Noki

Noki is Parker's mom's dog. He is a miniature schnauzer like Ando but i think he suffers from giant ism. He is large for a miniature anything. Ando currently weighs in about 10 pounds and Noki i believe is about 23 pounds. Anyways, Parker and his mom went to visit and spend Christmas with Parker's sister who lives in New York City. They left on 12/17 and i think coming back 1/2. It's a long time to have your dog in a boarding kennel so Mike volunteered us to dog sit. Which is fine. I'm happy to help but somehow I'M doing most of the work. Well after trying to get everything ready for Christmas and overall holiday stress i broke down. So now Mike is helping a little more. Its hard having 2 dogs, especially when the one that's not yours is suffering from social anxiety and freaks out when anyone comes in or out of the house. He barks and growls at everything! And right on cue Ando starts barking because Noki is. Its madness i tell you!
Noki is also sort of a wuss. He wont stand up to Ando. Ando is a big dog in a mini body i think. He is mean! One day we thought instead of constantly yelling at them to play nice or separate them , we'd just let them work it out on their own. BAD IDEA! Noki's ear and back were bleeding! So now we keep close watch over them or Noki stays with Mike and Ando with me. It makes it loads easier (and safer) that way! I don't want to see Noki go but it is easier with just your own dog!


Noki



Ando & Noki

Goodbye to The Cone

When Ando got his "snip-snip" the vet said that he would have to not lick down there for 2 weeks, and he desperately was trying to lick himself so we had to buy a cone. So 2 weeks came and went but he still had a scab and i wasn't sure if that was ok or not. So i called the vet and the tech said to keep the cone on another week but i could also put some hydrogen peroxide on it to help it heal and dry it out, so twice a day i soaked a cotton ball with a 50% solution of hydrogen peroxide solution and applied it gently to the area in question. The tech said that she would make me an appointment for Dec 24 in case it wasn't healed by then so we could have Dr. Good look at it. Well Dr Good said that it was just a stitch and he probably would've been ok without the cone after post-op day 7. But he simply cut it off and that was it. I was so mad! I have been dealing with cone dog scratching loudly at the cone, scooping snow into while running, and running into everything (including my legs) for over a week when i really didn't need to! So i showed him what I'd been dealing with: bruises on my calves from this cone ramming my leg several times a day for the past couple weeks!

So needless to say, we are terribly happy to say goodbye to the cone. And for your entertainment purposes, here are pics of my beaten up legs!

My right leg definitely got the worst of with the 2 lines of bruising it but there are smaller bruises on the left as well


this is a closer pic of the right leg, they're almost healed so they aren't very dark anymore but definitely still visible and tender!

The People Downstairs

Mike bought a house in February 2008 and we have lived here ever since. It is a 5 bedroom 3 bath so he decided that it would help financially if we found some room mates. Parker is a friend of ours who use to live with Mike so he was a given. He is a perfect room mate. He's not home a lot, but when he is he cleans up after himself and is cool to hang out with.
Now before i go any further, for those of you who don't know me very well, i am a clean freak. With that said, we also had Jeremy move in. Mike knew him from high school. He is the biggest source of stress in my life. He is by far the messiest person I've ever met. It has been a constant battle for the past year and it is what Mike and I fight most about. Steve is also someone Mike knew from high school and he moved in over the summer sometime, but in his contract it says that if he's messy, he has to move out. They have just month-to-month leases so they can leave whenever. It's gotten bad enough that we have separate freezers because they buy loads of bulk items that never get eaten. I have split the fridge down the middle, tired of up to 8 salsa containers and several pasta sauce jars. They never clean up their spills in the fridge or anywhere. I have to mop almost weekly. At one point Mike took away the garbage can in the kitchen because it always sticks and never gets emptied. They've never cleaned their bathroom. Dishes stay on the counter sometimes for up to a week. They never wipe the counter when they are finished. Once i came home to chunks of cottage cheese on the counter tops. I've resorted to leaving notes, like your mom use to do when you were 7: ("please clean this, please don't leave this out" etc.) because the last time i confronted Jeremy in person he made me cry. And instead of just picking up their shit they turn it around on me. For example, i wrote a note that "the counter tops still weren't getting cleaned. please clean up after yourselves" because the counter tops had chips and salsa mess all over them. The next morning i awoke to the note stuck to a diet coke can that Mike had left out not more than 12 hours earlier. So he took care of the can and i stuck the note to the dishes that had been sitting by the sink for the past 5 days. This morning when i woke up, the dishes were done but they stuck the note to the towels i had drying over the rail from drying the dogs and wiping up all the water that everyone (themselves included) get in the house with wet shoes and had absolutely nothing to do with the counter tops.. It is completely irritating. As if to say that they only leave things out because upon a rare occasion we do too. It makes me so mad that its driven me to hatred. I don't honestly hate anyone, but i am hating them. So much that EVERYTHING they do just pisses me off!
This was maybe for my benefit than that of the readers, but i feel better letting you all know. Mike just gets mad when i complain so this is my new outlet. You may want to not read them in the future, but it really helps to let it all out!

Christmas Craziness!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I usually complain because I'm not a huge fan but it is nice to get to see the relative i don't get to see normally, and to spend more time with the ones i SHOULD see more! I'll tell you all about my Christmas Craziness..

CHRISTMAS EVE
Christmas eve dinner is a tradition, for as long as i can remember, where we go to my Aunt Kathy's house (my dad's sister). She lives in the far away town of Riverton, so i should see her more often but i know at least for Christmas Eve i will be seeing her! My Uncle Mike, Aunt Kerrie, and cousin Josh came from Ephraim, they are the ones i really only get to see once a year. My cousin Mitchell and his wife Kelly were there and my immediate family, (Dad, Cyn, Angela, Cody & Amiee, Tori) who also brought Vivian who is from Brazil and lives with them currently. Aunt Kathy always has fun little games for us to play, she really goes all out! I can honestly say that its what i most look forward to at Christmas time!
Here are some pics:


My niece and me


Mike, Me & Tori (i think the scarf is creating an optical illusion, i swear my neck isn't super long!)


CHRISTMAS DAY
Christmas morning Mike went to work a 6 hour shift for KBUL93 (6am-noon). So i was woken up at about 530am by dogs jumping on my bed! But i did get a few more hours sleep after that.
930am
Breakfast and opening presents with my mom, Todd, Cody, Amiee, Uncle Rob, Cousin Shane, Jaime, Pete, & Brooke.
100pm
Over to Grandma Pat's house (Todd's mom) they were already done with breakfast and gifts but we hung out with them for a little bit. Then i ran home to pick up Mike and Ando for the next stop.
230pm
Off to my Dad's. He lives on 6400west in west jordan and he had about 4-6 inches of snow in his neighborhood, which i guess NEVER gets plowed. This was interesting trying to get my little car there, but we did make it! We had a lunch here (turkey, ham, mashed tatos, etc). My step mom, Cynthia, makes the best pecan pie, and bless her heart, she made 2! I ate more than one person should eat! Then we opened presents and hung out a bit and visited. Then we ran home to drop off Ando to head to the last Christmas stop.
600pm
Mike's parents had a prime rib dinner waiting for us. (I was stuffed already when we got there) But we ate and opened presents then Mike's dad made us Creme Brulee. It was SO yummy. I was to the point of pain since i had consumed so much food that day! It was fun to get to spend time with Mike's brother, Braden, and his new wife, Meg, we played some games and hung out.
I think it was about 1100 before we made it home in all the snow.

It was an exhausting day, but a good Christmas. I am use to the several families in one day, my parents have been divorced for about 16 years now, so I've learned to split and share holidays for most of my life, I think Mike was a little overwhelmed though! But now that it's over, I'm glad it's over! Time to get ready for the new year, and bowl games! :) Go UTES!

Surgery for Ando

Yesterday Ando got neutered, had 2 baby teeth pulled, and had a microchip placed. I was planning on neutering him since we got him because I didn't have any intention to breed him. Recently i was thinking of putting it off but his adult teeth were growing in and his baby teeth weren't coming out on their own, the vet warned me that this could be the case and suggested that we wait to neuter him until 5-6 months old and if they were a problem, we would just pull them while he was under anesthesia for the neutering. So we did it. Now I am completely regretting it! I feel like it was an unnecessary surgery (except for the teeth). He has to wear this ridiculous cone. He cant run for 2 weeks so i have to leash him all the time, which is particularly fun in the middle of the night when i try to get bundled up to keep warm and have Ando pull me through the dark in my poo-filled back yard! It's seriously a landmine. Don't worry, i bought a pooper scooper today so i can try to keep as few piles as possible out there. But it is seriously going to be a long 2 weeks! And at the end of that 2 weeks i am dog sitting another dog for 2 and a half weeks. As if Christmas season wasn't crazy enough on its own!

I have a Christmas Tree!

Mike let me decorate for Halloween and put some fallish things in the house but he was hell bent on no Christmas decorations. He HATES Christmas! I'm not a huge fan myself but I LOVE decorating! So Mike's parents showed up to our house Saturday to take us to a jazz game and his mom hauls in a Christmas tree for me! Mike agreed that i could have one as long as it was shorter than the lamps in our living room (like 2 feet) but his mom thought it just had to be shorter than the lamp and table together so she got one that was 4 feet tall. And because it's from his parents, he can't say no! The best part about it is that its pre-lit! I seriously took it out of the box and it was done! Hooray for Christmas decorations! (in moderation anyway)

This Morning

Last week i woke up by 5:30am each morning and ran 2 miles on the treadmill trying to make it a habit. We are going to Cancun in January and wanted to look less chubby in my bikini ya know? Well this week I've not done any getting up early or working out. This morning i woke up really late, well actually Mike had to wake me up. Then I made him wait to shower so I could and this had a domino effect on our morning. I missed the turn to the shortcut to the trax station so he jumped out on the corner and ran the rest of the way to avoid missing the train, then i hit a construction cone. Yeah, I'm one of the retards that can't figure out which side of the cones I'm suppose to be on. State street and 7800 South is currently the worst intersection ever, I have to deal with it at least twice a day and i wish they'd hurry the construction along! It's awful. The worst part about oversleeping is the rushing around that you have to do after that ruins the morning! I was dreaming about UTI's and sinking ships and was surrounded by people who i knew but don't know in real life. It was pretty crazy.
Well that was my day. But I got a really nice thank you letter in the mail today from a patient so it helped my mood! Work usually lightens my mood. Its filled with people who need me, it gives me purpose, so i feel like I'm helping people and its a good feeling!

Save Thanksgiving!

My boss said something to me that other day that i completely agree with. He said he wants to petition to save Thanksgiving. He says that he really likes Thanksgiving and is sick of it being overshadowed by Christmas. I mean, people took down Halloween decorations and next thing you know, there are a billion Santa's everywhere already! I love thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday! This year i really got a full one too! Thursday we celebrated with my mom, then Friday we went to my dad and stepmom's, then Saturday it was off to Mike's parents. Not to mention Friday night was a grizz game and Saturday night was a jazz game. It was a full weekend! But seriously people! Can we decorate for Thanksgiving or Fall in November and leave the Christmas decorations for the month of December? It only seems fair!

Here are some pics..

My mom, me & Zeidyn

Mike & me

Twilight

As if I thought I couldn't like Twilight anymore from just reading the books over and over, the movie has me completely obsessed! I've seen it twice. It's wonderfully wonderful! I really want to see it again and again. I'm looking for a reason to see it again! I haven't been this crazy since i was in like junior high and titanic came out. I LOVE IT! So.. if anyone wants to go to the movies, let me know, it just gets better the more i see it!

Utes Win! 48-24

GO UTES! 12-0
Amy and i have had season tickets to the U football for 2 seasons now. The first season we were at the north end zone which was fun but you can't really see anything at the opposite end of the field. This year she wanted tickets at the end of a row and i wanted seats on the east side of the stadium so the sun would be on us for the longest amount of time possible. (cus it gets dang cold and the sunshine helps!) So we ended up in section 31 clear up on row 56. It was pretty good, a few REALLY warm games (which i enjoyed) but today when we got there it put us surrounded by people wearing blue. This ruined my spirit before the game even began. The worst part was that the tall kid who sat next to me was the biggest asshole ever! I thought to myself "this is why i hate BYU!" every call was unfair to this kid, and everytime our kicker was up he'd yell "break his leg" or "break his arm" when there was a pass thrown. Don't get me wrong, i like a good rivalry but to wish the other players to be hurt is just bad sportsmanship and bad karma i think. The one that really pushed me over the edge what when he yelled "heck yes". Seriously. "HECK YES". I was 2 seconds away from punching him in the face. Dont worry, sweet justice was just around the corner. One blue spectator from behind me says at the end of the third quarter "the utes havn't scored at all this half!" then we bust loose and kill them! Most interseptions i've ever seen in one game! And then, in the blink of an eye, the blue-wearing persons were gone. Now i can't be too negative, some of them were very nice and congratulated us on the win as they were leaving. But i know we'll make damn sure that we never are in a section again that any blue fans out number red fans! We tailgated this game too, which was a blast!

It was a great game though. Utes win 48-24. So go Utes! Here are some pics.

this was a cake at the tailgate party

Kam picking Am's teeth. Don't worry, its a bonding ritual, like when monkeys pick at each other. This will only bring them closer together :)

This kid was riding around the tailgate lot, he certainly was getting lots of attention..

Gotta drink red drinks!

Me and Am


Me, Am, Todd, my Mom & Kam. cheers!

Me, Am & Kam at the game.

(I'm still quite certain that Amy never gets cold..)


The fans rushing the field.

(Notice the hat in front of me, one of the few that stayed until the end)

GO UTES! (sorry to BSU fans, i know our win messed up your bowl game)

The Holy War...

There are about 20 people that work in my office and when it comes to Utah vs. BYU we are strongly divided. We always have a "tail gate party" the week of the big game. We all bring red or blue foods to share and dress up. Here are some pics..








Jess and me


Judy and me



This is what we think of the Y!


Jess, Layne, me & Joanna




Dr Hansen was one of the biggest BYU fans in our office. Janine says that she decorated our ENTIRE office blue in his memory.. I think she'd have done it anyway. In any case he is missed, especially during football season!

Hockey

Mike bought us season tickets to the Grizzlies this year. I'm not as into hockey as he is but it is fun to watch! It's fast paced and has lots of action and fights.. and the new coach is HOT! and we sit on row 10 just behind their bench so we can see him the whole time :) but i really do watch the game too! Friday was their "pink in the rink" game to support breast cancer awareness so they have the ice all pink and wear pink jerseys that they auction off after the game. This was actually a pretty good game too, they were tied and went to a sudden death overtime which ended in a tie as well so it came to a shoot out and we won!

Go Utes! 10-0

November 6 was the Utes vs. TCU game. It was one of those games that have you at the end of your seat the entire fourth quarter! We trailed TCU 3 to 10 almost the whole game then by the hair of our teeth pulled off the win in the last minutes of the game. All i can say is that i froze my ass off so a win certainly made it worth it!


This is our "black out" game, we were all suppose to wear black, this is why you see hardly any red..


I had on long johns and 2 pairs of socks under my jeans, a tank top, 2 shirts, 2 jackets, a coat, mittens, a hat, hand and toe warmers. Amy had on a turtle neck, fleece jacket, some fuzzy kind of pants, and a pair of my mittens... who looks colder? It makes no sense! I don't think she ever gets cold!

The fans rushing the field.

Happy Halloween!

Todd (& my mom) always grow the best pumpkin patch each year. Todd brought me this pumpkin this year, it's 65 pounds! I couldn't even pick it up. So Mike hauled it in the house for me and onto the counter and i started carving.. this took me the entire evening but i finally finished! Mike was worried about it getting smashed so we kept it in the back yard. I just want to see the little emo high school kid who tries to pick up my pumpkin, i doubt they'd get it very far if they could even pick it up at all!

Ando was Dogzilla

Jaime & Pete's Wedding

My step sister Jaime got married last weekend to Pete. They were married at a counrty club in Cedar Hills. It was decorated so so cute! And it was great weather. Congrats to Jaime and Pete! Here are some pics...

My Mom and step dad Todd. One of the wedding colors was brown. They don't usually wear brown, and NEVER wear matching clothes. :)


Me and Mike


Aimee (& baby Mckaus), Cody, Me & Mike

Oddly enough i have no pics of the bride and groom.. They looked good too though. :)

Parking

I was up at University Hospital this evening visiting my uncle who has been there for the past several weeks with heart failure. He is having surgery tomorrow to have an LVAD placed to assist his heart until a donor becomes available for a heart transplant. It's been a very hard few weeks and even harded to say goodbye to him tonight not knowing what the future holds. But i do have some comfort with the words of his son, my cousin, who has loads of faith that says with certainty "What's meant to happen will happen". I will keep you all posted on his progress.



My spirits were lifted when i found a sticker place above one of the reserved parking stalls in the hospital parking garage.


I think i need this on a magnet to place on cars or those really big trucks that take up more than one space. Anyways, i thought it was pretty funny and wanted to share it.
So.. Don't park like an idiot! :)

Me in the Kitchen

This is quite possibly an oxymoron.. I really have been trying to cook more and be domesticated but my klutziness gets in the way! I was making banana nut muffins (what i do when my bananas go bad before i can eat them) and dropped the open flour container on the floor. Don't even ask me how, and it even managed to get inside 2 cupboards and the drawer. Then in all that commotion i couldn't even remember if i had already added 1 or 2 cups so i had to dig most of it out of the mixture (well try anyway) and remeasure it! Mike gets a kick out of it though, i spill lots of things while trying to cook.
But I'm happy to report that at least they were edible!

Copilot

I take Ando with me whenever i can when i go out so he doesn't have to spend any extra time in his kennel, especially on weekends. I had some running around to do this past Saturday before the Utes game so i just put his harness on and buckled him in and away we went! He is great little copilot!

Wyoming Cowboys

My mom and step dad are big Utes fans and go to most of their football games that are in close driving distance. They invited me to go to the Wyoming game with them on October 11. I decided that since they had so much fun when they went 2 years ago that i would go too. Apparently my brain was off because i didn't think that Wyoming in October was a bad idea.. It was COLD! Fortunately it didn't snow while we were there. We did end up leaving at half time because we had a pretty substantial lead and the storm was rolling in and didn't want to get stuck in the snow!


It's funny because nearly everyone i told that i was going to the game told me to wear neutral colors and watch out because the Wyoming fans are the meanest! But when we got to the tailgate lot (decked out in Utes attire) everyone was so nice! They offered us drinks and food, so when i asked them about the mean-ness everyone had warned me about, their reply was "We just hate BYU!" It was hilarious, so we just said "so do we!". I'll go back to War Memorial any day!




They have kind of a small stadium







Todd was sleeping in the back seat, he didnt like our country music so he stuck a bunch of tissues in his ears. See the big piece stickin out? :)

I'm getting a Nephew!

I am going to have a nephew. Cody found out that his baby is a boy on Monday. He was the most excited I've heard him in years. You know, like the "Santa came!" kind of excited on Christmas morning. It was fun to hear him tell me all about it. Due date is Feb 4 i think so I'm sure I'll have pics when the time comes.

One Hell of a Game! GO UTES!

Probably one of the best games I've ever seen! Here are some pics. It was amazing!
Final Score: Utes 31 Beavers 28

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