Post Thanksgiving at the Beach!

After we finished Thanksgiving dinner at Dan's parents we continued on for the remainder of our planned trip for the weekend. Dan signed up to run a Half Marathon in Gulf Shores, Alabama, which ended up being a lot longer of a drive than we had planned on from their house. We arrived around 10pm. Upon arrival we found out that the condo rental company had forgotten we were showing up that day. Usually they give you a code to the building so you can pick up your key that they leave out on the front desk...but since they didn't remember about us, there was no key to be found. We had to wait for a security guard to arrive and get our key for us.

The next morning we had to go back to the main office and pay our balance. They kept on apologizing over and over again for the trouble they put us through...which honestly wasn't that big of a deal, other than we were tired and were sick of being in the car. They ended up giving us a $50 gift card to a local res truant for all the "trouble" they put us through. Dan was also given another $25 res truant gift card, $20 Tanger Outlet gift card, and a free night stay at the condo for the race...so between everything we got a great deal on our weekend getaway! All we paid for was the gas and 2 nights at the condo. We cooked our own breakfast and ate sandwiches for lunch...and had free dinners! It definitely worked out to our advantage!

This is the view from the living room balcony at the condo.

This is the bedroom balcony view.



And this is a picture I took of the pool area. The pool was as cold as ice water but at least the hot tub was nice!

On Friday morning we decided to hit a few souvenir shops. One of them had a really cool Shark as part of the entrance.

After we were done shopping we headed to the Beach! The water was ABSOLUTELY FREEZING! I love looking for shells though so we walked along the beach and let the water hit our legs and feet. By the time we were done at the beach my feet were totally numb:)

There were the CUTEST little birds on the beach. They would run up to the edge of the water to eat bugs and as soon as the tide got close to them they would run away at lightning speed. Their little legs would move so fast you could barely even see them! Dan kept on teasing me that I was just like the birds....I would run up to the water's edge to look for shells and as soon as the water came near me I would squeal and run away because it was so cold! It was totally worth it though!

After we were done searching for shells we attempted to make a sand castle and then buried one another. We were the only people playing on the beach (there were a few people walking on the beach and such...but we were the only ones actually playing like it was summer!) but we had a lot of fun!

Me by our sandcastle...it was collapsing as we were building so we didn't get so far.

Dan by our sandcastle.

I buried Dan entirely except for his head...I accidentally got a lot of sand in his ears too!

Dan imitating the Incredible Hulk....lol

Dan got it easy...he buried me in the same spot I buried him. So all he had to do is pile all the sand on top of me that I had dug out for him!

After the beach we went out to eat at one of the "free" res truants. The food wasn't that great...but the view was nice! (Pardon our extremely cheesy smiles...)

For the rest of the weekend it rained almost constantly but it at least stopped for the race! So although we didn't get much More beach time we enjoyed being able to relax, shop, go to the movies, etc...I even dragged Dan to see Twilight with me for my second time of seeing it...his first!

Thanksgiving....Cajun Style

This year we were able to experience our very first Cajun Thanksgiving. We went to Dan's parent's house and celebrated with all the family, there was almost 30 of us! Overall, we enjoyed it...it was definitely different than we are used to but was nice to experience something new. Our favorite part was the cajun fried turkey, it was SOOOOOO yummy! I never want to eat another baked turkey in my life after tasting that! It was really neat to watch how the turkey is fried as well.

The turkey is fried in 5 gallons of peanut oil. Usually you do it outside but it was too windy so they moved it into the garage. The ladder is used as part of a pulley system to pull the turkey out. I was surprised at how quick it cooked! It only took about 45 minutes compared to the several hours they take to bake.

Close-up of the Turkey

Dan was so closely monitoring the turkey you would think he actually had something to do with it! The only thing he did was eat it!

The sidedishes for Thanksgiving were definitely different than the traditional thanksgiving we are used to. The biggest difference for me was that they do rice and gravy instead of mash potatoes and gravy. I love mash potatoes and didn't quite think I could handle a Thanksgiving without them so I planned on bringing some of my own and making an extra side for the meal. When we got there I learned that Donna's sister-in-law was making a potato dish of some sort so I decided not to make my potatoes, figuring I could live now that there would at least be some sort of potato dish.

When Donna's sister-in-law arrived she came in carrying a huge dish of Mac & Cheese! Who the heck has mac and cheese for Thanksgiving??? I mean seriously...last I checked I have never heard of that before. Anyway, so in the end...I didn't get my potatoes at all....oh well...there is always next year. The turkey still made the day worth it...and the family of course:) I also fell in love with Louisiana Pralines..Donna made the best ones I have ever tasted! I definitely got a sugar high that I didn't need that day but it was well worth it.

P.S. The making of this post was not intented to offend any Thanksgiving Mac & Cheese lovers...

The official Cheerleader

A few weekends ago after Dan finished running 12 miles (I think...I've slept since then...) we went over to help my friend, Jenni, train for a physical test she is taking. So along with the 12 he had already ran he ran another 1.5 with Jenni as well as helped her with her sit-ups and push-ups. Dan seemed to really enjoy helping someone else train, I told him he should become a personal trainer!

Anyways, while Dan and Jenni trained I was the official cheerleader/babysitter/photographer, which was plenty for me...I would much rather be the cheerleader than run myself:)

My official helper...Colt kept on trying to take the camera from me so I took several pictures of him to keep him occupied.

Push-ups

Sit-ups...Cold decided he wanted to do sit-ups too!

Tagged by Julia AGAIN!

8 TV Shows I Watch

1. Jon & Kate Plus 8
2. Home Improvement
3. Cosby Show
4. Trading Spaces
5. Food Network Challenge
6. Ace of Cakes
7. What Not to Wear
8. Leave it to Beaver

8 Restaurants I like

1. Red Robin
2. Cafe Rio
3. Costa Vida
4. Royal Jade (My top 4 fav are in Utah...and where do I live???)
5. Applebees
6. Chili's
7. Moes
8. Carabbas

8 Things that happened yesterday
1. Went to the Gym
2. Worked
3. Set up the Christmas Tree at work
4. Packed for our Thanksgiving Trip
5. Cleaned up some of the clutter in our house
6. Help Dan fill out some paperwork for work
7. Picked up my prescription
8. Fell asleep trying to watch Home Improvement

8 Things I'm looking forward to

1. Christmas
2. Thanksgiving
3. Dan's race this weekend
4. Seeing family and friends in Utah next month
5. Christmas Shopping
6. Finishing setting up my Christmas decorations (I think I have Christmas on my mind...what do you think??)
7. The next Twilight Movie...I am really impatient for that one!
8. Having a house (I am tired of having NO STORAGE SPACE!)

8 Things on my wish list

1. For Dan to find a major and finish school
2. Ditto, but for me
3. To have a house, sooner than later
4. To go somewhere fun on vacation I have never been
5. To have a craft room
6. Visit Dan's mission
7. Be two places at once
8. Sometimes to be 3 places at once

I tag...Jenni, Ellee, Amber, Whit, Megan, Mary, Lora, basically everyone who hasn't done it...

Turkey Trot

Dan ran another race on base yesterday. After the half marathon next week he will have ran 3 races this month. Crazy! I was running late the morning of the race and missed out on seeing him start. I waited in my car where it was nice and warm until I knew it was about time for the first runnesr to be getting in. I almost missed him coming in. My clock must have been off in my car becuase as soon as I walked up to the finish line I could see him running in.

He got second place, about 10 seconds behind the Chief he seems to always be competing against. Dan said it was a hard race because he has been training for this half marathon and had just run 8 miles the night before. He is now up to running 10 miles a day and will probably be running the full 13.1 miles this weekend.

As tradition at a turkey trot, they had a drawing to give away free turkeys. They had 36 turkeys in all and we actually won one! We had just commented a few minutes before that we never win anything and we actually quit even listening to the raffle. They had to call our number 3 times before I realized it was our number.

We were excited to finally win something but have no clue when we will actually cook it! It is definitely a big turkey for just two people. Maybe we will have an early Christmas with a few friends or something before we go to Utah. Who knows. It would have just been easier if we had won the $150 dinner gift certificate they gave out...but oh well! A turkey will come to use sometime. Until then our freezer will just be very, very, full....

Dan after the race.

It was really neat looking outside becuase of the fog that morning. This picture made for a neat background...we just both look a little funny in it!

Dan starting to eat our turkey.

Angel's Wedding

This past weekend we went down to Lafayette for a wedding for Dan’s sister, Angel. Dan’s brother, Spencer, and his family were able to come down from Arizona for the wedding as well. It was nice to visit with family we don’t get to see all the time. We got into Lafayette Friday night and stayed the weekend in a hotel with Spencer and Kristen and their two kids, Abby and Aidan. The second they got there Dan was off playing with Abby and Aidan and never stopped. I don’t think any of the adults even really got a chance to visit with him this weekend because he was busy enjoying playing with the two of them. Aidan has gotten really, really talkative since the last time we saw him and always had something to say. He called Dan, “Uncle”, the entire weekend. He was constantly saying, “Hey Uncle, look at this!” or “Hey Uncle, are these your shoes??” It was really cute, I think we all heard the word uncle at least a thousand times. We are all wondering what he will do when we are in Utah for Christmas in a month and he all of a sudden has 5 uncles. He has never called any of them anything before so it will be interesting to see if “Uncle” sticks for Dan.

The wedding was not until 6 pm Saturday night so we had a full day to just relax and hang out in the meantime. We went shopping, out to eat, and saw Madagascar 2. Dan and I have seen the movie twice now and we both thought it was really cute. Dan absolutely loved it, he was laughing harder than anyone else in the theater.

Angel & Shawn


Aidan sleeping through a portion of the wedding. We all laid down to take a "nap" after lunch before the wedding in hopes he would take one so he wouldn't be grumpy all night. We all ended up falling asleep while Aidan played by himself for the afternoon.

Abby dancing with her dad in her pretty princess dress.

Dan dancing the girl's hearts away. Somehow he ended up spending a portion of the night twirling with all the little girls on the dance floor.

The remainder of the night he was busy eating and eating and eating with his Dad.

Aidan after he woke up from a much needed nap.

Dan dancing with his step mom, Donna.

I stole him away from all the little girls and food for a minute to dance with him as well.

Dolores asked me to get a pictures of my shoes...this isn't the best picture but you can at least tell I am wearing red high heels.



This is what I made Angel for her wedding gift. She had asked me to make it to go above her bed.

Sunday we hung out with all the family at Paul and Donna's house eating wedding leftovers. Dan and Paul spent the afternoon playing with all the kids outside while the rest of us visited inside. It was a lot of fun. Dan was so exhausted after that though that he ended up taking a 3.5 hour nap. We were supposed to leave in the late afternoon to head home but ended up staying longer so he would have enough energy to drive home! Plus, I didn't mind visiting for a little longer. We left around 8:30 and got home close to midnight while I slept most of the way home so I wouldn't be a walking zombie at work the next day.

Our hobbies.....

The day after Halloween we had a very full and busy day. We started off the morning by trying to clean and organize our apartment...a project that seems to always be on going. We are popping at the seams in our apartment so every time we get something new we seem to have to re-organize in order to make it fit. This time, we had to make food storage, Halloween decorations, and some of my crafts fit into places that we didn't even know existed. After working on the project for several hours we took a break so Dan could get some of his homework done.

While he was busy doing homework I went to my friend, Jenni's, house. I got a vinyl cutting machine for my birthday and have been working on several crafts this past month with it. I have even been able to sell a few things I have made on the side. I will post more about those things another day. But for now I wanted to post the pictures of what we made last Saturday together. Jenni just bought a house so we were trying to get it ready for her housewarming party.

We made this welcome sign for her front door.

We also made blocks for both her boy's rooms.

As well as we made decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving.

After I finished at Jenni's house I met Dan downtown for a race. A friend at church had told him the night before about a 5k that was taking place the next day. At the last minute Dan decided he wanted to participate. It was really fun to watch. The race was along the Red River and was at 7pm at night, so they ran in the dark. My favorite part about the race was being able to hang out and visit with some church friends while he ran the race. I am used to hanging out by myself so it was a nice change to pass the time while he ran.

When the first person started to come towards the finish line, neither my friend nor I could quite tell who it was in the dark. At the very last second my friend realized it was Dan even before I did! I tried to take a quick candid shot but wasn't able to in time. I usually can pick Dan out of a crowd by what he is wearing, but this time I didn't see him before the race started. Anyways, we were really excited to see him come in first place! Especially since he hadn't prepared for the race at all...just decided to run it at the last minute!

After the race they had free food and an awards ceremony. Dan got a really cool metal that he is quite proud of. While we were at the race we also learned about a half marathon that is Thanksgiving weekend in Gulf Shores, AL. We randomly decided that night that we really wanted to go to it. We had no plans as of yet for Thanksgiving and neither of us really wanted to just stay home by ourselves. I figured I can cook a nice meal any time I want, so we are basically skipping Thanksgiving per say, and going to the beach instead! Dan is really excited about running the race as well. We figure we may as well spend the holiday enjoying ourselves versus spending the entire day cooking just for the two of us and missing family during the process!

Halloween....

Dan and I decided to dress up this year for Halloween. We were both really excited about the holiday and were definitely looking forward to dressing up and passing out Halloween candy. I love holidays, especially Halloween, so we both decided to get really into it this year. Our first year being married I was in charge of a ward party that night so I didn't really get around to planning anything fun for the two of us. Dan was actually quit embarrassed when he had to stand by our trunk with no costume, no decorated trunk, just a bag of candy I bought at the last minute at Walmart! Then this past year Dan was deployed. So this year we decided to go all out.

We decided to go as "Trick or Treat". Dan was a magician (who does tricks) and I was a candy corn witch (which is a treat)....get it?:) Kinda dorky and silly I know but we both loved our costumes so it was a lot of fun.

I got to dress up for work that day as well, so I got to celebrate Halloween all day long. I asked Dan why he didn't dress up for work, he said he did, that he was dressed up as a Military Personnel....how lame! (The picture is of my friend, Jenni, and I. She dressed up as a punk rocker. You can't really tell, but my hat has the candy corn colors on it as well, and is trimmed with a feather boa.)

After work Dan and I went to our church's trunk or treat. We don't get trick or treaters in our apartment complex so we had to go find them ourselves. We had fun handing out candy to all the kids as well as visiting with our friends. I got to see all the 3 year olds I used to teach at church. They looked so cute! My favorite was one of my friend's little 8 week old boy, she had him dressed up as her little baby bumblebee! It was really cute.

This is a picture of a lady at church (Cathy Noel) and I at the trunk or treat. Everyone kept on saying we looked alike so we decided to get a picture together.

I also made a 2 mummy cakes for my work and the trunk or treat.

After the trunk or treat we went to the boardwalk (a local outside mall that sits right along the river) where they had several activities going on for Halloween. We hung out there for awhile and ended the night with going out to IHOP. I think we must have all been trying to make the holiday last as long as possible...and boy was I exhausted the next day!

I've been tagged twice now.....I get the hint Julia!:)

1. Where did you meet? We met on a blind date, not sure I would recommend that to everyone though...I hated all I went on but this one. Neither of us actually planned on going on a blind date that day but got ringed into it at the last second and didn't know how to say no. Guess it shows when you have great friends who know you well enough you setting you up on the date...things can come from it!

2. How long did you date before you got married? We met January 2, 2006 and were married on August 10, 2006. So about 7 months?????

3. How long have you been married? About 2 1/2 years. Crazy to think that the time has gone by so fast!

4. What does he do that surprises you? He is always doing stuff to help me around the house and surprise me. He often gets me flowers or something when he knows I am having a rough day. But what I love most is when he surprises me by being in a really goofy and happy mood. It seems to often we get busy with life and don't laugh as much as we should...we are generally happy but I love when something all of a sudden makes him smile and laugh so hard that it surprises me and makes me try to remember the last time I have seen him so happy.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? I love when he is so happy that you can see his eyes smiling.

6. What is your favorite quality of his? He is EXTREMELY patient and hard working. A lot of things don't come easy for him but he is the hardest worker I know. The dedication he puts into his schooling is so much more than I ever did when I was in school. He is very patient as well. That is the number one quality I know I need to learn from him.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Mostly babe and on occasion Tus Nxtais Huab Tias (which is Princess in Hmong).

8. What is his favorite color? Red, he was the biggest Bulls & Michael Jordan fan there ever was a kid...therefore, red is by far his favorite!

9. What is his favorite food? Um, probably rice or mash potatoes. He loves rice from serving his mission with the Hmong people but I think more and more potatoes are starting to become a favorite as well.

10. What is his favorite sport? Basketball

11. When and where was your first kiss? It was in his car in front of my house. He had actually planned a whole night's events around it but when I became suspicious of what our date was about...I "accidentally" invited Randy & Julia to come with us on our date. I was freaked out by the idea of being kissed...I know lame, but I was. So I had kinda rained on his parade and he gave up and ended up just kissing me in the car.

12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Probably watch movies together. We like to go out to eat and to movies on the weekends, but even more so we just enjoy watching something together at home on a regular basis. One of our favorite things is to watch a Home Improvement episode together on a really busy day so we can at least spend a little bit of time together.

13. Do you have any children? nope.

14. Does he have a hidden talent? Um, he can make really, really good grilled cheese sandwiches and eggs. I know that sounds funny but he always says he isn't that great of a cook but he definitely can make those two things really well. I don't know why I always burn grilled cheese or overcook eggs...I can decorate cakes but yet I can't cook a stupid grilled cheese sandwich...so I am really grateful for that hidden talent of his!

.15. How old is he? 25. One of the girl's at church the other day guessed he was 21 and I was 27....can you believe that?? They said it was because I act more mature than him but still! I am NOT THAT OLD! I am not 6 years older than my husband! Rather I am almost 4 younger....

16. Who said I love you first? He did. I said it right back to him afterwards. He says that I didn't answer him for ever but I swear my answer followed within a second or two.

17. What’s his favorite type of music? Probably the Goo Goo Dolls. He likes Phil Collins too but he doesn't listen to that nearly as much.

18. What do you admire most about him? Like I said before, that he is such a hard worker and so patient...I admire that even though a lot of things are harder for him to learn than for most that he doesn't give up, he just keeps on working as hard as he can until he succeeds and proves the whole world wrong.

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

About the end of August I started getting really, really excited for Halloween and it was KILLING me because Halloween was still so far away. I told myself I needed to wait a little while to set up my decorations but by about the second week in September I couldn't handle it anymore! Dan was away on a TDY in New Jersey so I spent one of the night's he was gone digging through our storage for my decorations and setting it all up. I also couldn't help myself and bought a few more things to add to our collection as well....

Both of us have been REALLY excited for the holidays this year. I think it is mostly because our first holiday season being married we were dirt poor and hadn't made really any friends yet around here (and were quite homesick at that point) so we didn't do as good of a job celebrating. Then last year Dan was deployed and I was in Utah. I decorated my room in my parent's house and loved celebrating with them but that isn't quite the same as decorating your own place...so this year I have been so excited to say the least!

I took pictures after setting up my decorations but never posted about it and was quite jealous to see a lot of people have now beat me to posting their Halloween decorations! Anyways, here are the few pictures I took and there will be more to follow....I have added to my collection since then, thanks to my parents getting me the Halloween Smores I wanted for my birthday! I will post those as well as pictures from Halloween in a few days! Dan and I are going to the ward Trunk or Treat tomorrow night. A few people have kinda thought we are crazy for going (including ourselves since we don't have any kids!) but I want to celebrate the holiday in every way possible! We don't get any trick or treaters in our apartment complex so the only way I get to pass out candy and dress up is if we go! I am hoping to make a few fun Halloween desserts as well for the occasion...we will see how ambitious I get tonight though!

My favorite is my new Pumpkin Haunted House. The blocks on the bottom left I made this year. I got a vinyl cutting machine for my birthday and did Halloween blocks for my first project and sold them at work. (P.S. If you double click the picture it will appear larger).

Gross!

So yesterday one of my co-workers and I went out to lunch. We decided to go to this little cafe that is just down the street from our tower (which just happens to be called "Just a Little Cafe....lol). Keep in mind there are VERY few food choices in Downtown Shreveport. I had ordered a to-go meal the other day there and it was decent so we decided to go there and order in.

Our meals were fairly good, the place wasn't as cleanly as I would have liked, but I wasn't completely appalled until the end. There was a refillable ketchup bottle sitting on the table. I had looked at it several times during our lunch wondering what kind of sauce was in there. It looked like a sweet & sour sauce with seeds. There was little seed looking things all in the sauce and also all around the top and sides of the bottle...like they had stuck there each time someone had turned the bottle over to get the sauce out.

As we were finishing eating Mandi decided to squeeze the bottle out of pure curiosity and out flew a bazillion of fruit flies. They were everywhere!!! After that you could see that the thousands of seeds, were NOT seeds, rather fruit flies that had been sitting really, really still. We quickly got up from our seats and promised to NEVER EVER go back there again. All of a sudden my fairly good tasting food turned into awful food that made me sick to even think about....YUCK!

Mrs. Smurf and her heavy metal.....

During the past two weeks I took a Fondant and Gum paste class. The first class was last Tuesday and the final class was last night.

The first week I was still really sick but had paid for the class and it was non-refundable so I was determined to go...We were supposed to be learning how to make a flower bouquet out of gum paste to go on top of the cake. The teachers was incredible...it looked so real. Mine on the other hand....well I don't think I will be trying to make it again anytime soon. It was supposed to be a bouquet with wire stems (almost like a corsage) that you could pull off the cake and reuse. Well the teacher accidentally bought the wrong wire so it wasn't strong enough to hold the flowers up. So in the end we ended up cutting off the wires and just arranging the flowers on top of the cake (keep in mind the flowers still had wire inside of them...just no longer had a stem). Overall, I definitely wasn't too fond of the class...probably mostly becuase the cake wasn't my style and I couldn't seem to grasp the concept of making the dang flowers...

I brought my cake the next night to the youth activity and I stepped out of the room for a few minutes when everyone decided to dig into the cake...I had yet to tell everyone that they shouldn't eat the flowers....so when I got back I was informed that one girl found a staple in her cake....which made me laugh a little because it obviously was NOT a staple...rather a wire and everyone else in the room had probably eaten wire without even noticing! YUCK! I wouldn't even try eating the flowers in the first place....fondant and gum paste tastes yucky, let alone with wire in it! Guess that is a lesson learned not to get anxious and just dig into something before you are given permission...because ya never know what could be in it!

I wasn't too excited about yesterday's class after the previous class experience but I decided to go to the class anyways just to see what they were teaching. I am really glad I did. We made a present cake, much more my style....I learned a lot of useful fondant techniques that I know I will use again. I definitely like modern styles of cakes...so yesterday was much more up my alley.

We had to add color to our fondant. Using fondant is a lot like playing with play dough. The teacher put a huge glob of coloring in our ball of fondant and we had to squish it around until it was all mixed. Everyone ended up with bright red hands except the teacher...guess in 20 years of cake decorating you learn the tricks of the trade! Anyways, if my hands would have been blue, everyone would have been calling me a smurf today, no joke! I think next time I will probably just buy fondant that is already colored...I am way too messy of a cook to probably ever catch on to how to do that process in a "non messy" way!

Good news...well at least for now!

Sorry Mary, I know you asked several days ago what I found out from the ENT but I seem to have lost a lot of ambition to do things, such as posting, the past few weeks....hopefully now that I am starting to feel better I will get that ambition back real quick!

When I went to the ENT last week it was confirmed that I had tonsillitis. He informed me that all the prescriptions I had been given in the past were not strong enough to kill it. My mom said it's a wonder I didn't end up in the ER with pain since the meds weren't even working...I seriously considered it a few times late at night but then the pain would always start to dull itself about the time I thought I couldn't take much more. Anyways, so since I had never had any meds strong enough to kill what I had and he was unsure how many times I have actually had tonsillitis or if some of my other times of being sick were from something else...he wants to hold off on the surgery. I was told to come back in two months or if I get sick again before then to come back then. Wednesday night I was also able to get a blessing at church. It seems between the meds and the blessing I really have improved. I am tired and a little sluggish still but I am pretty much back to normal....

Last night my ears and throat started to hurt a little again, along with a sinus headache...but so far it hasn't got worse...so hopefully with all the medicines and vitamins I am taking I will be able to keep it from turning into anything! Dan told me last night that I am taking more pills in a day than he has probably taken in 2 years combined....which is probably true:) Granted, he never takes medicine, vitamins, or anything.....which he should at least take vitamins...but seriously, the two of us could not be more opposite when it comes to stuff like that! I swear sometimes that any immune system or metabolism that I might have ever had, must have been given to him because his is perfect! He rarely, if ever, gets sick or gains a pound after eating everything in our cupboards in one setting! And some days I wonder if mine even exists! Hee hee....

Anyways, thanks family for praying and worrying about me so much lately! My blessing was so very helpful and I am grateful for that. My parents care package they sent has been a big help too!

Now I just need to work on posting about everything else I have been thinking about lately....

Yuck!

Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck yuck. That is all I can say.....I have been sick lots lately. Don't remember if I have really said that on the blog or not, but I have. This past weekend we went to Lafayette for my sister-in-law, Angel's, bridal shower. Sunday morning I woke up not feeling so good and by the time we left to head home Sunday night whole right side of my throat and right ear were just throbbing and haven't stopped since. I instantly had the impression that it was my tonsils, and sure enough it was. I went to urgent care yesterday and they told me I needed to have them removed. They gave me a steroid shot plus several prescriptions. I have had at least 6 episodes of being sick/sinus infections this year, 3 of which have been in the last month. So....tomorrow to the ENT I go! So I guess I will wait to see what he says. If I have surgery, hopefully it will be soon so I can get back to normal before Angel's wedding and our trip to Utah for Christmas.

Rolling with the punches.....

So yesterday Dan was FINALLY promoted to a Senior Airman (E-4) rank. He was supposed to get it about 6 months ago but due to some mixups when his supervisors changed a lot of his paperwork got misplaced and therefore he didn't get the raise. We had to wait 6 long months in order for him to re-apply and the day finally came!

I went to his promotion ceremony and it was really neat. I have never been to one before so I was completely unaware of some of the Air Force traditions. His Commander present him his award and rank advancement. I really like his Commander, he is a very nice man who is very family oriented and is easy to talk to. He said some really nice things about Dan and about both of us in general that we really appreciated. It was nice that his Commander recognized how unique of and individual Dan is. He said that Dan was one of the best assets to his squadron and that they are lucky to have him. He said that no matter what path Dan chooses in life he will always succeed because that is just who he is. He said that Dan is a great man and is always showing improvement each and every day in his job. He said that he was coming quite near to being a perfect human being...but not quite, and that he shouldn't get a big head over it! It was a funny moment...He also congratulated us on being one of the few and far in between couples to have a happy marriage. Anyways, he was a really neat guy. After the award was presented we were able to talk to him a little bit more and learned that he met his wife on a blind date just like us! He said that their meeting was definitely due to the hands of God. It was neat to hear his boss talk so much about God and religion and the importance of good and successful marriages.


After his Commander presented him the award they have a little tradition of how they put on their new stripes. Generally, the Commander will stand on one side and another Officer on the other. Well they had me stand on one side of him instead and I had no idea what was coming...We each had to put stripes on his sleeves and then punch him as hard as we could to make sure they would stay on. I was told to punch him as hard as I could! As everyone came around to congratulate him he was punched about another 20 times. After we left the ceremony he told me that his arms were too sore to do push-ups....I didn't realize anyone really punched him that hard but I guess a few did! Anyways, so now I have an excuse to punch him whenever I want when he is in uniform. I can just blame it on making sure that his stripes are sticking....

Dan & I with his Commander

Dan's new stripes and sore arm.

Dolores, this picture is just for you. I made him push his hat down lower. He claims that they are supposed to wear their hats where they are just sitting on top of their head but I swear I don't see anyone but him wearing it that way! I think that is just his excuse for not wanting to push it down on his head and make him sweat more:)

Corn Maze Pictures

Here are some of the pictures I took of the youth at the corn maze last night.

Top Row (Left to Right): Elisha, Kali, Jacob (he is really short, you might not really be able to see him, we should have had him in the front!), Jaclyn, her friend. Bottom Row: Madison, Cady, Emma, Heather D., and Josh (his family is the one that own's the corn maze).

Bishop Maranto, Jaclyn, and her friend rubber ducky racing.

Sarah and Jean

Cady and Madison eating cupcakes (Cady's favorite food...she begs for us to have cupcakes at every activity.)

Jacob & Elisha riding the cow train.

Another picture on the cow train.

Dan and Josh.

My dear sweet Jean:)

Last night we went to the corn maze for the youth activity for church. A family in our ward owns it. We helped them out a few months ago to prepare for the corn maze so in return they let us come for free. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the activity, especially Jean.

Jean is my cute little Downs Syndrome young woman. She is the smartest downs kid I have ever met. She comes from a family of 14 kids and is the youngest. I think with growing up with so many other kids and with her parents treating her like a normal person she has really learned how to be very independent. She can do more than most kids with the same problems she has. Her parents are definitely gifted in how they have raised her. She is the smartest kid in her Special Ed class and actually helps tutor the others in her class. She is also the happiest downs kid I have ever met as well.

She always runs up to me at church and gives me a giant bear hug and tells me she loves me (she does this to all the other leaders as well). If you are ever doubting your self worth, Jean is definitely the right person to be around. On Sunday she usually sits by me during Young Womens and loves to hang on me and hug me with dead weight and tell me she loves me about every 2 minutes. One of her favorite things to do is to just cling on someone else and let them hold her up....sometimes it gets a little claustrophobic but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

Lately Jean has been starting to really open up with us leaders. She used to be a lot more shy but lately she seems to just thrive off of our attention. Last night she was in the silliest mood I have seen her yet. Every time I would say anything she would say exactly the opposite just to see the reaction on my face. When we were driving to the corn maze a few of the girls and I commented on a really cool house we saw. She instantly said, "That house is not cool!" and was just giggling waiting for me to say, "ya huh" and then she would say "nu uh" and back and forth and back and forth. It was really funny.

Anyways, Dan and I were Jean's partners throughout the maze. She has a hard time walking so we took turns walking slower with her and holding her arm. I think she found her new crush last night. She wouldn't let go of Dan the rest of the night once he started talking to her. She was such a hoot on the car ride home as well. We turned on the movie Madagascar for them to watch. Her parents told me she has only seem the movie once or twice but yet she was quoting the entire movie. It was the funniest thing to watch...she was cracking all us leaders up. She definitely made our day.

I the picture of her at the top of this post while we were in the maze and just loved it! The picture captured every reason why I love Jean so much and how special she makes all of us feel! She is definitely one of the many blessings I thrive off of from serving the with the youth at church.

Wahoo!

For those that don't know...Dan and I have been struggling through him trying to pass his sciences classes in order to get his associates degree for almost a year now. When we met almost 3 years ago he had EVERYTHING done for his associates except for his sciences classes...he was a major procrastinator is all I can say! Science is definitely the hardest subject for him to comprehend and he often gets overwhelmed with the class before it has even started.

For the first year and a half of his Air Force career he was unable to go to school between being in Basic Training, then Tech School, and finally having to complete a ton of required Air Force classes. He had planned on getting back into school last fall but when he deployed we were afraid he would have to put it on hold once again. We decided to have him study and try to pass the Science CLEP test instead that would give him enough credits to graduate. He studied hard his entire deployment and so did I. He would email me with a long list of questions he had while studying several times a week. I then would spend several hours studying in order to be able to answer his questions. It was a lot of work for both of us but also drew us closer together because it was the one thing I could do to help him when he was so far away. Anyways, after 3 months of studying he took the test and didn't pass. We were both very disappointed because that meant he still had to take 3 science classes.

So I quickly signed him up for school for Spring Semester this year through Weber State's online program. We signed him up to take a Nutrition class. He missed almost the first month because he was coming home from a deployment so he had a ton of makeup work to do. That semester was very challenging because we were always trying to get him caught up with his work and we quickly learned he definitely prefers learning in an actual class setting.

This summer he took a biology class on base. The teacher didn't have a book, only lectured. Dan would bring a tape recorder to the class and record everything the teacher said. The man was like 90 years old and he always sounded like he had a frog in his throat. His voice would drive us both nuts as Dan studied at home! The class was a challenge once again because we were out of town a lot during the summer and biology was just a hard concept in general for him to grasp, let alone the teacher's teaching methods adding to that.

This semester he is taking his last class in order to get his associates degree and we are beyond thrilled to have this done and over with! Well at least until he starts on his bachelors (hopefully that will include absolutely NO SCIENCE CLASSES!!!!). It is a slow process to take only one class at a time but I guess you have to do what you have to do. He is taking an Astronomy class at a local college and is doing great! He has taken two tests in the class so far and has gotten the high in the class! Today he called me and told me his newest test score was posted on the Internet and he wanted me to look it up for him. He got a 97% on it!!!!! He was so excited and couldn't stop shouting "Wahoooo" in the phone....hee hee. If it weren't for the fact that he was driving at the time I know he would have been jumping up and down with excitement! He said that he can't remember ever getting a score that good on a test in his life, let alone on a science test!

Anyways, the point to this whole story is all all the torture from this past year feels like it is FINALLY paying off. This past Thursday was my birthday. Dan took me out to dinner and then we stayed home for the rest of the night so he could study for his test the next morning. I did my own thing for most of the night but then helped quiz him for about an hour before we went to bed. I was slightly disappointed with our evening plans but knew that is what needed to be done. He had been gone for 4 out of the 7 days of class that he was being tested on. He had been on temporary duty for the Air Force during those class days. So he was quite stressed for the test after having missed so much...so getting a 97% after just that alone was extremely exciting to both of us!!!! Then you add all of last year on to that....and that only intensified our excitement!

Dan asked me if we could go out and celebrate...I told him we could go to the corn maze tonight (we were already going anyways for our church youth activity tonight). I don't think he liked my joke too much...I will have to think of something fun to surprise him with for doing so good another day when we aren't so busy....

Anything but Cake!

Now that life should be getting back to normal (whatever that is....) I promise to post more things other than about cake!

Week 4

This past week was my last cake decorating class, well at least for the beginning course. Dan got home from his TDY a week ago Thursday and came home with a cold. Between sick co-workers and a sick husband somehow I seemed to catch it all! I came down with the flu, ear infections, a sinus infection, etc...I woke up feeling miserable on Sunday morning and stayed in bed for 3 straight days. I finally went back to work on Wednesday, not because I felt that good but because I was ready to get back to life before I got any more behind. The doctor had prescribed me 250 mg of Sudafed a day. If you look at a box of over the counter Sudafed, the max for the day is 120 mg. So to say the least, this drug that normally can make it hard to sleep basically kept me awake all week long. I finally quit taking it last night so I could get some rest and slept 12 hours straight! I have been on the slow road to recovery all week long but think I am finally on the last lap of the track.

On Tuesday, as you know, I have my cake decorating class. I really really wanted to go, which I knew wasn't very logical, but I went anyways. I made sure I left the classroom each time I started to have a coughing fit and used lots of hand sanitizer as I learned how to cut, shape, and decorate a fish cake. By the end of 1 1/2 hours of cake decorating I was exhausted! It was the most I had done in over 3 days! I am still glad I went though. It gave me a chance to get out of the house and I am sure someday I will have the need to make a fish cake again, well...maybe not but you never know!

Week 3

A few weeks ago I had week 3 of my cake decorating class. We were told to bring 30 cupcakes...annoying that one box of cake mix only makes 24 cupcakes. So in the end I made two boxes and had 48 cupcakes. When I got to class we only used about 15, so in the end I didn't even need to make the 30!! So when I got home that night I still had undecorated cupcakes coming out my ears...I stayed up late that night icing them all so that I could take them to Young Womens the next night.

The next day upon returning home from work I found them all covered in hundreds and hundreds of sugar ants...ughh! We get sugar ants like crazy here, they are definitely my least favorite thing about the south. By the way, did I tell you I HATE SUGAR ANTS?????? For those of you lucky enough to have never come across a sugar ant they are teeny tiny red ants that are attracted to anything and everything that might possibly be sweet in your house, such as toothpaste, food, crumbs, etc. I know of friends that have to keep all their groceries like cereal and everything in the fridge in order to keep the ants away. We get them a lot but haven't had to do that yet. But this time the ants were more frustrating than they have ever been. I had all the cupcakes in sealed rubbermaid containers and they still found their way in!!!

Anyways, we learned how to decorate lots of cute cupcakes in the class as well as how to make a cupcake cake. I really enjoyed it and it is probably one of the things I will do most often out of everything I learned in the class.