Kirk and Laura

Spencer Family Update...its gonna be a long one!

2010-05-09T23:19:00.000-07:00

Well, in true ME form, I've procrastinated updating my blog. So for all those fanatic blog stalkers out there(if anyone even follows mine, lol) I hope you'll accept my apology in the form of an extended update, pictures and all.

Let's start with Easter. This year's Easter was a first for the Spencer's because we had a 'kid' living with us that was excited for the holiday. Any by 'kid' I mean my sister, who's not a kid but still gets excited like one. So, Kirk and I decided it would be fun to give her a full easter egg hunt, basket and all! Kirk did a pretty good job hiding them and she eventually found them all. It was fun to watch, like watching a kid in a candy store!

Moving on...the triathalon. I know I said after the last one that I wouldn't do it again but...I lied. I guess I need the motivation. I did a couple things differently this time starting with my training schedule. I didn't train near as much as I did last time which I was a little nervous about. Also there were a couple of pre-race things I didn't do, which aren't really that important. Overall though, I think I did pretty darn good. I improved my time by 30 minutes and I ran the whole time! Here are some token pictures taken by my loving hubby and supportive sister!

Kirk's birthday was also in the mix of the events but I don't have any picture from the night out at Joe's or the party we had. Man, I'm a bad wife! Anyways, here's to you Kirkle...my 30 year old hubby!!! Happy birthday!!!

Next on the list is VEGAS!!! Yep, Vegas baby! Sometimes working at a salon really pays off...ok, working at a salon usually always pays off in some form or another! Five of us from the salon were able to attend the annual Las Vegas hair show. My friend Audrey and I drove while everyone else flew. We went last minute so driving was the cheaper solution. The drive was AWESOME!! Audrey and I laughed so hard we were crying! Best road trip ever!! Among the cool things to see at the show, the two highlights were a dance party cutting show, put on by Farouk Systems (the people that make Chi) and demos of a new treatment called Brazilian Blowout, which I got to be a model for. Now, I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. The Brazilian Blowout is a non-chemical hair de-frizzer and curl relaxer that will last up to 14 weeks. It is amazing! I can blow dry my hair in 10 minutes without having to use a flat iron! It's crazy, I have straight hair now!!! Oh ya, and we got to meet Nick Arroyo from What Not To Wear! It was awesome!

Last but certainly not least, Kirk and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary! Wow, I can't believe we've been married that long! It seems like just yesterday that I met my best friend and fell in love. I feel truly blessed to have found the perfect man for me and that we get to be together for eternity. He is such a great man and love him SO much! I can't imagine my life without him! We celebrated this year by going to the Gila River Temple open house in Thatcher, AZ. Its a pretty short drive (3 or so hours) from our house but we decided to stay overnight. Going to the temple is an amazing thing. It's really neat to be able to see it before it gets dedicated. And of course for others, whether young children or non members who don't have recommends its a cool experience. It was a great way to remember what makes our marriage so special and sacred. Happy Anniversary Kirk!

So that's it, for now at least. I'm busy with my fellow YW leaders getting ready for girls camp. It's coming up in a month so the countdown has begun! In my other spare time (which is not frequent) I've been trying to go to Zumba class, my new obsession. If you need a change in your workout routine, just try it, you'll get hooked too. I've also been trying to be a good adopted auntie to Crew, Melissa & Charlie's new little one. I keep calling him 'my baby' in front of Ava one of their other kids, who I've already dubbed my baby. I think its confusing her because the other day I said 'where's my baby' to Melissa, looking for Crew and Ava turned around and looked up at me and said 'I'm right here, mommy!' (she calls me mom too). After having a talk with her, we decided that she is my baby and Crew is her baby so I'm Crew's grandma. Awe, the joys of being an adoptive auntie and mommy! It's fun!

And the award goes to.....

2010-04-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

ME! For being the worst blogger in the world!!! Ha ha! I've been really behind lately so now, after being home for two weeks, I'll tell you about our trip to New York. Kirk and I have been to NYC a couple times before but this time we went with our good friends Crystal and TJ. We met them at the airport in Hartford where Kirk's mom picked us up. We spent the night at their house and then headed up via train the next day to the city. We spent 4 awesome nights in the city. Of course to save money, we all shared a hotel room we found right in the heart of China Town. Even though the surroundings were interesting to say the least, the hotel was nice.

We did alot of walking! We ended up getting a city pass which included several of the most popular tourist sites, all of which, Kirk and I hadn't seen yet. Some of the things we did were museums, time square, island boat tour, central park, china town, little Italy, Rockafeller Center, Empire State Building and traveling the subway. I can't really say why I love the subway, but I do! Kirk's parents met us on Saturday, our last day in the city to go see Mary Poppins. It was so cool, even though I'd seen it already.

Back in Connecticut, Kirk and I spent some one on one time with his parents. We shopped, went to our favorite little diner and Kirk even found a new brand of root beer he hadn't tried. We love going back east, not only to visit the sights, but to spend time with his family. I hope you'll enjoy our pictures and if you have any questions of what they are, just ask. (I'm too lazy to tag them all, lol!)

2010-04-04T11:56:00.001-07:00

2010-04-04T11:49:00.001-07:00

Texas Trip

2010-02-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

Well, we're back from Texas now. It was a long but fun trip. We visited tons of family and friends. Here's what we did in a nutshell:

Monday - We started the project at my parents house of tearing out the old linolium and replacing it with tile.

Tuesday - We continued the project...this happened every day actually. At night, we hung out with some friends and played Band Hero. It was awesome!

Wednesday - Alan came home!! We woke up early, early in the morning to meet him at the airport. We got there right when his flight got in but still had to wait for another 45 minutes or so because he had to go through customs. We spent the whole day hanging out with him and eating alfajores, a fun treat from Argentina.

Thursday - More hanging out with friends and working on the family project

Friday - My Grandpa came, which was awesome! We went out to dinner for my mom's birthday and Alan's homecoming.

Saturday - We had lunch with some friends, played Rock Band, had dinner with the family, Kirk had a jam session with some old friends and then we went ice skating.

Sunday - Alan spoke in church, we had dinner and then spent the rest of the day with family.

I think that was pretty much it. We did alot in this short week. We had a fun time and hope we can go back soon. I did have a realization this week: I live in a bubble. Seriously, all my friends live within 1 mile of my house and everything is so close. Man have I got it made! Anyways, enjoy the pictures. I didn't feel like labeling them, lol!

2010-02-23T19:58:00.001-08:00

Texas weather

2010-02-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

Well, we're still in Texas but I just had to say how much I love this weather! First because my allergies and asthma cleared up and I'm breathing so well! And secondly because I love how unpredictable it is. No one ever listens to t.e weather men cause they're never right. Today, we had a huge thunderstorm then when we got out of church it was sunny and felt like 80 degrees and now it's drizzle rain and It's only 3:30. What will we get next? Snow? Tornado? I can't wait to see!

When I get home, I'll post pictures and stories of our week here. It has been fun and very exhausting!

Catch-Up

2010-01-31T19:32:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm trying to remember what has happened since my last post but I'm having a hard time. I can say that I have been super swamped with activity planning, working and trying to keep my house under control!

New years was pretty fun. We went to a couple of parties and stayed up way to late! We did have a fun time though! Kirk and the guys went to a Phoenix Suns game and dressed up! I didn't expect the dressing up part so it was a shocker to get these two picture messages on my phone.

I got a new calling at the end of the year. I was really sad when they released me from being the miamaid advisor. After all, I've had that calling for 3 years now! I thought I was getting a break from the YW (don't get me wrong, I LOVE them!), but alas, they called me right back into the program as 2nd counselor! Now, I really have to go to mutual! Ha ha! I've been loving this calling because one of my favorite things to do is organize, and thats exactly what I get to do! My first event to plan was Un-Camp. Its like an un-birthday. We wanted the girls to remember the feelings and spirit they felt at camp so we re-created it in the backyard of our president's house. And living in AZ, we can do that in January! It was a complete success! The girls and leaders loved it! Now, I'm waist deep in the plans for New Beginnings. I've been to a thousand New Beginnings but this is the first one I'm planning and its gonna be awesome!

Another exciting thing is that in exactly 17 days (and counting) my brother, Alan will be coming home from his mission in Mendoza Argentina! Yea!! My family is, of course, super excited! We are all planning on being in Dallas bright and early on the 17th to welcome him home! I can't tell you how much I love this kid! He will always be an example of righteousness to me and I'm so incredibly proud that he is out there serving the Lord. There's no better way to spend two years of your life.

I might as well end this post with another emotional event, since I'm already crying. Yesterday I ran a race. Many of you know that this year, one of my goals was to become a runner. I've never been good at anything that takes athletic ability (except dance, I guess), so I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could actually do it. Throughout the year, I doubted myself so many times. Even after I finished a triathalon, I didn't thing I was that great. But yesterday, I think, no, I know my struggles paid off. It might not sound like much, but for me, finishing a 10k (6 miles) was a huge deal. I remember when I first started running this time last year, I couldn't even run a half mile without almost fainting. But during this race, I didn't stop once, I didn't even walk. I ran the whole time, and that was an accomplishment for me. I might not ever run a marathon, I might not ever win a race but to me, I've won. I realized that my body can do amazing things. I know now, that I am an athlete. I know, that I can do anything I set my mind to. Can't, won't, not good enough...those aren't options for me anymore. I can, I will and I am good enough to do anything.

December Happenings

2009-12-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

The month of December has been pretty un-eventful for the Spencer family. Even though all our family lives out of state, we decided not to visit them for Christmas. My brother will be coming home from his mission in February so our trip to see family will have to wait until then.

As for this month, Kirk went out of town on a buisness trip, we went to a couple Christmas parties, and I got sick...again. This time I had a sore throat. I did go to the doctor this time because I wanted to make sure I didn't have strep. Fortunatly, the test was negative. So after much investigation from the doctor, he came to the conclusion that I have allergy induced asthma. Great, just great. I came home with Prednisone and Albuterol. I'm officially a nerd! But, I am pretty excited to use the inhaler for exercising. He said that will help since I get winded easy with exercise.

As for Christmas, we kept it pretty low-key. We saw the temple lights with some friends, went on a date to see Avatar in 3D (if you haven't seen it, go. Its super awesome), and had a fancy dinner and movie night with friends. Normally we don't exchange gifts because we don't like to spend the money but two days before Christmas we decided to get new cell phones. Kirk got the Droid and I got the Droid Eris. I can't stop playing with it! Definatly the best phone ever! I thought it would take me forever to get use to a touch screen and the whole navagation but it really wasn't hard at all. Way worth the money!

We also got a very nice framed picture from Kirk's parents. It matches our house perfectly!

And of course, I have to add the token Trixie picture. She loved having one or both of us home all day for the entire week of Christmas.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-30T10:00:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving we stayed here in AZ. We decided to get together with some other friends who didn't have family in town to have our big feast. And let me tell ya, it turned out to be a huge feast! We had 4 smoked turkeys, tons of sides and about 11-12 desserts. Oh and we can't forget the homemade ice cream and root beer!

We ate, played volleyball, talked and played Rock Band. All in all, it was a fantastic day! It was so fun spending time with our friends on Thanksgiving.

Oh and those pictures of Trixie are from earlier that day, when Kirk and I were bored waiting for the turkey to be done. She hates when we decide to do photo shoots with her! :)

2009-11-30T09:36:00.001-08:00

Hanson haters....BEWARE!!

2009-11-15T13:42:00.001-08:00

In case you haven't heard, I had the most amazing day of my life last week (not including my wedding day)! As I said before, my birthday present was to go to the Hanson concert. My friend Cynthia and I have been waiting for this day for months. It was down in Tucson so we decided to have a Hanson day where we watched all our Hanson movies, recordings, etc before we headed down for the concert.

Our plans changed (cue mood changing music). Right after I blogged about how we were going to the concert, I checked the Hanson website and they posted that there was going to be a "walk" that afternoon hosted by Hanson. Now, if you don't know what a Walk is here's a brief description. Hanson has partnered with Toms Shoes to help raise awareness of the poverty and AIDS epidemic in Africa. Hanson periodically hosts walks where you walk a mile in these people's shoes (which is no shoes)to help people become aware. So we heard about this last minute walk and we were off to Tucson.

When we got there, we thought we'd be able to find the location pretty easily. It started at the Mall on the University of AZ campus. Easy, right? Not exactly. We drove around the campus for about 15 minutes looking for the mall. Then we got out and ran around the campus for another 15 minutes asking people 'where's the mall?' and 'have you seen Hanson and the walk?' We must have sounded like idiots! And to top it all off, we were a half hour late to the walk. We thought we had missed it and were about to give up when across the 'mall' (by the way, the mall is a strip of grass...dumb!)we saw a group of people walking with a banner and shouting with megaphones. It was HANSON!!!!

We ran up to the group and Hanson shouted on the megaphone for us to take off our shoes and join the walk. They TALKED to us!!! So we took our shoes off as fast as we could and fell in line with the group. When we looked around, we were standing right next to HANSON! I couldn't believe it! I think thats when I started hyperventilating.

After we finished the walk (we joined up with about .10 of a mile to go) they took us to a bookstore on campus to thank us for walking with them and sing us a couple songs.

Then they offered to sign autographs. We were tickled pink with excitement. When we got up there, I transformed into the teenage version of myself. My words came out like vomit. It was like I had to tell them my whole life story in a matter of seconds. They probably thought I was nuts! But, I did get a 'Happy Birthday' from them, an autograph and my picture taken with them. I think I could have died!!!

Afterwards, we watched them from the top of the stairs because we didn't want to leave. When we finally did, it felt like I was in a dream. I finally lived out my 14 year old teenie-bopper fantasy! I met HANSON!!!

The concert that night was amazing! We were in the second row. Well for me it was like the first row because the girl in front of me came up to my chin. We couldn't take pictures of the show but that was ok because we got way better ones. We left Tucson around midnight and I was in bed at 2:45am. What a long and exhausting day but it was one that I'll never forget!

Now that you've read this whole post and looked at all my pictures, go ahead....let the jokes begin! :)

An Unusual Birthday

2009-11-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

Its no fun being sick. But whats worse...being sick on your birthday! Last week I got a sinus infection, which I've gotten at least once a year since I moved to Arizona. I desperatly wanted to get rid of it in time for my birthday but to my dismay, I didn't.

Mondays are my day off so I spent my birthday watching season 3 of Heroes. Kirk surprised me by coming home at noon with flowers, a card and my favorite root beer. He is so sweet!I felt bad for him because I think he wanted to spend some time with me but he came home to find me blowing out boggies and hacking up mucus. Sexy, I know.

But sick or not, I was not gonna miss my annual birthday dinner at Joe's BBQ. Mmmm... I know your jealous! We go there twice a year, once for my birthday and once for Kirks. Its the best BBQ joint in Arizona! So I held in my sickness for one night of pure food heaven! But all that holding in came out when we got home and I felt sicker than ever! Oh, I hate being sick!

And to top it all off, my birthday present is happening tonight. I told Kirk all I wanted was a ticket to a concert. Which concert you say? Only the best band in the world! HANSON!! Yep, I'm talking about the teenie-boppin' boy band! Oh man, I'm so excited! If only I wasn't so dang sick still!!! Ugh! Well, you know the drill now, I'm gonna suck it up for one magical night of re-living my teenage fantasies! And in case you're worried...I'll have a special blog dedicated to Hanson! :)

Halloween at Work

2009-11-01T12:43:00.000-08:00

We can't forget about Halloween. At work, we definatly didn't. Although Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, well, its my least favorite actually, I agreed to dress up with the other gals at work. Our theme was Miss America. We all dressed up as Miss America contestants.

I was Miss Texas, of course. We also had Miss Hawaii, Miss Iowa, Miss New York, Miss Michigan, Miss Pennsylvania and last but not least Miss Ryanne. Now, I know what your thinking...there's no state called Ryanne. And you're right. One of the gals decided to dress up as another gal that works with me just for fun. She overdid some of her features and even had a blond wig. Needless to say, we had a good time working. :)

Another Great Loss

2009-10-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had another tragic loss in our family. My uncle Eric ended his life; he was only 39. It came as a big shock to me, of course, and I had a really hard time dealing with and accepting this loss. All the other people I have known to pass away were either really old or sick. But not Eric. He was in great shape and very young. As I went up to the funeral, I prayed and prayed to gain the knowledge and peace I had been looking for. And I found it, in my Grandpa.

My Grandpa is a very smart man. He, almost immediatly, found peace with what happened. He has been a strong rock to our family during this difficult time. He told me that Heavenly Father has a place for all of his children. He never forgets them and He knows them, inside and out. Heavenly Father knows what kind of a man my uncle was and the good intentions he had. He knows that Eric struggled with alot of things he couldn't control. He also has a plan for each of his children, that I know more than anything.

I know without a doubt that he is with his loved ones, my Grandma and his big sister he never met on Earth. I know that he is being taught and I hope that he accepts it. I have a feeling he will. I know that if I live worthy in this life, I will have the opportunity to at least see him again.

I will always remember when my quiet and reserved uncle burst into song on the way to the airport singing 'Knowing me, Knowing you' by ABBA. And how safe I felt when he took me on a motorcycle ride; he was so proud of that bike! He was such a great uncle and I will love him forever. I'll miss you, Uncle Eric!

iTri....Literally

2009-10-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

I guess I should make a post about the triathalon, since its been a week. I have to say that I've had mixed feelings about how I did. Don't get me wrong or anything, I had fun. Really... I had fun swimming till I was out of breath, biking till my legs felt like they would fall off and running almost until the point of heat exhaustion. Its amazing what the human body can do. I hope that 30, 40 even 50 years down the line, I can keep my body healthy so I can accomplish something just as great. I'd recommend competing in a triathalon to anyone.

Mentally, I think I could have done better. I knew going into the race that I wouldn't come anywhere near to first place. Once I got there, everyone was so pumped and ready to go. They all had so much energy. I felt like I just wanted to get this thing over with. I had no energy, no matter how much I tried. Not a good attitude. I think I would have done alot better if I had the same excited, or dare I say, giddy attitude that everyone else did. When we were all done, I didn't want to talk to anyone or be around anyone because I was so mentally drained from, well, myself.

But....I FINISHED the race. That's what matters. I didn't do horrible and I didn't finish last. It's a great accomplishment to say that you've done a triathalon. And now I can check that off my 'Life's To-Do List.' Well, I really don't have one of those, but if I did, that would have been on it!

I do want to give a special shout out to my wonderful hubby, Kirk. He is so supportive of everything I do. I don't think I could have done this without him. He ran with me the whole time. He was SO great!

Anyways, here's some highlight pictures of race day.
Getting ready to start swimming

Transitioning to the bike

Dana and I running to the finish line

This is my favorite picture...Me DONE!

Most of the people who competed

We'll Love You Forever, Grandpa!

2009-10-02T15:58:00.000-07:00

Last week, Kirk's Grandpa Spencer passed away. He suffered much in the last couple years of his life so while its sad for us that he's gone, its comforting to know he's no longer in pain.

During our time in Utah surrounded by family and friends, I got to learn alot more about this amazing man. Having only been in the family for 5 years, (most of which he was in and out of the hospital) I didn't know him all that well. I now know that he was a jokster. He loved teasing and playing practical jokes on everyone. One cousin recalled a story about how while she was in the bathroom he changed her milk to buttermilk and laughed so hard when she came back and tasted it! He also loved clocks. I think Grandma said there were about 20 some-odd clocks in their house, alot of which were coo-coo clocks. Grandpa also liked to play games. His favorite, and the one he's most famous for playing is Greed. Grandpa's kids each threw in a die with the casket, in memory.

I'm grateful to know that we will see him again. I feel so blessed to be a part of the Spencer family. And also that they treat me as if I've been with them for eons. Heavenly Father does have a plan for each of us. He knows when we've finished our work here on earth and when we are needed more on the other side.

Here are a few pictures of our time together with family and friends as we celebrated the life of Norman Darwin Spencer. We love you, Grandpa!

2009-10-02T15:57:00.001-07:00

Utah

2009-09-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend Kirk, Dana Badger and I drove up to Utah to participate in a family fun run. The weekend started out great! We had a relaxing dinner on Friday night with family and friends and got tons of rest for the run on Saturday. Dana was AMAZING! She ran a half marathon and was the first out of all the girls to get back.

On my 5k, I came in second place! Go me! Ok, I guess I should tell the rest of that story. I only came in second out of 5 people, two were walking and one got lost. LOL!

That afternoon we were still feeling like a million bucks (even Dana) so we went with my sister Jennifer and my BFF Erika to the Womens Expo. Erika says I take the most random and dumb pictures ever cause I never tell people when I'm gonna take a picture. But, hey, thats the way I like it!

Now, the weekend goes down hill. Saturday night rolls around and I'm starting to feel a little weird. All night this goes on and even until Sunday night. Kirk then got sick Sunday afternoon. Poor, poor Dana who had to hang out with sick people and strange family she didn't even know. What a trooper! Our drive home Monday was tough for me. I was still feeling a little queasy but Kirk was ok.

Don't worry, cause Tuesday is a new day and I am all better now! I slept in my own bed for 11 magnificent hours and now I'm ready to get back to work! Here are some more random pictures from our weekend...

Silly-Heads

2009-09-09T08:22:00.001-07:00

Here's the scenerio... Its Friday night, you just watched a crappy movie, you need better entertainment...what do you do? Play frisbee!!! Well, my silly husband and his friend, Charlie start tossing a frisbee (cloth, not plastic) around and the thought occured to them, 'I wonder if we can catch this in our mouths like dogs do.' And the fun commences....

Meanwhile, Melissa and I are looking at each other thinking...'what the... what just happened here?'

Oh but, they did impress us. Here are the champs, who mastered the art of 'catching a frisbee in the mouth.' Who's the smart one now, dog?

Bored Days at Work

2009-08-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

This week has been so incredibly boring at work! Here's what I've been up to:
Working on Seek-n-Finds. Interestingly enough, this one was all about Laura!

Coloring my hair....again! This is what happens alot, actually.

Well, I hope next week will be a little busier. After all, we're having a promotional contest so I hope you all come see me! (Its a chemical re-constructor for only $15!)

My Day with Ava

2009-08-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got to spend the day with one of my favorite little gals, Ava Udy. I consider her (and all the Udy kids) my nieces (and nephew). So, during our day together, we went to my work for a meeting (which totally sucked for me but Ava was an angel the whole time), then we went out to lunch with my friend Tara.

We ate at PF Changs. Ava played with her chopsticks as sissors and her yellow crayon as her cell phone. Every time the phone rang at the restaurant, Ava would say "shh, ma phone is ringing." It was so funny!

Then we headed to Sports Chalet to exchange some pants. Ava ran around loving the whole store! There were bikes to look at, clothes racks to hide in and water bottles to pick up.

By the time we got back, we were exhausted from the heat of the car so we laid on the couch and watched The Incredibles. All in all, it was a pretty fun day with Miss Ava. We'll definatly have to do that again!!

So You Think You Can Dance, Dance, Dance......

2009-08-06T15:27:00.000-07:00

Why do I feel like I'm the only one obsessed about this show this season? I just cant get enough of it! I want them to put all the seasons on DVD so I can watch and re-watch every dance, even if they're not my favorites. So this season, I really liked Evan but lately he's been disappointing me. Jenine has really become one of my front runners but I think when push comes to shove, Brandon is gonna win it. I guess we'll find out tonight!!

Ok, so there, I've spoken my peace about my show. If anyone is interested, this Saturday night I'm gonna have a SYTYCD marathon. So if you've missed an episode or two, come on by!

Get these thoughts outta my brain!

2009-08-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is gonna be one of those posts thats more for me than anything else, and its gonna be a long one. Over the past few years, I have been struggling with something that is really personal to me, and in the last few months, I feel like I've had the worst of it. I don't share these thoughts because I want answers or sympathy. I share them because this is my new way of journaling and I want to keep my thoughts somewhere I can read and re-read them when I feel like I need some encouragement.

I don't like to burden people with my problems so if you feel hurt I haven't shared this with you, don't be. Kirk rarely hears this stuff and my mom has no clue! :) I have about 50-bagillion thoughts written on a tiny piece of paper so I would remember all I wanted to say so hopefully I will make sense and get everything out.

I think along time ago, Satan realized what my biggest weakness was. It wasn't peer pressure, drugs, alcohol or all that normal stuff. It was and is myself. I try to be a very self motivated, non-lazy person but sometimes, I need a lot of extra help. For example, if I have a list of things to do but I turn on the TV to watch a half hour program, I won't get anything done because that half hour of TV will turn into 4 or 5 hours. Thats laziness. Exhibit B - when I wanted to work at a salon full time, I mulled it over in my head for months before I got the guts to move on with my life and take a chance. Thats self-motivation.

Anyways, so Satan knows that I am my only stumbling block on my road back to our Heavenly Father and he really works me over. My biggest hurdle to jump over has been this in between stage of marriage where you're not newlyweds but your not parents yet. I remember something similar when I was out of high school and an adult, but I wasn't married yet. I hated that time! But I do remember a specific day when I 'cut the cords' so to speak with the drama of the dating world and focused on getting myself to where Heavenly Father needed me to be. It was only a couple months after that day when Kirk and I started dating. That's where I want to get with this in between stage of my married life and I've been trying for almost 3 years to figure out how to do that.

Specifically, my most obvious problem has been that I don't have any kids. Now, I'm gonna clear some things up real quick and maybe people will quit asking and 'bugging' me about this. Yes, Kirk and I have tried to have kids. No, we have not had any success. Yes, we want kids and yes we have been to the doctor to get all the tests done. When you've been trying for as long as we have and not had any success, its hard to keep anger towards other couples, friends, family and even our Father in Heaven at bay. I tried to avoid the topic for a long time. I didn't like to hold babies, I held my tongue every time someone asked us when we were gonna have kids or if we even wanted them. I think the beginning of my turning point was last conference when there was some talk, I don't know who or what they were talking about but something was mentioned about people who don't start families because they are waiting for specific things to happen or that they are selfish and would rather have a dog then a baby. Obviously that bothered me because its been 5 years since I was married and I have a dog.

I was just so angry with that talk. I didn't want people thinking that about me because we do want a family. I do want to fill my role as a mother. And thats another thing. Let me side track for a minute. All this time when my anger and resentment was building up, I couldn't help but feel sorry for myself because I wasn't getting to fulfill my divine role. I would ask Heavenly Father, what am I doing wrong? How come people who aren't even ready or people who are teenagers or drug addicts get to have kids? Why can't we have that blessing? We have done everything right in our lives. Everything.

So, after this talk is when I really began to try everything I could to start a family and get out of this in-between stage. Things were looking good and bad. Good because we are healthy adults but badly because that ment nothing was preventing it but ourselves and also bad because we don't have alot of money for the 'special' procedures and such. I was down. I felt so low. Then I started feeling alone. There's nothing worse then being constently surrounded by people but still feeling alone. Another side track...I think sometimes women in my stage in life get forgotten alot. Because we don't have the constant nagging or stress of a family life, people think our lives are peachy-keene and we have no worries. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. We struggle, sometimes alot more. So don't forget us.

So, right before girls camp, I was feeling this low. My mind and heart totally shut down. I didn't even want to go to camp. And for those of you who know me, I absolutly LOVE girls camp. I would give anything to go. So for me, this was big. I went to camp feeling numb for almost the whole entire time. It wasn't until Sunday at testimony meeting that things started to change. I knew something was wrong with me. I didn't want to hold my feeling in any longer. I wanted to feel something, anything. I prayed and prayed the whole meeting for that. Finally, after many good testimonies were borne, one in particular hit me. I don't remember what she said, but the spirit I felt was so strong. That afternoon, we had our bishop time. I was priviledged to share some intimate experiences with our young women, two in particular that touched me so deeply. I know that these girls are strong. They have so much tempting them but despite that, they hold strong. I figured, if they can do it, why not me? I decided from that moment on, I was going to start feeling that spirit daily and that I needed to feel it in order to heal the anger I had inside. (This is starting to sound like one of those LDS movies, lol)

Anyways, since then, I have been reading my conference ensign, reading the scriptures and trying my hardest to pray every day. I know that if I do what I'm supposed to do, Heavenly Father will bless me. It may not be in the way I see I need, but it will be in the way Heavenly Father sees that I need. Even before my trials, I knew that I'm not in control of my life and that Heavenly Father gives us struggles that he knows we can handle. I always know the answers to my problems. It seems like when I'm struggling with anything in my life, when I pray, the answer is always 'you know what you need to do.' Its the putting what I know into action that is the hardest for me.

So, now, I'm resolved to have a better attitude, to serve more, to not be resentful, to not hate others who have what I desire most and most importantly, to develop a more meaningful, loving and grateful relationship with my Heavenly Father. I know that if I do that, my testimony will be strengthened, which is another subject I am working on. I'm not quite brave enough to bare my testimony in sacrament yet but I am trying, little by little to share it and not be afraid to let out my emotions. So if you see me crying, its not because I'm sad. It's because I'm finally learning how to express myself. :)

So, some other things I have learned:

1.) If you fail at a trial, you will get it again, so just suck it up and do what you need to do to get through it.
2.) I am the exception, I always have been. I do things my own way and I don't follow the crowd and that is a good thing, as long as my heart is willing to keep up.
3.) Our trials are to help bring us to a state of humility so we can draw closer to our Savior.
4.) Bareing your testimony and crying pretty much go hand in hand. I need to suck it up and let everyone see me cry because bareing your testimony is the best way to strengthen it.
5.) Having trials is a blessing. It helps us discover who we truely are and who Heavenly Father wants and needs us to be. We are living in the dispensation of the fullness of times and we need to be strong. We need to be the people Heavenly Father needs us to be.

I do know that my Savior lives and loves me. He bore my sorrows and sins. He knows what I'm going through and will help me endure. I know that our ward and stake leaders are called of God. I know our Bishop is divinely inspired, especially when it comes to the youth. I am so blessed to be able to work with the young women. I think about them constently. They have been a source of great comfort during my silent struggles. They don't know it, but I consider them a part of my family, my 'daughters.' I love them so much. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I know I can live with them again. I thank Heavenly Father each day for my wonderful and loving husband. He teaches me so much. I wouldn't trade my experiences for anything. I'm glad I struggle and I'm glad that there is a way for us to overcome them.

Sisters Weekend

2009-07-26T13:32:00.001-07:00

So I totally forgot to blog about the rest of the weekend I had with my sisters. Oops! Wicked was one of the many things we did but instead of bore you with the details, I think I'll tell you about each of my sisters (plus my amazing BFF, who is practically part of the family).

This is Jennifer. She is my older sister by 11 months. Thats right, she and I are very close in age so we pretty much grew up doing all the same stuff. She is probably the sibling that I get to see the most because she lives the closest. :) Jen and I were the ones who started this whole girls trip because we both really wanted to see Wicked. She works at Roberts Crafts in Provo and is single. So if you know anyone looking, Jen is a great catch! She loves to read, sing and watch old movies and musicals. She is very smart and one of my favorite people in the whole world!

This is Erika, my adopted sister. Erika and I have known each other since birth. My mom always says that she was in the hospital room when Erika was born! Erika and I were inseparable during our youth. In case you were wondering what we were like during that time in our life, I have one word....teenie-bopper. We were the epitome of giggling, boy crazy girls who were obsessed with every known boy band. Awe, who am I kidding, we are still like that, especially when we get together. When she was visiting we morphed right back into our 15 year old selves. I love laughing with Erika! She is also a beautiful singer, dancer and actress, if you know anyone interested (she's single too :) ). She lives in Utah which is so hard for me because I'm used to her being just a couple blocks away!

Lastly, there's Rachel. She is my baby sister and baby of the whole family as a matter of fact. I can't believe how much she has grown! To me, she is still 6 years old. I remember feeding her, changing her diaper and playing with her like she was my own personal dolly. After all, I was 9 when she was born! Rachel just graduated from high school this year. She got her first job, working at a movie theater in Dallas and loves it. In the past couple of years, she has really come out of her shy shell and is started to act more and more like yours truly....scary, I know. She always makes me smile because she cares so much about everyone and wants everyone to be having a good time. Plus she is really excited to have a job and to be able to spend her money on other people since we've all been doing that for her whole life. Its cute. During her trip, we welcomed her into womanhood by giving her a make-over and getting her ears pierced. We had so much fun with our older and much taller dolly!! :)

WICKED!!!!

2009-07-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my sisters and some friends and I went to go see Wicked.

It was AMAZING!!! The singing, acting and effects were awesome! We all felt like teenagers as we waited by the stage door for the actor/actresses to come out. We met the girl who played Elphaba...

...and the guy who played Fiero

If I had the money, I would see that show every night it was in town. And then I'd follow the tour around the country. :)

Girls Camp

2009-07-06T21:03:00.000-07:00

Well, Kirk and I just got back from Girls Camp today. We had so much fun but needless to say, we are indeed grateful to be back at home! Trixie was kept company by the McCain's while we were gone. She was so happy to see us when we got home.

Kirk and I were called to work with the 4th years with Sister Rasmussen and Brother Roberts. Bishop Chapman squirmed his way on board too. Here's a brief recap of what happened:

Thursday - We left at the butt-crack of dawn, in the drizzily rain to head up to Blue Ridge Resevoir. We had alot of gear to get to our camp site, but luckily there were 32 girls with us to help load the boat and canoes. Half of us canoed to the designated camp site while the rest of us hiked. When the hikers got around to the other side where the canoers were gonna pick them up, we couldn't find the canoes. We waited for almost 2 hours for them to come. Some of the girls got too anxious and swam over to the other side to start setting up camp. The canoers accidentally went too far. And by too far, I mean they went to the complete end of the resevoir. By the time we all got to the camp site, we were way off schedule so we let the girls have free time swimming and with the canoes.

Friday - Nights are not so fun when you are sleeping in a tent. Well, for me at least. I was up at least every hour, I was cold and completely exhausted. What else I don't like to do in the wilderness is use the 'facilities'. Something always goes wrong. Like this time, my roll of toilet paper slipped out of my hands and went rolling down the mountain side. I felt like an idiot. The girls on the other hand were rockstars! They went repelling off the side of a mountain in the rain. They all did so awesome! By mid afternoon we were on our way back to camp Lomia to meet up with the rest of the stake. That night was skit night. All the wards had awesome skits. I love the feeling of being at camp, and especially sleeping in cabins instead of tents. I got my one and only shower on Friday. It was NICE!

Saturday - Our stake staff did something amazing today. They were directed by the spirit to change our schedule. The theme of the camp was I'm a D.O.L.L. (daughter of liberty and light). We were focusing the whole camp on returning to virtue and had already had some amazing talks. The stake felt that it was important for all the girls to make the commitment to return to virtue. So we spent the morning watching each girl sign her name to the return to virtue flag before we raised it. There are no words to describe the feelings that were felt in that moment.

That afternoon, we had games and day competitions followed by an impromptu water fight. Well, I guess it was planned by the priesthood because they came with huge buckets of water and soaked the girls. They had so much fun! After we were all dry, we had our 4th of July program followed by a brief dance with dessert.

Sunday - Sunday was the most spiritual day at camp. We had sacrament meeting in the sacred grove and a testimony meeting that lasted and hour over time. After that we had bishop time. Our bishop is called of God. He is an inspired man. Our ward is so blessed to have him at the head. The girls too were so blessed to have him at camp all week. Following our Sunday fireside, we had a ward testimony meeting. Definatly my favorite part of camp is hearing the testimonies of the girls. They are so strong. It strengthens me every day to know that there are young women in this world who stand up to the temptations of this day. I'm grateful to know that I'm a part of there lives and hopefully influencing them for good. I truly love each one of them.

By the time Monday came around we all had mixed feelings. On one hand we were excited to get home to our showers and beds. But on the other, we were sad to leave the feeling of camp behind. After many hugs and one last 'way-o' dance from Kirk (you'll have to ask him about that), we hit the road. Hopefully you'll enjoy our memories from camp.

2009-07-06T20:58:00.001-07:00

Top Ten Best Things About Texas

2009-06-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

While in Texas last weekend (which was very awesome, by the way) I decided to document the top ten things about Texas. (Besides my family and friends)

I figured since I talk about Texas so much, I might as well share why I think its so great. In no particular order, here they are:

1.) Braum's - They make the best bacon cheesburger, frys and Dr. Pepper float I have ever had!

2.)Water Towers - I'm not really sure what they do, but they are cool, none the less

3.) Turn Abouts - I wish every freeway had these. It makes it so easy to get to the other side of the freeway without waiting at the stupid stoplights

4.) My Mom's Chocolate Cake - Granted, I can make this cake myself but nothing is as good as the way my mommy makes it! Mmmm!

5.) Humidity - I LOVE humidity! It makes my skin moist, my hair bigger and I can breathe!

6.) Rudy's BBQ - By far, the best place for BBQ! If you haven't tried it, shame on you!

7.) Rednecks - They just pop up everywhere in Texas! Love their accents, cloths, and way of life. Surely I would never join them, but its fun to watch!

8.) Texas Pride - No need to say anymore...

9.) Dr. Pepper - Best drink EVER!!!

10.) Bluebell Ice Cream - The birthplace of this delightful treat just happens to be the great state of Texas. No wonder its good!

A few honorable mentions:

Toll Roads - Even though you pay to drive on them, they sure do get you places faster.

Greenery - Its SO green there! Probably from all the rain, which leads me to the next one...

Weather - I love random weather, and Texas is the top place for that! I do love a good tornado too!

2009-06-11T16:25:00.001-07:00

Deep In The Heart Of Texas...

2009-06-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, tomorrow we are heading back to the mother land! I am sooo excited to see all my family and friends! Although I do have to say that I am not looking forward to the drive, but hey, who does get excited to travel for 14 hours, plus a two hour time difference in one shot? I'll be sure to take a ton of pictures, after all, I have a wedding and graduation to attend!

JOGGER

2009-05-25T09:10:00.001-07:00

A couple of days ago, Kirk and his cousin Casey launched a new program for the Google Android phone, available for download. It is AWESOME!!! It's a program that is designed to be your running 'buddy.'
It tracks your route...

It tracks your goals...

It even tracks your shoes...

Isn't that amazing? I think so. It also has a few other options with reports and what not. This month they have a special price of $1.99 per download. If you have the phone, its totally worth the money. :)

So look out for all the new software by Rootbeer Software, Inc (Fitting, I know)!!!

PS - It should be coming out for the I-Phone in a couple of months

CONCERTS!!!!!!

2009-05-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

I LOVE concerts! Last night I went out with the girls to see No Doubt, featuring Paramore. It was so AMAZING!! They sang all my favorite songs and let me tell ya, Gwen can still shake it!!! My friend Tara organized the whole event (thanks babe!) and all us girls had a blast!

Even though my pictures kinda stink, we could still see real well from the lawn. And it looks like we weren't the only ones having a good time because the arena was PACKED! Adults, teens, and even preschoolers were there. No Doubt is turning out to be a band for all decades!

PS - And this was Melissa's first concert. :)

More Family and Trixie Drama

2009-05-17T14:44:00.000-07:00

It's always fun to meet new people. My mom's cousin Tom came into town for work this weekend and we got to meet up for dinner last night. I had never met Tom so it was fun getting to know him. It was also fun to hear his stories about my mom! I forgot to take pictures (sorry Mom) but I got this one off his facebook.

Tom, we had so much fun last night! Thanks for going out with us (and paying for dinner too)!!

Trixie, Trixie, Trixie...what can I say about this silly-head doggy? Or should we say, Laura, Laura, Laura... what are we going to do with you?? Today, I thought I'd give Trixie a doggy spa day where I brushed her hair and teeth, gave her a bath and clipped her nails. Well, thats what we were calling it so she would like it. (not that she understands us anyways) All was going well, until I was clipping the last nails on her last paw. I cut two of them too far and she started bleeding...profusely!

Naturally, I freaked out thinking she was going to die of blood loss or something. I got it to stop bleeding, then gave her a bath and began to dry her(using the laser light, of course). When all of a sudden I see blood on my carpet. I examine more and find out there is a blood trail from where Trixie was running. I continued to freak out. Long story short, the bleeding is stopped now. We put some hydrogen proxide to clean it out and ointment to seal it and then put an old sock on her leg so she wouldn't lick it. She does not look very happy. I'm sorry my little puppy!! :(

Random Thoughts

2009-05-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

This week I have learned a few things:

1.) Crafty people are AWESOME!!! Sheree Chapman made this incredible picture frame with the letter "S" on the glass inside. It looks amazing! Thanks Sheree!

2.) Working out at the YMCA really is cool. I used to not want to work out there cause I was afraid to see people I know. I'm not really sure why but let me tell ya, its great. In some weird way I feel involved with the community or my friends or something. I just realized in a major way how much I need to be around people.

In case your wondering, my workouts are going great. I actually ran for 5 minutes straight, which is a real accomplishment for me.

3.) I found the BEST diet! Well, its not much of a diet but a new way to eat. If you don't already have it, you need to buy the book "Eat Right for your Blood" by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo. It is amazing what they say about how you should eat based on what blood type you have. It's very specific not like the thousand other generic diets. Everything it says about type O (which is what I am) is 100% true to how I digest. It's very informing and I highly recommend it.

Well, thats about all I have to say right now. Things are still the same here in Queen Creek. I got to talk to my little brother on his mission on Sunday. It was neat to hear his voice again. His english is still really good! He comes home in February so watch out YSA ladies...an adorable RM will be on the prowl! :)

Pool Sharks

2009-05-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Kirk and I went to Tempe to play pool with some of our pals, Bekah and Jonathan. I'm pretty sure that I'm getting good at this game cause Bekah and I killed the guys all night! Well, not all night but most of the time. :)

I love that the city of Tempe passed a law prohibiting smoking in all public places. It makes going to a pool hall much more bearable. Now all Bekah and I have to deal with is random drunk people hitting on us while our husbands are off parking the car! LOL! We had a 'good vibe' last night!

The Winners

And The Losers!

Winter Visitors...sort of

2009-05-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Kirk received a call from his Grandpa Haines informing him that they were in Phoenix. What a nice surprise! They decided to drive down from Utah for a couple of days to visit some people they knew. (Glad they thought of us, lol!) So, of course, we took them to our favorite place to eat, Joe's BBQ. I think this was the third time we've been there in the last month!

We had a great time talking, laughing and eating with them. Those guys crack me up!! But seriously, they are amazing people with awesome stories and I'm very glad to be apart of their family. We love you, Grandma and Grandpa Haines!!!

There and Back Again...A Spencer Adventure

2009-05-03T18:59:00.001-07:00

This weekend marked our 5 year anniversary. Friday, May 1st was the big day. When I arrived at work, I was very surprised to receive flowers and chocolate. Anyone that knows my hubby knows that he thinks alot of things are a waste of money, including flowers. So I LOVED that he put that aside for one day. After picking him up from the airport (he had to be in St. Louis for the week) on Friday afternoon, we enjoyed a nice southern style dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

Then on Saturday, we made an impulsive trip to San Diego to visit the zoo. We had so much fun!!! We drove pretty much the entire day but, we saw some fun animals and had a great time together. Thanks Kirkle!!!

2009-05-03T18:57:00.001-07:00

Arcosanti Adventure

2009-04-27T23:26:00.000-07:00

Today Melissa and I took a day trip to go visit my darling little brother, Andrew who is doing work/research/whatever else he does at Arcosanti. Arcosanti is kind of hard to explain but its a place that is forward in design, construction and conservation but looks a little like a hippie community. Andrew says that they are trying to steer people away from thinking of it as a place for hippies. So far, I don't think its working!

So, we stole Andrew away for a good part of the day. First we had lunch at a Burger King just north of Arcosanti, I forgot the name of the city, where we met an intersting homeless man named Jeff. Then we headed up to Sedona and pretty much just walked up and down the shopping area. Before heading back we stopped in Cottonwood, to the nearest Walmart so Andrew could stock up on some goodies.

We had so much fun laughing and playing around all day. It was really good to spend some time with my brother. There is a 5 year age gap and I was out of the house before he even started high school so its neat to hang out with him as adults. It's also neat to see what your siblings grow up to be. He is such an amazingly smart guy! He knows something about everything. He is 22 and already has a bachelors degree in geography and is now deciding which college to get his masters degree at. I call him the smartest member of my family. This guy is definatly going places!

I'm also really glad that my good friend Melissa got to come with me today. I enjoy spending time with her because she makes me feel comfortable, is fun to be around and can give me great advice, even when she's not meaning to.

We all had a spectacular day and now all I want to do is lay in my cozy bed and take an 8 hour nap!

2009-04-27T23:25:00.001-07:00

More Birthday Fun

2009-04-27T23:22:00.002-07:00

Here are some more pictures of Kirk's birthday. Enjoy!

2009-04-27T23:22:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to my Kirkle!

2009-04-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

Today is Kirk's 29th birthday.

Yes, I'll tell anyone how old he is...cause he's old now!

This morning I gave him his birthday present(s). I couldn't wait cause I laughed so hard when I bought them. He did too, when I gave them to him.

Then I took him to our traditional birthday dinner spot...Joe's BBQ! We use to go there almost weekly but I now, I can't even remember the last time we went. Sad, I know.

All in all, Kirk had a very awesome day. I can't wait till next year when I can throw him an awesome surprise party...shhh...don't tell! :)

Beauty and the Beast

2009-04-16T22:57:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Queen Creek High School's Beauty and the Beast. The show opens tomorrow. Hope ya'll can come!

The Twilight Before Christmas

2009-03-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention for all you Twilight fans, there is a freakin' hilarious parody on www.youtube.com that makes fun of all the awkward scenes in the movie. The first time I watched it was at 3am so it was a little funnier but even during the day, its seriously funny! Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUba0WtH-SY

Enjoy!

Get off your high horse and move on!

2009-03-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the "pleasure" of attending a 4 hour long CPR class. And while all the information was useful and its good to have the certification, I can't help but dwell on the teaching method/style. Have you ever been in a class where the teacher knows a little too much about the subject (or at least thinks they do) and they try to cram every last piece of information into your brain to show how smart they are? Yeah, that was last night. I was soooo ready to leave by the time we got out. She kept getting off on tangents that I think she purposfully went on and by the time I left, it was like 10:05. This is PM folks, just in case your wondering. Then I had a nice long hour drive home! The actual "learning CPR" part took about 20 minutes. What the heck was the other 3 hours and 40 minutes for??? What frustrates me even more is that last time I took the class there were more people there and we got out 2 hours early!!! What the heck is up with that?? Anyways, the whole point of this is that I really hope that when I teach young womens, I don't teach like that. So if I do, please push me off my horse and slap me back to reality!

Lots of News

2009-03-22T16:29:00.001-07:00

It has been a long week. Kirk went out of town to Texas (without me, I know, how rude)for work. I've been trying to keep myself busy so here is a quick (well, not so quick) review of what I've been doing.

My salon is located right next to an irish pub so for St. Patrick's Day we took advantage of all the people walking by. It was interesting to see people getting drunk at 10am; something I will never understand. Here are a few pictures of me and some of my co-workers. Gotta love the green hair!

Melissa and Charlie have been so nice to have me over for dinners and games while Kirk has been gone. One night Melissa taught me how to make bows. She does an awesome job! Charlie had to endure this 'girls night'. Needless to say, he missed Kirk terribly!

On Monday, I had to take Trixie to the vet. She was having some digestive problems that we got medicine for. This is her sitting in her own chair, waiting for the vet to come in and 'violate' her. It was not a fun day for her.

The most exciting part of the week was last weekend when Twilight came out on DVD. Melissa and I stayed up all night waiting for it. We went shopping, talked alot and even rode the ferris wheel in the Superstition Springs Mall parking lot. We found out that I have a fear of ferris wheels that night. Ha ha! We waited outside blockbuster for about an hour until the movie was released. On Saturday night we had a movie watching party. It was fun to get the girls together and chat about our little obsession. :)

And here are a couple random photos of me and Trixie. She was spoiled cause she got to sleep in my bed. But it kept me company and made me feel safe, even though she is so small! LOL!

Randomness

2009-03-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

I found some random pictures on my camera today that I thought were fun to share. The first is one of Trixie (go figure). We took her to petsmart sometime after Christmas and put a headband on her that lights up. She didn't try to take it off surprisingly but if we had bought it, I doubt it would have gotten any use.
A couple weeks ago at work, we had about 5 furry visitors. The manager got a new puppy the size of my hand and another co-worker brought her dogs from home. I am such a sucker for weiner dogs! They are so cute!!!

I also discovered the Mesa Swapmeet. If you've seen me in the last few weeks, you might have spotted me with this new little purchase. It's the same knock-off bag I was trying to find while in NYC last year. I got it at the swapmeet for $20! I love deals!!!

And lastly, yesterday, Melissa and I were out shopping at walmart (of all places) and we saw, right in the middle of the parking lot, a roadruner! We had to stop and try to get a picture. I took it with my cell phone so it didn't turn out too good but how fun is that to see a roadrunner right in the middle of a bunch of humans! I always think its funny to see them because we are all use to thinking of them as big and tall like in the cartoons. But in real life, they're tiny little guys!

I've got skillz!

2009-02-25T15:40:00.000-08:00

This month I've been trying out some new talents. First, I made my first double layer cake. I guess I thought it would be hard so I never did it but really, it wasn't. Just split a cake mix into two round pans, duh Laura!

And second, I finally painted french tips on my hands, both hands! Now, I can do french on my toes but I absolutley can not do anything with my left hand so I never attempted to paint my right. So last week, I tried painting a solid color with my left hand and it went really well. Today, I attempted the french and it turned out awesome! See, and old dog can learn new tricks! lol!

Ps - yes, I did take a picture of my left and because a.) It turned out slightly better and b.) I can't seem to take a picture with my left hand! :)

Family Visits

2009-02-03T21:55:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer:
I really need to update this blog more regularly instead of waiting for a ton of things to happen. Then I end up spending twice as much time writing and posting pictures. :)

This week, my brother Andrew and older sister Jennifer came to visit. Andrew began a 5-week workshop at a place called Arcosanti, which is located north of Phoenix, at the Prescott Junction. I'm still not 100% sure what he will be studying there but you can go here to read up on it: www.arcosanti.org. He came a couple days early to spend some time with Kirk and I. Jennifer decided it was a good time to come down from Utah and visit too.

Saturday, we did the 2-mile fun run at London's Run. Well, I can't say we ran, it was more of a walk for us but none the less, it was fun. Melissa came with us as well. We even got scammed into getting a free spinal analysis afterwards! I had a really good time and was glad that my family got to come. We have never been a very active family so it was nice to share this experience with them.

Jennifer and I spent alot of time listening to musicals. We LOVE musicals! I pretty much doubled my music collection while Jen was here. If anyone wants to have a musical movie night, let me know! When Andrew was here, we toured Tempe Town lake and even hiked up the "A" mountain in Tempe. All in all, it was a fabulous week! I am so grateful that they could come see me. Trixie enjoyed the company too!

2009-02-03T21:54:00.001-08:00

Elder Chesley

2009-01-06T17:53:00.000-08:00

I wanted to take a minute and post a picture of my little missionary brother, Alan. He is having fun teaching people about the gospel. He says his current companion is a good cook so he is eating pretty well. We all can't wait to see how much weight he'll gain since he was super skinny to begin with. Its also fun to read his emails because he interjects spanish words and mis-spells english words. I guess that means he's getting pretty good with the language, eh? This is a picture of him when they went hiking. Those are the Andes Mountains in the background. PS - He's in Mendoza Argentina.

I've Been Tagged!

2009-01-06T17:35:00.000-08:00

The Rules:

1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write six random things about yourself that not everyone knows
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them
4. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
5. Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Here are 6 random things about me (that you may or may not know):

1. I wish I could play the piano/guitar
2. I secretly like Arizona, even though I'm a true Texan
3. I want to be on Broadway, even if I'm a tree in the background
4. In high school, I was an extreme Hanson lover. Awe heck, I still love Hanson!
5. I love being in charge of things, but I don't like bossing people around
6. I'm a certified aerobics instructor but have never taught a class in my life

Ok, so I'm gonna tag:

Lori Tschannen
Melissa Young
Megan Oakley
Candace Whipple
Denyse Carter
Ashley Wilkins

Have fun writing about yourself!!!

The Crafting Queen!

2008-12-31T18:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, so the title doesn't really fit but oh well! For those of you that know me, I'm not what you'd call a patient crafter. Sure, crafting is super fun, but I get so impatient that my crafts often end up sloppy, if done at all. Thats why I wanted to post about my latest craft. I put alot of time into it and was extra patient so it would be good. It's a present for my mother-in-law so don't tell her until I send it, ok?

Ok so this is a latch-hook pillow totally made from scratch. Believe it or not, latch hooks take a LONG time to finish! Then, I made the back and stuffed it with a home-made pillow. Hopefully she'll like it! Kudos to me for actually finishing a GOOD craft!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T16:52:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, we decided to stay here in Arizona. It was a good idea because we got to spend alot of time with friends and by ourselves. We had a dinner at our house on Christmas Eve and even got to help play Santa with our friends Melissa & Charlie.

I also included some pictures of Trixie that Kirk and I took on Christmas Day. We were bored all afternoon so we watched Trixie play with the laser light. She got so worn out that her tongue started hanging out of her mouth! It was hilarious! We couldn't stop laughing!

Hope everyone had a jolly Christmas season! :)

Christmas 2008 Pictures

2008-12-26T16:50:00.001-08:00

The fun is all over!

2008-11-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

This week has been a busy one! We had Thanksgiving at our house this year and it was a total blast! Kirks sisters Kathy & Lisa drove down from Utah on Saturday, his parents came on Monday and his older sister Kristie and husband Monti came on Tuesday. Let me just say that I won the in-law lottery! I have the best in-laws! I love them so much! I was so glad that they could all come! (minus Katie...we missed you!)

Let's see, we played alot of games, ate tons of food and watched a couple movies. Oh, and we can't forget the black Friday shopping! I am so sad that they're all gone!

One of Kirk's best friends was in town also. They had fun playing wii together and shopping for Kirk's new "toy" on Friday. Sure, I knew it was coming some time in the future. I just didn't realize that the future was so close! He got a great deal on a 52" flat screen tv. Seriously, why do men need these things?? I'll never understand that.

Anyways, here are some pics to sum up our fun week!

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T19:15:00.001-08:00

Twilight!!!!

2008-11-24T09:39:00.000-08:00

I figured I'd wait a couple days to post about Twilight, just in case anyone was waiting to see it and they read my blog. We had so much fun! Melissa, Charlie and Tara and I went to the midnight showing at the theater on Superstition Springs. I couldnt believe how many people were there! They had like 6 theaters playing the movie.

We got one with a TON of teenie-boppers and their psycotic moms. That was a little distracting but oh well. The movie was AWESOME! There were some parts where I dont think anyone in the theater breathed!

We were all really, really tired on the way home but it was SO worth it! I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did. And if you haven't heard the soundtrack, get it. It's GREAT!!

2008-11-24T08:39:00.001-08:00

Random Information

2008-11-20T18:25:00.000-08:00

I have been storing some information that I've been meaning to share on my blog so here goes. Bring on the randomness! :)

I bought Trixie a new Halloween costume, but it was too small so I had to give it to Melissa. Look how cute she looks though!

I think I have a slight obsession with twilight. I'm willing to admit that. Isn't that the first step to recovery? I'm going to the midnight showing of Twilight in t-minus 15 minutes and counting.

Last weekend I cleaned out my WHOLE house! Kirks family is coming out for Thanksgiving so I thought that now would be a good time for a 'spring' cleaning. I didn't take a picture but oh well. And the best part of clean-out weekend was that my dear, dear friend Lea painted my kitchen! Yea! Thanks Lea!!!

Yesterday Kirk and I had a fun time cooking in the kitchen. We made cinnamon rolls from SCRATCH! I mean everything, down to the icing from scratch. They are so yummy! I used Ashley's roll recipe (Thanks Ash) and added chocolate chips too!

Well, thats about it for the update. I'll write about my twilight experience after I recover from my lack of sleep! :)

Twilight

2008-11-13T21:41:00.000-08:00

Ok so I am sitting here listening to the Twilight soundtrack and I LOVE it! I do have to admit that the songs sung by Robert Pattison are at the bottom of my list, sorry gals.

I really wanted to put a background of Twilight on my blog but I couldn't find one so I settled for this little widget thingy on the side and a couple of poster pics (I couldn't decide which one I liked best). I am super excited about the movie, even if it isn't anything like the book. A couple of us are going to the midnight showing at the Harkins on Superstition Springs if anyone wants to join. Get your tickets now before they sell out! :)

Birthday Pictures

2008-11-10T13:14:00.001-08:00

BIRTHDAY!!!

2008-11-10T07:29:00.000-08:00

Birthdays are starting to get not so exciting for me, I've decided. If you ask Kirk, he'd say different because he thinks I make way too many references to my birthday during the year. I can't help it if I'm just trying to make sure he remembers! Well, I do like that people remember my birthday but lately I have been hoping that it will be less and less of a big deal. Maybe because I think I'm getting old (no comments please). I still remember clearly what I was like in high school and sometimes I still think I am living that life. Then I get smacked back to reality (usually by my husband) and realize that I'm a 27 year old, married homeowner. Quite different from high school.

This birthday (which was yesterday for anyone who didn't know), might have brought me out of that low key birthday slump. I am quite positive that I have the BEST husband of all time and some pretty freakin' awesome friends as well! So on Saturday, I was feeling a little bummed because Kirk ditched me to go shopping with the Udy's for my birthday. I know, I should have just let him go with no sadness but I couldn't help feeling a little ticked cause I had the whole day off, which I never do, and I had a wedding to go to which I was now to attend alone. Kinda sucky but oh well!

The next morning, Kirk wakes me up with breakfast in bed, this is just the beginning. Then, at choir practice, my dear sweet husband bullied Melissa into surprising me with the whole choir singing happy birthday. Mmmm, not so low-key. After choir, the Udy's made us stay over to have cake and ice cream, which was so yummy, by the way and open presents. By this point I decided to just throw all my feelings out of the window because I could see how happy and excited they were for me. So, I began opening presents. Ok, I need to pause here. All my life, I never really got any 'good' presents. My family was not well off and we have 6 kids so you can imagine what our birthdays and christmas' were like. Ok, back to the story. I got the best presents EVER!!!! Here's what I got: a friendship-charm bracelet (that was very thought out!), a hot roller set, two gorgeous pictures for my wall, a beautiful purse (cause I couldn't find one in NYC) and a wii remote. Now, I was pretty happy with my wii-mote cause I really wanted a wii, and I knew I was never gonna get one so when Kirk gave it to me he said, 'now you know we cant afford one of these but I got you this to start your collection.' I was like 'cool!' Then about 10 minutes later, he brings out one more present. Give you one guess as to what it was...yep, A WII!!!! Like I said....BEST HUSBAND EVER!!!!

So that pretty much wraps up my birthday! It was great, thanks to awesome family and friends! I'll get some pictures up soon.

No time is just not an excuse anymore...

2008-10-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

I promised myself that when I quit my full time job I was gonna blog more. But its been a week and I haven't really kept up. I guess I will use the "I'm lazy" excuse!

Working at the salon full time has been so great! I'm not that busy yet but I know I'll get there. I just love being able to talk to people every day and help them look good and feel better about themselves. It's very rewarding! My schedule is Tuesday 1-8, Wed thru Fri 10-4 and Saturday 9-6. Kirk is liking it too because he can work the early shift from 7-4 so we're both home a couple hours earlier which is super nice!

On the flip side of quitting my job, I've found that its really hard to get things done when you have alot of free time. I have a task list of about a hundred things and about a hundred more things that I want to learn to do but I can never seem to organize myself. I can organize an office, no problem, but when it comes to my life, I think I'm just too impatient. I like everything right here, right now and I don't like coming up with ideas on how to get things done. If anyone has suggestions on this, please let me know! Or, if anyone wants to organize it for me... Just Kidding!

I guess this is good practice for when I am a stay at home mom. If I can learn to organize myself now, then when I have kids and more activities, it will be easier for me to control. At least, that is what I keep telling myself!

As far as news goes, my dad came into town last week for a couple days to trade cars. He took my brothers old Saturn that has been sitting in my driveway, broken, for more than a year and gave me his 1991 Chevy Caprice that he doesn't want to drive anymore. Thanks Dad! Let me tell ya though, this car, nicknamed "The Boat" is SWEET! Just ask anyone that has taken a ride with me so far! It has bench seats, nice maroon interiors, automatic locks and windows and a freakin' awesome stereo with a tape player included! Yeah, so if you ever feel like rockin' it out to Disney or Classical, call me anytime!

I love Weezer!!!!

2008-10-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

My husband is the best! On Saturday night, he took me to see one of my favorite bands at the state fair. It was easy for him though, cause it was one of his favorites too! Weezer was amazing! They sang every song I wanted to hear and ended with one of my all time favorites, Buddy Holly! In the hallway, there was a poster of Weezer with one head cut out. I took a picture of my friend Bekah as a member of Weezer!

Pink Surprise

2008-10-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is it! The last day of my life as a business lady! Three cheers for me! In honor of this mementos occasion, I gave myself a pink surprise!

Omar's Retreat Salon & Day Spa

2008-10-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hello all!
As many of you know, I will be working full time at Omar's Retreat beginning next week. In honor of this memorable occasion, I will be offering discounts for new and exisiting clients.

New clients that come in will automatically get $10.00 off any cut or color between now and the end of the year! It's a fabolous offer! Also, existing clients can get $10.00 off any cut or color every time they refer a friend. This is an offer that doesn't expire!

If you would like to participate in this amazing offer, see me and I can provide you with the referral card you need to bring to the salon when you get your $10.00 off service. You only need to write the name of the person you referred on the card so I can verify they came or are coming to see me. You can call the salon or my cell to make your appointment.

I hope everyone will take part, and help me grow my buisness! I deeply appreciate all the wonderful clients I already have and hope to add you to that awesome list! Thanks so much!

Also, if you can, please pass this info around to friends and family you know would like to participate in this great offer!

Thanks!
Laura Spencer
Stylist
Omars Retreat Day Spa & Salon
6638 Superstition Springs Blvd.
Mesa, AZ 85206
480-615-6337 Salon
480-620-7462 Laura Cell
www.omarsalon.com

5 Days Left!!!

2008-10-13T08:16:00.001-07:00

Mondays are not fun for me. I hate that feeling that the weekend is over. But today, after a fit of the "Mondays" I realized that today is the last Monday I get to grumble at! Only 5 more days and counting, and then I can be at my salon full time! Yeah! In case you didn't know, I'll only be working Tuesday - Saturday so I'll get a two day weekend again! It's gonna be a good week! :)

NYC!!!

2008-10-06T16:47:00.001-07:00

Ok, finally I am going to put up pictures about our awesome trip to NYC! The idea was to go visit Kirk's parents in Connecticut for some much needed R/R. We invited a couple of our close friends to join us. Once we realized how close everything thing is up north, the ideas started flowing. We decided to make the most of our much needed vacation and visit everything we could possibly fit under the sun! Melissa & Charlie Udy, Brian & Lori Munoz and us flew into Providence, RI and Kirk's wonderful parents picked us up drove us back to their place via the beach. It was completly dark but still fun to see. The next two days we spent in NYC. We took the train and got to spend the night in a hotel, which cost a fortune, by the way, in Manhattan. Some of the sights we saw were the Statue of Liberty, Time Square, China Town, Little Italy, Cental Park, Musem of Natural History (though we didnt go in cause it was closed), and Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!! The next day, we went to the spanish branch with Kirk's mom. She is the Stake Primary President and the spanish branch was having the primary presentation. It was so cute! Then we went to the beach (during daylight this time). We were the typical tourists taking so many pictures! PS - that is why it took me so long to get this post up cause I had to sift though all 700 pictures! Ok, so then Brian & Lori had to go home (*tear*). The rest of us packed up and went to Boston. First we stopped at Plymouth Rock, which we didnt even see cause it was raining, but we did see the Mayflower II. Then in Boston, we saw the Minute Men trail in Lexington/Concord, The Boston Temple and the Freedom Trail with this awesome tour guide dressed up like James Otis. We decided we learned more about history from the 90 minute tour than we ever did in our whole life! The last couple of days were spent relaxing. We went shopping one day and ate at a mom & pop soda shop that Kirk likes and took his parents out to a nice dinner for putting up with us all week. Sadly the day came where we had to go home. It was a good trip but frankly, I was ready to get back to my little puppy! Thanks so much to the Heaths for watching her!!! Ya'll are the best!!! :)

PS...

2008-10-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry, there are 4 volumes of pictures! :) Like I said, we were picture-aholics!

2008-10-06T16:40:00.001-07:00

2008-10-06T16:39:00.001-07:00

2008-10-06T16:38:00.003-07:00

2008-10-06T16:38:00.001-07:00

General Conference

2008-10-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

General Conference is so great! I love to hear the words of the Prophet and other General Authorities. Kirk brought home some muffins yesterday so we could keep a tradition his family has.

It's hard to pick out one specific talk or thought that was my favorite so I'll share a few. In the first session today Sister Dalton, General YW President talked about our virtue. She reminds us to understand our own identity and to never underestimate your righteous influence on others. She also said to be the first to make a stand, even if you're the only one. I loved the way she spoke about importance of returning to virtue. President Monson spoke of the joy in life right now. He reminds us to find joy in the journey and to not let life pass us by. Russell M. Nelson's talk during the second session stuck out to me. He talked about the sanctity of marriage and the blessings of having a temple marriage. It made me remember how grateful I am to be sealed in the temple for all eternity with a man I love and adore so much! I am grateful we have a temple so close that we can remind ourselves of the covenants we made there. William Oswald taught us about teaching. I loved this talk because teaching is my calling. He gave us 3 guides to teaching; show love to those you teach and call them by name; teach from the scriptures; and encourage pondering on spiritual thoughts. And finally, Elder Quentin L Cook gave a wonderful talk on opposition. I'll always remember him saying 'I hope you know, we had a hard time.'

So, those are my thoughts on conference. I was sad that I missed Saturdays because of work but am glad at the spiritual feast I was able to partake of today. On a sillier note, here are a couple of pictures of what the other two members of my family we up to during conference. Trixie was fervently chasing a light under the coffee table and Kirk thought he'd learn by osmosis! :) I hope everyone had an amazing conference weekend!

Happy Happy Birthday...

2008-09-03T20:36:00.001-07:00

Last week my boss had a milestone birthday. We, as faithful employees decided help him celebrate in style! Five boxes of foil later, and he had an office from the 80's!!!

Rick's Office

2008-09-03T20:35:00.001-07:00

Labor Day

2008-08-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

We love days off! Who doesn't though? We have been spending the weekend with my brother Michael. So far, we've made some good food, watched movies and played Settlers while eating break-n-bake cookies. Tomorrow Kirk's gonna make us some smoked meat. MMM.... Hope you enjoy the pics.

Labor Day Weekend

2008-08-31T19:36:00.001-07:00

When Toads Attack

2008-08-24T21:40:00.001-07:00

Everyone has been posting about the incredibly large toads in our area, so I thought I would too. Only, mine is a sad story. Today Trixie was playing outside when she came across a frog. She likes to chase them and make them jump. Well, this frog turned out to be a poisoneous toad. Yeah, you can imagine what happened next. We heard Trixie whining outside so we went to investigate. Her whine quickly turned into a squeal, sounding exactly like a pig. She wouldn't let us pick her up but eventually we were able to wash her mouth out with the hose and she calmed down. We seriously thought we were going to lose her. It was bad. These giant toads are a serious problem for dogs. When your dogs go out at night, make sure you check their surroundings and keep a good eye on them. We found out the hard way. Beware!

50 Questions

2008-08-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

Since I haven't posted in a while, I thought I'd take this questionnaire email I got from my lovely little sister and share it with ya'll. I hope you enjoy finding more out about me! :)

1. What time did you get up this morning? 11:32am
2. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Wall-e
3. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds
4. Favorite t.v. show? Friends, The Office
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Luna Bar and Cranergy
6. What is your middle name? Jeanne
7. What food do you dislike ? seafood
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I guess the new Coldplay
9. What kind of car do you drive? Hyundai Elantra
10. Favorite sandwich? Ham, Turkey and Cheese (Plain)
11. What characteristic do you despise? Lying
12. Favorite item of clothing? Capri sweat pants
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it
be? Anywhere out of the country
14. Where would you retire to? Switzerland, or more realistically, a ranch in Texas
15. What was your most recent memorable birthday? Well, my friends used to throw me parties when I was in high school and I loved them!
16. If you were a superhero, what super power would you want? To be able to fly
17. States you've lived in? Texas and Arizona
18. When is your birthday? 11/9/81 (I expect everyone to remember that) :)
19. Morning person or a night person? Definatly night, but I really want to be a morning
19. Pets? Dog
21. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? I just got a new phone...
22. What did you want to be when you were little? Pediatrician
23. How are you today? So so
24. What is your favorite flower? Daisy
25. What is the day on the calendar? August 20th
26. What are you listening to right now? Pandora (piano music)
27. What was the last thing you ate? Luna Bar
28. Do you wish on stars? Not since I was a kid
29. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Bright Pink
30. How is the weather right now? blue sky and hot, hot, hot!
31. Last person you spoke to on the phone? someone calling for their attorney
32. Favorite soft drink? Water, but Dr. Pepper if I'm feeling crazy :)
33. Favorite restaurant? Chick-fil-a, Joe's BBQ, YC's Mongolian BBQ
34. Hair color? Blond with Brown at the present
35. What was your favorite toy as a child? Barbies, cabbage patch dolls, rainbow brite, baby sister :)
36. Summer or winter? Neither, fall
37. Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate
38. Coffee or tea? neither
39. How many siblings do you have? 2 sisters, 3 brothers, 4 sister in laws, 2 brother in laws
40. What is under your bed? Winter clothes, extra shoes and bags in boxes
41. What did you do last night? cut hair, and got my new phone
42. What are you afraid? snakes, failure
43. Salty or sweet? salty
44. How many keys on your key ring? 2 but there should be 3
45. How many years at your current job? 2.5 at Lake & Cobb and 1 at Omars Retreat
46. Favorite day of the week? Sunday
47. Do you make friends easily? I guess so (at least thats what my mom says)
48. Where were you born? Dallas, TX
49. Favorite hobby? Cutting hair
50. What was your first job? If you don't count babysitting, then Seagull Book & Tape

Back Again

2008-08-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am back to normal again, for now, I hope! Melissa, Heather and I went to a Breaking Dawn release party last friday. We had a blast! It was kind of dorky but fun to act like obsessive teenagers again. I haven't finished the book yet so no one tell me what happens! :) Enjoy reading (if you are)

Breaking Dawn Release Party

2008-08-06T08:51:00.001-07:00

Breaking Dawn

2008-07-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I feel like the coolest kid on the block! I finally figured out how to change the background on my blog! Yeah me! I decided on the Breaking Dawn theme in honor of the book coming out this weekend.

This Friday, Melissa and I are going to a Breaking Dawn release party at Barnes & Noble at the San Tan Market place. If you want to come, feel free! It's a vampire prom! Ha ha! No, we're not dressing up. We just want to go and laugh at everyone that is. Come on, we all have to have our teenie bopper moments, even when we're in our mid 20's! :)

Oh, and if you're going to try to reach me this weekend, or perhaps next week, I probably won't answer the phone. I'm gonna be in an Edward comma. Ha ha!

Potter Puppet Pals

2008-07-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

I love working with the young women! About a year ago, McKenna Carpenter introduced me to this website called Potter Puppet Pals (www.potterpuppetpals.com). If you're even close to a Harry Potter fan, you have to go check this out! I laugh my head off every time! All it is are puppets that do skits and poke fun at Harry Potter. It's so dumb that its hilarious! If anyone has heard my phone ringer, you know what I'm talking about. So, I thought I'd put my favorite puppet show on my blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! :)

My trip to Utah

2008-07-21T14:19:00.001-07:00

4th of July

2008-07-05T11:53:00.001-07:00

We had a great 4th! Our friends from Texas, Melissa and Matt, came to visit us. We went down to Tucson to the Old Tucson Studios, then we had a BBQ at Matt's parents house. It was so good to see them, especially their little baby, Levi. We hadn't seen him since he was 3 weeks old! Now, he is 7 months! They grow up so fast! We had a blast hanging out, laughing and of course, eating!

New Car

2008-06-29T19:52:00.001-07:00

Last week, our insurance officially declared our car as totaled. Since then we have been car shopping. Well, I guess I have to say that Kirk was car shopping. I was just along for the ride. I hate researching and taking a long time to make a decision so for me, this was not fun. But, after a million cars, and a million degrees later, we finally bought one. It's a 2008 Hyundai Elantra. Enjoy, I know we will! :)

The Accident, duh, duh duhhhhh!!!

2008-06-20T10:25:00.001-07:00

The day after our exciting night with Jimmy, we got into an accident. Yup, so much for having no car payment! We were driving down the 60 when I slowed down for traffic but apparantly the car behind us didn't want to slow down and slammed right into us. It was a huge Ford F-350 or something diesel like that. Yeah, we were pretty much toast. They only had a small dent in their front bumper.

We're alright though, just some sore necks and I have a bruise on my elbow. It sucks because the car is obviously totalled and now we're gonna have to buy a new car and get a car payment. Oh well, at least we're still alive and doing good. Someone was definalty watching over us because it could have been so much worse. I'm grateful that I was able to stay calm and not freak out. I hope you enjoy looking at our mangled car!!! :)

From the other side, it looks like we have a Smart Car now! :)

My bruised elbow, in case anyone wanted to see that!

So long Clicky! We've had some good times together. It's been nice driving you!

Jimmy Eat World

2008-06-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we've had a super busy week! It started off just like any other week...boring for me, exciting for Kirk (he loves his job), until on Monday I found out that our favorite band, Jimmy Eat World was playing a concert on Wednesday. I was amazed that Kirk even said we could go because
A) He doesn't like crowds
B) He doesn't like the concert atmosphere
C) It was on a work night and he has a very strict bedtime.

So as you can imagine, I was super psyched. We invited the Wilcken's to join us and we were off. The concert was amazing!!! Jimmy is so awesome!

My New crush...Tom Linton!

Twilight

2008-05-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

I know, two posts in one day, pretty incredible for me. But, I wanted to express how excited I am about the movie Twilight coming out. I feel like I have reverted back to my teenie-bopper, high school self! In case you haven't seen, here is the link to the new preview that I am obsessed with:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=33429669

I think I am going to go crazy with anticipation until December 12th. (That's when the movie comes out). And don't you think that I'm a nerd because I am obsessed with a fictional vampire because I bet if you are reading this, you are too!!! Ha ha!

Humidity

2008-05-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

Ok so everyone is going to hate me for saying this but I LOVE humidity! I forget how much I love it until I go somewhere humid, like Washington for instance. Here are my top 5 reasons why I love hummidity:

1.) My hair is more bouncy and curly
2.) My skin is more hyrated and feels good
3.) My immune system works much better
4.) My body doesn't sweat as much
5.) My body feels full of life and energy

So there you have it! If you seek all or a couple of these things, maybe you should move to a more humid climate. When I'm old and retired, that's where you'll find me!

Orcas Trip

2008-05-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our anniversary trip to Orcas Island. It was so much fun! When we arrived in Seattle we rented a car and started heading up to Anacortes where the ferry would take us to Orcas. The sights must have been too much for us because we got lost. We took a 20 minute detour though the town and finally managed to get back on the freeway. Then back on the road again, we had about 45 minutes to get to the ferry before it left. Can you guess what happened next??? Yep, we missed the ferry by ONE minute! Argh!! We had to call the hotel on Orcas and change our reservation. Luckily, it happens often so they were able to make the changes without charging us money. Then we had to get a hotel and something to eat in Anacortes. One thing about the Puget Sound region is that everything opens late and closes early, very frustrating when you need dinner at 8:45pm. We went to this place to get some seafood and they were closed, of course. So we ended up and this little seafood/bar place for a quick dinner. At least they had Thomas Kemper root beer which made Kirk happy.
Then it was off to bed so we could make the first ferry to Orcas. Ok so ferries are so awesome! I had the best time riding on them! I feel like a little kid or something. My first ferry ride was the best because it was during sunrise and the scenery looked gorgeous!!! It was also real cold there. Its so weird coming from 90 degree weather to a place where the high is in the 50's if the sun is out. But it was fun despite the cold. So, when we got on the island, we decided to go check into our hotel, which was very gorgeous by the way. There was a room upstairs that had a pipe organ and grand piano. I took this picture for my dad. :) Well, I dont know if you are aware but 7am is a little early to check into your hotel for the night so we decided to get some breakfast. Soon after our decision though, we realized that everything was closed. They didnt even open for breakfast until 9am! So, we decided to go to Moran State Park and go hiking. Our plan was to go until about noon and come back and have lunch (brunch time for the local folk). We learned alot this trip. One of the main lessons was that things dont always go as planned. Like our short planned hike for instance. It turned into a 6 hour hike, 4 hours up and 2 down. If anyone is looking to get in shape for trek, they should do this hike!
We were both super sore (and still are a little) and we probably lost 5 pounds each. But the view at the top was fantastic and totally worth it. You could see almost the whole Olympic Mountain range (if the clouds werent in the way)and some of Canada. The view of the islands was amazing!

It was so cool being up that high (appx. 2000 feet). It was so peaceful both at the top and during the hike. We hardly saw any other hikers and wildlife. Well, we did see a couple of slugs, one of which Kirk stepped on. I hope its still alive!

After the long hike, we went to lunch at a cute small cafe. Everything there is small I guess. There are no fast food chains or stores anywhere. Thats probably another reason why we lost a little weight! :) The bread at this place was excellent! And the fruit too. It was all made fresh. Well, thats the same for all places there. Back at our hotel we caught a small portion of a piano recital upstairs in the music room. He was really good. He plays in the formal dining restruant too. We had dinner at a place in the center of Eastsound. Kirk had the halibut and was mesmorised at how delicious it tasted. I'm surprised we didnt take a picture of it! :) He couldnt stop talking about it the whole rest of the trip. I had a bite and it was good. I'm not too much of a seafood person at all really. But thats another topic we wont go into. The next day, we decided to go San Juan island. Again, we got there too early and everything was closed. So we went to a lookout place on the edge of the island to see if we could spot any whales. Kirk said he thought he saw something come out of the water. We told ourselves it was a baby Orca and that is that. Nothing else showed itself from the lookout so we went to go find a boat tour. It left from Roche Harbor on the west side of the island. There are alot of beautiful sites on San Juan Island. Our guided tour was so much fun! There were about 13 other people on the boat with us. We went around a ton of small islands and even into Canadian waters. Did you know that there are around 800 islands in the Puget Sound? Well there are. On this one island that these two guys bought, they brought a bunch of exotic animals over to start a wildlife park but when it went under, they just left all the animals there. Sounds like Jurassic Park to me. The owner of Oakley Sunglasses owns the island now. You can see some of the animals on the island still. Also what is cool about it is that 1/2 of the island is baren and hardly has any plant life and the otherside is full of trees and greenery. No one knows why. So on this whale watching exibition, we didnt see any whales. But we did see a bunch of Porpus of different varieties. The videos and pictures of them didnt turn out to well because they go in and out of the water fast. We saw a couple of seals floating by and a blue heron. We also saw about 4 bald eagles. They are hard to see in the trees and on the rocks but they were cool in the binoculars! Also we saw a huge sea lion lounging on the shore. It was about 1000 pounds the captain said and it was only a baby! So the sailing adventure came to an end and the whole rest of the night and even some the next day we felt like we were swaying still. I kind of feel like that now but that might be from staring at the computer screen too long! We at dinner at the hotel restruant and had awesome steak and chimchurri's (I hope I spelt that right). If you need more info on the latter food, ask Kirk, its from Argentina. On a random side note, has anyone ever seen a deer pee or poo? Well, now I have seen both! And let me tell you, it was the funniest thing ever! I laughed my head off! Kirk didnt think it was as funny as I did. The deer there are definatly not afraid of humans. I wish I got a picture of it! Anyways, we left the next day for home. Luckily we made the ferry back to Anacortes and made it to the airport on time. Oh, I forgot to tell you about our rental car. It sucked! It was so cheaply made. I broke one of the air vents just by adjusting the flow of air and Kirk broke the key (which was one of those ones that folds down into itself like a key to a Jetta) by dropping it on the grass from about 20 inches away. So cheap! Anyways, now we are back home and back at work. The only exciting thing about coming back was seeing Trixie. She was super excited to see us. Thanks so much to the Letner's for watching her! The End!

It's been a while...

2008-04-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, its been a while since I updated this. We dont do alot of new stuff so there isnt anything to talk about. :) I'll catch you up to speed. Kirk and his cousin finally finished their google contest entry and turned it in at the beginning of April. They find out next week if they made the top 25. Cross your fingers for us! So he is enjoying his extra free time now (so am I). He was working pretty hard day and night on this thing.

I have been just working and working like normal. Nothing too exciting. The salon is picking up and I am getting busier which is super cool! My sister came to visit last weekend. We went to a friends musical night to support her and then shopped practically the whole rest of the weekend. We had a fun time. I love my sister!!

This weekend, actually tomorrow, we are going to Orcas Island. For any of you who don't know where that is, its off the coast of Washington State, part of the San Juan Islands. We are both way excited to go. Kirk used to live there so he is anxious to go back and see how it's changed. I've never been so I am super excited to see all the greenery, ride on a ferry and go whale watching. Oh, I guess I should tell you why we are going. Tomorrow is our 4 year anniversary. Yeah for us! We made a promise to each other that we are going to start taking more pictures of us and not just the dog so hopefully we will have some new pics to put up when we get back.

Elder Chesley

2008-03-14T08:57:00.001-07:00

Alan and his zone in the MTC

2008-03-14T08:56:00.001-07:00

Rachel before first date (had to squeeze this one in)

2008-03-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

Alan with Grandpa and two uncles

2008-03-14T08:54:00.000-07:00