Me, Tim, and best man Brian

Head table- reception

The gorgeous (and yummy!) cake

Driving off to the reception after the ceremony

Post ceremony

Tim and I

Tim and I

Waiting for the ceremony to begin

Wedding party

Wedding party

The beautiful girls and I

Candle holders or Ryan and Mark?

Rehearsal at Figlio Tower on the Plaza-head table

Best wedding programs ever!

Going into the rehearsal

Us and our minister, Brad during the rehearsal.

Rehearsal-boys are all lined up!

Rehearsal - Ms. Director?

Ring hands

Up to the high country we go!

We decided that for our anniversary we wanted to be somewhat conservative in terms of presents since we are spending more money than we've ever even seen in our LIFE on our house. That being the case, we concluded that the house is our REAL anniversary present but we wanted to do something fun to properly celebrate the weekend so it doesn't just feel like a normal weekend... So, we are going to spend the weekend in Flagstaff. I love the mountains...especially in the fall right before the snows come. It should be beautiful up there at this time of the year and I'm so excited to go hiking and to sight see some and to eat at these cool little restaurants in little historic places that remind me of my grandma's house...really, though, I'm excited just for the simplicity of enjoying the crisp mountain air and seeing some fall leaves. I heard about a really neat hike just south of Flagstaff in Sedona (another weekend trip we need to take...we've heard its awesome there, too! And Tim's work has a condo up there that he can use...bonus!) so we might stop by and go on that hike as well. I'm super excited-I LOVE the mountains-even the drive up there is spectacular! It is going to be so fun! More updates when we get back...

Mr. and Mrs. Upgrade

We had our appointment at the design center the other day to pick out all of the interiors for our new house. Having never done this before, we really didn't know what to expect. We were immediately in for an awakening when we quickly realized that we'd just been transported to upgrade nation. Everything that comes 'standard' on our house is flat out nasty. I honestly cannot think of any reason any sane person would get the standard things. Even if it is about money, I don't think a logical person would be willing to buy a house just to make the inside look like a pile of well, to say it nicely, crap. So, this upgrade thing being the case, Tim and I were faced with conversations like this:

Lady with no personality (showing a product that I could go dig up in a garage that holds everything from 1980): "This is what comes standard"
Jenn (thinking to herself, stunned speechless): "She cannot be serious. This must be a joke. I wonder if I should laugh. Probably not. She seems awfully serious. That is the most god-awful thing I've ever seen in my life. I wonder what her secret is to keeping a straight face...oh yes, probably the no personality thing. Omg, I swear if Tim expresses any sort of likingness to this THING, I am going to seriously consider applying him to 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' because obviously everything I've taught him has meant nothing."
Tim says (in not so many words): "I don't think we like that."
Jenn (thinking to herself): "Thank GOD. I feel like dancing. He is not all that defective when it comes to style. I wonder if I made a face, though... I probably did. Oh well."
Lady (goes into some weirdo trance): "Well, then, here's upgrade number 2 or you can get upgrade number two in a different color or style but then it's upgrade number five. Or for $20,000 you can get upgrade number 12. Or you can do an upgrade 4 with an upgrade 8 tacked on but then you'll pay the upgrade 9 price. Or here's the same color with a different style in an upgrade 10..."

Imagine doing this for THREE HOURS STRAIGHT for every large and minute detail that composes the interior of your house. It's insane.

But, regardless, we did end up getting some pretty cool things and are really excited to see the finished product. Here's generally what we got (probably about half of the stuff we picked will be a surprise for us when we move in...we were so overwhelmed by Ms. Personality Upgrade and we had to make so many decisions that we really only remember the big things we got):
1) We got cherry wood cabinets throughout the house...you guessed it! An upgrade, of course. And we added handles to the cabinets...yet another upgrade.
2) We got blackish granite countertops for the kitchen (probably our biggest expense along with the cabinets)
3) We tiled our entryway, kitchen, laundry, and bathrooms. And the tile was an upgrade from the carpet and WITHIN the tile group we got upgrade 3 or 4 but we COULD have gotten a bigger sized tile and that would have been an upgrade 6 or 7. See how maddening this can get?!
4) We only ended up putting wood in the office (it was $17 a square foot! So, even just doing the office it is $2,300). We were going to do the whole front room, too, but that would have been $8,300. It seemed dumb because then we would have had to pay an additional deposit, we didn't want to deck our house out so much that it wouldn't appraise, and why spend so much money on something you don't plan to be in forever? So, I'm happy with the decision even if its less wood than I originally wanted.
5) We upgraded our carpet and the pad. It's a dark taupe color. I like it.
6) We upgraded our sinks, faucets, door handles, and lighting fixtures. They are cool. (Can you believe the standard for these are BRASS? Ugh. SOOO ugly!!)
7) Oh yes, and we got an upgraded microwave, dishwasher, and stove (black and stainless steel).

I'm happy with our decisions... I think it will be perfect for us! We spent about what we thought we would which is always good. So, now the only two other appointments we have is for the mortgage and the landscaping. And then we can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride until move in day!

Speaking of weddings...

a year ago tonight, I was at our reception place setting up and decorating tables for what seemed like 1500 hours (only because my mom is a perfectionist and if I put something on crooked I had to do it again five times and ultimately she just ended up redoing what I did). The perfectionist thing, however, is not something I am complaining about. There is no way the reception would have been even close to as awesome as it was without her. I had the vision, she followed through and it all turned out amazingly well.

I also was eating ALL OF THE TIME. We had TONS of relatives in town which at my mom's house equals so much good food you think you're in some fantasy food land. I honestly questioned whether or not I would fit into my wedding dress. Especially since at this same time last year I was frantically trying to finish our favors which was actually a really fun job once we got to the point of stuffing them. We stuffed them with peanut butter M&M's (our favorite candy) but to do so, we sorted out all of the red, yellow, orange, and brown ones (fall colors...) So, the green and blue ones, we got to eat! And boy, did we eat those M&Ms... when my cousin Kristyn flew in, we spent a whole night (thursday I believe) 'stuffing favors.' Really, we were eating M&Ms more than stuffing...and two days before the wedding!

I am totally reminisent right now of last year. I'm glad we are having a one year anniversary (so hard to believe!) but it was so fun last year to have everyone we love all in one spot. And the two week vacation off of work was a definite bonus, too. And not to mention the whole marrying Tim, then going on a honeymoon thing. Yeah, that was pretty great. :)

Ahh memories...

Next summer is a wedding summer!

I already know of several weddings that are happening next summer... kind of like how when we got married last year, we went to 4 weddings before ours. My congratulations to Wish and Josh, Jody and Justin, and Chelsea and Scott! I am so excited for everyone who is engaged...it's such a fun time!

You know it's going to be long when you don't shift out of first gear for 45 minutes

Today, especially, I am jealous of Travis Johnson or anyone else who has a five minute commute to work. You all suck. It took me one hour and 20 minutes to get to work today. It should be about 35 without traffic. Usually it's more like 50. I'm just glad that I'm a patient person...I just pop in a CD and chill out. Some people I know would be foaming at the mouth to sit in traffic for that long. Luckily, too, I really love my job so I have to say that it's really not that bad...actually it's worth the commute.

Question of the day

Why do cops pull over people during rush hour when there are 50 million cars on the road? I mean, seriously, what could people do so wrong when it is literally impossible to speed? I really think these cops that pull over someone every. single. morning. are idiots. They just cause more slowing, which causes more backup, more pissed off people, and therefore more accidents. The only reason a cop should pull anyone over during rush hour is if there is an actual accident.

A completely different story than my life on September 15 last year...

This past weekend I was in KC. It was a little weird to be back home since I don't really feel like I'm that far away or that I haven't been back in a while. It was a really nice weekend though and so good to see family. I also got to see my college roommate...my mom and I drove down to southwest Missouri to have lunch with her. It was a pretty drive...lots of trees and farmland, which aren't too prevalent in Arizona (the trees, anyway. There actually is quite a bit of farmland, which was surprising to me). We didn't really do a whole lot...just relaxed, shopped a little bit, and hung out. It was pretty refreshing. A couple of highlights were 1) I had the best golf lesson of my ENTIRE life with my dad on Monday night. I have had some whacked out swing for a few years now...as in the club shifts in my upswing. But on Monday night, that all changed. He simplifyed and adjusted my swing and I hit the ball as good as I did when I was on the golf team in high school, maybe even better! It was absolutely amazing. I am so excited now to play golf and hit more golf balls, which makes Tim super excited. I have even been so pumped about it that I've been practicing my swing around the house so I don't forget how to do it! I think we are going to go golfing or go to the driving range this weekend... 2) I ate about 4 dozen oatmeal raisin cookies. I'm not exaggerating. They were SO good. Especially the ones that were right out of the oven. I think I ate a full dozen at that time. I went for a couple of runs/walks but probably not enough to offset the cookies... I didn't really care though. Tuesday morning I flew back to Arizona. I woke up at 3 a.m. Arizona time and when I got here at 9 a.m. I drove straight to work. It was pretty brutal but well worth the trip out.

Tim seems to have had a good few days in Tennessee as well. The work there went well and he said that it was extremely pretty...he was in Knoxville which is right by the Smokey mountains so I'm sure it was nice. We were both pretty jet lagged until today but now we're both feeling a ton better. OH! I just remembered... I was so worried to come home from work Tuesday night fearing that I'd find kitten poop all over the bathroom like we did when we left the cats over the fourth of July (we separate them and Emerson is the bad pooper. She basically painted the whole bathroom with poop over the 4th...entirely disgusting). Anyway, I felt like crap and the last thing I wanted to do was spend two hours (the amount of time it took BOTH Tim and I to clean up the mess last time) cleaning up her poop. BUT! She was clean. There was nothing on the floor, barely even litter. I was SO happy. SO, SO happy.

Yesterday morning we had an appointment with the I-wire people (the people who wire our new house). This really was more of Tim's thing because I have no idea about any of that stuff... It was cool though nonetheless (at least the part of it that I understood). Here's what we got (in addition to the standard cable and telephone hookups):
1) Cable for the office computer
2) Pre-wired our living room for Tim's surround sound system (I genuinely am excited about this because it means no more wires on the floor! And the speakers will all be mounted on the walls which means they won't be sitting on the furniture anymore).
3) Pre-wired and bought speakers for our back patio. Supposedly they are pretty nice speakers but Tim is more excited about this than me...I kind of tuned out during this part.
4) Full security system that covers every door and window in our house. It has two control pads, a motion detector and other cool features that I am excited about because of the nights that I have to spend by myself.

I am REALLY excited to go to the design center...which is next Tuesday! That will be super exciting. I'm not sure what I really want to do as far as the interiors of the house... I think I really want wood floors in the dining room, office, sitting room, and entryway. I don't know if I want wood floors in the kitchen because if I get wood floors in the kitchen and have wood cabinets, I think that could be a little too much wood. And I thought about still having wood flooring in the kitchen but getting white cabinets but I don't know if I want that anymore... there are so many choices!

The only other thing that I have to say is that American Family insurance genuinely sucks. I would love to go into detail and say many more bad things about them but I don't really feel like being negative. So, all I will say is that American Family sucks and there are a bunch of full time idiots working for them.

I got tagged by Rachel so here's the fifth line of my 23rd post:
"It didn't hurt but it was big enough to stick my tongue in."
Ha, that could be taken in a seriously disgusting way. I sound like the biggest nerd but I was actually posting about my horrific dentist story. Everyone should check out Rachel's blog (link to the left)...it's so cute and exciting!

My apologies for the random post... if only I posted every day, I could spare everyone the lengthy, once weekly, long, random post. Happy friday to everyone tomorrow!

Similar to what a wet rat would look like...

except on a much larger scale. Yes, that is what I look like right now. I have never been so wet in my entire life (excluding intentionally being wet by taking showers or going swimming).

A group of us in my department took a new hire out to lunch today. And, right as we were walking out, an unexpected Arizona monsoon comes rolling in. And the funny thing is about these monsoons is that they are not usually widespread. So, lucky us, we were in the exact spot where a big part of the ocean decided to dump right on us. I know I have said this before, but this time takes the cake: I have NEVER, EVER experienced harder, more intense rain. My hair was as wet as it is in the shower, my clothes looked like I jumped into a pool with them on (they were even dripping!) It was so crazy but so hysterical at the same time. Moments like these are just simply memorable. You'll always laugh when you look back at them. I'm still laughing now at how ridiculous we all looked...STILL look from getting so drenched and walking back to the office looking like we all decided to just jump in a lake for a swim.

I can't believe I forgot to post about this!

I am NOT a bargain shopper. I try, but I fail miserably. I admire people who are good at bargain shopping and who always find cute things at shocking prices. Unfortunately, as much as I try not to be the way I am, I am notorious for always buying things at the full price and sometimes it can get kind of expensive especially if we are talking about clothes or shoes. I always tell Tim that it's ok though. Just like he used to collect baseball cards, I collect clothes. And I have a pretty decent collection... no Marc Jacobs or Jimmy Choos but maybe someday... ;)

BUT, BUT! I have redeemed myself for years to come! This weekend I found a $140 blazer at Ann Taylor for $10. I. AM. NOT. KIDDING. I thought that the tag had been misprinted and it was actually marked down to $100 (which still would have been good!) But, nope! The lady said that it really was $10. And it was cute! (Usually I am not a huge fan of Ann Taylor-it seems kind of old but I went in on Saturday and found a few cute things!) After finding the jacket, I proceeded to find some REALLY cute chocolate brown pants to go with it (unfortunately not as good of a deal) and it made it all the more attractive. Even if I didn't find cute pants to match it, I just had to buy it to say that I got a $140 jacket for $10. That is absolutely jaw dropping, especially considering my luck at finding bargains. So, maybe there is hope yet for me to find good deals and to become a better bargain shopper...that would make Tim so happy!

60 day feedback

This is just a general overview of work so I think it's ok to write about: I just had a 6o day feedback meeting with my manager and my managing partner (my top boss). I guess they like me! I just need to ask more questions...I can deal with that. I am just really happy that they like me. I am often overly critical of myself-thinking and worrying that I am doing the wrong thing and that people don't like me. I always do this even when I know that they do like me. I know that I am shy and often too laid back...people generally are drawn to people who are outgoing and witty...but I don't know that its a bad thing to be like I am...it's just me...I am a listener and observer as opposed to what might be called the life of the party. Is it really that bad to be known as quiet? I have definitely had my incredibly stupid moments but I realize that it's all a part of the learning experience. I am learning and hopefully becoming smarter in the process. I realize that it IS a process. I'm not going to know everything now. I naturally like to figure out things on my own because I don't like to feel stupid (I often get discouraged when I do feel stupid and incapable) but I know that this process is going to have to involve other people and them guiding me. As long as I am on par with where I should be on this learning path, that's all I care about. And apparently I am. So, that's good to hear along with hearing that I am doing the right things and that people do like me.

Updates

Tim and I had a really relaxing weekend. We stayed in town and just kind of hung around. We did some shopping, rented a couple of movies, got a lot of errands done, explored the city a little bit more, went on walks, cleaned the house... it was nice. Oh, and on Sunday and Monday mornings the weather was AMAZING. It was 83 degrees out and cloudy and it was actually kind of chilly. We got out for about an hour each morning and played tennis-it was so much fun and we didn't play bad either. We had to stop because Tim broke the strings in his racket...that's how good he is! Last night since we were all by ourselves on Labor Day we had our own barbeque. We made steak and salmon kabobs, twice baked potatoes, baked beans, a huge salad, and brownies. It was kind of a last minute decision but it was well worth it... we had fun doing it and it was really tasty as well.

Also, as an update on our wedding picture saga, we still have no clue what is going on. Mark, Tim's dad, has called the guy repeatedly. The first time was about a month ago and supposedly from that time the pictures were suppposed to be done in 2 weeks (the photographer told me in June that they'd be done in 2 weeks so to me his credibility was already in question...) Mark called again a couple of times last week and left messages but got no call back. Today he called again with kind of an ultimatum of 'you'd better call back today,' and instead of a personalized voice mail answering machine it was computerized. Uh-oh. I called him, too, today to tell him I'd be in KC this weekend and that I would be happy to come by and pick up my pictures (and sock him at the same time...) Of course, I got the same computerized message (weird) and no answer (even weirder). Needless to say, I don't expect to get a call back.

Throughout this whole picture ordeal I've been the optimistic one of the bunch. He was a really nice photographer and we knew people who'd used him before. So I have given him the benefit of the doubt -up until about July-10 months AFTER our wedding. And now this is just flat out ridiculous. At this point, I want at least half of the money back we've given to him PLUS interest and our film so that we can get our pictures developed from someone a lot more competant and professional than he has proven to be. It's not even about the money to me...it's the fact that we are talking about OUR WEDDING PICTURES. You can't exactly relive that day to get similar pictures taken. I just have a bad feeling about this whole thing. He told my mom in June that he hadn't lost the pictures but I just don't know. Something weird is going on and it's really starting to piss me off. 19 days until our 1 year mark and still no pictures...nice.

Phase 1 in the building process

Here are a few pictures of our new neighborhood...nothing is there yet but in the next few months, that will really change. We are both really excited about the park that is close to our house...it will be really nice! Speaking of neighborhoods, in more exciting news, I get to fly home to see my parents this weekend! I can't wait...even if they are too busy to hang out with me! Tim will be in Tennesee for business from Sunday-Tuesday so it will work out perfect...and I just bought my ticket tonight (5 days before!) and it was only $200!! Must be fate... I was more than slightly apprehensive about staying home alone all by myself...I don't have a problem during the day...I just get petrified at night. So this will work out AWESOME! I'm so excited. I hope my parents are excited to see me and that we have time together. They just bought a new house so they are kind of busy renovating it. My mom told me they had to work on it pretty much all weekend this weekend...so hopefully I won't be in the way. Oh well, I'm excited regardless. Enjoy the pics.

The entrance. Our house will be about a block to the right.

Our street. Our house will be to the right.

Entrance again.

The park that backs up to our neighborhood. We are about a block to the left of this picture.

Park again... anyone want to come visit and play a friendly game of football? Isn't it the perfect field for that?

What should you do when you have no real understanding of what's going on?

Since last weekend, Tim and I have spent every spare moment glued to Fox News, CNN, or the weather channel. Last weekend we were intrigued by this hurricane named Katrina that roared over Florida and was relentlessly proceeding to head directly towards the great city of New Orleans. We were in awe of the mandatory evacuation of a city of this size and wondered if it could really be that bad. We kind of poked fun at the reporters who were saying that New Orleans could be completely and totally under water after landfall on Monday morning, naively thinking like most other people that nothing of that magnitude could happen to an indestructible city like New Orleans. It was just a good way to get people to watch the news, right? But we were still captivated by thoughts of well, what if? The first thing we did on Sunday and Monday morning was to run to the TV like kids running to watch saturday morning cartoons to see if this storm was still as powerful and still headed straight to the bulls eye that had become the gulf coast. ESPN or any other sports event has not made an appearance in our house since last weekend. That in itself is a small miracle, but it goes to say how tuned in we've been to this crisis.

Monday night, after the wrath of the actual storm had passed, it seemed like the destruction outcome had been overtalked and overanalyzed by reporters all over the country. They themselves were vocal about how the storm appeared to not be as bad as expected. But we still watched. And just when we thought everything was in the clear, we saw how wrong these initial assumptions after Katrina burst through really were.

And today we are still glued. But not because of fascination with mother nature. Because of horror, pity, heartbreak, sadness, and complete helplessness for these people in Louisiana and Mississippi who have lost everything. Everything. And for the people in Louisiana who are dealing with conditions that no human being should ever be even REMOTELY close to in their entire existence. These people are in situations so bad that I cannot even begin to fathom how they must be feeling or what they must be going through. To try to imagine it would be discounting what they probably really are feeling. I can't empathize with them because that wouldn't be enough... I have no understanding of their situation. I can't relate. I've never in my life had anything even close to that bad happen. In fact, if that is the bar for what defines bad, everything in my life has been superb, excellent, outstanding. Even the events that I would shallowly define as bad could be considered good compared to the circumstances of these people. I cannot begin to comprehend in even the slightest what they must be feeling and how it will impact them for the rest of their lives. It is unimaginable to me. The only direct affect on me is that I am paying $3.19 a gallon for gas. But I still have my job, I still have my house, my clothes, food, I still have my beloved family members and I am not worried that they have drowned, been shot, or been starved to death, I still have everything I need. In all honesty, these people in New Orleans that are stuck on their roofs, are just concerned about one thing: survival. They just want the basics: water, food, a flushing toilet. A pillow is probably a luxury to them at this point. How unthinkable is that?

The situation in New Orleans is absolutely horrifying to me. Gut wrenching. I feel helpless for not being able to do anything substantial. I feel selfish that my life, in all respects, is 'normal' while all these people have lost any sense of normalcy that once existed. I feel scared of the force of the uncontrollable. If this could happen to New Orleans, it could happen anywhere. Every day I'm a little bit more wary of turning on the TV just because it keeps getting worse, more grim and horrific stories keep surfacing. I feel so helpless and sad but those feelings are miniscule and unwarranted to the hopelessness and despair that I know the people of this gulf region must be wracked with. I feel guilty for what I have. I just don't know what the hell to do. I am stunned, transfixed by this grotesque tragedy. It is my fear that I will never see anything as bad as this in my life again because that make it the worst thing I've ever seen. But it is also my hope. I can't imagine ever seeing anything this bad again and I hope not to. I still don't think that anyone can imagine the extent of what is happening down there, except for those actually there who are living the nightmare.

For now, the only thing I can realistically give is what I have. Which is multitudes more than what these people have. Isn't it sad that it takes something like this to realize how lucky you are? How blessed you are? Although, I wish I were capable of flying a plane to rescue people or making medicines to cure people or being an engineer to fix the city I realize I'm not capable of these things. The only things I can give to these people right now is everything that they've lost. I can give them my thoughts, my empathy and sympathy, my prayers, my money, and my hope.

Under the Tucson Sun

Today I spent all day at a client's in Tucson. I'd never been there before so I was pretty excited just to see it even though the purpose of the trip was work. We've heard it's really nice down there and it definitely is. It's pretty much exactly like Phoenix just on a WAY smaller scale...which could be why people say that it's so nice. It took me about 2-2 1/2 hours to get down there but it was a pretty cool drive. I'm excited to go back sometime with Tim and spend more substantial time there...it looks like a really neat city!

Somewhere between Tucson and Phoenix

Just outside of Tucson (no, we still have not fixed our windshield-as evidenced by the spot in the right hand corner of this picture. There are actually two more, too...another one similar to this and a long one extending across the windshield. What can I say? I guess we're being lazy. Maybe we just like having a cracked windshield.... it reminds us of the trip out here. Ah, no, we're lazy and unmotivated to fix something that doesn't really hurt anything).

Downtown Tucson-looked very cute! It is close to the University of Arizona so it had a very college-town type atmosphere.

East Tucson...I got a map from my client and it looks like there are a lot of resorts, national parks (I can't WAIT until it's cool enough to go on hikes!), and golf courses in the northeast part of the city... sounds like my type of thing!

I just have to remember

We are having the last burst of summer here in Phoenix. As in, it has been brutally hot for the past few days. Like 110-115. It really doesn't feel that hot until it gets down to about 100 degrees and you feel how much of a difference 10 degrees makes. And during these heat spells, it is really a drag when you can't do anything outside but go to the pool...even at 6 a.m. It is 95 degrees that early!

So, to get over this last little heat spell, here are some reminders of why I love it here better than Iowa...

Ahh, yes, I needed that refresher. I will take the heat anyday! Bring it on!

The phenomenons of traffic

Today it took me ONE HOUR to go fifteen miles to my client's office. I wish I was joking or exaggerating. I'm not. The office I'm going to is only a couple of miles away from Tim's office so now that we are not carpooling anymore, it took him the same amount of time. We think maybe it has been so bad lately because we are leaving a bit later... I don't know. I am just in awe of how terribly long it took to drive what usually seriously takes 15 minutes with no traffic. The girl I'm working with right now lives in the east valley and it took her an hour and a half today. Now THAT would be frustrating. On good days, I can get to my office in Tempe in about 50 minutes (and it is 35 miles away). Good thing I wasn't going there today... I guess it was just an all around crappy traffic morning.

Oh yeah, and I almost got hit by a truck. Again. This happens almost weekly. Those stupid trucks just come over RIGHT WHERE I AM because they are stupid, terrible drivers with no brains. So, this causes me to honk my horn at them but it never seems to matter. They don't have any consideration for anyone else on the road and the fact that TRAFFIC IS NOT MOVING but they still proceed to move and come over anyway. The only thing I can ever do is almost pee in my pants, slam on the brakes (although usually I am only going 5 miles an hour so this really doesn't do anything-I'm surround by cars all around-which, as a sidenote, is why the trucks should not keep moving and try to come in!), shut my eyes, hold my breath, and wait for the collision. And then I cautiously open my eyes, realize I haven't gotten hit by some miracle, and proceed to shake uncontrollably like I have some weird affliction. I am amazed by these stupid truck drivers as much as I am amazed by heavy traffic. But I HATE trucks with a passion. I can handle being stuck in rush hour on somedays. But I always hate trucks. They are the worst drivers out there. I hate them. They should be banned from all roads during rush hour. Grr. As a positive driving note, I got home in 20 minutes at 5:15 p.m. Sweet!

Also, speaking of driving, I just want to wish my good friends Travis and Rachel a good and safe trip to their new home in Oregon! I am so excited for them and I hope the drive out and the moving process goes as smoothly as possible!!

Blind as a bat...

Yesterday I went to the eye doctor. I've been thinking for about 6 months now that I SHOULD go but only in the last month have I realized that I really NEEDED to go. I haven't been in two years... (and for those last five words, I am sure I will get a lecture from my mother but not as big of a lecture as I will get for what's to follow...) In Iowa, I had eye insurance that was included with my health insurance. But of course I never used it. I was just too lazy to go and my contacts were working fine. So, here we don't have eye insurance included in our health insurance. So, yes mom, I just said that I DO NOT have eye insurance. GASP!

So, of course now that I don't have eye insurance I am cursed by the "If-you-don't-have-insurance-then-you're-going-to need-it-and-you'll-be-screwed" gods. This is similar to my $2000.00 dentist experience several months ago, $1100.00 of which I still have yet to pay. Ugh.

Back to the eyes. Lately, I have been so blind. I have changed my contacts repeatedly, which is highly unusual for me. They are 1-2 week contacts but usually I wear them for 2-3 months without problems. But lately, I haven't been able to see street signs until I'm right under them and squinting, everything has been a little blurry, I've had a lot of headaches and even been a little dizzy, and I couldn't even see the clock on the oven when I was standing by the sink (Tim could see it clearly from the other room). So, I decided to just go to the eye doctor and just suck up the expense. The timing on this is really bad, however, since we just signed away our lives the other day by SIGNING A CONTRACT TO BUILD A HOUSE. (and dropping $5000+ in the process for what they call 'earnest money' or what really is a small down payment...) More on this later.

I was really hoping nothing would be seriously wrong with my eyes like there was with my teeth as a result of two years time since seeing a doctor. I went and after the barrage of tests that eye doctors perform that make everyone feel like they are back in kindergarten ("1 or 2? 2 or 4? Is this better or is this?") my doctor says, "Do you have a backup pair of glasses? Because you really are as blind as a bat." Well duh. Why do you think I am here? Hmm...

So, to make a long, pointless story even longer, my eyes checked out fine but they had just gotten a lot worse (big surprise there...) But they had gotten a lot worse than I imagine- they went from a -5.00 to a -6.00 (the worst is about a -13). I also went home with a new pair of contacts. I am so amazed at how well I can see. It sounds so corny but it really is like a whole new world out here... I knew my eyes were bad but this is completely amazing. I am in total awe of how many more details I can see now! Much better ending than the dentist story...I am only out $350 but I don't care what it takes because I can finally see again!!

A day of golf...8.20.05

On the third hole after we bypassed the second hole because the group in front of us took 45 minutes to play the first. I've never seen worse players and it sure made us feel better about our game... We probably saved an hour and a half by passing these people. The people behind us (before we passed the group in front of us) were on hole #11 when we were finishing up on #18!

Action shot...look at that excellent follow through!

What we did while we were waiting on the slowest people in the world to finish on the green...

If I remember right, he got this closer to the hole than I got mine (mine is just beyond the flag, kind of by the shadow). Tim had a great putt.

About the only thing I could really do...putt! My shot has kind of gone to crap... it was getting better by the end of the day so I guess my good old dad could be right when he tells me that if I actually practice I just might get back to where I used to be in my game.

I think it's so pretty out here... it's always so refreshing to spend some time outside. It will be even nicer from September to May when the average high is about 70 degrees and we can go out to the course and enjoy the sunny blue skies and attempt to whack and hack around the golf course any time we please... moments that I have on days like these are the moments when I can't help but think that everything just has to be right in the world. Or at least I can disable any thoughts of bad stuff that always shows up on the news and can appreciate life for what it is really supposed to be: just plain good and fulfilling.

I am still owed money for giving her TWO medicines a day for a week. The vet charged us $50 for two days so I think that someone owes me approximately $350. I'm thinking that person is Tim... I guess I might just have to write it off as bad debt that was never repaid... or maybe it was... He is a great husband, after all!

Pictures I should have posted last week but was too lazy to do so

I love the look on her face... SO stubborn. What a crack up. I laugh everytime I look at this picture. I loved the bubble gum medicine when I was a kid...

I should be working...

but I'm not. I figure I need at least one day off this week, right? So, my procrastination will last until tomorrow until the very last minute. I'm thinking maybe 7 p.m. Besides, I was informed that Tim has a fantasy football draft so from 5:30 tomorrow night until about 10, I will be trying to keep myself out of the way of the fantasy mania.

So, since I've been slacking on this blog as well, here are some updates on my oh-so-exciting life (and yes, that is somewhat sarcastic):
- This week was nuts. I started my first 'official' audit. I really like what I will be doing! And I like the girl I've been working with. And I really like the fact that this audit is in the west valley...meaning less drive time. But it has also meant that I had to spend a few nights this week working at home and it means that I will spend tomorrow working some... but it's great, regardless! And, I got to leave early on friday... as in 2:30 p.m. early. So great. But, now I have to work tomorrow. I still think it was worth it, though.
- We figured out that our Mini tire can't be fixed. And to get one around here, it would take 1-2 weeks. Crazy. The dealer has them but they can sell them at the marked up price of $280. So we ordered it online and hope to get it fixed Monday.
- Tim had his huge presentation on Thursday night. He gave the whole thing to the Penn people with the president, CFO, and VP of operations (his boss) also in attendence. I would've been so nervous!! But apparently he did awesome (of course!) He said that they all kept saying how well he did and they took him out to dinner and now they want to put him in charge of another huge project that might require him taking a trip to Tennesee. I'm so proud of him! He is a good worker.
-Tim and I played golf this morning. It was fun! Kind of warm, but fun. We haven't played in a long time so we played a shorter course. We started off kind of shaky but ended up with an awesome par putt by Tim. It made me miss my family, but I have those days a lot.
- And the most exciting news is: Tim is the luckiest person on the face of this earth. I really am astounded by his luck. It's flat out amazing. So, a week or so ago I wrote about how we got onto this waiting list to buy a new house. Well, the housing market is so crazy out here that everyone is trying to buy. We went in last Sunday when we got back from Palm Springs and the house we liked had appreciated $30,000 since we had been in a week and a half before (I'm telling you, these houses are going through the roof right now). So we were kind of disappointed because this was an extra $30,000 without ANY options or upgrades. We talked to the people and they said that there would be a drawing/lottery type of thing in 2-4 weeks. Which means basically that our name goes into a hat along with 60 other names and if we're drawn, we can make an appointment to sign a contract. So, we went home and decided that in four weeks the house would be way too high above our price range. We decided we would go with a house that was slighly smaller, but a great starter house. It's 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and 2200 square feet (the other was 2700 square feet so it's not really that big of a difference...)

Anyway, on Monday morning at 11 a.m. Tim got a call from the housing people and they drew our name! Jaws hit the floor. I couldn't believe our luck. I mean, four weeks out and we probably couldn't afford any house. So, we made an appointment for this Monday (the first available) and we went in today to see the smaller house, ask many questions and pick our lot! Well, the house had gone up another $5,000. And the guy told us that on Monday it was going up $2000 more. Tim was like "is that before or after we sign," just kind of kidding around...

THEN, Tim gets lucky AGAIN. After this family leaves (who is two houses down from where our potential house will be) he says "I just had an appointment cancel so do you guys want to do some initial stuff right now and we can lock the price in today and save you $2000?" And we were like, heck yeah! I mean this all sounds kind of rash and fast and crazy, but we have looked around and this is what we like best...as far as anything goes. We just need to get in. Otherwise we'll never be able to. And for all those people who keep saying the housing bubble is going to burst, SHUT UP. I don't care. In California, that is more likely to believe. But even there, it the house values aren't going to fall drastically, if they even fall. The houses just won't appreciate at 50-60%. They might just appreciate 5%. But wouldn't you take a 5% appreciation in your investment anyday? It's still equity and it's still ours, regardless of whether it continues to appreciate at 50% or whether it just appreciates 5%. So, that's all I have to say about that pet peeve of mine.

But, I am pretty excited. And scared. I mean this is a major, major scary juncture in our life. We are seriously going to be building a HOUSE. That is extremely humorous to me. I don't feel that old or really that responsible yet. But I know I am. These adventures of life changes and stepping stones are so fun. So, we will hopefully be in our house anytime from February-April. I'm realistic so I'm hoping by next June. We'll see. More updates to follow. Holy crap. This is so surreal.

Next time we'll just take her to the Ritz

Last Thursday night Tim and I got a little bit freaked out about our post surgery kitten, Emerson. (As an aside, for anyone who is getting sick of me talking about my cat(s), I apologize. A pet peeve of mine is people who go on and on and on about their animals. Another story entirely, but tell me if I am becoming too much like one of Those People). Anyway, she hadn't stopped leaving big splotches of blood all over our house which was somewhat disturbing. And to top it off, her stomach wound looked almost like it was gaping open. It was SO NASTY. Like I almost gagged nasty. And to think that at one point in my life I was a pre-med major...like serious enough about it that I almost went to a school known for medicine instead of Graceland... good thing one of my first med classes at GU was biology and I realized how much I hated it even though I loved chem classes... otherwise any of my to be patients would have a doctor that routinely passed out upon seeing something disturbing and that throws up and runs away upon seeing barf... and not to mention, I still would be in school and about $150,000 in school debt. ICK.

Right, so back to the story. We were worried about Em. So we decided to take her to the vet Friday morning and we would leave her there for the weekend just so that if something happened she wouldn't be all alone at our house. So, the vet got us in early Friday morning (and said that everything looked normal, by the way) and told us that they did have room for her lodging but we'd have to pay for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (since we couldn't pick her up until Monday after work). I asked how much it was for the weekend and they said $45. I didn't think this was too bad... a little more than I would've expected for a five pound cat that they just keep in a cage anyway, but still...it was worth our peace of minds.

Yesterday I scrambled up to the ritzy part of the east valley (scottsdale/fountain hills area) where our vet is after work. (Yes, it is on the complete opposite side of us. The reason they are our vet is because they do laser surgery for everything. Totally worth it). I was in a pretty good mood because Tim is the luckiest person I've ever met (for reasons I will post about later). But I was also a little irritated because we found out that the mini's tire can't be fixed. So not only do we have to replace the tires, which is expensive, but we have to carpool for AT LEAST another week.

When I got to the nicest vet's office I've ever seen (as mentioned in a prior post) the first thing the girls at the front desk said to me was "Emerson is the loudest kitten ever!!!" HUH? Was not aware of that. She is just clingy and needs a lot of play time, love, and attention. So, they brought her out and OMG was she loud. I've never heard her like this... but I can't imagine what I would do if I thought I'd been left at some weird place in a cage with strange people for 4 days. So, then they gave me the bill. Anyone want to take a guess?

TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. I almost pissed in my pants. ALMOST.

Apparently, to board a FIVE POUND KITTEN, it is expensive. Although, I really think I could've just dropped her off at the Marriott and had a maid feed her every now and then... she would have had room to roam and it would have been just slightly more expensive.

Here was the breakout:
$50 to give her the post surgery medicines (apparently this takes a lot of effort...who's paying me? I would have made almost $400 from last week...I guess I'll just send an invoice to Tim).
$1o food
$145 boarding (apparently the $45 price they gave me is just for one day. I asked and they said it's $45 on the weekend, and $40 during the week. Thanks for clarifying. That would have been nice to know).

So, anyway, probably not ever doing that again. It was CRAZY. And last night the poor thing was just beside herself because she was so happy to be home. We couldn't walk anywhere, do anything because she wouldn't stop rubbing all over us. I have never heard a louder purr. So, she's happy to be home.

We had a really good weekend in Palm Springs and it was well worth it to know that she was ok while we were gone... so after the initial shock it was even $200 worth it. She is worth that much. But don't ask Tim how he feels about it... it might be a different story.

Some things I'll just never understand

Madden 2006 came out on Tuesday. 5 years ago this would have meant nothing to me. But every year at about this time we have to get the newest installation of Madden just like how in a few months we will go out to get the newest version of the baseball game. This makes ZERO sense to me. How much can a video game with the same name, same concept change in a year? But apparently new players are added and it's like the coolest thing ever. I swear, these days are like second Christmas' to Tim.

And the actual playing of the game would occur more than once a day if at all possible. But to keep my sanity, I really can't handle it. That may sound mean, but to me it makes me crazy listening to sports sounds and hearing Tim yell at the team and 'coach' his players knowing that they are FICTIONAL. They are cartoons. Hello? Is this not a little weird to anyone else? I know it's not because some of my other guy friends also have this habit. I just don't understand it.

This ranks right up there with fantasy baseball and fantasy football leagues. These things are really confusing. They never end. And there are multiple leagues. And live drafts. And trades. And the never ending checking the status of the team. And when the drafts occur there are multiple tables with 'draft notes.' And endless chattering to the wife who needs a sports dictionary to even being to comprehend 1% what you are saying about what trade was made, what place you are in, how 'your' players did... Are you kidding me? I have tried to figure it out and figure it out. I mean, you would think that he is actually THE coach. When we went to the Diamondbacks game, he was excited to get to see how well HIS players would do and to scout out a couple of players he has his eye on for next year. I thought he was going to go ballistic when we were gone for a vacation and he couldn't check his teams OR play the video games.

You may think I'm exaggerating but I'm really not. He is nuts about this stuff. I guess it's good he has a hobby but I just don't get the obsession about it. And the hour long conversations he has with his friends or brothers ABOUT THESE FANTASY LEAGUES OR GAMES! COME ON!!
He knows I don't get it and we laugh about it...he's tried to explain it to me but still, nothing. I don't get it. I never will. Period.

I have come to accept the fact that to have a happy husband, I have to somehow support this and accept it as just part of him. So, I support it and I accept it, but I just really don't get it. Just try telling him it's fantasy... see what he says. It's not worth your time. He won't believe it. To him, it's real. And that's ok. It's a little strange but once you live with it every single day for five years straight, you kind of would wonder what's missing if it wasn't around. The hardest part for me is listening to him ramble and chatter about it for what seems like hours on end... but I've actually learned some sports people's names and I've learned that when he sounds like he's speaking some sort of Nigerian language or when he just sounds like a nutso because he's taken on his Mr. Coach role, I just nod my head and smile and he thinks I really care. And maybe I do SOMEWHAT. But just because HE seems to so much. I still think it's weird. And I'll never understand it. I'll just support his habit and call him Coach.

Life in the fast lane

Tim and I have been carpooling the past few days due to the injury of the Mini. (We think we might have picked up a nail when we were looking at new homes). It has actually been really nice to ride to work together aside from the fact that 1) I am always late to work because even though Tim says he's ready when I am he's not really ready until 15 minutes AFTER we were supposed to walk out the door. Oh well, I don't mind this so much. 2) I have to wait on Tim every night when I pick him up. Last night I waited for 25 minutes. I guess I am learning patience, though. Maybe.... 3) I wish we were just carpooling because we wanted to and not because we have to fix a car. For ONE tire on the Mini, we will have to pay $260. We called our dealer guy in KC to see if this was right and he said that it was and that we should probably get TWO tires so that the car doesn't get messed up. So, with labor plus two new tires we are at like $550-$600. If your jaw just hit the floor, don't worry, so did mine. It just seems like a lot for two tires. I mean, our cat had her ovaries, uterus, and knuckles taken out by a laser for less than that and that is major surgery! And we are talking about tires here, people! I don't get it. I seriously thought a tire would be like $100-$150. Who knew? I think we are going to look into seeing if we can just get the dumb tire fixed so we don't have to buy two new tires... but I don't really care at this point. I just want the car fixed...

The best part of this whole deal, though, is being able to utilize the carpool lane! We flew in yesterday and today and bypassed so much traffic! Who knew that the drive on the 10 could actually be somewhat pleasurable? It's so awesome we might even consider carpooling even after the Mini is back in working order.

I really don't have anything exciting to say this week...obviously. I am not sure that I ever really say anything too exciting but I just flat out don't have anything to say this week. All I have done is work. And work. And work. And feed medicine to a cat too many times a day to count. And clean up her yucky blood (even more times than I give her medicine-who knew it would be this much work! But I'm not complaining...I just hope she is getting better). And work. And eat. And sleep. And then start the process again. It's been a relatively busy week for some reason but nothing too exciting that warrants writing about...

We are going to Palm Springs this weekend to meet Tim's family for his dad's 50th birthday. We are all renting a condo together so it should be loads of fun. I am excited!

OH WAIT. Oh holy crap! I just remembered that something exciting DID happen this week. We got onto a waiting list to build a new house!! I am SO excited... it's not like you just get put on a list... you have to get approved for a mortgage (the value of the house plus any options/upgrades you think you might make) and then they decide if they want to put you on their list...it was kind of a long and difficult process for something that really isn't binding at all but I guess that they don't want just anyone. So anyway, after all of that we learned that we might start the process of writing up a contract in 2-4 weeks. But that's all I'm going to say. I don't want to jinx it and then something falls through, so I won't say anything more about this house until we officially sign on the dotted line. Anything could happen so we're trying not to get our hopes up too much and we're still going to be looking around in the next few weeks so that we can make the best decision possible for us.

Another day, another random post. Heck yeah.

I just wonder what kind I am

Yesterday I was told that I am a car by Tim. He was explaining to me that some people buy cars that require a lot of maintenence and work and some cars you buy don't require much work at all.

Well, I USED to be a car that required a lot of extra maintence and work but now I am a better car. I don't require as much work-according to Tim.

I hope that even as a high maintenence car I was still a lemon-y version of a Mercedes SLK500. I could totally deal with being compared to a car if I was this car. And, by the way, I would totally love one of these cars... but if I say that too much around Tim, I might revert back to being the high maintenence car that I supposedly used to be. (But on a less high maintenence note, I am not picky. I would also take a VW toureg, any kind of a BMW, a Lexus 300, or a Volvo...)

Can someone please tell me what could possibly be going on?

Let me just tell you how weird today has been:
1) For the first time in the 8 weeks we have been here, we have not seen the sun all day. It is kind of a Seattle-like day (or a spring or fall day in the Midwest). It has been extremely dark, overcast and rainy since we woke up this morning. And I mean dark in the sense that it's so dark, you have to have your lights on when you're driving. And the rain isn't the typical wall of water that pours down and is done in 30 minutes... instead it's been just a steady rain since this morning. So we are going on 6-7 hours of steady rainfall. I have heard that this kind of day is EXTREMELY rare here. There are never 'rainy days' where it is rainy ALL DAY. And, today, in the middle of the day it is 89 degrees, 60% humid, and rainy when usually at this time it is 105 degrees, 10% humid, and sunny. HUH?

2) Traffic was UNBELIEVABLE this morning. I thought that maybe I had forgotten about Sunday and it was actually Sunday. That's how light traffic was and I left at the same time as I usually do! I made it here in 45 minutes and I never went under 45 mph. And I used my windsheild wipers...I haven't used them since we lived in Iowa. Strange...

3) The mini has some problem with its tire as of this morning. We think its flat. Luckily we have run flats that you can use for 200-300 miles but it's still so weird because we drove it all day yesterday without incident or any light coming up. And we moved it in last night right before another massive storm and there was no light then. Then, this morning a flat tire light pops up mysteriously.

4) Emerson had no issues with her medicines this morning. No spilling or spitting. (I don't actually think this is too weird...just progress. But definitely not normal).

5) For the first time in 5 weeks, I actually slept on a Sunday night.

All of these things are actually really good things. The rain is a really nice change, the traffic situation made my whole day, the mini will get fixed (and the plus to that is hopefully we get to borrow a really cool BMW for a few days!), I didn't spill pink medicine on me or have to clean the pink medicine off the cat and floor for the first time ever, and the sleep was an excellent start to the week. It's just all a little odd... and not completely normal if normal is anything that can really be defined. It's definitely good...change never seems to be a bad thing. It's nice to not always have days that you would typically define as 'normal.' It keeps it interesting.

UPDATE: Today our official high was 96 degrees!! We were NOT in triple digits! That is exciting...and, laugh if you want, but it actually did feel pretty cool.

War wounds and other random stuff

Today was another great day! We looked at houses for a few hours with our realtor. He is probably one of the nicest guys I've ever met, especially for a realtor. It helps that he's my uncle's best friend so there is a little bit of history there. He really seems to just want to help us out. He is actually moving back to the Overland Park/Leawood area in a couple of months...both of his kids are there... We looked a about 5-6 houses.. the more we look, the more Tim and I get convinced that we just want to build a new house. Some people are just flat out gross and don't take care of their houses (and we weren't looking at old houses...the oldest one was built in 2003! These houses haven't had more than 2 owners but some were still unbelievably nasty! Especially for the price... and we really don't want to have to do any work on the house we buy). I actually am enjoying this process...it's pretty fun!

Then we came home and I took a 2 hour nap...I KNOW! Even I was surprised. I HATE naps. But this one felt really good. And apparently I was tired. Tim says I was grumpy so I guess I needed one.

Then we decided we needed to eat. We thought we should eat in and keep an eye on Emerson since we'd been gone the whole day. So, we went to the grocery store and ended up in the baking aisle for about 10 minutes. All we really felt like eating was cookies or browines. So we bought cookie stuff and a box of browines and ended up making peanut butter cookies. To compliment our main course of cookies, we had sandwiches and potato chips as side items. It really was a great idea.

Emerson seems to be doing really well... she doesn't like to take either of her medicines (one of them is the bubble gum Amoxcicilan stuff... I LOVED that stuff when I was little but I guess cats don't. We have pink splotches all over the kitchen from giving it to her). She was limping a little yesterday because of her paws but today she seems to be doing better... and Berkely has stopped hissing, even better news! I guess Em smells like Em again... surprising that Berke can't tell that Em LOOKS like Em... I guess they go by smell for everything.

Also, big, AWESOME news Tim just informed me of... this week on Tuesday and Wednesday it is only supposed to be 94 and 96 degrees here, respectively. That, my friends, is absolutely amazing. It has not been under 100 degrees since we've gotten here. And in the mornings, when it is only about 88-90 degrees at 7 a.m., it feels cool. So, these days will be almost COLD to us, during the heat of the day! Amazing.

So, it has been kind of a downtime day...pretty relaxing even though we weren't really all that productive or exciting. But, it was fun regardless. These days are always nice every once in a while... it was great! Below are some random pictures...enjoy!

The cookies that we made today....they actually turned out great! I am getting lucky in everything lately...

The best purchase we've ever made. No more kitten poop on the floor!!! (Em is a terrible pooper-yet another reason why I don't have kids. This five pound cat causes all kinds of pooping problems...think of what a 20 pound baby would do! YIKES!)

Yep, she's still cute as ever!

The Scar. It looks worse than I think it feels to her. She doesn't seem to be in pain at all...

Tim and Em a day after she came home from surgery...and doing well (except for the fact that it looks like Tim is strangling her. Don't call the animal abuse number...he was actually just petting her...she's so small that his hand engulfs her... funny picture).

Pre-surgery... attacking Berkeley's tail, as usual!

When (and if) it rains here, it pours!

Arizona monsoon.

Today is right up there with one of the best days ever!

I was so excited this morning when I got out of bed (aside from the fact that after the first step I almost fell on my face because of my buns that felt like they decided to abandon any of my efforts to be vertical today). I was jumping out of my pants (not literally-any kind of jumping today is physically impossible) because I was going to be able to leave work early! I was planning on working from 8 to 4 (through lunch) so I could pick up Emerson. Still 8 hours, but I would be able to leave at 4!

Well, I am splitting my time between two different departments at work. One of them has a secret special day every once in a while because they are on the road so much. They go to lunch and just hang out and then go to a movie. So, I was invited. It was probably one of the coolest things that has happened in a while! I mean, I was excited about leaving at FOUR, people. Imagine my utter shock about being rewarded the WHOLE AFTERNOON OFF! A couple of the partners took us out to lunch at a yummy mexican restaurant. It was awesome getting to know some of the people I work with outside of a work setting. They are all so nice. Then, when they went to a bar to have a day cap after lunch, I decided I would just go to Nordstrom to go shopping to burn a half an hour before I went to get Em (I moved up her appointment due to my afternoon off!) I figured that drinking and then having to drive all over the valley to get Em was not too smart (Plus, I'm not really that into drinking as a hobby but that is another story entirely).

At Nordstrom, I bought a few really cute things! I bought a cute navy and white striped fitted 3/4 sleved jacket (kind sailor-y I guess), a navy wrap around tee, and two chocolate brown camisoles (one has a pattern, one doesn't). By the way, I can't believe how hot chocolate brown seems to be this season! Now I just need to get some new brown shoes to match... And, I almost bought a pair of Seven jeans. My super fashionable friend, Rachel, introduced me to these and I think they are so cool! I will never be as stylish as her but I would definitely love a pair of these jeans...they are hot! But since I had already spent tons of money (and I knew I'd be spending more on the cat) I decided to spare my frugal husband the heart attack that would result if I added a pair of super cool jeans onto the list of things I bought today... he just doesn't understand how cool they are!

Then, I finally got to go pick up my kitten. She seems to be doing well. I think she is happy to be home. And the bill was only $453!!! I was SO PUMPED! We were quoted $450-$600 and usually those quote come out on the higher end. I figured it would for sure be about $600 especially considering the vet actually took her home to HIS HOUSE last night so he could keep a watch on her. Talk about all star treatment! I was so happy about that price! And to better my day even more and to convince me that miracles definitely do happen: I was home at FOUR THIRTY. HOME. Not leaving to start coming home but actually in the front door. And I hit NO traffic on the way home (amazing how when you're not in rush hour that happens).

So, it was a GREAT day. I am really happy. The only kind of bad thing is that I guess Emerson smells a little different to Berkeley from being in the hospital. So, Berkeley has been growling and hissing at her and attacked her once. Not as bad when we first got Em but it's still stressful. And Em keeps licking her wounds...which she isn't supposed to do. She's an excessive licker anyway and I think they just feel weird so she's licking more. Ugh. But aside from that, since I've gotten home (aside from monitoring the cats) I have loaded the dishwasher and done a load of laundry and cleaned up our clutter. It is amazing how rejuevenating a day off can be...and I am not even working that hard yet! It really has been a great day...GREAT!

UPDATE: Tim just called and he had a huge conference call with the president, CFO, and the vice-president (his boss) today. I guess they were all so impressed with the work he had done...the exact words his boss used were "dynamite." And he has a huge presentation in a couple of weeks with Penn and after today the president said he would not only be making the powerpoint, he would be giving the whole presentation! They said today that his analysis was better than they had ever seen! I am so proud of him!! Congrats, Timmy!! You are the best!

Sometimes I amaze myself...

Since I didn't have a needy, clingy kitten climbing all over me last night and wanting to play constantly (which I don't mind...it's cute), I took advantage of the fact that I could do exercises in our house without worrying about stepping on her.

Well, just a note to myself and to anyone else who considers being as stupid as me: When you are inspired to exercise, DO NOT do 100 lunges when you haven't done ONE in about 3 months. I can barely walk today... it feels like someone implanted rocks in my butt that are resistant to any type of movement. I know I probably look like a waddling duck today when I walk. Perhaps next time I will only do 50 because this is a little crazy, but hey, I guess they work, huh?

Reason #876 why I don't have kids: Guilt

For any of you who've somewhat read some of my posts, you probably have heard me make comments of why I don't have kids. FYI, someday we will probably have kids and I think I do want them. I just have to convince myself that I won't be a terrible mom. In no way, shape, or form am I even remotely ready now. Check back in a few years.

I am a cat mom though to two beautiful cats. One, named Emerson, who right now in her anesthesia induced state is probably dreaming of what she will do to me when she wakes up. She is probably dreaming of running around like a mad woman, rip roaring through the house, knocking things down, getting behind the dryer, washer, and refridgerator. Then she will proceed to poop on the floor and end it by scratching up our couches... (what she doesn't realize yet is that when she hits the scratching point she will realize that she does not have means to do any damage anymore so she will hate me even more).

I felt so terrible this morning. I really love my cats and I think that sometimes Tim thinks I love them more than him (I don't, by the way). It was so sad this morning because Emerson was so hungry and I couldn't feed her. Then I completely disrupted her routine by putting her in her little carrying case that she HATES (after the 20 hr. trip out here) and took her to a foreign place. She was shaking and crying so much and she was looking at me like "How can you do this to me?" It really did break my heart because she was mad about all this stuff but she will be even more upset when she wakes up in pain.

I do feel a little better because the animal hospital we took her to is the nicest vet's office I've ever seen in my life. In her exam room, there was a black leather couch, a TV in a cherry wood entertainment system, a fountain, and cherry wood bookshelves. Nicer than any doctor I've ever been to. And the doctor gave me a tour of the hospital (very clean and nice) and showed me where she would recover in her little heated space. Very cush..especially for animals. And she is having laser surgery so it will be much better and TONS less painful for her (even though there is still pain...I wish there wasn't any!) But still, I feel awful. I can't handle being at the root of what she will view as something bad although I know that is actually is something that does need to be done... so, this is why I don't have kids. I couldn't handle even seeing them scream and cry when they have shots. I've been sad all morning about Emerson even though I know I am doing the right thing and I know she will be fine... Berkeley is a living testament to that fact.

Monsoon 2005!

Last night we had the craziest storm I've ever seen in my life. It was unbelievable. It was a rival to midwest storms aside from the fact that there were no tornados (although you can't tell it by looking around-there is debris, uprooted trees and blown off roofs everywhere!) Most of the monsoon storms we've had just hit a portion of the valley... some hit the east valley, some hit the west, some hit the north, some hit the south. But this one hit THE WHOLE THING. And most of the time on the radar, the darkest color is orange...last night there was PINK! The heaviest rain possible. We got about 3 inches of rain in about 30 minutes. Our average rainfall during the entire monsoon season is not even that much and yearly it is about 6-7 inches. So, it was nuts! Most of the freeways were shut down because of flooding (luckily, they were reopened this morning) and a lot of the side roads were shut down as well. The lightning was nuts too... it was a strobe light-it never stopped! We heard on the news that Phoenix hasn't seen a storm like this in over a decade. It was definitely kind of cool and totally crazy! Awesome, that's the word to describe it.

Update on the insurance

We collectively spent about 5 hours yesterday trying to figure out where in the WORLD our insurance company was getting off charging us so much money when every other company was considerably cheaper. After these 5 hours, Tim (genius that he is) was looking at our copy of the manual sheets that our insurance agent filled out. We realized that the focus was actually about $300 more expensive yearly than the mini! He couldn't figure out why and then finally realized that the guy had put the focus in as a 2004, not a 2000. So, that makes a HUGE difference. He emailed him so we'll see what happens today.

Don't screw with me! (yes, I am complaining...again)

Yesterday we had an appointment with an American family insurance agent to switch our Iowa car and renter's insurance to Arizona. We had heard that Arizona insurance is a lot more expensive due to lots of cars getting stolen, multitudes of insane drivers that don't realize that they aren't the only people on the road, and older drivers that flat out just shouldn't be on the road. What we didn't know was that it was going to be more than double what we paid in Iowa and almost the equivalent of a second car payment.

So, in Iowa, American family insurance had the best price around. We paid $142.11 for our two cars and $18.00 for our renter's insurance every month. Our quote here: $313.00 for the two cars and $28.00 for renter's insurance. We understood we were in Iowa... probably one of the less expensive states. I don't know that for a fact, but it just seems logical. But, paying $340 a month for insurance seems RIDICULOUS. I mean, seriously. If that's really what it is, then I will pay it but it just seems a little steep even for Arizona AND considering we brought a lot of our coverage options down. (Like the $100,000/$300,000/$100,000 thing we brought it down to $50,000/$100,000/$50,000). And we left a few things off. Why you ask? Because otherwise our insurance quote was $355 JUST for the cars. Plus, we don't have a house or any equity so why have that much coverage? It still seems like a crazy amount of money to pay, regardless.

It made us so mad, too, last night because we were there for 1 hour and 20 minutes. I mean, we didn't even check other insurance carriers because we figured we were already on the system here, so it would be easier...like only takes 10 minutes easier. Well, I swear dude, it was like we were never customers of American family. We had to do everything we already did when we started the insurance. It was so stupid. AND, the guy had to manually fill out paperwork...that took approx. 45 minutes. Why aren't we in some database and the changes take effect immediately? I don't get it.

Since last night I just haven't felt great about this... So, this morning, I got a few quotes from other insurance companies including state farm and progressive. I personally am quite ticked off right now because I almost feel like I am missing something... like this guy just put more stuff on so our premium would be higher. I did the quotes for the other companies online with everything the same and we were quoted anywhere from $209-$280 a month...A TON less than we might end up paying through dumb American family. So then, I thought maybe I was just being an idiot and missing some type of coverage that would raise our rates to be comparable to American family. But I wasn't. Then I proceeded to RAISE all of of coverages and put different things on that we don't need and our rates STILL WEREN'T AS HIGH. WHAT??!! $1oo a month will make a difference over the course of the year...even $25 less a month would somewhat.

I feel like we got screwed somehow though I don't understand just how yet. I don't really care if ALL COMPANIES said I would be paying $350 a month. But they don't. And that's my problem with the whole thing. It seems like there are a lot of people who just take advantage of you so that they can benefit. I hate those dumb brokers, agents, and even some doctors who just talk over your head and do stuff that you don't even need done. That's what I feel happened... I am going to investigate more and talk to other insurance companies so we can get to what we REALLY should be paying: whether that is $350 or if it decreases considerably remains to be seen. I just want to know if we've been jerked around with. Because that's what pisses me off more than if we would have to pay $1000 for insurance out here. Stay tuned for the outcome of the insurance saga.

It's Monday and you know what that means

It means that Sunday night I didn't sleep. I think it's all in my head now. Ugh. We were tired and falling asleep at 9:30 p.m. so we went to bed. I woke up wide awake thinking it was 5 a.m. at 11:30 p.m. And then proceeded to stay awake until 2 a.m. Then we woke up at 5 a.m. So, really, not too bad- I will take five hours any day... although, of course, 8 is optimal. But the good thing is, I got into the office today at 7 a.m. (Tim, of course, beat me. He left at 5:30 a.m. and got to his office at 6 a.m.).

I was freaking out around 1 a.m. because I started thinking about our wedding for some reason and then I realized we still don't have our wedding pictures and that the last time I talked to the guy (right before we moved here) he said that would be done in two weeks. He was also in the process of closing his business (he said he was going to only do weddings out of his home). So for some reason, at 1 a.m. that made me really nervous. We've already paid for our pictures and if he's closed his business, how would we ever track him down? He seemed like a really nice guy and he's done weddings for people we know but for some reason last night I got a bad feeling about the whole thing.

I highly recommend eating cookies for breakfast

I made no bake cookies yesterday for Tim because he worked from 6 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. (yea, it really was 14 hours. I would've died). They turned out better than last time but I think I accidentally skipped a step so they were kind of chewy. Then today we both had 4 or 5 for breakfast. Definitely one of the better ideas we've had in a while... nothing beats chocolate at 6 a.m. Then we went on probably a 4 mile run/walk. We probably only ran a mile of it but that's better than we've been doing lately (it actually sprinkled on us when we were walking and it was a cool, but humid 80 degrees and overcast. Very abnormal! Yesterday we had the hardest rain/storm I've ever seen in my life. It was like someone dumped part of the ocean right on us. Crazy). I struggle to get in two good cardio workouts a week. I try my darndest but a lot of times it just doesn't want to happen. I know the problem lies in my motivation but that still doesn't make me want to do it anymore. I'm pretty good at lifting my free weights or doing pilates a few nights a week but cardio is a battle. I just don't ever want to do anything after work and I don't want to get up at 4 a.m. on weekday mornings. That will never happen, even for a morning person like me. And here, the best time to workout is in the morning and at 7 a.m. on the weekend, I just can't justify getting my lazy buns out the door versus sitting on them and still staying half asleep while I watch Today...

For lunch today, we went to Pita Jungle (the BEST ever). It was sooooo good. We had hummus for an appetizer, I had a thousand bean pita, Tim had a philly steak pita, and we had a chocolate phyllo dough piece of pie thing for dessert. Greek food is amazing. I really want my brother to come out here so I can take him here. I think he would love it! Jon, get your butt out here!!! You need to eat greek food with me. :)

This afternoon, we went and checked out some models we had seen earlier. We REALLY liked one of them. It was absolutely amazing. More than we ever thought we'd get for our money. It actually is less money than we thought we would spend at our top price. We'll see...the area that they are building the new neighborhood in is about 2 miles west of where we are now and there are a lot of things we need to consider and more houses that we need to look at. I need to stop getting so excited because I know I need to just take my time and be rational. BUT I REALLY LOVED IT. Sigh. We sent our R-E-A-L-T-O-R (I was informed I spelled this wrong in one of my last posts by someone who obviously is way smarter than me) an email asking him about the builder, the area, the schools in area (in case the market here continues like in California and we are stuck here indefinitely because we can't even afford to buy our own house back...so at this point, it would be beneficial to know that if this does happen, would our kids go to a good school?), any commercial development close by (don't want that), etc. Plus, we want to look at the inside of the houses with him to get his honest opinion. So we'll see... looking at any houses is pretty exciting, regardless.

Oh, and by the way, I am SO, SO FREAKIN EXCITED this week. My kitten is FINALLY getting declawed at the end of this week. No more blue tape on my couches (since she apparently thinks they are scratching posts). We are getting her laser declawed and spayed, which is a lot less painful for her, even though it's about $400 more expensive for us. But I feel pretty good about it. The money doesn't matter as long as she is ok. I know I will feel so sad on Thursday to just leave her at the vet overnight and she will be so confused and sad. Oh well, it's for the best... and I know she will be as good as new afterwards.

And one more thing before I stop the most random, pointless, rambling post ever. I will never talk in specific about my job on this website. If you know me, you probably have my phone number, and you can call me and I will tell you all of the intricate details who my company is, the work I do, etc., if you even care. My work bores a lot of people unless they are an accountant like me. Accountants are the only people in this world crazy enough to get excited and motivated by something as seemingly boring as taxes or auditing. So, anyway, the only thing I do want to say in general about my job here is that I absolutely love it. I actually like going to work and the people are so nice to me. I feel a little stupid right now because I'm still in the "Train me, I have no clue what I'm doing" stage but everyone goes though that. I really feel lucky to have come into contact with this job... it is better than I could've asked for.

From last weekend to this Saturday...

There is nothing better than a clean house. Unfortunately, I have been unable to motivate myself with this statement for the last 5 weeks. But today I did! Tim had to work today so he left at 5 a.m. I got up at 6:30 a.m. and cleaned until 10 a.m. Yes, it really was that dirty! So, now I am really happy because our house is finally clean!

Back to Tim working, I just want to brag about him a bit. I am so proud of him. He is such a hard worker and so nice to the people that he works with. A 'team player' is I guess what you would call him. He worked 11 hour days Monday through Thursday and then yesterday he didn't get home until 8 p.m. because of a huge project they were trying to finish for Penn (the tennis balls)-a 12 1/2 hour day! So he is already up to around 56 hours on the week and today he went in at 6 a.m. to finish up the Penn project and to get their inventory ready for auditors (like me!) to come this week. So he is probably going to end up working close to 70 hours this week. I worked 45 hours and I didn't think that was too shabby but compared to him it definitely is... he is amazing.

Later today I think I am going to take him to this tasty little hip place I had lunch at with some ladies from work this week. It's called Pita Jungle and it's a big hit with vegetarians (although they have non-vegetarian stuff too) and everything is all natural, organic, and healthy. It's so great! Then I think we might look at some more houses and just do whatever we feel like. We might go play golf tomorrow...

I procrastinated all week in getting up the pictures from last weekend. So, as promised, though quite late, here they are. Our dresser finally came in last Saturday and we went to the Diamondbacks game last Saturday night... if I would've posted these pictures on Monday, I would've had more details but this will suffice especially since I am posting this a week late... it was a fun weekend- we'll leave it at that.

Organization at last!