The Layne Family Est 2007

Peace out 2011!

2011-12-31T11:27:00.011-07:00

I feel like I have not blogged for a very long time... this is mostly true, but we have been very busy. We are ready to bid farewell to 2011. It has been a good year, but definitely brought some pretty big challenges. The highlight of 2011 is the trip to Brazil we just went on. We were gone for two weeks and it was wonderful... All the pictures are from Brazil. Hope you enjoy, and here is to a great 2012!!

Elise and I on Copacabana Beach. Even though it was 90 degrees, the water was FREEZING!

We got to see the Christ statue. It was incredibile. So cool.We did brave the water one day, but we were not in for very long.We loved the street stands. My friend TC and I got some coconut water. It was SO gross!
One day we went on a jeep tour. This is TC is the front seat. Since he spoke Portuguese he was nominated co-captain!

We went on a tour of a slum. I know it sounds funny to say that. It was very interesting and a big piece of humble pie.

We spent four days on a cruise. It was great.

The ship was decked out for Christmas.Elise, Kayla and I at dinner. We were so happy to have American food...

This guy was on the ship, and also played Santa. In Brazil everyone wears a speedo, including this guy. The day before we saw him at the pool in his speedo!

We got to go the Sao Paulo temple for a few hours. It was very cool!

We spent four days and Christmas in Iguasu Falls. It is one of the most amazing places I have ever been.

We took a boat tour. This little boat took us under some of the falls. It was so cool!

The falls are between Brazil and Argentina. One day we went to the Brazil side, and the other day we went to the Argentina side. Truth be told the Argentina side was MUCH better.

Overall it was a great vacation. Truly a vacation of a lifetime!

The End of an Era....

2011-09-06T21:17:00.006-06:00

Change is in the air at SkyWest. About a month ago we learned that quite a few of us are losing our jobs. You can click here to read the story. It is pretty tough because most of us have been working together for 5 or more years. People with 10 years with the company are being forced to work weekends, and as for those like myself with 7 years, we are just without a job. Very sad, but it is the way it goes.

We decided to get together for lunch. Unfortunately not everyone could make it, but those who did we had a good time. In this picture alone only 1 person is keeping their job, 2 are moving on to be flight attendants, and the other 4 are just simply laid off. These people have become more than just good friends. Here is to finding a new job and moving on... Change SUCKS!

Love!

2011-06-29T17:27:00.004-06:00

This is what I call LOVE! This is my cute Granny and her husband Wayne. They have been married for three and a half years. They are just six months behind Elise and I. We are lucky enough to live only a few blocks away and get to see them often. I sure hope when I am 86 and almost 90 I am this active and in love!

Summer?!?

2011-06-02T15:46:00.009-06:00

Even though the weather sure does not feel like Summer is here, Summer activities for the Layne family are in full swing! I do not have many pictures of us, so I just borrowed some from Google...Summer School. Sick. These two words should never go together. I broke down, and I am taking two classes this Summer. I have one class at Weber and one class at SLCC. I keep telling myself that this is all so I can graduate in Spring of 2012...Elise and I have started reffing soccer games together. Well I just started, but Elise has been doing it for years. That's right folks you can catch me running up and down the local sideline of the youth soccer games in a town near you. If you would have asked me a year ago if I ever was going to ref soccer, I would tell you to go jump in a lake. It is good money, and good exercise. The lame part is that it has been cold, and soccer games are NEVER cancelled unless there is lightning. We finished the Wasatch Soccer tournament over Memorial Day weekend, and I am glad there are no more soccer games for a few months.I am going on my fourth month of volunteering on Wednesday mornings. I have met two of the greatest families and love visiting with the two guys I go see each week. I have some funny stories, and it is nice to give back to the community. I am getting some experience of what a Social Worker would do at a hospice company, and may have found the population I want to work with. It is a very good thing!ReAL has had a tough season to say the least... It all started with the injury of Javier Morales. If you do have not seen pictures Google it! Now they have lost their 2 year 29 game undefeated streak at home, not to mention all the rainy games we have been to...

One of the best parts of the ReAL games by far is Cullvers. If you have not had a frozen custard with some fried cheese curds, you better go to Cullvers, and invite us! I think we have stopped by after most of the ReAL games this season.

Recently I have discovered audio books... maybe I am a little behind the times, but this semester I have to read a book, and a friend at work told me about another book, so I downloaded both. Best of all they were free, and I do not even have to read, I can just listen! Pure glory! What would summer be without some trips? First stop, Denver CO! We are going with Trenton and Elise's siblings. Trenton leaves soon for his mission, and he wanted a trip with all of us.

We are roommate less now! This fine young man leaves on his mission in about a month. Trenton lived with us for a few semesters, and we loved it! We are sad to see him go, but know he will do an amazing job!

You didn't think I would blog without being at least a little mushy did you? Guess again! ha ha I had to throw in a picture of the love of my life. Elise is amazing, and a great support. She works hard so I can focus on school, and is truly my best friend! I love you Elise!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T22:31:00.002-06:00

He is risen! I have always thought a lot about Easter and to tell the truth it was more about the eggs and candy, but this year is different for me. As I sit in my front room listening to Elise play hymns on the piano my heart is very full. To say I have had a great Easter is an understatement. I have begun to understand the love Jesus has for me. As I have spent today with my family, and those I love the most I have thought a lot about the Resurrection, and what it means to me. The Resurrection means that I get to see my loved ones again. Yesterday afternoon Elise and I put some flowers on my grandpa's grave, and I shared some of my fond memories about him. It was a very special experience. Today as we celebrated Easter Elise shared some of her stories and feeling about her grandma. As we laughed and cried while sharing stories, I could not stop thinking how great it is that we can see them again, and more importantly that we can be a forever family. I am very grateful for Jesus Christ, and the fact that I will get to see my grandpa again, and meet Elise's grandma! In fact I am sure they are spoiling our children that we have not met yet as we speak!

San Jose Round 2

2011-03-27T09:57:00.003-06:00

For the second year in a row, we went down to San Jose to watch the season opener of soccer season. This year we went 2 other couples from work. We had a ton of fun, and have lots of good stories. Most stories somehow involve SkyWest inside jokes, so if you want to hear them, let me know. :) We did not get any pictures at the game because we left the camera in the car because it was raining so hard. ReAL did win, but Spring soccer can be very cold!

It's true...

2011-03-22T17:14:00.001-06:00

We are a two dog family... this little 4.4 pound Yorkie is Elise's, and I still claim Roxie! Everyone seems to be adjusting well, except the cat... ha ha. We have a full house!

New York! New York!

2011-03-20T17:23:00.012-06:00

We just got back from a wonderful time in New York! We had the opportunity to apartment and dog sit for out cousins for 4 days; and offer we could not pass up. Our cousins live just a few blocks from the subway, and we were able to get to see a lot of sights. Not to mention with my working for the airlines we enjoyed first class on 3 of the 4 flights!

We became experts at the 'R' train. It picked up very close, and went to all the sights. Even with a little weekend construction and closures we did not get lost once. Quite and achievement for us!
Elise in front of the Ground Zero memorial. This was pretty humbling to see. Seeing where the twin towers were and the reading over the memorial was quite sad. I am very glad that we got to see it. It was on my list of things I really wanted to see in my life. I couldn't believe where Ground Zero is, and how it is so close to other buildings and skyscrapers. Elise and I both remember that day very vividly so it was cool to see something so historic to us.

This is the current place where they are rebuilding. The sad part is these two gentlemen work for the New York City Medical Examiners office. We did not talk to them, but I would venture to guess they are still finding some sort of remains. Very sad!

The Manhattan LDS temple. This was also on our list of things to see and experience in our lifetime. We were able to go inside and spend some time, and do some temple work. It was really cool. Going to the temple was a whole afternoon thing. We rode the subway for about an hour and a half. It really made us grateful for where we live and how lucky we are to have a temple so close to us. It was a good experience, and we are very glad we took the time to do it.

The Manhattan Temple is right in downtown Manhattan. It is in the middle of buildings, and there is very much hustle and bustle going on outside. You get off the subway and it is just right there. Funny thing is some guy stopped us and asked what we were looking it. We told him we wanted a picture with the gold statue in it. He said he had not even notice the building let alone the statue.

We did not actually go to Ellis Island to see the statue of liberty. We had gone and looked at the statue from Battery Park per our friend Greg and Meg's suggestion. It was really cold and windy, and we did not get to look very close at it. Our cousin told us to take the Staten Island Ferry. We did and we got a good view. The ferry goes pretty close to the statue.

A pretty good shot taken by Elise. We were not even close to Ellis Island.

We had heard great things about Roxy's Sandwiches in Times Square, and they are all true. We had a wonderful meatball sandwich, and some delicious Snickers Cheesecake.

We enjoyed Times Square a lot. We spent two different afternoons there.

The second afternoon it was very rainy. That did not stop us from visiting the vendor carts, and walking around. Very fun!

One of times in Times Square we visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. This was really cool and creepy all at the same time. It was cool to see some of the famous people who have died, that we would only be able to see pictures of. Here is Elise with Oprah. :)

Here I am with Micheal Jordan.

The whole trip was very fast, but very fun. Neither of us had ever been to New York so it was neat to experience that. It made us grateful for where we live and what we have. Not that New York is bad in any way, I just don't think we will be moving there anytime soon. Visit again? Definitely, but moving probably not. :) Thanks Beth and Coleen for letting us crash at your place for a few days!!

The Siebs!

2011-03-09T10:54:00.005-07:00

This last week our good friends Angie and Steve got married. Angie and Elise have been friends for years, and went through nursing school together. It has been fun to go on double dates, and get to know Steve. The day was great, full of the temple, good food, and a reception that was a carnival! Congrats Steve and Angie, we love you guys!!

Siobhan, Angie, Elise, Steve and I at the recption.

Siobhan and Trenton and I before the reception.

Elise and I with Angie's cute mom!

The amazing wedding cake.

Work Lately...

2011-01-03T18:59:00.001-07:00

Work lately has not been very fun... just before Christmas I ran into some old friends from my home ward. They were extremely delayed and my friend Stacy is a great writer. The whole post is funny, and worth the read. I am glad I could somewhat help them out!

http://jewkesfam.blogspot.com/2011/01/delayed.html

Bear Lake and an Update

2010-11-07T19:52:00.007-07:00

I guess it is time for a Layne family update... My Aunt Kathie came over last week to see the progress, and asked me to please update the blog because she was tired of seeing pictures of "Meet the Team" day, and said it is not longer August! ha ha I needed a little push. Elise has started a new job at an outpatient surgical center, and loves it. We have our cousin Trent living with us, and it has been fun. He has really helped with the painting of the house, and we are hoping to be all done with the remodel by Thanksgiving... we will see. I stay really busy with work and school. I am working full time, and have 17 credit hours. So I am not home much. A few months ago, we went to a friend's cabin in Bear Lake. It was really fun. We went for a long four wheeler ride while we were there. The leaves were changing colors, and it was really pretty. We are alive and kicking, just really busy...

Elise and I after lunch.

The leaves were pretty, and the four wheelers fun!

Elise and Angie

The girls... Amber, Angie and Elise

Amber, Seth, Andrew and Elise

Meet the Team

2010-08-28T09:33:00.004-06:00

One of the coolest part of being a season ReAL ticket holder is going to meet the team day. We have enjoyed hitting up all the games this summer, but I was really excited for this day. You get to go into the stadium and get autographs from all the players. It was a really good time complete with free ice cream and water.

Vacations and Car Wrecks

2010-08-21T11:51:00.011-06:00

Elise and I just got home from a wonderful 4 day vacation in Yellowstone. We got off to a rough start the night before we left when we got in a wreck coming home from the ReAL game but we still had a great time. We spent 2 nights right in West Yellowstone going in and out of the park each day. West Yellowstone is very much a tourist town full of expensive things, overpriced hotels and restaurants and lots of souvenir shops. I think Elise visited each shop at least 3 times. One night we saw Beauty and The Beast at a small theater in West Yellowstone. The play was really good, and it reminded me of Rogers Memorial Theater. After spending 2 days touring the park and seeing wildlife we spent the last night in Star Valley. I have some great memories with my dad in Star Valley. During the trip we had to deal with construction and insurance drama, but we had a great time. Here are a few pictures:

I believe this is the oldest entrance to the park... This is the North Entrance, we just stopped to see it after having an ice cream break...

Easily one of the coolest places in the park in the Grand Canyon. Amazing waterfalls, and amazing views. Elise and I both agreed this was our favorite part.

A great shot of the upper falls. Very beautiful!!

I do not really understand how this ponds work, but they have some crazy colored one. The smell is lovely also!
Elise enjoying one of the pretty blue ones.

I thought the geysers were also pretty cool. I can't remember the name of this one, but we just happened to be driving by when it was erupting. It was sweet!

Another pretty cool geyser.

You can't go to Yellowstone and not see Old Faithful! It is quite the tourist attraction!

There were tons of people and everyone cheered when it erupted ha ha. We got there maybe 5 minutes before it erupted so we were in the back, but still got some good pictures!!

We saw lots of animals. Up by Mammoth Hot Springs these elk just hang out in the little town square. They are not the least bit scared of humans.

It was mating season so we did not see many bison... guess they were busy with other things! ha ha We saw this one right off the road. He was so close. It was funny because Elise thought it was fake. It took some convincing for her to realize they are wild and alive!

This elk was not shy, and just peed right in front of everyone.

We even saw 4 bears. If you look closely you can see the mama bear with her two cubs. It is not hard to know when there is an animal close, becaue it causes a major traffic jam. Everyone stops. Elise also saw a black bear cross the street in her rear view mirror the first day while we were driving.

There are lots of tourist things to do in West Yellowstone. They have quite a few of these animals with murals painted on them.

This was our cabin in Star Valley. It was very nice, and they had a great breakfast the next morning.

Who knew that Yellowstone was half way between the Equator and North Pole? Random I know, but Elise wanted a picture.

I had to include a picture of my poor car. We were driving home from the game with Trenton and Siobhan when someone turned left in front of me. I could not stop quick enough and hit him at 35 mph. Luckily no one was really hurt, just bruised and shook up. My car did not do so hot, $5500 worth of damage, and 3 weeks in the shop. Luckily the other guy was insured, and so I have a lovely HHR for the next 3 weeks.

Cha Cha Cha Changes!!

2010-08-07T12:37:00.002-06:00

So we HATE change in our house (by we, I mean me... Elise is much better at this then I am) but here goes nothing! I start my bachelors program in a few weeks, changes in jobs, and changes in the basement of our house! Hold on here comes a whirlwind of a few months!!

photos of our home! updated!

2010-07-08T17:01:00.002-06:00

This here is our living room! (Don't mind the mess, or the ice pack on the couch.....)

Here is our beautiful kitchen!

As Andrew said in our last post we have been busy this summer!! We have been updating our home and giving it a little of our own personality! I have really enjoyed doing some of the work ourselves but it has been hard. To say the least, we aren't very handy!! Thanks to Rick, one of Andrew's friends and someone that we have been very grateful to know, our house looks great! The top is a picture of our living room, the only thing we have left to do in the living room is paint the door and door trims and get new carpet. The second picture is of our kitchen which I love!! The kitchen is complete!! Special thanks to my friend Stacey who helped me finish faux painting my walls!!! They're gorgeous! We have decided to update the rest of the upstairs and get all of the painting done before we get new carpet so that all of the carpet matches and so that we don't get paint on the carpet because we are not the most careful painters.

While Andrew was on his trip in Mexico, I stayed home and was supposed to work four of the five nights that he was gone. Well, I ended up getting called off three of the four nights that I was supposed to work... I had to keep myself busy and began to tear apart the bathroom and the basement! Not to worry, everything is still in working condition but there are no more walls of mirrors in the bathroom, no more linoleum on the walls in the bathroom, no more moldy sliding glass door in the bathroom, and no more yellow walls in the basement bedroom (I tore them out). Andrew wasn't the happiest when he came home but I think he's okay with it now! I have lots of ideas for the bedrooms and I'm getting really excited! I just need to find someone that wants a little job framing and sheetrocking our basement so that we can get it all done!! Any ideas on people I can call?

I'm hoping to get the basement done soon so that it can be painted and done!! I hope we can find a good deal!! We don't know how to sheetrock!! :) (back to the idea that we aren't very handy)

Although we aren't very handy we are willing to try!!

I am a little out of commission this week and it's driving me crazy!! Hence the reason i'm resorting to posting on the blog (I'm all caught up on the DVR) - I haven't done this in a while! I was playing soccer on Tuesday and heard a loud pop in my leg. When I went to the doctor they said that I tore a portion of my gastrocnemius muscle and it'll be a slow healing process. I can't go back to work until Tuesday so if any of you are bored, let me know!

Remodel + Texas + Puerto Vallarta = FUN!

2010-07-03T08:09:00.007-06:00

We have been SLACKING at blogging, and we are sorry... Here is a summary of the past few weeks...
I had the chance to go down to Mexico with my grandma and Wayne, and all his family. It was great. Since we fly for free, my mom and I decided free room and board in Mexico was too good to pass up. It was so much fun, and beautiful. Oh and we got first class so that does not hurt... This picture truly is what it looked like. It was a little hot, but still a ton of fun.

This is a picture of the hotel, but let me tell you the picture does not do it justice. Beautiful beach. Beautiful pool. Beautiful resort. The picture does not even show the waterslide at the pool but let me tell you I used it frequently. It was so much fun to get to spend time with my Granny. She had a good time, and we got a chance to get to meet some of Wayne's family. The highlight of the trip was Wayne going parasailing. Not too shabby for an 89 year old! They pick you up on the beach, and you land almost in that exact same spot. It was fun.

The resort had a full kitchen so we made a trip to the local Wal Mart. Whoa baby... now this was an adventure. It is a short and cheap cab ride from the resort to Wal Mart (roughly $3.50). It was quite and experience. It was very busy, and very few people spoke English. My mom needed a safety pin, and that was a lost cause. After wandering around for almost an hour we gave up. One cool thing is they have an INCREDIBLE bakery. Everything is homemade, and very fresh. You just grab a silver plate, and load it up. Then they wrap it up, and put it in a paper bag. They had huge ding dongs, and those made for a good breakfast. The price tags are a little deceiving. The ratio of pesos to dollars is roughly 12 to 1. So when we were in the bakery we saw the delicious ding dongs were $4.50. We could not figure out the price, and we thought they were almost $4 dollars. They were so good, we still got them. Ha ha Lucky for us we were wrong, and they were only $.30, even better. The World Cup was going on, and Mexico was playing. It was funny because Wal Mart pretty much stood still. Everyone was watching the game in the electronics, even the employees! ha ha

The worst part of the whole thing was Elise had to work. She could not get the time off, and worked 4 graveyard shifts during the 5 days we were gone. I really missed her, and it was strange because we have not ever been apart for that many days since we have been married. I am grateful that she was OK with me going, and that I got to spend a vacation with my mom and Granny. Something I will look back on for many years to come.

Of course we had another trip up our sleeves. We decided to go back to Texas so Elise could see where I went on my mission. It was a really fun trip, despite the problems we had getting home. (Remember how we fly for free? Well that is standby, and this trip standby was not in our favor) Despite all this it was a great trip. I went to church in Azle, and got to see lots of the friends I had made. It was seriously a great trip. After we went to have lunch with some close friends. It was good to visit and see everyone.

On Sunday we took a drive to Graham. It was fun, and we passed through one of my other areas, Mineral Wells. It was very hot and humid. 103 to be exact. The crazy part was on the way to Graham we hit a huge storm. Some of the hardest rain I have ever seen, and I had to pull off. The temperature dropped 20 degrees, and it was a cool 80 in Graham.

Maybe the best part of the trip was the food! We went out for some bbq one day. We found this amazing place that gives you huge servings of meat, and all you can eat sides. For dessert we had the famous Blue Bell ice cream. Oh man I was in heaven.

The remodel continues. Currently we have more rooms torn up, then put back together... ha ha Oh well I guess that it how it goes.

We are learning just how much it costs. The remodel is at a standstill until we decide how to distribute the funds.

So there you have it. The Laynes all summed up in a very exciting post!

We have green!!

2010-05-29T08:37:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the poor quality, but we are SO excited that we have some paint in the front room. It is starting to come together. We have to do a total of 4 coats (2 primer, and 2 paint). 1 down 3 to go!!

Summer?!?

2010-05-21T16:39:00.003-06:00

Summer is not "officially" here, and to be honest I wonder if it will ever come. This my friends is a sure sign of summer. Eating popsicles at a BBQ on the lawn. It is getting closer! Here is my oldest sister Jen, and my cute niece and nephews. Here is to a summer full of BBQs and popsicles!

Proud as Punch!

2010-05-21T16:33:00.003-06:00

Elise is done with school!! Can you believe it? I can't!! For the past 3 years, and our whole marriage Elise has had nursing school! Now she is done, and for the time being not wanting to go on. I am very proud of her, and grateful to have such a wonderful wife!!

Elise and I on her special day.

Elise's wonderful parents who have been a great support to us through school.

And of course her friend Angie! They have been through it all together!

Remodel Update

2010-05-21T16:30:00.001-06:00

We are not very good at updating on the remodel, but my friend Greg (aka BEF) has posted quite possibly one of the funniest posts I have ever read in my life. For an update click here and prepare to laugh!!

You Know You Are Hardcore When....

2010-04-03T23:38:00.002-06:00

You know you are hardcore when you go watch soccer in the snow. I mean some serious snow. Remember that snow storm last Wednesday? Well we were watching USA vs Mexico. It was very cold, but very fun. My sister in law Jay says it best in her blog post... check it out! Best part is USA won, and to celebrate the goal they ladies made snow angels. Here is to a GREAT soccer season!!

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

2010-03-30T10:47:00.013-06:00

We just got back from a great weekend in San Jose. We decided to drive down, and meet up with my mom who flew. The party started Thursday when Elise's cousin Trent came and spent the night at our house. The evening was full of Macaroni and Cheese, and lots of Wii playing. We left early Friday morning and drove all the way. The drive was boring but eventful all at the same time. Elise made duct tape wallets, and I got pulled over. The whole story is great, so ask us in person, I do not think writting it can give it justice. Elise is selling her wallets, so if you want to see them click here. We finally got to San Jose and went to dinner with my mom. Saturday morning we went to the Winchester Mystery Mansion and took a tour. It was really cool. We got lunch, and went to the game. We had seats with the loyalists, so it was loud and crazy. We had so much fun, and ReAL won 3 to 0. It was a good game. Sunday we drove down to Capitola Beach, and had lunch. The water was way too cold to get in, but we all got our feet wet. Sunday we drove to Reno, and spent the night. Monday we drove the rest of the way. It was a really fun trip. Here is to a great soccer season!!

A great view of the mansion and beautiful front garden.

Elise and I waiting for the tour to start.

The whole group waiting for the tour.

Trenton and I sporting our hard hats in the "behind the scenes tour."

Mrs. Winchester was CRAZY! Doors that led no where! Lots of crazy stuff.

Elise and I waiting for the game to start.

All of us waiting...

We sat amongst the loyalists. Lots of noise, yelling and confetti.

They had so much confetti. This was after only about 10 minutes.

Elise and I at the game.

Elise with her cousin Trenton.

The group of us during the half time.

Trenton and I amongst the loyalists. It was so much fun.

Capitola Beach.

Oh Happy Day!!

2010-03-20T12:49:00.003-06:00

The MLS strike has been resolved... No STRIKE!!! Wahoo!! Very very excited about this season and even more excited about San Jose next weekend!!!

I Might Be Sick...

2010-03-15T13:57:00.002-06:00

Remember how we are planning a trip to San Jose to watch the ReAL season opener in two weeks? Read this and weep! A strike?!? Remember how we have season tickets and bought our tickets to the season opener 3 months ago? Oh man is it appropriate to put them on the prayer roll??

Remodeling...

2010-03-13T11:36:00.003-07:00

Let the remodel begin!! We have been debating on what we should do with our tax return as far as remodeling the house. We have not come to any real conclusions, but have bids on windows. :) We did get a new TV stand, so that is exciting. Elise put out her Easter candy dishes, and the dishes just happen to be on Roxie level. She has not bothered them so we thought they were safe. So last night when we got home I noticed that Roxie had licked the Cadbury Mini Eggs. She did not eat them, just lick them lol

Life Is Good!

2010-02-20T16:15:00.002-07:00

Here are the top 3 reasons life in the Layne house is good: (in no particular order)

1- Andrew got accepted into Weber's Social Work Program

2- We got season tickets to ReAL, on the 2nd row no less

3- Our tickets for the ReAL season opener came in the mail today. Come the end of March we will be in sunny Cali!!

I Came, I Saw, I Conquered...

2010-02-06T08:03:00.002-07:00

I have turned a new leaf in my book... I visited the Taco Cart in the Sears parking lot yesterday after school. I was a little, well a lot apprehensive but I was pleasantly surprised. Special thanks to my fellow Social Worker friend Dave for helping me step out of my comfort zone!

Oh Elise...

2010-02-03T16:04:00.002-07:00

Yesterday Elise hit the BIG 23, thats right, 23 years young. Here are a few of the reasons I LOVE her:

She gives the very best back scratches. Without fail she scratches my back every Sunday in church. She hates to do it, but does anyway.

She is an AMAZING student. I mean this girl has 2 associates, and a bachelors by the time she is 23!! Best part of all is she has not had to borrow one penny. She has sacraficed and worked full time to help support us both in school.

Elise is good with money. Maybe too good. :) Ha ha just kidding. I am the complete opposite. She is always trying to make a games out of it for me. Hence the reason why if I am good for 2 more weeks I get ReAL season tickets!!

She works really hard. She works 12 hour days, has 2 jobs, and still juggles everything else.

She loves the church, and helps keep me on the straight and narrow.

Most of all, she is my BEST friend, my BETTER half, my ETERNAL companion!!

To celebrate yesterday Elise spent the afternoon with her mom. I had to work so she had a nice lunch, and then went shopping with Siobhan. After work we of course got Bettos and watched Biggest Loser. Tonight is the real party...

Have You Seen This Place?!?!?

2010-01-26T10:53:00.006-07:00

As I sit here looking at the snow, I thought I would post a "warm" picture. I was at work last night talking to some friends, and they were telling me about a trip to St Maarten they were planning. I have never heard of this place, so they started showing me some pictures of St Maarten. Here is what they showed me:
Is this a sick joke? Seriously look how close that plane is. I have seen this picture before, but I thought it must be photo shopped. Nope this is real stuff my friends!

This KLM plane is a 747. Do you know how big these are? I have not seen one is person BUT they do hold about 375 passengers.

There are warning signs on the beach however people still lay there and watch the planes. ha ha

But take a look at this water... I think I would risk it! We need a cruise...

Going Out With a BANG!

2010-01-16T08:49:00.004-07:00

We sure know how to end the year with a bang... Let me catch you up on the past few months. I was coming home very late on a Monday night from work. I was almost home, and had to go back to meet a plane that was returning to Salt Lake because it could not land. Elise had a soccer game scheduled that night, but it had gotten cancelled, so she was still parked in the middle of the driveway. I got home about 1:30 in the morning, and was not paying attention and backed into her car. It was my back bumper against her back bumper.
Now this is not the "actual" picture, but it gives you the idea. I accept full responsibility for the accident. I should have been paying better attention, but was not. Well no big deal right? That is what you have insurance for. HA HA Well insurance is nothing but frustrations! :) Elise's car is insured on her parents policy, and so we had two different insurances battling it out. Of course my insurance had a clause and a husband and wife can not be liable to each other. So that means two deductibles. Not the best news, but manageable. Well Elise's insurance did not want to pay because there was another insurance involved. After honestly 3 weeks of fighting we finally got it figured out. We went from not having to pay anything, to paying for all the damage to only paying one deductible. It was pretty stressful, and a great way to start off the Christmas season.
So after about 3 weeks of discussions we FINALLY got it figured out. 2 deductibles later we were in business. Well my car had to be registered in December. So I took it in. We fixed an oil leak, did emissions and then a tune up. During the tune up they found some problems, and we decided it was time to trade it in. Of course we had just dropped a few hundred into fixing it, and picked up this beauty.

A 2006 Nissan Altima. Anyone who knows me knows that I HATE shopping. I mean HATE with a passion. Elise LOVES to shop around, and around and around some more. I guess that is what makes us such a good team. Well after only 2 short dealer visits, we had a new car. Funny thing is we did not plan on buying a car that day. I had not even thought about cleaning out my car for a trade in. I mean I had so much crap in there. I even had 2 of my mom's snow tires! ha ha Well we ended up with the car, and have loved it. We needed 4 doors so that ONE day (and I stress the ONE day) we are going to have kiddos to load in the back. I think it was a good purchase, however Elise would have liked to shop around a little more.

That brings us to our last picture... I went downstairs to put some towels from the washer to the dryer. When I opened the door to the dryer, I got shocked. So I moved over and tried it again, and surprise surprise I got shocked again. (Don't ask, I do not know why I did it the 2nd time, but I did) After the same result twice we decided it was time for a new pair. I did not know how old our Avocado green dryer was, but I was guessing 1970ish. Well I talked to Granny and come to find out, it was the more like 1960ish. INSANE! Who has a dryer that last almost 50 years?!? Well it did. In fact it out lived 5 washers. So it was time for an upgrade. So we made the trip to RC Willey. We did not want front loaders, but we got them. We got a great price, and could not pass it up. The only bad part is that the new washer requires High Efficiency soap. Being good coupon shoppers we have a surplus of soap, none of which is HE. Well we had a garage sale of sorts, and got rid of it. Lucky for us RC Willey provided us with a bucket of 150 loads of soap. That should last until about 2020 the way we do laundry. Well my friends that is the update on our boring lives. Now we are all involved in School and work. BORING! But on a bright note Elise is in her LAST semester. Very exciting.

Let It Snow!! Let It Snow!! Let It Snow!!

2009-12-30T23:46:00.003-07:00

It has been a lovely Holiday break from school. I have been able to get a few extra days off by taking some vacation. It has been very snowy. Roxie and I go outside and I shovel, and she plays in the snow. Our Christmas was great. Lots of family time, and very relaxing. This morning one of my good friends from work got married. It was a great ceremony, and fun to eat lunch with some of my coworkers. I also had the chance to take my aunt to the dr for a chemo follow up. It was really good to spend some time with her, and be able to talk with her. We reflected a lot on the Christmas season, and what it means to give. It was a good bonding moment. Here is a picture from the wedding this morning:

Christmas Is Here!!

2009-12-24T16:03:00.008-07:00

Elise and I both love Christmas. This year has been very hectic. My school finals went an additional week then they normally have so that was not. Grades are in, and school is out for a few weeks so we are just LOVING life. We always try and do something generous to help out someone in need. This year with it being so crazy I was afraid that we would not get to. A coworker of mine in California was putting together some stockings for an orphanage in Mexico. We decided to send a box full of stuff. We had lots and lots of toothpaste, deodorant, and other hygiene items we could spare. So we sent that off, and finished out the semester. We got to go to the Festival of Trees this year. Lets be honest... this was not my favorite thing to do. In fact it didn't even come close. However, one of our friends had decorated a tree so we went to support her. We had a good time and saw some sweet gingerbread houses. We also got quite a few decorations for our house. The money all went to a good cause so that is nice. We have started a tradition with Elise's siblings, and her cousins to go see the lights every year. Last night we went and had a great time. Tonight promises to be more fun, and lots of family time tomorrow. Merry Christmas to all!!

Oh Say Can You C...

2009-12-16T23:47:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah! I got a C+ in Human Biology. Why am I so excited you ask? Because that class was fetching hard, and it was online. I bombed my last 4 tests... I am so happy I got a C+ because that is good enough for the Social Work program, and I do not have to take any more Science classes EVER again... On a brighter note I am taking full advantage of Christmas break. Hence the reason I am posting while Elise sleeps. I think I might spend a little time with my long lost friend the Wii tonight...

Go Granny Go!!

2009-12-11T19:03:00.002-07:00

So last night Granny and Wayne were headed to Reno for a wedding. They love to ride the train, but the train has 2 problems... middle of the night departures, and the station is in the ghetto. Last night they were supposed to leave at 11:00. At 9:00 they delayed it until 11:45, at 10:00 they delayed it to 1:00, and at 12:30 it was delayed until 5:38. So the final word was to go to sleep and I would pick them up at 5:15. Well Wayne called me at 5:00 and said the train had "made up time" and we needed to be there by 5:25. Ha ha right? I mean we have been waiting all night for this dumb train. Well I got them to the station before the train was even there. It is a scary area of town, and I fear of getting mugged. :) Well I took Granny and Wayne inside the station, and left them in the ghetto. Ha ha I assume they made it safe, I have not heard back from them. Lets hope when I go pick them up Tuesday morning at 3:30 they area delayed until about 7:00 :)

Who Wants Free Music??

2009-12-10T16:59:00.002-07:00

Follow the link to about 67 free songs on Itunes!!

Click_Here

Happy Holidays!!

Kitchen Progress.....

2009-11-22T11:30:00.012-07:00

We are almost done with the kitchen remodel. We still have a few odds and ends, but for the most part it is done. Lots of people have wanted to see pictures, so here they are... next project: taking out a wall and a few door frames!

The new view coming in from the back door...

The new view coming in from the living room.

Very pretty knotty alder wood with a BEAUTIFUL crown molding.

New fridge area... added bigger cabinets on top and a pantry on either side.

Our old stove....

The new stove and microwave.

The old sink...

Our new sink! (excuse the dishes...)

Pretty exciting! We really like it. We have more pictures all along the complete process... click Here.

Nick IS My Homeboy!!

2009-11-17T08:30:00.005-07:00

Nick Rimando truly is my homeboy... and to prove I will soon have a shirt. Siobhanie and I are going to have fun Thursday morning!

Thanks Granny and Wayne, and Go ReAL!!

2009-11-15T08:10:00.002-07:00

Last night was the Eastern Conference Finals and ReAL was playing. Of course we do not get the channel, but Granny and Wayne do!! So we threw together a little party. It was a lot of fun. Granny and Wayne were great sports. They humored us and watched the game with us. Granny is so funny she had a veggie tray ready and we provided the pizza. ReAL won in a very exciting shootout, and we all tried diligently to give Granny and Wayne the rules. The best part was the comments Granny would make. She is so funny when she watches sports. Oh and did I mention that ReAL are now CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS?!? Because they are...

Much needed vacation!

2009-11-10T09:34:00.006-07:00

So, we were planning on going to Peurto Vallarta for vacation! We were all excited and had our bags packed and ready to go! The flights started filling up to Mexico and so we started looking for other places that we could go. Seattle, New York, California, and Texas were all options. Hawaii was the winner though!! We flew into Maui and went to our resort to look around! The resort was beautiful!!! I was surprised at how many mountains there were in Hawaii - for some reason I guess I thought it would just be beaches! :) It was wonderful to spend time with alone with my husband! We did have to do some homework while we were there but it is much better doing homework next to the pool than at our house! We went to the store and spent way more money on milk than one should pay for milk (everything there is very expensive) but it was well worth it for the cold cereal every morning in the hotel. We went to the beach every day and enjoyed the sun! On Friday we went to Lahaina and went shopping, Andrew's favorite thing in the world! I enjoyed it quite a lot! I bought a shoulder bag, a hat, a collar for the dog, some jewelery including a pearl necklace, and much more. Andrew got a pair of sandals. On Saturday we had planned a boat trip to Molokini Crater and Reef and Turtle Bay. We went out on the boat bright and early and enjoyed hours of snorkleing. I got stung by a jellyfish while we were out there on my legs and my arm - the areas got a little swollen and I got all these red raised bumps on it. No, I didn't let Andrew pee on me! We hung out Sunday and left Hawaii sadly on Sunday night. Overall it was a good trip! We had a lot of fun! Here are a few pictures!

Maui = Paradise!

2009-10-30T19:16:00.000-06:00

I love it here. The high is 80, and we have been beach bums. Not to mention the Wailea Marriot Resort is AMAZING!! (Thanks Priceline.com) More to come later!

To My Dear Friend...

2009-10-22T23:32:00.003-06:00

This is what Elise looked like in action...
We used to have this....

and now we DON'T!! Let the remodel begin! We just went to Lowes and dropped $900 on a sink, faucet, two kitchen lights, a disposal, and an over the range microwave. Since we are rich we will let Rick work hard while we are on the beach next week! Ha ha A special thanks to Siobhanie who will be spending a few days at our house taking care of the children.

Family Pictures!!

2009-10-18T09:10:00.015-06:00

Elise and I got some great pictures from her friend Steffany. She is getting some practice while she works on her degree. They turned out pretty good. Here is just a sampling.
We kept making funny faces because we are not fans of serious pictures. Besides we are not serious people!!

Kaysville has lots of cool old buildings. There were lots of good places to take pictures.

We both HATE back shots. We did not even want her to take any but Steffany insisted. We let her take one, and only one. It turned out pretty good.

Really we were going for "Fall" pictures. Well it has not been cold enough to change leaves in the valley. We found this tree on the way back to the car, so we decided to get a picture by it.

Elise wanted to get a picture by a roadwork sign. I was supposed to be flexing my muscles, but it looks like I am trying to punch the sign.

This picture is good except Elise's hair is a little crazy.

We do not really have any other exciting news... The kitchen remodel is going to be in full swing pretty soon. We are excited. The cabinets and gutting should be done by the first week in November. We are shooting to have everything done by Thanksgiving. We are getting ready for a much needed vacation over Halloween. It should be fun!!

The Newest Addition!

2009-10-13T19:02:00.010-06:00

Andrew has wanted a dog since before we got married and has been talking about getting one (since before we got married). I'm a cat person - hence the reason we already had a cat! Well, Andrew begged! And, here she is!! We got her from a lady that had put up a flyer at Andrew's work. She originally rescued this puppy from an abusive home when she was four months old. When our dog turned one the lady adopted her out to a family that got in some financial trouble and they gave her back to this lady. The lady had quite a few other animals and needed to find a home for what is now our puppy! We changed her name to Roxie and she seems to be doing very well with it! She is currently lying at my feet resting - we've gone on a run this morning, played with the frisbee, and the tennis ball! She is very energetic and loves people! I think she likes us! Unfortunately - Twitch does not like her! The last picture is a great capture of him not liking Roxie!

Family Pictures!

2009-10-11T08:18:00.002-06:00

Elise and I got our pictures taken last Friday. I was pretty reluctant because I do not think we need them yet! :) We could not pass the opertunity... A lady Elise grew up with is learning how to do photography. She is building her portfolio, so of course we volunteered our services. She is working on editing them right now, but here is a sample. As soon as we get more, we will post them!!

The Newest Member...

2009-10-11T08:15:00.003-06:00

Don't get excited, this is not a prego announcement! Ha ha... We are getting a dog today! I am really excited. It took a lot of pursuasion but Elise finally agreed. Here is a bad picture I took with my phone. Sorry it is a picture of a picture. More pictures to follow!

Weekend Fun!

2009-09-27T07:55:00.006-06:00

Well as you probably already know, we are a pretty exciting bunch... My friend Casey invited me to the Utah Utes game last night. I was really excited to go. He only had one extra ticket so Elise went to meet up with her mom for dinner and a pedicure. Well as Elise got on the freeway she encountered this...

Apparently some kids were racing. You can read the article here. She was pretty close to the accident, and she stopped right as life flight was landing. She ended up being on the freeway for a long time... meanwhile I was doing this:

The first quarter goes by, and Elise is still stuck. Meanwhile the Utes are doing great and we are enjoying the game...

Oh did I mention Casey's parents are Crimson Club members?? That means sweet parking, and good seats with back support, not just bleachers.

Meanwhile, Real did this... by this I mean lost. It is looking very slim to make the playoffs this year. Oh well, at least I got to enjoy the football game, and Elise got some quality time in a traffice jam.

Elise is Famous!!

2009-09-24T17:42:00.001-06:00

Elise is famous! Check out the picture to this article!!

Here

Is This a Sick Joke?!?

2009-09-20T07:55:00.003-06:00

I can already feel this is going to be a LONG post... brace yourselves! So about a month ago a buddy from work told me that Cirque de Soleil was coming to Salt Lake and would be performing with the Utah Symphony. Elise and I both were very excited because we have seen a few Cirque de Soleil shows and really enjoyed it. The best part was that students could get tickets for $10. Well I ordered tickets and we did not think anyting of it. Greg, Megs and the Babe were coming up from Happy Valley this weekend, and we were getting together for a BBQ with Dustin, Brynna and Camden. We thought perfect! We can go to Cirque de la Symphonie on Friday and the BBQ on Saturday. Friday night we loaded up the car, and left an HOUR early. We got to Salt Lake and parking was a joke. I think we went around the block at least 4 times, and spent 20 minutes parking. We finally found a spot a few blocks away. As we were walking to Abrevanal Hall we felt very under dressed. Everyone was dressed up and I was in shorts and flip flops. For some reason I had "student" in my mind and thought everyone would be dressed like me. :) We hurried and power walked to the hall. We gave the guy the tickets, and he looked at them and said "do you know these are for tomorrow?" Are you kidding me?!? Is this a sick joke? It was true. I had not checked the tickets. We made the walk of shame back to the car. So I had just spent at least 20 minutes looking for a parking spot, was under dressed major and the we had tickets for the following night. Wow. Now it would be easy to put the blame on Elise or maybe even Siobhan, but I take full responsibility! It was embarrassing. So we went home and watched a movie. We had to cancel our other plans for the bbq. Not to mention I spaced off a baptism we wanted to go to. What a weekend! As for Cirque de la Symphonie, it was great. Oh the highlight of the evening was the 2 older ladies next to me. That would clap at the most awkward, random times. It was great!

Am I Getting Old??

2009-09-20T07:52:00.004-06:00

Just for the record I have joined the group of being friends with my nephew on Facebook...I thought this day would never come, and it did. In fact he was instant messaging me yesterday on Facebook. I feel old..

Can You See Me Now?

2009-09-15T16:18:00.003-06:00

Heck Yes I can, and let me tell you why! We now have HD!!! It took me a long time but I finally talked Elise into it. Now we can enjoy our shows in some major clarity! That is all.

Dear Twitch...

2009-09-05T07:51:00.004-06:00

Dear Twitch,
You are not dog, you are a cat.

Love,
Andrew and Elise

I will explain the letter in just a few minutes, allow me to recap our week. School is in full swing. I mean FULL swing. Our nights are now filled with homework, and lots of studying. Thank heavens Monday is Labor Day... well Elise has to work until 2. It is a paid holiday for me, so I took the day off. My goal is to be showered by the time she gets home! :) Last weekend we had a BBQ for my Mom's birthday. My Aunt Kathie came up from Richfield, and it was fun to be with family. We have a family of Quail that love our backyard. I am glad to see them because they are ground feeders so they eat the seeds the other birds kick out of the bird feeder. On a side note I am not a bird watcher, but our backyard is basically an aviary. I enjoy the Quail and I hope Twitch does not cut any of their lives short. At the BBQ my Aunt Kathie recommended I tell Twitch he is not a carnivore. Apparently it worked for her, so I gave it a try. I am sad to report that it has not helped because when I was mowing the lawn this week I found 3 sets of feathers, the remains of a meal for Twitch. At least none of them were Quail... Last night right before Elise and I fell asleep Twitch came running on the bed with his play mouse. This is not an unusual thing, he is always bringing it to bed. Elise and I were enjoying "Pillow Talk" as my Granny calls it, when Twitch came up with the mouse. Elise was not real excited to have the mouse on the bed, so she threw it on the floor. This was the beginning of a new game, and the main reason for this post. Twitch jumped off the bed, picked up the mouse in his mouth, and jumped back up on the bed with us. I looked at Elise and said "no way..." I decided to see if he was really in fact playing fetch, and I threw the mouse back on the floor. Twitch jumped down, and brought it back to me. I could not believe it, this went on for at least 20 minutes. We were laughing so hard, and could not believe it. I called Siobhan at 11:30 just to inform her that Twitch does in fact think he is a dog...

On a side note, I have been reliving my childhood all week. I have burned up Aunt Bev's phone with recipe requests. I am not sure why, but everything that I had when I was young that Grandma Layne made, I want the recipe. This week I made Zucchini Bread. It started out innocent enough. The dough tasted good, and it smelled good as I was baking it. 5 minutes before I went to take it out, the center sunk! I was mad. It still tasted good. Aunt Bev was so nice and reassured me that even hers does that sometimes. I think she was just making me feel better, but it was nice anyways. The highlight of the recipe gathering was dinner last night. I made Chicken Roll Ups. They were just as good as I remember when I was young! For some reason I am crescent roll challenged. I am not sure why, but I can not make dough look like a crescent roll. Don't get me wrong... I only buy the pre-made dough, but I can not make them in the shape of a crescent roll. Lucky for us the shape does not matter, and they still tasted AMAZING! I was so proud I took a picture with my phone, and now I am sharing it with you! A special thanks to Aunt Kathie for the cat advice, and Aunt Bev for the yummy recipes!!

Just For Posterity's Sake...

2009-08-28T13:33:00.004-06:00

Well... Elise and I never took a single picture in our first apartment. Well that is not completely true. Elise took one of me, but I can not find it. This weekend our friend Siobhan is moving into our first apartment! I ran over today and took some pictures. Of course it does not have any of our stuff in it, but you can get the idea. Oh and don't judge us, every couple has to start somewhere! :)

Cow Bells + Faces Of Unsuspecting Soccer Fans = Not Good!!

2009-08-26T22:36:00.003-06:00

Elise's parents have really hooked us up with tickets to the soccer games this year. It has been lots of fun. We turned in ticket vouchers for the rest of the home games. It has been fun to get out, and see the games. Well I have become some what of a "hardcore" soccer fan, and have graduated to getting a cowbell. The last game against Houston a few weeks ago brought Real scoreless. I had my cowbell in hand, but did not get to ring it. Tonight Real played the Chivas, and I had plenty of time to ring the bell. It was a really good game, but lets get down to business. Real scores the first goal, and we all got excited and jumped to our feet. I started ringing the cowbell, and it slipped. The next thing I knew it was on the lap of the girl in front of us, and hit 3 people on the way. I was so embarrassed.... Elise gave me a look of shock, and my mom took the cowbell away. As for the girl, I apologized but I do not think she noticed... She was too busy sucking face with her boyfriend, making a list of things she can't live without. It was a great game, and to be honest the whole cowbell to the face is funny now, not then, but funny now!

2 Years Down!!

2009-08-11T10:13:00.004-06:00

Today is Elise and I's 2nd anniversary. It is crazy to think it has been two years. I look back on it, and it seems like we have been married forever. It is crazy how well we go together. It is hard to remember a time that we were not together. We have had lots of fun. A few trips, a few moves. Lots and lots of school. Living in a sweet basement apartment! Now we own a house, CRAZY! I love Elise so much. I am grateful for her and her support. I love being around her, and I love being with her. It really is cool to be married to your best friend!! I love you Babe! 2 down, eternity to go!

A Little Piece of Las Vegas....

2009-08-08T07:37:00.002-06:00

Anyone who knows us, knows that we are Cirque du Soleil fans! We have seen a few shows down in Las Vegas with Elise's brother Josh and his wife Jaimie. When we went to Sea World we got to see another show, and last night Cirque du Soleil came to Salt Lake City. We had a great night with Elise's parents, Mikayla and Siobhan. You could not take any pictures so I had to steal some pictures from other people... :)

Better Than Chirstmas?!?!?

2009-08-04T12:31:00.002-06:00

Of course not! I LOVE Christmas, but Smiths having double coupon days come in close second! We had a lot of fun yesterday. I made two trips, and Elise and Mikayla made another. We got lots of stuff, and will not be shopping for any deodorant or laundry soap anytime soon!

We Love So You Think You Can Dance!!

2009-07-29T23:35:00.002-06:00

Ever since last season, we have gotten hooked on So You Think You Can Dance. We have not enjoyed this season as much as last, but it still has been good. We got back from the soccer game, and we were watching tonight's episode. Well apparently Twitch wanted to watch it also... take a look!

Disneyland and Sunsets!

2009-07-21T10:11:00.005-06:00

I am going to just do one more post, so sorry for the long post. On Saturday we went to Disneyland. It really is the happiest place on earth. We had so much fun. Let me just say the "fast pass" is the best thing ever invented! We had a lot of fun. Elise went to Disneyland right after high school graduation, but for me it was at least 15 years. Everything was perfect. The weather was really hot though. We were dying. We still had so much fun. Disneyland is geared towards kids, but there is lots for adults to do. We spent the whole day there, and plan on going back and hitting California Adventure. Sunday we went to Newport Beach and hung out. That night after dinner we went back to Inspiration Point to watch the sunset. It was AMAZING! It was a really fun trip. We both had a great time.

Vacation!!

2009-07-20T21:55:00.006-06:00

Elise and I went to California to celebrate our 2 year anniversary, and being homeowners!! We closed on the house one week ago today. It is a really good feeling. We are both really happy and excited! We had a great time in Californina. We were going to go to Hawaii, but the flights were full. So we went to Orange County. It is going to be a blog post overload! So we will do seperate posts for each day....

Day 1, Sea World:
We got to Sea World at about 3:00 Friday afternoon. We went to get the tickets and they were having some sort of special. A season pass was the same price as a day pass. So we of course got a season pass and plan on going back! The first show we saw was the Sea Lion show. It was very fun. I am amazed at what those animals can do. Of course we saw Shamu, and got soaked. They had lots of cool exhibits, we saw penguins, jellyfish, sharks and dolphins. The Shark Encounter was really cool. Cirque de Soleil was there, and we went to that show. The best part was we could take pictures, so we did! We went to the tide pool and held the starfish. We ended the night by watching a dolphin pirotechnic show. We seriously had so much fun!! We had to drive about an hour to Sea World. On our way home the freeway was closed, and the boarded patrol was searching cars... Welcome to California! It was funny!

Box Seats!

2009-06-29T11:56:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we had the chance to go the Real game with some friends. The best part is that we got box seats. Elise's parents got them for us, but were not able to come because they were helping Josh and Jay move. Greg and Megs were at the game, but sitting with family. They came over to visit at half time and we got to see them for a few minutes. Emmalee is getting so big, and of course Elise and I took repeated turns at holding her. After the game we came to our house and made smores. It was great. We roasted marshmallows and other random candy. It was a really fun night. On a side note we are getting ready to buy the house. The loan application is in, we are just waiting on some more paperwork. We are both very excited about that!

I Love Elise!

2009-06-14T11:12:00.003-06:00

Well... since I am really bored, and need SOMETHING to pass the time, I stole yet another "tag" from someone's blog. So for your viewing pleasure... here is "Spouse Tag!!"

♥ What are your middle names? Mine is Douglas, Elise does not have one, but uses Mills.
♥ How long have you been together? About 3 1/2 years, but married for 2
♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? We had never met before we went on our first date.
♥ Who asked who out? I did. We had a bit of an awkward lunch at Cafe Rio! Haha it was great!
♥ How old are each of you? I am 25 Elise is 22
♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most? I would say it is pretty even. Although we do not get to see Elise's brother Josh and his wife Jay as much as we would like.
♥ Do you have any children together? Does a cat count?
♥What about pets? We have a cat, and we will be getting a dog when Pa lets us get one of Robo's puppies!!
♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? I would say trying to balance our time. Between work and school we get pretty busy!
♥ Did you go to the same school? We will this Fall, Go Wildcats! :) Elise went to Davis I went to Bountiful.
♥ Are you from the same home town? Pretty close. Elise is from Kaysville, and I am from West Bountiful
♥Who is smarter? Elise by far... it is in thier genes!
♥ Who is more sensitive? Elise. Although we both get emotional. Elise is always putting others first.
♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? Probably Cafe Rio, we LOVE that place!
♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? The cruise to Mexico!
♥ Who has the craziest exes? I do not have many exes, so I guess Elise wins!
♥ Who has the worst temper? I do. I always get worked up over stupid stuff.
♥ Who does the cooking? Me, Elise doesn't like to cook much.
♥Who is more social? We both are... we always have someone at our house, and some sort of get together!
♥ Who is the neat-freak? It bothers me more to be messy, but I do not think either one of us is a "neat freak!"
♥ Who is more stubborn? I am pretty stubborn.
♥ Who hogs the bed? Elise hands down!
♥ Who wakes up earlier? Elise. She works days, I work afternoons. Except on the weekends!
♥ Where was your first date? Well if you count the awkward lunch at Cafe Rio, if not we had an awkward night of bowling!
♥ Who has the bigger family? We both have the same number of siblings. Her extended family is bigger.
♥ How do you spend the holidays? Juggling between both our families.
♥ How long did it take to get serious? I was ready to say I love you after about month, I just had to convince Elise. She was not so quick.
♥Who eats more? Me I am sure.
♥ Who does/ did the laundry? We try to avoid that, but if we HAVE to we both do it.
♥ Who’s better with the computer? Probably me.
♥ Who drives when you are together? Usually me.

The Weather Outside Is Frightful!

2009-06-11T23:10:00.003-06:00

The weather outside is frightful, but we think it is delightful!! It has been really rainy the past week or so. It seems like we live in Seattle, but we are loving it. The only bad part is the lawn is getting longer and longer. It may be a jungle before it dries enough for me to mow it! With all the rain storms, we saw some pretty cool rainbows! We tried to get a picture of one with the temple in the background, but it did not work too well! I hope we can have a few more days of cool rainy weather... in a month when it is 100 degrees we all will be whining because it is TOO hot! Sometimes we are never happy! :)

Summer Is HERE!!!

2009-05-31T08:05:00.007-06:00

There are a few things that let you know that Summer is finally here... The first one, So You Think You Can Dance started last week. We have enjoyed watching all the episodes and plan on being faithful watchers all season long. Maybe one of the biggest highlights of the Summer is the demolition derby! We love the demolition derby and it is very entertaining. This year was no different than any other! People watching is by far one of the best parts. For your blog reading pleasure I have complied a top ten list...

Top Ten Reasons We LOVE the Demolition Derby

10. The snowcones with UNLIMITED flavoring

9. Seeing family you have not seen for years, a classic family reunion!

8. The guy in front of us who stole a frisbee from a child that was thrown into the audience

7. Who doesn't love cars crashing into each other and tires blowing up?

6. Two fires the paramedics all in one heat.

5. The lady in front of us wearing a lingerie top, and constantly playing with her newly pierced tongue ring.

4. The drivers with non-movable cars who smoke while waiting for the tow trucks to take them to the pits.

3. Parking in the field because there are no parking lots!

2. The guy in front of us who has a tattoo on his leg of a woman, clothing optional for all to see.

1. The number one reason we love the demolition derby is the prize for the contests is a $60 gift certificate to the local tattoo parlor!

Mills Family Memorial Day Barbeque!

2009-05-24T21:48:00.003-06:00

My mom runs a soccer tournament every Memorial Day Weekend and she said that she was not cooking this weekend and asked if we could have a B-B-Q at our house. Of course we said yes and it was originally going to be me and Andrew, Josh and Jay and Jay's two nieces, Mikayla and my parents. Well having it be Memorial day, my aunt, uncle and cousins were going to come up to visit my grandmothers grave here in Bountiful and so my mom invited them as well since they would be here. She also invited my great aunt and my grandparents so that they could all see Josh and Jay while they were up here. So this originally small barbeque ended up with eighteen people at our tiny house. It was raining and so it is a good thing that we have a covered patio because we wouldn't have all fit in the house!! We had a lot of fun!! Good food, lots of laughs, and good company!

Sad... Oh So Sad!!

2009-05-17T13:05:00.002-06:00

Well we watched the series finale of Prison Break last night! That means it is over FOREVER! We had a great time, and lots of good food and memories over the past 4 seasons!!

Graduation!!

2009-05-09T21:53:00.002-06:00

Well I did it, I graduated! I got my Associates degree last Friday. Now Elise and I are both out of school for the summer. We do not know what to do with all our spare time! Thanks to everyone who supported me and helped me get to this point! Now I am off to Weber to get my Social Work degree this Fall! I am proud to be SLCC Alumni!

Vacation in the Keys!

2009-05-06T08:24:00.011-06:00

Last week Elise and I went down to Florida to spend some time with my family. My family has made a tradition of going down each year. My dad usually does not go down because it is in the middle of tomato season. He stayed home, but the rest of us went down. Chevy came with us, and we all had a good time. It was a little crazy. We had to go down between finals, and reviews, but we made it. It was a little stressful getting to Florida. When you fly for free you have to be a little creative. On Wednesday we went to Las Vegas, and spent the night with Josh and Jay. It was fun. Thursday we headed to Florida and got to the Keys about 8 that night. Friday we went down to Key West. See my last post all about the sunset show in Key West, or click here. We had a really good time. We spent a lot of time in the sun, and laying on the beach. It was a good vacation, and we got some much needed rest and relaxation. We got back home just in time for my Math final. Thanks to Siobhan for house sitting, and staying with Twitch!

Sunset Show at Mallory Square

2009-05-06T08:03:00.003-06:00

Since I love the sunset show in Key West so much, I decided to dedicate a whole post to it! Every night in Key West they have a sunset celebration at dusk. This has been the highlight of the trip for me for many years. This year I was called out of the audience to assist! It was great. This guy was blowing fire, and I was in charge of the fire extinguisher. It was funny. For the final trick he put his wife in a box, and put these metal slabs through. They were not sharp, but still her body had to shape to them. It was cool. She had to maneuver her body to go around all the slabs. It was great. We had a really good time in Key West, and the sunset show was a success!!

A Somber Reminder...

2009-04-22T08:44:00.002-06:00

Last night I was finishing up at work, and working over to the other concourse to drop some things off. It was only 9, and my friend Stacy and I were excited to be going home so early. It is Spring, and everyone has Spring Fever. It seems like there has not been much news coverage of the war we are fighting over in Iraq in the past few months. It is sad to say that I have almost forgotten about it. As we were walking we looked out the window and saw lots of orange flashing lights and Police lights. Naturally we stopped and watched. Pretty soon a hearse drove by, and then some more police escorting the hearse. I looked over at Stacy and asked her what that was. She looked at me with almost tears in her eyes and said, it looks like a solider has died, and they are bringing his body home. It was sad for me, and it really made me stop and take a look back. It makes me very grateful for the things I have, and the freedoms I enjoy. I am SO grateful for the men and women who are out there defending our freedoms.

Conference Weekend at the Mansion!

2009-04-07T10:33:00.006-06:00

For Conference weekend, we went down to Vegas to spend some time with Josh and Jay. It was fun. Mikayla came down with us and we had a really good time. Josh and Jay were housesitting for Jay's boss. The house is nice and big, and we had lots of room to hang out. We left Saturday morning and got there for the last of the afternoon session Saturday. The guys went to priesthood and the girls made dinner and got tickets for the show. After Priesthood Josh, Marshall and I met up with the girls and watched the Ultimate Variety Show. It was really funny. It reminded me of stupid human tricks! We had a good time. One of the coolest acts was a guy who could juggle balls, and play the piano with them. It was cool. To watch a You Tube video of it, click here. It is not the same songs we saw, but still really funny. After the Variety Show, they had a special that you could stay for the hypnotist show. That was really funny as well. We had a great time. So we got in two shows for only $45. Sunday was nice and relaxing. We watched the sessions, had breakfast and took a nap. After the 2nd session we played cards outside. It was great weather. We played PIG on the basketball court. Elise and I treated everyone to a glamorous dinner of Chicken Parmesan. We played more games, and watched a movie Sunday night. We made the long trek home Monday. We stopped in Provo and spent a little time with Greg and Megan. When we got home we checked Elise's "unofficial" results from her test. She PASSED! We were so excited. So she is looking at other jobs, and getting really excited. It was a great weekend!!

Great News!!

2009-04-07T09:51:00.000-06:00

Elise passed her boards, and is an RN! We are SO excited for her! More to come later... we have lots of pictures from Vegas!!

Our Very Exciting Life...

2009-03-28T11:25:00.006-06:00

So Elise and I have been REALLY boring over the past few weeks! More me then Elise, but we have still been really boring. I have been dealing with everything from allergies to strep throat. I have gone to the doctor twice, and been on two different antibiotics. The latest is Strep Throat. There has been lots of fun things happening at work, so I am glad I am not there. I used all my absences up already, and could not afford another one. Luckily I have good friends who are working for me, so I can have a few days off. On a brighter note, we are getting closer to VACATION! We are going down to Vegas next weekend, and only about a month until Florida!!

Friendship!!

2009-03-17T10:47:00.003-06:00

This past weekend Elise and I had some friends over. It was fun, Ben and Brooke, Josh and Cindy, and Siobhan all came over. We had pizza and played Guitar Hero. Some people might think we need to get a real life and not play the Wii so much! :) We love it, and it is good times all around. After Guitar Hero, we played Curses. You have to do really funny stuff. It is a fun game. Overall it was a really good night. We stayed up really late talking and laughing. Before we knew it, it was 2:00 was in the morning! We all had a really great time!

Feeling the Effects...

2009-03-12T09:48:00.004-06:00

Let me start off this post by saying that I do not think I have ever made a "serious" post in all my blogging history... Allow me to This morning is very bittersweet for me. As some of you know SkyWest (just like any other company) has been looking at ways that can save money. Delta and SkyWest have been in talks for weeks about the economy and how they can make the operation more efficient. Although I do not work for Delta, I very much feel the effects. Basically what they say goes... They are essentially what pays my paycheck. I have been with SkyWest for about 4 years now. That puts me in the top half which is nice. You get really close to the people you work with. I know this is the case with all companies, but it seems to be especially true for us SkyWesters. Everyone is friends with everyone. You really get close, and become friends with just about everyone.

We have known for a while that changes were coming down the pipeline. It was not a surprise, and I have known for about a week or so that something big was coming. Well we finally got the news. They are downsizing the operation in Salt Lake. They are letting Delta ground handle more aspects of SkyWest's operation in an effort to save money. So what does this mean for me? First and foremost at this point, I still have my job. About 300 of my fellow employees will be laid off. I am sure that this is just the first of many changes in my job right now. I am so blessed to have my job. While I am glad I have my job, I feel for those that are not as fortunate. Everything is not finalized. I am grateful for the great friends I have that helped talk me through this. You guys are the BEST!!

You can read the official story here.

Welcome Emmalee Larsen!!

2009-03-05T22:26:00.002-07:00

Greg and Megs finally had their cute little girl last Monday. Due to work and school schedules we could not go visit until today. It was fun. We had a really good visit. I finally paid up my prize to Greg for "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner" and it was GOOD. Real GOOD! Emmalee is really cute. It was fun to sit and talk and just look at her. We are very excited for Greg and Megs and this new adventure. I was having issues with the camera, and that is why we only have pictures of Emmalee and I... Enjoy!

Guitar Hero With the Family!

2009-02-25T09:59:00.002-07:00

Last Sunday we had my family over for dinner and Guitar Hero. It was really fun to have everyone together. We had a really good time. Everyone was really into the game, even Granny. She did not play but was intently watching! It was great!

Free Quiznos!!

2009-02-23T19:59:00.002-07:00

Hey Everyone!! If you want a free Quiznos sub click HERE They will e-mail you a link, and then print off the coupon! Enjoy!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

2009-02-19T22:26:00.002-07:00

First Five Gimme Gimme

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! my choice. for you. this offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2. what I create will be just for you.

3. it’ll be done this year. {translation: you may be waiting a little while}

4. you have no clue what it’s going to be … it may be cards, a poem, a bookmark, something yummy or a complete surprise to you (and me!) … who knows? not you, that’s for sure!

5. i reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

6. most importantly, you must offer the same deal on your blog - the first 5 people to comment on your blog (or if you do not have a blog, facebook) get something made by YOU! the first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me …

Those were the rules as copied exactly from my friend Tiffani's blog. She added an idea. If you’re not the kind of person that wants to make something tangible for others, how about some kind of service for them, any type, any size?

Water Aerobics

2009-02-09T23:08:00.002-07:00

Elise and I have gotten a pass to the Rec Center, and are enjoying weekly water aerobics. It is great. It really is our friend, Siobhan's fault that we even started. We try to go at least a couple times a week. The pass is not too expensive, and gives you access to a lot of stuff. I enjoy it even though it is all old ladies!!

Is This Normal??

2009-02-09T23:03:00.003-07:00

You are looking at a picture of my arm... The other night I had a little zit or maybe an ingrown hair. This of course excites Elise. She kicked into nurse mode and cut at it, poked at it, popped it, and plucked at it. Well it did not help, it is only getting more and more red. So we put a band aid on it with some ointment, and now I have a bruise and the red is in the shape of the band aid... I give up!!

History!!

2009-01-20T15:07:00.002-07:00

I wish that we had some earth shattering news to report, but we don't! I guess that is a good thing right?? :) We are both doing really well Elise just got her authorization to test, and so she should be taking her boards in a few weeks, and hopefully be a licensed RN soon. I am busy with work and school. Today is an exciting day for America. I tuned into the inauguration just a for a few minutes so I could tell my kids one day that I watched as President Obama was sworn into office.

Welcome to..... 1995!!!

2009-01-08T13:28:00.002-07:00

So last night our friend Holly rented out the local Classic Skating for a private birthday party!! It was WONDERFUL!! We all learned some valuable lessons.... the first was is that I am not as young as I thought, and rollerblades that fit 8 years ago might not fit. We did everything from the Hokey Pokey to The Chicken Dance! We skated around to some Bon Jovi, and even a little Def Leopard. One cool thing is that when you rent the whole place you can bring in Razors and Ripsticks! Mostly everyone was on skates. It was a really fun night!!

More Christmas...

2008-12-31T13:21:00.002-07:00

Here are some more pictures from our Chirstmas weekend!!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-29T11:33:00.004-07:00

I hope that everyone had a GREAT Christmas. Ours was wonderful. We spent a lot of time with each other and our families. It was great. We were not very good with taking the camera so we do not have many pictures. Christmas Eve was spent at Aunt Peggy and Uncle Kevin's house. We had great soup and played games. Christmas morning we opened our presents to each other, and went down to my parents. Everyone came over and it was a lot of fun. The kids are all at a fun age, so they were all pretty excited. Afterwards Elise and I played MadGab with my mom and Jen. We spent a little time at Grandma and Grandpa Mills' house and then we went to Dave and Terri's to open presents. Josh and Jay surprised everyone and came up a day early so we had dinner and exchanged presents that night. The day after Christmas is both Jen and Kim's birthday so we went to lunch. It was fun. Elise worked all day, so I played Guitar Hero! Saturday we had breakfast with the Mills, went to a movie, and had dinner. It was fun. Finally yesterday we had the family dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Mills' house and then went to see the lights. Afterwards we all came over and played the Wii some more. It was a great Christmas and we loved it. Sorry I do not have more pictures the batteries are dead, so we could not get many. As soon as Josh and Jay post some I will steal theirs!!

Seriously Twitch.... Seriously!!

2008-12-18T10:12:00.002-07:00

I have thought for a while that we have deer that come to our backyard on a regular basis... For those of you who have been to our house you know that we really do not leave that far East, nor do we live in the Mountains. Well I noticed some deer in the backyard two nights ago, but I went out to bring Twitch in and they jumped over the fence and went up the street. Last night I got home at about 10:00 and we had 3 more in the backyard eating what is left of the Ivy and Rose Bushes. Well of course Twitch was outside because Elise and I had been at work all day, so he was stuck in the house, and was now out running around. When he noticed the deer her charged them. It is so funny because he probably weighs as much as one of their legs... The deer would come up and push snow on him, and then smell him. Twitch ran around the back of the yard, and got by the stump by the first shed. When the deer had his back to him, he jumped out and made the deer jump back. It was really funny to see from the kitchen window. I think that we will have the deer with us for the rest of the Winter. Hopefully they can become friends with Twitch!!

More Graduation!!

2008-12-17T10:44:00.003-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from Elise's Weber Graduation!!

Congratulations Elise!!!

2008-12-11T12:48:00.003-07:00

Have I told you how wonderful Elise is?? Well she is AMAZING!! Last night we had the chance to go to her RN graduation. It was the DATC one, and she will graduate with Weber tomorrow. It was just her class last night. It was fun because we have had a chance to hang out with some of her classmates a few times, and have gotten to be pretty good friends with them. Afterwards Dave and Terri had us over for Chinese Food. It was a lot of fun!! Congrats Elise!!

Bachelor's Program...

2008-12-02T16:45:00.001-07:00

So we finally heard... Elise got accepted into the Bachelor's Program at Weber State. We are SO SO excited!! Congrats to Elise!! She is amazing, and deserves it! Looks like the Layne's will have two Weber Students next Fall!!

Happy Turkey Day... A Little Early!!

2008-11-26T13:26:00.002-07:00

It has been a while since we actually posted something that did not involve coupons! Well the semester is winding down, and that is really good news. Elise passed her ATI test yesterday, so it is smooth sailing until December 12 when she graduates! As for me, I went and talked to an advisor today, and I have one more semester, and then I can apply to Weber! It is exciting to think that I am finally going to graduate! I thought I would be a SLCC student for life!! :) The Layne's decided to have Thanksgiving a little early this year so that my mom could enjoy it. She works at a grocery store, and has to close on Thanksgiving, so she has not been able to enjoy the holiday. So we had Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday at Kim's new place. It was really fun, and we all had fun playing with the little kids. Even cousin Isiah came, so that was fun. On a more serious note, I was driving out to school today, and there was a HUGE line at the Native American Indian Museum on 1300 South. I was a little annoyed at first because traffic was bad. As I got a closer look, I saw huge Utah Food Bank trailers. I was a little humbled as I saw the line wrap around the building of people standing in line for food. It was cool to see some of their faces as they crossed the street with smiles, and boxes of food. It made me take a step back, and realize how thankful I am for all I have... A house to live in, great family and friends, food on the table, and wonderful wife! I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!! Keep your eyes open for our Christmas card, we are sending them soon!!

Thank You Wallgreens!!

2008-11-23T00:39:00.003-07:00

Ok I promise you we are not going to turn this into a coupon blog... in fact we are having Thanksgiving Dinner with my family tomorrow so I will be sure and put some pictures, but Sweet Moses, we hit the jackpot tonight at Wallgreens!! Wow... Ok so in the picture is this weeks shopping. Most of it is from Wallgreens tonight, but the Brownies and Veggies are from Albertsons, we paid only tax for them... Let me break it down for you:

20 Boxes of Brownie Mix (From Albertsons)

15 packages of Veggie Steamers (From Albertsons)

17 Suave Deodorant (From Wal Marts... $.19 each)

Here comes Wallgreens!!

12 Bic Soleil Razors

8 Soleil Refills

2 bottles of Downy

2 boxes of Dryer Sheets

1 bucket Oxi Clean

2 bottles of Hair Spray

2 bottles of Gel

3 Wrapping Paper

1 gift tags

1 2000 Flushes Blue

So we added it all up and it should have been $200 and we paid $14!!

Is It Worth It??

2008-11-07T15:56:00.006-07:00

Ok so people make fun of us, and ask us if we think coupon shopping is worth it. We sure do. This week there was some REALLY REALLY good sales at both Albertsons and Smiths. So today I had an incredible shopping trip at Albertsons. I am posting a picture with what I got. I however did not add the 30 Ben and Jerry's that I got for free. So add that. Let me break this shopping trip down for you:

30 Ben and Jerrys

10 Duncan Hines Cake Mix

10 Duncan Hines Frosting

12 Suave Deodorants

6 Wish Bone Salad Dressing

1 Best Foods Mayonnaise

1 Tub Country Crock Butter

20 Lipton Rice Sides

18 All Laundry Soap (32 Loads each)

Total: $48.55

It was CRAZY. I added it all up, and before coupons it was over $240.00. So you decide for yourself... Is it worth it? I would definitely say YES!!

No One Tags Me....

2008-11-06T09:24:00.003-07:00

So I do not really understand this whole "tagging" thing... On one specifically tags me, but because I am somehwat addicted to these little "tags" I also tag myself, even if they don't. So I got this tag from Leslie. Leslie and I go WAY back. By WAY back I mean growing up. She lived across the street from me and we used to always hang out! Anyways here goes my tag...

8 Shows I like to watch:
1. The Office
2. Biggest Loser
3. Amazing Race
4. Ellen
5. Prison Break
6. Don't Forget the Lyrics
7. Survivor
8. Family Guy

8 Restaurants I like to eat at:
1. Our House, My Mom's house, Terri's House or Granny's House
2. Subway
3. Olive Garden
4. Chilis
5. Bettos
6. Texas RoadHouse
7. Wingers
8. Wendys

8 Things that happened yesterday:
1. It Snowed and I listened to Christmas Music!
2. Went to lunch with my Mom and Granny
3. Went to the Temple with my hot wife
4. Had dinner with Ben and Brooke
5. Paid some bills
6. Cleaned the house
7. Did homework
8. Did some SWEET coupon shopping!!

8 things I'm looking forward to:
1. This semester to be over
2. Elise to be done with her RN (Only another MONTH!!)
3. Friday Night
4. Christmas break
5. Snow
6. Thanksgiving
7. Next Week's sales... I think I am addicted to coupon shopping!
8. Christmas Concerts and Activites

8 Things on my wish list:
1. To buy the house we are renting
2. A New Car
3. To be done with school
4. Go on a cruise
5. To be debt free
6. Kids... but not yet!
7. To be in my career and loving it
8. Just be a travel bum, and not do ANYTHING but travel with Elise.

8 People I'm tagging: I tag everyone, but specifically: Elise, Greg, Josh and Jay, Cheryl, Natalie, Tiffani, Casey and Katie, Mindi

KARMA?!?!?

2008-11-01T08:13:00.002-06:00

I am not going to profess to be the best individual in high school. My friends and I used to have a lot of fun. Nothing really bad, just fun. We liked to play pranks and did all that we could to keep ourselves entertained. Now this may come as a surprise to a lot of you, but the truth is I was not as wholesome as one might think. Prime example.... the night before my mission. I will not go into details due to this blog being read by millions of followers, but lets just say Bev Haslam was not sure if I was in jail or the MTC :) Well last night at about 9:30 Elise and I are getting ready for bed***Timeout--I know what you are thinking... 9:30 and getting ready for bed?!? WEAK! I agree with you, but we are both working 16 hour days today...*** Ok back to the story. Elise notices a tapping sound. I thought it was Twitch but she said, no listen closer. Sure enough, someone was penny tapping us. I could not believe it. I went around back, and walked to the side of the house to see 2 people running by. I yelled at them in a loving way and they took off. I give credit to Josh for this deed. He denies the whole thing, but I think it was him. He swears up and down it was not him, but I doubt it. I walked around to the window and sure enough there was the fishing line and penny hooked to the window by a bandaid. Not a real impressive job however. When we used to do it, we had a fishing pole, and would cut the line and run. Don't believe me?? Ask Ben, he was the designated tapper because he could run the fastest. Really it was quite funny, but I can not believe someone (Josh) actually did it! That was about the extent of our Halloween fun. We were asleep by 10:30!

We VOTED and Saw Napoleon and Tabitha!!

2008-10-30T10:27:00.003-06:00

Ok so we have had two very important events over the past few days... First and most importantly we voted. Elise and I went to the library last night and did the "early vote". It was interesting because we still had to wait in line. We waited for about 45 minutes. The other even happened on Tuesday. Some of you were lucky enough to get a text from me... So I was at work BORED out of mind and I was looking around the boarding area. I looked up and saw Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo. Some of you might not know them, but they are on So You Think You Can Dance, and do some of the very best routines. Anyways so like any good stalker I printed off their boarding cards, and hung them on the fridge. The best part of the whole encounter was Tabitha was texting and Napoleon was on the phone. Well they almost missed their flight. In fact the door was closed, and the agent was calling in the final numbers when Tabitha ran up. It was funny because Napoleon was yelling at Tabitha because they almost missed the flight. It is nice to know they are "normal" and still fight once in a while!!

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-26T23:21:00.004-06:00

Last night Elise and I went to a Halloween Party that a friend from school threw. It was fun, and lots of people were dressed up in some pretty good costumes. We had a great time. I would have to say that Elise and I had the best costume, a devil and an American Gladiator!!

Tis The Season....

2008-10-25T13:57:00.004-06:00

I know what you are thinking... This is going to be a Christmas post! Although I am excited for Christmas... and there is only 62 more days, this is not about Christmas. There are three times of year that are not very fun to live in our house. 1.) The 24th of July. Cars are EVERYWHERE and 1st East is basically a standstill. 2.) Soccer season. We do not have to worry too much about parking, because the players do not like Grandma Lois (Remember the fence??) and 3.) Little League Football time. Every Saturday in the Fall, 1st East, 10th South and 11th South are like parking lots. It is bad. We have had a few times that someone has semi been blocking our drive way. It was not enough so we could not get in, but still not very considerate of the person. So today I was coming home from work, and driving up 10th South. There are cars lined up both sides. Well there happened to be one car in front of our ward Organist's driveway. I noticed, but did not think much about it. I came home and went in the bedroom to change out of my work clothes. Of course the blinds were closed (Elise HATES to open them... It is kind of funny) so I got dressed and opened them to see a cop car and a tow truck. That's right my neighbor called the cops on the car, and it is now being towed! Gotta love it! Maybe the word will get out that Grandma Lois does not like soccer balls, and the neighbors would appreciate being able to get into their driveways!

We Are Famous!!

2008-10-19T14:10:00.002-06:00

I have a friend from work that takes pictures at the soccer game for a soccer magazine. I was looking through her pictures, and found this one of us. You have to look really close but in the blurry background you can see us. Look closely... Dave is in the blue, then Terri, Me, Elise and our friend Amber. I thought it was really funny!!

Playoffs?!?!

2008-10-19T14:03:00.005-06:00

We went to the ReAL game last night. This time we decided to ride Trax out so that we did not have as much traffic. We had a really good time. Holly and Siobhan came with us. The game was really good. We had great seats in the North Goal on the second row. ReAL won the game, but there was lots of action. There were 2 red cards against Dallas and a lot of yellow cards. We were sitting by a bunch of little kids, and Leo the Lion came over for a visit. We could not resist making Holly get a picture with him. It was quite funny. A funny sidenote to the game is that you can not get a drink from the snackbar with a lid, because they think you will throw the bottle at the ref.

Tagged...

2008-10-17T18:30:00.002-06:00

I haven't been tagged, but lets pretend....

5 things I was doing 5 years ago

1 -5 Like Greg, I was is Azle, TX 1-5. Almost a year there... I went through a lot of companions. I seemed to be the type of missionary that got the emergency transfers...

5 favorite snacks
1- Any kind of frozen candy bars
2- I like super pretzels
3- Tomatoes
4- Mother's Taffy Cookies! (Did you hear they are bankrupt... SO sad!)
5- Homemade Salsa... Which I made 3 batches of!!

5 jobs I have had
1- Smith Feed, Smith Feed, Smith Feed. I gave them some of the best years of my life...
2- Davis County Clipper.... It was not a high time in my life!
3- TURN Community Services.... It goes with my major Special Ed. I loved it, and still keep in contact with some of my friends I made.
4- Rennys... Who could forget?? That was awesome! The only appropiate replacement is Bettos!
5-SkyWest Airlines... I am the agent that upset passengers like to yell at. It has been good, and flying for free is great!

5 things I would do with a million dollars
1-My lovely wife would make me invest some. It would be good, and let the money pay us! :)
2-Help my parents with their retirement... My mom is a little stressed over the financial crisis and her 401K.
3- Travel the world!
4- Pay cash for a house, and buy some cars and maybe a few toys!
5-Stop Couponing... We are addicted, and I think we would still do it if we were rich. We love saving money.

5 things that made me laugh this week
1- At work I laugh daily at the dumb things people do. Passengers are GREAT!!
2- We have been watching reruns of Ellen. That is good times.
3- When we walked out of Smiths and the bill was $102 before coupons and $50 AFTER! It was awesome.
4- Hearing my Granny tell stories of the trouble she used to get into!!
5-My sister Jen cracks me up. We have hung out a few times this week, and it has been good times all around.

Domestic Violence Awareness

2008-10-11T17:13:00.005-06:00

This month is Domestic Violence awareness month. My oldest sister Jen is a social worker up in Ogden, and invited my other sister Kim and her kids to march against Domestic Violence. The newspaper was there and took some pictures or my cute niece and nephews during the march. It is cool to see so many victims or domestic violence taking a stand, and marching against it.