HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE!!!!

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY NATALIE!

I love Natalie. She's a great sister to me! :) I love that she loves her kids, loves spending time with them, loves teaching them things, and also has room enough to love me.

She is very creative and passes this on to her babies - below is a picture Addison took of her mom! And you know who taught her to use the camera? Yeah, that's right - NATALIE!

Natalie makes me smile. She's there for me when I need her to be - ready to give me a hug and tell me it will all be fine.

One time Natalie told me, "Jack, you need to be dating Rick because we all really like you." (Obivously at a time Eric and I weren't dating.) Even before her brother and I were dating, she was there for me - giving me advice, and being my big sister. Ya know, I've never had a big sister (I am the big sister in my family), and Natalie makes a great one!

I love you Nat!

HAPPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

(And hopefully this isn't too much blog love for you - Ash, Ethan, Me (twice). lol )

The PERFECT day!

Today, I am thankful for TODAY.

It was a very PERFECT day. I mean, I'm sure there are things that could have gone better. For instance, my husband could have been home with me all day...but I'm thankful for the job he has (and was at) and for the willingness to work on a holiday! I LOVE YOU ERIC!

I'm thankful for my job and for letting me have the day off (as well as tomorrow), so I can have a day with my hubby! :)

Now, on to why this day was SO perfect!

1. I was able to spend time with Jixie - I'm thankful for our horse, and her good health.

2. I was able to go running with the dogs and tire them out - I'm thankful for legs to run with, and my puppies.

3. I was able to use a neighbor's electric oven to cook my rolls - I'm so thankful for my neighbors, Tammy and Andrew. They are the best neighbors ever! They are always so willing to help us, and so friendly! LOVE YOU GUYS!

4. My rolls turned out PERFECT! (Eric says that they need some improvement still, but they turned out better than any rolls I have ever made!!) - I'm thankful for the food we are able to put on our tables, and for sharing it with others.

5. I got to spend thanksgiving dinner (DELICIOUS dinner) with some of my favorite people - I'm thankful for all of my family, all over the world!

6. We got to celebrate Natalie's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW NATALIE!!! - I'm thankful for a wonderful sister-in-law, and also for being able to give presents! I LOVE giving presents!!!!!!!

7. I watched Natalie feed Addison whipped cream - this girl is such a hoot! - I'm thankful for cute nieces and nephews.

8. And last but not least, I was watching for openings in UVU classes. As of a few days ago, I was only enrolled in six credits, and I'm trying to get enrolled in twelve. There are two other classes I need to take, but both are full. TODAY, I found an opening in the photography class, and I'm in!! Now, one more class to sign up for. :) - I'm thankful for school, and being able to learn.

And now, I'm sitting on the couch, blogging, with my puppies all over me - Roxy's head on my leg, Jersey's head on my elbow, and Tucker's head on my foot. Eric, Andrew, and I are watching Cars on the tv.

What more could I ask for today? It was perfect.

Thanks to all those who made it perfect, for family, for friends, for God, and for love all around.

Now on to Christmas! Christmas is my FAVORITE holiday! :)

Funny, Funny

So, two funny things...

1. Eric took me on a date this last weekend and we went to Rib City in AF.

Pretty good - loved the sweet potato fries, and the dessert! Eric had the server pick his meal (which I just shared with him), and she wasn't sure if he liked it, so she brought us free dessert.

YUMMY!

Now, the funny part...

There was a guy and girl next to us. The guy was more middle-aged, and wearing one of those "old man sweaters" - can't really explain what it looks like, and couldn't find a good picture.

Anyway, he was with this WAY younger girl, very attractive.

So in the middle of dinner, Eric tells me that the girl is way too good-looking for that guy. I suggested that maybe it was his daughter, and we left it at that.

About ten minutes later, I said, "Or it's blind!"

Eric: No, I saw him blink.

Me: Why would it matter if he blinked?

Eric: He's not blind.

Me: ...like a blind date.

Eric: ohhhhhhhhh...

Me: Uncontrollable laughter persisted for the next oh, half hour. Even writing this, I'm still laughing hysterically.

I love my husband. He makes me laugh everyday. He's my best friend.

2. My favorite conversation on Friends goes like this:

Joey: ...Because if he doesn't like you, this is all a moo point.

Rachel: Hmm, a MOO point?

Joey: Yeah, it's like a cow's opinion. Ya know? It just...doesn't matter. It's moo.

Rachel: Have I been living with him for too long, or did that all just make sense?

Hope one of these BRIGHTENS your day!! :)

Paw Prints

For those of you who know how much I love our pets, you know that our pets, but especially our dogs, are like my own children. One of my very favorite things about our pets though, is their paw prints.

Even if it's mud on the kitchen floor, it tells me they were enjoying themselves in the mud! :)

It always makes me so happy to run with them, play with them, and see them having fun. Tucker LOVES the snow, and the other dogs have joined along in that joy. So we did some playing outside today, and I don't think they could have been happier!

YES, they do eat snow. lol Some advice for you though - don't eat yellow snow! You never know where the eskimos go!

Home makeover in progress

So, a few things have changed around our house since the end of July.

- We got a pool table! :) We now officially have a game room, but it is not decorated yet. Don't worry, we'll get there! Now I need a ping pong table top to go on the pool table. So if you find one, let me know!!!!

- Eric's garage is SOOOO organized that you almost don't want to go in there in fear of messing it up. hehe

Each shelf has a specific purpose. This shelf is "liquids" - and they are in alphabetical order. I bought a label maker to label each shelf, but Eric said that was too girly. :(

Eric and I decided that we needed a pulley system for the bikes (notice the green string hanging from them)- so here we have the unicycle, two bikes, and Eric's bike still needs to be hung up.

- Our driveway was not poured right AT ALL - so after a huge nightmare of getting through to the right people, we now have a new driveway! And this time, it's four inches thick.

(Sorry - took it right now, and it's DARK outside. :) )

- My mom bought me a few pieces of furniture for my craft room (THANK YOU MOM) and they have certainly served their purpose. I was able to fit photography, scrapbooking, and sewing all in one room. The room is going to have a photography theme - so gray and white colors, with photos I've taken posted all over the room. Lynda already told me the colors I need to get, so the room will be painted soon! But for now - my favorite part:

The wrapping paper wall! My hubby is SOOOO smart, and so wonderful, that he built me this wrapping paper stand. It will be painted when I paint the room.

- As far as the guest room, I did sell the twin bed, and find a queen bed. Now, I need a taller bookcase. My books are sitting in piles, and they definitely don't belong there!

- I sold the big gray chair, so it isn't taking up the guest room, and hopefully I'll see the gray couch tomorrow so there is more room to play pool.

- The living room was successfully turned into a dining room and large tv room. And the fish tank my parents gave me is full of fish. Also, one of our fishies had a baby fish, and now he is a big fish!

Next, I need to find a huge area rug for under the table - the one I wanted from Ikea isn't big enough.

So things are going well! More changes to come!

Jersey's 1st Birthday

Jersey turned one yesterday. :)

We had her doggy party today. I don't know why Tucker isn't in this picture. I think he got bored.

The doggy cake - no birthday is complete without candles!!!!!! Just one for being one-year-old! SO YOUNG!

Jerz trying to eat her cake before she blows out the candle.

And dogs WAY too excited - the cake was barely on those plates for all of five seconds. They all had seconds.

Happy birthday Jerz!!! :)

Everything else is going well around here - dogs are awesome, cats are good, Jixie is wonderful, the fish are swimming in clean, clean water, Eric is doing a ton of stuff around here (making brick walkways, fixing lights on the sube, changing oil in our cars, and teaching two friends how to change oil, etc,) and I am going back to school for another bachelor degree, this time in photography! WAHOO!

More later!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JERSEY!

Date Night

This past weekend, Eric took me on a date! :)

We went to the jazz game!

Eric got free tickets and they were some pretty good seats. It's too bad that the most entertaining parts of the game were the bear beating up sumo wrestlers, the bear in the stands, and not the Jazz cheerleaders, but the UVU team that came up.






Afterwards, we went to Eric's fave chinese restaurant, and then headed back home.

Now on to a week of work! (Don't worry - we'll add some fun in there!)