We have a leak...darn it!

Yesterday I went downstairs to our basement to put a load of laundry in the washer. I walk in and I see a steady stream of water coming from one of the pipes. Lovely huh? Matt was in the upstairs shower so that's where the water was coming from. I ran upstairs to tell him to hurry up and end his shower. He hurried and then came down to look at it. He said it's not good. Our major problem is that our shower is tiled. We are going to have to rip out the tile to find out where the leak is. Again Lovely, Lovely! I wasn't to happy with the color of tile on the shower, and I am also not a big fan of tile being in the shower. I think it's hard to clean, and it always looks dirty, especially with the color red. Anyways I wanted to redo our shower, but not right now. I wanted to way in the future when we had the funds to do it. Also the people that owned the house did the tiling in the shower and did a very crappy job of it. The handles and faucet stick out just a bit, so that could be where the water is leaking too. Here is a pic of the tile in the shower: I hope we can figure this mess out! I'm trying to be positive, it's just a major bummer because now we are really going to have to cut back on a lot of our expenses. Darn it! I guess that is what being a home owner is all about, right? I knew when we bought this house that we would be fixing things more often because it is an older home. I still love my house though! =) I'm also very grateful that we have 2 full bathrooms. So it's not so bad, but it will be nice to have 2 working showers instead of one!

Blond Joke

My friend Katie emailed me this and I had to share with you all! Enjoy!!!

A few days ago I was having some work done at my local garage. A blond came in and asked for a seven-hundred-ten knob. We all looked at each other and another customer asked, 'What is a seven-hundred-ten knob?' She replied, 'You know, the little piece in the middle of the engine, I have lost it and need a new one..' She replied that she did not know exactly what it was, but this piece had always been there. The mechanic gave her a piece of paper and a pen and asked her to draw what the piece looked like. She drew a circle and in the middle of it wrote 710. He then took her over to another car which had its hood up and asked 'is there a 710 on this car?' She pointed and said, 'Of course, its right there.' If you're not sure what a 710 is Click Here

Update on something Stupid

So today I took Matt bright and early to the airport. Lovely. We got him there way early. Matt called me when he was about to board, when he landed, when he was done with his appointment like a good husband should. Each time he called he sounded more exhausted. He didn't sleep on the plane at all, or in the car because he was talking to his friend Roy from our old squadron who picked him up at the airport. K are you ready for this? Matt waited in the hospital waiting room for about 15 min, then he got called back into the hospital room where he waited for about 15 min. He actually dozed off, and the Dr. woke him up when he walked into the room. The Dr. talked to Matt for a total of 2 min. All the Doc did was check Matt's range of Motion to see how far he could bend until it hurt. Then he asked if Matt was in pain. That was it! Are you freaking kidding me? Come on! The Dr. actually apologized to Matt saying that it was ridiculous for him to come all they way out there. Good for you Doc! When Matt told me all of this he was about to pass out from being so tired. Poor guy! He told me that he was just going to sleep for the rest of the day and night. More power to you honey! So again I'm glad that he didn't have to travel any further than he did! Crystal I'm so glad that we were not stationed in Germany or anywhere over seas for that matter! I think I would have crapped a brick if he had to go overseas for just a day or weekend. If he had the vacation time and all of that I would have gone with him so I could see some friends that are stationed overseas! One nice thing is that Matt might get some per diem. I hope so! Every little bit helps! I'm glad this is done and over with. Thanks for all of your comments. =)

Somthing so stupid

So I hope I'm not the only one that thinks this is stupid. I'll start at the beginning: When Matt got medically discharged from the military part of the deal was that he has to be seen every 15-18 months to be evaluated on his back. We thought no big deal. Well turns out that it's a bigger deal than what we thought. He got a phone call about a month ago from David Grant Medical Center saying that it was time for him to come in and be evaluated. We were stunned. We thought the VA clinic was going to do it. They told him that it was required to be seen at the base that he was stationed at. So they scheduled him an appointment for the 26th of this month. That is all that was said to him. They said they would contact him again and give more instructions. So we waited and waited, and then last week someone calls to see if he can still make it. OK. Anyways of course he was told that he couldn't miss it. I can't remember what else they said to him, but Matt asked about travel info. They said someone would contact him through email. OK very helpful. So after Matt hung up he was like oh crap I hope they have the right email address. I was like lets give them the benefit of the doubt that they are smarter than they seem to be and let's hope that they don't have Matt's military email address. That would be bad because that email went inactive the day he got out. Lovely! So anyways we were getting stressed because we still hadn't heard anything or gotten anything, then finally last week something came in the mail for him. sigh of relief....... He opens the package up, and it was basically saying that he would have to take care of the travel arrangements and then file a travel voucher. I was like are you totally kidding me. Flights at the last minute are so expensive. There was a phone number that he was supposed to call before scheduling anything, but he wasn't able to call until Monday because of the weekend. So come Monday we thought it was going to be hectic, but it wasn't so bad. When Matt called the number they told him that they would pay for the flight right up front. They said to call and schedule a flight and then fax the info to them and they would pay with government card. So Matt leaves tomorrow at 8:30 in the morning. He will get off from work at 6:00 a.m. or so come home and get ready and i will take him to the airport. He is going to be so tired and exhausted. I hope he will fall asleep on the plane. The thing that really blows my mind though is that this appointment will probably take 10 minutes. It stinks too because Matt is taking a day off with no pay, he doesn't start earning vacation pay and sick pay until he's been there for a year. So we are loosing a whole day of pay that we could really use so that he can go to Cali 12 hrs. away for a stupid Dr. Appointment. It's so stupid! I'm just glad that it isn't farther away so that's a good point in all of this! I just have to say that it's so like the Military to wait until the last minute. It's always hurry up and wait for everything. Don't get me wrong I'm all for the military, it's just that they do some really stupid things. K so now I'm done ranting and raving, thanks for listening. I hope tomorrow will go well.

Meeting up with old friends

So a couple weeks ago I was able to meet up with a couple of old friends from high school that I hadn't seen since graduation. It was so fun!!! Lunch at Johnny Corrinos, and a movie at Jordan Landing. I told them that they had to see Mama Mia, and I'm so glad they agreed! We had a fun day of catching up, with Lot's of laughter. =) I didn't want the day to end. I was on a high, and it felt great to get out the whole day without having kids with me! That's enough to rejuvenate anybody!!!
Next I love face book! I have recently come back into contact with pretty much the whole youth from the ward I grew up in. When I would get a friend request from one of them, or if I sent a friend request all of these great memories would flood back into my mind. I loved that neighborhood, and ward so much! We hung out playing night games, toilet papering, getting into trouble, doing stupid things, etc. etc. etc.! We were a tight knit group. It's been fun to see what everyone has been up to for the last 8 years. It really makes me want to just drive around the old neighborhood. I haven't been there in years. Lastly I just want to say that family and friends are so important. Treat them good!!! =) I love having my own little family to take care of. It's hard, but worth it! Love you all! Thanks for good memories.

Rocks make me want to puke

Did you know that rocks can have babies? Well they can. I'll start at the beginning. We have been wanting to plant trees in our backyard for awhile now. We figured since it's fall now, we can go ahead. We want to plant quakes in our backyard. The trouble with quakes is that their roots grow up out of the ground and into your lawn and make a mess everywhere. I love quakes and really wanted them. My Dad and Mom found a way to block the roots from growing into the grass. You have to dig about a foot and half down into the ground then get something that is stiff that won't dissolve, or rust. My Dad used a roll of roof flashing, we used the same. Well we started to dig 2 weeks ago. I thought it would be no problem at all. I was way wrong. It was hard hard work. Their were so many little rocks and boulders in the ground. That's why I say rocks can have babies. They were never ending, and a huge pain in the butt! I'm so glad and happy to say that I finished digging the trench yesterday afternoon. I felt like I was 99 years old, decrepit, hurting, and exhausted. I dread our next project which involves Lot's of digging, and I'm sure their are going to be plenty of rock's with babies. I swear if I had to dig today I was going to puke! I know it will be well worth the hard work though when the roots don't come up in our grass and make a huge mess everywhere. Also it will give so much more privacy, and look so pretty, and give shade... I love trees! =)

Rock pile #1:

Rock pile #2:Rock pile #3:Rock pile #4:Rock pile #5:The pictures really don't do it justice. Crazy though! It's crazy how different soil can be. Rocky, clay, sand, etc. etc. etc.....

Thanksgiving point Children's gardens

Yesterday McKenzie had her first field trip for preschool. Parents were able to go and siblings as well. We went to Thanksgiving point to the children's gardens. It was a blast. We were worried that it was going to be canceled though because the weather has been so cold the last week. Luckily for us it was a clear day, chilly at the beginning though. When you first go into the children's gardens they have a Noah's ark that the kids can play on. NO they can't actually get in the boat, but they have rocks around and you can get by the animals. The kids were told to wear their swim suits under their clothes so they could get wet. It was too bad though the water was shut off for the winter. McKenzie's teacher was a little peeved because she takes the preschool kids every year and it has never been shut off this early. She says that they always close the water the beginning of October. Well this was also the first year that she had to worry about what the weather was going to be like. Anyways it was really cute to see the kids playing on the ark. They had fun! Here are some pictures of the ark and the kids:

After the kids were done playing on the ark we moved along. They had little mazes for the kids to go through. I would have tried to get some pictures of that, but the kids were way to fast! I swear they ran all the way through both mazes! After the mazes they had a couple of bear caves, and bear holes for the kids to play in. Here are some pictures of the bear, and the bear holes:McKenzie has no fear, she ran in and out of the holes, but Madisynn would only go up to the top of one, but she wouldn't go out to the other sides. Next the girls got to pet some chipmunks! Here are some cute pictures of that!:

I can't believe how much fun the kids had! They ran and ran and played and played for 2 1/2 hrs. straight! They barely wanted to sit down for lunch. So some other things that the kids got to do was climb a little lighthouse, and see some fish, and at the end they had a little sculpture insect thing that the kids could play in and on. I took some pictures of that, but they didn't turn out great, and I deleted them. By the time we left, the kids well Madisynn anyways was plum tuckered out, and fell asleep as soon as the car started moving! I felt bad that the kids didn't get to play in the water with the Noah's ark. They were so looking forward to that, and I knew it, so I said you can run through the sprinkler if the weather is good by our house. That made them happy, so there you go! It was a fun field trip! We are definitely going to have to come back to Thanksgiving point in October because they have some fun things for Halloween time. So exciting, I can hardly wait!!!

McKenzie Preschool & Mama Mia =)

Last Tuesday was McKenzie's first day of Preschool. I wasn't sure how I was going to handle it. I wanted her to do well and like it, and have Lot's of fun! For the first day McKenzie's teacher Mrs. Rollins wanted all of the parents there for the first half hr, to go over the rules, answer any questions that we might have. So we went all of us, well all except for Matt who was sleeping. I hoped Madisynn would behave and not throw any fits. Madisynn did really well listening to me, her only problem was that she wanted to go explore the downstairs. I didn't want to fight her and Mrs. Rollins didn't mind at all. Well McKenzie wanted to go with Madisynn and I kept telling her no. Little stinker was pushing my buttons, she knew better, but still she tried. I didn't give in, and I told her to do what the teacher had told them to do, which was play with the play doe while she talked to the parents. By the time Mrs. Rollins was done talking, I was ready to go, and I had no worries for McKenzie. Is that awful???? I mean I missed her, but I was ready for her to go and learn and Learn from someone else besides me and Matt.

K so let me backtrack just a little bit. So when we got to the preschool we had to go downstairs and Mrs. Rollins wanted each of the kids to find their name that was on a leaf hanging on the door. McKenzie found hers right away! I was so proud of her! She has been listening to me! She is a really smart girl who is ready for preschool. K so I also noticed that all of the kids except for a few had new backpacks. I had been thinking about getting one, but decided nah she's only in preschool. She doesn't need one. I could tell that McKenzie was really envious, and wanted a back pack. The preschool is from 9 - 12 and I thought well I'll go and get her some new clothes and a new back pack, and surprise her.

I found a bunch of cute clothes and fun backpack that I knew that she would love, and headed back to the school to wait for her. WE got back about a half hr. before school was out, so I let Madisynn wander around inside the car, while I was looking over the stuff that Mrs. Rollins had given to us. Well the time finally arrived for school to be let out, and it melted my heart when my little girl came running to me and gave me the biggest hug ever! She had so much fun, and learned! Mrs. Rollins read the kids the kissing hand and they made a little something to go along with it. Here it is: If you haven't read the kissing hand to your kids, you really should! It's a really cute book! McKenzie said the things they learned were some new songs that she couldn't quite remember, painting the heart on the kissing hand, reading the book the kissing hand, and they started learning how to cut along a line. She needs major help with that! She just likes to mangle the paper! I should go and buy some little scissors for her so she can practice more. After all of the learning they got to go outside and play. They loved it. When we came to see Mrs. Rollins preschool a few months ago, McKenzie got to play in the backyard. They have the cutest little playhouse for the kids. The kids love it and don't want to ever come out of it! So that's basically what McKenzie did when they went outside. So She survived her first day of school, and so did I! Yea!!! Also the teacher said she did really well, and she didn't act or talk like a baby. Thank goodness. I hope this school will kick that in the butt, I'm tired of the baby talk, and acting like a baby.

So we left and headed for the store so we could go and buy Kenzie some new tennis shoes, because the ones she had were way to small. We found that out on Labor day. So I wanted her to be able to pick her own shoes. She of course picked out some cute princess ones! She wanted about 5 other pair of shoes to go with them. I would have, but we have no money to do that!!! LOL! We made it home, and I fed the girls lunch, and then I had McKenzie sit on the couch so I could show her her surprises. She was excited! She loved all of the clothes, and especially the barbie backpack! I'm glad I went and got her one, because it is important, and I think it helps pump them up for school. =)

Thursday is when I took her first day of school pictures. I love how the backpacks are humongous on them! Here is McKenzie wearing her first school backpack before we left for school:I love her outfit, and that was her favorite out of all of the clothes I bought for her. Too cute! We are carpooling with someone else in our ward. Thursday are my day to drive, so I picked up McKenzie's little friend Makayla. Here they are together, McKenzie and Makayla: Madisynn wanted to be in a picture too, so I had to get one with all of the girls:McKenzie, Makayla, and MadisynnSo we all handled Thursday well! Me and Madisynn went grocery shopping, and had fun together. She was a big helper. When I went to go pick up the girls I wasn't as early as the last time. I was a few minutes early, and had to go in the backyard to get the girls. When I was going to get them McKenzie came running around the corner and she was wearing this humongous orange t-shirt that said think big preschool. Mrs. Rollins said that this was the last year that she was doing preschool (bummer) and so she didn't bother ordering any smaller sizes. The kids were excited, and McKenzie told her that the shirt was like her Jammie's....Lol! Mrs. Rollins again said McKenzie did really well, except for one time she acted like a baby and talked like a baby. Mrs. Rollins handled it well, and told McKenzie that she couldn't understand her when she acted and talked like a baby. Kenzie shaped right up and acted like a big girl the rest of the time. Yea! So we officially made it through the first week. I hope tomorrow will go just as well. So here is a picture of McKenzie in her Think big preschool t-shirt: I was able to go on a girls night out on Thursday night as well with a few friends from the ward. We went and saw Mama Mia. I have to say I absolutely loved it! I couldn't get enough of the music, and it also brought back great memories from growing up. I grew up listening to Abba. We would clean house to the blaring music and have a blast! I loved the movie so much I had to tell a couple of my friends that I'm going to be hanging out with this weekend for a girls night out that we had to watch it. They were all for it, so yea, I'm so excited!!! I'm going to have to buy the soundtrack to go along with my Abba gold CD as well. If you haven't seen this movie yet, go and see it NOW! =)

Labor day, & my hair

Labor day we went to Logan, to Willow park and zoo. It was a really cold day. I was really looking forward to going when I thought it was supposed to be warmer. But I was soon changing my mind because it was in the 50's or something ridiculous like that, and was supposed to rain! I'm glad we went though, but I'm just glad we didn't get there at the crack of dawn. I'm so glad that we didn't get rained out! So we ate yummy food, visited a lot, took the kids to the little zoo, and let them play in the park on the toys until we were ready to leave. So the zoo we went through I remember it being so cool when I was younger. Now it's like OK if I see one more bird I'm going to snap!!! It was lame, but it was fun to see how the kids liked it. They loved it! The monkeys were a big hit, they were definitely my favorite! It was fun visiting and talking with my cousins, it feels like it's been forever!

We stayed about 4 hrs at the park/zoo, and then it was time to go and visit my Grandma & Grandpa Zollinger. It feels like forever since I've seen them as well, but it was just on memorial day that we did. They look so old, and it's so sad. I hate seeing them in pain, and they have been in a lot of pain for so long. My Grandma had a stroke a few weeks ago, and my Grandpa has just gone through just as much. I'm glad that they are no longer living on there own, but staying in a nursing home. We were only able to stay for just a little bit because Matt had to work Monday night. When we were done my grandparents were needing to head down to dinner. They love to give the grand kids rides on their laps on the rascals. The grand kids absolutely love it, and look forward to it every time! I'm so glad that I brought my camera with me and was able to get this picture of the girls with their great grandparents. I really don't know how much longer we get to have them on this earth with us. It makes me sad to think about. I have Lot's of regrets, mostly that I don't get up to visit them as much as I would like too, and should. I know that they were thrilled to see us, so that makes me happy! After we left we had one more stop to make. We stopped to visit my Dad's grave. I'm so glad we did that as well. I was really missing him that day. It was good to see his grave.

Today was the day that I had scheduled my hair appointment. I still didn't really have a clue of what I wanted to do. So I went, I had the girls with me, bummer. They did really well though up until the last 5 min. or so. Thank goodness! So here is my new look:

I love it! I dyed it a dark brown level 6 and had her add a little red to it. It's thinned out, and I no longer feel like side burns lady! it's refreshing. =) I'm going to grow it out just a little bit longer, because more people have said that they think i look better with it a little longer. I feel the same! I really do like my hair now though! I don't think that I could ever grow my hair long long again. I think it would drive me nuts! So what do you all think? Do you like? So coming soon pictures of McKenzie and her first day of preschool. =)