Patrick, Amber & Lyla

1st Birthday!

2011-09-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Lyla’s 1st Birthday in December! The family got together at the park to play and barbeque. Lyla had her first taste of sugar and didn’t seem to be a fan. Most of her cake ended up on the floor! She was ready for a nap by the time we opened presents so she wasn’t the happiest girl, but it was a fun day!

Halloween

2011-09-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

We dressed Lyla up as a ladybug for Halloween. My sister made her a super cute costume and we went to the truck or treat at our church.

Cousins

Taylor

2011-09-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

Taylor left on his mission at the end of October. We sure miss him, but so far he has been doing great! He has been able to teach a lot of people and seems to really be enjoying it.

Opening his Mission Call

At the Temple

After he was Set Apart

At breakfast the day he left

At the airport

Catching Up

2011-09-17T22:26:00.000-07:00

Boy, have I been a slacker! Let’s see what I can remember from the past year!

We went camping with my family at Enchanted Rock last fall. This was our last family trip before my brother left on his mission to Argentina. We had a lot of fun and Lyla did really well. She slept through the night and didn’t seem to notice she was in a tent. We went hiking and Taylor climbed a huge rock and got stuck. It was pretty funny! One of the instructors happened to come by and had to set up his climbing ropes to get him down. It was a little too hot for all of us, but I guess that’s what we get living in Texas. The hardest part was keeping Lyla from eating all the rocks and acorns.

Spiderman

2010-10-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Lyla pretty much only crawls on her hands and feet with her bum in the air now. She has gotten really fast and can sure get across the room in a hurry if there is something she wants. Sometimes when we get in a room with carpet she will put her knees down and drag one leg behind, but on our wood floors or when she is wearing a dress she is on her hands and feet. It is pretty hillarious to watch.

2010-10-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

Lyla seems to get restless when she's stuck in the house all day so I try to take her outside when I can. She gets super excited anytime I get close to the door and when I start to turn the handle she kicks her legs and squeals. A lot of the time when it gets super quiet I'll find her standing up at the back door just looking outside watching the dog.

The weather is finally starting to cool down a little bit so we have been to the park a few times recently. Lyla loves to swing, but she hasn't quite figured out how to slide. She grips the sides super tight and puts her feet down so she doesn't go anywhere. We have to watch her pretty much every second we're there because she thinks every rock, acorn, and leaf belongs in her mouth!

Our Little Aggie

2010-10-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

Poor Baby

2010-10-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

Lyla has taken a couple big falls now that she can move around. On our way home from Utah she fell out of the stroller in the airport. She leaned over the edge and landed on her head right when I let go to fill up her bottle. A huge welt popped up on her forehead almost immediately and she cried so hard. It scared me to death. I think that may be the only time I will ever be grateful for a delayed flight!

We often leave the back door open when we go outside on the deck. Lyla will usually crawl over and sit on the edge to look out. One morning Patrick left the door open while he went to put his stuff in the car. He said he watched her crawling as fast as she could to get to the door, but this time she didn't stop. She flew right over the edge and face planted on the concrete. She scraped up her knuckles and ended up with a big scab on her nose. I guess she was worried he was going to close the door before she got there!

The other day after getting groceries I tried to take Lyla out of the cart, but she was stuck. I looked down and realized she had put her foot through one of the small bars. She started screaming and I could not get her foot to come out. I started thinking about who I could call or who I could get to help me. I finally realized that I was the mom and better figure it out! After twisting it around for a few minutes it finally slipped out. Fortunately she was fine and it didn't seem to bother her after that. Hopefully we don't have any big emergencies because I don't seem to react very quickly!

9 Months

2010-10-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how quickly Lyla's first year is going by. She weighed 17 pounds 15 ounces (30 percentile) and was 28 1/4 inches tall (70 percentile) at her 9 month appointment.

She has been walking along the furniture for awhile and just recently started letting go and standing by herself. I'm sure it won't be long before she is taking steps! She also likes to stand up in her highchair and carts so we always have to be sure to strap her in.

She gets into everything, and I mean everything. She loves to pull all of the movies off the shelves and scatter my papers all over the floor. It's almost pointless to pick up the movies or her toys because it won't be long before she scatters them around again. She can open cabinets and the pantry door when we don't close it all the way. It only takes her couple seconds to make a huge mess. She listened really well for a few weeks, but seems to be ignoring us now. When we tell her no she just looks at us and then does it anyway - mostly when it comes to playing with the entertainment system and the fireplace.

She eats anything and everything. She will find every little rock or crumb in the house and it goes straight into her month. She has been starting to eat small pieces of solid foods and almost has 4 teeth. The top 2 started coming in right before she turned 9 months. She is also super ticklish and giggles when you tickle her.

The only thing that we have been struggling with is her sleeping. She sleeps really well at night, but she doesn't seem to want to take naps. I'll leave her in her bed and she will just play forever. Lately I've had to lay down with her if I want her to go to sleep. She constantly flings her pacifier across the room or drops it over the edge and then laughs when I have to get up to get it. It can be frustrating, but she'll usually fall asleep after awhile.

It is kind of sad to see her growing up so quickly, but each stage she goes through is more exciting than the last. She sure keeps us busy, but we love it.

8 Month Pictures

2010-10-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

While we were in Utah, we had my aunt's friend, Jada Chadwick, take some pictures. My mom was having my little sister's done with her new puppy so we decided to go ahead and have Lyla's taken also. It is just too hard to pick a few because I love all of them! Lyla was being so good and just stared at the camera and smiled the whole time!

Utah

2010-10-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

Lyla and I took a trip to Utah with my family last month. Lyla did pretty good on our flights, but she just doesn't like to sit still anymore so it was a constant battle to keep her from climbing all over. She was especially interested in the man sitting next to us and the buttons on his shirt. He didn't seem to be quite as excited as she was about reaching over every couple minutes to grab them! As always, we stayed really busy the entire time we were there, but it was so fun to see everyone! We visited lots of family, went shopping, went hiking, had a family breakfast, went to a family reunion at a slide park, roasted huge marshmallows, and just hung out.

My cute grandparents cooking breakfast!

Lyla wasn't too sure about the slides

Lyla's grandma let her have a marshmallow and I'm the one who got in trouble when her dad saw the picture!

Birthday Fun

2010-10-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

I've been going through my pictures and found these from my birthday. Lyla was pretty interested in those candles and she stuck her little fingers right in the cake!

Cute Dresses

2010-09-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

I have found it to be extremely hard to determine what size clothes Lyla should wear. She wore newborn clothes for about the first 4 months and then 3 month clothes until about 7 months and now she is wearing 6 month stuff and is 9 1/2 months old. So, pretty much all of the stuff we bought her before she was born has ended up fitting in the wrong season. We bought her this cute little dress to wear for Christmas. She was due the first week of December so we thought for sure by the time Christmas rolled around she would fit into a 0-3 month dress. Well, she just barely wore it last month - at the end of summer! She has some super cute sandals and jellies that are probably going to fit in a few months, right in the middle of winter.

My mom also bought her this little dress just before Easter. We knew it was a little big, but figured she would grow into it quickly. She just wore it a couple weeks ago as well.

2010-09-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

When I look back through Lyla's baby pictures, she is sleeping in pretty much all of them. I have decided this is because she cried so much when she was awake that we only took pictures when she was sleeping. I am a little disappointed that we didn't take any though because she would make the funniest faces. This second picture is a good example. Really big tears start pouring out instantly and she sticks her bottom lip out as far as it will go.

Isn't this just the saddest face you've ever seen?

Pretty in Pink

2010-09-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

Look how long her tongue is!

2010-09-23T09:24:00.001-07:00

Lyla loves going to her grandparents house. She will be so grumpy at home and then we'll go over there and she is one happy camper! My mom watches her one day a week while I am at work so she bought a little pool and a swing. Lyla just laughs and laughs when you swing her.

On the Move

2010-08-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

Lyla is officially on the move! She learned how to crawl and sit up from lying on her back just before she turned 8 months. At first she would just scoot around with one leg tucked underneath, but now she has figured out how to move on her hands and knees. She doesn't really seem to like our wood floors though - sometimes she will stand up on her feet and try to crawl with her bum in the air. For the first couple weeks she would just move around between her toys, but now she is learning that there is more exciting stuff to get into. All of Patrick's electronic stuff is right at the perfect height for her to play with - she loves to sit under the TV and turn the sound on and off, over and over again. We still haven't finished our kitchen so the cabinets don't have doors either. She likes to stick her head in and try to pull things out.

She is also trying to pull herself up next to everything. Every once in awhile she can get up into a standing position and can support herself for quite awhile. I'm sure we are going to be having lots of falls over the next few months.

Now that she can get up from lying down, it has become more difficult to get her to go to sleep. A lot of the time when I lay her down she sits right back up with the biggest grin on her face. If I leave the room and come back a few minutes later to find her sitting up, she will just look at me and laugh like she has done something amazing.

Just Being Cute!

2010-08-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

A Day with Dad

2010-08-06T11:09:00.001-07:00

Lyla absolutely loves her dad. Her whole face lights up and she gives him the biggest smiles when he gets home from work. She will just sit there and stare at him even if he isn't paying any attention to her.

I found this picture on my camera so I guess this is what they do when I'm not around.

And this is how he fixes her hair when it's his turn to give her a bath. He even added some of his hair gel to be sure it would stay that way. I must say she is pretty cute even with a mohawk.

2010-08-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

I was washing Lyla's hands off and I looked down and saw that she had stuck her foot in the sink with all the soap and water. She was just kicking it back and forth like it was no big deal!

Fireworks

2010-08-05T13:04:00.000-07:00

On the 4th of July we watched the fireworks from the top of a parking garage on campus. It turned out to be a great spot because we could see them really well and we were able to avoid all the traffic. I was surprised that Lyla noticed them from how far away we were, but she actually sat there and watched them the whole time!

Patrick's Golfing Buddy

2010-08-05T13:02:00.001-07:00

Fun at the Lake

2010-08-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago we went out to Gibbons Creek with some of my co-workers. They took their boats so Lyla got to go on her first boat ride and I got to knee board. It was super hot, but a lot of fun!

2010-07-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

Lyla absolutely loves to play in her jumper. She gets really excited when people stand around and watch her and will start jumping really fast. She recently learned how to swing by running one direction and then picking up her knees while she swings back the other way. It is pretty hilarious to watch when she starts getting crazy!

Golfing with Dad!

2010-07-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago Lyla and I rode along with Patrick while he played golf. She loves being outside so she was really good the whole time. I can't believe how much she's grown since then!

6 Month Pictures

2010-07-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

Lyla is growing up so fast! At her six month appointment she weighed 15 pounds and was 25.75 inches long. She is right around the 25th percentile for both her weight and height. She can sit up really well, but loves to be standing up the most. She hates to be on her stomach so we are thinking she may skip crawling and go straight to walking. She has really become very vocal and smiles all the time. She has a jumper which she absolutely loves. You can tell she takes after her dad because she may have 20 toys around her, but if she can see your cell phone or computer that is all she wants!

First Tooth!

2010-06-25T12:48:00.001-07:00

Lyla's first tooth popped through just before she turned 6 months and now the second one is coming in. I kept thinking she was teething for months and it finally came through. You can see the first one on the left and the second one barely coming in on the right. She has been a little fussy and didn't sleep well for a few days with each of them, but luckly it didn't last long!

Cute Pictures!

2010-06-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

My mom took these cute pictures of Lyla a couple weeks ago. I love her leggings and the cute pink jellies, headbands and bows her Aunt Nicolee gave her. She sure is spoiled being the first grandchild in our family!

Summer Fun!

2010-06-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

We have been swimming a few times this summer and Lyla loves it! She likes to float around and play in the water falls. And of course she looks super cute in her little swimming suits!

Aunt Kaylee

Aunt Nicolee

2010-06-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

Lyla has been eating lots of fruits and vegetables lately! So far I haven't found anything she doesn't like, but we still have a lot to try. It only took her a few tries to figure out how to swallow, but she still makes a huge mess. It is pretty much impossible to keep her hands out of her mouth and then she smears it on anything and everything within her reach! If you drop a little on her tray it will take her about a second to get to it!

Spring Pictures!

2010-06-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

I sure have been slacking on my posting, but what else is new! It's so hard to pick just a few because Lyla is so darn cute.........but here are some Spring pictures.

I haven't been very good at taking lots of pictures lately, but I was looking at my mom's camera yesterday and her grandma has taken over 3,000 pictures over the last month so I think I'm covered!

Easter

Pedernales Falls

2010-06-14T10:53:00.001-07:00

Last month we went camping at Pedernales Falls. Lyla did great and didn't seem to mind sleeping in a tent! We spent some time hiking around the falls and swimming in the river.

Isn't this just the cutest face!

Lyla Update

2010-05-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

At Lyla’s 4 month check up (she was actually closer to 4.5 months) she weighed 12 pounds and was 24 ¼ inches long. She had fallen off the charts the last few times she was checked, but is back on between the 5th and 10th percentile for her weight and 20 to 25th for her height! She has pretty much stopped spitting up large amounts and seems to be catching up fast. It is so great to not be constantly mopping up piles of spit up!

She is doing really well lately and has pretty much just been a happy baby. She only gets upset when she is hungry or tired and has started developing a little personality which is so fun! If you tickle her just right or make weird noises she will start laughing and it is hilarious. She loves to lie on a blanket and wiggle around. She has figured out how to take her pacifier out of her mouth, but can't get it back in most of the time. When she is upset it is a constant battle to keep it in her mouth. Her hands reach up and take it out as soon as you let go!

We’ve started feeding her oatmeal over the past few days and the doctor said we could start fruits and vegetables at 5 months which happens to be this week. She is so funny when we feed her because she just sticks her tongue out and the majority runs back out. She hasn’t quite figured out how to swallow which makes for quite a task to clean up when we are finished!

She has been going to sleep on her own for about a month now and sleeps for 7-9 hours and then she will also take a couple good naps during the day. She just likes to be swaddled up and left alone. If we try to hold her she gets really mad. I can’t believe how lucky we are that she decided to do this on her own.

She loves bath time and just splashes and smiles every time we put her in the tub. I can’t wait to take her swimming!

She rolled over for the first time last week. Once she gets from her back to her tummy she constantly moves her arms and legs. It looks like she wants to move so badly, but just can’t figure it out! Sometimes I’ll look away for maybe a second and she manages to get to her stomach so fast. I guess we can’t leave her on the couch anymore when we leave the room.

2010-05-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

In March Lyla and I went to the Houston Zoo and Butterfly Museum with my family. My little sister was on Spring Break so we decided to do something fun. It worked out perfectly to have Lyla’s morning nap time during the drive down and then we wore her out during the day so she slept the whole way home too! She didn’t seem to be too interested in the butterflies or the animals, but it was still fun!

Utah

2010-04-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of March my mom, Lyla, and I took a trip to Utah. I wanted to do something before I went back to work and I wanted Lyla to see her Great Grandparents and the rest of my family. I was pretty nervous about taking her on a plane, but she actually did really well. We really lucked out since she slept most of the time! Traveling with a baby is a lot of work. It was such a pain running through the airport with all her stuff!

5 Generations

Lyla had her 3 month check up when we got back. She weighed 9 pounds 10 ounces and was 23 inches long.

2 Months

2010-02-24T14:21:00.000-08:00

Lyla had her 2 month check up last week. She has only gained about a pound over the last month and spits up all the time so the doctor sent us over to the hospital to do an upper gi series. They had her drink milk with dye in it while they took some x-rays. The radiologist said she does have some acid reflux, but there aren't any other problems so that was good. She weighs 9 pounds 6 ounces and is 22 inches long. She still cries quite a bit, but is starting to interact with us more. I love it when she smiles.....it's the cutest thing!

4 Year Anniversary

2010-02-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

We celebrated our 4 year anniversary last month! We dropped Lyla off at my parents house and went to dinner at Olive Garden. It was our first night out since she was born! It was great to have a break, but felt weird to not have her there.

2 Week Pictures

2010-01-31T19:17:00.000-08:00

We had some pictures taken of Lyla when she was two weeks old. Below are some of my favorites!

Baby Lyla

2010-01-24T20:03:00.000-08:00

Lyla Sydney Farnsworth

December 11^th, 2:45pm

7lbs, 3oz 19.75 in

I can’t believe our little girl is already 6 weeks old! I think I am finally starting to get the hang of things and am beginning to accomplish more than just taking care of a baby.

We had a doctor’s appointment on my due date for an ultrasound and stress test. The ultrasound was showing that she weighed over 8 pounds and the stress test showed that I was having contractions every couple minutes. The doctor said there wasn’t any reason why we shouldn’t induce, but said we could wait another week if we wanted to. We decided to induce on Friday morning if she didn’t come before then. We checked into the hospital Thursday night and the monitors still showed that I was having pretty consistent contractions even though I couldn’t feel them. By about 3 in the morning they were getting stronger and were more regular. They went ahead and started the pitocin at 6 and things moved along pretty quickly since I was already having contractions. My nurse said I could get an epidural as soon as the anesthesiologist got there at 7 so I thought I would be okay to wait. Unfortunately they switched nurses at 7 and my new nurse said he had to make his rounds first. I have always wondered what contractions feel like and can now say I never want to feel them again! I thought I was going to lose it and can’t even imagine delivering without an epidural. I just remember being so relieved when the anesthesiologist came in and then about 10 minutes later I couldn’t feel anything! The doctor and nurses decided to wait until she dropped as low as she could to minimize pushing time. We just relaxed until about 2:30 and then I only had to push for about 15 minutes. I would have to say that the delivery was much easier than I expected and the two weeks following were much harder than I expected.

I definitely underestimated what it requires to take care of a baby. Everyone always says that it is the hardest job in the world, requires a lot of time, and you don’t get any sleep. I kind of always thought people were exaggerating, but I now understand what sleep deprivation means! The first 3 weeks of waking up every 2 hours to feed her were pretty rough. She had lost some weight and had jaundice so the doctor said it was really important that she ate frequently. She is sleeping pretty well at night now….anywhere from 4 to even 7 hours when I am lucky! She has a little bit of acid reflux which causes her to be extra fussy in the evenings. She cried pretty much nonstop for a couple weeks, but is doing much better now.

At her one month appointment the doctor said she is very advanced for her age. She was able to pick up her head before we left the hospital and can support it on her own now. She can stand up and support her weight if you balance her. She also will maintain eye contact, makes noises, and smiles all the time which I love!

I wasn’t sure what it would be like to be home all day since I have been working for the past 4 years, but I can say that I absolutely love it! It can be frustrating but is so fun at the same time. She makes the cutest faces and does the funniest things which make it all worth it.

Baby Update

2009-12-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

We have spent the past month or so trying to get ready for the baby and I think we might finally be ready…..or at least as ready as you can be I guess. She is due tomorrow and my doctor said it could be anytime now at my appointment last week. It is pretty nerve racking just waiting, but I guess that is how it works. In some ways I am anxious to have the whole delivery over with, but I am also enjoying my last few days before everything changes. So far I have been feeling pretty good which has been nice. I think the only thing I am going to miss about being pregnant is that I never get cold. The things I am most looking forward to about not being pregnant are sleeping on my stomach, less heartburn, wearing normal clothes, and not having my ribs and back hurting all the time!

Patrick painted her room a pastel green and we are pretty much done decorating….there are just a few small things I would still like to add. We have been so lucky and have gotten pretty much everything we need from our family and friends. We have a crib, bassinette, lots of clothes, and a bunch of miscellaneous stuff. My work also had a really nice baby shower luncheon for me and gave us a stroller car seat combination. The food was great and we were so excited to get the stroller and car seat.

It has been extremely nice to not have to worry about all of this stuff! We also picked out some cute material and my mom is working on a crib set for her so I am excited for that to be finished.

28 weeks

30 weeks

34 weeks

38 weeks

39 weeks

2009-12-06T21:25:00.001-08:00

I guess I have lots of catching up to do……

Several months ago we went to Houston to the Alley Theatre to see a play called the Farnsworth Invention. Patrick’s great, great, great uncle, Philo T. Farnsworth, contributed to inventing the television. His invention was stolen and after many patent battles he ended up losing. We knew he was involved and that his invention was stolen, but we didn’t know exactly how it happened so it was pretty cool to see!

Our friends Brock and Britney came to visit a few months ago as well. We were able to meet them for dinner in the Woodlands and meet their son. He is super cute and such a good baby even though he did spit up all over my seat and then I sat in it. They are the kind of friends you can go without talking to for a long period of time, but then when you see them it’s like nothing has changed. It was really fun to see them and we are hoping to be able to see them again sometime soon.
We have both been super busy with work. I have been training someone to handle my work while I am on maternity leave and Patrick has just been busy as usual. He recently added a tennis section to the store which we are both really excited about. It is something we have wanted to do for awhile, but weren’t able to do it until now. It took a lot of work, but it looks really good and we both love to watch and play tennis so it has been fun to expand.We celebrated a pretty low key Halloween this year. We carved some pretty cool pumpkins with Bryan and Meredith the weekend before. Davanee was being really cute and thought it was a good idea to eat the pumpkin!Unfortunately it was super humid all week so ours didn’t even last until Halloween. On Halloween we went trick or treating to a few houses with my sister and then watched a scary movie.

Patrick’s Grandpa passed away a couple months ago. Michael and Heidi were able to come for the funeral so it was really fun to see them and their kids even though it wasn’t under fun circumstances. Patrick created a slideshow of his life and gave a little talk at the burial service. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to make it through, but he did a great job. His grandpa was a really interesting guy and we got to learn a lot of cool stuff about him that we didn’t know. We also got to meet a lot of people who knew him and commented on what a great guy he was. We have definitely missed him coming to visit over the past few months.

Wedding Fun

2009-09-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned below, I went to Utah for my sister's wedding. The wedding was really beautiful and it was a lot of fun to see everyone. They got married in the Timpanogos Temple and then had an outdoor reception at my grandparent’s house. The yard and decorations were beautiful and the weather turned out to be really nice. We all like Grant and are excited to have him in the family!

It's a GIRL!

2009-08-10T18:36:00.001-07:00

I just got back from my sister's wedding in Utah, but just before I left we found out we are having a girl! The doctor said everything looks great and she weighs 11 oz. We are starting to get really exctied and it definitely seems more real now that we are past the half way point and know what we are having. So far the name we like is Lila Belle, but we are still deciding. While I was in Utah my sister threw me a little shower with our family that was in the area.
I got some really cute stuff, especially these little shoes. I can't wait until she can wear everything! We have also had lots of family offer to give us stuff they aren't using anymore so we are going to be all set by the time December rolls around.
When I left for Utah you couldn't even tell I was pregnant, but by the time I came home I was starting to show a little. I know I still don't look that big, but it seems to be getting bigger everyday. I'm sure it won't be long.....this picture is at 5 1/2 months.

Horseshoe Bay

2009-07-04T10:20:00.001-07:00

Last month we went on a mini vacation to Horseshoe Bay. We signed up for a golf package and had unlimited golf at their 3 courses. We played lots of golf and just hung out around the hotel. The courses were beautiful and had lots of fun holes. We also played horseshoes, life size checkers, and got to try out some clay tennis courts which is something we have always wanted to do. And of course it is always great to have a break from work!

I had a Drs. appointment last week and we were supposed to find out if we are having a girl or a boy. The baby was turned sideways so it was pretty disappointing because she couldn't tell. Hopefully we will be able to find out next time. The good news is that I have finally started feeling better! I still have some bad days, but definitely more good days then bad. It's amazing what can happen around the house when you don't come home from work and curl up into a ball on the couch and go to sleep. You might actually find the dishes put away, laundry clean, and a house resembling something fit for people to live in!

Big News

2009-06-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Mother’s Day a few weeks ago as I’m sure most did. We stopped by to visit Patrick’s mom and then we ate dinner with my family. Patrick wrote and sang songs to both of our moms. They were both hilarious and our moms loved them! Patrick was surprised at how excited they got over a little song…..he said it’s crazy how much girls like it when you sing for them.

To top it all off….it was my first Mother’s Day or Mother’s to be Day to be more accurate. That’s right, we are expecting a baby! I am almost 14 weeks and our baby is due on December 8th. Since our parents are so excited they got us some baby stuff for “Mother’s Day”. Patrick’s family got us the cutest, softest blanket and my family got a few pajama outfits, a towel, wash cloths, and 2 little toys.
The blanket is pretty neutral and there are 2 outfits for a girl and 2 for a boy since we don’t know which one it will be. We will be happy with either one, but I always imagine having a girl and Patrick always imagines having a boy. He says it doesn’t matter as long as they want to play golf or tennis! Now I am so excited because I have all this cute stuff and another 6 months to wait. Aside from being excited about a cute baby I can’t say that I have enjoyed being pregnant so far. Patrick asked me what it felt like and the best thing I could think of is that my whole body hurts and I just feel miserable all the time, I have never felt anything like it. The good news is that I think it might be getting a little better and I’m crossing my fingers that I’m not imagining it!

2009-06-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

We have our second bedroom set up as an office, but we never use it because it is upstairs. We always just do our work on the couch where we can watch TV and hang out. So….Patrick decided he wanted to get a desk we could use in the living room rather than having our stuff spread out all over the place. We went to a used furniture store and found a small desk. Patrick painted it red underneath, a cream color on top, and then sanded down spots to let the red show through. It was supposed to be a project we were going to work on together, but I ended up taking a little nap so I can’t take any of the credit. I think it turned out pretty cool!

Time Flies

2009-05-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

I think it might be time for an update! Let’s see if I can even remember the past few months.

We celebrated our 3 year anniversary in January. We went out to dinner and then went home and played a video game Patrick got for me, Little Big Planet. Patrick loves video games, but I don’t……..so he got this game with the hopes that I would play with him. Surprisingly I actually like it, but we haven’t had much time to play….or I guess we just spend our time doing other things.

Patrick turned 29 in February - pretty soon he is going to be 30! I am pretty sure we went bowling with some friends. We also celebrated Valentine’s Day with our standard…….going to dinner and watching a movie. Then Meredith and Bryan had a baby girl at the end of February so we have a new niece! She is super small and so cute!

In March I was able to take a week off work and go with my mom to my cousin Toni's wedding in Utah. The wedding was beautiful and it was a lot of fun to have a break from work and to see everyone.

My great grandparents and cousin at the wedding

One of the worst things about being so far from our family is that I don’t get to see all the new babies when they are born. I finally got to see my new cousin and another cousins's baby. One of my other cousins came home from her mission so I got to go meet her at the airport and then go to lunch with everyone. I was pretty excited to see some snow, but I can’t say I was too disappointed to come home to the warm weather. Every morning my grandparent’s yard fills up with deer that come down to eat their plants. It is pretty cool to see them so close, but I know my grandparents hate it! Right after we left my sister got engaged so it looks like we will be making another trip at the end of July!

As far as April goes I can’t really think of anything super exciting. I spent my time learning how to file business taxes and I was sure happy to see April 15th pass by. Patrick has been super busy at the store and has been working on a new business idea…..more details to come later. I guess the best thing was that we got new couches. We have had mismatched couches that were given to us when we got married so we are pretty excited. They are super comfortable and make a huge difference in the way our living room looks. As if I needed any extra help, but now I can fall asleep anytime I want!

2009-01-18T19:31:00.000-08:00

Christmas was busy and fun this year. We got lots of great stuff and enjoyed a few days off work. My work had a fiesta themed party out at a county pavilion and then we had our store party at the bowling alley (of course)!

We spent most of the holiday with Patrick’s family since my family went to Utah again this year. Patrick’s Grandpa took us to lunch at the Hilton and then we spent the afternoon at his parent’s house. On Christmas Eve Patrick took me to this awesome house where they had the lights tuned to Christmas Songs. It was one of the coolest things I have seen.

New Year’s was pretty uneventful for us. We went to the bowling alley and got there just as they were closing. Then we drove around forever looking for somewhere to get ice cream but everything was closed. We did get to play golf the next day which was fun.

We have officially made it through our first year as business owners! It has definitely been a lot of work, but has been a great experience for us. We are crossing our fingers that the economy gets better before it get too much worse!

2008-12-08T08:50:00.001-08:00

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is less than 3 weeks away. We have been so busy that time has just been flying by. We haven’t had a lot of opportunities to play golf lately so we took advantage of the nice weather on Thanksgiving and headed over to the course first thing in the morning. I haven’t been playing well for the past few months, but then Patrick noticed something I had been doing wrong. Once I fixed that I started playing pretty well (well by my standards at least). Golf is way more fun when the ball actually goes up in the air and down the fairway rather than just rolling a few feet along the ground….imagine that! After playing golf we ate lunch with my family and played some games. Then we went over to visit Patrick’s family and home to watch some football. It was a nice relaxing day!

This was our first Black Friday at the store so we were both pretty anxious to see what would happen. Patrick decided to run a big sale and ended up having the highest day in sales since the store opened! He had a long day, but we were both so excited. He has some great ideas for Christmas so hopefully business will keep up throughout the month!

I got selected for Jury Duty a couple months ago. It was my first time to even be summoned and then with my luck I was selected. My juror number was somewhere in the 200s and everyone kept telling me there was no way I would get selected. After we got there they reshuffled our numbers and somehow I ended up in seat number 1. I guess I didn’t say anything crazy enough to get removed. I was pretty nervous, but actually ended up enjoying it….until we had to make a decision of course. The case was for a family who had been burglarized. Once we heard all the evidence it was pretty easy to find the guy guilty. I love watching crime shows on TV and I was surprised with how similar the trial was to what we see on TV. It was an interesting experience and I enjoyed seeing the process, but I definitely hope I don’t get selected again.

I have been having trouble posting lately and somehow this picture of Patrick and his bowling balls got deleted from my post below.

I've Been Tagged by Melinda!

2008-12-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

8 Favorite TV Shows
1. LOST
2. Bones
3. 24
4. House
5. Heroes
6. Life
7. The Office
8. The Big Bang

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Cleaned
2. Shopping with my Mom
3. Christmas Decorating
4. Worked on Christmas Presents
5. Watched TV
6. Payed Bills
7. Checked Email
8. Christmas in the Park

8 Things I Look Forward To
1. Fridays
2. Holidays
3. Sleeping
4. Vacations
5. Golfing
6. Hanging out with friends
7. Date Nights
8. Bowling

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Cheddars
2. Wings N More
3. Road House
4. Olive Garden
5. Square One
6. Pita Pit
7. Fazolis
8. Double Daves

8 Things on my wish list
1. Lots of time to do whatever I want
2. Motorcycle
3. New House
4. Clothes
5. Couches
6. Pay off Student Loans/Business Loan
7. A house that magically stays clean
8. Someone who cooks for us

8 People I Tag
1. Everyone

2008-11-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

Wow, time sure does fly when I'm procrastinating. Let's see if I can remember what we have been up to since my last post.

Patrick has been spending most of his free time at the bowling alley. He has 3 custom balls; a Scout Reactive, Pin Slasher, and a Black Widow. Supposedly the Black Widow is the best! He has been bowling in a couple of leagues and has found out that many of our customers are bowlers so it works out pretty well. When Patrick becomes interested in something he spends a lot of time learning about it and then practicing. He did a lot of research on which balls to buy and has spent a lot of time watching the pros to learn the correct way to bowl. Unfortunately for me, this is why I always lose at everything we do. I did buy a ball though hoping that I could keep up with him. So far it hasn’t worked, but maybe if I keep practicing.

Patrick took me on a “date day” a few weeks ago. We both had Friday off so he planned a day full of dates. We went golfing, to lunch, bowling, the movies, and dinner. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures but we had a lot of fun. Most of our days off are spent catching up on things around the house or at the store so it was nice to have a full day off!

I have been getting up at 5:00 for the past month to exercise. Every morning is always a battle to get out of bed, but then I am always happy when I am done. I have been pretty surprised with what a difference it makes and it is great to have it out of the way first thing.

And I guess that pretty much sums it up, work and bowling!

Utah Trip - Part 2

2008-09-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

We spent the rest of our trip to Utah in Logan. Pretty much all of my family lives in that area so I was really excited to see everyone. Patrick had only met a few members of my extended family so it was fun for him to meet them as well. We visited family, took family pictures, played real golf and miniature golf, raced go carts, and went four wheeling. We played miniature golf and rode go carts at the Celebration Center in Logan. My brother rode a bunch of other rides, but he couldn’t convince anyone else to ride with him. You may remember from one of my previous posts that Patrick hates rides because he can’t control what is happening on them. I think his logic has rubbed off on me because I am scared of them now too! On our last day there we borrowed some four wheelers from my aunt Tricia and rode up Willard Peak. The ride up was pretty fun, but the way down was rough. I was riding behind Patrick and the majority of the trail was covered in rocks so I was bouncing all over the place. The view was amazing but I was pretty happy when we made it to the bottom!The weather was perfect throughout the entire trip. We ate a lot of our meals outside at my grandparent’s house and I don’t think I got hot once (hard to imagine that happening around here)! We took family pictures with our immediate family and then again with my mom’s side of the family. It turned out to be a big task trying to get 40 people together at the same time, but somehow it ended up working out. Our last family (immediate family) picture was taken over 17 years ago so I think it was about time for a new one! My sisters and I also took some fun pictures while we were waiting for everyone to get together. Unfortunately we ran out of time to see everyone and do everything we wanted to do so I guess we'll just have to fit it in next time! My favorite part was just visiting with everyone we were able to see and Patrick's favorite part was off roading!

Utah Trip - Part 1

2008-09-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

Our most recent adventure was a fun trip to Utah! We left on a Saturday evening after Patrick got off work and drove through the night. We arrived in Moab, our first stop, around 2:30 in the afternoon. We had planned on taking a short nap before finding some off roading trails, but we had the wrong check in time and our hotel room wasn’t going to be ready for a few hours. So, we decided to skip the nap and head straight for the trails. If you know anything about me then you probably know that I love to sleep and can sleep anywhere. Needless to say, I don’t think I was the one who really needed the nap. Ever since we bought the FJ Patrick has anxiously been awaiting the day he could go off roading so he found a trail online called Chicken’s Corner.
We followed a dirt road up the side of the mountain looking for the trail. It was crazy because the road leading up to the trail was much rougher than the actual trail and it took way longer to get there then it did to complete the trail. Basically we followed along a road that went up and down the mountain. Some parts of the road were barely wide enough for the car with a huge drop off on one side – it was pretty scary. We went up and down hills, over huge rocks, tight curves, and my favorite part was the sand. In one picture Patrick is standing on a ledge that was suspended in the air. It was pretty scary to stand on because there wasn’t anything holding it up. The trip up there and back down took about 5 or 6 hours. I can’t believe we drove 18 hours to Moab and then voluntarily spent another 6 hours in the car! It was definitely worth it though, we had a lot of fun and the view was amazing! I think Patrick was definitely ready for some sleep by the time we made it back to the hotel. The next morning we headed over to the golf course. The holes that ran along the side of the mountain were really pretty and the greens were in great condition. After our round of golf we headed up to Arches National Park. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see any of the arches from the car. We took a short hike up to the sand dune arch, but didn’t get to see any of the cool ones. Maybe if we ever make it there again we can try to do some of the longer hikes.We left from there to drive up to Logan to visit my family which I will post about later.

Big 24

2008-08-05T14:40:00.001-07:00

I turned 24 last month! Patrick always surprises me on my birthday and will never tell me what we are going to do. This year he said he was planning a party with just the two of us. I was a little skeptical since he never really does what he says. When I got home from work that day he had the dining room decorated with birthday stuff – streamers, balloons, confetti, whistles, and little tricks. The balloons said happy 15th birthday in Spanish for some reason. He said he didn’t realize what they said so it was pretty funny. He bought me some clothes and then took me get dinner at Cheddars and went home to watch Catch and Release. Surprisingly we did exactly what he said we were going to do and I had a great birthday!

Cypress Bend Weekend

2008-07-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

We spent our 4th of July weekend at the Cypress Bend Golf Resort in Louisiana. I was talking to my supervisor about how we are always trying to think of places we can go that aren’t too far away and aren’t super expensive. She mentioned that her husband had taken her to this resort for one of their anniversaries and that it was a lot of fun.

I had been trying to think of something I could do for Patrick because he has been working a lot and has been doing a great job at the store. Once she told me about this I thought it would be perfect to surprise him with a mini golf vacation. I called to sign us up for a golf package where you get unlimited golf the following day after you stay there. They told me that I had to schedule all our tee times up front and I didn’t know how many rounds or what times he would want to play. I was pretty disappointed because I ended up having to tell him about it. We left Thursday after work and played golf Friday morning. The course was really beautiful and was a lot of fun to play.

Many of the tee boxes were way higher than the fairways so it was like hitting your ball off a cliff. Most of the holes followed along Toledo Lake which was pretty cool. Fishing is really big in that area so after golf we bought some fishing stuff and went to this little beach area. As soon as we got there the sky turned black and it looked like a huge storm was coming. We ended up going back to the resort to wait until dark so we could go watch the fireworks. We were told to park along the bridge that goes over the lake between Louisiana and Texas and that someone would be doing a firework show at their house. There were a bunch of different houses doing random fireworks, but we never saw a big show. It was pretty cool though because a lot of people go out on their boats to watch them. From the bridge you could see all the lights dotting the lake. The next day we played two rounds of golf and spent some time at the pool. All in all it was a pretty fun vacation!

New Bathroom

2008-07-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

It has been almost three years since Patrick and I got engaged and started looking for a place to live. Patrick has a dog and I am sure most of you know that I am not really all that fond of animals……dogs in particular. This pretty much meant that we had to find a place with a backyard because I was not going to be living with a dog in the house. Once we started looking around Patrick proposed the idea of buying a house. Myself and spending large amounts of money don’t really go hand in hand so of course I was a little apprehensive about the idea. Patrick is a great salesman so it didn’t take him long to convince me that this would be a great idea. One of the first houses we looked at, or maybe even the first house, ended up being the perfect one. It was pretty cute and needed a lot of work so we figured we could get it for a good price. The family had already moved and bought a new house which meant that they were making two house payments and the husband was driving up here every weekend to work on it. We made an offer and since they were anxious to sell we were able to come to an agreement pretty quickly and we also ended up getting a great deal. The inside of the house was a little crazy; every room was painted a different color and some rooms even had several different colors. We told them we would take the house as is because we were scared of how it would look when they were finished. We closed on it two weeks before our wedding which gave us time to do some work before we needed to move in. We went through and prepped all the walls and then painted pretty much every single wall in the house. We also had new carpet put in the master bedroom and down the stairs. I think maybe the craziest thing they did was to cover the kitchen cabinet doors with sheet music. Boy was it fun to scrape that off for hours at a time! We still aren’t done so we haven’t had cabinet doors for the past few years. We finished all that we could before we moved in and then figured we would work on the rest whenever we had time. Here we are two and half years later and we still haven’t gotten very much done. We are actually thinking about selling the house in the near future so we have been thinking more about it lately. Now on to my reason for this very long post…..we are finally having our master bathroom redone. When we first bought the house the bathtub and shower were pretty gross so we decided to refinish them. Unfortunately, it didn’t exactly go as planned. Patrick painted it on and then we came back the next day and it had all run off and dried in big splotches. There really wasn’t a whole lot we could do about it so we just left it that way. It has been really hard to keep clean and recently the bottom has started peeling off. This isn't a great picture, but you can kind of see that it isn't very smooth. We sold my old car and decided we would use the money to get a new bathtub, put up tile for the shower walls, and also put in a new floor. The floor was black and white checkered tile that had been placed on top of old tile. It was uneven and peeling up in spots. Plus, we painted the cabinets and doors white a few months ago and didn't worry about getting it on the floor so it looks pretty dirty. We hired someone about two weeks ago and it took much longer than expected. We ended up having to hire a new guy to come and finish the work. Turns out that we really like him and he fixed our ac last week so we will probably hire him to work on some of the other stuff. We both got pretty tired of having to shower at other people’s houses. I guess you never realize how much you use something until you can’t use it anymore. We still have some painting and touch up work to do, but at least we can use the shower, sink, and toilet now! So far it is looking really good and I can’t wait until it is finished and I can put up some pictures!
(in progress - it was really messy)

Golf Tournament

2008-07-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

I mentioned below that we got a membership at Traditions. So far it has been really nice because we are able to play after work and on the weekends whenever we want. They also have a really nice course which makes it even better. Some of the holes are pretty long so I’ve usually reached par before I even make it to green! Not only has it been fun, but it is also a great networking tool for the store. Many of our customers play there so Patrick can get to know them better and meet new potential customers…..or at least that was the argument he used to convince me that we needed one! The other day we went out to play and we saw this really cute baby armadillo. We were sitting right next to him and he didn’t even care. We played in our Stake Golf Tournament this past weekend and we are going on a mini golf vacation this weekend so we are getting to play a lot. The Stake Tournament was pretty fun and we tied for second place! We played on a team with my brother and one of our employees. It was super hot, but we had a good time anyway. We had been having problems with our air conditioner all week and when we got home from the tournament it had stopped working again. It was pretty hot in our house all day, but luckily we had a guy who was able to fix it, at least for now. He said we are probably going to have to get a new one in the near future which is something we have to look forward to!

2008-06-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

One of our former employees got married a couple weeks ago. Patrick took the day off so we could take my brother to play golf for his birthday and then go to the wedding. We got a membership at Traditions a few months ago, but they had a tournament going on so they got us tee times at Briarcrest. We had never played there before so if was fun to play a new course. After we played golf we got ready and left for the wedding which was near Dallas. We got there about an hour before the wedding so we checked into our hotel and watched some of the US Open. This ended up making us about ten minutes late to the wedding because it took longer to get there from the hotel than we had expected. It was pretty embarrassing because everyone had already been seated, the wedding party had already walked down the isle, and they were in the middle of the ceremony. Fortunately, everyone had their backs to us so only a few people saw us come in. It was an outdoor wedding in the backyard of this amazing house on a lake. They had a tent set up with tables underneath. Each table had really pretty centerpieces and there were Christmas lights hanging everywhere. I think it was one of the coolest weddings I have ever been to. Patrick pretty much spent the night scheming about how he could make enough money to buy a house there. Someone told us about a guy across the lake who has a private 9 hole golf course on his property. He also has a bowling alley and secret passageways with slides from room to room. Pretty crazy! I wonder what he would think if he knew a complete stranger was writing about his house on their blog! It was fun to get away for a little while and not have to worry about anything. I did leave my cell phone on the nightstand at our hotel though. Patrick called them when we got home, but they said they couldn’t find it.

Golf Etc. Commercial

2008-06-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm going to hijack Ambers blog for a minute to make a short post. Recently, I created, filmed, and helped edit our first commercial for Golf Etc. I have plans to do another one soon that's more in your face, this ones kinda chill. Anyway, let us know what you think!

The first shot is of Josh (he works for us)
Next you'll see J-Buck and I reading the green
Then I make the putt and we have a totally awesome high-five
The last shot is of a father and son who do a lot of business with us

Bowling....More Bowling....and Golf

2008-06-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

I guess Patrick has decided he needs to end my winning bowling streak because he keeps wanting to go play. We enjoy going a lot more now that they have updated the bowling alley and have added new stuff. We invited our friends, Kourtney and Juan, to go a few weeks ago. We bowled 2 and a half games and Patrick beat me twice in a row! They have glow-ball on the weekends where they turn off the lights and everything glows. We had rented a lane for an hour and glow-ball started about half way through our hour. It was pretty fun, but it seemed like we all played worse after they turned off the lights. We also went bowling with the Larson's and their kids last week. Their girls were really cute and it was pretty funny because they could barely lift the heavy balls.

We also decided to play black light miniature golf with Kourtney and Juan. I’m not sure if we’ll ever see the day when I play real golf better than Patrick, but you would think I could at least get him at miniature golf. Maybe one day!

Family Fun!

2008-05-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

My brother, Taylor, turned 17 this month. We all went to dinner and then we went bowling. Patrick and I have only played a few times together and I have won every time. He was so excited because he was ahead for pretty much the whole game and so of course he thought he was finally going to win. I was actually behind everyone for most of the game, but then somehow I actually came back and ended up winning! I only beat Patrick by one point so it was pretty close. Taylor and my mom both got strikes on their last turn and probably could have won, but luckily for me they both threw two gutter balls in a row! We hadn’t been bowling in forever and it was really fun so I think we are going to go more often! Patrick wouldn't smile so I told him I was going to post this and he said he didn't care so here it is!

My mom and sister.

We Have a Nephew!

2008-05-28T06:54:00.001-07:00

I am pretty excited because I now have a nephew! Michael and Heidi had a little boy and they named him Michael. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to see him yet since they don’t live here anymore. He looks super cute in his pictures and we are really excited that they will be coming to visit this summer! Patrick and I bought him a cute A&M outfit so hopefully Michael and Heidi won’t read this before it gets there!

Random Stuff

2008-05-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

My sister Kaylee started taking piano lessons a few months ago and she really likes it so far. She practices a lot and her teacher says she is the fastest learning student she has ever had. Her teacher has each of her new students do a solo recital for their family and friends so they can practice performing before having to do it in front of a lot of people. My sister had hers a few weeks ago and we ended up playing a couple of duets together. Then I had a recital last week so we played one of the duets at mine too. It was pretty fun and I guess I better start practicing more before she passes me up!

Kaylee also had her ninth birthday last week! Her birthday was on a Wednesday but we were all busy and couldn’t get together until later. She didn’t want to open her presents until everyone was there so she waited until Saturday – I don’t know too many kids who will do that! We all went out to dinner and then went back to the house to open presents and eat cake. She loves to draw, paint, and make books so she got a bunch of art stuff and a binding machine.

Our lawn got a little out of control for awhile, it kind of felt like we were living in a jungle. Our lawn mower broke and we have both been working so much that we never had time to mow it anyway. We tried to hire someone but they were all too scared of Patrick’s dog so they wouldn’t come unless someone was home to watch him. Since the grass was just getting longer and longer we finally decided we had to do something about it. We went and bought a lawn mower and it took Patrick forever to mow. He had to go really slow because the mower kept getting clogged and shutting off. This really isn’t a great picture because it was getting dark, but the grass went up to our knees in some spots.

I have decided that flowers are one of my favorite things. I would really like to do some landscaping around our house so I can plant more. I pass this field of flowers on my way to work everyday. It is a little overgrown now, but for awhile it was really pretty. I think it would be pretty cool if our front yard looked like this!

Crazy Carnival!

2008-04-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

Our friends, Katie and Scott, came into town one weekend last month. They called and asked if we wanted to go to dinner and to the carnival that was in town for a few weeks. We ate dinner at Cheddars and then went over to the carnival. Patrick hates any kind of rides, but he especially hates carnival rides because he doesn't think they are safe. He once watched a documentary about the kind of people who assemble and operate the rides at these traveling carnivals. A lot of them stay up all night partying and doing drugs and then they go and assemble the rides. They showed one of the workers talking about the maintenance they are supposed to do, but he said he doesn't really worry about doing everything. So as you can imagine, Patrick refuses to go on any rides. Every time the carnival comes into town I try to convince him to take me, but he never will. Then every time there is a story in the news about someone being hurt or killed on a ride he points it out to me. Now I am a little paranoid myself. I thought the Farris wheel wouldn't be too bad so I eventually convinced him to ride it with me. He proposed to me at the top of the Farris wheel at The Aquarium and he didn't seem to mind that one so I thought it wouldn't be a big deal. Turns out he wasn't too happy with me about half way up and I have to admit that it was pretty scary. Our seat was rocking back and forth and we were looking at all the different parts that were rusting and didn't look very secure. The view from the top was pretty cool though.To make matters even worse Patrick was able to prove his point about the crazy people who work there. As we were going up on the Ferris wheel we were facing another ride that has cages around this oval thing. The cages rotate at the same time the oval thing does. Before I met Patrick and heard all these crazy stories this would have been one of my favorite rides. We just happened to be facing that ride and we saw one of the workers dangling from one of the cages as it was going up. It looked like his shirt was caught in the door and he was flailing all over the place trying to unhook himself or find somewhere to put his feet. Everyone on the ground was yelling at the guy operating it to stop and luckily he did, but not before the other guy made it half way up the ride. If he hadn't stopped the other guy would have been flung over the top and who knows what would have happened. Patrick was already mad at me for making him get on the ride and then that happened so I really couldn't justify my decision to trust the workers there. I must say we were both pretty happy when we were safely back on the ground. I rode one other ride that spins you around while it goes up and down. The first part was pretty fun, but then at the end it just spun around in circles super fast. All I could think about was that it was going to break and we were all going to fly off. I thought it was never going to end and I don't think I will be riding anymore traveling carnival rides. We also played a few games that are rigged so you can't win. We tried the ring toss with rings that looked about the exact same size as the bottles you were supposed to ring and a basketball toss with oval hoops. How is a round ball supposed to go into an oval hoop? It was a pretty eventful night, but it was fun to hang out with Katie and Scott again!

Fun Stuff

2008-04-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

Patrick bought a new gun a few weeks ago for the store. It seems like every night there are more and more stories on the news about businesses being robbed. Patrick says there are crazy looking people who come in the store all the time so he feels much safer now that he has a gun. He jokes that he wants to get a sign for the door that says Security System - Glock 23. He really hasn't had a lot of time to use it, but he went to the shooting range once and shot pretty well.

A couple weekends ago we were able to take some time off work to play golf. It was a pretty slow Saturday and the weather was perfect. We left Adam at the store and went out to Pebble Creek. On one of the holes Patrick hit a perfect shot that was rolling straight for the hole. We both thought it was going to go in, but it bounced off the edge of the hole and rolled away. It really doesn't look all that close in the picture, but it was before it rolled away. It was pretty crazy! Patrick says it's not cool to say you almost got a hole in one, but I thought it was pretty cool.

Rollin in Style!

2008-03-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally bought a new car this week! It is a bright blue Toyota FJ. Patrick has been trying to convince me to buy one for a long time, but when it comes to making big purchases I am usually pretty slow (I think it runs in my family)! I kept going back and forth. One week I would be so tired of my car and would really want a new one, but then the next week I would decide that I could just drive it a little while longer.

My second year of college I had a motorcycle as my only mode of transportation. I went to Utah for Christmas and while I was gone it was stolen. Unfortunately, I had spent most of my savings on that bike and so I was left stranded. After a month or so of bumming rides I was pretty excited when I found this car for such a good price. I have had it now for about 5 years and have had many fun experiences. I have been stranded in the middle of the road many times, dealt with oil leaks, gas leaks, radiator leaks, clutch fluid leaks, overheating problems, heater and ac problems, and I'm sure there are more I'm not remembering. You would be surprised at how many people will just drive around you and leave you helplessly sitting there in the middle of the road. Some of these problems have been fixed over the years and some of them haven't. For what I paid for the car, even with all the repairs, it has been a really good investment and probably will be for some other poor high school/college student. Now after all the wonderful things I have said about this car, if anyone would like to buy it just let me know (it is for sale)!

I finally told Patrick last Thursday that I had decided I wanted to buy a new car. So then he calls me on Friday (the next day) and said he had found a car, negotiated the deal, and got approved for a loan.......all he needed was my approval. Of course by then I had almost changed my mind and it took a little convincing before I said ok. He probably knew I was going to change my mind and that's why he moved so quickly! It was pretty late in the afternoon on Friday so we had to wait until Monday to finalize everything with the bank. Patrick took care of everything on monday and then we drove to Humble when I got off work to pick it up. We had only seen pictures of the car, but fortunatly it was exactly as advertised and runs perfectly. It was a little scary driving home because it is much bigger than my little car. I was sure I was going to hit something, but luckily I made it home and am getting pretty used to it now. Patrick is planning to sponsor holes at tournaments and will need to transport clubs and stuff so we were wanting to get a bigger car anyway. It is super fun to drive and Patrick thinks we will be going on an off-roading adventure soon, but I'm not so sure. I am really happy with this car and will probably drive it for the next 20 years!

Out of the Dog House

2008-03-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

Patrick had been feeling guilty because he didn't do anything for me on Valentines Day. I'm not really sure why because he didn't forget.......he was just really busy. So a few weeks ago he surprised me and took me to see a musical for my Valentines present. We saw the Producers at Rudder Theatre. It was really well done and was pretty entertaining. It was kind of funny because the week before he had told me that he was planning something for Tues night of the following week, but wouldn't tell me what it was. Then the night before, Mon night, I saw a commercial for the musical and it was at the exact time we were supposed to be doing something. Of course I thought that that was what we were going to do and I started to get really excited because I love musicals. I was looking forward to it all day on Tues and then when I got home from work he told me we were going to go dancing. I do like to dance and I always give him a hard time about not dancing with me, but I was a little disappointed because I had been planning on going to the musical. It turned out that he was just joking with me because he thought I had figured it out and wanted to give me a hard time. That was definitely the best musical I have seen in person. It was pretty funny and it didn't matter which character you watched because each one was always doing something. I guess it was worth it to get a late Valentines present!

I've Been Tagged........

2008-03-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

A really long time ago and I am just now getting around to doing it (sorry Megan and Hillary).

Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

1. I really do not like animals, especially hairy ones. I don't really know what it is but I think they are disgusting. Unfortunately for me Patrick loves dogs and we even have one (used to have 2 but the other one ran away).

2. I absolutely hate alarm clocks or anything that resembles the sound of one. I wake up every morning before my alarm goes off and just wait for the noise. I think this all started when I got married because Patrick lets his alarm go off for at least 30 min before he actually wakes up. Luckily for me I have to be awake before him.

3. One of the best feelings for me is when I have a clean house. It makes me feel like I have everything under control. Lately this hasn't been happening very often!

4. I love to buy school supplies, especially colored pens. Don’t ask why because I don’t know. Needless to say, I have tons of pens and notebooks that I never use!

5. I like to organize things. Really I think I just like the feeling of having accomplished something when it is all done.

6. I love watching corny movies that really don't have a point. I recorded the Cutting Edge 3 on Sunday and I know Patrick is looking forward to watching it with me (actually I had to promise I would watch it when he isn't home)!

Monkey Business!

2008-02-20T11:23:00.001-08:00

The golf store has always closed at 5 on Saturdays, but Patrick decided to extend the hours until 6 because he thought we might get more business. I think he was happy that he did because some people came in and brought their pet monkey. If we had closed at 5 then we wouldn’t have gotten to see it. This lady carries it around in a purse that has a window on the front so you can watch it (I think it's name is Rasmussen or something like that). They said that it wouldn't grow much bigger than it is here and said we could use him to film a commercial if we wanted to.

They took it out and let Patrick hold him. It was pretty crazy because he was climbing all over Patrick and jumping around the store. He jumped up on the display case and was sitting on top of one of the picture frames. The lady said that he loves golf bags and sure enough he kept jumping on them. Can you imagine having to change his diaper - gross! It even tried to go down Patrick’s pants! Now Patrick is trying to convince me that we need to buy one but I don’t think so. They are really expensive.

Catching Up

2008-02-20T08:42:00.001-08:00

I guess I have a lot to catch up on. Things have been a little crazy over the past few weeks.

We had our 2 year anniversary in January. It feels like we have been married longer than that, but I guess not. Patrick had been sick the whole week so he didn’t want to do anything crazy. We ate dinner at Wings N More - people laugh at me when I say we went there for our anniversary, but it is our favorite place! Then we went home and watched a movie. I got some sparking grape juice, but I had never tried it before and it was disgusting. We took a picture, but it’s not on my camera anymore so I don’t know what happened to it.

Patrick turned 28 a few weeks ago. He was actually in Granbury for golf training on his birthday so we didn’t do anything. When he got back I think we went to dinner, but I can’t really remember and then we picked up dessert from Johnny Carino’s because I didn’t make him a cake. We had ordered some movies that came in while he was gone so we were planning to watch one of those, but the dvd player wouldn’t work so Patrick spent the rest of the night trying to fix it. Pretty exciting birthday if you ask me. I had the hardest time trying to decide what to get him. Usually he has a really long list, but this time he said I had to think of something on my own. He pretty much just plays golf, but he can get anything he wants at the store so I really couldn’t get him any golf stuff. I ended up getting him a video game, movie, and gift card to Best Buy since that is his favorite store. It was pretty crazy because he couldn’t even decide what to get when he went to use his gift card – he can always find something! I think he has decided to buy a blue-ray dvd player, but I guess we will see. Patrick's mom and dad had their birthday's recently too.

For his mom's b-day we went to eat at a restaurant in downtown Bryan, but it was closed so we ended up going to Casa Ole. Then we celebrated Patrick and his dad's b-days at Sunday dinner. As I mentioned earlier, Patrick went to golf training for a week. It was so scary while he was gone, but at least he learned some good stuff. A guy who owned the most successful Golf Etc came and taught them how to increase their sales. Patrick bought a vector launch monitor that measures your swing and then tells you everything you could ever want to know about your swing and what type of clubs you should be using. He has already done several fittings with it so it looks like it will be a good investment. I had a huge list of things I wanted to get done while he was gone, but I ended up having to work late every night so I didn’t get much done.

To conclude all this fun I guess I will put up one of the family pictures we took the day after Christmas.

I've Been Tagged

2008-02-20T08:16:00.000-08:00

10 years ago: I was 13 and in middle school…..pretty crazy

Snacks I enjoy: Pretty much anything sweet, especially chocolate

Five things on my to-do list today:
File our taxes so we can get some money
Make cookies for the YW activity tonight
Wash my car
Catch up on my blog
Make it through another day of work

Things I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
Pay off our student loans, buy lots of cool stuff, go on some fun trips,
and save some

Three of my bad habits:
Falling asleep on the couch because I don’t want to get ready for bed
I don’t really know what else – I’m sure Patrick could tell you

Five places I have lived:
Logan, Utah
Bryan/College Station, Texas
Sorry…..I’ve only lived in 2 places

Jobs I have had:
Copperfield Pool – Pool cleaner
Garcia’s – Hostess
Rockfish – Hostess/Server
A&M Payroll Offices – Student worker
Allstate Insurance - Filer
Schlumberger – Division Order/Treasury Analyst

Interesting Day

2008-01-18T16:37:00.000-08:00

Well, I had a fun experience the other day. I was on my way home for lunch and the gas light came on so I stopped to fill up. The gas station was really crowded and people were being really impatient. There were these two guys who were yelling at some other people because they were done filling up, but wouldn’t move their car because they hadn’t paid yet. So I was in a hurry to get out of there and wasn’t really paying attention to my car. As I was driving away the guy at the pump next to me stopped me and said that gas was pouring out the bottom of my car. I pulled over to look and sure enough it was. I didn’t really know what to do so I called Patrick and told him to come pick me up. The guy that stopped me was making a really big deal out of the fact that gas was getting on the ground so I asked the attendant what he wanted me to do. He didn’t really seem to know so I wasn’t going to do anything. Well, it turns out that the guy who stopped me works for the fire department and he had already called them to send a truck over. A few minutes later a fire truck pulls up to clean up the mess. About the same time the fire department showed up my car stopped leaking. They sprayed the puddles of gas with some kind of white stuff and then told me I should try to take it somewhere so we drove it home. Later that night we looked at it and the gas tank was still completely full and it wasn’t leaking. I don’t know where the gas that poured out came from, but there was a lot of it. I have been driving it every day since and haven’t had any more problems. All in all, it was pretty embarrassing.

Big Changes!

2008-01-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

There have been a few changes for us in the past few weeks. Brock and Britney and Michael, Heidi, and Esther moved and then we bought a Golf Store. We were able to hang out a lot with Brock and Britney before they left so that was fun. I bought an old school Nintendo so we played a lot of Mario Brothers, went to dinner a few times, and watched Live Free or Die Hard. We always had a lot of fun hanging out with them so we are really sad they are gone, but hope everything goes well for them.

Michael, Heidi, and Esther also moved. It is going to be weird not to see them at family dinner on Sundays and we will miss Esther! We all went to dinner at Freebirds before they left so that was fun. We are looking forward to taking some trips to visit them both.

The biggest change of all is that we bought a golf store, Golf Etc. It has been Patrick’s dream to own his own business so he is really excited. He also loves golf so owning his own business and playing golf for work is definitely a dream come true. We closed last Wed and so far things have been going really well. Patrick works there every day managing the store and I am doing the accounting. We both have a lot to learn, but are really excited about the opportunity! So, if you ever need golf stuff, you know where to find it!

The Store

The Front

The Middle

The Back

Repair Center

Hitting Area

Christmas!

2008-01-01T20:17:00.001-08:00

We had a really good Christmas this year. My family went to Utah so we spent it with Patrick's family.

Everyone came over to our house on Christmas Eve which was really fun. We ate dinner and then watched The Bourne Ultimatum which was what Kaylee gave Patrick for Christmas. Christmas was a pretty busy day. We woke up and opened presents from each other and then went to Patrick's grandpa's house to open presents. Then we went over to his parent’s house to open more presents and eat lunch. Everyone played outside for awhile since it was a nice day. Esther liked jumping on the trampoline.

Sometimes Patrick’s family likes to make it difficult for people to open their presents so it is always interesting to see what they will come up with. Brian wrapped Beth’s present with duct tape and his dad wrapped all of his mom’s presents and put them in a huge box filled with a lot of misc. stuff. She had to dig for awhile to find her presents. After lunch we went home and then went back to his parent’s house to eat dinner and play some games. We were both really happy with what we got. I got a really cool camera, photo printer, money, gift cards, jacket, and a cute sweater. Patrick got a Garmin, movies, clothes, and money. Patrick’s favorite present we gave was a little golf set for our niece. She played with it for awhile, but mostly just pushed the bag around the house!

The day after Christmas we went to take family pictures. I haven’t seen them yet, but I think they probably turned out pretty good. Esther was super cute that day!

I also went to lunch with 2 of my really good friends who were in town for the holiday. Both of their names are Laura and it was really fun to catch up with them.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2007-12-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking that I have plenty of time before Christmas and then I suddenly realized that it is coming up pretty quick. So I finally decided to do some Christmas decorating. We put up some lights on the outside of our house a couple of nights ago. I wanted to do more, but we don’t have a ladder and we didn’t have enough extension cords so maybe next year. We also picked out a tree last weekend and I finally put the lights and stuff on the other night. I guess I waited too long because I couldn't find the ornaments I wanted, but oh well. I really didn’t have many decorations so I went to a craft show with my mom a few weeks ago and they had some pretty cute Christmas stuff. We got there just before it closed so I didn’t have long to look, but my mom had been there earlier so she showed me where the good stuff was. I bought a really cute snowman wreath and some blocks that say Let It Snow!
I finally finished the puzzle I have been working on since Thanksgiving. Patrick has been complaining that the table in our living room is annoying so I figured I better finish it fast before he decided to put it away for me! Plus it has been blocking the fireplace and Christmas tree so I wanted to get it out of the way. I’m not really sure if you can call it completed since there are 4 pieces missing and there was an extra piece which really threw me off. I don’t think its very fair for the puzzle makers to leave out pieces – I was looking for 2 of them forever. It is a pretty cool puzzle, but I am glad it is done.

December Update!

2007-12-12T09:21:00.000-08:00

Patrick says I have been slacking so let me see if I can get caught up on everything. The past few weeks have been pretty busy with work and Christmas stuff! I recently started a new position at work so that has been kind of crazy. The lady I was helping with treasury decided to retire so now I am the Treasury Accountant. I really liked working with her so it is pretty different without her here, but I like the new position! The last few and first few days of each month are pretty crazy and since this past month was my first one I had to work a lot of overtime. Things have slowed down now so it’s giving me a chance to figure out everything I am supposed to be doing. I wasn’t really busy before so I am really glad I am now, it makes the day go by so much faster.

Last weekend we babysat our niece Esther. Michael and Heidi are moving soon, so it was fun to have her over before they leave. She really hasn’t been alone at our house so she seemed a little scared at first, but she warmed up after awhile. We watched The Incredibles and colored some pictures. It was funny because she always seemed to want whatever color I was using. Hopefully we will get to watch her again before they leave!

We had a little Christmas party with all the young women leaders and their husbands the other night. We ate some food and then had a white elephant gift exchange. Patrick and I ended up with some fancy gum and some puzzles. It was pretty fun to see what people would come up with when they were only allowed to spend 5 dollars. Patrick put a car magazine and a fashion magazine with 2 rolls of toilet paper for a “his and hers bathroom kit”. I’m sure the Larson’s are excited about using that!

We had our work Christmas party last Friday. We ate lunch at Boston’s and then had a gift exchange. Everybody brought a gift and then did the thing where you can open a new one or steal one from someone who has already opened one. Some of the hottest items were gift cards, mini digital photo frame, and a blender (margarita maker). I ended up with some really cute scrapbook stuff so I was pretty happy! Then after lunch we got the rest of the afternoon off to go Christmas shopping. Patrick and I have already done most of our shopping so we went to play golf instead. We were planning to go to Bastrop again, but it gets dark so early now so we couldn’t make it in time. We just played at A&M which is actually my favorite course because it’s not too hard. There are 2 holes with water across the middle and I have never made it over the water. I always lose my balls somewhere in the creek, but this time I made it over both of them! I made it through 9 holes without losing any balls. I’m not sure if that was because I hit well or because the ball never went far enough to get lost. I scored a 55 on 9 holes which is really bad compared to Patrick, but good for me! I think I have knocked off about 25 strokes since I first started playing.

Last night we went to MaryKathryn’s band concert and then to a goodbye Rock Band party for Britney and Brock. MaryKathryn plays in a jazz band and they were actually fun to listen to. She also plays in the regular band, but the jazz songs were my favorite. The Rock Band party was fun too. The drums are my favorite, but I think there is definitely a reason why I am not a drummer. I can’t believe Britney and Brock are moving and so far away too. I don’t even remember what we used to do on the weekends before we met them!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2007-11-26T17:28:00.000-08:00

We had a really good Thanksgiving weekend. It was really nice to have a break from work. Our office closed at noon on Wed so everyone could drive home, but we were staying here so I had a chance to get some things done. I decided to plant some flowers. I had been wanting to for awhile, but just hadn't gotten around to it. Patrick laughed at me and said they were just going to die in the cold weather and sure enough it finally got cold that same night. Oh well, at least they will look good for a short time. I planted some Petunias and some other kind of flower that I liked, but don't know what it is. I saw some Petunias at an apartment complex last year and really wanted to plant some, but they were out of season. I was excited when I found them in the store this time.
On Thanksgiving Patrick's grandpa took us to eat at the Hilton. He takes us there every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The food is pretty good, but they don't have mashed potatoes which are one of my favorite foods. They have a lot of stuff to choose from and the desserts are really good! It is kinda fun to dress nice and go out with the family. Then I went to my family's house later in the afternoon and they were behind schedule so I got to eat with them too. After dinner my family worked on a puzzle which is something we do every year on Thanksgiving. We always do the edges and easy parts and then leave the rest for my dad to finish. On Friday Patrick and I did a little shopping and then we watched the A&M game. It turned out to be a really good game which is not something we were expecting. It was fun to finally see them win a game! It was really cold and rainy Friday and Saturday so we stayed in the house most of the day. We did find some DVDs on sale so we ended up watching a lot of movies. It was really fun to relax and not have to worry about doing anything, but I guess it's back to the real world now!

Ice Skating!

2007-11-19T19:02:00.000-08:00

We went ice-skating this past weekend! Patrick's sister Meredith and her husband Bryan invited us to go with them. I had wanted to go ice-skating ever since the rink was built, but we just never went. I hadn't been since I was a kid and we lived in Utah. It turned out to be a lot harder than I remembered it to be. There was a girl there who looked really familiar, but we couldn't figure out how we knew her. I eventually realized that she was on the Apprentice last season. Her name is Angela and she is an Olympic gold medallist in ice hockey. She was teaching lessons to some kids and she can skate super fast. We went to talk to her and she said that being on a reality show was really hard and she wouldn't do it again. We were there for less than an hour, but that was more than enough time. It is really tiring and the skates hurt, but it was still really fun. Luckily neither of us crashed while we were there!

Weekend Fun

2007-11-12T17:45:00.000-08:00

A few weekends ago we went to visit our friends, Katie and Scott, in Conroe. We went with some of our other friends, Britney and Brock. We met at Katie and Scott's house and then we went to the Woodlands for dinner. We ate Mexican food at Chuy's and then we went to the Cheesecake Factory and sat out by the water! After that we went back to their house and played Imaginiff. It was a really fun game and I'm glad we got to visit them! Two weekends ago we went to a Brad Paisley concert which was really fun. We went with Britney and Brock and met Katie and Scott at Chuy's for dinner again. I had the best quesadillas I have ever eaten. After dinner we went over to the Woodlands Pavilion for the concert. Taylor Swift and Rodney Adkins opened for him. They were both pretty good, but Brad Paisley was awesome. I was surprised with how many of the songs I actually knew. It was an outdoor concert so luckily the weather was nice. Britney and I sat on the grass for awhile, but it was cold and wet so we eventually got chairs. This past weekend was a stake dance and of course we went with Britney and Brock. We just finished taking some dance classes so we got to use some of the stuff we learned!

Golf in Bastrop

2007-11-04T18:23:00.000-08:00

Patrick and I decided to take an afternoon off and play golf in Bastrop a couple of weeks ago. Patrick had wanted to play there for awhile so I finally agreed to go with him even though I didn’t want to drive that far.

It turned out to be a really fun course so I was glad we went. It was a nice day and the course runs along the Colorado River so it’s really pretty. There were a lot of changes in elevation that made it fun and completely different from the flat courses we normally play at. My favorite hole was at the top of a huge hill. You had to hit the ball off of a cliff and make it land on the green at the top of another huge hill. If you missed the green then your ball would either land at the bottom of the hill or somewhere in the canyon below the cliff. Driving the cart up and down the hills was kind of scary, especially with Patrick driving. Patrick beat me of course, but it was still really fun!

About us

2007-10-25T09:48:00.001-07:00

Patrick and I met in the Bryan student ward. One day he showed up at my house and asked if I wanted to go for a motorcycle ride. I of course said yes.

We soon became friends and then started dating about a month later. We dated for several years and then got married on Jan 6, 2006.

We had a wonderful wedding and went on a cruise for our honeymoon. We bought a house just before we got married and spent some time fixing it up before we moved in. There are still a lot of things we want to do, but are just working on one thing at a time. We are currently working on the master bathroom and will probably work on the kitchen next. I graduated from Texas A&M in Aug of 06 with a degree in economics. I now work for Schlumberger where we do accounting for oil and gas companies. Patrick is working as a sales rep for Prostar Industries. I enjoy tennis, golf, reading, watching movies, and hanging out with our friends. Patrick plays golf in all of his free time and he also likes to play with his electronic stuff (xbox, tv, computer, phone, ipod…..).