Breezy Branden

Rattle Troubles

2011-05-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

Leave your email to read our private blog!

3 Months! (Almost)

2011-04-12T11:27:00.000-07:00

I need to post a little early because Peytyn's taking a nap and I don't know when I'll get the opportunity again. Go to my private blog to read. Leave your email and I'll send you an invite!

Glad That's All They Took

2011-03-27T06:44:00.000-07:00

Go to our private blog to read more! Leave your email and I'll send you an invite.

Going Private

2011-01-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

Hey I gotta lock this thing up and make it private. So leave your email address so I can let you in again. I'll delete them as I get them. Thanks and sorry guys for the hassle but it's just not very safe for our little one on here.

Peytyn Sloane Allen

2011-01-28T11:26:00.000-08:00

Go to our private blog to read the story!

Catching up

2011-01-13T08:08:00.000-08:00

Being pregnant has brought so many fun times and even more interesting experiences. I had the opportunity to go home just before Thanksgiving to see my family and friends. I had a baby shower which was so much fun! Little girl things are the best and I'm pretty sure our little one is set for the first year now!

It was so much fun to get a break from everything going on out here in Michigan. It had been about 11 months since I'd seen anyone. Being away from home has really taught us both how important family is. We can't wait to come back to Utah for good. Only about 6 more months which is crazy. It's hard to believe we've been out here for 2 1/2 years!

Unfortunately I was too pregnant to be able to fly home for Christmas and, of course, Branden wouldn't go with out me. We had our own Christmas here instead. I learned the hard way that husbands don't follow rules when it comes to spending. We made a deal that we were gonna go low key this year. Keep it simple since we really don't want to have to pack up more stuff than necessary to get home. We didn't do a Christmas tree or lights or anything fancy. Come Christmas morning, I went out out to the living room and Branden had wrapped a bunch of presents for me and drew a Christmas tree in highlighters that was taped to the wall. He's such a stinker, but I think this was my best Christmas ever. I wish so bad I had gotten a picture of it. I can't believe I didn't have my camera with me.

So he doesn't get to go home until he's done with school. I feel really bad about that, I'm so glad that our families are coming out to see the baby soon. I hope they aren't going to be disappointed. Brandens classes this semester are crazy so he's really busy. He gets to have clients already! I don't think any other state allows students to have clients before they've graduated. It's a wonderful opportunity for him.

I'm wrapping up my last few days at work right now. I'm really gonna miss my job a lot. The people I work with are the best. I'm really excited to get to be a stay at home mom though. Yesterday they had a little party for me. We had wonderful mexican food and I got some adorable little outfits for our little one. I wanted a baby to try them on, but the only thing small enough to fit into the clothes would be my bosses dog and I doubt she'd be too happy about it.

So now we're just waiting... I hope she comes soon. I can't wait much longer!

Baby Crazy

2010-10-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for a baby has been a lot of fun. We're already getting to know her personality and she's not even gonna be here for another 3 months. I can honestly say she's gonna be quite the princess. So far we've learned:

She does not like loud noises. Branden and I got to go to the Detroit Pistons game this weekend and everytime they'd announce anything or play music or the buzzer she would kick my ribs. Which by the way she only does on my right side so they're constantly bruised on the inside.

She doesn't like alfredo sauce. So much for the never ending pasta at Olive Garden.

Grape juice gives me heartburn. I'm attributing that to her because that used to be my favorite juice ever, and now I can't even look at the stuff.

She'll be a night owl just like her daddy. I wish Branden could carry her at night so I could get some rest, because come 10 or 11 every night, I want to go to bed but she wants to stay up and watch football with him.

Since she's not going to have a bedroom while we're out here, there's really no reason for us to get any decorations and things like that for her. Instead of getting to prepare a room for her like most mommy's do, I'm keeping busy with crafts and things. I've decided that she needs a bow to match every little outfit she has. Branden says she's not going to like wearing flowers as big as her head, but until she can tell me that herself I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it. Here's a few things I've made so far.

Believe it or not, Branden is already wrapped around her little finger. We went back to a store 2 times to get the full set of some stuffed animals for her "just incase she wants all of them". Also he picked out these Michigan State onsies for her cuz he thought she could wear them while she was in the hospital. He was pretty disappointed when I told him 3 months wont fit a newborn even a little bit.

And this is for those of you that want a belly update. I do not like pictures at the moment, so bare with me if I'm a little hesitant at posting these. I feel gigantic.

Oh and by the way I'm gonna be home next month for a week. Anyone that's around before Thanksgiving let me know because I haven't seen anyone in 11 months we need to catch up! Still not for sure on a name yet. We're getting closer though!

It's a GIRL!!

2010-09-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

Big news!! We got to find out today what we're having and we couldn't be happier! It was such a great moment although it almost didn't happen. We had the ultrasound tech taking pictures of her bones and organs and measuring her from head to toe, but she couldn't figure out whether it was a girl or boy. We were trying everything poking her feet, changing the center of gravity, I was wiggling my tummy around thinking c'mon babe we've only got 1 shot for this. Finally after an hour, she woke up and rolled over.

When the lady said it's a girl I teared up and started laughing. I couldn't believe it. I've never been so happy to be wrong in my life. Branden just turned to me with a big grin and said, "told ya". He's very sentimental... We went right over to Babies R Us and bought 2 outfits, a skirt, and a swimsuit for $12 total. I didn't know their stuff was so cheap! I can't wait to go to the craft store. I'm gonna start arts and crafts right away.

We don't have a name for sure picked out yet. We did for a boy, but girls are just so much more difficult! All we know is that I want it to be different like my name. My boss says I should just name her Breezy, (I'll be honest-I'm kinda vain cuz I almost considered it) cuz it's so different. I think we can do better. Branden doesn't want nicknames though. That's gonna be a little more difficult for me, cuz that's my family tradition. We'll see. Anyways here's our beautiful baby girl. We love her so much and cannot wait to hold her for the first time!

Her side profile

Her little foot poking back at the camera

This is my favorite although we will stop this immediately. She's sucking her thumb.

So precious.

Half way there

2010-08-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

So were officially half way there. According to the book we're at 5 months, but technically we're only 18 months. I'm saying half way. I went to the Dr. a few days ago and got to hear the heartbeat. Besides that they really don't tell me much. Just that I'm pregnant. I want to be like... no kidding is that what you call this? I did find out one thing though. Lately I've been waking up with really bad pain in my lower back and down. They say it's a little bit early, but they think it's my sciatic nerve (spelling?). Basically the baby gets comfortable in a place that makes me miserable.

We get to find out what we're having in 2 weeks and I cannot wait! I thought for sure I'd be able to tell by the heartbeat by now cuz a lot of times boys heartbeats are around 120-140 and girls are 140-160 ish. Unfortunately our baby is too smart for us.

9 Weeks: 191 bpm

13 Weeks: 146 bpm

18 Weeks: 145 bpm

This tells me nothing because it's so close to the middle. Which means whenever I go to hear the heartbeat the little boy gets excited so his heartbeat speeds up, or the little girl is sleeping. I was hoping for 120 or 160 but really we're just happy everything sounds good and we haven't had very many complications. We can't believe how fast the time is going by but at the same time it feels like a dead stop sometimes.

This is a picture of me on our nightly walks. My only exercise cuz the gym downstairs doesn't have air conditioning. It's too hot to get on that stupid treadmill.

I offically had my 1st stranger ask me when I was due. I was very excited about that! Branden said the only reason they could tell is cuz I was walking funny after eating. I get really full and my tummy gets huge when there's food in it. My mother inlaw is a life saver for getting me 2 belly bands. I still can wear all my clothes, without the bands, I wouldn't be able to. They're too tight on my bladder! I recommend these things to everyone who plans on having a baby!

I'll keep everyone updated as soon as we know more! Thank you for all the well wishes we really appreciate the love and support while we're so far away!

You thought I was kidding

2010-08-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

"For years, the 118 rooms of the Deluxe were frequently occupied by hookers and often visited by police officers. A few recurring motifs run through newspaper stories about the Deluxe’s final days: “prostitution bust,” “assault,” “murder,” “drug paraphernalia,” “body found.” After years of embarrassing many REO Town residents and infuriating many more, the Deluxe was closed down last summer after the owner was unable to pay his tax bill; last September, the Ingham County Land Bank purchased the site for $400,000."

That's a direct quote from an article about the hotel that I featured in the post about where we're at at the moment. Remember the one that's right across the street from our apt.? Well they've decided to bring out the community and let them all vandalize it before they tear it down. It was actually pretty cool... but kinda weird. You could recognize all the tags that people put on the building as those of ones they'd signed on the city park or the side of buildings and stuff. Not the smartest bunch huh? What better way for the cops to set up a sting operation than to allow all the hoodlums to spray paint their murals on the walls of the hotel really really big. I don't know if they did but that would have been so easy.

I didn't take all these pictures but they're pretty great!

Team Work Award haha

Rumor has it the guy that painted this picture and his friend were given community service hours for spray painting under a bridge. They suggested that they be allowed to use their art work as their way to fulfill their community service hours. Way to go Lansing... punish by allowing the kids to professionally vandalize a building. I'm sure they learned a lot from it.

This art project brought out a lot of creepos, but it turned out trashy/cool at the same time. The community has really enjoyed it. We liked it too... But it kinda reminded me of driving though Detroit where all the buildings off the freeways were spray painted and burned to bits. Keeps the city interesting...

Big News!!

2010-07-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

So we've kept the secret pretty well... Actually, Branden told a ton of people already so it's about time I get to announce it too since we're so excited! We're having a baby! It's due January 30, 2011 so I'm about 3 months and some weeks along. We couldn't be happier!!

Here he/she is. We're calling it Baby Roo. Branden says it's a girl, I'm positive it's a boy. This is Roo at only 9 weeks so it's still a blob. But goodness isn't that the cutest blob you've ever seen?

It's been pretty fun so far. Minus the sickness. I'm pretty lucky because I don't really get sick in the mornings very often and it's already starting to get easier. Night times aren't much fun for me though. Thank goodness for bread and water. But let me start from the beginning...

We found out for real that we were pregnant on Brandens birthday. I wanted to keep it a secret and tell him a special way but c'mon you just can't keep a secret like that for more than 2 minutes.

About a month ago, I had a Dr.'s appointment and instead of getting to meet my Dr., I met an LPN who measured me and told me I was either 3 1/2 months along or having twins or even more possibly. But noooo of course they won't give me an ultrasound for another 2 weeks or so. Plus she couldn't find the heartbeat. If I'm over 3 months along and you can't find a heartbeat, there's something wrong with the baby. She didn't seem to care. I on the other hand was silently freaking out. So after waiting a very long 2 weeks I got to go get an ultra sound. The Sonographer (yes still not my Dr.) took a picture of our little one found out I was only 9 weeks along, confirmed it had a strong heartbeat, and that there was only one in there. Whew.... Thank goodness. Not that twins would be a bad thing, but I was positive I was not that far along so it had to be twins. Which would be really really hard to do out here alone with no family and Branden in school full time. Law School is not like college. It's like a full time job plus no paid overtime.

And now for pictures. I've promised the baby bump. So here it is. Do not laugh at me.

I feel huge. Branden says you can't tell, but my pants don't fit right, my toes are slowly disappearing, and when your husband tells you "wow you look good baby your tummy is getting so big!" I tend to feel like a blimp already.

It's a lot bigger from my view anyways.

It's finally setting in. We're gonna be a mommy and a daddy! It's weird to love something so much and never even see it or hold it. We love our baby Roo more than anything. It means the world to us both. We cannot wait to meet baby Roo! Less than 6 months to go!

So for now we're just waiting as patiently as possible until September 14th when we get to find out what it is. Anyone care to take a guess?

Grand Haven

2010-07-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

We finally decided that it's about time we get out and do something. We've lived here for 2 years and never gone on a vacation within driving distance. Apparently we're really close to a lot of things: Canada, New York City, the UP, and Grand Haven. So guess where we chose to go 1st?

They have this awesome pier that we walked along. A lot of kids were pier jumping into the water. Lake Michigan is huge! It looks just like the ocean!

Branden was really excited about the lighthouse. It looks a lot bigger from far away. He was hoping to get to go inside. He's convinced it's haunted because all the lighthouses on Ghost Hunters TAPS find ghosts in the lighthouses.

They have this huge musical water show.

They claim it's the biggest in the United States. I was pretty impressed.

So that's how we spent the 4th of July here in Michigan this year.

Hope everyone enjoyed the sunshine as much as we did.

We miss you all! The count down has begun, less than a year and we'll be back home again for good this time!

Detroit

2010-05-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

We got to go to a Tigers game on Saturday. I've never been to a professional baseball game before. It was pretty cool to see how huge it was and how many fans were there.

Long story short - sometime during the 6th inning, we were freezing and it was late and they were losing by 5. So we left. 2 hours later when we got home we turned on the tv and saw that the game had just ended after the 12th inning and they had come back to win 7-6. Oops...

We were there really early so I apologize for all the random pictures. Erin O'Bryan and I had a lot of time on our hands, and our husbands were good sports. Most of the time.

It was our first time out to Detroit and we were really leery once we got there. All the houses you can see are either burned or ripped apart. All buildings have bars on the windows, there are shady characters everywhere. The stadium is really nice and 1 block in every direction was pretty too. But you shouldn't go any further than that.

I just have no idea why this is in the top 5 most dangerous cities in the United States.
You know all those pictures and stories you hear about Detroit? They are all true.

Eminem's home town and local street. "Eminem is full of it." -Adam O'Bryan

No but seriously, 8 mile has embassy suites and target and clean landscaping and everything nice. It is nothing like the movie portrays it to be.

We can't wait to come back!!

When in Rome... I mean Michigan

2010-04-17T18:52:00.000-07:00

We're starting to become the locals around here so we figured we might as well act like them. For the first baseball game of the season they have all you can eat and drink for just $15. It was pretty sweet. Worrying that they'd run out of food quickly, we grabbed as much as we could carry along with the baby and the diaper bag, and found our seats. They obviously didn't run out of food so we kept going back for more and more....and more....and more. Pretzels, BBQ pork sandwhiches, dip n dots, lemon chill, nachos, fries, pizza, ice cream, and several sodas. I couldn't believe people were still getting beer when everything else was free and one beer was over $7. Dummies...

After the game I grabbed Brandens 3 cans of Mountain Dew and headed for the exit. (Here in MI you get 10 cents per can. They're a hot commodity around here, you never see them on the side of the road.) Next thing I know we've got a bag and are collecting cans laying all over the stadium. We felt like such bums but it was so funny we just kept going and going. Other people started copying us too.

Here's the boys with our 2 big bags of cans. We had over 255 cans! We thought we were gonna get mugged by the bums outside of the stadium. They were really eyeballing us and one even came and asked for them in exchange for a dollar. He was higher than a kite.

Thanks for inviting us Riley, Chris, and Arista! We had a blast!

p.s. here's my disclaimer for anyone that feels this is offensive. If you don't like it, stop reading my blog.

The Cat Walk

2010-03-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

I came up with a brilliant idea once that if we started Tony on a leash when he was little, that he'd someday go on jogs with me when he got big enough. It didn't work. So we waited til he was bigger. Looks pretty good here right?

30 seconds into the walk

45 seconds into the walk aka time to go back

At least we made it out of the parking lot this time. We're working on it...

Geez I'm turning into one of those crazy cat ladies.

Home Sweet Home...sorta

2010-03-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

This is for all you out there that are wondering where we've been for the last few years. Mom and Dad no need to come visit.

Here it is. Our big ugly apt building we've lived in for the last 2 years. We'll be out of our contract in May and will be moving to East Lansing to a bigger place so that we can have people over again. Oh, and can you see the silo's in the back? That's how we find our way home. There's no mountains so I can never find East. But these always point home. They're at the GM plant right behind our house. It's the one that no one works at hence the reason Michigan has a 35% or more unemployment rate.

Murder River... I mean Grand River. Dead bodies and grafiti are the local attractions. It's about 2 feet deep and you cannot see more than than an inch into it. It stinks soooo bad!

This is the hotel across the street from us. Locals around here know it as the place to go get drugs and prostitutes. It's been closed for a few months now thank goodness. All the creepos have moved a little bit north.

The local Stab and Grab. Where you'll never get by without getting asked for money. Branden's even been hit up by the bums for a check or a credit card since he doesn't have cash on him. Apparently the bums are more modernized and accept several types of payment?

This is the overpass we walk on everyday. You have to be so careful not to get hit. We've figured along with the crazy laws that you can turn left on a red light, blinking yellow does not mean yield, and blinking red does not mean stop. Cars have the right of way NOT the pedestrians.

Once you walk 1 more block you'll get into the big buildings. Most are empty because businesses cannot survive here in the capital city. The rest are Branden's old Law School Thomas M Cooley.

This is the capital building. Notice the bum going through the trash? It's a really pretty building though. Only about 5 blocks from our apt. too.

This is Branden infront of the Attorney General's office. He just got a job there and starts next week. We're really excited can you tell?

Here's a better shot of his building (on the left) and the capital from the back. It's cool cuz they have this huge walkway that goes over all the streets that connects all the state buildings.

Another picture of us infront of the capital building. This is the only part that's really pretty so I took lots of pics.

The court house.

There's a lot of really old churchs around here. They're all built in the 1800's. We wanna go to a service at each of them before we leave. So far we've only been to this one. It was pretty inside.

Another church.

That's about it for now. I wanna get some pictures of Michigan State University. It's so stinkin huge you wouldn't believe it. Thanks again to my mother and father inlaw for my new camera for my birthday. We're gonna have a lot of fun together!

What do you think?

2010-02-24T18:33:00.000-08:00

It's been said people look like their pets. But I never thought it would happen to me... then I found these pictures.

Breezy stretching. Tony stretching.

Breezy pigtails. Tony pigtails.

ummm......

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

My favorite letter is the letter Z. It always has been, because so many different people sign with a B. Harder to get that mixed up with someone else right? Anyways every Valentines Day I see the Jane Seymour Collection with this necklace and think it looks like a Z, and guess what I got from Bran this year...

Didn't he do a good job?

Happy Valentines Day everyone! We love you all!

"Working Hard All Week"

2010-02-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

Have you ever called a radio station before and won something? I totally did last week! They were giving away tickets to Josh Thompson's concert at the Intersection. He's the guy that sings the country song "Workin Hard All Week... To Put Some Beer On The Table". So far just a one hit wonder, but hey i was pretty excited. I didn't even know what I was calling for I just flipped on the radio and it said call now... so I did. (Yes I am the type to be tempted to call on those infomercials with in the next 10 minutes to get the extra free gift too)

If you look way close you can see him playing behind us. We thought we were tough stickin it out in the front of the concert next to the speakers. Bad Idea-you can't hear a thing afterwards.

That's him.. I know right? Nice pony tail bud... It's a good thing you can sing. Anyways they threw out Tshirts and who ever caught one got to go meet him before the show. Well we didn't catch one but we just followed the few that did and we got to meet him anyways. He signed a napkin for me and in the process creeped me out.

Breezy: Sorry this is all I have for you to sign.

Josh: No problem. You think I'd be used to signing my name and number by now.

Breezy: Haha...wait what you're gonna give me your number?

Josh: Yeah don't you want it?

That's when I grabbed the napkin smiled for the picture and hightailed it back to Branden. Stupid famous people think they're so hot. No thank you.

One Year Anniversary

2010-01-30T08:01:00.000-08:00

When you give a present to someone, you usually hope they'll enjoy it like you would. What's even better is when they let you enjoy it too. A few years ago Branden gave his parents a gift card to the Anniversary Inn for Christmas. (He's really into giving gift cards-lame) Anyways, they never ended up using it so... we went and had a fun anniversary with it.

This is the Presidential Suite. It was so big and beautiful and very romantic. He even bought me bubble bath cuz he knows how bad I miss having a huge tub to sit and read in for hours. Obviously it's been a while since I had a bubble bath because when I read the directions and it said only one cap full I figured that was for a child so I used almost the whole bottle... oops. The tub ended up overflowing with bubbles.

Defintely gotta do this again someday!

We need more space

2010-01-29T09:36:00.000-08:00

My wonderful husband decided to do the laundry for me this week because I haven't been feeling well lately. We do not have a washing machine so we're always collecting quarters to use the machines down in the creepy basement of this apt. Apparently I've slacked off on laundry duty, because he ended up doing 5 loads.

Only problem is we live in a 15x15 studio apt. We have little to no furniture to hang it on. (We save money by just hanging it out to dry. Well that and I never dry anything anyways.) So this is what I came home to last night....
He got creative with my knitting string. It's tied from one end of the room to the other. Yes that's my whole house you're looking at. I can't wait to get outta here... Tony is loving the new playgroud daddy built for him to tear down. What a disaster. Thanks Bran...

2010

2010-01-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Hope it was a great time for you all. We got to celebrate the night with our Kentucky friends Adam and Erin at the Whisky Barrell. You wouldn't believe all of the professional line dancing goin on there. I thought I knew a thing or 2 about it but goodness was I wrong. We enjoyed sitting back and watching as much as trying to join in. The bartenders were frustrated we were taking good seats and not getting anything from them. But that's what happens when your from Utah and get there 4 hours early.

Our New Years goal: Get the boys into some dancing lessons.

Happy Anniversary!

2010-01-09T07:33:00.000-08:00

A little late, but better than never. I can't believe it's been a whole year! And it's been a crazy one at that. But, I wouldn't trade one second of it. We have been blessed in so many ways and the future looks promising. This is a list of a few highlights from this year:

We've lived in 3 different states (6 different places). There really is no place like home.

I got a kitty - we've had to sneak him into multiple places because they don't allow cats. I'll never forget the night we pulled into a hotel. I wrapped him in a blanket like a baby and walked right by the front desk with his tail swinging out the bottom and him meowing...

Goodbye truck hello new car. It really was a blessing in disguise.

Switched schools and hopefully apt's soon!

The best thing about me is you Branden. I love you!

Silver Bells in the city

2009-11-21T12:01:00.001-08:00

Every year just before Thanksgiving, Lansing does a really cool parade in the dark just like at Disneyland. The whole town participates in it and it's really cool! There's Christmas music playing and all the high schools around dress up in uniforms with lights and poinsettas. We really had a good time. The only thing I wasn't a big fan of was the 100,000 people all crammed into about 3 blocks to see the parade. We live only 2 blocks below the parade so we just walked thank goodness cuz the traffic was a nightmare! The best part was after the parade when they did a count down and lit the huge Christmas tree infront of the Capital building and then did fireworks. They were really pretty I wish my camera would have gotten better pictures.

Best Job Ever

2009-11-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

I literally have the best job in the world! Basically I ship out large quantities of spelt products, and to do that I have to schedule semi trucks to come pick it up. Well lots of different trucking companies are vying for my business so they bribe me. And when I say bribe I mean big time!

Krista and I got 2 free tickets to a Detroit Pistons game. We got hooked up with 2 seats in a suite, all the drinks and food we could eat, free trinkets, and VIP acess to everything. We even won a pizza from Domino's. They chose us out of the audience cuz we were screaming the loudest. People were so mad cuz we already had free food and they still chose us.

Car Shopping

2009-11-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

You know you never realize just how fast everything could be over. Unitl recently, I really didn't notice all the small things that we are so lucky to have everyday. I'm so grateful to have a wonderful husband that's working so hard to make a better future for us. I'm blessed to have a job that can support me and my little family as we live so far away from home. And, more than anything I'm glad that our Heavenly Father is watching out for us everyday, even when bad things happen, I have to realize they could always be so much worse.

Last week on our way home from church, we were driving when out of nowhere this kid comes up and T bones us on Brandens side which then throws us up over a curb and into a tree. The tree was only about as wide as a circle you can make with your hands, but it didn't move an inch or even make a mark on the spot where we hit it. Our truck on the other hand... was totaled. We are very lucky that no one was hurt, and thank you to all of the friends that stopped to check on us and offer help and support, we really appreciate it.

Our insurance co. was wonderful to us, and now we get to go pick out a new car. Now to decide which one we want. So many to choose from! I want something cute, Branden wants something safe.... unfortunately those fall under two very different categories. So we went to the dealerships all around and looked for something perfect and....

HELLO BEAUTIFUL!

It's a 2010 toyota corolla S, and she's just perfect in everyway! We got her with only 7 miles, and I got to take her around town last night (might I add she is quite fast). I'm the luckiest girl in the world! Branden says this can be my car when we get another one because I've fallen in love.

Tony Hawk

2009-10-18T11:27:00.001-07:00

The other day Branden decided it would be nice for Tony to have a hair cut since it's relatively hot here in Michigan at the end of the summer. I wasn't really that fond of the idea, but of course, I got talked into it. Poor Tonado got a really bad whack job. We just used the razor I cut Brandens hair with. I decided not to do that again. He's gonna need his fur soon it gets stinkin cold here! 2 weeks later I came home to this:

Dear Mommy,

I have been undergoing chemo therapy that's why I've lost all of my hair. I'm still fun.

Love,

Tony Toyger

That's the note that was taped to his bed. Tony was bald again! Except this time, Bran decided to style it. So he gave him a MOHAWK (up his back) and a lions tail (he shaved the whole tail except the tip he left furry). My poor cat. He doesn't mind though. And now whenever Tonado does something that makes Branden mad, he has to blow it off cuz he made Tony a "Bad A" and he can do what he wants. The picture doesn't do it justice. He's got a furry head and legs but that's it.

Not so bad...

2009-10-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

So I guess Michigan isn't as bad as it seems... or at least not when we get out of it. A week or so ago we went down to Kentucky with Brandens friend Adam from his school and Adams cute wife Erin. We got to experience tail gaiting like never before. You think you know what it is until you go down there. Holy cow people take that stuff very seriously! We were literally there 6 hours before the game even started and the place was packed with fans celebrating. Branden learned a new game called corn hole. (you throw a bean bag at a board with a hole in it... I'm sure there's a point to it, I just didn't figure it out.) It was a very popular game. Literally everyone around us had a game goin and when we weren't using ours someone else would come ask to play on it. Must be a Kentucky thing? Honestly if we couldn't move back to Utah, I wouldn't mind living there though. It is a very pretty place and the people are friendly. I miss that.

The game was awesome. I've never been in such a big stadium before. What I wouldn't give to have cheered for a school that had a good sports team and that kind of crowd support. Makes me miss tumbling so much. It's been 9 months since the last time I did a back flip. Yes I can count the days. (It was on a beach in Cancun. Big mistake cuz i kicked sand up in my eyes.)

Last night we went to Octoberfest with those guys again. $17 gets you a "free" mug, 3 tickets, and all the americanized polka music you can handle. It always makes me laugh when people check Brandens ID. He's 29 and his license has his picture from when he was 19 it expires every 11 years and it's laminated so you can't get it wet. It looks fake. No one every believes him. And then there's me. I still look 17. They always double and triple check my ID.

Anyways we got lots of apple cider and Branden did a few jigs. (I sincerely hope our children get my sense of coordination and not his). It was a good time.

Bradshaw Camping

2009-09-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

Before we came out here to Michigan, we made one last trip. This time we drove to Idaho to go camping with my Bradshaw family. It was quite the expedition getting up to where we finally made camp. There was no where available in the whole stinkin mountain! Eventually after several hours of driving around in the middle of the night we found a spot that was big enough for all of us to set up our tents. 30 minutes later we were all in bed and dead asleep... Until the bears came to our camp ground. Apparently no one else heard it except Bran and I. I just knew we were dead. I didn't sleep a bit the rest of the night. Branden says they were just deer but I know otherwise. Thank goodness Kent came up the next day and set his tent up on the other side of ours so that we weren't the end of the line of tents. (That way while the bears ate him I'd have enough time to get to the car. Sorry Kent..) We had a ton of fun being very lazy but I think the greatest thing about our camping trip had to be the sling shot Branden bought before we went up there. (Which by the way they insisted on checking his ID to be sure he was above the age of 16 haha) The kiddos played with that thing for hours, and Branden spent quite a few himself helping them shoot pop cans. Chase was quite the pro by the end of the day so we sent it home with him to practice. Your welcome Kieth and Jody. I've got a ton more pictures from this trip but I'm gonna start another blog for them so family hold on a sec.

So much to do... and yet

2009-09-08T04:22:00.001-07:00

Don't you just hate it when so much time has gone by since you last blogged and there's just so much to catch up on, and you have so much time to do it...and yet, you so much just don't want to? Yeah that's about where I'm at.
Here's a little bit of an update: we're back in Michigan. Branden starts school today. I was hoping to be able to too, but we got up here too late. Maybe next semester? At the moment I'm stressing about finding a job. Lansing is on a hiring freeze because of GM shutting down and laying off like 21,000 people. Everywhere I go people just laugh and say, "yeah leave an application." I've learned that means "Where are you from you kiddo? Mars? Of course we're not really hiring."
Anyways since I've been up since 5 when the GM plant decided to switch on the jet engine. No really it sounds like your standing behind a rocket taking off. Gotta love this town with the police keeping you up all night with their sirens, and the rocket ship switching on every morning I'm predicting a bunch more of these random writings. Hope you enjoy I thought they were funny.
-I wish my GPS had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
-There is a great need for sarcasm font.
-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.
-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.
-How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.- Was learning cursive really necessary?
- Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
-Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said
-While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
-MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
- Bad decisions make good stories.
- Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem.
-"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.- I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? ), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away? (MOM I DEDICATE THIS TO YOU!!)
-I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
- I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
- Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it
-I wonder if cops ever get ticked off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

Summer's End

2009-08-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a few fun things we did our last days out there in Abilene. The Gladiator games were a big hit. Probably the most memorable of all the days was the watermelon challenge. Brandens team was fantastic starting out, but ended up losing it in the end. It was pretty close though. We left before they did the winners games. Branden's team took 2nd so he would have gotten to do the diving for dollars again. All in all it was a very fun summer. We're gonna miss everyone out there.

Also Branden got a letter from one of the head hanchos of APX the other day.

Branden,

APX Alarm would like you to know what a difference you are making in the lives of the families that you have protected. One of the families in whose home you set up an alarm system had the following emergency:

Homeowner says that her 87 year old mother is having chest pains. The operator gets a medical dispatch started and then continues to communicate with her. The mother can be heard struggling to breathe and groaning from the pain. They say that she is conscious but the pain is getting worse. Once she lets them know that the ambulance is on the way they instruct her to go ahead and disconnect as there are several family members on the premises. 3:15

You truly made a difference in their life. Keep up the hard work and know that what you are doing is more than just miles of walking and hours of hard knocking—you are saving lives.

Brenchley!

Isn't that cool to know that selling alarms really does make a difference?

Guess what this is? Just a baby rattle snake on the sidewalk right next to the doors of the hotel we stayed in. Jeff Strong (Brandens boss) wanted to catch it in a box, there was a huge crowd around the little guy. They were keeping it around by hitting it with their hats. Probably not the smartest thing to do huh? It would have been better to kill it but there was some dink wad we didn't know who kept saying "it's illegal it's illegal". For some reason he thought it'd be smarter to leave the dang thing around the doors where anyone could get bitten. There's a lot of children around there too!

We're pretty excited to get back to school now. It's been a long and a short summer. Branden's gonna start up anyday now. I'm gonna begin again in January. The only thing I'm worried about is finding some kind of a job. We're hoping for something really close to the apt so I can walk just incase Branden needs the truck for something. With GM laying off 21,000 people out there the economy is goin down fast. Last time we left 35% of the population was out of a job. I can't imagine it's any better now. We're keeping our fingers crossed though.

Welcome to Nowhere

2009-08-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Abilene, TX. Population- well that depends if you count the farm animals or not. A city, well noted in country songs you hear on the radio, that's full of hotels and windmills. Oh and at the moment about 3 different alarm security companies reside here. Just our luck. Someone in our office snitched our plans to move out here and so the other genius companies decided to go to. What is that? Why the heck would you wanna follow APX or any other company to try and sell the same houses? It just doesn't make any sense.

Living out of a hotel has its ups and downs. Free oatmeal and waffles for breakfast and nachos and tuna fish sandwhiches for dinner... At least the company while eating it was good :) The maid service was great. They even cleaned up Tony's messy toys. All in all it's been not so bad except for the crickets. There's a hole in the wall outside that leads directly to the vent to our room. Everynight the crickets wake up and join in the chorus that lasts til the sun comes up again. It's so ANNOYING! The first night it happened I wanted to call maintainance, but Branden being the fix it man decided to take matters into his own hands. We didn't have bug spray so febreeze had to do. I swear he sprayed 1/2 the can into the vent. It worked for a while, thinking we choked them out we turned out the lights and went back to sleep. Then the AC turned on. Every ounce of febreeze in the vents came out at once. We couldn't breathe. The next day the ridex guy came and opened the vent to suck out the little buggers. Things went well for a night or 2. But, nothing lasts forever and they're back again. Only 3 more nights and then they'll be someone elses problem. We can't wait to come home again!

Big Bite Pizza

2009-07-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

So just before we moved out here to Abilene, the reps wanted to go out to dinner. It's a proven fact that Colby can eat more than anyone we've ever seen before. At the BBQ's he eats multiple steaks and hamburgers, so they came up with a genius idea to take him to the Big Bite Pizzeria to test his skills. Here's the deal: If you can eat 4 sandwiches with everything on them they'll give you back your money plus name a sandwich after you. They already had the name picked out "Phat APX 09" The only thing is they really mean everything. Fries, mozzarella sticks, sand which meat, the works. Seriously this thing weighed like 2-3 pounds. Things started off good, he got through 2 like a champ. But, about 1/2 way through the 3rd time was running out and he was very full. He didn't end up finishing it, but we all had a good time anyways and the rest of the guys helped him finish what he couldn't. Gross...

Then the next day we packed up and left. My heck we have a lot of stuff. It took us about 6 hours and it never ceases to surprise me how we eventually fit everything into our truck. People made fun of us for using all of our tie downs, come alongs, and ropes; but really there's no other way to do it. I wish I had taken a picture of the truck finished but here's a few of the packing progress. Oh and Tony... being grumpy as always.

After we get everything really tight in the back, we put the mattresses on top and pull the tarp over everything and secure it down. Such a PAIN!

That's our back seat packed to the roof.

Here's Tony. Moving stresses him out.

Our new place. We have so much stuff you can barely get around. I don't know how great this hotel thing is gonna be...

Things I'm gonna miss...

2009-07-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

So we're almost out of here. It's gonna be so sad... but at the same time we're used to packin up and moving at the drop of a dime so bring on the hotel. It's an extended stay one with a tiny table and a mini kitchen. There's gonna be complimentary breakfast which I plan to take full advantage of. They're gonna hate us by the end of the 1st day. There's like 50+ people goin, we're gonna clean them out daily. I'm gonna take enough to eat all day long.

Anyways- since we're leaving this awesome apt and city, I thought I'd put in some pictures to remind me of them down the road. So here it is the best parts of Round Rock all summed up.

The fact that this is the "famous" round rock but there is no significance whatsoever just that it's round. Hilarious... It's just a stupid rock in a puddle of muddy water.

The stupid way people make fences out of stacked rocks. I mean seriously what is that?!

My beautiful pool :(

Going to the city baseball games every sunday and being afraid of getting hit in the head by a foul ball.

But there's also a list of thing I won't miss:

Everyday being over 100 degrees! No matter what time of day it is.

The fact that there's a cop at every turn and they only pull over people from out of state.

And last but certainly not least! Texans pride in the state. Outside of Texas it's a joke "don't mess with texas" but here it's the law!

Texas is so hot hot hot!

2009-07-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! What a fun day, and yet so incredibly long! Branden went to work early in the morning and I went to work... yay... Afterwards though we went out to eat at Fudruckers. We literally had the entire restaurant to ourselves. Which is probably a good thing because they're so slow. They say good food is worth waiting for but really did we have to wait for them to kill the cow too?

So last week for the incentives the boys had to get like 50 sales on saturday which they easily did. Anyways, instead of getting a bbq they got to do diving for dollars. I ended up getting to do it too cuz one of the older guys didn't want to. Imagine this $600 gold dollars thrown into a pool and 35 guys plus me diving for them. It only lasted like 30 seconds but wow that was fun! We got about 30 bucks or something. I imagine this is what a pirate feels like.

You can see me and Branden in the left corner most the time. It's like a feeding frenzy in there!

Bon voyage!!

2009-06-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

Fun fun fun trip! It was so nice to get away from work for a bit. We got to visit Jamaice, the Cayman Islands, and Honduras. (Well I didn't cuz I got sick- but Branden said it was great) Honestly though, from the second I left for Florida at 3:15 in the morning, I just wanted to go back home and be with Tony Bologna. I missed him so much the whole trip. I was worried he would climb under the kitchen cabinets and get stuck or be naughty and tear up the furniture in which case Branden would teach him to fly right off the 3rd floor balcony. Thank goodness he was an angel.

So now we're applying for Law Schools out in Idaho. We really really wanna get in so we can be closer to home. We miss our families very much. Even though the school is still 8 hours away, it's better than 26 right? Plus michigan was a hole. Literally. We really have been praying hard that we don't have to go back to that apt ever again. It's not sanitary! So everyone keep your fingers crossed for us. We'll know probably around the beginning of Aug.

All the live long day

2009-05-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

Poor Branden had a long day today. It's like 95 degrees outside, and the humidity is almost 100%. Texas is a real treat sometimes. After a day of working Branden comes home eats dinner brushes his teeth, and is out cold in about a half hour. He's a good daddy to "Texas Tonado" though. Tony misses his daddy and can't wait for him to come home and play... or sleep.

Hey Y'all

2009-05-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

So here we are in Texas now... Lots of cowboys and swine flu. But really this place is great compared to Michigan. Our new place is beautiful. It feels like a home and we don't have to worry about the ceiling falling down or the sink spittin up anymore.
Tony was an absolute angel on the drive. He literally slept all 20 hours. (Thank goodness cuz I was afraid if he was a pill Branden might have thrown him out the window somewhere in Arkansas. Which by the way is a boring state to drive through.)
My job rocks. I sit in an office all day long where I can read, watch tv, play on the internet, whatever. Literally I'm gettin paid to be lazy. Branden's out there workin hard though. I feel bad I've got it so easy. He's doin good so far. We just need someone with good credit to come along. I swear he could sell shoes to a fish if the opportunity came along. He's gonna be such a good lawyer!

First things First

2009-01-17T12:39:00.001-08:00

I don't exactly know what i'm doing at the moment with this whole blogging thing so bare with me for a moment :) just thought i'd like to start this whole thing since i'm out here in east egypt aka michigan "land of the never ending snow and unfriendly people". no but seriously- it's not like utah. you don't know your neighbors, you don't talk to strangers when you pass them on the sidewalks, and you never go out alone. secretly.... we want to come home...