I got a job!

I'm on vacation but needed to share the news. Details to come when I get home. Using a BlackBerry is hard.

It's Official!

I received my diploma today from Weber State!! I now have a Bachelor of Science degree and no job (well that I use my degree for). SWEET!

The Pioneers Played Baseball, Right?

To celebrate Pioneer Day, and our pioneer heritage, Gordon and I went to another Raptor’s game. This time we attended the game with my dad, Brenda, Skyler, Tanna, and Jason. None of our seating was together, but by the end of the game we were all sitting together (well almost all of us). The game was slow at first, but by the ninth inning it got real exciting: the score tied, bases loaded, fans on their feet cheering waiting in anticipation to see if the Raptor’s could pull through, which they did winning the game 10-9.

The best part of the night was the fireworks. Like I have said previously, I love fireworks. Maybe it’s because I have not seen any fireworks this whole season that I was overly excited about them and didn’t care if they weren’t that awesome. None the less, they were fireworks, and I enjoyed them.

I am not a huge baseball fan, but somehow I have gone to two games and we’re going to another tonight. We have a good time, and when the tickets are free and the company is fun then “take me out to the ball game.”

Doggie Friday: How They Love Grandma Sue

Abbi and Briggs adore my mom. There are times when I think they can tell when we are driving to her house by the landscape because as soon as we are in her neighborhood they get excited and anxious to get out of the car. When they see her they are all a flutter…Briggs jumps up so high letting her know he wants her to hold him, and Abbi turns herself around making it know to her that she wants to be held too.

My mom adores Abbi and Briggs. If she doesn’t see them often enough she says “she goes through withdrawals.” She calls them her grand-dogs (and for you non-dog lovers you will think she is a weird-o, but us dog people understand the automatic attachment). She even went as far as to buy them ‘special’ doggie treats that are organic and all natural because she knew I would approve. She gives them far too many of them if you ask me…and they are full of fiber which is just wonderful! Her reason for giving them so many is because “they just look so hungry when they come to my house,” like I don’t feed them or something. Could it be that her house always smells like delicious food?!

Besides the fact that she feeds them too much, she is a wonderful Grandma to them. They can feel how much she loves them and they miss her when we leave.

Making Memories...

My cousin Lindsey started this on her blog and I thought it would be fun see what memories I have made with all of you.

Here are the rules:

1. As 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!

2. 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.

Happy Memories to You!

Doggie Friday: Meeting Big Brother Simon

Although this happened a little bit ago, it was a monumental moment in our dog’s lives. They met their big brother Simon (Gordon’s dog which is a big lab/husky mix). I was a worried mother about the whole situation. Everything went well…I had forgotten how great of a dog Simon was, and how he wouldn’t hurt a bunny (on purpose anyway). I was surprised, however. We introduced each dog separate, as to not overwhelm dear ol’ Simon. I thought that Briggs would have an easier time meeting Simon because when we are out for our daily walks, he doesn’t mind other dogs. But with Simon it was different. Simon was so excited to see another dog, especially since Charlie died. Simon was all over Briggs, sniffing and licking him. Briggs wanted nothing to do with Simon. He jumped up onto Gordon’s lap to get away from Simon. Gordon was giving him tough love and would put Briggs down to let him get to know Simon. I had to leave the backyard because I felt bad for Briggs. I put myself in his shoes, which wasn’t hard to do because I know how he feels. He’s a little guy and Simon is 6 times his size, much like some people are to me! Once Briggs was use to Simon, letting him sniff and lick him with ease, it was Abbi’s turn. She has no fear! She ran back there, went right up to Simon, and that was it. They were friends, old buddies. Gordon and I were so surprised! We worried about her because a bigger dog before bit her before so we thought she would be scared, but she was just as excited as Simon was to see her.

I am SO glad that things went well because Gordon was very specific that if they didn’t get along with Simon, then we couldn’t keep them. But things went well, and they have continued to go well ever since. When we go over to his parents it’s like old friends hanging out in the backyard. I can’t wait until we get our own house and they can all hang out together in their backyard everyday! That’s the American dream…or at least mine for now.

So what if EVERYONE is doing it

This past Tuesday my work had their annual swim party at the Roy Aquatic Center. I wasn't able to go last year so I was excited I was able to go this year. I invited our good friends the Purser's to come with us this year and they happily accepted the invite. I had no idea that Marc was such a fish! From the moment we got there he was in the water, going down the slides trying to see how far he could get from the bottom of the slide to the end of the pool. Gordon and him would cheer each other on when it was the other's turn seeing how far each of them could go. Katherine and I were very entertained by the two of them. Marc is also an excellent diver. He entertained all of the people that were near the diving board doing all of these awesome dives. Katherine and I joked that he should try out for the Olympics.

So back to the slide that the boys had so much fun on. Let me do some explaining first...I love the water. I love playing in the water and doing water sports, but I am not the best swimmer. I pretty much can't swim (water terrifies me). There were two slides at the water park. One of them was a twirly slide, the other I like to call vertical terror! Each time we all went up to go on the slides, Gordon, Marc, and Katherine would go down the vertical slide, and I would take my time sliding down the twirly one. They would tease me and each time we were at the top of the slides they would say "So are you going to try the fast one now?" To which I would say, "I'm not ready yet." Then I started to feel ready. I let everyone go ahead of me in line at the top of slides. I stood at the top, feet on the slide. I sat down, started to go down the slide when I froze. My legs spread open and I latched my feet on the sides of the slide, which helped me come to a complete stop just as I came to the start of the slope. I then proceeded to climb to the top and out of the slide!!! Embarrassing...yes. Everyone was going down that slide...even the little ones. But I just couldn't do it. I was teased, mocked, and many other torturous things but I'm ok with myself. I didn't want to go down it, so I didn't. Marc was surprised by me. He said that he didn't doubt for a second that I wouldn't go down the slide because I mountain bike, rock climb, and other "risky" activities, but I just couldn't brave the slide. It's funny because the other time I went I went down the slide with little hesitation. Am I getting more wimpy the older I get?! I sure hope not. I like to think of it as smarter. I do less risky things because I'm wiser, not wimpier.

Marc going down the fast slide...

Gordon going down the fast slide...

Me going down the twirly slide.

I was only a baby but I still love them

Friday night I went to the Journey, Heart, and Cheap Trick concert with Keri and Shelli. When I told people that I was going to this concert that would say, "You were just a baby when they were popular" or "You weren't even born when they became a band." Both of those statements are true but that does not mean I am not still a fan of their music. I have loved Journey since I was born. My mom said I have always been a fan of them (and music of all kinds) since I was little. She would dance with me in front of the TV while we watched and listened to MTV. Journey has always been one of her favorites, in turn, one of mine. I learned to love Heart because of my big sis. Although she is young, she taught me to love the "oldies", if you can consider them to be oldies.

None the less, the concert was amazing (even if Steve Perry isn't the singer anymore. The new guy sounded just like him.) We were crazy fans yelling, screaming, and hollering their songs as loud as we could. We danced to every song that was played. It was a blast! And we weren't the only youngin's there. There were plenty of people our age that came to enjoy the music.

Going to this concert made me realize how much I really love the 'older' music. I can always turn my radio to 103.5 and hear a song that I love and sing all the words and just jam out! I love listening to live music, and I am so excited for the many concerts that I will be going to later this summer.

Pics and stories from the concert:

We got one of our churros for free because we didn't know how to add and didn't have enough money for all of the food we ordered and so the nice worker gave us one of them for free. We felt like idiots, but I sure enjoyed my churro.

We were really far away, but still had a great time.

This lady was a true Heart fan. She had on a heart t-shirt from their tour in 1984. She also was very serious about the concert and saving her spot. We had laid our blankets around her and she made sure we knew that where she was standing, and the surrounding 4 feet around her, was her spot. When it came closer to the concert starting and more and more people were crowding around her, she noticed we had an extra blanket and asked to borrow it to save her spot. We let her borrow the blanket thinking she would sit on it like the rest of the crowd. Instead, she plops her big ol' boots right in the middle of the blanket and stands there! I looked at her with surprise because she was standing on my new blanket! Who does that?! All of her work went to waste because by the time she got a hold of her friends, they had saved a better spot and she left.

The new Journey singer. He was really good.

Is there anything better?!

Guess what today is?! FREE SLURPEE DAY! That's right. My nephew called me at work to share the news! So me and co-worker took off down the road to 7-Eleven to partake of the free slushy goodness. Of course when my other co-workers heard it was free Slurpee day and we were going they wanted us to get them one. Being the nice person that I am I said sure, not thinking that we wouldn't be able to. When we got to 7-Eleven the worker told me that it was one per person. Lucky for my co-workers I think quick on my feet so I explained to the worker that it was for the doctors that I worked for that couldn't leave the clinic. She was more than willing to let me fill up more than one. Gees, it seemed like she would let me have the rest of the cups in the pile. What a nice worker! And it wasn't entirely a lie...some of our doctors wanted a free Slurpee too. One of our newer docs, Dr. VanStaden (who is from Europe) couldn't believe that they were free. He kept asking me if he owed me money. Thinking back I should have just taken the money, made a little profit on the freebies. We all kept wondering why they were free, then I saw the ounces on the cup which was 7.11 and then realized that today's date is 7-11! It took me a bit but when I cracked the code I shared the info with some others who were just as astonished as me. Looks like I'm not the only one that isn't quick with common sense. Either way, best three words I've heard today "Free Slurpee Day!" So thanks, Skyler. That free cherry Slurpee made my day!

We're all American now

Last night Gordon and I attended an Ogden Raptor's baseball game. My dad's girlfriend, Brenda, is a season ticket holder and they couldn't go last night so they offered the tickets to us. We eagerly took them. Neither of us are big baseball fans, but it was due time for us to have a date night. It was a good game with the Raptor's winning 11-3! We even have a favorite player, Gordon. We don't know what his first name is, but we don't care. His name is awesome. He also turned out to be a pretty good ball player too!

Of course being at a baseball game we had to partake in the baseball game rituals, meaning eating a big fat hot dog with all the fixin's! It was delicious!

I don't know if we'll go back to another game this season, but going to a baseball game made it feel more like summer to me. Hot summer night watching a good baseball game. Yep, that's summer.

And it was wonderful to spend the evening with my husband. He's such a stud!

No fireworks for the 4th of July?!

I love fireworks. Ever since Gordon and I have known each other (which is over 3 1/2 years now...WOW!) we have made it a point to see pretty much every firework show in the Wasatch front each year. So this year when we decided to go camping over the Fourth in the Uintahs with my family it meant no fireworks. None the less it was still a wonderful Fourth of July. We played all weekend up there riding four wheelers, going on a bike ride, and taking a hike. We hung out with my step-dad's family and had a big dutch oven dinner one night (in a past post I have talked about how much I love dutch oven cooking). We even took our dogs for their first camping trip! They loved it...well Abbi had to get use to the out doors but once she got over herself she enjoyed it. Briggs was in heaven. He must have worked too hard on our hike because the next day he was sore. He wouldn't even stretch! So we gave him some Ibuprofen and in a half hour he was back to being himself again.

My niece, Jade, came up too. It was nice to be able to spend time with her too. I have missed out on a lot of her life but it's nice to get to know her, and spend some girl time with her. Gordon taught her how to ride the four wheeler, basically just how to steer it herself.

My nephew was there too. He's so much fun! We're very close, so close he feels like my little brother and not my nephew. Him and Gordon hung out a lot too. They went on rides together, and fishing. Skyler even caught a fish! Gordon did not have as much luck. Either way, they both had a lot of fun fishing and getting mosquito bites (the mosquitoes were horrible up there! We never went anywhere without bug spray!).

Although my mom had her trailer up there, we decided to tent it. Our camping spot had a river outside it so we slept amazing hearing the river sounds. It was very cold at night, but we enjoyed it. It's been so hot lately! It was a nice change to shiver at night.

It was nice to come back home. We did have the trailer amenities, but we all couldn't wait to get in the shower! Uintah camping is dirty camping...dust flies everywhere. But it was a lot of fun and nice to get away for a few days.

Breaking News: Murder in Margaritaland!

We were having another wonderful day in Margaritaland. I had just gotten done performing for the resort guests, and my new husband, Tatum Tat, had finished a long day at work tattooing almost everyone on the island when we got the news that Jack Daniels, a co-worker and bartender on the island, was murdered! All of us were suspects and at the same time all of us were detectives trying to keep our good names out of this murder mystery. I banned with a few of my friends from the island, co-worker Shelli the Swim Instructor, and an island native Katherine to solve this mystery. We had fallen into a lot of money and were able to bribe the other suspects into telling us what they knew. It seemed to be working; we felt like were getting someone in our search. We were getting evidence that seemed to be pointing us in the right direction when all of the sudden the main detective announced he had solved the mystery. He showed us his evidence, which made our evidence seem meaningless. It was the lifeguard! He was the last person we suspected! Although we didn't solve the mystery ourselves, we're glad that the lifeguard is getting the punishment that he deserves: banishment from the island!

Gordon's sister Jodi held a murder mystery dinner party this weekend. It was a BLAST! Jodi has such a talent to organize things like this. She put so much work into that night and it showed. We had never been to a murder mystery party before. It was fun to dress up in a costume and act like someone else for a few hours. It was like we were putting on one big play except we were never going to have an audience. I think that Gordon had the most fun. He was Tatum Tat, a tattoo artist from New York that had moved to the island to get away from the city life. His costume was perfect. From the moment we got there, he was in character. He tattooed pretty much everyone at the party. He set up his own tattoo parlor and everything (which was the end of our table, and consisted of a bowl of water, a sponge, and many temporary tattoos). Everyone was impressed by his costume. He was nervous to show up looking the way he did in fear that someone at the party might actually look like that (which is not a bad look, it just would have been a bit embarrassing because his was a costume.) My costume was not as elaborate as Gordon's. I was a fire dancer. The best part of my costume was the props I brought as my fire: sparklers. But I was unable to use them because the party was moved inside because of the heat outside.

We mingled with a lot of fun people that night. Because we were all in character, we didn't get to really meet the people, but we sure know their characters well. Some of our friends, Katherine and Marc, and Shelli and Tim came too. Marc and Tim were surfers, Katherine was an island native, and Shelli was a swim instructor. Shelli and Katherine were my partners as we tried to solve the mystery. The massive amounts of money we had was thanks to the people that didn't come to the party. We stole their money out of their envelopes. Dirty money, but it got us the information we needed.

The party was such a success, and I can't wait for Jodi to have another! Or at least a themed party that we get to dress up for. I love to play dress up and be someone else. It brings out my creative side that I don't get to use that often the older I get.

Gordon's Tattoo parlor

He's concentrating so hard on his next move...

All of us got together to share info...

Me and Jodi (aka Coconut Jane)

The Murder Mystery guests

The Men showing off their sweet tats!

Katherine, Shelli, and me

Me (the fire dancer) and Gordon (aka Tatum Tat)