W.T.F...

So do you ever have had something happen that renders you totally speechless... you are without words? Well the past week I have had 3 such occasions...

A) About a week ago... SNOW. Today it was 89 degrees. You do the math. W.T.F...
2) Our beautiful new car, VADER, as Garr has named it. Such an appropriate name. It is all black and the lights on the inside are all red. Anyway, WE LOVE THIS CAR. Well, a couple of days ago, we are driving it, enjoying our new reliable brand new car... and THIS... can you see it... Look close, I have made red marks to show you where the DAMN crack begins and ends... UGH! Vader has a crack in his brand new windshield. W.T.F...
And D) I decided I would wake up a little earlier for work and do my hair in the big 70's curls. So to start the first curl, I pick up the curling iron, suddenly I some how loose control of it. I start to juggle the RED HOT curling iron trying ever so carefully to not burn my hands and.... BAM it hits me in the face and I have an instant blister... There is not hiding this sucker. It happened last Thursday and this pic was taken on Sunday, not getting better. W.T.F...
Well, not all was bad last week. Garr's car would not pass safety and emissions. It needs a new engine. We are not going to fix it. maybe someone will spend the million dollars to fix it. So we decided, let's sell it and save some mula. Garr put a FOR SALE sign in the windows and puts it on the corner...
3 hours later we get a call from a Jose or Juan I can't remember. Anyway, nice guy. He wants to take it for a spin and see how she handles. So, Jose/Juan, ends up wanting to buy it. SOLD! Here is Garr and our new buddie, Jose/Juan signing all the proper papers.
So long White Knight, you were a good friend. You will be missed.

Another one bites the dust. In the short 7 years that Garr and I have been together, we have seen the Monza be donated to charity. Then Garr got the Blue Cruise handed down from his Aunt. I traded my sweet Jeep straight up for the Green Dream. Blue Cruise was sold to a family friend, then got the White Knight. Traded the Green Dream in for VADER. Sold the White Knight to Jose/Juan.

WOW, Garr and I have been through a lot of cars... Crazy to count them all. Maybe on the next post i'll name all the times Garr and I have moved in our lives... A total of 24 times EACH...

W.T.F...

Softball and Birthdays

Monday night was softball night. It was a late game and pretty cold... But I braved the chilly night and went and cheered #28 on! Angela was great and came to support as well. Last week was the first game and they won it by a landslide (HAHAHA). This game was a little tougher, the other team actually showed up. Garr's team hand to pull out the big guns and actually play. This is Garr getting ready to bat.
Garr's first hit of the game he had a great hit and 3 teammates got to run home and Garr managed to make it home to... that's 3 RBI's for Garr!! The game was neck n' neck and in the end they didn't take home the win. So they are 1-1... not too bad. This is Garr waiting to run to 3rd. I love softball! Just means Spring is finally here!!
Yesterday was E's 9th B-day. If you look at A&K's blog, you can see other pix as well. Ang had a HUGE surprise for the birthday girl. To fill you in, E is obsessed with "Wicked" and We (Nettie, Nat, Beck, Me, Ang, and E) are doing a road trip to Denver to see the musical and E is coming along. She had NO idea. If you know me and my sister, we can't keep a secret (well me, nat, and Ang can't) So it has been a long 4 months keeping it from E. So Ang had a "Wicked" theme party. Green, black, and white balloons... the whole nine. So to make a long story short, too late, (movie sisters...) Ang gave her the tickets!! Her reaction was priceless. Ang, Beck and I got a little teary eyed. It was great. What a great gift!!
At the softball game Ang and I made a chain for E to count down the days until the "Wicked Road trip". That was one of the gifts.
Over all, it was a great birthday for the girl! She was overwhelmed with joy!

ONLY 37 MORE DAYS UNTIL THE WICKED ROAD TRIP!!

Sixteen Candles

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen, Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen!!!
Bubba turned 16 on Monday. Can you believe it? Garr is still in shock. It has been quite the couple of weeks for Bubba... First Hawaii, then spring break, then her braces came off. Here is a before and after pix of Bubba.

She is too cute. And we just have so much fun with her. Can't wait for her to come up here this summer!

Run Forest Run

So, Garr told me yesterday that blogs are better when you have pictures, and I agree. I would always nag Nettie to post more pix on her blog. Well, I promise I will do better! I will take more pix and post them... BUT until i do, your just getting words... (Worms Roxanne, I was afraid of Worms. My sisters will get that movie quote...)

Garr and I are getting into working out. We bought a membership to Golds Gym at the beginning of the year. We love going. I actually work out when I have a membership. I don't workout at home or run outside, I don't' like doing it. It's a weird mental thing. But actually going to the gym, I feel like I'm accomplishing something and I am seeing the results. Finally!!

When I first started, running a mile killed me. It would take all my energy to finish that one mile. Then afterward I would be spent. Well, now I have SLOWLY, but surely, (don't call me Surely, movie?...) worked my way up to 3 miles! I can do it in about 33 minutes and I am not spent after. I actually feel GREAT after!!! Garr has always been able to run long distances, So I can't compare myself to him, plus, he has some LONG legs so he can run faster than me. :)

My reason for telling you this is Garr and I signed up for the Race for the Cure 5K Run in May. I am so excited to do this. This is my first time doing something like this. His work got a team together so I will run with them. We are doing it timed. I hope to do it in 30 minutes. That's a 10 minute mile. Not too shabby!

take me out to the ballgame...

Well, as smart as I am, I forgot to take the camera to the ballgame. But, Garr's team won!!! Well actually, the other team didn't show up. So Garr's team is 1-0!! GO TEAM. So they just practiced for the our they had on the field. I love watching Garr play. You can tell he has so much fun out there. AND he is really good. I'm not just saying that cause I'm his beautiful wife, but he really is. His team is great too! (I actually am getting a little bug to play.) So every Monday (times TBA) me and Toby will be at his game. Come, sit with us and watch some softball!!

I love spring! It is so nice to have daylight in the evening. To see so many people out biking, running, playing. Toby is loving it and I have major spring fever!

Garr's mom just started a blog... I think it might be contagious. I have added her to my sidebar, under Mom. She is such an amazing person and a wonderful writer. I'm so excited to read what is going on in her mind and life. You should listen to her and Garr talk. I just LOVE it! They are both so smart and talk about all sorts of different topics. Mostly about religion, which i love listening to.... Miss you Deb!!

Have a BEAUTIFUL SPRING DAY!

I'M BAAAAACK!

Well I'm back from Dallas. It was an alright trip... Just work. The hotel we stayed at was really nice and the weather was perfect!

Anyway, I don't have pix to post, but... Garrick has his first softball game today!!! That means Spring is here and Summer is right around the corner!! His work has a team that plays every year. Garr LOVES to play so I'll get some action shots!

Love you all!!

Easter

HAPPY EASTER!!
(Well, belated Happy Easter)

G and I had a great day yesterday. He started the day off with the usual, Sunday morning racquetball with some buddies. I usually go running at the gym, but instead, I blogged... nice good cardio workout. Then we decorated our Easter Eggs to take over to the girls house for the hunt. It was so much fun. Just me and G. Our awesome eggs are below. Are you surprise that we have Star Wars Easter Eggs?? They turned out really cute and they were a big hit with the kids!
Darth Vader was the best, of course. He even cam with a little helmet. Rio was the lucky on to find this treasure!!
We had a great time at dinner thanks to Ang and Beck putting it all together. They are the party planners. They just tell me what to bring and what time to be there. There was a lot of family and of course, a ton of yummy food. We brought the kids some Easter gifts and chocolate. What is Easter without a HUGE candy bar? We got each of the kids one. I'm sure their parents LOVE when Uncle G and Aunt Stef come over on the holidays. We always bring each one a HUGE candy bar. (10 for $10 at Smith, can beat it!).

G's business, Dean Illustration (deanillustration.com) is doing really well right now. He is in a book called Directory of Illustrators (directoryofillustrators.com). It is a great book for artists and he has had great responses and some calls because of it. It's pretty exciting! He also has a bunch of other freelance things going on as well. Plus he is doing some ads for my work. It is so great that his art is picking up so fast this year. AND while doing all of this freelance for his business, he still has his full time day job! B.U.S.Y!!

We moved his studio into our GINORMOUS one bedroom apartment. He is great. Not one complaint. Half the bedroom is a studio and the other half the studio is in the front room. It's great though, I LOVE watching G paint and draw. It amazed me how he does what he does. I am going to be daring this year and try to paint. Just some color paintings. We will see hos that goes.

We do love living in our apartment, although we are busting at the seams. We just can't quite give it up yet. The hardwood floors, fireplace and the view, calling the office when something is broken. We are going to take advantage of this a little while longer, then think about becoming homeowners. That is the next endeavor... BUT not until next year. We're done with our big purchase this year! OH, and I do LOVE my new car. It is so choice!

Here is Toby, or as his daycare calls him "Toby, the biggest Yorkie in the world". (Yes, he has a daycare... What of it??)
He LOVES to layout on the deck. He will sit out there for hours. We don't let him bark, so he sits out there (we are on the top floor) and growls at every dog he sees. He's our watch dog... What a funny little guy.
I'm off to Dallas this week for some training for work. Should be tons of fun.... NOT... (I'm so bringing NOT back!! It will catch on again, just you watch). I probably won't blog until I'm back.

So, if I'm not back in 5 minutes... Just wait longer.

Sometimes it's NOT so hard to say goodbye...

A big move in G's and my relationship... some BIG news... This is a first in our relationship...

That's right, it's.... A NEW CAR!!! (spoken like a game show announcer.)
It is a Suzuki Grand Vitara. And it is beautiful. It was on their showroom floor. It is a 2006 and has 7000 miles... So it is like brand new. It has a black interior and black and silver dashboard. 6 disc CD changer. A driver side window that rolls down, a volume button that works, not one rattle, and an A/C that works, and the engine light is not on... It is really so great to have a reliable car. G and I deserve it.
G has never bought a new car, and the first time I bought a car was... well, let's just say that the Larry H. Miller dealer saw me coming from a mile away. PS, never buy from Larry H. Miller, RIP OFF. G and I are now HUGE fans of CARMAX. If you buy your next car, go there!! They are great!
So, farewell Green Dream. You have been good to us the past 7 years...
YOU WILL BE MISSED!!!

Tanner Park and Icecream

G and I take Toby to this awesome off leash dog park, Tanner Park. It is just this little hiking place with trails and a little river. We went the other night and Ang & the kids came along to play. I didn't get a pic of Toby at the park so this is just one we had... so you can se how freaking cute he is...G and Abe showin' us their muscles. At first Abe didn't want to show is muscles because "It's embarrasing!". How cute!!
Now, this is my absolute FAV pic!!! I don't have to words, I am without words....
Ang was getting the kids ready to come to the park and she told Rio to get her crocks on and she demanded to wear the pink boots. When she would walk, she would put her hands on her hips and shake her little bum... I just about died it was to adorable!!


After the park, G wanted to buy ice cream for all of us, so we went to this cute place called "Shivers". Great ice cream. They have this little train that the kids can sit in it. The ice cream cone the Skye has was HUGE. Her and Ang both got one of their own, Skye finished long before Ang and then she finished Rio's and Abe's. This girl is so much like me I could die.

More Hawaii...

Thanks so much for all of your comments. This blog stuff is great!! I'm hooked!

So just a few more pix of Hawaii and I'll be done. I won't bore you any longer with our trip to paradise.

This pic below is just one of our cute little family. Me, G and Bubba. This pic was taken on the roof of the parents condo building. This is where their swimming pool is. Nice huh. It's gotta be a hard life living in Hawaii...
OK, so you remember in the last post I mentioned a near death experience? Well it was one of the scariest moments of my life. To make a long story short (too late...). We went snorkeling in Hunama Bay, we had just looked around in the shallow waters and we (G, me, bubba and Kira) wanted to see the big fish, so we swam past all the coral to the drop off. Little did we know that the area circled in the pic below is called the "danger zone". You can see where this is going... Well, we got caught in a crazy/strong rip current and it kept dragging us out to sea. G couldn't save us all so he had to call in the Hoff. The lifeguard brought us to safety and we were all alive and well. It is SO much different swimming in a pool than the sea... The sea was angry that day my friends....
The pix below are of a beach on the North Shore. This is a great beach. Great for boogie boarding and body surfing and getting your a$$ kicked by some pretty good waves. The 2 pix below are of this big rock that you can swim out to, climb up, and jump off into the ocean. It took some coaxing to get me to do it, but I did. The red dots are us. From left to right: Ed, Bubba, Kira, Me, and G. FUN!!
We had such a fantastic trip. It was fun to go back. Last time we went we got engaged. Wonderful memories.

Blog Bandwagon and HAWAII!!

So we decided to jump on the blog bandwagon. Garr has his toy blog, so we thought I could keep everyone in the loop with the Dean blog. We'll see how this goes!!

We just got back from an amazing trip to Hawaii. Thought i'd share the trip with all of you...

This was G's 3rd time and my 2nd so we thought we'd have our bubba come with us this time. SMF!!! Here are some pix of the great trip. This is me and G on the beach of beautiful Waikiki at sunset. Hawaii is so beautiful!
This is G's little girl Bubba. We'll not so little any more, she turns 16 in 2 weeks. CRAZY!!
This is the view from our hotel room lanai (balcony to the white man). We are pretty lucky, I was able to get a great rate at the Doubletree there in Waikiki. The beach was a block away! Can't beat the view of that beautiful beach (and Bubba)!
So the main reason we decided to go to Hawaii this year, other than to visit G's dad and step-mom was, G was going to meet is half sister for the first time. Kira. The family pic is below. It's G, Kira and Ed. She is so great. We all got a long so good together. (other than the near death experience...).
We did SOOO much while there we needed a vacation from our vacation. We snorkled (that's the near death I was talking about...), booggie boared, jumped off a huge rock at the North Shore and then ran into these guys... Can you believe how big they are??? I wanted to ride them! This is a beach on the North Shore and these turtles have been coming onto the shore for a billion years to sun bathe. Amazing huh! They have it roped off so you can't touch them so they keep coming back. I LOVE turtles. This pic is for you Nettie.

I'll post more pix of HI tomorrow. This blogging thing should keep me busy at nights now (maybe that's why G suggested that I do this....).

I hope you all come visit our blog often!! Love you all...