun to go and see the sea life. The rest of the day we relaxed. We were about to leave to go get something for dinner when i checked my facebook, when one of my friends who lives in CA but grew up in Phoenix had posted that our concert had been postponed. Well, we did our research and Tom Petty had a throat infection and had indeed postponed his show. We decided not to let it bother us and we still went out to dinner and then had a nice relaxing evening in the hotel room.

Monday, we obviously went home but we went the scenic route. It was so beautiful!

The very next weekend my mom and my sister Jeni with her husband and kids all came into town for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It's a big deal and it's been fun every year we have been here. We were up early in the mornings and late to bed. To say the least, we had SO much fun! I always love when family comes to visit!

The next weekend, my friend from Phoenix, her roommate and her boyfriend came to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta as well. Those 3 know how to make a weekend packed full! Not only did we do the balloon fiesta, we took the train to Santa Fe (where I managed to dump a whole bottle of root beer on David!) and then when we came back from Santa Fe, we went to McCalls Pumpkin Patch and did the haunted barn and haunted corn maze! We were gone from 5:30 am to 11:30 pm! We were so TIRED that night!

The next big thing that happened was the Marine Corps Ball. I don't have my pictures uploaded yet and I only took 2 or 3 but David, as usual, looked amazing and so did I! David & I danced the night away and went to bed early as we were exhausted. the ball was at the Hard Rock Casino and this year our tickets included a room! It was nice getting ready in the hotel room and not having to worry about having dog hair on anything! It was a total blast except the 2 am fire drill. Also, the casino doesn't do the fire alarm, it speaks loudly into your room "THIS IS NOT A DRILL, PLEASE EXIT THE BUILDING" over and over again!

The next day, David flew home to Sacramento for Thanksgiving. I, had to work a couple more days, so I worked until the middle of Wednesday and then flew out. We had a great thanksgiving with his family. We tried new recipes. I made

Mac & Cheese Muffins (amazing!)
Green Beans w/ crackers (a different type of casserole)
Homemade Cranberry Sauce (homemade is the way to go!)
Upside Down Caramel Apple Pie (to die for!)
Cookies & Cream Pie

David's mom also made:

Turkey
Ham
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
and I'm sure way more!

We had so much fun and just relaxed.

David, one of his sisters & I did some black friday shopping, but not to much!

The very next day after Thanksgiving was David's & I's 6 year anniversary! I can't believe it! David was so sweet this year and he got me a necklace (one of the open heart collection ones) and made me a hair appointment.

That evening, we went to the Ruth Chris Steak House. It's an expensive steak house (thanks to David's parents who gave us a gift card they said they weren't going to use and had been holding onto it for over a year!) We had the barbeque shrimp...so yummy! David had the new york strip & i had a petite filet. They were by far the best steak we have ever had. The server serves the steaks on plates that are 500 degrees!!! We then shared the Sweet Potato Casserole & Asparagus with hollindase sauce.

We were suppose to go out for dessert after a while later but we made the mistake of going back to the house. I was in such a food coma, I fell asleep in a minimum of 10 minutes sitting up! I was gone for the rest of the night!

I hope everyone also had a great thanksgiving.

We are back at work and everyday life!

Orders

2010-10-19T19:47:00.003-07:00

This morning I had just parked the car at work and was getting ready to cross the street (6:50 am) when my phone rang. It was David on the other line and he doesn't normally call me, I always call him at work to tell him I love him. (I always think it might brighten his day a little bit).

I answer the phone and he immediately asks me, "are you driving?"

I replied "No, what's up?" a little shaky as that's never really a good way to start a conversation.

David continued, "We got orders today". We weren't expecting orders as David told his Major on Friday that we would be willing to stay an extra year to help out the Company and so David could get all his Staff training done for when he picks up soon.

I eagerly reply, "Where to!?"

David then said, "I report to APAC in Jacksonville, NC on Jan 5" and I RUDELY INTERRUPT "we are going back to North Carolina!!!!"

David continued "If you can not interrupt me, I report to North Carolina on Jan 5 for 5 weeks for training. I will then be back and we will report to our MCAS Miramar on March 23."

Lets just say I screeched with joy because we are going to San Diego!!! I can't wait!

Denver

2010-09-28T17:25:00.002-07:00

So, it's been a while since I last posted, it's been a busy couple of months. I will do a few while I can, but it is once again a very busy week.

David came home August 17, I was so happy for him to be home! Two days after he got home, I picked him up from work and we road tripped it up to Denver for Jeni's youngest daughters baptism. We got in about midnight, it was a late night!
We slept the first night at my sisters but we stayed the other 2 nights at the Embassy Suites. Suzanne also came into town with her youngest daughter also.

We had so much fun! Friday, us adult girls went out for lunch, to a fabric store and a boutique. The adult boys took Hattie and went out for lunch and hung out at home.

That night we all went out for some super yummy barbeque and then relaxed.

Saturday we just hung out of the house until the baptism and then we had the baptism. David gave the talk about the holy ghost and then we went back to the house for a PARTY! Man was it a party! So many people, such good food and good company!

Suzanne left that night and David & I headed back to our hotel the next day to go home.

It was sad to leave but we had such a great weekend!

Weekend

2010-07-11T15:50:00.002-07:00

Who doesn't love a weekend! I know I do! This weekend was full of fun and laughter...I'm so glad to be having so much fun while David is gone!
Friday night, I left work and came home to check on my poor doggies who had been in their kennels ALL day. I let them out for a bit, but had to return back downtown to eat dinner with friends. We went to one of my favorite places downtown called the Asian Noodle Bar. I LOVE their fried rice...it's super yummy! Then my two friends and I went to a live theater production called triple espresso. The show itself was ok, but the theater it was in (the Kimo Theater) was beyond beautiful! They had beautiful artwork and carvings and bright colors all over. It is a small theater, but nice and cozy. As I said, the show was ok, it was a comedy of 3 friends re-aquatinting themselves and reminiscing about the past.
Afterwards, one of my friends and I walked over to the civic plaza, a place downtown where events are held and saw a Mariachi competition. That was interesting, but they had wonderful homemade ice cream!
Saturday, I went to old town to get a couple of people some New Mexico treasures. I love old town, so many little shops and lots of history! It had been a while since the last time I went, but it's always beautiful down their! I then went and got the truck an oil change (something that I hate doing but obviously have to do) and then headed home. I had a fun night to get ready for.
My friend and I went out Saturday night and my friends husband was so thankful for me taking her out so he could go to bed early!!! LOL! We went out to dinner at a place called Two Fools Tavern. It is the best fish & chips I've had since england and it's a small but lively irish pub. The food is great and the service is even better! It makes me feel like I'm back in Europe when I go in.
After dinner, we went to see a Broadway Hit, Beauty and the Beast! (I think my friends husband was just glad he didn't get dragged to this!) It was just like the movie with a couple additional songs! It was one of my favorite disney movies growing up and the scenery and staging they used was beyond beautiful! We had such a good time and it is something I will remember for a while. I love musicals and plays and really haven't been to any since Bloomington, but I have a feeling that is going to change.

I'm just hoping we get to stay here through January as Wicked is coming! I SO want to see Wicked!

Video Chatting

2010-07-05T19:53:00.002-07:00

David has been gone for a full week now. It's never easy when he leaves, but I always understand why he does leave.

Today, we skyped each other and actually got to see each other. It was our first time ever doing that, and it's REALLY cool.

It was pretty funny because once I realized that I had speakers plugged into my lap top and turned them on to hear David, it was even better!

Moose & Stella started going crazy the second they heard David's voice. They were barking and running up the stairs and to the back door and to the front door. They were jumping on the couch and looking up our vaulted ceiling to see if David was up their as well.

Finally, once they calmed down, I brought Moose over to the Computer and he could then see David...oh how that started another commotion! We have a corner desk in our front room with our couch up against it. I have my screen hooked up to the laptop so it's easier for me to work at home. Moose ran to the couch and tried to jump over the back of it to figure out how Daddy was on this screen but not really here. It was really cute! Once Stella figured out where David was at as well, she did the same thing. Thankfully only Moose got his two front paws on the back of our desk and Stella didn't. I was worried that Moose was going to jump on the desk!

It was nice to see David and talk to him. It makes it a lot easier. :) So, anyone who skypes, let me know and we can video chat as well!

Summer!

2010-06-18T16:48:00.002-07:00

It has been a few crazy months...extremely busy!

First off, Back at the end of April beginning of May, I had sisters weekend in Vegas with my family. I had a blast and just enjoyed relaxing! I love to see my family any chance I get and it was very nice. We didn't have any real solid plans and just loved it! My plane ride was slightly exciting! In mid flight from where I live to my parents, my flight was re-routed due to the weather. THANKFULLY, I only got in about 2 hours later, and all though I was STARVING it wasn't bad at all. I look forward to sisters weekend every year!

In May we celebrated David's birthday. We were planning on going camping the weekend of his birthday, but David ended up having to work that Saturday and Sunday. On his birthday (it was a Friday) we went out to Dinner, just the 2 of us, to Pappadeaux's. It's a supper yummy seafood place. We don't normally go out for seafood, but David wanted to try it out. We then went and saw Iron Man 2, which we also both enjoyed.

For David's birthday, I got him a great present this year. I got him the MegaTicket. It is 6 concerts for a really good price. David was extremely excited and got his wish of going to a bunch of concerts this year!

The week after David's birthday, we went to our first concert...Brooks & Dunn. They were amazing! They have so many best sellers and we were able to just sit back and relax. The music was great and we had great lawn seats, with lawn chairs!

Two weeks later, we were able to go see Tim McGraw! He knows how to put on a good show! Knew so many songs and was able to dance all along with everyone else!

The same week we saw Tim McGraw, at my office we went on for 10 hours mandatory overtime until we are told otherwise. I thankfully have a code so I can work from home for my overtime, but I have been extremely busy. David is a little sad I'm bringing my work home, but I just remind him that at least I am able to bring home my work and be able to be with him instead at my office working at my desk.

David & I have also really enjoyed going to the Isotopes (minor league baseball) games. We went to 1 in May and 2 this month already. The 1 in May is the only one they have won, but I love to go just sit at the chair with my soda and hold my husbands hand. Nothing is better then that. Last night we went to the 2 game in June and David with 3 other Marines had to do the colorgaurd for the National Anthem. It was really cute, all these little boys get to go out on the field (different teams every game) and meet the team. This one little boy, looking all shy, went past all the baseball players and went up to David and the other Marines and asked them for their autographs! It was super cute!

Now it's the weekend before David leaves for a long course, and we are just going to relax and maybe go to a movie. We really enjoy our time together, and with it limited from both of our jobs, we really treasure the time we have together. I am going to try and really start blogging more. I hope everyone has a great summer!

Landing...

2010-04-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

And people say things in Albuquerque can be boring....

A Delta Air Lines flight was rerouted Friday morning after a passenger threatened to blow up the plane, screamed "get behind me Satan" and sprayed passengers with water from a beverage-cart bottle, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
Flight attendants and other passengers on Delta Flight 2148 struggled to restrain the "erratic and dangerous" passenger with seat belts and plastic handcuffs while pilots rerouted the plane to Albuquerque, New Mexico, FBI Special Agent Benedict R. Bourgeois said.
The plane, which was flying from Los Angeles, California, to Tampa, Florida, landed in Albuquerque at 3:37 a.m. ET, the Transportation Security Administration said.
The passenger, Stanley Dwayne Sheffield, was taken into custody shortly afterward.
Law enforcement swept the plane and found nothing suspicious, TSA said. The flight landed in Tampa at about 9:20 a.m. ET, more than three hours after its scheduled arrival.
The complaint said Sheffield, 46, was heading back to his first-class seat from the plane's bathroom when he grabbed a 2-liter water bottle from a drink cart, began spraying passengers and shouted "get behind me Satan."
The complaint said that after a flight attendant asked him to return to his seat Sheffield threatened: "I am going to bring this plane down. ... You need to land this plane or I'm going to blow it up [and] I will blow up this plane and take you all with me."
Passengers "engaged Sheffield in a struggle and restrained him" when he approached the cockpit door, the complaint said.
CNN affiliate KRQE-TV in Albuquerque reported the passenger was a 46-year-old man who allegedly made threats, damaged a bathroom and attempted to enter the flight deck when seven passengers restrained him.
The man was treated for minor injuries he sustained during the struggle and later was turned over to the FBI, the report said.
The TV station reported that the FBI didn't believe the incident was terrorism-related but didn't know if drugs or alcohol were involved.
Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott said the airline was grateful to passengers for assisting the crew.
The incident comes a day after federal agents removed "a potential person of interest" from a Delta flight during a fuel stop in Puerto Rico, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. The passenger was taken into custody for questioning.
Delta said the flight was en route from Dakar, Senegal, to New York and continued to New York after the passenger was removed. Law enforcement sources said the passenger is Gambian.
Neither Delta nor the agency provided further details.
A law enforcement source said the passenger did not pose any kind of security threat. He came under suspicion because someone made a false accusation against him, the source said.

Another Baby Shower

2010-03-12T16:54:00.004-07:00

This last week was a crazy week. I had an allergies for one of the first times, it was awful! The allergies turned into an awful cold that made me want to stay in all week, but alas, I work again! One of my good friends was having a baby shower on Sunday and I had volunteered to make the cake. This time, I wanted to go above and beyond my other cakes. With me feeling sick the week of the shower, I ended up buying the fondant at a specialty cake shop. It was expensive, but much better then the fondant you can buy at Wal Mart, Michaels or Hobby Lobby. I was even able to buy CHOCOLATE fondant! How cool is that! I didn't even have to make the brown! My friends theme was ladybugs, but not red ladybugs, PINK ladybugs! And her colors were brown and pink. David also helped me make the cake! He was so much help and made it go so much faster! Here are a few pics!

This was the bottom layer. For the ladybug spots and eyes, we used frosting gel

This was the top layer.

The cupcakes were yellow cake with whipped chocolate frosting in the middle. YUMMY! The cakes were marble and they were supper good as well!

America

2010-03-05T17:35:00.002-07:00

Today, I experienced something I had never experienced before. One of my good friends became an American Citizen and I went to her ceremony with David, her husband and child. I work across the street from the convention center and was able to just take an early lunch. When I walked into the room the ceremony was happening, I was taken a back, So many people were in this large room. We had 189 people sworn in as Americans today, plus all the family and friends who came to support them. We had the American Legion do the color guard, and we had 2 wonderful voices sing the National Anthem. A judge then came forward and said how happy he was to do these ceremonies, as the people who come are always happy, much not to what he is use to in the Courts normally. We then had a person come forward to announce every Country that was in being represented today. It started with Afghanistan and ended with Vietnam. A total of 82 Countries! Each time a country was said, the people from that Country would stand and everyone would clap. We had the most people from Mexico (not a big surprise) but even had yelps of Hooray with them. My friend was originally from Thailand, and had one other person from that group.
We then continued on after that with the official swearing in. I cannot say what they said because it was long enough for me to take my friends son and her husband to walk across the room and take a picture. But it was amazing hearing all 189 people chanting the words. It gave me chills!

We then all said the Pledge of Allegiance together. The ceremony continued with a Congresswoman giving a speech about heritage and how we are immigrants, whether it be from our forefathers or from them themselves. She was an excellent speaker and spoke also about her own personal heritage. We then heard a message from President Obama and then stode and listened to Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American".

We then closed the ceremony by listening to the beginning singers sing America the Beautiful. It was such a wonderful experience and made me really appreciate being an American.

My good friend told me she wasn't telling very many people that she was "just now" becoming a citizen, but I think she is an awesome person and should be recognized! She has lived in America since she was 6 months old, immigrating to America with her parents. Her parents became citizens shortly after my friend turned 18, so she was not "grandfathered" into becoming a Citizen. But I want you to know how proud I am of you!

Infertility

2010-02-07T21:20:00.002-07:00

As most people know, David and I are having a difficult time producing a child. Sometimes we are extremely upset once a month, sometimes I cry, sometimes we argue, but overall, we are working on it our way and making do. We are always trying to do better and not worry as much and we are a lot better then in the beginning! A good friend of mine sent me a blog to give me a good laugh and it did and I wanted to share. So, some of the posts are funny and some are stupid, but it's nice to hear a few jokes to lighten that topic.

http://999reasonstolaughatinfertility.blogspot.com

Another Cake

2010-02-06T09:08:00.004-07:00

As most of you know, I love making cakes and i love using my new kitchen aid to make fondant icing! So yummy and I never thought I would ever use it for that! 1 1/2 weeks ago, we had a little potluck for an attorney at my work. She is getting married tomorrow in Ohio. Everyone made food and brought it in, but I was in charge of the cake! I made another red velvet cake with white fondant icing. I then learned how to make roses and lilies for the cake. Everyone was so impressed and kept asking me if I had taken cake classes. I told everyone, yes, on you tube! You can learn anything on you tube and it's great! I think the best comment I heard that day was from another attorney who said "I can't even buy a cake that beautiful!" That totally made my day. Here are some pics of the cake!

The front of the cake

The back of the cake, the lines coming down stems, I made a mistake and that was how I covered it up.

The roses

The lilies

Birthday & Baby Shower

2009-12-19T18:46:00.004-07:00

This month was my birthday. For my birthday David & I went out with friends to Texas Roadhouse. It was SO yummy! Of course, I had to be embarrassed!

Also, This week I went back to work at a new company. I am doing the same thing as I was before and I don't mind going to work at this location. I have multiple friends who had already made the change to this company. It was a good first week and I am far happier then I ever was at my last job.
Along with starting my new job this week, my best friend, T, and I put on a baby shower Friday evening for one of our husbands co-workers wife. We had planned it out all nicely and had picked up a key for the community center. It was going to be at a nice location. Well, we got a phone call from David at 4 asking if we could move the location of the baby shower to the toys for tots warehouse. (The husbands were invited to come) T and I made last minute changes while all the husbands called their wives to let them know we had changed the location. T and I made do in the ugly, nasty, warehouse (that is condemned!). We moved tables around and T went to Dollar Tree that week and had gotten table cloths and plates and everything we needed. T, was amazing and did tons for the baby shower! She made cupcakes, and these super yummy croissant things that had whip cream, cream cheese, and fruit in it. She also made these yummy sugar cookies with m&m's in the bag for the goodies bag.
I made a veggie platter and bought a meat platter and made another fondant cake. This time, I made the fondant from scratch! It was a few days process. Tuesday night, I made a red velvet cake. Wednesday night, I made the fondant with mini marshmallows, powder sugar, vanilla, and a little milk. The frosting recipe is really good. Thursday, I assembled the cake with my mom's frosting and the fondant. I then took some remaining fondant and tried to dye the color black with food coloring. For some reason, it turned more purplish, even though I was using the black food coloring. I then made the cake a zebra cake. I then put some little rubber animals on top. The cake wasn't perfect, but I thought it looked really good for my 2nd fondant cake, 1st one on my own!

Busy

2009-12-04T09:45:00.002-07:00

So, it's been a long while sine I last posted. Let see what's happen.

1. My big brother got married!

2. I went to Denver and hung out with my sister.

3. I started a Premier Designs (jewelry) business and it is doing really good :)

4. I've done lots of Christmas shopping

5. Had lots of dinners with friends :)

6. Thanksgiving was a blast with my friends who is my family away from my family

7. I celebrated my 5th anniversary!

8. I received a job offer and is taking it as soon as my background check clears!

So, in other words, I have been busy. David worries all the time that I'm bored at home not working, but almost everyday is eventful and I love it!

Happy be-lated Thanksgiving everyone!

Shape Glowdeo

2009-10-12T19:25:00.005-07:00

On Friday October 9, 2009, David and I went with our friends again to the night portion of the balloon festival. It's called the Shape Glowdeo. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! All the balloons stayed close to the ground and as the night became darker, you could see the flames in the balloons! Plus we went the night when all the balloons were special shapes. After the balloons we stayed for fireworks also. Fireworks are always good.

The Creamlands Cow

A super cute pig with sunglasses! (stating the obvious)

A strawberry patch that had cows and horses on it

A Shamrock

A Jack-O-Lantern (this was one of my favorites!)

Noah's Ark

An Elephant

A lot of balloons

A Green Frog

A blurry photo of the balloons

Mass Ascension

2009-10-12T19:16:00.002-07:00

On November 4, 2009 - David and I met some friends for the morning mass ascension of the 2009 annual balloon festival. The mass ascension was not as good as last years for the day I went with my family. But it is still amazing. I love it and it's just so much fun.

David in front of the balloons in the mass ascension.

Look at all the balloons go!

David and Pikachu (my friends son - this is his blog name)

Nemo is going up!

So many balloons!

If Only I was Human

2009-10-12T19:10:00.003-07:00

I have been super busy these past few weeks so I will have a few posts tonight as I am catching up.

A few weeks ago Stella was laying next to me and she propped herself up as if she was human! It was so funny, and on top of it she had a funny face the whole time!

I also remember when I was a kid and we had our dog Strider. Strider was very loved but I remember dressing Strider in my clothes, mainly t-shirts, but sometimes shorts also. Well, David has recently been putting his shirts on Moose. Thankfully not his shorts! Moose was super funny though because he really loved wearing the shirts. The funniest part was when Moose would try to go up the stairs. His back legs would get stuck in the shirt!

Recipes

2009-09-25T09:12:00.003-07:00

This one is for you Suzanne! I love to share recipes!

Green Chili Stew (by far so good)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
1 onion, chopped
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot over medium heat, heat the oil and brown the stew meat and the onions until onions are translucent; about 5 minutes

Pour in the diced tomatoes with chiles, beef broth and chile peppers. Stir in the garlic salt and cumin. Salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Add a little more beef broth or water if needed during simmering.

Stir in cubed potatoes to the mixture and simmer for an additional 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

For this, I also added in some other spices that I thought sounded good, such as Ms. Dash's Southwestern Spice. I also make yummy homemade bread to go with this but tortillas go great also. Oh, And I only had 1 cup of beef broth, so I also put chicken broth in it and is was still excellent.

This next recipe, the BBQ Chicken Calzones, was super yummy. We just tried it for the first time, but it is most definitely a keeper. Just click here for the recipe.

That is all for now, but I hope you enjoy the recipes.

What's for Dinner?

2009-09-24T18:01:00.003-07:00

Since I am currently unemployed, I have been enjoying trying new and old recipes. It is so much fun to cook and not have to worry about anything else while cooking! I love cooking because I love food so much! This payday (because I shop by payday instead of weekly) we have had, stir fry (thanks Thaomee for the great stuff to use as the sauce!), green chili stew (thanks also Thaomee for that recipe!), bb-q chicken calzones (so good), chicken tacos. Tonight, we are having steak and eggs with hashbrowns. I can't wait for it all to be done! I do have to thank all recipes for all of their great ideas also. Anyway, dinner is great, but I need to go make some eggs now!

Autumn

2009-09-22T12:27:00.003-07:00

It's the first day of fall and all I am thinking about is how beautiful it is this time of year in Indiana. I haven't been to Indiana in a few years, but I grew up with parents who made me really appreciate fall and spring. I grew up loving the the change of colors and the birth of new flowers and trees.

In Albuquerque, I don't feel as if it is the same...at all. It is much to brown for me. But, I am learning to appreciate different things. For one, we thankfully do not get nearly as much snow! Also, the balloon festival is huge and a wonderful time to be with others. Today is the first day of fall, and the high is 65 degrees. The windows are open (have been for a week and a half now) and I turned off all the fans today because it is so nice and cool. It isn't going to stay this way, but I am enjoying it.

Fondant

2009-09-13T19:35:00.002-07:00

On Saturday, September 12, 2009, I got to play around with some fondant. I was super excited to have my friend teach me. We made 2 small 6 in cakes so we could both have one. I made a 4 layer cake and after it was really hard to frost my cake, my friend made a 2 layer cake. I didn't get pictures of my friends, but they both turned out so CUTE!

The piping on the frosting was a little crooked on purpose. The fondant did a little cracking and because our iron was at David's work, I couldn't steam the cracks out. So I did piping over the big cracks so you could see it. Also, the cake was super yummy!

CALIFORNIA!

2009-09-13T19:22:00.002-07:00

This past week for Labor Day we went to California for Labor Day. We had a ton of fun! We did a lot of relaxing and catching up with David's family. It was nice to be away with David for a week with no job in the way! It was spur of the moment type of thing, and those are usually the best. We did a lot with David's family. We met David's dad for lunch one day, went out to dinner a couple of times. We went to the state fair with some of David's and mine friends. (I forgot my camera that day, so I'm waiting on getting them from my friend)
The next day David's family and us went to Country in the Park. That was a lot of FUN! We saw, Trailer Park, One Flew South (amazing band), Julianne Hough, Little Big Town, and then also Billy Ray Cyrus (we left when Billy came on). It was an amazing afternoon and we got lots of sun and saw some amazing people perform.

David & his dad

David and I

It was just a great and relaxing vacation!

Life of Unemployment

2009-08-28T07:38:00.002-07:00

Life has been good for that past week and a half. Last Tuesday was my last day at my job, and my life has become so much nicer and easier to handle! Wednesday, the first day off, I went swimming...in the middle of the day! I don't remember seeing sunshine for so long! I've been shopping during the day, going out to eat (once) and sleeping in until 8! My life is great and I'm loving the time off. I haven't started looking for a new job, but I'm not super concerned. I'm still trying to figure out what my new adventure will be. I will not be a paralegal assistant for a foreclosing law firm and I will not be a travel agent for the government. Now that I have that out of the way, my options are wide open!

A Family Thing

2009-08-12T17:29:00.001-07:00

Today, David comes home! YAY! So, I have been trying to waste time as the day seems to drag when he comes in at 9:05, oh wait, it is delayed...only 15 minutes but still! So, I went to work today, the morning went a lot faster than I thought it would. Then I decided I didn't want to sit in the kitchen for an hour on my lunch so i would go to target. That's my favorite place to go to on lunch if I don't have a date with any of my girlfriends or I don't want to sit in the lunch room.

So, I'm at Target walking around and I decided to update my facebook. I wrote on it

Krissie is walking around Target on my lunch.

Not to long after that, my oldest and 3rd oldest sister are both writing, so am I!

Now, if that isn't a family thing to go waste lunch at Target, because I know more of you do, then I don't know what is!

Stella

2009-07-19T20:53:00.003-07:00

My dog Stella, is a little interesting. She has funny habits, such as, she use to go outside and immediately she turns around real fast to make sure you close the door behind her. She howls at you as you walk up the stairs and she really misses David while he is gone.

Well this weekend, she has started a new habit. As soon as she goes outside and you close the door, she scratches it because she doesn't want you to close it. So I let her in, and she does it inside also. She just wants the door open so she can come in and out as she pleases. Well, I'm not letting her do that as it would run up the air conditioning bill with it being in the high 90's outside everyday.

SHE'S DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!!

Ticket

2009-06-30T16:37:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know I bought my plane ticket for Denver for the family reunion! Can't wait to see everyone and have a long long weekend of relaxing!

Jack in the Box

2009-06-26T16:54:00.002-07:00

Well, it's been a long time. I have been so busy working and keeping up with everything around the house. I have been to Vegas and Denver and back. Nothing really exciting has been happening. We are getting ready for David to leave for 6 weeks to go back to J-ville. I'm a little jealous that he gets to catch up with our old friends and some friends even from here. David has been extremely busy doing funerals and tonight he is at a wedding rehearsal. I'm glad it's not another funeral!

Here in town Jack in the Box has opened today, but yesterday they had free food for military. It was pretty cool, we went in and ordered 2 meals, got them for free, and then went back and got milkshakes for free. It was a lot of fun to do something like that and it was really nice inside.

anyway, as I said. I'm not really up to anything!

Stanley Flat

2009-05-03T07:40:00.011-07:00

Stanley Flat has made it to New Mexico.

Man did he have a great day yesterday. First, I taught him something very essential...how to use the ATM!

Then Stanley helped me check out at the Commissary.

Then while I made some yummy food for girls night, Stanley hung out with Moose.

Then we were all ready for girls night...and was feeling good!

And what a fun night we had at girls night, catching up, eating GREAT food and playing some poker!

Stanley was so tired, but I know he can't wait to go to work with me on Monday!

Kids doing the cute things

2009-04-29T20:05:00.003-07:00

On Tuesday night David and I went out on a date for dinner. We were going to go putt putting, but we were to tired to go. We went to California Pizza Kitchen. It was such beautiful weather that we ate outside. Right next to the outside eating patio area is what I call, the Albuquerque Bellagio. It's nothing like the real thing, but it's about 15 sprinkler things shooting up. All of these children were running through it laughing and getting soaked. David and I couldn't take our eyes off of all them as they were having so much fun. It was so contagious to laugh with them. It was really cute.

Something else that was really cute was we were sitting in sacrament meeting having the bread passed around. Two children right behind us were looking at a picture book that I think mom made for them. They were being extremely quiet (something they hadn't done up until then) and all of sudden we hear "Baby Jesus" said in unison together. It was just so cute and then they continued to softly talk about the pictures and then they said "Adult Jesus". It was just really cute because they got this little voice and sounded so excited.

House

2009-04-22T18:07:00.006-07:00

The downstairs portion of our house

The front room

Our 18 step stairway...so long according to my nieces and nephew

The kitchen

The dining room

The laundry room

The pantry

This is our downstairs!

Moving

2009-04-03T22:19:00.002-07:00

So, This past month David & I have been extremely busy packing up our house to move onto base. In that time, so many funny things have happened, but I just didn't have time to write about them. So I am going to do a small sample of them tonight...as I am exhausted but just don't want to go to bed.

The week we were getting ready to move I am at work and David calls me. I couldn't pick up the phone because I was on my work phone speaking to a Defendant. When I get off my phone I see that David has left me a voicemail. I listen to the voicemail and start cracking up instantly. It said... "Krissie, I tripped and fell down the stairs and made a hole in the wall (pause) but I'm ok. I need to go to home depot so I can patch it up" I kinda start freaking out. He hasn't told me what body part made the hole. Did he go feet first, was it an elbow, or a head? I call David back but he didn't take his phone with him to home depot so I go to two of my co-workers desk and tell them the story. We were all laughing so hard we were crying. Just so you know, David hit his head against the wall, but he had it patched up before I even got home from work. And I was super happy he was ok. It wouldn't have been funny if he had been hurt.

Another story that comes to mind happened this week. We are living on base housing now, and well, all the houses look the same. I'm driving down my street, and the duplex next to us almost has the exact SUV our neighbors in our duplex has. They are just different colors. I pull into my driveway thinking, I just drove by David's work and didn't see the truck. I wonder where he is. I hit the garage door opener so I don't have to go through the front door, and nothing happens. I continue clicking it and think, man, now I need to reset the garage door opener. I get out of the car not really thinking and start walking up to the door. I look at the floor infront of the door and go, oh, that's not my welcome mat. (I just bought us a new one this week) It all of a sudden clicks in my head that I'm at the wrong hosue. I hurry into my car and realize I am one duplex to early! I'm just glad I didn't try to use my key in the door.

Moving has been good and I do enjoy our new house and the gym on base and the drive is much easier for David and I. David now only works 2 miles away and I'm just a jump on the freeway to work. But, it's going to take us some time to unpack.

Tent Rock

2009-03-02T18:12:00.004-07:00

This weekend we went to Tent Rock. It was so much fun. We went with 3 of my co-workers and just had a good time. We went hiking, had a lot of laughs, a couple falls and a yummy lunch at Applebees. I'm thinking we will go again and take the dogs. The would love it!

Bad Mom

2009-02-08T08:14:00.003-07:00

Last night, David didn't get home from work until 9pm. We watched TV for an hour and then we went to bed...I was exhausted after a day of doing nothing except a couple loads of laundry, cleaning the kitchen, and making an awesome strawberry-blueberry cobbler. Well, Stella for the last couple of days has been licking one of her paws. We figures she might of cut her paw on a bush outside with thorns. No big deal. That heals. David and I, with Moose and Stella, crawl into bed and I quickly fall asleep within 15 minutes. I wake up around 12:30 hearing David go, "baby girl? you ok?" I'm thinking, of course I'm ok. I was asleep. But he was talking to Stella. Somehow, in the middle of the night Stella did something to her paw and she won't use it. David started calling her tripod...which for some family members might remind you of the little dog on Dauphine Island, and I giggled a little. But, apparently, I'm a bad dog mom because I said she is fine. She most likely sprained it and jumping out of bed and landed on it wrong. That was not what David wanted to hear and he most likely wanted me to get out of bed and try to look at her paw and be all lovely dovey....which at 12:30 in the morning was not happening. I jumped out of bed and picked Stella up and put her back in bed...since her paw was hurting...and said, honey, if your paw is still hurting tomorrow, I'll put an ace bandage on it. At this point David was pissed at me because I was not taking this serious. But all in al, Stella, is still limping, I'm not putting an ace bandage on her, and I'm going to have another relaxing day while David is at work.

Photos

2009-01-11T08:16:00.001-07:00

I was given a challenge yesterday to take pictures everyday and post my favorite picture. I thought it was a great idea. My second blog for my favorite photo of the day is at
http://kdunnphoto.blogspot.com/
Now I may not get to it everyday...but I hope I do.

Enjoy!

Cake Pops

2008-12-29T20:55:00.003-07:00

This Saturday, I was on a baking spree, or a little one. I made these things called Cake Pops!
They are so cute. My friend made some for her husband and sons birthday back in November and I have been wanting to make them since. They were a huge hit at the party and they were so yummy! Well, it took me about 3 to 4 hours on Saturday, but I could have probably had them done in 2 hours. They really don't take that long and the few people I gave them to at work today, we only had 3 left this morning, loved them. I am making more this weekend to give to the rest of my co-workers for a happy holidays gift. I will post better pictures of my second batch. I'm sure they will look even better!

This is the website if you want to check it out
http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/04/make-your-cupcakes-pop.html

Christmas

2008-12-25T21:57:00.002-07:00

This Christmas was a simple but good. Being away from family is always hard, but we have a family of friends. We were well fed as you will read. Christmas eve, we went to one of my co-workers house who lives with her family. It was a full house because they had company in town, but we had good laughs and stayed late hanging out. Christmas morning, we were surprised by a call from family in Japan. It was nice, they were getting ready for bed, because it was midnight in Japan and saw that I was online and called. I woke David up and was so happy to talk to his cousin. We had a wonderful turkey and ham for lunch at David's co-workers house and awesome brisket at one of my co-workers house for dinner! We are blessed to have so many friends.

Merry Christmas!

Cake

2008-12-19T17:33:00.003-07:00

David's mom got me a cake decorating kit for my birthday. I love it! I've already made on cake...as you can see below, and I'm making a cake for a friend tomorrow. I'm putting it to good use already!

Christmas Party

2008-12-19T17:27:00.002-07:00

My friend Katie and I

My Friend Leslie & I with our husbands

David the Nutcracker

Me on our way to the party

We had it at a VFW - so we got our sodas free
We had yummy food, good music, and good company.
I had a lot of fun with my date and friends!

Birthday

2008-12-19T17:24:00.003-07:00

A few weeks ago it was my birthday. We had gone out the previous weekend to PF Changs and had great food! I love that place. On my birthday, a few friends came over and had cake with us.

Also that day, my friends from work took me out for lunch at Olive Garden. It was a blast and we got back to work late...the server forgot our soup, and it was just perfect!

Festivities

2008-11-30T16:47:00.006-07:00

It's that time of year again, christmas trees, christmas lights, presents, and the best...baking!

Today, we put up our christmas tree and re-organized the front room.

We also did some baking. We made some bark.

I got an early birthday present

And the dogs even got along today!

Peeping Tom

2008-11-23T19:28:00.007-07:00

We have our own little peeping tom.

Marine Corp Ball

2008-11-16T11:30:00.005-07:00

Every year, David and I go to the Marine Corp Ball. This year, his work only has 12 active duty marines and 1 navy corpsman. But they have 90 reservist who were also required to come. The past couple of years, due to his large commands, it was only his work. This year, it was nice to see a lot of retired marines to come and their families. David and I were able to sit with our good friends, eat horrible food, and due to exhaustion, leave before the dancing even started! i think we were asleep before 11 pm that night! Some of my highlights for the day:
1. Got my toes done
2. Got ready with my good friend Thaomee
3. Thought my 2 friends and I looked the best. We didn't look like hookers like half of the wives/girlfriends did.

It was nice because David wasn't in the ceremony so we were able to sit next to each other.

Here is a picture of my friend Thaomee and I.

Thank you Jeni for making me such a beautiful custom dress! I love you! And Thaomee also made her way awesome dress!

Restless Sleeping

2008-10-28T21:11:00.005-07:00

Friday night, I was extremely exhausted. After a long day at work, even coming home a half hour early, and the hockey game and dinner, I was so tired. I fell asleep on the couch around 9 - 10 pm. I woke up and the back door was open (which we keep open when home for Stella to go in and out as needed) but, for some odd reason, I freaked out. I was mad at David when I woke up because I couldn't find him. He was in the bathroom. Well, I laid down in the bed because I was upset when I couldn't find David. Moose and Stella snuggled right up next to me. I don't remember David coming to bed that night because I was so exhausted. I think I was out in .2 seconds.

The next morning I woke at the foot of the beed to have David tell me about my adventures of the previous night. Apparently, around 2 or 3 am I spread all the way out, in my sleep, and yelled at David to get off my bed. David decided not to fight me and put a movie on the tv and moved to the floor. When he turned the tv on I started snoring. David would turn the tv up a little, my snoring would increase a little. He would turn up the tv some more, my snoring would get louder. David called it my competition to be louder than the tv. I do remember waking up at one point saying, I'm hot! I remember throwing the covers and sitting up, but I don't remember laying back down. And that is how I woke up at the end of the bed rather then the head of the bed.

The funny thing is, that Saturday morning I asked David what time it was (since I couldn't see the clock and wanted to go into work that day) and he said it was almost 8am. I got up and went downstairs for some time,came upstairs took a long shower, got out, got dressed and looked at the clock and noticed it wasn't even 8 yet! David got me back!

Sorry David for a bad night of sleep for you!

Free Ticket

2008-10-28T16:39:00.002-07:00

Last night, David & I got free tickets from a friend of a friend to see a special advance screening of Changeling, the movie. I'm not a huge Angelina Jolie fan, but she was amazing in this movie. I hadn't read much about the movie, all I knew was her son was kidnapped and the police brought back a different boy and said he was her son. It had different twists and it was just good. We had a good time going together.

We ended up not staying for the hockey game because we couldn't sit together. But after the color guard David took me out to dinner and he was in his blues. It was fun going out and having EVERYONE stare at David.

Home

2008-10-24T16:37:00.003-07:00

David and I are home after a week in Utah visiting my sister in her time of trial. I feel I have learned so much from her this week and she probably doesn't even know it. I always knew she was strong, but I never realized how strong she is. She is one of the most amazing and talented people I know. I hope I can became more like her each day. I love you!

Our neighbor who watched the dogs for us told us that Moose barked the entire week. We had left suddenly and Moose had sensed that something was wrong and then knew for sure when we left. When we came home, Moose & Stella couldn't keep off of us. It was so cute and they are still being super loves. They are also enjoying being able to play again outside. It is funny though, Stella looks more puppy like then when we left. She is such a teenager right now. I couldn't have asked for 2 better dogs.

Tonight, David has a color-guard for a hockey game. I am going up and meeting him and we are going to watch it together. It will be my first game and I'm a bit excited. I hope we have fun!

A Link

2008-10-19T08:58:00.003-07:00

I have put in my nephews obituary. All of the sisters helped my sister write it including her husbands sisters. We laughed for an hour and a half straight with memories of Calvin. We loved him and he was loved all throughout the town. The second link is the Deseret News and all his friends leaving comments. They are so sweet and we know how much he will be missed.

http://ads.heraldextra.com/articles/2008/10/19/obituaries/332432.txt

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705255860,00.html

Calvin

2008-10-18T08:29:00.001-07:00

Grandap and Calvin
Originally uploaded by dons5

David and I are in Utah this week for my dearly loved oldest nephews funeral. It was highly unexpected and our family is in shock. We loved Calvin for his wonderful sweet spirit and we will miss him. Please pray for our family in this time of trial.

Our Week in a Nutshell

2008-10-12T11:07:00.003-07:00

David and I tried twice this week to go to the balloon festival for the night glows, but thursday night we left to late and got stuck in traffic and then on friday, we got to the park early and it was cancelled due to the winds. I was sad they cancelled it but glad they were being safe. Earlier on Friday during the mass ascension, a hot air balloon caught on fire and then got twisted in utility wires and one person died and another was seriously injured. It was slightly upsetting hearing about it.

On Saturday, David and I took the dogs to the dog park. It had been a while since we had taken them and moose is getting a little out of shape because he isn't running as much. They had a lot of fun and ran and ran. We are going to start trying to take them 2 to 3 times a week.

My accounting class is going good. I have only about 1 1/2 weeks left and then I start my second class. I can't believe 7 1/2 weeks went so fast. I have a 103% right now and hope to keep it up at high. I'm very hard on myself when it comes to grading and stuff.

This weekend, david and I bought a WII. We are so excited. We are both sore today from playing last night. David enjoys his boxing while I enjoy the tennis.

I am hoping to get a WII fit for my birthday. But even without it, I'm getting a good workout at home with it.

Other than that, our week has been normal, nothing to exciting, just staying afloat with lots of fun!

balloon fiesta

2008-10-07T20:20:00.001-07:00

balloon fiesta
Originally uploaded by denverallens

This past weekend my 2nd oldest sister and her family came to visit. We had so much fun. First I got off work early for family! That just made me weekend to start off. Then us adults went out to Rudy's...way good BB-Q. Unfortunantely, David had drill weekend this past weekend, but he got off at 4-4:30 everyday! On Saturday morning, Jeni and her family and I went to the Hot Air Balloon festival. Amazing! Over 700 hot air balloons took off in an hour and we could walk through them. They had tons of different shapes and styles. We got to sample free spam, eat roasted almonds...yummy, and see lots of different things. Then we went up and met David at his work for lunch and a picnic.
That evening us adults went out to Old Town and had some really, really yummy mexican. We were serenade by a guitarist and then David played his guitar.
On Sunday morning, the kids, Jeni, and I went up Sandia Tramway. At the top of the mountain we ate at High Finance, which I thought would be super expensive, but thankfully the lunch menu isn't. It was only 30 degrees at the top, it was cloudy so we couldn't see anything, and we had snow and ice. It wasn't a lot, but now I've seen my first thing of snow and ice. That evening we had our friends the Meyers over for dinner with us, carne asada tacos...that we made ourselves, played guitar hero and sand sing star.
I was sad to see my sister and her family to go, but we had so much fun. I can't wait for next year for us to do it again. This weekend David and I are going to the Balloon Festival again and will take lots of pictures to post!

Fiesta

2008-10-02T18:43:00.001-07:00

This weekend my sister Jeni and her kids and hubby are coming into town. I'm so excited and David is way jealous because he has drill all weekend. We are planning on going to the balloon festival and just having tons of fun! I can't believe it's october all ready. Where has this year gone to? I can't believe also that I have lived in Albuquerque for almost a whole year. It's way crazy!

10 million things

2008-10-02T18:37:00.002-07:00

Tagged
10 years ago I ...
1- Was in middle school - horrible years
2- Living with mom and dad in bloomington
3- slept with Strider at nights
4- was super insecure of myself
5- was boy crazy!

5 Things on my "to do" list today ...
1- Eat dinner
2- Clean up the kitchen
3- Clean the bathrooms (maybe just the master)
4- sleep
5- sleep some more

5 Snacks that I enjoy ...
1- Chocolate
2- Diet Soda
3- Cookies
4- Brownies
5- Mallow Popcorn

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire ...
1- Pay all debt off
2- Buy a house on the beach for vacations
3- quit my job
4- travel the world..for sure africa and the down under
5- invest

5 Places I have lived ...
1- Cedar Rapids, IA
2- Bloomington & Terre Haute, IN
3- Rexburg, ID
4- Harrogate England
5- Jacksonville, NC
6- Denver, CO
7- Albuquerque, NM (I know it was more than 5!)

5 Jobs I have had ...
1- Server
2- Telephone survey person
3- Power Hour Coordinator
4- Travel Agent
5- Legal Secretary/ Paralegal Assistant

Concert Time

2008-09-11T18:49:00.002-07:00

Tuesday Night David and I went to an awesome concert! We saw Augustana, County Crows and Maroon 5!

All three bands were completely awesome and we had a blast! Augustana is really good and they played my favorite song Boston. It's such a good song. The County Crows are just amazing, and they have been around forever, it was great to hear them.

Maroon five was jst so good. I loved it and the set was so simple yet so entertaining. Overall, we had a ton of fun, until we had to leave and deal with people who don't know how to drive.

Back to School

2008-09-04T19:17:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I started school again. It's that time again. New school and new teachers. I am pretty excited for this. I am only taking two classes, one after the other. The are both 7 1/2 weeks. I am excited and a little nervous with how fast paced they are going to be. I am sure I'm going to be just fine. Wish me luck!

Hot Air Balloons

2008-08-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Everyday I look out my bathroom window and our upstairs window and see hot air balloons. Then, on my way to work I see more hot air balloons. Everyday, I try to count how many hot air balloons I see everyday. I feel silly for doing it, but I think the hot air balloons are so pretty. Some days I only see 1, some days 5 and some days 16 or more.

Sometimes on the weekends. I come downstairs to let Moose & Stella out back and I lay down on the couch with the back door open. Sometimes, I can hear the hot air balloons right outside the house putting more and more hot air into the balloons. It's really crazy sounding, but so cool. I always run out back or front to see the hot air balloons. I just think it's amazing see all these hot air balloons all the time.

I can't wait for
1. The hot air balloon festival in October with lots and lots of pics
&
2. To go in my own hot air balloon ride!

A Little Game

2008-07-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty fun game, participate if you want! Add a comment on my blog. Leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Denver

2008-07-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to Denver and having lots of fun. We got in town on Saturday around 2pm. We went to a movie with Jeni and the kids at Cinema Grill. Best idea, dinner and a movie! We then just hung out that night at the house with the kids and played American Idol on the playstation. Wow! My nieces and nephew can sing! It was so cute. While we were doing that Jeni too Craig to a doctors office and he was diagnosed with strep throat. But they got him on meds and he missed a day of work and now he's back. Sunday, we went to church. It was good seeing my friends from when I stayed with Jeni and Craig while David was in Iraq. We then ran an errand after church to fill Craig's prescription and David needed a few things for the conference he's attending so we went to Target.

This morning I took David to his conference that is downtown and after I pick him up we are going to Elitch Gardens which use to be Six Flags. It's just going to be us on a date and it should be a lot of fun.

David works until Thursday, and then we are going to Vail with the YM & YW in Jeni's ward and they are all going biking down the mountains while Jeni, someone else from her ward, and I are the cooks. It should be a TON of fun. I will take lots of pictures. Just wanted to let everyone know we are having a good time on my vacation...not really a vacation for David. But he's having a good time also.

Egg Rolls

2008-07-15T19:04:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, I hung out with my friend Thaomee. On Friday night, we made egg rolls. I hadn't made homemade egg rolls for either a really long time or never. It was sooooo good. Now I know how to make homemade egg rolls too. We then watched a movie and then I went home.
On Saturday we went shopping at Kohl's, ate Rudy's, hung out at my house and watched a movie. Then with David we went back to her house, so she could put her Son down for the night and finished eating the egg rolls and watched another movie. It was so much fun and just relaxing. I needed a weekend like that.
This Friday we are going to Denver after David and I get off work. David has a conference in Denver and I took time off to be with him also. After he is done with his conference on Thursday we are going to Vail and we are going to go camping. David might go on the bike ride, but it should be a ton of fun. Anyway, that's what is going on right now.

Fun Weekend

2008-07-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

This 4th of July weekend David's parents were in town. It has been a lot of fun. They came into town on Thursday. We went out to dinner at Rudy's, that's a Texas BB-Q place. On the 4th of July we grilled carne asada and our friend Thaomee made green chili stew. Yummy! We watched movies, relaxed, and watched the fireworks from our house. We also set off some of our own fireworks...which I hadn't done before.
On Saturday we went to Old Town and walked around. We ate at a Mexican Restaurant and it was SO yummy. On Sunday we went on the tram to the top of Sandia Peak. Here are a few pictures at all views. The Tram is the worlds longest tram and we go up almost 10,300 feet.

Then after we went on the tram we went to Dion's pizza (the best pizza in Albuquerque) and had a yummy lunch. Then we went to base and gave a small tour and david got a haircut.
Monday I had to work a full day and David only worked only a half day so he hung out with his mom. That night I came home and they had made dinner and desert and I didn't have to do a thing. It was totally awesome!
Overall, it was an excellent visit and always love to have family in town.
Next week, to Denver!

Maroon 5

2008-06-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

David and I are going to Maroon 5 in September. Also playing at the concert are County Crows and Augustana.
We are super excited!

Quick Weekend

2008-06-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a lot of fun. It went way to fast and didn't last long enough. David and I had a lot of fun hanging out with our friends and enjoying our house. This weekend I have a co-workers baby shower to go to and next weekend I'm hosting a Tastefully Simple party. I love that food. Anyway, nothing really has happened recently, so I'm just going to post some pictures.
This one is of David and I at the Isotopes game a few weeks ago.

This one is of Thaomee, Katie, and I after climbing the La Luz trail.

This one is of David carrying Isaiah (Katie's son) on the La Luz trail.

Doing it Right

2008-05-29T20:45:00.000-07:00

Today at work we had our monthly office meeting. We all get together and are talked to by the owner of what's going on, the statistics of how the office overall is doing, employees of the month, best productivity... You get the idea. Well I try not to think all high and mighty of myself but an equally hard working employee. Well, for the month of April I had the 3rd highest productivity out of all the employees in the office. That really surprised me because, yes I know I work hard, but I just figure everyone works hard. I was really surprised by that.
Each month we have 3 employees of the month. I was also an employee of the month for April. I think it's awesome that I got to be one of them, but I didn't realize that I was doing that good of a job. It made my day a little bit to know that they recognize my hard work. Each day I come home feeling like I left 10 hours worth of work left on my desk and that I'm never going to get caught up, or I'm not doing a good enough job. So it was a nice change to know that it's normal to always have work left and that I'm not going to be fully caught up, but it's ok as long as I'm doing best.

Anyway, two weekends ago David, Katie, and I went to an Isotopes baseball game. It was fun and then we went back and ate at Katie's house. We've been becoming really good friends and enjoy hanging out with each other a lot. David & I both love her son Isiah and love her family so it's always fun to go to her house.

Memorial day was nice also. We went to a Memorial day Celebration, actually David was in it, and Senator McCain spoke and multiple people from Congress did also. It was slow and just a political campaign in the long run, but then we went to a friends house and BBQ and then played garage band. That is always fun.

I'm looking forward to this weekend because I'm going to another Tastefully Simple party. I love the food! Otherwise I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend of catching up on some laundry and cleaning house with David and watching movies. We decided we wanted to stay in and play with the dogs.

Long Hike

2008-05-16T22:30:00.002-07:00

Last Saturday David, Katie, Tommy, Dirk, Gavin, Isaiah, and I (Gavin & Isaiah are babies) decided to hike up the La Luz Trail. Well, actually we decided to climb up the mountain to the Tram in Albuquerque. Well, silly me didn't think that hiking up to the tram meant hiking up a mountain. Well, we parked at the tram parking lot and started out on a trail to the La Luz trail. Well, I injured my knee back in Jan and it hasn't fully healed at this time. Well we had gone about 2 1/2 miles and I was already hurting pretty bad. But we all decided to continue on. Finally at 3 miles we get on the La Luz Tail.
We also thought that the total amount of hiking was 7-9 miles. We decide to stop for lunch after about 4 miles. We took a nice long lunch and then started back out on the trail. We thought we were halfway done. We started really climbing the trail and people coming down are telling us to be careful because snow is still in the mountains. We didn't think much about it and kept on. Well we had walked about another 2 miles, and we are starting to get really tired (well at least us girls), and we are starting to wonder when we are going to get up to the top. We are looking up and it seems forever away. Well we ask someone who is walking down and he tells us we still have a ways and we have to get through the rock slides. Then another person tells us the tram, which we were planning on taking down the mountain, was closed due to wind. Now we are getting worried because we have gone about 7 to 8 miles at this time and we don't know if we should turn around or keep going. We decided to keep going.

This is a picture of the rock slides (which we spent at least 2 hours on) and was so scary at times. Places were covered in snow up to the knee. We made it up the mountain, the tram was running, and we had a long 8 hour hike up a mountain. The next time I hear hard trail, count me out. But the view was amazingly beautiful.

Here are a couple views from the trail:

Here is a picture of the tram.

When we bought our tickets to ride down the tram the man who took our money was impressed that we climbed the mountain. A long day but I think it was well worth it for the views.

Note fore next time:
Bring clothes for changing altitudes
Bring plenty of water
Bring plenty of food
Hydrate the day beforehand

That will help prepare me next time I decide to take a hike.

Sister's Weekend

2008-05-16T22:30:00.001-07:00

Sister's Weekend
Originally uploaded by DanMcLean

Two weekends ago all my sisters and I got together for a weekend in Vegas. It was a ton of fun. We got pedicures, ate out, shopped, relaxed, and just enjoyed each others company. I wish we all lived closer to each other so we could see each other more often, but at least we all live within a plane ride to each other. This picture is on Sunday before we all left. Donna is holding Sally's baby Chas. Love you guys!

Falling Stars

2008-04-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

Some of the reasons why I love New Mexico:

1. Clear skies
2. Falling Stars
3. Lots of physical activies
4. Friendly People
5. Warm days without humidity

Deposits

2008-04-23T18:56:00.001-07:00

What is up with deposits? Why do we have to pay them? Especially if you have good credit. But they don't even check you credit, they just want you to pay tons of deposits.
For water we have to pay a $90 deposit
For gas we have to pay a $220 deposit
and for Electric we have to pay a $75 deposit.

Who has a random $385 to pay in deposits and then another $45 of fees for reconnecting everything!? It's super crazy.

Sorry, just a little stressed. We would normally be fine but also moving out of the apartment and moving into the house brings on more fees of breaking a lease and paying one full month ahead also for the house. It's just been a stressful week. Anyway, sorry for worrying about finances on the blog, I just think it's silly to have to pay over $400 to start your services. My bills are each about $15 each for the month though, so hopefully it won't be bad once we have the utilities without the deposits.

Anyway, my countdown to vegas has begun. I am leaving May 1st which is a week away! I can't wait!

Tumbleweed!

2008-04-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

My Ode to Tumbleweed:

Oh Tumbleweed,
Why do you like to make my commute so long?

Oh tumbleweed,
Why do you roll down the road with such ease?

Oh Tumbleweed,
Why do you like to scratch the cars?

Oh Tumbleweed,
I thought you were only in cartoons!

So, that huge tumbleweed that is above is about the size of tons of tumbleweed all over the city. I have never seen tumbleweed like that or new that it was real. I drive by wal-mart and see them stacked against the fence. Or driving down the road and everyone slows down to about 30 mph because it's on the side of the road. It's really annoying, but it's so cool to see such big tumbleweed!

Flea Market take 2

2008-04-14T19:07:00.001-07:00

So, this weekend was another drill weekend...which means it's a boring weekend for the wives. Well three of us got together and went to the flea market. The first time David had drill my friend Dom and I went, but it was way cold so their were only about 15 vendors. Well, it was in the 70's this past weekend and Dom, Tommy, and I went to the flea market and they had over 100 vendors! It was so much fun! Well I got some real good finds...and SO cheap! I LOVE bargains. My 1st and most favorite thing is Kokopelli.
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You can google Kokopelli and learn all about him, but he's way cool and we got three of them. One medium size one, and two small ones that face each other. We are going to put them off in the front room.
My second find was super cheap and super yummy and ripe fruit.

It pretty much looks like that and I paid like $3. I love flea/farmers markets. My last find is one of David's favorites. In New Mexico, green chili is a must! We got fresh roasted green chili. It may look so disgusting, but you pop it into the microwave and put some salt on it and it's soooo yummy.

It's a huge success and if anyone wants to visit we will show you some of our favorite things.
Our favorite pizza place, Dion's, has the BEST pizza and our favorite way is pepperoni with green chili.

It's so yummy. It's the new mexican thing to put green chili on everything. You can get here at McDonald's a double cheeseburger with green chili. Who would have thought!? But so, the new mexican way of life is pretty good, as long as you don't get me talking about their driving!

A few things...

2008-03-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been over a month since I last posted, and it was because we didn't have internet for a while. Here's a few things you have missed:

1. We moved out of our apartment and into a rental house...that feels huge!

It doesn't look like this, but we don't have a picture of it yet.

2. We got a 2nd car. It's a Chevy Cobalt SS and it's silver and fast!

It's a repo, so it was cheap and rather new, which is always a plus!

3. We went to a wedding, David was in it, and I was the photographer!

They are some of our good friends here in Albuquerque.

4. I got a cow humidifier! It's so cool, it steams out of it's ears!

I thought it was blog worthy cause it's way cool!

5. We really miss our NC friends. No one here likes to play games! But, we are trying to have lots of fun and stay upbeat!

We hope everyone is doing good also!

Fun in the Snow

2008-02-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, David, Robert, Dominique, and I tried to make it up the mountain to see the view but it SNOWED in the mountains...and not just a little bit but a lot. We were up about 5 miles (and it's 14 miles up the mountain) when Robert (who was driving) decided to pull over his new Nissan Titan 4x4 for us to get out and go sledding. Well he completely pulls into the snow thinking it's not that deep because a Tahoe is right next to us and is having no problems. We pull in and got stuck! The people in the Tahoe had to help us out. So we kept driving up to the ski resort and parked their and walked about 100-150 feet to go sledding. It wasn't a huge hill, but it was FUN! I haven't been sledding in years.

This one David hurt his bum on a rock and he thinks he bruised his tailbone! Poor guy. But we kept on sledding.

This one is hilarious because David's tongue is hanging out and my legs are out of the sled covered. Well after we sled on this one for about a half hour we decided to start making our way down the mountain. We are heading down when we see a minivan stuck in the snow so we pull over (but not in the snow) and help push him out and then we look over and all of a sudden a nissan maxima is stuck in the snow, so we run over their and also help push them out of the snow. Both drivers had no idea what they were doing. They were like, you are going to push us out of the snow. But we did it.
We then found an area on the way down with a parking lot so we pulled over and got out to do some more sledding. These hills were a lot bigger and you could get more speed up. I even got some air right after this picture.

All in all, the four of us had a blast!

Drill Weekend

2008-02-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend is a drill weekend for David. It started on Thursday and thankfully he hasn't had to stay overnight. They were suppose to go to a mountain this weekend but they had to cancel it due to way to much snow. I think it was like 5 ft where they were suppose to go shooting. But it's Sunday and I miss my husband. He got off last night about 7 pm and was back at work at 5 am this morning. But he doesn't think he's going to be leaving work tonight until 8 to 9 pm. I am lucky in the fact though that David is admin and so he usually won't have to stay the night in the field. All the other guys do have to stay in the field. But unfortunately the two top head people are both single and so all the guys never get time off and they also work a lot of holidays. But I am thankful though that he is home almost every single night for the next 4 years!
Yesterday I went out with one of the guys fiances from David's work. We just hung out and went to the flea market (which I heard will be a lot better in the summer) went out to eats, went to Kohls, and to the dog park. It was nice to not be alone all day and she thought the same.

Well I also got a job on Friday! I will be working at Little and Dranttel Law Firm as a legal secretary...I think. I'm pretty excited but a little nervous. They specialize in Creditor Rights, Foreclosure, Bankruptcy, Evictions, Collections, Replevin, Truth in Lending Law, Fair Debt Collection Practice Act, Unfair Trade Practices, Fair Credit Reporting Act, RESPA, Commercial Litigation, Business Law, Contract Law, Class Action Defense, State, Federal and Tribal Courts. That's probably a little to much info but that's ok.
I think next weekend if the weather is cooperating that David and I will go to the top of the mountains and play in the snow. We will have to take the dogs also so they can have some fun also!