Happy Anniversary Christian!

Six years ago today, Christian and I were sealed for time and eternity. I am writing this to let everyone know how we met and what an amazing man Christian is...for those of you who don't already know!

We met at the Boise LDS institute while we were attending Boise State University. My friend, Kate, and I were sitting at a table eating lunch. For some reason, the lunch room at the institute was full that day and there was no where else for people to sit. Two guys walked up and asked if they could sit at our table.

Kate and I ate our lunches and were having our incredibly interesting conversation and these two guys were sitting at the other end of the table having their own conversation. Pretty soon Kate and I noticed that these guys were having a friendly argument and we kind of stopped talking and were trying to figure out what the issue was.

Just then they looked at us and said, "Can you help us? We are trying to figure out which animal cracker this is." Because of this, Robert Ormand, Kate Johnson, Christian Hooper and I became friends. We would eat together and had fun at the institute the rest of the semester!

Of course I was NOT interested in dating at the time and Christian and Robert were pre-missionaries and so they were "safe." Christian left on his mission and I pretty much forgot about him. (sorry honey, but it's true!) A little over a year later I was walking into the institute to talk to some friends and this missionary looking guy stopped me. It was Christian! (He had gotten sick and had to come home early for sinus surgery and IV's.)

Then a mutual friend asked me to go to his missionary homecoming with her. I don't remember it much...except I remember there were a LOT of girls there to see him. We didn't really talk much and he ended up getting engaged to his girlfriend. Shockingly enough it didn't work out!

Christian was sick, had a broken engagement and all his friends were on missions. Another mutual friend called me up and asked if I could invite him to hang out with my friends and so I did and the rest is history! Thanks to Amanda (Crawford) Gepford two friends ended up getting married!

Christian is amazing, and he never ceases to impress me. He is one of the most kind, thoughtful men I know. He is so patient with me and my laundry list of faults; he's exactly the man I need.

For those who don't know, Christian has Cystic Fibrosis (CF). This has some drawbacks, but thankfully not much. From the time that we have been engaged to now (about 6 1/2 years) we have moved three times, he has had five or six sinus surgeries, a few hospital stays, a port removal operation, blood clots, and many, MANY doctor's visits.

Sometimes it's hard to see him hurt so much...especially after his surgeries, but it's also great to see him doped up on the pain killers! If anyone has yet to experience that, let me know and I can show you a video of Christian on Demoral...it's hilarious!

He is always thinking of me and what I need or want. He is my best friend. We love to be around each other and we love to make each other laugh. I enjoy watching America's Funniest Home Videos with him because he laughs SO hard that I can't help but laugh hard too.

My house work or any project always goes smoother and is more fun if he can be there. He puts up with my constant worrying and high stress levels. Christian always pushes me to better myself, which is why I've started school again. If he wasn't there to push me, I don't know when I would have gone back!

Christian doesn't let his illness hold him back. He currently is bringing home the bacon, which has allowed me to only work part-time (for insurance) and go to school. I am so grateful for a man who is such a hard worker. He doesn't like laying around doing nothing, which is sometimes a bummer for me, especially on vacations!

He has a wonderful testimony and has helped me grow personally. He has been wonderful for my family, especially my Dad. I wish that those who have not met Christian could, so that they can see what an incredible man he is. To see all the trials he has to go through every day to stay alive, makes me realize how blessed I am to have a "healthy" body. He is an inspiration to me.

I love you Christian! Happy 6th Anniversary.

Happy 27th Birthday (on the 18th)!

Nothing too Exciting!

I have been informed that I have not written anything...sorry!

Life has been busy. This is the last week of school and next week is finals. I made it through the first semester back...barely made it! I have never been so excited for Christmas to come.

Our bathrooms are also getting finished. I decided to not work full time during the break and keep part-time so that I could recuperate and also try to finish up the bathrooms. The wiring is done and so is the insulation. The Sheetrock is almost all up and next is the taping and the mudding and the tiling and then paint and medicine cabinets and then this whole project will be complete!

I will let everyone know when the celebration party will be. We are suggesting everyone bring a roll of Charmin toilet paper to our bathroom party. (Only a joke, there will be no party...but there is a couple of new potties!)

We are excited to see family this season. My brother and his family are stopping by on the way to Pocatello next week so we get to see them for a short time. Then my sister and her husband are coming in town for Christmas.

Of course our activities will include target practicing...it has to since Christian, my Dad, Jenay and I have new guns to test out! Plus it's a tradition.

Everyone is then taking off to go to my niece's baptism in Pocatello. Unfortunately Christian and I can't go. We had committed to go out of town on business that weekend and visit my brother's family in Medford, but then we found out they would be in Portland. We are sorry we are going to miss it Natalie! We are proud of your excellent choice!

The house is still a mess which means that I don't get to put up my Christmas decorations. Anyone who knows me knows that this is a HUGE downer for me. I have loved Christmas decorations since I can remember and am sad to not even have a place for my tree this year. What should we put our presents under...a toilet?

For those who asked, the Thanksgiving goose turned out deliciously! I was pleasantly surprised. It was the first time doing that and it was tasty. Basically a goose tastes like the dark meat of a turkey. It was scrumptious. Christian really outdid himself. Although the juice was mostly grease and so if you make one, you need to skim off a ton of grease.

That is pretty much what is new with us. As the title says, it's nothing too exciting! Happy holidays everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I decided to take part of this day to let everyone know what I am grateful for:

*I am grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and all the blessings that entails.

*I am grateful for eternal families

*I am grateful for my wonderful husband who puts up with me

*I am grateful for my loving parents and all the help and support they give me. I am convinced that there are no better parents than mine.

*I am grateful to have our mold gone

*I am grateful for Christian's job...especially in this economy

*I am grateful to have a home

*I am grateful to live in this great country.

*I am grateful I do not live in war-zones and can live a happy life without the worry that someone will come and kill my family and/or friends.

*I am grateful to have a wood stove in my home

*I am grateful for a husband who has learned how to raise our own food...we are trying a goose for turkey-day!

*I am grateful for my friends and the fun we have together

*I am grateful for my Dad's hard work and him helping us put our bathrooms back together.

Christian just came in an needed help...the in-laws are coming for dinner and we have to find a goose recipie! (We have never cooked one!)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Husband Tag!

WHAT IS YOUR HUSBAND'S NAME? Christian Floyd Hooper

HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN MARRIED? 6 years in December

HOW LONG DID YOU DATE? We were friends before his mission (I called him Chris then) and then he came back and we started hanging around. I don't know about the exact dating time...probably 3 months?

HOW OLD IS HE? 26

WHO IS TALLER? Christian

WHO CAN SING BEST? I can

WHO IS SMARTER? Depends...I have more common sense.

WHO DOES LAUNDRY? I do. He sometimes puts his clothes away.

WHO PAYS BILLS? Depends on who gets to it first.

WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED? Is the right side if you are facing the bed or in the bed? I normally am on the side where there is a wall...that way he can kill any bad guy who may enter our house!

WHO MOWS THE LAWN? I do...sometimes Christian

WHO COOKS DINNER? I do.

WHO'S THE FIRST TO ADMIT THEY ARE WRONG? Christian, I'm trying to get better at that...or maybe he's always wrong? Either one. :)

WHO KISSED WHO FIRST? Christian kissed me first.

WHO WEARS THE PANTS? I agree with my sister-in-law when she says, "Hmmm...depends on the event." We discuss and make joint decisions...but I get my way a lot. However he does put his foot down if he doesn't agree.

I tag: April Lines, Jennilynn, Suzanne, Danielle, and Marie.

Is My Tag Showing?

I have been tagged by Jen and I haven't had the chance to respond until now. Here it goes:

Seven Random/Weird facts about me:

1) Even though it may not show, I am somewhat of a perfectionist. I like things to be put away and organized. Sometimes others I live with may not do things they way I want and I have had to learn to not let it bother me...I'm still working on that!

2) I don't care for Halloween, even as a little kid I didn't like going trick-or-treating.

3) I'm not a dessert person. I can easily pass up chocolate, cake, cookies, brownies, pie, etc. However I CAN NOT pass on cheesecake or ice cream.

4) I don't care to wear shoes. I like to be barefoot or in socks...especially around the house. My mom always hated it because I used to not like to wear shoes or socks and she always felt my feet were cold. I didn't think they were! :)

5) I like my bed to be clean. I don't like the bed not made and I don't like Christian laying in bed with his street clothes on...even if the bed is made. I prefer he changes into his PJ's for a nap or goes in the TV room. I HATE food being eaten in my bed...once again, I'm still working on this! (Oh and no dirty socks...they have to be clean before they go on my bed.)

6) I can't stand to have dirt or chalk on my hands. Anything that is dry and powdery. If I have it on my hands I can not touch much or hold anyone else's hand until I have thoroughly washed them and applied lotion. Christian thinks this is WEIRD! I can't hold his hand on the way home from hiking or shooting.

7) I have to make sure my fingernails and toenails are always clean. I don't like dirt under my nails and I like them neat and not jagged. If I don't get to them to fix jaggedness, it eats at me until I can trim them.

Eight (Supposed to be seven) People Tagged:

"Kannie," Courtney, Katie, Cami and Ty, Nathan, Ashley, Sarah, April Lines

Mouse in the House?

I have nothing else to say besides:

DING DONG THE MOUSE IS DEAD!

Tag, We're it!

We've been tagged. THANKS SUZANNE! It's a great way to get to know everyone...so I had Christian help me this time. Here's what we came up with:

Christian's 8 Favorite Shows:

*Cops
*King of the Hill
*The Office
*Survivorman
*Mythbusters
*Man vs. Wild
*America's Funniest Home Videos
*Football

8 Things Christian and Kendra did yesterday:

*Set mouse traps
*Went to the bathroom (Christian's addition to the list)
*Took a shower
*Worked on my paper (Kendra)
*Slept
*Did breathing treatments (4 I think-obviously I didn't do the, Christian did!)
*Watched the puppy cam
*Everything else listed in the previous blog...which all happened in the wee morning hours. (Mouse, crawlspace etc.)


8 Things we look forward to:

*Vacation
*Cure for CF
*Time with spouse and family
*Anything with guns and animals not necessarily at the same time (Christian)
*Bathrooms being completed
*The Second Coming
*Getting our degrees from school
*A house with no problems


8 Favorite Restaurants:


*Local Ocean Seafood (Newport, OR)
*Sonic-for their onion rings and mozzarella sticks (Christian) Strawberry milkshake (Kendra)
*Panda Express
*The Reef
*Chile's
*Red Lobster (Endless Shrimp-buffets are a good thing with Christian)
*Subway
*Kendra's cooking (Christian)

8 people to tag:

*Jen Hunt
*Kendra Miles
*April Lines
*Dani Olsen
*Ty Kenworthy(Cami just did it)
*Krista Norton
*Nathan James
*Ashley Holladay

Saturday, November 15, 2008 - A Day in the Life of the Hoopers

The day started out pretty good. We woke up happy; after all it was the day of the big rivalry game. In case you all would like to know (I know Matt would, so Jen, please let him know) that Boise State beat University of Idaho 45-10. We were so excited!

Our "hired help" (my dad) has made drastic improvements on the bathrooms. The master bath is looking AWESOME! We have the new vanity in and the granite counter top (leftover from Mom and Dad's cabin build) is installed. The light fixtures are going to look GORGEOUS with the medicine cabinets and the faucets and everything. We are getting so excited. THANKS DAD!

Each week of work bring more and more items being able to be put into a cabinet or NOT in the office. The house is feeling less stressful, which is perfect because I'm heading into finals. Boy how I missed those!

One thing I have found that helps ease any tension is the "puppy cam" on ustream.com. It's basically a web cam in a dog crate of 6 Shiba Inu puppies. VERY CUTE and very entertaining. If you have kids, they would love it.

So the rest of the evening played out like this:

10:30 p.m. - Kendra tries to finish her book for her paper

11:30 - Kendra looks up and sees a mouse in her bedroom by the bathroom. (yes there are a ton of holes in the floor etc because of plumbing)

11:35 - Christian and Kendra hop in the car and run to Wal-Mart to get mouse traps and Decon. (No Christian did not want to keep the mouse. He knows better by now.)

12:25 a.m. - After buying a lot more than just mousetraps and Decon we return home and Christian goes in the crawlspace to find that there is a BIG puddle of water under where the master bath is. Luckily no mold though!

12: 40 - Kendra is still trying to talk herself into going into the crawlspace to assist her husband who is sick.

1:00 - we get finished and are able to crawl out of the crawlspace. (Yes we, I made it down a little ways in the crawlspace-I am a wuss and I know it!)

Then came laundry and snack and then the thought that I still haven't finished my book for my paper which is due on Monday for my night class. What did I do? I blogged about it...it's pretty therapeutic. I just hope that I have time to finish my book and take a shower before church tomorrow morning...we shall see.

I am off to read my book and pray hard that a mouse doesn't run across me in the middle of the night. Thank Heavens I have dogs who are loose in the house now and will chase anything away.

That is a day (of course the boring information was left out) in the life of The Hoopers...I guess it's two days since it's now 1:30 a.m? Oh well, good night!

More Noise at the Hoopers

Christian and I (and probably our neighbors too) were so excited that the geese were gone because it was REALLY quite in the neighborhood. That was until our chickens grew up and learned how to crow.

With our batch of Cornish Hens Christian also ordered some Silky Bantams. He had been watching, "Bizarre Foods" and saw an episode in China where they were serving black-boned chicken. In America we call them, Silky Bantams. He knew that he had to try some of this chicken because it's skin, flesh, bones and everything except it's feathers (yes even it's beak) is black.

They are pretty cute I have to admit, and they don't grow as fast as the Cornish Hens. Christian had decided that we were going to keep them and see if they laid eggs and what the eggs looked like. Then when they grew up a little, we noticed that some of the "hens" were in fact roosters. The company we ordered from also threw in a couple of random chickens...which also turned out to be roosters.

You know where this is leading right? Roosters-crowing-crowing at the crack of dawn-I think you have the picture.

Of course it is our luck that our roosters can't tell when it's dark or light and so they crow NON STOP! All day and night. I now remember why I hate chickens, they are dirty, smelly, and loud. (They remind me a lot of geese.) I only like them for dinner!

I can't find the pictures I have taken of them, so here is a picture of them as little chicks. (Heavenly Father knew to make thing REALLY cute when they are young because they are so much hassle they probably would not live long if they were ugly.)

Journey to the Center of the Voting World

This is a random entry with no fantastically interesting information, but that is our lives!

As everyone knows Tuesday was voting day. Since I don't work on Tuesdays, Christian and I waited until 11:00 to go and vote. We did not have to wait in any lines, it was wonderful! We had come prepared with books etc. in case we had to wait in line, but we didn't even have time to crack them open.

We were happy to hear that proposition 8 passed in California. Thanks to Courtney and everyones hard work to get the point across that marriage is between a husband and woman. HUGE high fives, kudos, knuckles or whatever you prefer. We are proud of your battle.

Unfortunately we are not too proud about the outcome of the Presidential Election. We were feeling a little sick to our stomachs, but the world goes on and so should we. Christian kept telling me, "with the bad, there has to be some good right?"

I tease him that the only good thing that came from our president elect is that there will soon be stricter gun control laws and so Christian's Christmas present (a gun of some sort) was now a necessity! We went shopping Wednesday night with my Dad. Let's just say, Christian is really happy now.

We also decided to rent a movie from the Redbox on Monday. We still haven't seen "Journey to the Center of the Earth," and so I ran down and rented it. (I am blogging about this so you too will not make the same mistake as I.)

Christian and I popped it into the DVD player and started watching it. We thought it was weird that there was no closed captioning, and that the acting was bad and it was cheesy...and this was within the first five minutes!

We still had yet to see Brendan Frasier but we kept waiting. Then I realized that there were only women in the movie. I started getting worried and asked Christian, "you don't think this is a porno do you?" He laughed at me and said that they wouldn't rent something like that at Redbox. Soon one of the women got eaten by a dinosaur and so we knew that we were safe.

We then noticed that I had rented "Journey to the Center of the Earth," and in smaller print it said, "The Core." This is my warning...if you go to rent it, make sure it's the REAL movie and not a bad spin-off!

CHRISTIAN! -Parental Supervision Recommended

Let's all flash back to a previous post, the one with the video of Christian cracking up. My sister-in-law posted a comment that I should watch out and that her only request was no bathroom footage! Jen-I appreciate you putting the idea into Christian's head! :) Just kidding, he doesn't need any help getting those ideas into his head.

Side note: Let me take this time to apologize to everyone in advance if you are terribly offended. If you don't like it, don't read it! :) Sorry, but this is something that will make Christian laugh, which is why I am posting it.

We still don't have a wall in the bathroom and so we use the "honor system." You know the one "I won't look at you while you are going to the bathroom." (It's unnerving that our dogs don't use the same honor system.)

I was "doing my business" and all of the sudden Christian is laughing hysterically in front of me holding a camera. Just when I was saying, "DON'T YOU DARE" there was a click and a flash and then he ran away laughing so hard. "It's perfect because you can't see anything!" -Christian

He wanted to post it for everyone to see...however he doesn't know how. I figured that I humiliated him enough and that I probably deserved a little humiliation in retaliation. I don't think I deserve a TON of humiliation and so I posted the lesser of the two pictures. You better be happy Christian!

Halloween in Demand!

I have had numerous requests to post what I looked like on Halloween. (Okay, so my sister Cami was the only one...and she said that she would post her costume if I posted mine!) Anyway, you all have to see it now.

We had a Halloween celebration at work. We had a cubicle decorating contest, pumpkin carving contest, costume contest and a pot luck. I'm only working part time now and didn't have the time to decorate my cubicle this year, and I didn't have room among the mess, I like to call my house, to carve a pumpkin either. I thought, I better get a good costume!

Off to Goodwill I went to see what I could find. Anyone who shops at Goodwill knows that it is full of great finds and half the stuff there is brand new. They had tons of wigs, gloves, fake eyelashes, tights, and other various Halloween items that were brand new and still in the original packaging. I just went up and down the isles throwing things into my cart.

When I got home I put it all together and came up with a costume. I would be Tinker Bell's cousin...Rocker Bell. The wig and the eyelashes were awesome! They were so awesome that I won the costume contest at work. Here are some pictures.

My fake eyelashes were purple and had crystals on them.

My tights were purple and black striped. This is a funky shirt I also got at Goodwill.

Inhouse Public Restroom

You may be sick of reading about it, but too bad! For those of you who are interested, here's the update on our bathroom situation.

Starting last Thursday the plumbing was removed to allow us to demo everything else and get ready for the new walls, showers, vanities etc. That meant that we were in a house without a toilet. You can live in a house without a shower, but a toilet is mandatory. ESPECIALLY if you have someone with CF living in the house. (Some of you may know about that!)

Luckily my mom and dad were gracious enough to put up with us until Monday night which was when my brother-in-law, Sam, was able to hook up a toilet for us. We felt like we were the luckiest people on the Earth to have a toilet in our home again.

The downside is that we had to remove most of the hall wall to get the showers in. You feel as if you are exposed to the world as you use the restroom, but it works! To top things off, Sam came over last night and hooked up one of our showers. We now have a "functional" bathroom. Christian was so excited to be able to take a bath again.

While I am very excited about the thought of the constructions getting completed, I am also feeling very worldly at the moment. Christian and I watched an episode of "Little People, Big World" on Saturday night. This particular episode, the father of this family traveled to Iraq with a doctor to examine three Iraqi children who were suffering from a form of dwarfism; one of whom could not walk anymore.

The father finally made it to this family's home to meet them. I was humbled and felt so selfish when I saw their living conditions. They were all gathered in one room. The room had cement walls and floors. The children had drawn pictures on the walls which brightened the room up a little.

They were sitting on pads on the floor which was their couches and beds, They had their clothes hanging on pegs along the wall, a microwave, t.v. and not much else. The father brought gifts for the kids. He brought crayons and little toy cars and coloring books. They were so excited, it was like they had won the lottery!

Here I am so worried about the worldly things: finding counter tops, cabinets, tile, sinks, school, work, housework and taking care of everything else. At least I have a house that has more than a couple of rooms. I have comfortable couches and beds. I have an extra bed for guests. (in case you want to visit!) I know have a toilet and shower. I have TVs and a kitchen and a dishwasher.

Christian and I are so blessed and I think that watching this episode was able to jolt me back into reality of how lucky we truly are. We are heading into November, Thanksgiving, and it has made me reflect even more how grateful I am to live in this country. Even with it's downfalls, it is the best place to live and we should all be grateful.

In other words, our bathrooms are still not finished, but Christian and I are more than happy with what he have!


P.S. If you want to watch that episode, they probably will play the rerun often. It is on TLC and I felt it was very moving.

You're it!

I have been tagged. Which turns out to ge a good thing becuase I didn't have anything to write! :)

8 Favorite TV Shows:

1) The Office

2) Chuck

3) America's Funniest Home Videos

4) BSU Football

5) Beauty and the Geek

6) American Idol

7) Almost anything on HGTV

8) Monk

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1) Brick 29 Bistro - I just ate there and they have really good, healthier versions of comfort food. Highly reccomend it! The chef just won the taste of Idaho contest.

2) The Reef

3) Applebee's

4) Wendy's

5) Anywhere that I don't have to cook

6) Local Ocean Seafood (Newport)

7) The Galley - Friday lunches with the girls at work

8) My Mom's house

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:

1) Went to Work

2) Went to School

3) Searched for a new vanity online all night

4) Talked about the bathroom remodel with Dad.

5) Ate

6) Checked blogs

7) IM'd with Jennilynn

8) Went to bed (We are very exciting)

8 Things I am Looking Forward To:

1) A finished bathroom

2) Two finished bathrooms

3) TV room being finished

4) House being FINALLY clean again

5) FINALLY getting my degree

6) Christian getting over this bad cold he has right now

7) Christmas Break

8) Spring

8 Things on My Wish List:

1) Becoming independantly wealthy so I can travel, spend time with family etc.

2) Christian being cured

3) A working bathroom

4) My front room/dining room/kitchen tiled

5) More patience

6) I agree with you Katie: I wish for a machine that would make me the weight I would like to be. I would share it with whoever would like to use it!

7) Be mortgage free

8) Travel to Eurpoe

People I am tagging:

Cami and Ty (Now you have something to write)
Jennilynn

Fearfully Flailing in a Tent

Christian ends up going out of town periodically for his job. Some times he travels with our friend Albin. They recently returned from a road trip and this time they decided that they would take a tent and camp periodically.

Albin has super hearing. If he were a super hero, his power would be super bionic hearing. Christian's super hero power would NOT be powerful hearing...maybe something dealing with animals or making people laugh, but I digress.

Albin and Christian were driving through a National Forrest in Oregon and decided to camp there one evening. They found a beautiful place close to a trail head and pitched their tent and fell asleep.

Albin woke Christian up in the middle of the night by whispering, "Chris, did you hear that?" (Isn't there an unwritten rule that you should not ask questions in the middle of the night, while camping, that are similar to, "Shh, what was that?" or "Did you hear that?")

Christian couldn't hear anything, which of course made the whole situation worse; it is always worse when you can't hear the scary noise. Christian started to think about a bear or a crazy person who was tiptoeing around trying to steal something or attack them. He was laying perfectly still so he could hear the noise.

Albin: "There it was again. Did you hear it?"

Christian: "I didn't hear anything."

Christian laid there for a while and realized that Albin had fallen back asleep. Christian then fell asleep and started to dream.

Christian was dreaming that there were two guys who were getting ready to rush the tent and attack them. In his dream the guys had unzipped the tent and started to come through the opening, which was where Christian and Albin's feet were.

What would you do if someone were trying to break into your tent? Probably what Christian did, which was to kick them over and over again as hard as he could. However, when Christian has a dream that he's kicking or fighting someone, his legs and/or arms act out the actions while he sleeps. (I often wake up to a shin getting kicked.)

In the middle of the night, Albin had to change positions because he realized that his head was slanting downward. As a result, his head was by Christian's feet. Albin woke up to the tent shaking violently and the adrenaline started to pump. Something was trying to rip into the tent, and his head was right there!

Albin finally woke up and once the shock and fear slightly subsided, Christian also woke up due to his nightmare and flailing around.

Albin: "Was that you?"

Christian: "I think so."

Albin: "Okay good, I thought something was trying to rip into the tent."

Side Note: Just picturing Christian kicking madly at the tent while still inside of his sleeping bag makes me grin. Then you add that Albin woke up to the whole tent shaking and Christian fighting someone/something off makes me laugh!

In the morning while they were putting the tent away, they were finally able to laugh about the situation. Basically, when the darkness (and the "Boogie Man") went away they were able to realize that they were fine and it was funny.

As soon as Christian told me this story, I knew it was blog worthy. I made them take a picture together so I could post it. It took quite a few times to get one that was somewhat okay. (They were almost as bad as girls..."I look weird in that one" etc.)

Favorite Quote From Conference

"Meekness is not weakness. It is the badge of Christian courage."
--Elder Robert D. Hales

Outhouse

Master Bathroom Shower Christian wanted me to put up some pictures of what our bathrooms are looking like right now. If anyone knows of a handyman who is legitimate, not too expensive and would like to earn money let us know. Everyone that I have called is not returning my phone calls.

The barriers are still up and the Hepa filters and fans are still running so the pictures aren't the best. If anyone would like to stay with us, you are more than welcome, but you will need to shower elsewhere! :)

We do have one toilet so you don't have to use an outhouse if you visit us. However we do have an "out house" of sorts. I like to call it my parent's house. They only live two houses away and are nice enough to offer their bathrooms for our usage.

Hepa filter going out of the guest bathroom window



Master Bathroom Toilet

Guest Bathroom Bathtub-Leaning Against the Wall (right)

Master Bathroom Sink Hook Up (below)

Scooterin'

If you think back to previous posts, my mom and I were goose wrangling all by ourselves because Christian was out of town. He had driven to Provo to deliver our "BRONCO ORANGE" scooter to my sister and her husband. Immediately Christian took Ty out on the town to try out the scooter. (for detailed information see their blog.)


It's funny because they said that they were driving around their neighborhood and two girls were walking down the sidewalk and whistled at them! They were laughing saying, "What's more sexy than two married guys riding together on a scooter?"


Here's a picture of the happy new owner! (I personally think this is one of the best pictures of Christian...he's so hot!)

Sheila

Actual Picture of the pinning (not a reenactment!)

Last night was Sheila's pinning ceremony. Sheila, my sister-in-law, has been attending Apollo College for the last year to get her LPN license. Unfortunately Christian was out of town and was not available to go so I hit it solo.

The ceremony was held in the Eagle Family Worship's sanctuary. Luckily there were plenty of seats, however there was not enough parking! It was a good location and there was plenty of room.

Sheila looked like a full blown nurse in her scrubs. It was great to see her get the award as the only person in her class to have 100% attendance. WAY TO GO SHEILA! (Picture to the left)

Sheila was the first to get pinned since her last name is Avila. (It rhymes and is not pronounced A-vih-la as the person said!) Each graduate had a member of their family come and "pin" them. It was basically a pin that they placed on a ribbon that was hung around their necks.

Sheila was the first and the procedure had not been rehearsed. My mother-in-law, Carol Ann, was Sheila's "pinner" and she did great with no instructions. However we didn't know there was a photographer there and so we didn't get too many pictures...so we had a reenactment.

I am sad to say that not many of the pictures I took turned out. Most of them were fuzzy. Here's a few of the highlights of this wonderful evening:

CONGRATULATIONS SHEILA!

The Office

So I had to beat my friend, Nathan, at blogging about The Office season premiere. If you don't like The Office, then stop reading right now because this will be office-rific!

(And Short)

It was so nice to be able to watch it again! It was even better to be able to go to work on a Friday and have something more exciting to discuss. We always talk about how horrible work is or how glad it's a Friday. Being able to relive the hilarious moments with friends is one reason why I love this show!

My favorite part was when Angela was yelling at Kevin and Holly (new HR) came up and told her to stop yelling at him. He wasn't an idiot, he's mentally challenged. Now if you haven't seen the last season, you probably wouldn't understand why that's so funny...but it is!

P.S. Nathan, I beat you to it! I bet you didn't think I would actually go through with it. I'm going to check your blog to see if you include The Office on your blog!

Late Nights and Mold

The saga with the mold continues.

Good News:

They came and took care of the crawlspace and the attic last week. Christian went in the crawlspace this week and exclaimed, "It's cleaner down here than in some parts of our house!" (Of course that made me SO happy.)

Bad News:

There was a hole in the floor under the two bathtubs for the plumbing which is normal. However these holes were not properly insulated and/or did not have a vapor barrier to block moisture from coming up into the bathroom walls. That's right we have mold in the bathroom walls surrounding the showers.

Rest of the News:

This week they are demo-ing the two bathrooms. (shower curtains, shampoo, towels etc. are all over my house.) Luckily Mom and Dad are around the corner so showers and toilets are readily available. I hope I don't have any midnight toilet runs. The water is still on and the toilets still work, however the entrance to the bathrooms have thick plastic covering it are sealed shut with tape to make it so dust etc. does not float around the house.

How horrible this may seem, right? I am very excited because Christian's now thinking about my idea of redoing the bathrooms. Granted he hates our "closet bathroom" in our bedroom and is all for a bigger master bath, but the whole moving walls etc. was not appealing. Good thing that the mold people tore out the walls so we have to rebuild them anyway! :) This cloud definitely has a silver lining!

Christian had to stay up really late to prepare for work today and being the good wife I am, I stayed up late too. About 1:30 am I was getting into bed and noticed another noise coming from our vents, only this time it sounded like a drip.

Drip...

Drip...

Drip...

Christian crawled into bed about 15 minutes later and I asked him about it. We look horrified at each other. We were having de javu!

We had company staying with us, and of course the crawlspace entrance is in the guest room closet. Christian woke up our friend and went into the crawl to see a two foot puddle under the guest bathroom...where the mold people demo-ed today. Luckily the constant drip was hitting the air duct vent and so we heard it.

2:00 in the morning I'm running around the house looking for a bucket and towels (the house is a mess since we have bathroom stuff EVERYWHERE!) so that we can at least catch the water in a bucket and not have another mold issue.

Alas, I stayed home today from work to tell the mold people what they get to fix etc. I wish they would let me know when they were coming so I could take a nap or run to my mom's house for a shower. If there are flagrant spelling or grammatical errors, I am blaming it (today) on my sleep, or the lack thereof! :)

Just another day in our exciting lives!

Cracking Up

One of Christian and mine favorite T.V. shows is American Funniest Home Videos (AFV). Christian loves it because it makes him laugh like no other show or person can make him laugh. I love it because I get to witness Christian laughing so hard that he can't stop. This is the reason why I have put some of his favorite clips on the sidebar.

When he sees a clip he thinks is funny, he rewinds it over and over. This can last from five minutes up to fifteen minutes. I start cracking up because he is laughing so hard!

Last night I was in the office and Christian was in the bedroom watching Mythbusters. They were testing the myth about fire walking and all of the sudden I heard him hilariously laughing. Laughing like he normally does with AFV. The video camera was right next to me and so I grabbed it so everyone could witness what I witness on a daily basis.

I hope you enjoy, I know it will at least make you smile!

International Blog

For those who didn't know, we have been getting some unusual hits on our blog map and so I made it so that only people who I invite can see our blog. I had no idea that our life was so interesting to people outside the United States!

Anyway...

If you know someone who is VERY depressed because they can no longer view our blog, please let me know so they can be happy again while reading all about our boring lives.

Goose Rodeo

If someone would have said in high school or college or even 3 years ago that "after you are married for 4 years, you will live on a mini farm and raise your own chickens and have ducks and a gaggle of geese," I would have hysterically laughed in their faces and swore up and down that would NEVER happen.

Alas, you all know that Christian suckers me into a lot of things. Hence why we have a gecko and a salamander and a Guinea Pig. (Which he brought home to cheer me up one day...opposite effect!)

So for a little over a year, I have waited for this day to come. Today my mom and I took our 11 geese to the BUTCHER! One more flock of birds GONE from our property and into our freezer. If anyone would like to have a goose, let me know, I don't think we can eat 11 geese...I can't even eat 1/8 of one! Christmas Goose anyone?

Here is the play by play:

This morning at 7 my mom walked over and we loaded the dog crates into the back of our station wagon...yes the station wagon. (Hubby, of course, took our scooter to my sister and her husband and so he needed the truck this morning. GREAT timing, I wonder what I did to him.) I drove back to the pen and the rodeo started.

What you may not know about my mom:

My mom is an AMAZING goose wrangler. She definitely earned her "Goose Wrangling" patch today. She would just corner them and grab their necks and scoop their bodies up with her other arm. Meanwhile I was at the car making sure that the other geese didn't try to escape, fight, kill each other... She's a regular Sarah Palin! :)

We finally caught all 11 geese and had them in the crates, now came the long drive to New Plymouth which is a good 30-40 minutes away from here. There are three main reasons why these geese are being "taken care of" today:

1) They stink due to the messiness and the constant pooping.

2) They are wicked loud.

3) THEY ARE REALLY, REALLY LOUD!

My mom and I drove the 11, really loud, constantly pooping, stinking geese to New Plymouth. I came home and boy was I so happy! Normally I would be in a rotten mood having to deal with this, but I felt free and liberated! I feel like I should run around the house and sing and dance. I probably would, but the mold people are here doing their jobs. :)

The sad part is, I had the camera to take pictures for our blog, but we were so busy and dirty that I didn't get a picture. My mom and I definitely believe that we are deserving of either flowers or some jewelry...Christian you get to choose!

In memory of the good and mostly bad times, here are some pictures. The only good times was when they hatched their goslings...boy were they cute. And then they grew up!

Moldy Oldy

As some of you may know (and some may not know) about our mold situation. I'm giving you the WAY short version here but basically we found out about a month ago that we had two types of mold in our house...bad and worse. (no those aren't the technical names.) GREAT! Mold is bad anyway, but when you have a CF'er (person with Cystic Fibrosis) in the house it's even worse.

As if that wasn't bad enough, we had to get estimates to get the mold remediated. It can only be remediated because there is no way to completely get rid of mold. Awesome. So, we had four companies come out and give us their outrageous estimates. After the money from the insurance, we would have to fork over roughly $10,000+ to get rid of the mold in the crawlspace and the attic.

We were asking everyone for advice and just couldn't seem to get the answers we were needing. We kept praying about it and I kept feeling everything would be fine. Christian and I finally sat down with my mom and dad and talked to them about it. We looked over the list of what all the companies were going to do to earn their money, and we found that they were wanting to charge us a lot of money to just put in insulation.

My smart parents told me that we could hire a company to put in insulation for a fraction of the price. So with that information, Christian and I called insulation companies to come out and give us bids. Once again, my parents were right and the estimates were pennies compared to what the mold cleanup companies were going to charge us.

My mom was talking to one of the insulation guys and spilling the beans about our situation. (She's really good at that!) We are grateful that she did because the man told her of a company he works with on a weekly basis that remediates mold. He said that they don't charge what all the other companies did.

Of course we were excited and so we gave them a call. They came out and gave us an estimate and we were shocked. Not only were they doing about twice the work of the other companies, but they charged about half the price. The kicker is that they guarantee their work for the lifetime of the home. When we sell it etc. the guarantee will go with the new homeowners.

Once again the Lord has answered our prayers and helped us through another trial. They found out that Christian has CF and put us on the "priority stack" and they will be coming this week to start the process. We are grateful to all the family members and friends who we talked with. We are grateful for prayer and our Heavenly Father who watches over us day and night.

Thanks again everyone!!

I'm Gonna' Brag!

I am very excited today, so excited that I had to make time to blog a little! I had my first test yesterday and it was in math. Double Whammy! I was praying that I would at least get a C and I got a B. I might end up liking math!

Also, my friend Rachel has two kittens she's trying to give to a good home in case anyone wants one. I also have a friend who has a bearded dragon (a.k.a. BIG lizard) she's trying to get rid of also. Jen, if Natalie wants one I can probably FedEx it! Just kidding.

Let me know if anyone out there wants one of the above mentioned animals. I don't know WHY people automatically come to us when they are getting rid of an animal. Good thing Christian's getting out of that stage because I don't know if our house can handle more animals.

Real Men of Genius and Tom Brady

This will be quick...so hopefully you like it. Those of you who love football, or are married to a football fanatic, already know that the quarterback for the New England Patriots (Christian's favorite team), Tom Brady, was injured in the first game of the season and is now out for the rest of the season.

The other day I heard a funny "Real Men of Genius" song on the radio involving fantasy football and Tom Brady. Click on the link to listen...maybe grab your husbands if they chose Tom Brady for their fantasy football team! (link on the sidebar) Even though Christian is crying because he's so upset, he laughed when he heard this.

ENJOY!!!

P.S. Christian isn't really crying...on the OUTSIDE!

Labor Day Revisited

Last weekend was Labor Day as you all know. My parents have been building a cabin for the last few years (dad would say decade) and it is almost finished. We decided that for once we would not labor on Labor Day and actually have fun. It seems like for as long as we can remember we were either building a house, painting a house, building a cabin etc. It was fun to be able to relax a little at the cabin before they sell it.

My sister Cami came over from Utah with her husband Ty and it was so good to see them again. My Mom, Dad, Cami, Ty, my other sister Jenay and Christian and I all headed up to the cabin on Saturday to play.

Here are just a few pictures of the cabin so you can get an idea of what it looks like. My Dad has built almost all of this himself the old fashioned way. He even put the logs in place using a pulley system! With a little help from us kids and sometimes hiring someone, it has taken a while to build while he works full time and keeps up with his church calling, but it is a fun and beautiful place.

After we unloaded all of our gear, we grabbing our gun gear and headed to the shooting range. For as long as I can remember we have been target practicing, and that love has been transferred onto Christian and Ty. It was Ty's first time shooting a shot gun, which is brave because those things sure can kick and leave a good bruise!



This is the first time that Christian has been target practicing with no port. (He had it removed in January) This made him really excited because he could shoot the shotgun more comfortably. He had a blast and he shot about 80% of those clay pigeons and made me proud!

We went back to the cabin for naps and then we woke up and BB-Q'd some food and made homemade ice cream. After the dessert, Dad brought out the Patrick McManus books and read us some stories. A family favorite is, "The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw." It's hard to figure out if we are laughing at the story or my Dad cracking up! I'm trying to figure out how to put a clip of the video online, so family (or those who want to see it) check back later!

BACKGROUND OF STORY: The boy in the story goes camping with his friend's family. However he doesn't have a sleeping bag and so his mom makes him wear an old fur coat instead. He put it on after everyone fell asleep and then his friend's grandma (Goombaw) woke up and thought he was a bear.

What am I doing?

I have finished my second week back to school and I keep having to say to myself, this is a good thing! I sit in my classes at times and wonder what I am doing. It is so much easier to not have to do math or sit through boring lectures. I do love only working part time and being at home, even if I'm doing homework.

As I just said, I am having to take math after not taking it for about 5 years and so I'm a little rusty. Here's a math problem for all of you experts out there. If you know the answer please call me and tutor me over the phone!

One pipe can fill a swimming pool in 6 hours and another pipe can do it in 9 hours. How long will it take the two pipes working together to fill the pool 3/4 full? (The answer is 2 and 7/10 hours by the way, I just don't know how to get that answer.)

I know that when I am rich and have a pool that has two pipes, I will care that it takes 2 and 7/10 hours to fill if I use both pipes. However I don't need math to know that it will not take as long if I use BOTH pipes, all that takes is common sense.

Another fun activity that comes along with being in school is the free use of their racquetball courts. Christian and I were able to play for the first time in about 5 years and it was so much fun. However it took us a while to get back into the "swing" of things and then we realized just how out of shape we had gotten. However it was a blast and brought back so many memories of the old college days playing racquetball.

Having Fun!

Hello once again from Nampa!

I am really loving this whole blog thing. What a great way to keep informed about everything going on in friend's and family's lives. I have read everything from first days of school to what type of pizza you created last night.

I am often the last member in my family to know what is going on and so it's great to be able to go online and read my sister-in-law, Jen's blog. They just moved and so it has been great seeing their new house, reading about their first day of school and fun, cute things that I have missed out on since I don't get out of Nampa very often!

My brother-in-law, Ty, is starting to blog again. (Born again blogger?) It's fun to hear about the college life at BYU. I think at times I detect a hint of "senioritis?" (I'm jealous, I only have junioritis!) My sister, Cami, is starting to write more on their blog as well and it's fun to hear about her calling and new job.

Together Christian and I have friends from one end of the U.S. to the other. (Florida to Alaska and in between!) It is fun to check on their blogs to see if they have anything new going on in their lives. It is also a great way for me to inform everyone about what we are doing.

Since I'm in school and working and being wifey etc, I can't blog about much during the week, so watch out for this weekend! Christian isn't into the blogging and so most of the time it will be me informing you all about our boring lives! Below is what Christian is doing right now...instead of writing something for you all to read! (No he did not know I took this picture!)

I will be checking out all of your blogs! Goodbye until this weekend!

Tobi

For those of you who did not know, we had a HUGE mastiff for a little over a year, his name was Tobi. As you can see in the pictures, the way he looked at you could melt a frozen cube of butter in two seconds. He was quite the charmer when he wanted to be.
As you have probably noticed, I am talking about my Tobi in the past tense. We had to put him down last Thursday and it broke our hearts. We didn't tell many people and still have not talked much about the situation because it was one of the hardest things we have had to do. Because it was so hard and we did not tell people, I am blogging about it so we won't have to discuss it very much.

This might be dumb you say, and I would normally agree. However Tobi was the first dog that I actually liked/loved and called MY dog. Towards Christian and I and my mom and sister Jenay he was a sweet lovable puppy that would do anything we wanted him to do. Christian and I could do anything to him (yes Christian did like to "pick" his nose) and Tobi could have cared less.

The hard part of having Tobi was that he had some strange aggression towards children. It didn't used to be as bad, but it started getting out of hand and he started to not like people coming to our home. He would throw his 160 lbs body against the fence just wanting to get the child that was walking to the bus stop and was not anywhere near our house. He liked to charge the neighbor kids when they came out etc. We paid for all the vet tests and an animal behaviourist to come out, but it didn't make enough of a difference, he was still dangerous.

It was hard to take a completely healthy dog who loved and trusted us in to be put down, and this is the reason that we can still not talk about that day or my Tobi. The Doctor's we consulted think that he probably had something genetically wrong with him or something happened between Tobi and a child when he was a puppy, before we got him. Either way he was a liability that we could not have and no matter how much we loved him, people come before animals.

Luckily, the Tobi we knew and loved was a wonderful dog who would give his life to protect us and make us happy. I never thought I would say this but we learned some valuable lessons & were blessed to have him.

We miss him dearly!

Tobi loved to play ball!