December Happenings

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

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! :)

Hanson haters....BEWARE!!

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

Utah

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

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?