Something to Smile about...

Come visit me....

2012-01-05T12:00:00.001-07:00

I'm no longer blogging here.. If you couldn't tell. Come visit me: http://burkleyandjanell.blogspot.com/

Easter Weekend

2009-05-01T12:15:00.010-06:00

I got to go home for Easter... for the first time since I moved away from home in '03. It was so much fun! We had basically the whole family together, only missing Chad. (This rarely happens.) It not only was a weekend to go home and spend some quality time with the fam... but it was also "introduction" weekend for Burkley to meet the family. (dun dun dun) haha Everything went really well, we had such a good time! We got to spend a day in Seattle, walking through Pike's Place Market (my favorite), feeding the Seagulls at Ivars on the peir etc. We then went up to Bellingham and spend the next 2 days there. Went to dinner with my dad to this great newer restaurant called Scotty Browns... very modern and great atmosphere. I got to play with my little neice Lily a TON and it was so much fun to see her personality growing and changing so much from the last time I saw her at Christmas. She wants to play with and see and observe and get to know EVERYTHING and EVERY ONE. I loved this!
It's weekends like this one that make me miss living closer to my family.... maybe someday :)

Reunited and it feels so good!!

2009-03-27T09:31:00.010-06:00

Meghan has turned the big 2-4!...
So, what did we do? The 3 Amigos got together and went to Vegas of course! Meghan couldn't come out till Sunday, but a bunch of other people wanted to go out too, so we went out early. It was a looooong weekend, but VERY fun! Not only did I spend the weekend with the Utah friends I love the most I had a bunch of my High School friends from Washington that I was able to meet up with and hang out with. (A couple that I haven't seen since High School!) Needless to say we had a wonderful (but tiring) weekend! The weather wasn't very good, but we got over it. Here are some pictures of the weekend.
Funniest thing that happened??... Chad.

Another Baby!! Can you believe it?!

2009-03-04T11:27:00.004-07:00

So, this year alone I will go from having 1 niece to have 3 niece/nephews!!! How does that happen you ask?? Well, My sister Rachel and her husband Chad are pregnant with their 2nd baby!!! Not only is she pregnant, but she is due about 3 weeks after Jessica is!! Talk about so much fun! We are going to have so many little babies come Christmas time it's going to be so much fun.

When Rachel told me she was prego with baby number 2 I was so excited and surprisingly I wasn't even shocked. I've kind of had this feeling that it was only a matter of time before Rach and Chad went for baby number 2... I mean Lily's over a year old now, seems like a good time. I'm so excited for them to have another baby, and how fun will it be for Jessica and Rachel's babies be so close in age!

Should we start taking bets if this baby will be a mini-me of Rachel this time?! ;)

Congratulations Rachel and Chad, I'm so excited to have another baby around, and once again I'm getting more and more sad that I'm not going to be there for EVERYTHING! Love you guys with all my heart.

Weekend at the Farm

2009-02-26T12:12:00.007-07:00

Last weekend Jessica and Zach came down and we went with some friends down to Holden, UT to hang out at Jake's families Dairy Farm. We did all the things you would normally do on a dairy farm, milked the cows, feed the calf's with a bottle, rode the biggest horse ever, shot some rabbits and got crapped on by a cow. It was actually a really good time! We went to some Hot Pots for awhile the first night there, they were more like luke-warm pots, but we had a good time. Apparently you could dive down super far and there were little glow sticks all along the bottom. From what I was told... it looked pretty cool.

I loved the baby cows, they are so cute and I wanted to take one home, Jake said no. I've never milked a cow before, so I asked the worker if I could give it a try. I went first and milked away, then Jessica went over for her turn... and just her luck the cow next to the one we were milking just started pooing everywhere!! It splattered of course, and I can now say I've been pooed on by a cow.

Here are some pictures of our weekend on the farm, and may I suggest to you that if you have the chance to visit a farm for a weekend, do it :)

Kael Vladimir Gwilliam

2009-02-13T10:23:00.009-07:00

Baby Kael was born to Sean and Nichole Gwilliam yesterday at 7:10pm. He was 6 lbs 4 ounces and 19 inches long.

As a little background for you all... I have never been to a baby birthing, much less to a hospital to hang out with someone around the time of a baby birthing. Nichole let me come to the hospital early and share in this amazing experience. For the first time in my life I sat in a delivery room and heard the swift beat of an unborn babies heart beat. Talk about the sweetest thing!

Nichole was induced yesterday afternoon and just like any other induced labor things were moving along very slowly. The nurses were concerned because Kael's heart rate kept dropping and the next thing you know the doctors in the room saying it's time to get moving on an emergency c-section. Sean wasn't at the hospital yet since things had been moving so slowly, no one thought there was any sort of rush. I called Sean right away and he made... just in time. He was able to go back with Nichole to surgery and see his first born son come into the world! Kael was quickly taken from mom and brought into the NICU. He was having a hard time breathing and was put on oxygen for about an hour, but was then breathing all on his own perfectly. I spent the next few hours watching this sweet sleeping baby and constantly smiling at watching Sean take in his new baby. Talk about a proud father. Sean couldn't leave Kael's side and couldn't wipe the smile off his face. As we all took our turns enjoying these moments poor Nichole was stuck in the room being stapled up and drugged. 4 hours later her little angel was finally brought in to be held for the first time.... and once again I cried. (This would now bring the crying count to... ummm I don't know... about 87.) Nichole and Sean held their baby for the first time and the quote of the night was by Sean... "I could do this forever". And by this he meant, sit, hold his baby, stare at how perfect he is and then look over at his wife and smile.
Grandma Monica got her turn to hold the little one and then all the rest of us took our turns.

Thank you Nichole and Sean for letting me be a part of this day. I've only know Kael for a few hours now, but I love him so much I can't even explain.... you guys are going to be such great parents I have no question of that. To see the interactions of you with Kael proved that within seconds. I cannot wait to be a part of his life. As his godmother and Auntie Nelly I promise to be there whenever I'm needed (and sorry for you guys, I'll probably be there even when I'm not). I will love him forever and always, just like I love you both!

Auntie Janell!!!

2009-02-09T11:31:00.004-07:00

My sister Jessica and her husband Zach are going to have a baby!!

I am so excited for this little one to come. I've known since December 27, and have had to keep this secret until Zach and Jess were ready to spread the goodness and it's BEEN KILLING ME. This will be my 2nd niece or nephew... and it's KILLING me that I don't live closer to get to see these little one's grow. Jessica I'm still holding my breath that you guys will come hang out with me for awhile... aka move to Utah. I'm sure the grandparents wouldn't be too happy about that, but think how FUN it would be. :)

The countdown begins to September, when my little nephew Marvin will be born. I have decided that Jess and Zach are having a boy and I have named him Marvin. I'm not sure why Marvin, for some reason it was the first thing that popped into my head and now it just makes me laugh.

I love you Jess and Zach, I can't wait to see your gorgeous little one!!

Nicole Turns 24!!

2009-02-04T16:46:00.006-07:00

I'm a little slow on the post here, but 2 weekends ago we had Nicole's 24th Birthday Bash. It turned out to be a wonderful night and I think everyone had a good time. Nicole came up here Friday night and we meet up at my house and enjoyed some Jalapeno Cream Cheese Dip. (It was delicious and made especially for Nicole since she loves jalapeno's and any type of cheese.) We all piled in the car and headed up to Keys on Main for the party to begin. Keys on Main is a dueling piano bar (my favorite). Nicole had never been there, and this too is something she loves... the fact that she can get lost in a lobby bar in Las Vegas for hours being completely mesmerized by the dueling piano players... I figured she'd enjoy this place.
A bunch of people met us up there and made sure they helped Nicole enjoy every moment of the evening. She was called on stage to do the 'Hokey Pokey' for everyone and then was sung Happy Birthday by the whole place. I had made this beautiful birthday cake for her... come on give me some credit, I try. :)
We were both asleep before we made it to Sandy, that's always a good sign that the night was a success. Happy Birthday Nicole!! Love you Forever

Bringing in 2009!

2009-01-08T08:32:00.011-07:00

I was a little worried when at 3:00pm on December 31 there were still no plans made as to what was going on for New Years Eve. I'm all about spontaneous, but when it comes to celebrations that I just LOVE (like New Years and 4th of July) I want to make sure it's going to be fun.

Luckily I know some other people who feel the same way so we were able to pull something great off. We ended up heading up to Park City and staying in a friends condo up there and ringing in the New Year at a great little place called Ciseros. I love this little place maybe because the first time I went there was SO much fun... you just can't help but enjoy yourself at a place that only holds good memories right?!

I didn't bother with making any New Year's resolutions this year... I'm all about making goals, but I guess for some reason the "resolutions" don't really stick. I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL New Years and that the fun you had that night will follow through the new year! Enjoy the pics.

Nichole's Baby Shower!!!

2008-12-31T09:53:00.007-07:00

My bestest friend Nichole (Fox) Gwilliam is having her first baby! She is the first of our friends to have a baby and on Monday night we had her baby shower. It was so much fun to be able to help plan and throw this shower. I was out of town up until the night before so it was so great having all the girls involved in throwing it and making it all come together. We had a soup bar for dinner with different kinds of soups and breads, opened presents and of course played games. We played the "bottle race" game. Basically you put some juice in bottles and people have to race to see who can finish it first (not as easy as it sounds.... the holes in those bottles make it pretty impossible), and then we played
the "Guess the baby food" game. We had 7 types of unlabeled baby food that people had to taste and guess the types of food they were.
People didn't do so well on the "Lasagna Primavera, or Chicken and Vegetable dinner" ones. :) Nichole got a ton of great gifts and it seems like everyone had a really good time! I'm so excited for this little baby boy to come into the world!!
When we were in junior high Nichole and I always talked about how our kids would grow up together and call us Auntie Nichole and Auntie Nelly and we'd be the god-mothers to each others kids. I don't really know what it takes to be a god-mother, but I figure it mostly means to spoil them, babysit often and be the one that he can tell all his secrets to when he doesn't want to tell mom and dad. ;) I intend to do all of the above and more.

Nichole threatens me with baby sitting like it's going to be a horrible sucky thing... but deep down I'm actually really excited to watch her screaming baby for the first time!!!

I love you so, so much Nichole and I'm so excited for your little one to arrive! I'm sorry your first born won't have one of my kids to play with anytime soon, but Karrie's baby will be coming right around the corner so at least he'll have someone to play with!

A long post to make up for my lack of blogging!

2008-12-30T09:34:00.009-07:00

So, It is very obvious for anyone that looks at my blog that I am a big fat slacker. Don't think that because I don't post things here it's because nothing is going on in my life... it's actually the exact opposite. You get so busy and caught up in the day to day items that somethings (blogging for me) get pushed the side. For that I'm sorry... here are some of the things I've been doing that have, like usual, brought a smile to my face.

For the first time since I moved away from Bellingham (in 2003) I was able to go home for Thanksgiving! I always kind of thought it would be pointless to go home for this holiday because Christmas is right around the corner, so why go up twice back to back. I've changed my mind on that one... First of all I would miss out on the new family tradition of the Thanksgiving Pinata! I guess maybe I've just changed my mind entirely of not caring too horribly much if I went home more than once a year. I've always loved, loved, loved my family but this year I realized that somehow I love them even more than I thought I did! Not only did I get to go home for Thanksgiving but I also went home for Christmas and spent 10 whole days there! This is a very long time for me and you know what... I can't help but smile just thinking about the time I was able to spend. It's so nice being able to be home often enough and for a long enough period of time that I'm able to actually spend one on one time with family members. It typically always seems so fast paced and hurried that I don't get that benefit. How awesome it was to feel a little more "in the loop" of what my sweet family is doing, feeling and living. For some reason I've decided to live in Utah... and I'm so happy here, but that doesn't replace the fact that no matter how much I pretend not to think about it, I miss being so close to my family that I can't just hop in the car and drive over for family dinner one night.

In between Thanksgiving with the family and Christmas with the family we had our 2nd annual Friends Thanksgiving dinner which was fun.... but tiring. I think if we do it again next year, I'll opt out on being the "hostess" for this one.

Work has been busy (like usual). But I'm grateful for that. During a time where so many people are losing their jobs and having to change paths, I count this as a huge blessing everyday that I'm simply able to have a job. Fortunately not only do I have a job, but I have one that I enjoy everyday. I work for and with people that make me smile daily!

While I was home for Christmas my Step-Dad Mark gave a little Christmas program on Christmas Eve about Angels. He talked mostly about the Angels that live among us each and everyday. I loved this. I think when we think about Angels most of us think about these people that fly around the sky with wings who hang out on clouds, but I think some of the most important Angels are the kind that walk on two feet like you and I. In my book... Angels are anyone that bring a smile to someone's face, help someone with even the smallest task, or ask the simple question "how are you" and genuinly care. Mark and my Mom also asked each of us kids to make a goal for the up coming year on a way to say Thank You for the life we've been giving. My goal is to be someone's Angel. I guess not just someone's, but anyone's.

I hope the Holiday Season has giving you all something to smile about. And if it has... spread that smile to someone else and be their Angel. :)

My little Graduate!

2008-11-13T08:41:00.013-07:00

How great it feels to be the mother of a graduate... a graduate from beginner puppy school that is. Piko had his 8th and final class last night which were all his Final Exams. It was pretty fun to see him have to go thru everything he's learned all in one class. AND he finished almost 10 minutes before any of the other puppies. HE'S SO SMART :) the trainer just kept saying "Good job Piko, I'm so impressed!"

So, on to intermediate? Not totally sure yet... but no additional schooling for him until after the Holidays. For doing such a great job on his tests Piko got a present of course... the biggest bone of his life! (And then mom got to go out to a steak dinner, cause I figured that's what Piko would have wanted me to do... of course I brought him home his first steak leftovers.) Enjoy the pictures... Pretty funny. Wearing his graduation capHis first glimpse of the graduation gift!
Not so sure at first... sniff it outA very small lick... just to see if it's good.Oh yeah... it was good.
Ziggy even got in on the action.

Mozy's on TV!

2008-11-05T15:27:00.002-07:00

Check out our hilarious new commercials... coming to a channel near you. :)

Another New Addition... Kind of

2008-10-29T09:52:00.005-06:00

My roommate got a new puppy last week... and Piko has found his very best friend ever! They play and play and play.... and then play even more. Piko loves his new friend Ziggy so much, that the first night they met Piko couldn't be away. He usually sleeps in my room with me, but apparently I hadn't closed my door all the way. I woke up in the morning and he was no where to be seen. I go out in the hallway just as Kylee was walking out of her room.... with Piko and Ziggy at her side. She says... 'Sorry, I hope you don't mind... Piko came running into my room and laid down next to Ziggy's crate and went to sleep there.' OHHHH HOW CUTE! What a good little friend :) Ziggy is found to be a fun little guy, but kind of a bully. (He has small man syndrome apparently.) He loves to steal Piko's bones and toys and then growles at Piko when he tries to get them back. My poor dog, getting picked on by someone half his size :) It's fun having 2 dogs for sure!

The Big Apple

2008-10-10T07:24:00.009-06:00

New York CIty... One of the cities that doesn't sleep. Last week was my week to check it out for myself. I think everyone thinks at least at one point in their life "I want to go to New York". I've thought it for years and was finally able to make it real! It's safe to say that I enjoyed every minute of it... Now we should probably get one thing straight... I wouldn't hardly consider New York as a "vacation" spot... but that's because to me a vacation is where I spend my time being completely relaxed, which is NOT the case with NYC! It was go, go, go, busy, busy, busy.
The trip started with meeting up with my Dad, brother Ryan, sister Jessica and Jessica's husband Zach. We spent the rest of that day checking out time square. What a cool place... huge, bright, everywhere you look is advertisements and people. It was beautiful.
The following day the guys all went to the Seahawks vx. Giants game (sorry Seahawks) while Jessica and I went to a Broadway show. We saw 'Chicago' which was, sadly, kind of a disappointment. But hey... we can say we've seen a show on Broadway so I can't complain. The night was filled with wandering, we just walked everywhere... saw Rockafeller center, the Empire State Building, a gorgeous cathedral, Grand Central Station and so much more. Throughout the next couple days the exploring never stopped. We became very familiar with the subway system... which absolutely blows my mind! Whoever thought that up and made it possible for so many people to go from place to place, under the water, over buildings, under buildings... WOW, I'm impressed. We of course went down to Ground Zero, which sadly has no memorial and is just surrounded by fences. I had never seen the twin towers, so I didn't really know what I was missing. That afternoon we also went on the boat tour out to Lady Liberty herself. It's on that tour that the reality of what the twin towers were sunk in a bit more. As your traveling out to the Statue you look over the entire panoramic of Manhatten and the "tour guide" tells the history of things around you. While looking out at all of Manhatten he describes this: "Look out over that city and pick out the tallest building you see... now imagine 2 towers standing in the distance towering twice as high as that building you just picked out... those were the twin towers." WOW! It would have been amazing to see that site.
The Statue of Liberty was really cool, I don't know if I had never heard the history of her and where she came from, or if I just wasn't paying attention that day in history class, but it's great.
Our last day in town we checked out Central Park and walked down 5th Avenue and did a little window shopping. For those who aren't familiar with 5th avenue the cheapest store there is Armani Exchange.
So all and all I was so happy I got to go on this trip. I'd love to go back for sure, but a word for all that visit New York... be ready for busy, busy! So much to see and in my case... so little time.

Quality time with Friends!

2008-09-29T19:29:00.006-06:00

This past weekend I was lucky enough to have Nichole and Meghan come into town. We went to the 'Big Ass Show' which is an outdoor all day concert that happens every year. This year there was a handful of bands like usual, but I was basically going to see Jacks Mannequin, Panic at the Disco and Hawthorne Heights. They were all wonderful... just as I expected them to be, and like always Nichole, Meghan and I had so much fun together, oh and yes we had fun with you too Rob!!! :) Enjoy the photo montage of the day and evening.

More NieNie

2008-09-04T09:01:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to put a couple links on here for those of you who are wanting to keep updates on NieNie and Christian's recovery... and one just to see a really great video showing the balloon releases that were done in their honor.
Balloons for Nie from Jared Foster on Vimeo.
Enjoy this video... Watch it all the through... it's beautiful. I've placed a button the right to get to C-Jane's Blog which is where all the recovery updates and stories are being posted. Enjoy... and keep on praying.

Hope and Prayers...

2008-08-25T09:27:00.003-06:00

My hope and prayers go out to the family of Christian and Stephanie (NieNie) Nielson. Over a week ago this couple was in a small plane crash in Arizona. The pilot instructor was killed and Christian and Stephanie were left with serious 2nd and 3rd degree burns on the majority of their bodies. This story was brought to my attention by my boss who is Stephanie's brother-in-law. I have grown very attached to the story of their pain, recovery, family and faith. I've never met these people, but in reading their blogs and viewing their pictures I have developed a deep concern and care for this young, beautiful couple. I wanted to post Stephanie's sisters blog for you to view and become involved. Please keep this family in your heart and in your prayers. They are amazing people who in my mind have "payed it forward" in so many ways. Somehow they have touched so many lives around the world, just by being them. Just take a look at the comments posted... these posts are coming from people who have never even met Stephanie or Christian, but their lives are truly touched by their faith, happiness, and family.

I pray for this family daily and ask for you to do the same. We all need others prayers at sometime in our life, and right now this family needs ours. There are also links on CJane's blog where you can donate to the Nielson family if you are able. Anything and everything helps!

My little man isn't much of a Man anymore :(

2008-08-05T15:21:00.003-06:00

So, my little man is not quite the man he use to be.... Yesterday he got neutered. He surprisingly did very good. He was a bit tired the rest of the afternoon, but he was still running and playing almost like usual! Since I adopted him the neutering cost was included with his adoption fee as long as I went to a specific Vet. This of course made me a bit nervous to take him to a different Vet than he normally sees. So, I went there and everything seemed fine, they acted as if nothing was even happening cause they do this all day every day. But, it was a bit awkward when I didn't have to fill out any real paper work or show any paperwork either. So, anyway I drop him off and then come back to pick him up at 2:00. Well, when I got there to pick him up I say, I'm here to pick up Piko he was here getting neutered. The lady walks to the back and comes back out with a kitten in her arms... She walks over to me and hands me the cat and then says, he's going to be a bit groggy for the rest of the day. I couldn't believe it!!! I go.. Ummm, Piko is a dog! I did get home with the correct animal and he's doing great... but the thought of switching Vets has FOR SURE not crossed my mind. So, there is Piko's neutering story!!

And here is a video of him and his best friend Miley wrestling :) Yes my little tiny puppies best friend is a full grown Pit Bull and it's so freaking cute! Miley will just wrestle around with her mouth open and never ever bites down, just keeps it open to play that way. Pretty funny stuff, talk about a great dog Miley is not to just swallow Piko in one gulp :)

Visit from Dad and Shelby

2008-08-01T13:19:00.006-06:00

Last week Dad and Shelby got to come to Utah to visit me!! It was pretty much Shelby's first time to Utah since she had only been here when she was like 1.5 yrs old, so she doesn't remember it. We had so much fun and I'm so glad they were able to come down. I obviously don't get to spend much time with any of my family, so I love every minute I can spend with them. We drove down from Washington which was SOOOO long, but hey, it was an extra 12 hours we were able to spend together in VERY close quarters! :) Basically we didn't do anything too out of this world, but we hung out all day, played rock band all night. I did take a half day off work for us to go to 7 Peaks water park, which was so much fun! Shelby had a blast playing with Piko for the week, and Piko loved every minute of it! Enjoy the photos from our time together!This one is actually from the family reunion in Washington, but it's a super cute picture if I do say so myself and had to be included :)

On a bit more serious note, I feel so blessed to have the family that I do. When we're all together it's very loud, can be overwhelming to some I'm sure, but it's my family and I love everyone of them. Every single person has endured their own trials and pain, but every single one of us have grown and become better people for these trials. I don't believe that we'll ever reach a time in our lives when pain ceases entirely and everything "goes the way it should". But I will say, even in the times of life when you think the world is falling at your feet and nothing is going how you want it to, those times always turn around and give you blessings. When my Dad and Mom divorced years ago, I thought that was the end... my life was ruined and there was nothing I could do about. I now look back and know that if it wasn't for that happening I would have missed out on 6 of the greatest blessings I've ever received... Mark, Rachel, Jenn, Scott, Sue and Shelby. I can't imagine my life without these people and frankly don't want to. So... To my family that I love more and more everyday... You guys mean the world to me. I am eternally grateful for you all and feel so blessed that we were able to become a family. Always remember that when times get hard, which they always will, family is forever... and trust me, this family goes way beyond that! All my love for now and forever! In the words of my favorite childhood book (slightly altered)
"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my family you'll be."

Today was my Animal Court Date

2008-07-29T19:32:00.003-06:00

.... So here is the scoop: I was "sentenced" to a $125 fine and as long as I do not receive any similar charges over the next 6 months this ticket won't go on my record either :) So, all and all, I'd say I feel good. This could have gone much worse, so I'm happy.

Now that that is over with check out the cute video of my little pup swimming like a champ :)... Wouldn't you think that the Judge couldn't have just looked at the 90 billion posts I've made about how much I love my dog and just let it go?! :)

Another Year Older! Finally 23

2008-07-21T08:35:00.004-06:00

So, I know I've been really bad at this blog thing lately... I'm going to try to do better. So if you read the title of this post you'll know that I had my birthday!! HURRAY! I'm the big 2-3 now :) I know, I know, it's not that old, and I don't feel old at all... I was actually hoping I could just skip right to 24, but it didn't happen. So anyway... My Birthday was great! Zach and Jessica flew down on Thursday night (Friday was the 4th of July so no one had work) I picked them up at the airport around 8 and we decided we might as well get to Vegas now. So.... we drove most the night and pulled in to Mandalay Bay around 2:00. That night we just went straight to bed so we'd be ready for some sun and pool time in the morning. The next day was spent sipping fruity drinks by the pool, playing in the wave pool and just enjoying each others company. We also met up with a bunch of other friends who we staid with the rest of the weekend. 4th of July for me was a little disappointing. I DIDN'T SEE A SINGLE FIREWORK! I don't know if Vegas had fireworks or not this year, but we were at the Hard Rock Hotel at an outdoor concert, which I just assumed would have a firework show at the end... but no. And if there were fireworks happening on the strip itself I didn't see or hear any of them... dang.
Saturday was my big day!! We got to pick up Meghan from the airport cause she's such a sweetheart she flew out just for the day so she'd be there for my party. That night we were going to go to our nice birthday dinner, got all dressed up and in the car to head over to Caesars Palace.... half way there we decided that In and Out Burger sounded way better so we went there in our "clubbing" clothes and sat out on the grass to enjoy my birthday dinner :) The night ended at the Wynn at a club called Blush. We all had a great time, and I was so happy everyone was there! It made yet another unforgettable birthday!! We didn't have a camera the whole weekend, so these are the only photos I have... enjoy!!

Animal Cruelty Ticket... Yes... ME

2008-06-26T18:46:00.003-06:00

So, here is something interesting for everyone... as you can probably tell from my blog, I'm pretty obsessed with my dog... and he's pretty spoiled. So, I'm sure you're probably wondering to yourself what is the title of this post all about?! Well... It's true, I have received a ticket for Animal Cruelty. As many of you know, Utah has passed some pretty serious laws about being mean to animals in Utah State... and they are a bit extreme if you ask me. Let me tell you my story and my frustrations.

So, Jessica and Zach came out to visit a couple weeks ago for her birthday and on the evening that they were leaving I was driving them to the airport. I brought Piko along with me obviously, cause I wasn't going to make him sit at home alone for 2+ hours for no reason. On the way to the airport we stopped in Sandy at 'The Training Table'. This is basically a fast food joint. We went in, ordered and ate our food. Since it was a food establishment I left Piko in the car. I had specifically parked under a tree so my car was in the shade and left both windows cracked. From the time that we had walked into the place to the time I heard "Could the owner of the silver Honda Civic come out to the parking lot" was BARELY 25 minutes. As I walk outside I am greeted by an Animal Control "officer". He starts to lecture me on leaving my dog inside the car and proceeds to ask me for my drivers license. The whole time there is this random chick standing over to the side, so I finally ask who she is and what she's doing here. The "officer" tells me that she is the one who called on me. She then states that she saw me walking into the restaurant and then heard my dog barking in the car, and she was so concerned for my dogs well being that she just had to call animal services on me. WAIT WAIT WAIT!!! You mean to tell me I'm suppose to believe that this chick really expects me to believe that she was so concerned for my dog that she decided to sit outside the restaurant for almost a half an hour waiting for animal services to show up rather than WALK INTO THE RESTAURANT AND TELL ME THAT!!! GET A LIFE WOMAN! So we (Jessica, Zach and I) proceed to have words with this chick back and forth inquiring things like "Do you really not have anything better to do with your time" etc etc. So, I now have a ticket for Animal Cruelty and have a MANDATORY court appearance on July 15th.

To add insult to injury I was watching the news the other night and last Tuesday here in Utah there was a woman that left her 5 month old son in her car for 2 HOURS in the middle of the day. He was in intensive care until Friday when he finally died. The news was talking about the fact that NO CHARGES ARE BEING PRESSED AGAINST THIS MOTHER. (This isn't the first time this has happened another story of the same thing happened in April.) What is this state coming to?? The fact that we can leave children in the car in the hot, hot heat to the point that it kills them and NOTHING happens to them, but I leave my dog in the car for 30 minutes and have a ticket on my record, and court hearings?!!! (Oh and by the way... I had a vet appointment for my dog 2 days after this happened and guess what?... EVERYTHING WAS FINE.) I'm so pissed about this whole situation I can't even think. Let me know if you have any words of wisdom, lawyer friends, calming techniques or anything else you want to throw my way :) Thanks for listening (or rather enduring) my rant.

Call me Obsessed....

2008-05-29T16:41:00.006-06:00

Another post about ... you guessed it, my dog. I just had a few more pictures and a video that are pretty funny. I'm dog-sitting my uncle Todd's dog Wong Di for the week and him and Piko have become pretty good friends. (I'm a little worried Piko is going to have separation anxiety when he leaves tomorrow.)

So here is a video of them wrestling... My little guy is pretty tough huh?! This is a picture of how Piko likes to take naps while we're at work... very strange, but hey it lets me get things done.This is Piko and his new friend Wong Di taking a nap together on the couch... precious huh?!
Last but not least... this is my little man giving me some loves in the car... he's such a mama's boy! :)

2008-05-26T10:01:00.003-06:00

This is my little guy learning how to bark. It was so cute I couldn't help but record it... he is good at it now so the roles have changed from videoing it... to making him stop. Oh the joys of puppy-hood. He sounds more like a little squeak toy than a dog though, don't you think?! :)

My First Business Trip

2008-05-22T19:41:00.000-06:00

I was lucky enough to go on my first business trip this week... where did I go? Las Vegas... how convenient since I just love Las Vegas. This trip was GREAT! Since it was business trip it was paid for... that's always a great perk. But not only was the trip paid for but I was able to meet some great people and have a lot of fun! I got so spoiled the past few days being there... ate at the greatest most expensive restaurants, slept in a great hotel... on and on. So, here's a little about my trip. (And by the way, I did work... It was a huge EMC World conference and I got to work the booth talking to people about MozyEnterprise.)
Flew in Sunday morning, Nicole came and met me... we spent the day at the pool, just relaxing and enjoying the Vegas heat. We went to Maggiano's that night for dinner and of course it was excellent! Nicole left Monday... unfortunately, cause she missed out! Monday night I went to The Social House for dinner with a few EMC sales guys. This is an amazing sushi restaurant at TI, we sat out on the balcony and got to see the pirate show while we ate. The inside of the restaurant is so awesome... just look for yourself... I would highly recommend going here. Tuesday night was the night for the Mozy team to go to dinner. Sam had chosen this great restaurant called Bouchon. It's a Thomas Keller restaurant (he apparently is a world renowned chef). I wouldn't really suggest the pork, but that's only because it's served on beans... I don't like beans, the actual pork was good though. Wednesday night was probably the most amazing. We went to Mix at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. This restaurant/club was unbelievable! It's located on the 64th floor of THEhotel and once the sunsets it has the most amazing views ever! The inside of the restuarant is romantic and beautiful.The opposite side of the restaurant turns into the bar/club later in the evening. There is a balcony that you can sit out on and like I said you can only imagine the views! Since Mandalay Bay as at the far end of the strip you can see EVERYTHING! They didn't miss a beat with this place. Even the bathrooms are perfect. You walk into the bathroom, sit down and look out in front of you and you've got a floor to celling window so you don't even have to miss the view when you're on the toilet! All and all, it's safe to say that this trip turned out to be what I feel like is only in some peoples dreams. I hope it's not a once in a lifetime, because I would LOVE for the good times to keep rolling on next trips. This trip couldn't have come at a better time... things have been stressful around here. I was finding myself getting angry and impatient very quickly. I needed the relaxation, the spoiling and the great company. If any of you read this...THANK YOU! I loved every minute of it.

The New Addition to my Family!

2008-05-15T09:43:00.000-06:00

PIKO
This is my new little puppy Piko! He is a mini pinscher/shih tzu mix and he is my baby. It is pretty pathetic how quickly you fall in love with these little guys. So much so that I haven't tried killing him on the 6th wake-up in the middle of the night. He's already getting to be so good! Accident in the house count is only at 2 and he only woke up twice last night! He's been sick for a few days so I took him to the vet yesterday... My dog now has a diet that includes Gatorade, yogurt and rice...??? Random I know, but it's been working wonders just since yesterday. I'm sure I'll be posting plenty of more pictures of him since I'm basically obsessed! Kind of pathetic when you'd rather stay at home with your pet then go out on the weekends huh?! Call me crazy but I love it!

This is Piko sitting in the pocket of my robe where he just hangs out and watches me get ready in the mornings.

Here he is sleeping with his buddy the bear. The bear is one of those rice packs that you heat up in the microwave so it's warm.... I warm it up, lay Piko on it and he's out cold! Works every time :)

This is the biggest branch he could find that he could still drag around... pretty funny to watch him struggle with it since it was like 10X as long as he is.

Pictures for Enjoyment

2008-04-10T11:27:00.000-06:00

These are just some cool photos taken for National Geographic. Very cool! Hope you enjoy :)

My Celebrity Crushes

2008-04-05T17:55:00.001-06:00

So, I figured I'd go along with my sister Rachel's post and let everyone know who my celebrity crushes are. First and I'm pretty sure foremost would definitely be Mr. David Beckham... WOW, OH WOW! Look how cute his little eyes squint when he smiles! Love it! Like any normal person I have both celebrity guy crushes, and celebrity girl crushes, and Kate Beckinsale is one of mine. I just think she has this very classy beauty to her. So, don't make fun of me for this one... but I do have a crush on Jesse McCartney, even though I think he's just barely 18, he's still a hottie. I have a huge crush on Keith Urban... have for years. First of all, just listen to him talk... every girl has gotta have a thing for the Australian accent, let's be real. He's got the sexiest tattoos and makes some of the best country music out there! (Wonderful performer too, if any one asks me!) My other girl crush is probably Faith Hill, not my favorite performer, but she's hot, a mother of like 4 kids and still has a bangin body! Way to go! So there are the first of I'm sure many more of my celebrity crushes. GORGEOUS! Who are your celebrity crushes?

Weekends are for Fun

2008-03-30T20:30:00.000-06:00

This weekend was a good one... I mean, every weekend is good, it's a weekend whats not good about it. But this weekend just seemed different, probably because it was random and, well... different. I went to my first pro soccer game. Opening game of the season for Real Salt Lake apparently. It was fun, I'm not a huge soccer fan, but always willing to try something new. Now I just am waiting for the day that David Beckham comes to town to play! (Which happens to be May 3rd) That's when soccer gets interesting :) I mean honestly, look at him.......! So one with the weekend. Went to this great little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant in Salt Lake called Cannellas, it was delicious! I love little places like this, you don't really hear much about them, but the food is delicious, and the atmosphere is great. Went out dancing for a couple peoples birthday's that I didn't know... always fun meeting new random people. So anyway, that brings me to Sunday, today. I'm watching my favorite movie... Phantom of the Opera! I was so lucky to see the play in Vegas last year for my birthday, but believe me I wish I could see it a hundred more times! Enjoy your weekends... after all, it's the weekend, time to relax, party, sleep in and do whatever it is that you want!

Just to Make you Smile

2008-03-23T15:09:00.001-06:00

There are a lot of things in this world that make me laugh, and I love to laugh!! Don't they say that it's proven that laughing makes you live longer and keeps you happy and healthy. So, I thought I would share some funny funny things that gave me a good laugh this week. All you have to do is look, enjoy... and remember to keep laughing... even at yourself... and if you happen to be the guy in this picture, you should laugh very very hard at yourself, and then burn every popped collar you own:)

A Warning for Lake Havasu!!!

2008-03-19T19:58:00.001-06:00

So, Last weekend we went down to Lake Havasu for a weekend of fun, sun and boating. We rented a great house and had a ton of fun... I will post pictures as soon as I get them from Nicole, but for the time being I had to at least post a warning for anyone who plans on going to Lake Havasu at any time during their life. We rented 2 pontoon boats, and since we rented them pretty late we ended up having to rent from 2 different places. One boat was from Action Adventure Rentals, the other from Wet Monkey Power Sports (I won't even put the link in here cause you should NEVER go there)... This is the one I need to make the warning about. This place was HORRIBLE!!! First off the guy just comes across as a complete douche bag, his location isn't actually on the water so you have to wait for him to drop it off at the dock and pick it up. The first day he told us to be back at the dock at 6:00... we were there, but he wasn't. We waiting for 15 minutes that day for him to finally show up. The second day was even worse, we waiting 45 minutes for him to come pick us up and then we did the "check out" process.... The guy charged us for anything and everything you could possibly imagine. After all was said and done we were charged $570 ON TOP of the $614 we already paid. We paid over $100 in gas alone... guess how much Action Adventure charged us in gas.... $44 dollars!!!! WET MONKEY POWER SPORTS IS THE WORST RAN COMPANY YOU COULD EVER IMAGE, DO NOT NOT NOT RENT ANYTHING FROM THIS PRICK IF YOU EVER GO TO HAVASU!!! Action Adventure was right on the water, no waiting around for anyone to pick you up and they actually run a PEOPLE business, not a business where their only goal is to make a buck. Don't say I never warned you, and please, SPREAD THE WORD... I don't want anyone I know having to deal with this guy!! Action Adventures on the other hand, I would recommend them to anyone!! Talk about some friendly, helpful, fun people that work there!!

Sunday Thoughts

2008-03-09T19:48:00.000-06:00

I love treats, and for some reason Sunday is always a good day for treats. My favorite treat would have to be brownies... not totally sure why, I just love them! So today I made a batch of brownies all for me to enjoy!! (Sadly I could never finish the whole batch myself, but that's the beauty of Tupperware... brownies for days and still fresh!)

I'm a big fat sucker for infomercials and I was watching an infomercial for the Ped Egg. I know it seems so stupid, but it's all I could do to keep myself from picking up the phone and ordering it! What are the facts on infomercial crap? Like, is there a percentage of things that infomercials sell that are actually worth it? Or would I order this neat little pedicure tool just to be greatly disappointed when it sliced my foot into a thousand pieces the first time I used it?! I just don't know.... Dang those stupid infomercials.

Baby Lily

2008-02-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

As of January 26th, 2008 I finally am an aunt! My sister Rachel had her beautiful little girl. I haven't gotten to see her yet, but Jessica and I are going to head up to Idaho next weekend to see the gorgeous girl. Her name is Lily Belle and from the looks/sounds of her I'm going to absolutely love her! I'm excited to finally see her, I've stolen a few pictures of her so everyone can see just how gorgeous she is.

New Years 2008

2008-02-24T12:50:00.001-07:00

So, yes I know it's been FOREVER since I posted anything on here, but I figure, it's better late than never right?! So here is my New Years 2008 post... We rang in the New Year in Las Vegas like usual, but this time, surprisingly it wasn't just Black, Meghan and I. We were joined by my sister, her husband and a friend from work. The weekend was A BLAST, to say the least. We staid at this really classy hotel called the Best Western :) The great part about staying at such a lame hotel is that the workers LOVE young, hot, crazy people. needless to say there wasn't much that we actually had to buy while hanging out at our hotel... and they gave us these sweet Happy New Year hats to wear! So, the night started out with dinner reservations at 6:30, which was a bad idea... much too early. (Next year we'll know better.) After dinner it was time for the night to really begin. Things starting out with a dance on the strip, joined by some crazy cats who I think enjoy dancing just as much as we do. (Sorry the picture is blurry, but you get the idea.) It ended up being VERY cold the night of New Years, and we weren't exactly dressed for winter... all though we DID have our handy dandy gloves! Moving right along, we had to get inside to warm up from the cold. Enough dancing... on to Caesars Palace. Jessica and I found a statue that we just LOVED, and then a quick pause for a group photo. Our excitement of the night really started when we find a set of stairs that basically everyone had to walk past to get around. We all piled up on each side of the staircase and celebrated every time someone walked up or down them. Most people enjoyed our excitement, but some people just had no person alities and we didn't care for them to walk thru again either. Don't think I could have let this blog go, without some good pictures of the crew. Here are just some of my favorites... I wish I had pictures of the awesome firework shows, but that didn't happen. The only other thing I wish I would have got a picture of would be how classy our hotel was. The moment we knew we were staying someplace really nice was when the nightstand drawer was opened and we found an opened empty box of condoms and an empty wrapper. WOW, we thought the classy could not get any better... until the last day of packing up. As everyone was cleaning up there stuff and packing i noticed one sexy black thong on the ground by the bed... as I picked it up and twirled it around my head saying... "Ohhh who left their sexy underwear behind" It was rudely brought to my attention that the thong I was currently holding in my hand didn't belong to ANYONE that was currently staying in our room!!! AHAHAHHHHH YUCK! I washed my hands immediately after throwing the thong to the ground. Wow, note to self.... The Best Western Las Vegas, you get what you pay for. Good times, great friends! The New Year started off with a BANG... Thanks to the people I love!

Vegas Trip

2007-11-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

So, last weekend Nicole, Meghan and I went to Vegas.... again. Yes we go pretty often, but this time was a blast! For the most part it was just the three of us spending some much needed time together! There was so much fun stuff that went on... of course there was it's Vegas. It started out Friday night when we wondered around, doing nothing too special, but enjoying every second of it... and of course taking stupid pictures of ourselves at any chance... like in the bathroom. Saturday we just hung out at the pool! Met some crazy random people there, one who had just gotten a drunken piercing the night before. (I won't go into details.) Saturday night our friend Ray came out to join us in the festivities. We went to this random bar/grill called Dicks. They just happened to be having a dance contest... and go figure we had two of the best dancers right with us. After some convincing we were able to get Ray on stage.... and wow! I wish I had video, cause it was AMAZING! Nicole followed for the girls competition and it came down to her against some skanky girl with a playboy bunny tattoo. Well, of course the coolest people won! Ray and Nicole dominated the dance contest, both walking away with first place! This is their victory picture of them with their shirts they won. They both had people coming up to them for the rest of the night AND the following day saying how awesome they were and how glad they were that the slutty girl didn't win! HAHA, Oh it was great! Sunday finished off with Ray and Nicole ditching us early and heading home, so Meghan and I spent a fun filled day together. We went to M&M Factory and played, watched the 3D movie and wondered the strip. Tried to go to ESPN Zone to eat, but that was impossible... finally we figured we'd just head to the airport to eat there. We found the BEST little Mexican restaurant where everything we had was KILLER! Watched the Chargers game and enjoyed the people watching in the airport. (Mainly the sugar daddy with his 18 year old escort!) Great trip... to say the least!

OFFER ACCEPTED :)

2007-11-09T08:33:00.001-07:00

So, yesterday was a HUGE day! The offer for our townhouse was ACCEPTED! I'm so excited for this! Basically what this means is that by the end of the month (hopefully) I'll be living in a brand new 3 bedroom 2.5 bath townhouse! I'm so so so so excited for this! We've been doing some looking for a few months now, and never had really found anything I was really excited about. I had randomly seen this unit and called the number leaving a message of interest. When the guy called me back I just kept thinking to myself, "this is too good to be true". From the sounds of it, it was everything I had wanted. AND, it was in the right price range! I looked at it the next day and the offer was made the day after! (Talk about knowing what you want and going for it!) I should probably clarify that when I say 'we' I'm referring to Me, Jessica and Zach. The 3 of us are buying the unit together. The great part about this is, that it makes it possible to buy such a great place, and it builds all of our equities at once... the other bonus is, I'll really be the only one living in it... Well, unless Zach gets a job with SkyWest here in SLC then he'll probably need a place to crash and HOW CONVENIENT he'll have just the place :) Anyway, I guess I can't say that it's official, official yet, but yeah, VERY EXCITING! This is a picture of the outside of the unit, pretty cute huh?!

Mi Familia!

2007-11-02T15:17:00.000-06:00

I know everyone says this, but seriously I have one of the coolest families you could ask for. Pretty much everyone lives in Washington, except for me and Rachel, so I don't get to see everyone that much. (Maybe that's why I like them so much. hahaha) It's actually kind of a bummer I don't get to see them as much as I'd like, but the nice thing is, no matter how long I go without seeing them, we are still as close as ever! My family really means the world to me... all 11 of them! Now I know 11 seems like a TON... but no, my parents did NOT have 8 children :). The picture on the left is of my siblings and step siblings... and 2 husbands. This was at my Mom's surprise birthday party! The other picture is of the other half of the fam... In California for my little sisters birthday.

A little about Me!

2007-11-02T15:01:00.000-06:00

So, a little about me!... I live in Utah and have been for the past 4 years! Time sure flies...Basically I spend my days working, and my nights doing.... whatever. I've never had a blog before, but my siblings started doing it and I figured I needed to join the boat. I'm a huge fan of things that smell good, pineapple, cheese, clothes, shoes, and purses, summer, water, palm trees and flowers. I guess I'll have to figure out what I should be mentioning on here... I figure I'll just keep you all posted on my life, what's new, what's old, what's fun and what's boring :) PS... the picture is of the 'Three Amigos'. These are the girls that I do EVERYTHING with, well, or DID everything with, before they both moved away from me and left me here to rot :( I still love them though.