Josh's Birthday

This monday was Josh's birthday. Tammie and I decided it would be fun to surprise him, so they drove up on sunday and I had Josh take the dogs to the park so they could be waiting for him when he got back. We had such a fun time playing the games Josh got for his birthday, and we ate some yummy pizza, chicken wings and, of course, cake. Happy 25th Joshy!!

On Josh's actual birthday we didn't do too much since we had celebrated the night before. We had eggnog french toast and bacon for breakfast. When the family left Josh and I took the dogs for a hike up green canyon. We had wanted to shoot his 22, but target shooting wasn't allowed so we settled for a hike and laughing at the puppies being silly in the snow. (note keisha's frozen beard below) We found a cave so of course we had to climb up into it.

I won!!!

this afternoon something amazing happened. I was just getting home from class and eating a snack when the ups guy dropped off a package for me. I hadn't ordered anything so I was really confused. I opened it and it was Jillian Michaels' (the mean trainer from biggest loser) book and little exercise cards. I remember looking at them online because I had seen her commercial and went to check out her website, but I KNOW that I didn't enter any of my information. So I was panicking that someone had stolen my card and then out of guilt they sent me a gift? I checked my account...nothing. Finally Josh thought of opening the front cover of the book voila! there was a little note that said "congrats on being a self magazine sweepstakes winner!" This was my face when I found out.



Even though it wasn't the best prize, I couldn't believe I actually won something. It was great. After I read the card I remembered entering last June when I started the self challenge...that I never completed. It was a sweepstakes where you could win a ton of different prizes and you pick your top five that you would like to win. My strategy was to pick ones that I thought I actually had a chance at winning (not like the second honeymoon to Greece). Jokes on you sweepstakes losers! My strategy paid off!! I know I know..its only a book. haha

I forgot to put up pictures of camping a couple weeks ago. So here they are!

Concert!

The day after we got home from the cruise Josh and I drove down to orem to go the the Blink 182 concert. It was great. The lights the used were really neat, and it was so fun to sing along to all there songs from when I was younger. Taking back sunday played before them and they were really good too. We got some pretty cool pictures. At the end of the show travis Barker did this drum solo and they lifted him on this suspended platform and it actually rotated when him parallel to the ground. It was awesome. We ate at dennys with Josh's brothers after the show. and then we got to drive two hours home.

Cruise to Mexico!

Josh and I went on a cruise last week and we had so much fun. We had to reverse our itinerary so we could go around a category 4 hurricane, but we were able to stop at the ports so it worked out well. It was fun to go back to Puerto Vallarta where we spent our honeymoon. We got chips and salsa at a restaurant on the boardwalk and we were able to watch the sun go down over the ocean. It was so beautiful. In Mazatlan we rented 4 wheelers and drove them around the city and then down to the beach. It was such a blast. I even drove a little on the beach even though I was little nervous since I had just seen two people roll there’s. Luckily no one got seriously hurt because some of those guys were a little crazy. We also went to a really neat resort that had this little cliff you could jump off of into the pool. We got really sunburned that day so we tried to avoid being out in the sun for the rest of the cruise.

Like the tattoo I got? It was so cheap I couldn't resist.

Just kidding. Its henna and it has already faded haha. I have to admit I liked how it looked but I could never get a real one.

Josh and I had fun at the casino. Mostly Josh did since I lost all the money I played. Josh did pretty well in Black Jack and by the end he was up pretty big so we treated ourselves to some new watches. The boat had a good deal on them. It’s nice to be home with our doggies but I miss the sun already.

I turned the big 2-0 last monday. It was the first time I have ever gone to school on my birthday. It wasn't as fun as I thought..probably since I don't have a locker for someone to decorate. haha. Josh had to work, but when he got home we went out to dinner to my favorite place, happy sushi. We may have over did it...we got two large rolls, two pieces of yellow tail nagiri, veggie tempura, and gyoza. It was so yummy. We had a good laugh at the people sitting next to us too. They had never eaten sushi before and were making a big show about how cool they felt eating the raw fish in a california roll. For those of you who don't know a california roll has no fish in it. Its crab, cucumber and avocado. I thought it was funny anyway. We had our waitress take a picture of us, and then we took one of the yummy rolls.

After dinner we took the dogs to the park. We were going to see a movie and we didn't want Keisha barking in her kennel all night while we were gone. Shes already getting so much bigger. When we go for walks she can actually walk instead of running to keep up with Faye and I. She sleeps through the night now too so I don't have to get up every few hours to let her have a potty break. I was getting so many mosquito bites it was a little ridiculous. This is Keisha and Faye playing. Josh thinks Keisha looks like a bear.

Birthday Present!

For my birthday I got an adorable little golden retriever. At first we weren't sure if it would work out with the town house, but she has been surprisingly very well behaved and she even calms down faye. We decided (more like I did:] ) to name her Keisha. Get it? Kemo + Miesha = Keisha. They love to play under this big tree right outside our back door. Its so cute. Faye will only play with her laying down. Shes usually surprisingly gentle, but some times she has to show the boss is and she just kind of walks on top of her. Anyway..last sunday we went up to Bear Lake and we let the dogs run around. They both had a blast (especially faye who got a kick out of chasing the seagulls.) It was so fun to finally be able to enjoy some sunshine. Here they are!

Keisha looooved to roll around in the sand. I don't know if she just wanted to make it hard to give her a bath or what..but it was cute. Faye on the other hand ran around and around for a half hour trying to catch these birds. She got soaking wet. It was so funny. Her ears look hilarious all wet because they're so long. haha

Keisha loved playing in the water too!

Faye got so mad when we had to put her on a leash since she kept running by this couple who didn't look very happy with having a wet dog running back and forth in front of them. I can't understand why. She wouldn't even look at us when we called her name. Keisha got so exhausted. she fell asleep after 10 minutes. Of course we didn't leave without getting a couple raspberry shakes.

Funny Faye

Well Josh went up to pocatello for work so i had yesterday and today to hang out with faye and work on my sewing projects. They are coming along great...i'm finally getting the hang out my machine and I bet my dress will be done in a couple days or so. maybe...if I'm not to embarrassed of it I will post a picture. :)

Faye has been so weird since she got spayed. She only sleeps on her back with her legs up in the air. Maybe because it hurts to lay on her tummy? Whatever the reason..it cracks me up when I look at her. She is so cuddly now too. Its cute but I'll have my laptop on my lap and she will just climb on in..or she goes around the couch to sneak up behind me to lay her head on my chest.

Thats her...sleeping. you can even see her baldness. haha She snores pretty loud when she sleeps like that.

Well not much has happend over the past few days. Except that Faye got spayed on friday. It was so sad and when I went to go pick her up she seemed to be so mad at me and then when we got home she just went into her bedroom and layed down (she usually HAS to be in the same room as whoever is home,) but then like 15 min later she came out and looked at me and then went back to her room. It was kind of funny and I realized she was just tierd..but it made me so sad to see HER so sad. Shes doing great now..you can hardly tell she got surgery except for the nice bald patch on her stomach. I think josh was more upset about her hair getting shaved than her being all sluggish. Just kidding babe!!

The move in date is set for April 8th and we decided on paint colors today so that we can paint the weekend before so that all of fayes hair wont get stuck to the wet walls.

Josh and I found a new apartment (well, townhome)!! We are moving in April to Devonshire. I'm pretty excited, especially since they are located right behind walmart so if I'm feeling like ice cream at 3 in the morning it won't really be an inconvenience to go get some.

Nothing else is really new with the Dearing Family. My sister Kim came up to logan for the first time since Josh and I have been married to hang out and see the apartment. We went to happy sushi which always always makes me happy with its sushi... also I'm still reading the times and I came across an article that made agree with it out loud like 5 times when I was reading it. If anyone agrees that the spirit of the American market is about to be destroyed you should read it. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/opinion/05Cohen.html?em The title of the article is "ONE FRANCE IS ENOUGH" Could the message be a little clearer??? :) I didn't agree with the whole thing, but you know what they say, if two people agree on everything thene there is no need for one of them. Anyway, this is my favorite part:

"Churn is the American way. Companies are born, rise, fall and die. Others come along to replace them. The country’s remarkable capacity for innovation, for reinvention, is tied to its acceptance of failure. Or always has been. Without failure, the culture of risk fades. Without risk, creativity withers. Save the zombies and you sabotage the vital."

While I'm venting...you know what else really really bothers me. People who are from different states or countries who bash where you live or talk up where they're from when they DON"T LIVE THERE ANYMORE!! I just keep thinking if your 'home land' is so fantastical then why are you living here? It just doesn't make sense and it annoys me to no end. I wish more people would only open their mouths when they had something interesting or productive to say. I don't care about what actor is from Canada (who currently resides in L.A.) or that the south is amazing because so many good basketball players grew up there. Give it a rest already. I have also been wondering whatever happened to the philosophy that one should pray in private. Unless someone asks you should assume no one wants to hear about your mission preparations or the fact that watching sports on a sunday is breaking the Sabbath. please. If you have to advertise your celestial status I'm pretty sure that in all actuality its not worth nearly as much as you think.

I guess thats enough moaning for one day. I think I'm just in a whiny mood since I'm hungry at work and the stupid vending machine ate my quarters when I wanted doritos. I get pretty cranky when I'm hungry and the fact that I'm out 60 cents didn't exactly lift my spirits. oh well.

Dream House

My mom is visiting in Salt Lake because her and my dad want to find a house up here! It would be exciting except that I'm pretty sure that it won't happen for a long time since they have been looking at houses in arizona for the past 4 months. Well I went house hunting with her on friday, and I found the house that I have been dreaming of!! Its amazing..but I think you can tell more from the pictures I conveniently found online.

yea..I LOVE that house. I just want to move our clothes into the closet and call it a day. Did I mention that it also has an amazing theatre room AND craft room. :)

ANYWHOOO...I'm at work and I'm supposed to be making calls but it has been such a slow day that I decided to take a break and do a little Internet surfing and I realized how ironic it is that even though we have so much information available at the tip of our fingers, Americans are becoming progressively more and more stupid. Ha. I like to make myself feel smarter by reading the good ol' ny times when I'm making phone calls at work and listening to talk radio when I drive around town. Did you know that every saturday morning they have some plant genius answer any questions you have on the things you want to plant in your backyard. In case you were thinking a raspberry bush would be a good addition to your yard, you should know that the plant guy thinks they grow wonderfully in all areas of utah.