MOAB

So last week on our date we chose to go to Moab.

Brandon and I have never been to Moab so we figured it would be as good a place as any to see. We drove past Canyon Lands and Arches at first not knowing exactly where we should go to see the arches or rocks that they are so famous for. I guess we are both a little dense that Arches National Park didn't ring some sort of bell for us. So we drove into Moab and out of Moab when I decided it was time for a ..... break. We turned around and went to a gas station. I asked the clerk where we could see the arches at. She in turn asked me which way we came into town and of course me being so direction oriented I pointed and said that way. She gave me a funny look and said "you past it, its the sign that Says Arches and you will see many people turning on and off the road." That is when the light finally dinged for me. I went back to the car and told Brandon its back that way. You know where we saw the sign and all those people coming and going. Where those cars were stopped and people were taking pictures. So we aren't the brightest bunch but we finally got there. The nice lady at the gas station also said we could go to Canyon Lands we could enter at 2 different directions before you enter town. My mind logically thinking said to Brandon. "We can make a quick trip through Arches head up through the one side of Canyon Lands and come out the other." (What is wrong with that) Obviously another misconception on my part. Had we ever been there before I would have known this. Brandon being the curious one and probably the only male I know that will ask for directions or information before doing something followed tradition and asked the kind man at the guard shack at Arches, "If we could go in through on one side to Canyon Lands can we get out the other?" NOPE not happening. Well in the guys words, "if you can figure out how to get your car across a big cliff and wide river, yeah." Since the Altima doesn't have wings or oars that wasn't happening.

We start heading up through Arches not realizing how long it would take us. So we stop at every little spot get out and look around. Take a picture read the information get back in the car and do it all over again. After a few time of this we realize wow we have barley started and it has already taken almost an hour maybe we shouldn't stop at everything. We decided to drive by "balancing rock" without stopping and then we get to the windows. Of course we are curious and have to stop and take a look. We then decide to take the mile walk up and get a better view.

Here we are in the middle of the hole from the first picture.

The size of these are magnificent. When we were on the road viewing them the best we could we didn't imagine them to be this big. It wasn't until we walked up to them and saw them up close that we realized the true size.

By the time we actually got half way threw Arches we were both tired and didn't want to do much more walking. Which is unfortunate because this is the time we came to the spot to see the "Delicate Arch" Had we known we probably would have saved some energy and walked up to it. As it is I did get this picture that didn't turn out to bad.

We didn't take all the hikes that we would have liked to and there is definitely more to see. So we will just go back. We also didn't get to view anything from Canyon Lands so we intend to do that to. Next time we head down to this part of Utah we would like to be able to take more time and see the rest of Moab along with going down to the 4 corners and checking that out.

We decided to have dinner at the Moab Brewery which isn't to bad a place to eat. A little expensive but it was what the locals recommended. The entire trip Brandon was curious as usual about where they go and do the rock climbing in the Jeeps and stuff. At dinner we saw this half Jeep advertising tours and it showed a video of where they go to climb. It was freaking nuts. I would never in a million years do it, but Brandon looked like a kid in the candy store eager to hop in and get his fix. I swear if it wasn't so late and we had more time he probably would have signed up and done a tour right then. Thank heavens it was dark out.

There is definitely so much to see we are excited to go back. Although we plan to check out some more cities first. Not this week, but maybe next week we will have a new city to tell you about.

WHAT A BLAST!!

So we had our date and it was absolutely wonderful! We had so much fun. For me it was great to finally get one on Brandon. I have tried many times to surprise him with different things. With the way his mind works though he always figures it out. This time... he didn't have that luxury.

Like I said I got the idea's from this website. They shared ideas on what they have done and I took a few and added them together. We have been short on money for awhile so I wasn't planning to spend a ton, but then I decided to splurge.

Here's how it went......

Tuesday:

I decided to finally do something about my situation and date my husband. I told him to keep Wednesday and Thursday open. He already has plans. He asked me what they were and I wouldn't share any other information with him. I asked my boss for Thursday off and he actually agreed. Imagine my shock. I got a compilation of CD's ready for him put a bunch of songs on the ipod and got my notes ready. I left a note on his pillow that pretty much told him to be ready by 3 on Wednesday for his next clue. "Oh yes and make sure to pack light because you might not make it back tonight"

Wednesday:

I recruited my sister to drop off his next clue along with a blue bunny (he likes those rabbits) around 3 PM. The note read
"You are about two be love hijacked"
(thank you dating divas)

In the mean time I was getting a hotel room ready with rose petals and candles. I had Jim Brickman piano music playing in the background softly for romance. I called in an order for food then went to go pick him up. When I got to the condo somewhere around 5, I had a friend (whom has a number he doesn't know) and had her send him a text telling him his ride was here. He then came down the stairs and was peaking out to see what was going on. He did a double take when he saw me sitting in the car.
When he got into the car I asked him for his phone because they were off limits for the next two days. As he was handing it to me I grabbed some handcuffs that I had gotten and handcuffed him to me.

His reaction was priceless. He got beat red and was like what are you doing? I just laughed it was so funny. He was like we aren't going in anywhere are we. Well I didn't torture him that badly. As getting out of the car handcuffed would have been a chore but I left him in the handcuffs for awhile and told him he had to earn them off.
I then told him to start driving and I would let him know where we were going. He got onto the freeway heading South. Of course his overactive brain was thinking Vegas or something. I had him stop off at the store then get back on the freeway this time North. His look was priceless he was totally confused. I then had him go East to pick up our dinner then west to another store (this time to pick up something I had forgotten to get) At this point it was about 7 so then I had him drive to the hotel downtown.
As we were eating dinner I told him how he could earn his freedom. I had these tasks and clues that I had placed in different places and he needed to find them then preform the task before moving on. (thank you dating divas)

Doing the tasks was probably one of the best things of the night. There were things like
"share your favorite memory about each other."
"what is your favorite thing about the other"
"Take your girl in your arms and dance a full song"

These were some of my favorites. It had been so long since we thought about why it was we were in love. It had been since our wedding since we had danced together. We spent most of the night talking about moments when we were dating. Many times that night I was so overwhelmed with the love in the room I cried. It was such a wonderful feeling.

Thursday:
I told Brandon that he had to be up and ready to go by 8 AM. We ate breakfast at the buffet then went back up to our room. I gave him his last note and went to go check out.
In his last note it told him I would be waiting in the car. When he got there I handed him the CD collection I had gotten together along with the Ipod and told him his choice of music. I then got out a map and told him to pick a place anywhere we hadn't been and we will go (within the state). We both had never have been to Moab so that is where we headed. I put in Garth Brooks at his request then he turned it down to where it was only background noise and we talked the entire way there and back. We talked about everything and anything. We talked like we had the night before. We laughed till our stomachs hurt held hands till they fell asleep. It was so much fun. We went to Arches. That is a whole nother blog for a different time.

All in all I would say that the date was successful. We had a blast and hated to see it end. We have decided though that the finding and driving somewhere new would be something that we would do more often. We dated the trip to Moab and plan to take another trip sometime soon.

(Thank you dating divas for your ideas. I am so glad that I ran across your blog)

Dating

Ok

So a friend of mine was mentioning this blog that her friend is a part of. I decided to check it out and it has some very creative ideas. It talks about how these women had let life get in the way of their marriage. I am all to familiar with that major error. But it goes on about how they are now going to write down new dating ideas. I figure I am going to borrow some ideas and see how things go with Brandon and I. It will be a bit difficult because we don't have the same days off and maybe a few other reasons ;) I am excited though to try it out. Maybe I can get some time off work this week and see how it goes. There is one idea I read that I am dying to try out. It is definitely down Brandon's alley. Something I know he will totally enjoy. So here's to hoping that I can pull this off this week.

Broken Car & Application Tips

WOW! What a couple of crazy months. I guess for those of you that know what is going on, things seem to be going better. However, I don’t want to count my chickens before they have hatched. That has gotten me into plenty of trouble in the past. So I will continue to go with the flow and take what comes at me. Through everything I have definitely learned what I am capable of. I have actually found in me someone I can be happy with. Lessons are being learned all over the place and I am forever grateful for that.

However this morning I was about ready to say forget it crawl back into bed and not come out till Friday. And I would have if I had a way to get back home, but my car broke down this morning on my way to work. This is the second time the stupid thing has over heated. The first time was on Brandon and he got a miss out at work and this time with me, which caused me to be over an hour late for work. Stupid car! I was lucky though, I was able to coast it off the freeway and into a parking lot. Brandon got stuck on the freeway till help arrived. When I finally got to work I had to get payroll in so that all the employees could get paid. I really don’t want to be the reason they don’t get their checks. That would be worse than a broken down car. Anyway… I was trying to get payroll in before the deadline and the phone would not quit ringing. Lucky for me they decided to run an add in the paper. One position open so far close to 100 phone calls (no joke) and about 6 people have come in to fill out an application. In the mean time I am still trying to make that deadline for payroll. I finally decided I will not answer the phone until I am done. I think I am just going to give up on the phones all together for the rest of the day. I haven’t had the guts yet to check the voicemail. That will be fun I am sure.

FYI --for those out there searching for jobs. Leaving a voicemail does not guarantee a call back. In fact when there are many people applying for one position showing up and filling out the application is your best bet. I am more interested in those that show up to fill out the app than those that fax in a resume or leave messages. Showing up shows me you want the job. Sending off faxes or leaving messages, on days like today… You won’t get a call back. Plenty of people will personally hand in an app and they get priority.

When 10 people hand me an application for one available position I can expect maybe 5 of those can be held and moved through to the next process. Out of those 5 I can find at least 1 person for the job. So if I can do that without having to figure out a time to return phone calls I will. Also don’t try to do a phone interview. When phones are ringing off the hook and you have close to 100 phone calls no one is going to want to spend the time detailing the information out for you. Take an hour come in ask your questions during the interview that is what they are for.

Sorry about that side note. Those are some of my pet peeves when hiring. I think my boss did this on purpose, put the add in the paper then went on vacation…. Hmm nice game plan. Oh well, at least I don’t really have much time to dwell on my broken car. I am also not helping my situation by writing this blog. But you know what.. OH WELL I needed a break.

Guess it’s back to work for me.

2009 Review

So I’m copying this off my cousins Blog. This should be interesting. Let’s see what I can remember.



Funnest Event

• Going camping - with the 5th wheel and 4-wheelers
  
• Colorado—all those fun places we went and new places for dinner we tried and didn’t like so much.

Biggest Purchase

• That would have to have been the TV
  
• another doggie

Favorite Movie(s)

• The Proposal—That was absolutely hilarious to Brandon and I
  
• Taken—Awesome this would be all time favorite so far
  
• Eagle Eye—Kind of cheesy but I liked it
  
• 17 Again—Zac Efron is not bad looking

Least Favorite Movie(s)

• Ghost of Girlfriends Past—I really like Matthew McConaughey but kind of tired of all the remakes on the Christmas Carol
  
• Up 3D—We had heard that it would be cute and good, but I think everyone fell asleep, even Shaylee
  

I know there has got to be more than this, but for the life of me I am drawing a blank. Memory failure already starting.

Favorite Celebrity

• Sandra Bullock
  
• Denzel Washington

I enjoy these two because their movies are classy and you don’t see them involved in all the negative press.

Least Favorite Celebrity

• Brittney Spears – Don’t think she really has any talent. Not to mention it seems the only way she can stay in the public eye is through negative press.
  
• Kobe Bryant—I am tired of people like him and Carmelo Anthony being idols to children. (not limited to just these two) I have not seen anything from these men that would be worth the hero worship they get. I believe that celebrities should hold themselves to higher standards than they do. However, it seems to me that celebrities don’t think that laws and morals pertain to them. I think an MVP should be someone on and off the court.
  

Guilty Pleasure

Reading cheesy romance novels.. I know I know terrible isn’t it.

Saddest Moment


Not going there.


Sickest Moment

Ending up in the emergency room a few times for Kidney stones and back problems

Favorite Song(s)

There are a ton of songs out there that I liked. Most songs get overplayed though.

• Body Language- Jesse McCartney
  
• Replay- Iyaz
  
• Already Gone- Kelly Clarkson
  
• Box of Rocks- The Song Trust (if you haven’t heard it check out the video Cutest ever!)
  

Songs I Hated

• What’s my name—seriously that song really needs to like be banned or something
  
• Taylor Swift- I may be shot for this, but give me a break. How hard is it to rerelease the same album? Did you not have any new stuff? The old stuff is way overplayed and wearing on my nerves. I started off liking most of it, but now….. nope not allowed on my radio. Even though Brandon tries to sneak it in every once in awhile.
  
• Blackeyed Peas- what were these songs about? Didn't make sense! Fergies outfits... Come on!

Biggest Surprises


I wouldn’t really say there were too many of those. At least none I remember. Which is a good thing! I have had more than my fair share of surprises to last me a life time. Unless it is a happy one, then I'm all for it.

Achievements

• Learned more about myself
  
• Got involved with a debt relief program

Things I've Learned

• Everybody has their crap and that is okay.
  
• If everyone put their pile of junk into a pile we would all grab our own pile of junk.
  
• Forgiveness is the key to letting go. Why hold on to things? In doing so you are giving up control of yourself.
  
• It is none of my business what you think of me- This has been a hard one for me because I have always wanted to be liked. Which leads to…
  
• Sometimes people will just decide not to like you and that is fine.
  
• Fear will keep you in situations you don’t want to be in.
  
• Potato skins will clog up a garbage disposal.
  

My favorite picture that I took in 2009 was

Didn’t really take any pictures this year that were all that great.


Ugliest picture of me in 2009


Was deleted on the spot.


I am looking forward to:

• Buying a new home
  
• Getting out of debt with the exception of Cars and home

My Hopes (Resolutions) for 2010

• Eat healthier
  
• More home cooked meals
  
• Have healthier and happier relationships

In 1 word (or a couple words) 2009 was: Educational

In 1 word (or a couple words) 2010 will be: challenging

Roll over minutes

Okay so it has what been many many months since I wrote last. I don't even remember when Duke was that small. Now he is big and overly active.

So much has been going on, I don't even know where to start. I know I need to keep this updated a little more. But it has been proven time and again that I am not very consistent at this blogging thing. Just always seem to run out of time.

There are some days when it would be nice to have extra minutes in the day. Then there are those days when you can't wait for them to get over, they just kind of drag on and on and on. Every once in awhile that is nice, but not to often. Or it's just been a plain out bad day and you just want to cut it short and go to bed. This is why I wish we could have roll over minutes.

Wouldn't it be nice to take a day that you just want to end and end it? Go into the next day that doesn't seem long enough and add to it by rolling your minutes over. I mean Sprint has the right idea. If you don't use them roll them over. Wed for example was so slow at work. I wanted to be home, but then Brandon and I weren't exactly agreeing on things so home wasn't all that much better than work. It was my niece's birthday. She would have been six. There were so many different reasons that it would have been best to call it quits. Then those extra minutes I can put into Saturday or something and enjoy my day. Or one of those days where I'm at work till 6:30 and have a ton more to do at home, but never have the time.

K so I may be stretching things a bit far, but come on I am sure I'm not the only one to think this would be a good idea.

New Addition

Brandon and I went to get a Jamba Juice today. In front of Artic Circle there in Draper there was a guy selling puppies. I told Brandon to stop I just wanted to see. He wouldn't because he wanted to go visit his sister. He told me to go back in the other car. So I figured I would just come upstairs and stay in for the night. But as we got home I kept thinking about the little glimpse of the puppy I saw and wanted to see more.

So I drove back to see the puppy and he was absolutely adorable. The guy told me he was a Bugg. I guess that is a Boston Terrier and Pugg mix. His face is all smushed and he grunts like a pig. I couldn't just walk away. So I called Brandon to see what he thought about getting another dog. Brandon thought it was a good idea it would give Daisy a companion. So we bought the dog.

Afterward I was pretty stressed thinking ok what did we get ourselves into. A new dog to potty train. When we got him home Daisy was excited at first. The new puppy is a little to rambunctious right now and like to chew and bite at everything Daisy included. Now she is timid of him. Hopefully they start to get along soon. And hopefully we didn't just make a mistake. Although he is really really cute!

Duke

Daisy & Duke