Thanksgiving!!!!

I know I am so horrible at updating this thing but here is a little bit of what has been going on. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving(s). I got this crazy idea that it would be fun to start Thanksgiving off by running a 5K!?!?! What was I thinking?? Just kidding, it was really a lot fun. I signed Mary up to do it with me and I think we plan to make it a tradition. It was such a great way to start the day. I ran/walked it in 43:34 min. My goal was to do it in under 45 min. so I was happy with my time. Mary is awesome and was able to run most the time and finish in 34:11. She was nice enough to come back and run the end with me again that is how we were able to get a picture together. It was a lot of fun.

We then went to my Dad and Chris's house and had a wonderful dinner with them. I didn't stay as long as we would of liked cause Brandon needed to get home so he could get to bed. Why you may ask, well Brandon and Willey, crazy kids, got up at 2:00am to hit the Wal Mart black friday sales. Lucky, they were able to get pretty much everything they were after. Big screen tv!!! Sadly, not for us but I am sure we will get lots of use out of too.

Then we headed down to Phoenix to have another Thanksgiving Dinner. It was really nice to spent it with Brandon's family. The food was extremely yummy as always. It was a good day.

Saturday was not the best day but I am thankful to Rod and Kathy for helping us. Unfortunately, we no longer have renters in our house in Phoenix and when they left they decided they did not need to clean anything. They left the house a total mess. So we spent a couple hours cleaning and cleaning. It stills needs some work but it looks a thousand times better than it did when we started. Once we were done, Kathy and I rewarded ourselves with New Moon. I loved it!!!! I heard a lot of mixed reviews but I enjoyed it and I think each movie is just going to get better and better. Lucky, we only have to wait seven months for the next one!!!

Well that pretty much covers it. We are now just getting ready for Christmas. Brandon put some lights outside and now I need to get the inside decorated. I am very excited cause I love Christmas!!!!

To be a Secretary

So I think it is just my destiny to be a secretary. As of right now I am working at the Elementary school as the secretary. 10 months ago I was called to be the Relief Society Secretary. Last night I went to a High School Booster Club meeting and was nominated to be the secretary. I guess I will just have to except this as my calling in life. :/

I forgot to post this last week but once again I just have to tell everyone how amazing our Sunday school is. I posted how they showed up for Brandons birthday with cake in hand as they all sang him happy birthday. Well on my birthday we went out of town and I wasn't really expecting anything since they had just come for Brandon's birthday. But it my surprise last Wednesday they all showed up. Well almost all of them. Once again, with a cake in hand and a song to sing. They are so awesome. We of course invited them all in to share the cake and we had a great time with them. They even made me a hat and a card. They card was great!!! Anyway, they are just an awesome group of kids.

Check Out My Awesome Brother

Happy!

This may make no since to anyone but me but I wanted to post it anyway. Have you ever had moment in your life when you finally know what happiness is? You have thought you were happy always but secretly knowing there was something that was holding you back from your full potential. Then something happens and you discover the real feeling happiness. If not, it is an amazing feeling.

What a great day!!

I wanted to share with everyone just how great all the kids and staff at my school are. Today is my 23rd birthday. Although no one seems to believe me when I tell them I am only 23. i am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing??!?! Anyway, I have been spoiled rotten today and I wanted to show off everything I have gotten so far. First, I walked out side on my way to work to a decorated car!!!! From my hubby. It was way cute!!


Then Lynne, my boss, got me these gorgeous flowers. There are so many of them and they smell so good!!
Mr. Pruszynski was so sweet and bought me lunch from Bush N Shurtz.
Lori, the JH secretary got me an awesome bathroom set and it smells yummy.
This is my card from Mrs. Angers Class
This is my card from Mrs. McDougals class. if you can see the print you should read the card. It cracks me up!!!
These are my cards from each student in Mrs. Skinners class.
My phone refuses to send anymore pictures to my computer. But Mrs. Cook's 5th grade class all come and sang to me and gave me the cutest popup card. A little girl named Brookie drew me a picture of my self that was to die for. and Mrs. Fitzsimmons got me a book mark! Ms. Gallegos class also made me cards but they forgot to bring them to me so i will get those on Monday.

All I know is that this has been one of the best birthdays and I still have all my family presents waiting at home!!! You know when you get older birthdays start to just become another day but being able to celebrate it with 413 excited students just made me feel like I was 10 again. It was great. I could not ask for a better day!!!!

The Angel Moroni

I know it is hard to see but if you look really closely we have an Angel Moroni!!!!!!! It just went up this morning. Sadly, I could not leave work to go watch but Tab pulled the girls out and gave us all the play by play by picture message.

This is very exciting for the Gila Valley!!!!

We finally got one!!!!

Brandon and I have been wanting a Bowflex for awhile now. But if anyone has ever looked at them before the are between $1500 and $3000. There was no way I was going to pay that kind of money for one so we have been looking on Craigslist for like 6 month now. Now I was a little picky and there was a specific one that I wanted. Unfortunately, that just happened to be one of the more expensive ones. Go Figure. There was a bunch of the ultimate 2, which is what I want, but there were usually list around $1200. Which is much cheaper than $2500 but still too much for our budget. And any time there would be a cheaper one, it would be gone before I even had a chance to email the people on it. Well finally on Wednesday our luck changed! I found one that a guy was selling in Queen Creek for $900. He said they bought it and his wife only used it a couple times so it was pretty much brand new. I was so excited!!! I asked him if he would take $750 for it and he told me that they did not want to go below $800 so I told him, SOLD!! I could not believe he still had to available. So we arranged for Rod to go pick it up for us. He is so sweet to drive all the way across town for us. But when Rod got there the guy did not have it taken apart and it would not fit through the door. So after waiting for like 2 hours, Rod tells him he has to leave and that we would give him a call. Oh I was sad. But I totally understand. Rod could not and shouldn't of had to wait there all night. So the guy emails me the next and tells me what happened and asked if we were still interested. I told him Heck yes!! But I told him since we lived out of town we would not be able to come till Saturday and he was fine with that. My spirits were lifted again.

We got up early Saturday morning and headed to the valley. We stopped at Desert Schools to get our money. Funny story that has nothing to do with our Bowflex. While we were at the bank I decided to just close my account there since we do not have a Desert Schools in Safford. So the guy went about doing that and he asked me for my debit card and he cancelled it and then he asked Brandon for his and Brandon said he left it in the truck so he would have to go get it. So he walked away but then I suddenly remembered that he did not have it cause when he cleaned out his wallet last time he gave it to me since he never used it. So I told the guy, "I don't think he has it cause last time he cleaned out his purse he gave it to me since he never uses it." Oops, I said purse. All 3 people working there and the other guy in line busted up laughing. I quickly corrected myself with wallet but they were all still laughing. I insured them that my husband does not have a purse! He He

Anyway, so we get our money and head to the guys house. When we got there he had taken some pieces off but it still would not fit through the door. So they decided to go through the window. It was kind of funny cause there was 4 guys there and they still thought they needed more help. But then me and Brandon carried into our house with just the 2 of us. So they get it out the window, around the back yard and finally into our truck. We were so excited!!!!!!!!! We gave him the money, thanked him and then headed to lunch with Mom and Terry.

Brandon could not wait to get it home. So after lunch we headed back home. It was an ordeal getting out of the truck cause it is pretty heavy but I used all the women power in me and help him get it in the house. Unfortunately, well I guess I should say fortunately, he had to go back to a ladies house that they gave an estimate to, to collect some money so he did not get to play with it. There was no way I was going to be able to help him carry it down the stairs anyway. So Willey stopped by the next morning on his way home from work and helped Brandon carry it downstairs. Then we had to get ready for church so he still didn't get it play with it. I am sure it was the longest 3 hours of church for him. Finally once we got home and had dinner we headed downstairs and Brandon began putting it back together. Lucky, it was not as hard to put it back together as I thought it would be. So once it was together Brandon tested out all the attachments and did one full workout routine. It was a lot of fun. And I always tease him and tell him that he will look like Matthew McConaughey in no time!! :) But we are very excited about it and I hope we can stay committed!

Here are a couple of pictures. Sorry they are so dark but when you have 1 bathroom light supplying all the light for a 1300 Sq. Ft basement, it is always a little dark.

Here is the machine and all the attachments lying around it. This machine came with everything you can imagine, except the Ab Cruncher attachment.


Now this picture is classic. Here is Brandon trying out the machine. He did this face right when I snapped it and I could not stop laughing. Oh he is the greatest.

Labor Day!!!

On Labor Day we decided to go to the slides up on Mt Graham. It was a lot of fun. We drove up and parked by the dam and hiked in the rest of the way. It was a good hike although I was dying since I am so out of shape. But it was good for me. Once we got up there Brandon, Rod and Willey all climbed up and went down first. After a while, Mary and Kathy went too. I was so proud of them. I of course was too chicken so I just took the pictures. It was really pretty up there and they weather was perfect!!!

This is Willey taking his turn down the slide

These are a little out of order but this one if of Rod. The funny thing was Rod went down the first part and then he sat on the edge of the water hole while Willey came down. Well when Willey came down so much water splashed out that it pushed Rod down the second slide. I would love to his face up close on this one cause I think it took him by surprise. You can't see Willey cause he is down in the first water hole.
Here is Brandon taking his turn. He has been down lots of time and is a pro now
This is a video of Brandon going down the second slide. Sorry it is sideways. I can't figure out how to rotate it. But it was a really fun day!!!

Brandon is 25!!!

Brandon had a birthday. He is 25!! He said it is kind of sad cause this is the last birthday that really means anything. Since his insurance goes down and he can rent a car now. But of course he was happy it was his birthday and he got presents and lots of cake. On Wednesday night after Brandon took out his contacts and was in bed I went out in the living room pretending to get a drink and stuff and I hung up some Happy Birthday banners and laid his presents out on the table so he could find them when he went to eat breakfast. He was surprised but he didn't open them, thank goodness. So he had a pretty good day. When he came home I told him to open his presents, which he had no complaints about doing. I got him a Pima Roughrider shirt, a CTR bracelet, Michael Jordan gatorades, and energy tic tac things. He got a card from my grandparents, a home depot card from my Dad and Chris and a memory picture book from his grandparents that I love!!! and so does he. The Biggs also came over and gave him 25 cupcakes. The boys helped decorate them and they were way cute. After that we went to dinner at Bush n Shurtz and then we headed to the Pima Football Scrimmage. So I think he really enjoyed himself on his birthday. Oh yeah I forgot one of the greatest parts. On Wednesday night our whole Sunday School class, minus just a few, showed up on our doorstep with a homemade cheesecake and sang Brandon happy birthday. He was so surprised. We invited them all in to share it with us and it was fun to just hang out with the youth for a little while. It was such a sweet thing for them to do. and the chessecake was really really good.
On Saturday is when we celebrated his Birthday with the family. We were very sad cause his Dad had to work so they were not able to come. But my Dad and Chris, and the Warns and the Biggs all came. We ate Hamburgers, turkey burgers, chips, jello and potato salad. It was all very good and we made way to much. But it is better to have too much then not enough. After we ate i brought out the cake and ice cream. I was very proud of my cake. Brandon asked his mom for a tractor cake this year but since she was not able to come it was up to me. So I made a chocolate cake, from scratch, then I did the pudding with cool whip and oreos on top and then I made little rows of dirt and I put little tractors on it. It really came out pretty cute, I was proud of myself and it tasted way too good. Thank goodness it is almost gone. After that we just kind of hung around and talked. It was a really good weekend.
Well here are some pictures from this week.

House for Sale

We found out yesterday that the people leasing our house have to move to Oregon. The guy living there has the chose to move and keep his job or be laid off. Well in times like this obviously you can't blame them for keeping the job. But now we have 2 houses which means 2 mortgages to pay. :/ We are not sure what we are going to do. We can try to lease it again but with the way the market is I don't think we could get someone to pay enough to cover our mortgage. Or we could sell it but I don't think it would even appraise for what we owe. So we are kind of stuck between a rock and hard spot. So if anyone know anybody looking for a house in west phoenix we have one available. It is just under 1500 Sq. Ft. 3 bedroom, 2 bath, living room, family room, big pantry, laundry room, and it has a decent size backyard for a phoenix home. It really is a nice, cut house and we would love someone to be in it. :)

Weekend Estravaganza!!!

So I know I have not posted in like 2 months but that is because we have not done much. Brandon was working in Tucson for 5 weeks and so I mostly just sat and home and watched movie. Nothing exciting but I was so excited for this week cause we were finally going to do something that I could take pictures of and post. Well things do not always go as planned so I have no pictures and not very good stories. :(

Beware this is a long Woe is me story so if you don't feel like hearing something like that right now don't read it. :) I don't want to put a damper on anyones day.

We headed to Phoenix on Friday and we stopped at my grandparents house to measure some of their windows so it was really nice to see them again for a little bit. Then we headed to Rod and Kathy's. We had to bring both cars so can could take Brandon's truck to the shop so it was a really boring drive. But we got to his parents house and we were happy to see the O'leary's and Chris and Brittany and Jenny were all there too. I had the worst headache when we got there so I was probably a little cranky but I was still happy to see everyone. We woke up Saturday morning and had a yummy breakfast and then headed to the lake. This is what I was supposed to take pictures of but when we got there I had a stomach ache. I was hoping it was just going to go away so I got in the water and floated around for a little bit and my stomach didn't bother me that much but then all the sudden it started hurting so bad. So I got out of the water and went and sat in the truck and it was just getting worse and worse. So finally I had Brandon drive me to the bathrooms but with no relief he decided to take me back to his parents house. I felt so bad cause I know he wanted to stay and have fun with his family but I truly felt like I was going to die. Luckily I feel asleep on the way home and woke up just in time to see that Brandon was driving by our old house. We talked about going to see how it was looking so we drove by and there was a ton of stuff outside. It kind of looked like someone was moving out. So why is this a concern to us, well because we still own the house and are doing a lease option with the people in it so if they move out we are not going to be in good shape. So talk about making me feel any more sick!!! I tried to call our renters today because they have not made their payment and it went straight to voicemail for that is not a good sign. Anyway, Brandon then hurried and rushed me home. Once we got there I took a long hot bath and finally decided to get out when I feel asleep and splashed into the water. He he. I was starting to feel better but I was scared to eat again. So while everyone else enjoyed their nachos, I had soup. but it was good and it kept my stomach from hurting. So the rest of the night when well. We had cake and ice cream to celebrate Jenny's 18th birthday so that was fun. And then everyone left and we went to bed.

The next day was Sunday and we didn't have church until 1:00 so we were able to sleep in a little bit and then get up and lounge around for a while. And then more bad came. Me and Brandon walked out to my car cause he wanted to measure the back to see if some shutters would fit in it. So he opens my door and looks inside and realized that the glove box was open and he asked me why. Then he realized that the center console was open too and that there was stuff everywhere. Well now we have realized that someone was in our car. Brandon, forgetting that we were not in Pima, Accidentally forgot to lock my car door. :( All we could see that they gone was our church bags. Which really upset me since our scriptures and all my relief society stuff was in them. So of course my temper got the best of me and I got upset at Brandon for not locking the doors and then he got mad at me for getting mad at him. Oh boy!!!! Anyway, we go in and tell Rod and with his great cop knowledge he said he bet if we walked around block we would probably find them since they were not of very big value to the thieves. So we got in the car and took a drive and sure enough there they were in the grass out by the street with all our stuff scattered everywhere. I was so happy!!!!! And then apologized to Brandon for losing my temper. I can't think of anything else that was in my car that is missing so that is a good thing. But I thought it was interesting that they did not take my stereo or my Cd's or the ipod that was in my car. I am thankful!!!

Once we got to church and came home and had dinner everything was better. And me made it home safe and sound!!!

I have to Brag!!

I know it is not good to brag but I have too!!! So I went to Colorado on Saturday and spent the weekend with Chelsea so that I could drive back to Arizona with her. It is a long drive to take by yourself with a baby and a dog so I came along for support. When I left, the house was not the cleanest and I didn't even think about the fact that Chelsea had never seen my house. But I was just thinking that there was nothing I could do about it now and she would just have to see it dirty. We got home Monday night and we walk into the house and it is spotless!!! Brandon is the greatest husband! He cleaned the kitchen including the dishes. He picked everything up and even vacuumed. I was very impressed. Then I walked into our room and I knew that I had left a couple baskets of clothes on the floor but they were not there anymore. So I just assumed that he had put them in my closet. But again to my amazement I walked in to my closet only to find empty laundry baskets. Brandon not only washed all the clothes but he did all the folding, hanging and putting away. He even got everything in the right spot.
I have known since the first day I meet him that he was amazing but he proved it 100 times over this weekend. I really don't think I could ask for a better husband. Thank you sweetie you are amazing!!!

Can you find me a bottle??

OK, so this may be one of those you had to be there stories but I didn't want to forget it and since I never write in a journal this is as good as it gets.
On Monday, Me and Brandon and his family all went to the San Carlos lake to go Jet Skiing. Which was a total blast. They have a knee board and it was fun to watch everyone try and do their tricks. Of course, me being the boring one was the only one who did not try it. All those crashes just don't look that fun to me. Anyway, we had a really great time. We left the lake around 7:15 and we decided to drive to Globe to have dinner with everyone. Well on the way home it was like 9:30 and Brandon was getting pretty tired and when he gets tired when he drives he eats sunflower seeds. So he got them out and asked me to find him a bottle that he can spit his shells into. So I looked in the back seat and I see one sitting right there, so I grab it and hand it to him. The bottle below is the one I gave him. Now, it was dark in the truck and I did not really look at the bottle, I just handed it to him.

So he puts a handful of seeds in his mouth and chews some up and spits it into the bottle, only to realize that all the shells just landed on his lap!!!! He was like, "Jessie!! Look what bottle you just gave me!" So I look over and he is holding up this half cut bottle.
Earlier that day while we were at the lake, the O'leary's little dog was with us and Brandon decided to make him a water dish so he cut the bottom of his bottle off to fill with water. So when I reached to grab a bottle this was the one I got but I honestly did not notice before I gave it to him. I laughed so hard!!! I wanted to take a picture of the shells on his legs but he had already taken them off. Anyway, I got a good laugh out of this and it woke us both up for the rest of the drive home.

Boiling River

Brandon and I decided to go on a little camping trip last weekend. We have this great boiling river that we love to go to and we always said it would be fun to camp there so we finally did.
Brandon loves to drive back to it because it is very bumping and rough and he sometimes gets to use his four wheel drive.
It was so pretty there at night. We didn't put the fly on our tent so we could just see trillions of stars.
Sadly, we have not gotten as much rain this year so the river was really low and full of moss so we didn't really even get to get in it but it was still fun to be out in the open and enjoy each others company.
Brandon cook breakfast with his little mess kit. Bacon and eggs it was really yummy.
Funny story about my silly husband. Were we were camping you are not supposed to have any off road vehicles there so we drive our quad to the gate and then we walk the rest of the way. Well at like 5:30 in the morning we hear a quad outside our tent so Brandon peeks out and sure enough there is a man and women on a quad with a huge rifle. Brandon got a little nervous cause he was afraid they maybe we were not supposed to be there. Also, he got a little nervous because we have been watching the seasons of Bones and someone is always murdered in every episode so he said the first thing that went through his mind was, great, nobody even knows we are out here if this guy decided to kill us. I think we may need to stop watching that show if it is going to make us paranoid. Anyway, these people were like riding around outside out tent for like 2 hours and I was sleeping through most of it but I would wake up a couple times and Brandon was at the very edge of the tent with just a tiny part of the window open peeking out at these people. I was cracking up cause he was like totally spying and he did it for almost 2 hours. Finally they left and then he was like ok we can get out of the tent now. Ha ha, I thought it was so funny.
But we did have fun and I got to see how quickly the Lord can answers our prayers. When we were loading up to go back to the truck we hauled everything up to the quad and loading most of the light stuff and Brandon said he would get the heavy stuff on the next load since I would not be on the quad with him. So we took everything except the tent and his huge backpacking backpack that had like everything in it. So we take the first load to the truck and he turns around to go get the second load. I was watching him and all the sudden he stopped so I was going to call him and see what the problem was only to realized that he had both cell phones in his pocket. So I try yelling but we were too far apart from each other but by this time I could tell that the four wheeler had died. I felt so bad cause it was quit a hike to our stuff and what was waiting for him was super heavy. So I decided to say a quick prayer. I just prayed that the four wheeler would start the next time he tried it so he would not have to carry all this stuff back to the truck and so we would not have to drive the truck to where the quad the was. But as soon as I was done praying I looked over and Brandon is already walking so he didn't try to start it again after my prayer. Once he got a little closer to me he yelled at me to move the truck down the mountain so that I was closer to him to carry the stuff to the truck. That was pretty freaky but I did it. So finally he comes struggling up the side of the mountain with a huge backpacking backpack and our huge tent. I felt so bad because on the way to the camp spot both the straps on this backpack broke so it was not easy carrying all this stuff.
So he gets back to the truck and we head out to go get the quad. It was really scary because the road it was on was not really for vehicles and we had to go down this super steep hill. Brandon of course thought it was awesome. So I told Brandon that I said a prayer and that when we got to the four wheeler it would start. He was just like ok, whatever you say but I think the engine went out but we will see. But we got to the quad he pushes the start button and it starts right up!!!! I was so happy and said a quick prayer of thanks. So I was able to ride the quad out and Brandon drove the truck and eventually we made it home safe. It turned into quit the adventure but I love when I am able to have a testimony building experience.

Jury Duty!!

Who knew jury duty could be so fun!!!!! Brandon got summoned to Jury Duty in Tucson!!! He was a little upset about having to drive all the way to Tucson but it turned out to be quite nice. Since we were over 60 miles away they paid for a hotel and our mileage to get there. For the hotel they would pay up to $175!!!! You can get a really nice hotel for $175 for one night. So Brandon told me to book the nicest hotel I could find. So I did. We got a room in a resort on the Catalina Foothills. It was called Ventana Lodge. I think it was a little too fancy for me.
When we got there we had to check in at the gate and give the guy our name. Then we pull up to the front door and there is a man waiting for us who greeted us by name and asked if he could take our bags. Well we were only going to be there for 1 night so we didn't really pack in suitcases, we just had like loose pillows and Wal-Mart sacks. So we told him that we could get them ourselves. Then he was like ok, can I park your truck then? Yeah right, like Brandon is going to let someone else park his truck. So we told him no to that too. And then once we checked in they asked us if we wanted a turn down service. We are assuming that means where they come to your room and turn down your sheets, so we said no to that too. I think they could tell right away that we didn't really fit in. Here a couple pictures of our room.
It had a huge balcony that was really pretty.

I love this bathtub. This is what I relaxed in after my workout and while Brandon was at the courthouse.

My silly husband once agian showed me why I love him so much. It is very important to have someone make you laugh and this his did. I was in the bathroom and when I came out I could not find Brandon. The room was pretty big but not that big. And I was like what the heck where did he go. So I am calling his name and he is not answering me. Then I hear him giggle. I look up, and there he is. There was this random beam that went across our room and he somehow figured out how to monkey himself up there. So when I looked up, this is what I saw. I died laughing. He is just so silly.
It was a very fun trip and lucky Brandon did not get picked for the jury. We also just took a trip to Colorado but I do not have my pictures yet so as soon I get those I will post that trip.

Thought of the Day

I get a thought of the day sent to me each morning. I wanted to post the one from today cause I think this is great advise for everyone right now.

One of the things I have really tried harder to do in my life
lately is be more positive. There are no two ways about it -
it has been a real challenge for me. There are plenty of
things in my job, in my personal life that could be better.
As I have looked for things to help me in this endeavor, I
came across this quote from President Hinckley that I would
like to share with you this morning:

"I come this morning with a plea that we stop seeking out the
storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting
that we 'accentuate the positive.' I am asking that we look
a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of
insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue
and effort. I am not asking that all criticism be silenced.
Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance.
Wise is the man who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by
others and change his course. What I am suggesting and asking
is that we turn from the negativism that so permeates our
society and look for the remarkable good in the land and
times in which we live, that we speak of one another's
virtues more than we speak of one another's faults, that
optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears."

When I stop and think about it, I have a great deal to be
thankful for, and a great many things about which I should
be optimistic. I hope that we can all look for the good in
our lives and try to minimize the influence the bad can have
over us.

I just really thought this was a great quote, and a great reminder. The world around us is crazy right now. There are so many bad and sad things happening all around and they are even right within our own families. So many, that sometime I just don't know how the Lord expects us to get through. But if we take President Hinckley's advise and look for the positive, I am sure each day will be better and better. This is something that Brandon and I have been working on, well I guess more just me cause Brandon is already so positive about everything. But we decided to focus on all the things that we have and not on the things we don't. To be happy and grateful for the home we have and the money to buy groceries. To be thankful for the friends and family we have that are there to support us no matter what. And especially to remember to depend on the Lord for everthing. We leave everything up to him and we know that as long as we remain faithful he will always take care of us. And that is what gets us through each day. Sorry for the rambling but I just wanted to share this wonderful quote. :)

I'm in the paper!!!

Move to a small town and you get put in the paper. It is kind of cool!!! I was voted staff of the month at our school for April and it got my picture in the Eastern Arizona Courier. Here is the link to see my happy face. http://eacourier.com/articles/2009/04/21/news/doc49e8f70d33d31919781603.txt

Pictures!!!

So I decided to forgo the movie cause it was taking too long and I already had pictures. So although the video was way better you can at least enjoy the pictures.

This is the master bedroom. One side has our bed and the other side is my bookshelf and reading chair. One of my favorite spots.
Here is the master bathroom. I think the bathroom is bigger than our room but I love it. There is enough space in here that when you take a shower the mirror doesn't even fog up. Its great!!!

We are slowly getting use to a smaller shower. We were spoiled in out last house with a 6 foot shower.
Here is my closet. Tons of space. It is so nice.
My favorite part of my closet. My shoe racks!!!! They rock!!!
Here is Brandon's closet.
And his shoe racks. He has the same amount on the other side of the closet too. And a hat to go with each pair of shoes. He is so silly, I just can't get enough of him.

Here is a couple different views of the living room. This room just seems to be so peaceful. I love at night when you just turn on the can lights so it is not to bright in the room. It is very relaxing.


This is the dining room. Sorry the glare is so bad. But I think I need a bigger table now?!?!

Here is the kitchen. I love my kitchen!!! A lot people told us that we should of made the kitchen bigger and while it was being built the kitchen looked so small but now it is perfect. We have so much cabinet space it is wonderful. We got the tall cabinets so I have to have a stool to reach of the top but that is ok. It is so nice cause since i have so much cabinet space, I do not have to have anything out on the counter. It is great!
This is our office/computer nook. It in nice to have somewhere for the computer to go instead of just being in the living room like we had it before.
This is one of the guest rooms. With 2 beds.
This is the other guest room. With 1 big bed. So that makes 3 beds all together. Plus we have 2 hide-a-beds, a futon and an air mattress. So there is lots of room of visitors. :)
This is obviously the hallway. I don't know why but I have always had a thing for hallways. I love them.
This is the guest bath.
And this is our unfinished basement. Someday when we finish it where the washer and dryer is right now will obviously be where the laundry room is. Then across from that will be the food storage room. Then in each corner there will be bedrooms with a bathroom in the middle.
All this will be the family room. We already have our tv and stuff down here, so although it is not finished we still get good use out of our basement.
Here is Brandon's garage. We finally got it mostly cleaned out so we can both park in here now.
And for Brandon's sake I have to show you his sink. he is very proud to have a sink in this garage and he makes sure that everyone who comes over sees his sink. Silly boy.
This is my garden. Well a start at least. We have tomatoes and carrots. Someday we will have more.
Here is view of all our dirt. This is the backyard. We have a full acre. Our property goes all the way to the back white fence, if you can see it. So we will have lots of space to do something with someday.
So those are the highlights our of house. It is so nice to be back in our own place. and to have all my stuff back. We look forward to having some visitors!!!!