Tuesday, March 31
Hope's Sad First
Hope had another first in her life a couple of days ago. I was cutting her nails like I normally do when they are getting a little to long but this time she would not hold still. Michael was even holding her down and she would just fight him about it. So let me tell you that it was very difficult to cut her nails so that I would not hurt her at all. Well I got her quick's (blood vain in the nail) twice on accident because she would not hold still long enough so that I could measure where to cut them. I felt so bad that my poor little baby got hurt and that it was all my fault. This is the first time that it has ever happened too! Michael said that I should be pretty happy because we have cut her nails a lot in a year and to not have hit anything before is really good. I guess that is a good way to think about it but it still makes me feel bad for her. I'm just glad that we have been prepared for this to happen since the beginning. I never wanted to use the powder stuff that stops the bleeding but better safe than sorry. We are still going to be cutting her nails ourselves because of several reasons: one, it is cheap; two, I don't trust vets or groomers to do it; and three, I don't want to be scared of hurting my dog when it is something that is helping her. I'm just really hoping that the next time we have to cut her nails she will not fight us so hard about it again. Maybe she learned something from the experience (most likely to not trust mommy and daddy).
Sunday, March 29
Little Sister-In-Laws Birthday
I can not believe it but this is the last birthday of the month. Today is my sister-in-laws birthday and I can not believe that she is going to be going to be graduating from high school this year and then she is going to be heading off for her first year of college. The only time that we got to see her was when we went up that weekend for Julies bridal shower. We gave her the birthday gift that we had picked out for several weeks and she opened it up today and I was told that she really liked it. I am so glad that she liked it because we had a really hard time finding something that we thought that she would love. So, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS! We love you a ton and hope that you had a wonderful day and that you enjoyed your very special day too."
Apartment Option
Since this interview went so well we knew that we needed to at least look at what kind of housing we could get into. We also knew that we only had this half of a day to find something that we would like and that could kind of work for us too. The challenge was that most places do not allow dogs or if they do they only allow small dogs. Also Hopes breed is considered on the black list meaning that no one that even allows dogs like them in the apartments. I don't know why because I think that she is extra sweet; I just find it all unfair. We first talked to a property manager and she was nice but there was things that we did not like at all and that gave us some major red flags about their methods. Basically what we got from talking with her is that we could not trust them and not to go that way. We then called this other place that was an apartment complex that the company Michael interviewed with told us about. They told us that they were fine with any size and type of dog. We told them about how we had someone try to brake into our apartment once and what they would do (like who pays for the damage). The man we talked to was so nice and up front and honest and we both really liked him. He only had a two bedroom apartment for us to look at but I think that is what we would have to get with all of the things that we have. Hope also needs the extra space to run around in too. I took pictures so that I could remember what it looked like but that is a bonus for you because that means that you get to see it too.
Here is what the living room looks like (from the kitchen view). That is a wood burning fireplace which is way nice in my opinion and I would never have dreamed about having one so soon either. The apartment has a ton of natural lighting which is nice because maybe it would help to save some money on the electric bill. All of the windows are also low enough that Hope would be able to look out of them without having to stand up on something.
From the front door you can see the dinning room area and the kitchen. I do think that the kitchen is a little small. We do have a lot of kitchen dishes and pots and pans and more so I hope that they all fit in there. Before I forget all of the carpet is really new, like only a year old. They are also going to be putting in new windows in a few years too.
Here is what the kitchen looks like from the other side of the bar that you see from the dinning room. It still is pretty small but I think that it could work for us. Good thing that I am a very organized person, I guess.
Here is what the kitchen looks like closer up. Some of the apartments have litter cabinets and some even have larger fridges. I don't know why or how it varies but at least they were up front with us on that issue.
To the side of the kitchen is the washer and dryer and those do come with the units. We did tell the man that we do have our own washer and dryer and he said that it would be no problem at all for us to put in our own. It was really nice to be able to be there in person to make sure that our machines would fit and it would be just fine.
Now this is the second bedroom and it is near the front door. It is a little bit smaller then the master but still really nice. The bed that you see is a queen size bed so it can kind of give you an idea of how big the room is. This view is from the bathroom.
This is the closet for the second room which is really big and the nice thing too is that the owner of the apartment said that they can customize the closet to what we need it to be with no extra charge too. I think that is really nice of them to offer but I know that I don't really need them to do that either. We would mostly use this extra room for a office and pet room. Maybe even a sewing room for me too but we will have to wait and see.
Here is what the bathroom looks like and yes I know it is a little retro. The shower is also a bit run down looking but I hope that whatever apartment we live in looks a little better. A really nice thing though is that there is a medicine cabinet on the left side of the wall that I could use to help me see the back of my hair. I'm excited for that!
This is the master bedroom and there is a closet like the one in the second bedroom to the right of the picture. This room, like the others, has mostly natural lighting too. This is also a queen size bed and there is still plenty of room to walk around. We could fit everything of our bedroom furniture in this room just fine with room to still walk around.
Yes! There is a second closet for the master bedroom and it is a walk-in closet which is so nice that we have it. This apartment gives us a ton of storage that is so nice to have. I do enjoy looking at these pictures to kind of help me figure out where I would put our things and it is nice to dream about something positive too.
From the master bedroom you can see the front door and something nice is the linen closet too. It is way deep and It would be wonderful to have. Even though this place is pretty old I still think that it is pretty nice and it would be a big blessing for us to live in a place like this. The only concern was about Lilly's tank. They normally only like tanks no bigger then 10 galleons and Lilly's is, I think, like 29 galleons. We told them up front about it and they guy that we were talking to also grew up with a turtle just like her and he had no problem with it either which was a huge blessing to us.
This is the outside of the apartment and I think that the little patio is way cute and just to let you know that the little square of dirt we can plant whatever we want there (except a tree). There is also another square of dirt in front of the window to the left of the picture. The man also said that it was no problem for us to tie Hope up in the front as long as she does not bug the neighbors. So over all we really liked it. There is also a pool and a workout room and the parking system that they do there is wonderful! I'm not sure that we would be able to find a better place that meets so much of our needs. It is very close to Michael job, if he gets it, that he could ride his bike or even walk if he wanted to do so. It is also very close to a vet that would see both Lilly and Hope which is amazing. I just still can not get over the location so I guess that I should not worry about the prize but it is much higher then what I am use to, it will just take some time. I hope that you all enjoyed the tour and we will just have to wait and see what is going to happen.
Here is what the living room looks like (from the kitchen view). That is a wood burning fireplace which is way nice in my opinion and I would never have dreamed about having one so soon either. The apartment has a ton of natural lighting which is nice because maybe it would help to save some money on the electric bill. All of the windows are also low enough that Hope would be able to look out of them without having to stand up on something.From the front door you can see the dinning room area and the kitchen. I do think that the kitchen is a little small. We do have a lot of kitchen dishes and pots and pans and more so I hope that they all fit in there. Before I forget all of the carpet is really new, like only a year old. They are also going to be putting in new windows in a few years too.Here is what the kitchen looks like from the other side of the bar that you see from the dinning room. It still is pretty small but I think that it could work for us. Good thing that I am a very organized person, I guess.Here is what the kitchen looks like closer up. Some of the apartments have litter cabinets and some even have larger fridges. I don't know why or how it varies but at least they were up front with us on that issue.To the side of the kitchen is the washer and dryer and those do come with the units. We did tell the man that we do have our own washer and dryer and he said that it would be no problem at all for us to put in our own. It was really nice to be able to be there in person to make sure that our machines would fit and it would be just fine.Now this is the second bedroom and it is near the front door. It is a little bit smaller then the master but still really nice. The bed that you see is a queen size bed so it can kind of give you an idea of how big the room is. This view is from the bathroom.This is the closet for the second room which is really big and the nice thing too is that the owner of the apartment said that they can customize the closet to what we need it to be with no extra charge too. I think that is really nice of them to offer but I know that I don't really need them to do that either. We would mostly use this extra room for a office and pet room. Maybe even a sewing room for me too but we will have to wait and see.Here is what the bathroom looks like and yes I know it is a little retro. The shower is also a bit run down looking but I hope that whatever apartment we live in looks a little better. A really nice thing though is that there is a medicine cabinet on the left side of the wall that I could use to help me see the back of my hair. I'm excited for that!This is the master bedroom and there is a closet like the one in the second bedroom to the right of the picture. This room, like the others, has mostly natural lighting too. This is also a queen size bed and there is still plenty of room to walk around. We could fit everything of our bedroom furniture in this room just fine with room to still walk around.Yes! There is a second closet for the master bedroom and it is a walk-in closet which is so nice that we have it. This apartment gives us a ton of storage that is so nice to have. I do enjoy looking at these pictures to kind of help me figure out where I would put our things and it is nice to dream about something positive too.From the master bedroom you can see the front door and something nice is the linen closet too. It is way deep and It would be wonderful to have. Even though this place is pretty old I still think that it is pretty nice and it would be a big blessing for us to live in a place like this. The only concern was about Lilly's tank. They normally only like tanks no bigger then 10 galleons and Lilly's is, I think, like 29 galleons. We told them up front about it and they guy that we were talking to also grew up with a turtle just like her and he had no problem with it either which was a huge blessing to us.This is the outside of the apartment and I think that the little patio is way cute and just to let you know that the little square of dirt we can plant whatever we want there (except a tree). There is also another square of dirt in front of the window to the left of the picture. The man also said that it was no problem for us to tie Hope up in the front as long as she does not bug the neighbors. So over all we really liked it. There is also a pool and a workout room and the parking system that they do there is wonderful! I'm not sure that we would be able to find a better place that meets so much of our needs. It is very close to Michael job, if he gets it, that he could ride his bike or even walk if he wanted to do so. It is also very close to a vet that would see both Lilly and Hope which is amazing. I just still can not get over the location so I guess that I should not worry about the prize but it is much higher then what I am use to, it will just take some time. I hope that you all enjoyed the tour and we will just have to wait and see what is going to happen.
A Temple There
When we were driving around we actually found a temple in the area. Before we left for the trip my dad did tell me that there was one but I really wanted to see what it looked like. It was a very small temple or at least small compared to the ones that I know. It was really pretty and it was a great comfort to know that there was a temple in the area. The only part that I felt bad about is that I did not pack our temple things so that we could attend a session if they were open. It would have been really nice to go threw and get some spiritual guidance with everything going on. I am sure that if and when we move there we will be able to see inside the temple plenty of times. I just thought that it was really pretty and I also thought that I would challenge you all to figure out what temple it is, good luck.
Trip For A Interview
As you can tell from the title, Michael got a interview. What happened is on my birthday Michael called a company that was looking for someone in his field and he talked with them for quite some time and they told him to call them again tomorrow so that they could have a night to talk about him. So then the next day (Brandon's birthday) we called and they said that they would like to meet with him which we were so excited about. We told them that we would see them tomorrow and they said that would be fine and to just come in at any time that we got there. So I had to quickly pack Michael and me and even Hope for this trip that was going to be several days. Let me tell you that is a very difficult thing to do on such short notice. I am the type of person that likes to know everything that I am taking and have a list so that I know that I am not forgetting anything either. Then I called one of my aunts and asked if we could stay a night with her to help break up our trip and she was so good as to let us stay with her on such short notice and with other company in her house too. Once everything was taken care of we were off on the road.
We had listen to the weather report as we were getting everything ready and all along the trip they had storm warnings. The picture is of what the storm looked like in Utah but other than that we were blessed enough to have good enough weather for the roads.
Hope just loved looking outside of the car as we were starting but eventually she did fall asleep and was wonderful for the entire trip. She also loved it when I would try to entertain her by rolling down the window just a little bit so that she could get a good gust of air in her face. When we stayed at my aunts house Hope was so excited to get out of the car and run around for a couple of minutes but she was really excited to meet their dog. They didn't get to play to much because it was so late and everyone was ready for bed. It did take Hope some time to finally settle down and go to sleep because there was just so many new things to explore and new smells too. We got up really early the next morning and started off again to the job interview. We drove in good weather again until we reached the blue mountains. It was pretty nasty there but we were able to make it through just fine and then the rest of the trip went by really quickly and before we knew it we were there. Once in town we found the company that Michael was going to be having the interview with and Michael talked with them and they told him to go and check into the hotel (that they were paying for) and get settled. When we finally got into our room Hope just went crazy! This is actually another first for her, staying in a hotel. She had to go and smell everything. Hope was so happy to be out of the car that she was actually skipping around the room. She also had to discover everything which was so cute to watch her to do that.
Here Hope has discovered the bathroom and she loved it in there probably because the floor was cold enough for her. She did have problems getting up and out because she would hit her head.
Hope was so totally taken in by the closet mirror door. She sat there for quite some time trying to figure out how the other got got there and why it didn't have a smell and why it would not play with her. After a long amount of time in the room she finally figured out that the dog was not going to do anything with her so she would just ignore it, funny girl.
Hope finally fell asleep after all of the excitement. It didn't take her long at all to find a spot to sleep in that she liked and felt secure at too. Hope mostly slept while Michael left us to go to his interview which lasted 4 and 1/2 hours long! I had no idea that it was going to be that long but it was fine. I only wished that I had taken a book along with me or something to do but I was fine watching the television and trying to nap myself. Once Michael got back he told me that it went wonderful and that they wanted to meet Hope and me! I was so nervous because I was not expecting to do that so suddenly but I still went. Everyone at the company was so nice but Hope was a little scared of everyone but I am sure that she will warm up with time like she normally does. When we were leaving they told Michael to stop by again tomorrow which is always a good thing to hear. We then decided that we would explore the town and find dinner. We found lots of stores that we like and we even found a wonderful dog park that I feel is a good and safe area for Hope (mostly because it has a fence). The next day Michael went again and Hope and I were left alone and so I was just going to relax but the maids came and so I decided that I would take Hope for a walk while they did their thing. There was a nice river that was behind the hotel with a walkway that Hope and I took and had a really fun time on except for all of the goat head thistles.
On the trail they have a few benches where you can just sit and watch the water. Hope liked doing that except that she wanted to actually jump in the water and swim, not just watch it. It was really hard to keep her out of it but at least she listened to me this time.
This is one of my most favorite pictures that I took that day. Hope was watching a bunch of ducks swimming in the water. I think that she wanted to go and play with them but I am sure that the ducks would not like that very much.
Yes, we did stay at the bench for sometime because Hope was enjoying herself so much. It was hard to get her to move over and let me sit down on the bench too. I think that Hope looks like a little queen in this picture, don't you?
When we finally got back the the hotel we noticed that in the back was this really pretty gazebo. The dead plants around it are some rose bushes which would have been nice if they were in bloom for the picture but maybe another time. I just thought what a beautiful area this would be to take pictures especially with the water in the background.
Hope could just not get away from watching the water. I also loved the gazebo so much that I think that I am going to have to get one some day myself. It was a fun walk and by the time we were done with it the maids had finished and we could be in our room while we waited for Michael again. This time he was only gone for three hours so I am assuming that all was going well for him at the interview again. When he did get back it was time to do some more exploring and get some information about housing too.
We had listen to the weather report as we were getting everything ready and all along the trip they had storm warnings. The picture is of what the storm looked like in Utah but other than that we were blessed enough to have good enough weather for the roads.Hope just loved looking outside of the car as we were starting but eventually she did fall asleep and was wonderful for the entire trip. She also loved it when I would try to entertain her by rolling down the window just a little bit so that she could get a good gust of air in her face. When we stayed at my aunts house Hope was so excited to get out of the car and run around for a couple of minutes but she was really excited to meet their dog. They didn't get to play to much because it was so late and everyone was ready for bed. It did take Hope some time to finally settle down and go to sleep because there was just so many new things to explore and new smells too. We got up really early the next morning and started off again to the job interview. We drove in good weather again until we reached the blue mountains. It was pretty nasty there but we were able to make it through just fine and then the rest of the trip went by really quickly and before we knew it we were there. Once in town we found the company that Michael was going to be having the interview with and Michael talked with them and they told him to go and check into the hotel (that they were paying for) and get settled. When we finally got into our room Hope just went crazy! This is actually another first for her, staying in a hotel. She had to go and smell everything. Hope was so happy to be out of the car that she was actually skipping around the room. She also had to discover everything which was so cute to watch her to do that.Here Hope has discovered the bathroom and she loved it in there probably because the floor was cold enough for her. She did have problems getting up and out because she would hit her head.Hope was so totally taken in by the closet mirror door. She sat there for quite some time trying to figure out how the other got got there and why it didn't have a smell and why it would not play with her. After a long amount of time in the room she finally figured out that the dog was not going to do anything with her so she would just ignore it, funny girl.Hope finally fell asleep after all of the excitement. It didn't take her long at all to find a spot to sleep in that she liked and felt secure at too. Hope mostly slept while Michael left us to go to his interview which lasted 4 and 1/2 hours long! I had no idea that it was going to be that long but it was fine. I only wished that I had taken a book along with me or something to do but I was fine watching the television and trying to nap myself. Once Michael got back he told me that it went wonderful and that they wanted to meet Hope and me! I was so nervous because I was not expecting to do that so suddenly but I still went. Everyone at the company was so nice but Hope was a little scared of everyone but I am sure that she will warm up with time like she normally does. When we were leaving they told Michael to stop by again tomorrow which is always a good thing to hear. We then decided that we would explore the town and find dinner. We found lots of stores that we like and we even found a wonderful dog park that I feel is a good and safe area for Hope (mostly because it has a fence). The next day Michael went again and Hope and I were left alone and so I was just going to relax but the maids came and so I decided that I would take Hope for a walk while they did their thing. There was a nice river that was behind the hotel with a walkway that Hope and I took and had a really fun time on except for all of the goat head thistles.On the trail they have a few benches where you can just sit and watch the water. Hope liked doing that except that she wanted to actually jump in the water and swim, not just watch it. It was really hard to keep her out of it but at least she listened to me this time.This is one of my most favorite pictures that I took that day. Hope was watching a bunch of ducks swimming in the water. I think that she wanted to go and play with them but I am sure that the ducks would not like that very much.Yes, we did stay at the bench for sometime because Hope was enjoying herself so much. It was hard to get her to move over and let me sit down on the bench too. I think that Hope looks like a little queen in this picture, don't you?When we finally got back the the hotel we noticed that in the back was this really pretty gazebo. The dead plants around it are some rose bushes which would have been nice if they were in bloom for the picture but maybe another time. I just thought what a beautiful area this would be to take pictures especially with the water in the background.Hope could just not get away from watching the water. I also loved the gazebo so much that I think that I am going to have to get one some day myself. It was a fun walk and by the time we were done with it the maids had finished and we could be in our room while we waited for Michael again. This time he was only gone for three hours so I am assuming that all was going well for him at the interview again. When he did get back it was time to do some more exploring and get some information about housing too.Belated Birthday
Now it is not my fault that I was not able to write a happy birthday to my little brother because something came up and Michael and I had to real move it and so I was not able to be on the computer for several days. I just want to make it clear that yes I may be late in doing this but it is not my fault! Now that I have that out of my system let me tell you that I did get to at least call my little brother on his birthday, the day after mine, and tell him a happy birthday and see what he had done for the day. He told me that he had mostly just done homework and he took a test. I always hated taking tests on my birthday and found it kind of silly that the teacher never just gave me an A for being there on my special day. But at least my brother did great on his test. That was pretty much all he did for his day but he did say that it was a good day so I am very happy that he enjoyed it so, "HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY LITTLE BRO!!!"
Saturday, March 28
In One Night
I think I am getting addicted to reading lately. I know that is probably not a bad thing at all but man it makes me tired. Why does it make me tired? Well I get so wrapped up in the story that I can not go to sleep until I find out what happens and the way that people write is that they leave you hanging in the end of the chapter so that you have to read the next and so I do. On my birthday my sister, Koreena, gave me the second book of Fablehaven. I did have a bit of things that interrupted my plan on reading it for my birthday so I stayed up all night long and read it. Yeah I was so tired but it was a lot of fun to read, except for reading it in the dark. I'm just glad that I had my husband in the room with me and a cute little puppy to protect me too, even though they both were asleep. Now I just need to get the next book so that I can read it. I still don't know how I feel about the Fablehaven books but I do hope to figure it out soon. At least once I am done with Fablehaven I have a ton of other books to read. Happy reading to all (that is if you chose to do so)!
Monday, March 23
My Birthday Today
I have had a lot of people wish me a happy birthday today and have really appreciated the kind words. I have had a nice lay back day which is what I like. I also know that I must be crazy to be posting on my birthday but that is just something that I enjoy doing so I did it. A lot has happened today too and it all has been pretty good things. Michael worked this morning so I just tried to sleep in until he got home but there was a little scratch at my door and so I go and check and it is Penny, my oldest sisters dog. She came in the room and I say that it was to wish me a happy birthday. I'm sure that she was wanting something else but I am just going to say it was for the birthday wishes to me. Penny actually stayed in the room and was not scared of Hope, which is not totally normally. I think that she had a little extra confidence because Hope was still really tired from yesterday, as you can see.
I am still amazed at how close Penny got to Hope. After Penny left the room I did my normal morning things and waited for Michael to get home. I read a book that I got yesterday while I waited. Once Michael was home I opened up my presents from him and his parents. I just loved what they got me and I am still amazed that they found it. Then Michael had to make a couple phone calls which took longer then what I thought that they would but it was fine because the phone calls, to me, are way more important. So we didn't really go out today and just enjoyed staying home being with one another. I think that it was a pretty great day. The only sad part is that a birthday ends and I have to get back to doing the normal everyday things like before. At least I will always have the memories and be able to think fondly of the day. I hope everyone else has had a wonderful day too.
I am still amazed at how close Penny got to Hope. After Penny left the room I did my normal morning things and waited for Michael to get home. I read a book that I got yesterday while I waited. Once Michael was home I opened up my presents from him and his parents. I just loved what they got me and I am still amazed that they found it. Then Michael had to make a couple phone calls which took longer then what I thought that they would but it was fine because the phone calls, to me, are way more important. So we didn't really go out today and just enjoyed staying home being with one another. I think that it was a pretty great day. The only sad part is that a birthday ends and I have to get back to doing the normal everyday things like before. At least I will always have the memories and be able to think fondly of the day. I hope everyone else has had a wonderful day too.Party For Two
Since Brandon and I have our birthdays right next to each other it is easy for the family to celebrate them on the same day. We did a family party yesterday at my second oldest sisters house since it was a somewhat middle traveling distance for everyone. Michael did not get to stay for the entire thing because he has a meeting at work that night. I was totally bummed out about that but at least I could hang out with him on my birthday, that is after he got off work and took care of some business too.
I took a picture just to prove that Michael was at the party for the beginning of it. You can also see that Hope is in the background and not chained up but I will tell you about that later.
Everyone at the party ate a dinner and then it was time for the cake and presents which is when Michael had to leave. Brandon and I had to share a cake and the candles on it too, sort of. Like my candles were pink and his were yellow. I know that you can not see that right now but you will just have to take my word for it.
Our family sang to both of us and then I got to blow out the candles first because I was older. Everyone at the party said that I had to just blow out the pink candles and a few people thought that I couldn't do it and that they would have to relight Brandon's. That made up my mind to do only the pink ones in one breath. I think that I amazed everyone that I was actually able to do it and to be honest that did surprise me too. I didn't think I had that good of lungs for it but I guess I was wrong too.
Now since all of the pink candles were out it was way easy for Brandon to make his wish and blow out all of the candles in one shot which was funny because when I did it there was hardly any smoke at all but he had a massive cloud.
Here is what the caked looked like in case you were wondering. It was really good and I got to eat the part with the yellow balloon.
I put this picture in because it is one that I like of myself.
Since my birthday was before my brothers I got to open up my presents first. I got a lot of wonderful things from my family and greatly appreciated the thought that they all put into it.
After I was finished with my gifts Brandon open his and this is what Michael and I got him. He started laughing really hard when he opened it and so did one of his roommates that came to the party too. The reason was because two days ago he bought this game! I was so upset with him because I am sure that it is written somewhere that you are not allowed to go shopping before your birthday. He told me that he would just take back the other game and keep mine. Oh well, I at least tried and I did pick something that he wanted but it wasn't on the list that he gave mom so I guess that means that I know my little brother really well. Now to let you know about what Hope was doing during the party.
Hope got a new outside stake-in-the-ground kind of thing so that she can move around a little bit more when we go and visit my sisters house. Hope did do pretty good and was really happy to move around with only getting tangled up a few times but a lot of the time she was able to get herself out of it.
Here you can see how it looks and how far it lets her move around. She is looking off to the side at a neighbors house that has two dogs in the yard. The yard did not have a fence so at one point the kind of sunk up on Hope and scared her pretty good so she made sure to keep a eye on them after that. They did not come back over with her watching them though and they really didn't seem to mind it when we finally left the party either. Hope did sleep in the car for the entire drive home which means that she had a lot of fun too. I was a really great time together with the family and the only thing that would have made it better is if Michael could have stayed for the entire thing.
I took a picture just to prove that Michael was at the party for the beginning of it. You can also see that Hope is in the background and not chained up but I will tell you about that later.Everyone at the party ate a dinner and then it was time for the cake and presents which is when Michael had to leave. Brandon and I had to share a cake and the candles on it too, sort of. Like my candles were pink and his were yellow. I know that you can not see that right now but you will just have to take my word for it.Our family sang to both of us and then I got to blow out the candles first because I was older. Everyone at the party said that I had to just blow out the pink candles and a few people thought that I couldn't do it and that they would have to relight Brandon's. That made up my mind to do only the pink ones in one breath. I think that I amazed everyone that I was actually able to do it and to be honest that did surprise me too. I didn't think I had that good of lungs for it but I guess I was wrong too.Now since all of the pink candles were out it was way easy for Brandon to make his wish and blow out all of the candles in one shot which was funny because when I did it there was hardly any smoke at all but he had a massive cloud.Here is what the caked looked like in case you were wondering. It was really good and I got to eat the part with the yellow balloon.I put this picture in because it is one that I like of myself.Since my birthday was before my brothers I got to open up my presents first. I got a lot of wonderful things from my family and greatly appreciated the thought that they all put into it.After I was finished with my gifts Brandon open his and this is what Michael and I got him. He started laughing really hard when he opened it and so did one of his roommates that came to the party too. The reason was because two days ago he bought this game! I was so upset with him because I am sure that it is written somewhere that you are not allowed to go shopping before your birthday. He told me that he would just take back the other game and keep mine. Oh well, I at least tried and I did pick something that he wanted but it wasn't on the list that he gave mom so I guess that means that I know my little brother really well. Now to let you know about what Hope was doing during the party.Hope got a new outside stake-in-the-ground kind of thing so that she can move around a little bit more when we go and visit my sisters house. Hope did do pretty good and was really happy to move around with only getting tangled up a few times but a lot of the time she was able to get herself out of it.Here you can see how it looks and how far it lets her move around. She is looking off to the side at a neighbors house that has two dogs in the yard. The yard did not have a fence so at one point the kind of sunk up on Hope and scared her pretty good so she made sure to keep a eye on them after that. They did not come back over with her watching them though and they really didn't seem to mind it when we finally left the party either. Hope did sleep in the car for the entire drive home which means that she had a lot of fun too. I was a really great time together with the family and the only thing that would have made it better is if Michael could have stayed for the entire thing.Bridal Shower
Finally to the main event of the day. It was attending Julies bridal shower. I had been looking forward to this for a long time because I don't get to go to many but it was even more of a deal because it was for my sister-in-law. I had a wonderful time at the party and I am sure that everyone else did too. There was a ton of people that came and I know that everyone had a wonderful time. The first thing that we did was eat some food and while everyone was eating, the leader of the advent, had everyone stand up and say their name and how you knew Julie and to give her some advice. I thought that was a ton of fun and a great idea. A lot of people said things that I would have told her myself but it helped me think really hard about what I have learned from my marriage. I gave her the best advice that I could think of and that was to make sure you put the other person before you and try to help them and serve them and make them happy because when you are selfish things can go wrong very quickly.
Here is Julie listening to all of the advice that people were giving her. It was so nice but someone at the party (I don't know who) wrote down all of the advice so that Julie can keep it and remember it too. Then it was time for some games! The first game that we played was to have Julie answer questions about Jordi and if she got it wrong she would have to put a piece of gum in her mouth and chew it. I just have to say that I am so happy that I didn't have to do that at my bridal shower because it looked hard and I am also not much of a gum chewer either.
Here is Julie listening to all of the advice that people were giving her. It was so nice but someone at the party (I don't know who) wrote down all of the advice so that Julie can keep it and remember it too. Then it was time for some games! The first game that we played was to have Julie answer questions about Jordi and if she got it wrong she would have to put a piece of gum in her mouth and chew it. I just have to say that I am so happy that I didn't have to do that at my bridal shower because it looked hard and I am also not much of a gum chewer either. I am really glad that Julie knew the answer to some of those questions because it was getting really hard for her to talk with all of that gum in her mouth. (This is a long video so you don't have to watch it all it is just fun to hear some of the questions that were asked and the answers that were given and then what the right ones are.)
In the plastic bag is all of the gum that Julie had in her mouth. I can not believe how much there is but I am glad that there was a lot of it left in the cup that she did not have to chew either. At least the gum did not do any damage. The next game that we played was to see how well we knew Julie. There was a lot of questions and Julie had to write down what her answer would be to each question. At the end of all of the questions she told us her answers. I think that I did pretty good because I scored a 10.5 on the entire thing. Of course, Maren and Julie's Mom won but I was kind of expecting that because they would know her the best. It was still a fun game to play. Then it was time to open up the gifts. Julie got a lot of great things and some where really fun too.
This gift was from all of us Shipley girls: Julies Mother, Maren, Aunt Joy, Grandma, and Me. It was so kind of them to include me in the gift and I was totally not expecting that either. As you can see Julie is trying to peak in on all of the good stuff that was in the basket.
In the plastic bag is all of the gum that Julie had in her mouth. I can not believe how much there is but I am glad that there was a lot of it left in the cup that she did not have to chew either. At least the gum did not do any damage. The next game that we played was to see how well we knew Julie. There was a lot of questions and Julie had to write down what her answer would be to each question. At the end of all of the questions she told us her answers. I think that I did pretty good because I scored a 10.5 on the entire thing. Of course, Maren and Julie's Mom won but I was kind of expecting that because they would know her the best. It was still a fun game to play. Then it was time to open up the gifts. Julie got a lot of great things and some where really fun too.This gift was from all of us Shipley girls: Julies Mother, Maren, Aunt Joy, Grandma, and Me. It was so kind of them to include me in the gift and I was totally not expecting that either. As you can see Julie is trying to peak in on all of the good stuff that was in the basket.I thought that I would do a video of her opening up this gift because it was from all of us. At least now you can know what was in the basket. Sorry but again I missed a little of the start of opening it. I think that I need to work on my camera/film skills. So that was the bridal shower and I had a wonderful time and sure do wish that every day could be as fun as it was today. I sure can not wait until the wedding day and we all get to celebrate Julie and Jordi being a family.
Bridal Show
After the recital was finished Michael and I went and picked up Hope. We actually stayed there a little while because I wanted to talk with Mel since I don't get to do that very often. I was also enjoying seeing her two little boys playing with hope. Especially the youngest one that was scared of Hope when we first got there but he had become so brave with her, since the time that we left, that he would actually stick his entire hand in her mouth to get a toy away from her. I was totally proud of my little puppy for doing so wonderful with them and also very thankful to my sister for bringing her little boy over to play with Hope every now and again at my parents house. Then Hope actually got to meet their dog which is a drug search one and I could not believe it but Hope actually bullied him into playing with her but they soon became great friends that we had to stay and let her play with him a little longer. When we had left her that morning I totally thought that she would just take a nap because she did not sleep very well in the car going up. Mel said that she did not sleep at all and that she had been playing with the boys like this the entire time. Hope even got to explore the backyard and had a wonderful time there too that she actually did not want to come back inside of the house! Another thing that I am so proud of her is that my friend has a cat and I have been wondering what Hope would do because she had cats as her playmates when she was born and she has always wanted to go and say hello to them when she sees them but as you can guess most of them are to scared of her to let her get close. She did get close to Mel's cat and they were actually nose to nose and I am so sorry that I missed it but Hope did great and when the cat meowed at her she just tilted her head trying to figure it out. I so wish that I could have gotten a picture of it but at least I know that Hope is totally fine with boys and cats. I guess that means we just need to work on little girls. When we finally did leave Mel's house we went out to lunch with Michael's family and left Hope in the car who had a wonderful nap. After lunch was finished we then all split up with the men going to do the manly thing of checking the storage unit, Michael's and mine, and the girls got to go to the bridal show. I so think that us girls won on doing the more fun thing.
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To let you know about the bridal show every year the college has one that is so much fun to go to and you get to see all of the hard work that the students do from that year. I guess that I should say what they have learned that year in their classes. The show takes up almost all of the space in a entire building and those are really big! Julie has a friend that was actually the leader of the entire thing and I was totally amazed to hear that she is actually only a freshmen! I also took a ton of pictures of the show but I'm sorry that you will not be able to smell the flowers, they were wonderful.
This was just so stunning that I had to take a picture of it. I love how the combined these colors together. I so wish that I was that talented but I think that my talent is being able to appreciate the hard work that goes into it and the beauty that was created.
Now these are equally as beautiful but something interesting about these flowers is who made them/arranged. When we were at Mel's house she told me that her sister-in-law had done a flower arrangement at the bridal show. She told me her name and I kept an eye out for it the entire time and found it and this is it. I think she also did a wonderful job and I love how she picked such a happy flower color.
As you walk through the bridal show they have rooms set up with themes that a person could possibly do for there wedding but it is still focused around the flowers and plants, of course. This is just an example and the craziest one of them all I think and that is why I had to get a picture of it. It just makes me think like I'm at a retro night club kind of thing and if we turned off the lights everything would glow in the dark. I don't know if you can see this but Julie and Maren are in the picture at the end of the path with Maren waving at me.
Here we are at a tropical kind of room and it was so pretty in here. I think that this room was part of the green house though but I'm not totally sure about that either. I think that it is funny but in the picture we have it going from tallest to shortest which we did not do on purpose. (It goes: Julie, Maren, Me.)
This was just a beautiful waterfall that I had to get a picture of. The pond was cute too but there was a couple of people in the way so I just got what I could. This was also still in the tropical room as the same picture above.
These where just flowers hanging from the ceiling and as you can probably figure out yes it is still from the tropical room. I just loved how everything was in beautiful bloom in that room. I think that the only thing that it was missing was live birds flying around the area. Now wouldn't that be a fun room to have in your home?
The flower arrangement here is an example of an option Julie has for her wedding. We were showed another one when we first got in but I didn't get a picture of it. I really love the ribbon around the bottom of the flowers and have been told that is really hard to do but isn't that just stunning? I also loved the look of the flowers and feel bad that you can not see what the other one looked like because it was equally as beautiful. I did almost forget the other fun part of the bridal show. CAKE!!! In each room with the theme they have a cake made to match that theme.
I thought that this cake was so cute and I love the detail that it has with all of the flowers on it too. It was just a happy little cake in my opinion. This cake actually didn't go with any of the rooms but it did with the flowers that were on the table with it. I didn't get a picture of those though because I liked the cake more and wanted you to see the amazing detail that it had on it too.
This cake went with the Japanese room that they had there and I just loved it. Julie liked the flowers on it and I totally agree with her on that. I just love how it somehow makes the cake come to life in a way. When I showed Michael this picture he said that it was the tree of life, lol. I sure do have a cute husband.
Yes, this is a cake that was in the retro room. I can not believe or even figure out how they got the top of it to stand like that. I mostly took this picture for my oldest sister because she loves these things and actually collects them too. I could never get them to go back to how they are suppose to be but that is okay. I also can not totally see this being used at a wedding but everyone does have there own still. I can see the cake being used at a birthday party and I do know a few people that I think are amazingly talented in making cakes that I'm sure they could figure out how to do this (Cindy, Challene, Melody).
I'm sorry but I had to put this picture in because I just love these kinds of screens and I love the Japanese writing on it too even though I have no clue what it says I still think that it is wonderful. I did love this theme room but I wish they had like gone even more out with it or something. Don't get me wrong it was beautiful but it was my favorite room. When us ladies were finished going through the bridal show we went out shopping. Maren and I went to a shoe store to help Julie find some wedding shoes. This was the very first thing that I got to help with that involves the wedding so I was way excited. We found a great pair but some of the things that we found were kind of funny especially this one.
When we first entered the store I was just looking for white shoes and say that it was white on the top and then realized that it was colorful on the inside. Julie was the first one to get to it and started laughing really hard. Maren and I quickly ran over to her to see what was making her laugh so good and she showed us the inside of the shoe. I know, it is kind of hard to read what the shoe says but it still made us girls laugh really hard. The shoe says, "heart breaker," on it and I think that it can apply to all girls that get married. I should have gotten something like that for my wedding because I know that I must have been braking a lot of hearts when I got married. It sure was nice to have some fun family girl time together that afternoon.
This was just so stunning that I had to take a picture of it. I love how the combined these colors together. I so wish that I was that talented but I think that my talent is being able to appreciate the hard work that goes into it and the beauty that was created.Now these are equally as beautiful but something interesting about these flowers is who made them/arranged. When we were at Mel's house she told me that her sister-in-law had done a flower arrangement at the bridal show. She told me her name and I kept an eye out for it the entire time and found it and this is it. I think she also did a wonderful job and I love how she picked such a happy flower color.As you walk through the bridal show they have rooms set up with themes that a person could possibly do for there wedding but it is still focused around the flowers and plants, of course. This is just an example and the craziest one of them all I think and that is why I had to get a picture of it. It just makes me think like I'm at a retro night club kind of thing and if we turned off the lights everything would glow in the dark. I don't know if you can see this but Julie and Maren are in the picture at the end of the path with Maren waving at me.Here we are at a tropical kind of room and it was so pretty in here. I think that this room was part of the green house though but I'm not totally sure about that either. I think that it is funny but in the picture we have it going from tallest to shortest which we did not do on purpose. (It goes: Julie, Maren, Me.)This was just a beautiful waterfall that I had to get a picture of. The pond was cute too but there was a couple of people in the way so I just got what I could. This was also still in the tropical room as the same picture above.These where just flowers hanging from the ceiling and as you can probably figure out yes it is still from the tropical room. I just loved how everything was in beautiful bloom in that room. I think that the only thing that it was missing was live birds flying around the area. Now wouldn't that be a fun room to have in your home?The flower arrangement here is an example of an option Julie has for her wedding. We were showed another one when we first got in but I didn't get a picture of it. I really love the ribbon around the bottom of the flowers and have been told that is really hard to do but isn't that just stunning? I also loved the look of the flowers and feel bad that you can not see what the other one looked like because it was equally as beautiful. I did almost forget the other fun part of the bridal show. CAKE!!! In each room with the theme they have a cake made to match that theme.I thought that this cake was so cute and I love the detail that it has with all of the flowers on it too. It was just a happy little cake in my opinion. This cake actually didn't go with any of the rooms but it did with the flowers that were on the table with it. I didn't get a picture of those though because I liked the cake more and wanted you to see the amazing detail that it had on it too.This cake went with the Japanese room that they had there and I just loved it. Julie liked the flowers on it and I totally agree with her on that. I just love how it somehow makes the cake come to life in a way. When I showed Michael this picture he said that it was the tree of life, lol. I sure do have a cute husband.Yes, this is a cake that was in the retro room. I can not believe or even figure out how they got the top of it to stand like that. I mostly took this picture for my oldest sister because she loves these things and actually collects them too. I could never get them to go back to how they are suppose to be but that is okay. I also can not totally see this being used at a wedding but everyone does have there own still. I can see the cake being used at a birthday party and I do know a few people that I think are amazingly talented in making cakes that I'm sure they could figure out how to do this (Cindy, Challene, Melody).I'm sorry but I had to put this picture in because I just love these kinds of screens and I love the Japanese writing on it too even though I have no clue what it says I still think that it is wonderful. I did love this theme room but I wish they had like gone even more out with it or something. Don't get me wrong it was beautiful but it was my favorite room. When us ladies were finished going through the bridal show we went out shopping. Maren and I went to a shoe store to help Julie find some wedding shoes. This was the very first thing that I got to help with that involves the wedding so I was way excited. We found a great pair but some of the things that we found were kind of funny especially this one.When we first entered the store I was just looking for white shoes and say that it was white on the top and then realized that it was colorful on the inside. Julie was the first one to get to it and started laughing really hard. Maren and I quickly ran over to her to see what was making her laugh so good and she showed us the inside of the shoe. I know, it is kind of hard to read what the shoe says but it still made us girls laugh really hard. The shoe says, "heart breaker," on it and I think that it can apply to all girls that get married. I should have gotten something like that for my wedding because I know that I must have been braking a lot of hearts when I got married. It sure was nice to have some fun family girl time together that afternoon.
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