The Hogle Zoo & Some Updates.

Well, today was the last day for a Free visit to the Hogle Zoo, so the Girls and I just had to take advantage!
I was supposed to meet my friend Susan at about 10am, but I didn't end up leaving my house until 11:15. I guess I just forget how long it takes me to get all 3 of us ready and out the door. We got a few minutes to chat a bit before I started the Zoo Tour and she left to go home, but it was really nice to see a familiar face.
After we parted ways, I started out down the hill to the first exhibit, but remembered that I forgotten my camera in the car! I ran back to the car (thank goodness I had found a great spot), grabbed the camera and re-started out down the hill. I didn't take quite as many pictures as I planned to, but I got a couple good shots! Check 'em out in my Picasa album!

Free Zoo Day!

Ryan has been away - and we miss him terribly, but this short separation has helped me regain some good old fashioned independence... and I guess it's good to let every relationship "breathe".
As some of you many know, we are in the process of trying to find our first home. No one ever told me that there would be massive amounts of stress that come along with trying to find that perfect place, but oh well.
We submitted our first offer the other day and are waiting to hear back from our Agent as to how our offer sits with the bank. The house we love is a Short Sale - meaning that the owners are losing their home to the bank because they are so far behind with their payments - and it is such a pain in the neck to deal with because there are 2 separate mortgages on the home and banks are just banks and don't have any consideration for anyone but themselves - so they drag the whole process out... I think it's kinda funny how they call it a "Short Sale", when most times they are anything but "short".
I will definitely be updating with any further news about the whole house thing... so sit tight!

In other news... PHOEBE IS CRAWLING!
That is right! CRAWLING! HOORAY!
Just last week, she started trying to get around and now, just a week later she is super fast!
Ever since she realized that she could crawl, she's been pulling herself up on the couch and tryng to walk along the edge. I'm considering getting rid of our Around the World Walker, and picking up a push type walker from Kid to Kid - to try and get her up on her feet more.

Phoebe is also getting her 2 bottom teeth in! Her first 2 teeth! My little baby, is not longer a little baby!

I still have plenty to update about... Helena's 2nd Birthday, Thanksgiving, My Birthday, Christmas, and whatever else I have been slacking on.
But, that's all for now!

UPGRADE -

This story is simple.
Since Apple announced it's release of the original iPhone a while back, my dear Ryan has wanted one desperately. I guess it was a matter of luck and awesomeness that his AT&T phone was up for upgrade during the week we got our tax return back? Hmm.

Last Saturday when we went out grocery shopping we decided to stop at the Sears Grand "Going Out of Business Liquidation Sale" and then on the way to Wally World, we passed an AT&T store. Ryan zipped us into the turning lane and tentatively asked if we could pop in to check out the iPhone 3G.

I, being the loving wife that I am, said yes of course... and off we went.
As soon as we stepped into the store Helena wanted out, and it was my job to chase her around the tiny place while Ryan was speaking with a sales representative. He was like a kid in a candy store - doing all of his cute little nervous tick things (that only I can spot).

After the tutorial was finished the Salesman asked if he wanted to take the leap and go for one. Ryan gets his HUGE grin on his face and turns to me and says "Well, it's up to her". I asked the guy if he could total it up for us, so we would know what we would be spending and also if it would be alright if we talked and thought it over while grocery shopping, and he of course, obliged. But.......... I probably should have known better and let him get it right then, because the entire time we were shopping he was in the rush of a lifetime; practically running through the isles and grabbing stuff off the list. It was a little frustrating for me, but I completely understood.
When the salesman had totaled it up, it came to $313 - that was including the Apple Care Protection Plan, a free case + screen protector & a $25 iTunes Gift Card.


See, that's a lot of money to me... probably only because I hardly ever spend money on myself, but I was really glad that my Darling Husband was able to indulge and fulfill his dream of owning an iPhone.


Now, I must say, I am a very jealous person.
I want an iPhone SO badly it's crazy - but I, unfortunately, am not up for an upgrade until November of this year. We've talked about it and have decided that the new iPhone will be my birthday present (since I didn't get a single gift last year).

Since Ryan got to spend a chunk of money on his new toy, I am allotted the same amount to be used towards anything I like. I was having a hard time deciding what I wanted - but I have since figured it out, and I'm sorry, but only a few select people are allowed to know. After all this is a public blog, and I am allowed to have some secrets.

Halloween in February?

I don't think so.
It is Friday the 13th though!
I was just browsing some of the pictures on my PC and I realized that I never posted anything about HALLOWEEN!
Our Halloween was so much fun last year, and I can't wait for this year! Helena will be almost 3 and Phoebe will be almost 16 months! Crazy huh? So exciting!

Helena was an Octopus this year, and Phoebe was a Flower... how fitting eh?! As you can see in the pictures below, both kids wanted nothing to do with trying their costumes on. I was past nap time and everything, so I should have known better!

Anyways, this past Halloween (well, the Saturday before Halloween) we went up to Salt Lake with Bob & Kaylin (unfortunately Bobi had to be there, but whatever) to do a Trunk or Treat thing at this huge awesome park. The Girls had SO much fun! I definitely had the two cutest kids there!

Ready, Set... Go!

I just cant get over how gorgeous she is.
My Little Phoebe the Flower.

She was the Cutest little Octopus in the world!

Phoebe had had just about enough of the whole Trick or Treating thing...
She needed Loves from her Papa.

Aw, Cousins!

Bob, Phoebe & Myself.

These were awesome pictures... I couldn't leave out.

Being the Artist that I am, I decided to try my hand at Pumpkin Carving...
Let me know what you think!

When the 31st rolled around, Ryan and I took the girls to the University Mall down in Orem since they always have a big to-do for Halloween down there. We were supposed to meet Debbie, Bobi & Kaylin so we could all travel in a group together and hit all the stores.
I don't know what the issue was, but they all but refused to wait up for us. They finished half of the mall before we even got there - despite the mutual understanding that we were only traveling all the way down to Orem to do that with them. It is now February, and I'm still a little bitter about that. I guess we just won't be making plans like that with them again.

The next post will probably have to be about Thanksgiving, and then Christmas... oh goodness gracious, I can't believe how far behind I am.

Holy Cow.

Well. It sure has been quite a while since I've updated this little Blog of mine!

A lot has happened since my last post.
I would write in detail, but I am afraid either one or both of my chitlins will wake up and ruin it for me (I <3 Nap Time), so I guess I'll just make a little list.

Our neighbors' deck caught fire shortly after my last post. We were driving home from grocery shopping one evening and as we turned the corner, we saw this great plume of smoke past the trees. It was RIGHT where are house was, at the bottom of the hill, and we freaked a little bit in thinking that it was our building that was ablaze. I know this is terrible, still a little funny, but the people next door must have some awful luck because 4 years ago their house burned to the ground... leaving them with nothing until they were able to build a new one - the one that they currently live in.

This past summer, Utah had a pretty decent wild fire season. It was nothing like it was a few years back when half the state was burning, but we've got some pretty neat pictures of fires on the mountain. Mother Natures' life cycle is sure an interesting thing.

I can't seem to recall whether or not I had posted about Ryan buying me a new car?
Well, anyways, he did. We got rid of the old red Golf (sold it for $300!) and we weren't planning on buying another car unless a super deal fell in our lap ya know? Well... it did!
An older gentleman (95 years old) came to the dealership with a non-running 2000 Black 4-Door Golf. he had claimed to have let a friend do his timing belt, and apparently the timing was off a bit because all of the valves in the engine were bent to hell. Ryan's conclusion is that the man had tried to do the timing himself and didn't get it spot on, so the engine was destroyed. It would have cost the man more money to fix the car than the car itself was worth, so Ryan cut him a deal to cancel out the 3 hours of diagnosis ($300) and to pay him another $300 in cash to purchase the car for $600 total. It took a few days for the guy to make up his mind about what he wanted to do, but in the end he consented and I got my new car!
There is a bit of work that needs to be done on it, and the parts will probably be around $500 - but with tax money we have gotten back , that shouldn't be an issue to get it all up and running!
I'm excited about it, but we'll see how long the process with this Golf will take. Just kidding?

Oh! and we also went to Denver! Ryan had a training for the new Volkswagen Routan (or Crouton as we like to call it... stupid Chrysler) and we were lucky enough to be able to go with him. The dealership is really good about making our lives comfortable.
While we were there, we got to visit the Aquarium (which was nothing like the Baltimore or Camden Aquariums) and Helena had a lot of fun. I love mini family vacations!
The only real downside to the trip was that the hotel we stayed at wasn't up to par. It was a pretty reputable chain, but oh my gee-oh-dee, it was terrible. Our room was supposed to be non-smoking, but it seemed like every single room we thought about switching to, had been heavily smoked in. Our carpets were so filthy that you wouldn't even want to walk around without socks & shoes on. It was supposed to be an extended stay hotel with a mini fridge, microwave & sink, but we found out that the appliances were locked up separately and you needed to pay like 30 bucks to use one of them. It was just so ridiculous - we'll never be staying in a L* Q*inta again.
I am just really glad that we got to all go together. The drive was a piece of cake, despite our qualms about driving all the way to Denver with two crazy babies. We were able to get a great book on tape too - Blaze by Stephen King & another co-author. Great book, I recommend it.
Here's a slide show of all the pictures we took!



Well, that's it for now! More to come soon!

Our First Anniversary! -

Yes, it is true... Ryan and I survived the first year!
From what I hear, the first year is pretty trying. I don't know if it was because we came into this marriage with a child, or what, but this first year was a piece of cake! I do know that I am most certainly looking forward to a lifetime full of wonderful memories made with my Ryan.
If the next 100 years (yes, I am being optimistic) are as good as this first one... it'll be happily ever after!
To celebrate, I had my heart set on "The Melting Pot" for dinner & dessert. For those of you who are not familiar with "The Melting Pot", it's a pretty expensive Fondue Chain. You can look them up here: http://themeltingpot.com/
I absolutely love fondue, and I was really excited for dinner, but ended up leaving the restaurant a little disappointed.
I'll run it down for you.
Our reservations were for 7pm. We arrived about 15 minutes early, and it took them about 20 to seat us. Our waiter seemed to be a little out of it the whole time and it took at least a good 10 minutes for him to even stop by to ask us for our drink orders. First we had the salads, and they were pretty decent. 15 minutes later came the cheese fondue - HEAVENLY! 15 minutes after that came the cooking liquid with the raw vegetables and meats, which wasn't really any good if you ask me - it was kind of like boiling your Lobster/Fillet Mignon/Shrimp/Chicken etc. in red wine & chicken stock. 20 minutes after that our waiter came back to ask if we would like dessert. We ordered the dark chocolate cherry jubilee fondue, and I must say that that was the very best part!
We had been at this restaurant for over 3 hours! Yes, that is correct, over 3 hours. The food that was supposed to be the main course, required cooking at the table. Both Ryan and I aren't too fond of eating raw or undercooked food items (especially meats) so we ended up over cooking most of what came on the platter. I guess it was more of an experience than a meal? I don't know, but I do know that we wont be going back there any time soon. For anything besides dessert, that is.
After dinner, we exchanged gifts. Ryan is super hard to buy for, so I searched and searched and finally found something I knew he would love! See here: https://www.lovopoly.com/
The weeks leading up to our big day, I tried so hard to keep it a secret... but I'm pretty sure he had been snooping in our computers "Cookies" and figured it all out.
I was 100% convinced that he had bought me diamond earring studs. He had been hinting all week, and I was just certain! ERR Wrong! He had gotten me my birthstone in teardrop earring form! So pretty! They're a little flashy, and I think I could really only wear them with a little black dress... but isn't that an awesome reason to go out and buy myself a little black dress!

Issues? Huh? -

Blogspot has been having some user issues... but - have no fear, I will return shortly!

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear Ryan, Happy Birthday to YOU! -

You are as old today, as there are number of beetles in this picture!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!

I know we're not doing much this year, but I want you to know that I LOVE YOU MORE.