Just the five of us

We survived!

2011-01-11T07:27:00.000-08:00

You'd think that we went on a dangerous adventure or were involved in a severe accident if you heard me say "We Survived!" But it was Josie's first cold, and boy was it a doozie!

Nick and I both had this same cold over Christmas. Ours both included fever, congestion, and a cough. Nick had it the worst, luckily my fever lasted half a day, but his lasted three. And sleeping was not really in the cards with this cold because of the cough. One night I suggested that Nick go sleep on the couch so he wouldn't wake the baby (nice huh?). I nursed Josie like crazy so that she would get all the antibodies from me but the cold must have morphed into baby form because it showed it's ugly little head on New Years Eve. But thank the Lord, she never had a fever!

The congestion was bad, and it is hard to explain to an infant that squirting saline up her nose and getting it sucked out will help her breathe (my little life saver), but the cough was almost unbearable for ALL parties involved. We spent many hours in the bathroom in the steam from the shower as well as in the cold outside on the porch swing, just trying to soothe her cough. The poor thing would cough so hard she would vomit. So we took turns. Nick took her for half the night and I took her for half the night. Most likely we would sleep with her on our chest or holding her out on the couch so the other one could sleep for a bit. I unfortunately, have been blessed (or cursed) with being an incredibly light sleeper. So even with the door closed I could still hear my baby coughing and crying and had a hard time sleeping.

So while we try to get back our routine and schedule, you can enjoy some cute pictures.

I think she likes memory foam

2010-12-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

Josie sleeps best after I nurse her in bed, more specifically when I get out of bed and she has the whole thing to herself. I think we should get her a queen memory foam mattress of her own. It might also be the fact that it smells like me and she was just laying down to eat, but I think those are minor details when comparing her bassinet mattress to our mattress. Babies need back and neck support also...

Dolphin Pose

2010-12-05T21:55:00.000-08:00

Please enjoy the video below and don't judge me for laughing at my child when she is just about to lose it. She actually started rolling over the day before I shot this and I was trying to get a video of it. But instead of showing off her rolling skills, she graced us with this amazing talent.

Santa Cruise with folks from Santa Cruz

2010-11-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

We had a great time on the Santa Cruise this year. It was fun to go with kids. Josie was even on Santa's list this year, thank goodness, because if Santa doesn't bring her anything I don't think she will get one present (yes, I am being facetious). Since she won't remember and doesn't really react to much that not in her face we enjoyed the company and reactions of Jason's kids.

Family picture on the boat

Malachi was hammin' it up for Josie, it was adorable!

The Gooey! It was as good as it looks, yummmmm

Most were slowing down a bit by this point, but the kids were still going strong!

Nick's magic touch at getting Josie to go down for naps, he also always volunteers to hold her. I think he is smitten (see above and below).

Thank you Zantac

2010-11-20T08:15:00.000-08:00

Anyone out there ever had acid reflux? Well you know how miserable it is, the burning, the coughing, the discomfort, downing a Costco bottle of Tums every ~~week~~ month...

If you remember I had a similar post while I was pregnant. If you want to relive my complaints you can click here. But this is about another little human being who was miserable and we didn't really know it. We had a concern about a noise Josie was making and it was continuing to get more frequent. It was the noise that all babies make, its called "strider." It is when they breathe in really quick and it makes kind of a gasping squeak. She was making it more frequent and sometimes it would take her a bit to regulate her breathing again. So the doc sent us to a swallow therapist (I had never heard of it either) and after an evaluation we found out Josie has been suffering from pretty bad acid reflux. Not the worst case since she has been gaining weight just fine but she was showing all the textbook signs. A lot of signs that I would not have known were connected.

lots of hard swallowing followed by watery eyes
dry cough
arching back (made tummy time difficult)
holding shoulders back
spit-up out her nose at least once a day usually more
hiccups (after every feeding still)
drooling (soak the whole onesie kind)
strider (all through out the day and during feedings)
really squirmy and noisy while nursing (the complaining kind)
wheezing
congestion

She was taking it all like a champ though. She definitely didn't complain as much as I did...

Nick and I are both a fan of trying to solve things the natural way before medication, so a lot of food went out the window but there was no change with my sweet girl. We learned that infants suffer from un treated acid reflux have a really high rate of asthma and allergies. It can also cause permanent damage to the esophagus causing the child to have problems the rest of their life. But most of the time the reflux goes away by 9 months or before. So why risk permanent damage when most likely the short term treatment is better than the long term risk of no treatment. So on to the meds! We were also told that it can take a while to figure out which meds will work and sometimes you will have to change after awhile or try two at a time (sounds like my problem while pregnant). Finally, after realizing my own belief of not medicating our baby was getting in the way of her comfort. Plus, I medicated myself for reflux and was much happier. So we are on our first set of trial meds and I must say, it was the best choice we could have made. She has been on them for three days now and from night one she slept 7 hours, night two 8 hours, and night three 8 hours. She doesn't wake up crying as often and will put herself to sleep without rocking. She doesn't act uncomfortable while laying down and rather than screaming during tummy time she actually rolled over. Needless to say I am so thankful for all the professionals out there who know a heck of a lot more than I do.

We are all now a bit more Joyful in the Parkert house!

Pictures of the week

2010-11-18T20:04:00.000-08:00

Ready for winter!

The Thinker

What's that you say?

The Stink Eye

Almost 3 months

2010-11-07T18:06:00.001-08:00

I cannot believe it has been 11 weeks (almost 3 months) since Josie Mae was born. It seems like it was just yesterday that I felt the first contraction. But I also can't remember what life was like before she came home. The below pictures were taken the day she was born and I remember when I saw them for the first time I burst into tears. Partly because I was still on heavy pain killers and I had a variety of new hormones running through my body, but mostly because I already loved her so much and I couldn't believe the Lord gave me this perfect little girl to love.

These were taken in the past couple weeks and when I look back she has grown so much already! She is growing like a weed and eating like a horse. She has chubby cheeks, a double chin, and twig like arms and legs. In the past 3 weeks she has become such a happy baby. She smiles all day long and is so much fun to play with. Although, she still has the "Farley" temper and I can already see some great tantrums in our future. Good luck us!

Love Love Love

2010-10-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

I love love love that Josie can go from all out serious when shes with me

to full goofy grin as soon as she sees Nick.

She's such a hoot!

2010-10-27T15:26:00.001-07:00

Miss Blue Eyes

2010-10-12T21:30:00.001-07:00

Despite the acid reflux, temper, and the napless days, we are smitten with our daughter ("our daughter" is still weird to say). And her smiles are killer, we both melt at the sight. The real story is that I have been blessed with a night sleeper. She has never really woken me up at night to eat. And I had no idea it was bad to let them sleep more than 4 hours before they hit 6 weeks. So after education from a lactation consultant I was having to wake her up for nightly feedings. Believe me when I tell you that a beeping alarm with a snooze button at 3am is much more difficult to get up for than a crying baby. Now that we passed the six week mark I am now aloud to let her sleep more than 3 hours between feedings at night, hallelujah! She is now sleeping about 6-8 hours in a row. Great for her, but bad for me, I usually end up waking her about 5-6 hours since I am so engorged. I know I could pump, but I would rather fill her belly so she will surely sleep another 3-4 hours. It's selfish I know, but I think of it as a win-win. Since the nightly sleep deprivation has diminished, my days are so much brighter. Her longest nap during the day is 20 minutes, so I don't get much down time. I am hoping she will get into a daily nap pattern in the next few months so she is not so cranky. The girl just can't stay asleep when the sun is up!!

But my real question is will she keep that dark hair and dark blue eyes???

I was trying to take a self portrait with the SLR camera....believe it or not this was the best of many.

Here is an unsuccessful tummy time, I thought she was awake enough and in a good mood. But she started to cry so the finger pacifier worked and soon she was asleep.

The dramatic entrance

2010-09-28T12:47:00.001-07:00

I have a million things to say but don't have the energy to say them. But things are going well. We are finally getting in the swing of things and I must say there are a lot less tears for both Josie and myself. Without getting too graphic and in too much detail here is a rundown of her birth story. The evening of her due date (Aug 24th) I decided it was time for her to come out, so I went on a really fast, uphill walk for about 2 hours on the trails behind my house. I don't know how far it was, but according to Nick it was too far. Now before you freak out, Nick knew the exact trail that I was on, and it was not far from a road. He was at work and I was in the park so technically he could have run code to come get me (with his lights and siren on). I started to feel sharp pains that lasted about 20-30 seconds on my way home and I thought, "are these contractions?" But they weren't that bad, so when I got home I mowed the lawn. There were a few of these "sharp pains" that I had to stop mowing and breathe through, so when I was done I decided to take a shower just in case I was actually going into labor. I didn't want to be sweaty and smell like cut grass if I had to go in. So I got out of the shower about 7pm and they were getting much worse so I called Nick to tell him that we might be going to the hospital tonight. He was going to rush home right then, but I told him to take his time, they were not too close together. But a bit of my family history was making him weary. Both my mother and grandmother had their babies all within 2 hours of their first contraction. There was no way to tell if this was going to be my future as well. We live about 30 minutes from the hospital and neither of us wanted to have this baby in the car... So when Nick arrived home, we walked around the block until they were about 5 minutes apart and close to a minute long. But I could walk and talk through them at this point. So I called my doc on her cellphone to ask if she wanted me to come in (see above family history). She said to wait an hour and see if they get worse. So Nick and I proceeded to walk around the block over and over. Within 45 minutes they were definitely closer, harder, and I could not walk through them. So we headed in about 11:30pm. We got there at midnight and I was 3cm and just to make sure it was not pre-labor they had us walk around the hallways for an hour to see if I progressed at all. By 1am I could not walk or talk through a contraction, in fact I had to brace myself on the wall, and when checked again I was 4.5cm. So we were admitted at 1am.

I continued to walk around the room and tried to relax, but couldn't sit or stay still for any contractions. So I walked around as long as I could. I wanted to wait as long as possible before I received the epidural because I had heard they can slow your labor down. So I made it to about 6cm and my contractions were about 1 minute apart and 1minute long. I was pretty exhausted since we had not slept at all and it was 5am. So epidural in I was able to sleep a little, only thing is that my contractions slowed down...bummer! So my doc broke my water to see if we could speed them back up, and they did a bit, but not as fast as before the epi. So in comes the Pitosin, yuk! And we sat and sat until about noon before I was ready to push.

The pushing then began, and 2 hours later I was still pushing with not much progression. It was really hard to hear "that was great, keep pushing exactly like that" with nothing to show for it. What we didn't know at the time was that Josie had flipped herself over and was posterior and at a weird angle. So my doc (with a very worried look on her face) suggested that we call in the hospitalist to try suction. At that point I was ready to try anything, so in comes a whole team of people. The doc and hospitalist told me that they would try to suction 3 times and after that a c-section would be required. Not only did they suction more than 3 times but they tried for a half hour. And just when the nurse anesthetist came in to start prepping for the c-section, miss Josie Mae popped out! She was blue grey and it seemed like she didn't cry for minutes (although my mom said it was seconds). Nick and I both instantly burst into tears of joy. She was quickly whisked away by the NICU team and thoroughly checked out. She scored an 8-9 out of 10 on the APGAR test even with the massive bruise and laceration on her head. She was perfect!

She also has a liver of steal because her billirubin was back to normal by the 3rd day. Everyone was pretty amazed that she didn't need any light treatments. She did have a massive headache for the first 2 weeks of life, but other than that she was in great shape. I guess I went into more detail that necessary but it was a pretty intense experience.

The funny thing is that when people hear the story they almost always tell me that the next one will be so much easier so not to worry. But I have to say I would do it again the hard way in a second because the prize at the end was worth it a hundred times over. I would have pushed for days just to get my sweet girl.

2 week old montage of Josie Mae

2010-09-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

We have survived our first two weeks with Josie. It has already been a wild ride. Enjoy the pictures below. Hopefully, I will have a bit more time to write about her dramatic entrance into the world!

I call this one "milk coma"

Please note Gage in the background licking the coffee table...

First play date with Logan who is less than 24 hours older. They were surprisingly both active and awake at the same time.

Endless Daddy Love

39 weeks

2010-08-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

Let the countdown begin! Everything is ready for a baby, now we just need one to make an appearance. Come on little lady, come on!

I also got my last pre-labor pedicure in honor of this little lady. Besides polka-dots are a fun distraction from my incredibly swollen feet.

36 weeks and growing

2010-07-31T15:53:00.000-07:00

At 36 weeks i can't believe I still have another 4-5 to go if I go full term. But the nesting has also started to kick in and I am pretty much ready for a baby. Now I am trying to make Nick and I some freezer meals, so when baby comes we can focus on her.

Speaking of HER, I had one more ultrasound on Friday because I was measuring small. But it turns out I am right on track and she is about 6lbs. We also got a clear shot of her little lady parts, so I know I won't have to return all the generous amounts of clothing we have been given. Phew...

Sneak Peak...

2010-07-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peak of little Parkert's room. I still have not put up anything on the walls, and I believe there might be a shelf or two in that mix, but you get the idea. The curtain fabric is what I completely fell in love with, and I couldn't "see" anything else, so we went with it. My mom was the best, she really knows what she is doing, and read the pattern and helped make changes with things about the pattern that I didn't like. When Nick is at work, it is hard to get stuff done so she also came yesterday to help organize and help me do a bit of planting. It is hard to do a lot of things when you can't squat, bend, or lift. She is my angel and I don't know what I would do without her!!!

Only read if you want to listen to whimpy whinning

2010-06-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

It's hard to think about an update, when my life doesn't really have any exciting events lately, and I don't have any cute kiddos to post about. So I guess I can give a pregnancy update. I am not sure if anyone will be intrigued though. I am almost 32 weeks (I'll post a pic this week sometime), and I already want to be done and get my reward. But I guess I can wait since the last thing I want is a premature baby who's tiny body is not ready. I will try not to complain too much, since I have so many luxuries that many women are not given.

I have started deep end water aerobics three times a week (or I try to at least swim laps one of the days). I have read that it is wonderful for pregnant women. And I am really enjoying it but I am getting bored of the same thing over and over. I am not a creature of "exercise" habit. I have to switch it up a lot or I give up out of boredom. Unfortunately, at this point water is my only source of exercise. No walks, no elliptical, no strengthening moves for my legs, nothing... I walk around the store and my belly cramps up, I walk down the hallway at work and my hips lock up. So I am very very thankful for water. There is zero impact on my body and I can go at my own pace since gravity is not a factor, hallelujah! When I don't feel like taking the class, I swim laps, I get my black cap, my green goggles, and my polka-dot pregnancy suit on and swim away. I must say it feels great also, just to move my extremities and not wince in pain. It's hard when I can only work-out at the gym, sometimes I want to just take Gage on a quick walk, but I know the consequences, and Nick doesn't want a call at work for him to come carry me home from a walk. Not cool! I also have tried prenatal yoga, I can do about 25% of the video so I do the same moves over and over and over.....not so much fun.

Another complaint (geez, I need to throw myself a pitty party and get over-it) is this heartburn. I thought I could withhold quite a bit of discomfort (see knife-stabbing pain above) but the heartburn has been out of control lately. I have really tried to read up on it, learn some natural tricks, foods, etc but nothing was working. Turns out drinking water is really bad when you have heartburn, it makes it worse! I was trying to limit my intake of Tums to 4-6 a day because that was what my doc said was the max. Well.....this child is getting bigger and it is getting worse. For example: I was taking my class and it was getting worse and worse, I had 30 minutes left so I thought I could make it until the end. But the nausea kicked in and I was 10 seconds away from throwing-up in the pool, not a good way to make friends. So I jumped out of the pool and booked it as fast as I could to my purse in the locker room where I keep a stockpile of Tums. I downed about 4 of them and sat on the bench for a second while they reduced the acid. Then I went back to the class, they all assumed I just had to pee, so I went with that. I have many other stories of dramatically needing Tums but you get the idea.

I do have good news though I talked to my doc about my problems and she was so sympathetic and really wanted to make me more comfortable. I guess I thought she would say, "yeah it's tough but you only have 8 more weeks." But she said that my hip pain and ultra-severe heartburn is not normal for pregnancy, who knew! So she switched me from my OTC acid reducer to a prescription, and is sending me to physical therapy for my hips (I already go to massage and chiropractor weekly). I have taken the prescription for 1 day now and I must say I only had to take 3 Tums all day. It is a miracle!!! I will let you know how the physical therapy goes, I have to make an appointment on Monday. Hopefully, I can get in soon somewhere. My leg muscles are starting to turn to mush.....

On a non-whimpy note, my mom and I made all the baby bedding and curtains. They are perfect! I will post pics when I get the nursery in better shape. I SERIOUSLY CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS MUNCHKIN TO GET HERE!! Here's to 8 weeks flying by!

ps. My ring is now too tight some days, so I took it off. I am afraid they would have to cut it off if I swell any more. I think I might find a cheap replacement, any suggestions?

So much to choose from!

2010-06-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

Many people have been asking me if I have registered yet, and my usual reply is, "no, should I have?" But because the season for showers is coming up quickly, I decided now is the time. Nick being the trooper that he is, said he would go, I knowing full well it would be an afternoon of torture for him. So today after church we went to breakfast with my mom and Nick politely suggested that me and my mom should go register today....okay buddy I get the hint. So mom and I went to register. And now I am exhausted!

She definitely knew a lot more than me, but seriously folks, who needs all the crap they offer. I plan on giving my kid a box, a wooden spoon and a metal pot to play with. Isn't that enough until she is five or so? Everyone tells you that you need a swing, a play mat, a bumbo, a boppy, a bouncy seat, a johnny jump-up, and a full time circus to entertain this child. And might I add every single thing comes with some gaudy mobile to hang above that does at least three of the following: vibrate, play music, sway, swivel, speak Latin to, play whale sounds, play womb sounds, jingle, etc. Talk about over stimulation. I don't want my child to expect she will have 12 things hanging in front of her face at all times to keep her occupied. What happens when we are out, or at someone else's house and I don't have all the stimulating junk for her to stair at....won't she be bored or will a wooden spoon do the trick?

I believe we are overstimulated as a country, so of course our children will be as well. I am hoping that a ceiling fan, or a quilt with bright colors, or a picture with fun colors will be entertaining enough. Of course my child will have toys, stuffed animals, and things hanging in her face to entertain from time to time, but hopefully she will learn some independence and find excitement and joy in things that are beautiful as well.

My high horse has gotten a bit too high, so I will step down now. Please excuse the above, I am overwhelmed from all the choices. Something snapped in me when I had to choose a binky from the wall of 1000. And everyone has a different opinion on which one is the best. I think I will let my child choose. Maybe that is just how it goes, once she is here, we can see what works for her. Let the journey begin!!!

28 weeks

2010-06-03T18:22:00.000-07:00

What's a momma to do?

2010-05-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

It's hard not to love this guy. He really is a part of this family, and even though a baby is coming, and it will be hard, we have vowed to make sure all his needs are fully met. I mean look at the pictures above, he is a lover, a protector, willing to go anywhere and do anything. He has unfortunately, not been himself these days. He has started itching and scratching. It first started with his tail, we thought he must have caught it on something. Then we found patches on his neck, and his face. Pretty much anywhere he can scratch, he has created a wound. So now we have him on a strict hypoallergenic diet (grain free, corn free, soy free, beef free, chicken free, turkey free, etc.) and lifestyle and we have to bathe him weekly. And all the research we have done says that it can take 10-14 weeks to finally see positive results. So here we go, we are on a journey, a very frustrating journey.

You know how much a scratch or cut itches while it heals, but we all know pretty well not to touch it because it will only make it worse (okay after the 4th or 5th time we re-open it)? Well, how do you explain that to a dog? We are constantly telling him to "leave-it," and he is constantly uncomfortable. So now we use the "cone of shame" when we leave for his own good and to protect his healing wounds. I really hope it is a food allergy because that is something we can control. If it is something in the environment like pollen, grass, or the cat, we are in for a different wild ride.

One funny thing the vet told is that most all Gold Retrievers HATE to be sprayed with anything. I thought we just had a big baby for a dog because he hides every time a spray bottle comes out. We really only spray conditioner on him but he acts like we are going to use some sort of painful torture devise. So you can imagine how fun it is spraying his wounds....

24 weeks

2010-05-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

At 24 weeks, I feel pretty great. Very few complaints (see last post). Only thing is I really need it to warm up, because I only have one pair of long pants that fit and coats are slowly becoming a problem...

Oh the burn

2010-04-23T07:57:00.001-07:00

I have been researching my recent heartburn/indigestion/acid reflux issue. I know it is 99% caused by this little growing bean inside of me. But it is definitely getting out of control. I have talked to my doctor, and she has given me suggestions, with the okay to continue my tums addiction along with my acid reducer. I am still trying to figure out what the main trigger is so here are a list of food items that cause it, maybe someone else has an idea:

1. butter
2. sugar
3. high fatty foods (the bad kind)
4. high fatty foods (the good kind)
5. white bread
6. wheat bread
7. fruit
8. vegetables
9. Mexican food
10. Thai food (so so sad)
11. chicken
12. beef
13. pork
14. rice
15. anything citrus (I know that falls under fruit, but I am just emphasizing)

Am I forgetting anything? Oh yeah...water. These are just a few of the things that I have noticed. Who really knows the difference between heartburn, indigestion, and acid reflux. They seem so interchangeable. So I looked up the definitions of each, and as you can see they are fairly similar.

Heartburn – noun
1. an uneasy burning sensation in the stomach, typically extending toward the esophagus, and sometimes associated with the eructation of an acid fluid.

Indigestion – noun
1. uncomfortable inability or difficulty in digesting food; dyspepsia.

Acid Reflux – noun
1. a chronic condition in which acid from the stomach flows back into the lower esophagus, causing pain or tissue damage.

Well that sure sums it up. I guess I will just have to deal for the next 18 weeks. So here goes nothing!

One Lone Goose

2010-04-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

Something has made me wonder. Why is this goose out on the front lawn everyday by itself for the past two weeks. I see all it's geese buddies flying around and don't geese hang out in a gaggle?

I am definately carrying Nick's kid

2010-04-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

Not that I was questioning the fact, but I know his DNA is very prevalent in this child. Why you might ask? Because I am craving chocolate. I do like chocolate, but usually I can think of 10 other sugary things to eat before chocolate. But these days when I am craving sweets, all I want is chocolate. Nick will eat just about anything as long as chocolate is involved so it is definitely his kid. I hope this child also gets his patients, wonderful listening, and his smashing good looks.

Below is a picture of my chocolate indulgence for the day. To make myself feel better and not gain too much weight in this pregnancy, I homemade this frozen yogurt with fat-free Fage yogurt. So I have a small scoop and cover it with magic shell (yum) and strawberries for some nutrients for the baby. Healthy....sort of.

Please excuse the bad picture, I have no idea how to use Nick's camera.

19 weeks

2010-04-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is the first picture we took. I made Nick take it in many different positions because at every angle I looked well, fat. I realize that as you continue in your pregnancy you will get bigger and bigger, but I am getting bigger in all areas and don't feel very wonderful about it. The weird thing is that I have not gained that much weight, but it has shown up in my face, my arms and my obliques...yuck! I know I don't have a long torso or a really really fast metabolism, but I wish it would only show up in my stomach. Enough with the complaining already, I will try to be positive from now on. After all, I get to be a part of the amazing creation of life. The Lord chose me to carry this little person and for us to show him/her love, grace and also take them to cool places like the ocean and Disneyland. What a wonderful gift!

Life has it's crazy times

2010-03-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

It is hard to start when there are so many things to start with. I have been ignoring this blog simply because my brain has been on overload for the past 3 months.

I guess I will start with the obvious, Nick and I are expecting a little bundle of joy to arrive sometime around August 24th. That makes me 18 weeks along. All in all I have complained to Nick a lot about my trials of pregnancy but the reality is, it has gone pretty smooth. The 3 months of nausea (all day not just mornings) is pretty normal and the extreme fatigue is also normal, so that is nothing new to update on. I would say my biggest problem has been my lower back and hips. I have always had upper back and neck issues, but my lower back has always been good to me. But about 4 weeks into this pregnancy I could barely walk. It turns out that all these new hormones have moved my hips around and my Sciatic Nerve was not a happy camper. Many many visits to the Chiropractor and Massage Therapist have helped tremendously, but they have both told me that they are just trying to keep up with it. I think the worst part was that I couldn't exercise. So in a measly 4.5 months of really slow walks with the dog, and not much else, I have lost all muscle tone and am out of breath walking up my own stairs. Luckily, I am feeling much better these days so hopefully my weak attempt at lifting weights again will help in some way. It's worth a try!

Another reason I have not kept up on this blog is that Nick had his Gallbladder removed in January. I think just the stress of feeling like you have the flu and trying to take care of your spouse was tough. It was a very successful surgery and you would never know except for the 5 small scars on his belly that it ever happened.

Also, right around the same time that Nick had his surgery, someone made an offer on our house! Whoo Hoo! So we had to move just after. Luckily, we have wonderful friends that stepped up to the plate and moved us in one day. I was not a whole lotta help though, since I was limping around and the dr. told me I couldn't lift more than 20 lbs. Just what you want to hear when you have to move an entire house.

So hear we are, in a new house (new to us), and me without a job (its a good thing, more on that later). Since I will have more time on my hands I will post more often, and hopefully get a few pictures in of the new place as well. And yes, pictures of the belly, I haven't actually taken any yet, is that bad???

Gage and his family wish you all a Happy New Year!!!

2009-12-31T07:18:00.000-08:00

Lets have a party!

2009-11-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

The below pictures were taken from one of my favorite blogs, Design Sponge. I love these party decorations and I think I would leave them up year round. Any ideas on what we should have a party for?

Before and After

2009-10-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the day we bought our house (Before) and from the day we put it up for sale (After).

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

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Keith Urban

2009-10-23T06:48:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-laws, Joelle and Libby graciously invited me to the Keith Urban concert. I say graciously because I am not really a country fan and I kept calling him Toby Keith (which is a mortal sin in the country world). But I LOVE concerts. I am pretty happy at just about any concert, as long as there is a good vibe and good dancin' music. So I happily accepted the invitation because country fans are crazy and loyal and if there was nothing else, Mr. Urban is very easy on the eyes. I must say I had a lot of fun, and he puts on a great and entertaining show! So enjoy the pictures from our front row seats...

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So many artists in my family

2009-09-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

If you remember the post about my mom's birthday party, you remember that we went to Polka dot pottery to paint the afternoon away. A tradition is forming for her birthday, but this year we decided to have a plan on what to paint. Last year I painted stripes....yes stripes. Pretty colors I might add, but stripes. Drawing is not my forte. I am much better at blobs, swirls and the aforementioned stripes. The painting/drawing talent was left out of my gene pool. I did get the appreciation of color gene, I love color. I love bold color, hence the tiger orange wall right next to the green-blue wall in my house. I love colors that you just might say, "I am not sure they quite go together," but when they are in the right environment make you say "wow!" I surely digress, back to the pottery. This year we found a Pottery Barn catalog to help the creative juices flow. I think they both turned out pretty great. The one created by the artist surely stands alone!

My mom's
Mine

A little too excited???

2009-09-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

Maybe I have been "glamored" or "dazzled" but I love everything vampire right now. Soon Hollywood will overplay, overwrite and over dramatize the vampire world but I am not sick of it yet. I feel like a 10 year old girl! But they seem to distract me easily from the real world, and I need that sometimes. Whether it be Twilight, True Blood, The Sookie Stackhouse series, or now The Vampire Diaries (seriously, am I a teenager?), I like it. So here's to "New Moon," may this movie be better made than the last.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Nick's post birthday party

2009-09-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

We were a week late in celebrating Nick's birthday, but the fun was worth the wait. We had a few friends over for pizza, beer, and corn hole.

The start of the corn hole tournament

This could have been the winning throw.........Because you are now looking at the corn hole champions for the evening. I think we had the home court advantage.
Started out as a nice picture session

...but you see how it ended! Much fun!

Mom's Birthday Bash

2009-09-12T09:32:00.001-07:00

We planned a surprise party for my mom for her 60th birthday with around 40 people. There was a lot of lying on my part to keep it a surprise but I managed and it was a lot of fun. I think she was surprised, see below for the proof, yeah!
When she first saw Aaron who flew up from LA
When she saw my Grandma (her mom), who came over from Helena, MT
Me and Grandma
Joelle and Gage
Blowing out the candle

New Camera

2009-09-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

Nick got a new camera for his birthday. He turned big 2-8 on the 4th. He told me last year around October that he really wanted to take a photography class at the college but he needed a digital SLR, and we only had a film SLR. So my wheels started to turn and I secretly saved up for almost a year for nice camera, which is hard to do when you share a bank account. What I didn't think about is that I am going to have a camera in my face a lot, something my sister-in-law Michelle has learned to deal with. So I guess I will eventually get used to it. And all the pictures I am either talking or eating, those who know me well, know this is what I do 90% of the time so I guess it captures me well. See below for some awkward pics with the new camera.

Ha! Finally, caught him with an awkward pic.....

Ha!

2009-08-31T14:46:00.001-07:00

I guess it isn't "The Most Magical Place on Earth" to all. See here for more awkwardness.

A little pep talk can make all the difference

2009-08-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

You might not remember, but last year me and my dahlias didn't really see eye to eye. I never even posted a picture because they were so embarrassing. I would compare it to a flower getting a haircut from a flowbee.

This year I took a different approach, I brought in new dirt (manure included), and created them their own brick mote. I am pretty sure the thing that really made the biggest difference is I whispered in their tiny little ears that if they grew big and beautiful I would make sure those nasty little earwigs would find a new home this summer. Well sure enough they listened! Please see below for proof, these are in my very own garden, I did not have to run up to Manito and take impostor pictures (I'm not too prideful or anything). Not all the varieties have bloomed yet, so there might be more pictures later, if they are amazing enough.

A quick note: I have never grown peppers before, but I am amazed at how well they are doing. I am just not sure when to pick them, or how long they take to change to the other colors. Any tips?
I bought White Jack-o-lantern seeds just because I was curious and the pumpkin on the packet was pretty. Great advertising!

CDA Tri

2009-07-26T13:04:00.001-07:00

I officially finished my first sprint triathlon. It was a lot of fun and more challenging than I expected. Especially the swim. I sucked up a lot of water at the start and still had to swim the rest of the 1/2 mile. Even though that was the shortest leg, it felt like the longest. The bike and the run were great, my body held up through the finish. I am not quite sure yet, but I might just be hooked! Nick has been my biggest fan since I started training, and he didn't fall short at the race, he is a great cheerleader. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful man. My mom, brother Aaron, and Lyla came out to watch also! Thanks for all the hugs and support!

This is the night before, trying on the wetsuit I borrowed from a friend. I had to make sure I could get it off by myself.
Coming out of the water from the longest swim on earth. I think it was only like 16-17 minutes, but it felt like an eternity. It was also hard to go vertical, I was really dizzy.

Transition #1 - From Swim to Bike

Happily biking (my favorite event)

Transition #2 - Bike to Run

At the finish line.

My tri buddies, Katie and Ivy. Thanks girls for such a fun race!

Santa Cruz

2009-07-18T15:42:00.001-07:00

No time to write because we are on our way to the beach, but we are having lots of fun in Santa Cruz!

As I promised

2009-07-11T14:54:00.001-07:00

I hope you enjoy the progression. It was really fun, and exhilarating, AFTER everyone was safe and in the boat. I would go again in a heart beat!

Powerful

2009-07-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

This dance was on "So You Think You Can Dance" last night and all I have to say is WOW! It brought me close to tears. It is supposed to represent addiction, and I cannot think of any better way to describe it. Mia Michaels is amazing!

Quick Preview

2009-07-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the raft tipping over (mentioned here in a previous post). It is on the 2nd page, in the top right corner. Nick is in the front and I am right behind him. You can only see my helmet. Don't you feel bad for the people we are about the topple onto? Hopefully, we will get the rest of the pictures soon. Enjoy!

The fruits of labor

2009-07-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

After 3 years I finally painted our front door. Now it wouldn't be a big deal except the door was new when we put it in, so it has only been primed. Whoops! And it turns out that primer only lasts for 2 weeks, can you believe it? So I had to re-prime and paint both sides. Nick and I were pretty burned out from working on our house, so we have not done anything aesthetically for a while. The whole white door with cream trim finally got to me and I painted it black.
Today when I was weeding the garden I noticed something exciting! See below....they are beautiful.

Here is a current picture of my garden. I cannot believe the growth!

Future tomatoes.

It's hard to not be thankful when such beautiful things bloom this time of year.

Huffman Wedding

2009-07-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

Joelle (Nick's little sister) and Brad were married on May 30th this year and Nick and I were both in the wedding. We are so happy for them and can't wait to watch them grow!

Here is the probably the last time you see Nick in a tux until our children get married. Soak it up!
Drinking a gatorade before the big walk down the isle. It was really really hot!

I haven't gotten anyone else's pictures yet....so this was from our camera. I am not sure who took it since Nick and I were both up front.

The happy bride and goom!

We had to drive this back from their hotel after they left for their honeymoon. We got a lot of looks ha ha!

A toilet paper wedding dress contest?????

2009-07-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

There is some amazing talent on this earth....

Let's hug it out

2009-06-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

Triathalon trouble

2009-06-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

I have been training for the CDA Race to the River Triathlon. It's a mini tri and my wonderful friend Katie and I signed up together (Ivy and Jeremy Wang are doing it also, yeah!) Up until I signed up, I had been really bored with my workouts, and no progression had been made. So this goal of having to swim 1/2 mile, bike 11 miles, and run 3.1 miles, in a row, has motivated me. Mostly, I don't want to die on the course, so the more I train the less likely they will have to drag my body off the course on a stretcher. Katie just completed her first marathon, which is totally amazing, so she will most likely leave me in her dust or be running around me in circles the whole time. But I love her for encouraging me and I am really looking forward to spending some time with her the few weeks before the race (she lives in Portland).

Everything has been going so wonderfully, I have learned how to time my breathing in the pool and have purchased my first road bike (so much better than a mountain bike) for my long rides, and my running pace has greatly improved. Gage (our dog) actually has to run too, rather than walk next to me. But the past 3-4 weeks have been very frustrating, my left hip, knee, and the top of my foot become painfully sore after I bike or run. So I have to take a few days off in between workouts. Nick finally convinced me to go to the Doc (I dug my heels in as much as possible). And the doc immediately sent me to Physical Therapy. She put on my referal "2xs a week for 6 weeks." The first thing I thought was "oh that's crazy, I will just have to go once for them to tell me some new stretches," Nick can attest because I told him. I had my first appointment on Tuesday and it turns out I have a bit more work to do than I thought. My IT band is extremely tight and is causing A LOT of other problems. My left hip is tilted causing my left leg to be longer than the right, which in turn causes me to overcompensate on my right leg. Weird right? She had me doing exercises on a foam roller that right now is acting more like a torture device than a stretching mechanism. I am told it will not hurt so bad the more I use it, but right now I am having a hard time seeing the light.

So.......I made appointments for the next 6 weeks, twice a week. I also decided I need to start going to yoga at my gym because I might just be the most inflexible person on earth. I am not aloud to run on the road for awhile, but there is one treadmill at the gym that I can use. The belt looks like tank tracks and it gives a lot when you run on it. Gage will miss running together.

I am not going to give up, I will cross the finish line on July 26th even if I am on my hands and knees. My PT says she will fix me, so I am completely trusting her and I am determined to do my part. Wish me luck!

Yuck....You swam in the Spokane River???

2009-06-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was my first time swimming in the Spokane River....in the Spokane section (I have swam in the section in Idaho). I was NOT among the group of idiots over the weekend that did not have life jackets or a professional guide. Nick and I along with our small group from church went with a rafting company called Peak 7. There were 4 boats total, and our group was split between 2 of them. The river is very high this time of the year and also very dangerous. Let me start out the story by telling you that rivers terrify me. The fact that you could be swept away in a second or get pulled down by the undercurrent, keeps me far from swimming in most rivers. So why did I go you ask? Because my husband loves for me to take part in adventures with him, and he is so good to me, the least I could do is face my fears to make him happy.

Our put in was just down river from TJ Meenach Bridge and our take out was at Plese Flats. Everyone in our boat had been rafting before, and our guide was impressed with the power of our strokes. We felt pretty good, but our baloon was to be deflated quickly. There is a pretty big hole (like an ocean wave that is just about to break) called "widowmaker" just past the bridge at the Bowl and Pitcher. Our guide prepared us to hit it with full force. But instead we hit it like a brick wall and flipped faster than you could take a breath. So there we were all 7 of us spewed across the rapids and our raft upsidedown. Luckily, we were all able to grab onto the upsidedown raft or someone that had a hold. Our guide swam like a storm and jumped on top of the raft to guide it to the right side of the river and we all struggled to hold on, keep our heads above water, not suck in a lot of water (although I did) and float to safety (eventually). Adreniline sped things up for me because it seemed all took place in seconds, but I am told it was more like 5-10 minutes before we were all safely in the boat. They had a professional photographer at the bridge so I am really hoping he/she got some great pictures of us flying out of the boat. I will share them if so. Long story short, every muscle in my body was sore the next day (from the adrenaline, I assume) and I have crazy bruises! But we all survived, I had a blast, and my fear of the river swallowing me whole lifted just a little bit that day.

Its been a bit crazy but I will post soon about Joelle's bachelorette party, the wedding, and my garden, so keep checking!

Please, oh please, oh please!

2009-05-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

Below is a picture of an optimistic soul hoping the chicken I am dicing will miraculously land in his dish. We were really good about only giving him people food in his dish and not often. So now when there is something he wants or smells, rather than the occasional starring he usually goes and lays by his bowl. Such a hopeful boy.

ps. He got a few pieces mixed in his food because he is so darn cute!

The things we do for our Dahlias...

2009-05-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

I am super motivated this year to grow a garden full of beautiful Dahlia's. Last year something was eating them, and I think our soil was much too rocky. They looked like I had taken the weed-whacker to them. So this year I raised the flower bed and added a soil/manure mixture. I got a bit too excited and planted them this last Sunday (they were rooting in the bag..ahh) just in time for a frost warning. Yeah me! My maternal instinct kicked in and I could not stand for them to freeze. So what do you get when you have an old sheet and a newspaper? Answer: See below!

This bed is against our garage, which I must add does not lean anymore, thanks to my amazing husband. It is going to get new clothes this summer (i.e. siding and paint).
I wanted to show the "before" of my first ever garden. Everything is planted, now we are just encouraging everything to grow, grow, grow!!!

Things that make you go hmmmmm......

2009-04-25T17:18:00.001-07:00

Below is a picture proving spring has finally sprung. This daffodil is in my front yard right now. The funny thing is I did not plant it. It just showed up, now I am not an expert gardener yet, but I know that a daffodil is a bulb and they do not travel in the wind, you have to plant them. I am in love with tulips and that is why the bed this little guy showed up in was planted with tulips 2 growing season ago. You might think that maybe it was a stray from many years ago, planted by whomever lived in this house before us. But, you would be wrong again, I actually created that bed by removing the grass and adding the dirt. The only thing I can think of is that we have crafty squirrels here in north Spokane, maybe one transplanted it from someone else's garden last fall. Any ideas? I am also excited to see my tulips this year, the first year they were dark purple and light purple, last year they were pink and purple and this year they look like they might be yellow. The glory of crossbreeding.

My husband is amazing, he built me this multifunctional wall shelf. He knows I love mugs and tea so he added a shelf and hooks to my spice rack. I could not be luckier!

Watch for some good entertainment.

2009-04-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

My green is a little late

2009-03-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

I decided if I am going to get healthy I need to eat more vegetables, not more bread or more chocolate. So today I decided to add whatever veggies we had in the fridge to my black bean burger. Well, I thought it was kind of funny that everything was green. I would have died before I ate any of this as a kid.
Here is proof that I ate my veggies, and as you can see I added an Izze soda, it's real fruit juice. Doesn't that mean I had a serving of fruit too?

Some of my favorites lately

2009-03-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

I decided to share some of the music on constant replay on our ipod (usually Nick just listens to whatever I play). If you notice, I am digging slow singer/songwriter music at the moment. Some that should be on this list, but I didn't want to make it too long are, Brett Dennen, Lenka, Cat Power, Lilly Allen, Missy Higgins, Rachel Yamagata, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and Amy Winehouse. Wow, there are a lot of female artists listed. Let me know if you have any suggestions for music that I might like. I am always up for something new!

She & Him is one Nick and I really enjoy. He actually recommended I download their album. Very fun and different, and I think we both have a small crush on Zoey Deschanel.

I actually can't remember where I heard this song first. But I now know that it can stop me in my tracks wherever I am or whatever I am doing.

One of my new favorite bands, I like every song I have heard so far.

Love, love, love this song, love her and love her music. Makes housework much more bouncy...

Love her querkiness. I found her on iTunes under the "listeners also bought" section when I was looking for new Cat Power songs. I am so glad I stumbled across her.

He could sing me a bunch of swear words and I would like it. He has a mesmerizing voice.

I actually heard this song at the end of a recent "Bones" episode, then spent the next hour trying to figure out who it was, because I HAD to have it. Yes, we like bones because the main character is Zoey Deschanel's sister. We just like that family (and yes, we are watching "Bones" while I write this).

I wanted to end with my favorite artist and album right now. I recommend Amos Lee, his new album out right now is called "Last Days at the Lodge." Nick is very sick of this album right now because it is on constant replay on the ipod. I feel a bit like Andrea (you know right?)

60 lbs doesn't change much

2009-03-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

You would think a Golden Retriever that loves to swim and receive pets, would love a bath. The whole getting wet, and scrubbing would should be similar to the above. But bath time is torture for Gage at 40lbs (top picture) and 100lbs (bottom picture). Even in the summer, we get the kiddie pool out with the hose, and play time is the greatest. But as soon as the shampoo comes out, again he cowers with his tail between his legs. I don't get it! I guess it's similar to kids, playing in the pool or the lake, as soon as "bath time" is said, the whining and crying comes out. Enjoy the pictures below of my really big baby of a dog.

What?! How?!

2009-03-09T15:55:00.001-07:00

I wanted to show you the view I usually have from my office window (sorry for the fuzzy pic, they are taken from my phone). Nice huh? The sunshine this weekend gave me too much hope to see this view again soon. Instead....

This is what I am looking at today. And it is now snowing harder. Will it ever end? Will it snow into June like last year? Will my tulips look like someone put them through a shredder again this year? So many unanswered questions....sigh. Life would be good if only I was on a chairlift.....

Almost Spring?

2009-03-05T07:16:00.000-08:00

Nick and I were cooped up in our house all last week with the flu. We were the exact same sick at the exact same time, so we must have been infected at the exact same time. It was not a fun one either. Along with the runny nose came high fevers and horrendous sinus headaches (the kind that knock you on your back). We were both glad to get out of the house once we felt better. While I was at work, Nick and Gage went to the Spokane Falls for some fresh air.

Taken

2009-02-23T11:44:00.000-08:00

Nick and I saw "Taken" this weekend with Liam Neeson. We both thought is was great and kept us on our toes the whole movie. It was short, sweet and to the point. It was a bit disturbing though, so please heed my warning. If you are a young lady ever thinking about leaving the country and traveling by yourself or with another girlfriend, or if you think about ever letting your daughter leave the country and travel with girlfriends......DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE. I will leave it at that.

I am into the short and sweet movies these days. If they are going to make a movie that is more than 2hrs, there needs to be an intermission. You might be thinking to yourself, "geez, she is acting like an old lady with a bad hip." But I have always been this way, I am wiggly, I cannot sit still, but I love to go to the movies. For example, Batman(the new one) was a great movie, but I was so antsy by the end, I couldn't wait for it to be over. I am avoiding Benjamin Button in the theatre, because I know I will be distracted by the fact that I have to sit still for 2hrs and 45 minutes (that is not counting previews). Watching it from my couch with the pause button, is much more appealing to me. I am not the type of person that can leave a movie theatre to use the restroom, or refill my refreshments. I paid for the movie, and I will not miss one second even if my mouth is dry and I am doing the potty dance in my seat. So you see why I avoid long movies?

Great weekend!

2009-02-21T08:23:00.000-08:00

We went to Priest Lake last weekend with Nick's sisters and their spouses/fiances. We had a great weekend, we went up to Schweitzer for the day, for some much needed slopes and the snow was actually quite good. All in all, thanks for the great weekend guys!

Extended audience

2009-02-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

When Nick built the cat condo for Olive, he didn't realize the audience went beyond feline. My nieces came over for dinner and the condo was the hit of the night. Maybe Nick will quit his day job and build play structures.

I don't believe it

2009-02-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

He says he is not a dog person......I will let you decide

I just can't contain myself!

2009-02-05T08:22:00.000-08:00

This is my neice Lylah, and I am dying over this picture. I haven't seen her since October when she was three weeks old. I am dying to spoil her with hugs and kisses. Aaron, Michelle and Lylah live in LA so I don't get to visit very often. It's hard living far away....

Junk Food Hangover

2009-02-02T15:56:00.001-08:00

Superbowl Sunday started out well. I got up early, coaxed the dog out of bed (literally, it took treats) and we went for a 5 mile run. It was a crisp frosty morning, but boy did it feel great. My eyes started to water as soon as I got outside from the shock, and I could feel my tears getting very cold....my eyelashes were a bit frosty when we got home. Gage had frost all over his chest and his whiskers were frozen, he is such a trooper. So I started the morning like this because I was too lazy Saturday to do my "usual" (I will explain soon) long run, and I was planning on eating 3 days worth of calories while watching the football game. I was just trying to get ahead.

It was actually a really great game (says the girl who doesn't really care for football). Great food, great company, and great gambling. What? Did I say gambling? Actually, that's a funny story. My office does the "100 square pool board" at $10 a square. I wasn't going to play but, I had a $20 bill left in my wallet from Christmas money, so I decided to take a chance. I bought 2 squares. Now gambling for me usually has nothing to do with money, usually it involves me taking a gamble on which will be the quickest way home from work, or taking a gamble on eating one more slice of pizza only betting I won't feel sick. I won't play poker, or Texas hold 'em unless it's for fake money or food. And the $.10 slot machines in Vegas have been the only machines/tables to take my money. You catch my drift? So it was a gamble for me!

The winnings are as follows:
$200 for the 1st quarter
$200 for the 2nd quarter
$200 for the 3rd quarter
$400 for the final score

Well the first three quarters went by and I wasn't even close, so I put the sheet down and went to eat more food. I was rooting for the Cardinals, just because they were the underdog, and I was really excited when they made their last touchdown. But of course the Steelers came back. Well, at about 20seconds left in the game I decided to look at my sheet one more time. Well, you guessed it I had the numbers, they were on my square, I was about to win $400!!! I suddenly went from enthusiastically rooting for the Cardinals, to yelling at the screen "NO BODY SCORE!!" I took the low road and decided I wanted to win myself over the underdog. Pretty soon all of our friends stopped routing for the football game and started rooting for us. I think "PARKERTS, PARKERTS, PARKERTS," was actually chanted. Then the clock when to zero and I won $400! Everyone keeps asking me what I am going to do with the money, and because I did not think in my wildest dreams I would win, all I can think to do is throw it up in the air and maybe roll in it.

So despite the junk food hangover I woke up with, I also am $400 dollars richer. And as you can tell, very humble and unselfish about it, na na na na na. Maybe, I will go to the casino and see what gambling can really do for me.....

Alpha Dog

2009-01-29T07:17:00.000-08:00

Nick has been gone this week for training, so it's the boys and me (Gage and Olive) to fend for ourselves. As much as I can't wait for Nick to get home just to see him, I think I am more excited for him to get home so I can get some sleep...I know what you are thinking, I need someone beside me to sleep, but that's not the issue. Apparently, Nick is the alpha of the pack and when he is gone, Gage has to step up and take charge. So all night, he paces the house. He checks the front room, looks out the windows, comes in to the bedroom to makes sure I am still safe. And unfortunately for me, I am a very light sleeper. So the click, click, click of his claws on our hard wood floors have me tossing and turning, and saying sternly at wee hours of the morning, "GAGE, GET ON YOUR BED!!" The rankings in our house are now clear, I thought I might be just under Nick, but apparently I am lower than the dog, probably the cat too, since he is practically sitting on my head and meowing in my face at 5am to let him out. After I get up in the morning, Gage can finally catch some Zs (see photo below). In fact I practically have to drag him off his bed for a potty break before I leave for work, then as soon as he comes back in, he drags himself back to the bedroom for some peace and quiet. It's hard being a watch dog. And yes, he really does sleep like that, sometimes it means he wants a belly rub, but most often he is fast asleep.

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-01-25T16:07:00.000-08:00

If you only get out to see one movie this winter, make it "Slumdog Millionaire." I talked Nick into taking me and we both loved it. It's hard to explain the plot and what your reaction to it will be, so just take my advice, it's worth the $9.50 or what ever you pay for a cinema where you are. ENJOY!

Happy Day after Inaguration Day

2009-01-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

This time I am not complaining

2009-01-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post I do like the snow. Here are a few reasons why:

I am not sure that you caught the drift

2009-01-03T22:05:00.000-08:00

I know I talked about how much the snow has gotten on my nerves lately. Well, last night was no exception. As our movie ended last night at 9:30pm we heard a loud 'pop' coming from our attic. Nick grabbed a flashlight and a ladder and headed up there. He thought our roof might be bowing in, and we were afraid that it might collapse. So we decided that we would sleep at the neighbors house (with Gage, Olive, and Scruffy aka Toby). But as we were getting ready we decided that even if we were safe we didn't want our roof to collapse, so we decided to take off the 3 feet of snow....might I remind you it was 10pm when we decided. So we got our climbing gear on and all our snow gear and headed out (see below). We have a very steep roof, so Nick could not stand up there without falling. I stood at the bottom belaying him while he shoveled. Now, I know you must be thinking 'geez, Nick sure got the short end of the stick.' He definitely worked extremely hard, but it was below zero last night and standing still in the snow in below zero weather was miserable. When he had a good footing on the roof, I was doing anything to keep warm. This included, jumping jacks, standing lunges, walking lunges, jumping lunges, swinging my feet high in the air just to get the blood to my toes, and finally singing out loud. I don't know if the singing helped with the cold, but it sure helped with the boredom. Needless to say Nick's arms almost fell off from shoveling and my arms and legs almost fell off because I was becoming a popsicle. So 3am we finished and I might say it is the longest anyone has stayed up in awhile, even Gage. So we all slept in today and then took another nap together later. It was all worth it, because now I can sleep knowing my roof won't fall on my face.

I am not sure if you can tell, but I actually am smiling in there.....

Good News

2009-01-03T22:03:00.000-08:00

The little dude's people called me about their dog. His name is "scruffy." He slept on our bed with the cat last night. It was a full house. He was no problem except for the fact that he kept marking all over the house, causing me to scrub my floors and cabinets and dining room table legs today. But good news is good news. His people missed him!

Just a normal Friday night

2009-01-02T19:42:00.000-08:00

Well we were off to a normal Friday night, me on my way to Kim's Terriyaki to get us some dinner, Nick shoveling snow, and a couch and movie waiting for us. But on my way to Kim's (I know we go there so often, we can use just the first name), a tiny little furry creature ran across the busy road only just getting missed by a huge SUV. So of coarse I jumped out of my car and he ran right over to me. No collar, no chip, but very sweet. So I drove around the neighborhood looking for anyone to ask if they knew who the little guy belonged to. Because of the 58 feet of snow, I never actually saw any houses or people......so I was just looking for movement when I finally saw a man shoveling his way out of his garage. He told me he did not know who he belonged to but to go knock on the door a few houses down. So I did....no luck, everyone is hibernating. So a hour later I head home. As I drove up our driveway I see my curious family salivating, waiting for dinner, only to find this little scruffball. Nick hungrily asked "what is that" and "where's the food." As I told him my story, he was still hungry...so we introduced him to Gage and Olive and went to get food. He has not made a peep and is not scarred at all, but he did mark my dining room table leg.

So here we are tonight with this furry little creature who Nick named "Toby." I will probably take him to Spokanimal tomorrow and see if they can find his home. Just a normal Friday night.....

Oh the weather outside is frightful

2008-12-27T15:34:00.000-08:00

But the fire is so delightful......

Don't get me wrong I really do love the snow, it's beautiful. The snow brings all the great sports such as: skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing. But when you have to shovel every single day, sometimes twice a day for almost two weeks, it gets a bit old. So whoever out there in the northwest prayed for a white Christmas, please take it back, my back hurts.

Enough complaining from me....here are some pretty pictures. Here is our Christmas picture sans Olive, he does not stay still very long outside.

Gage was my snow gauge. He was very good at staying still so I could show how much snow we have. For all of you who have met Gage know how ginormous he is, so you can tell how high the snow is.
Isn't he a good boy?

And here we are watching the snow plow go by....yeah! But then we got almost 7 inches the night after he came by. We should have backed our cars in and out of the driveway right then while we could.

Merry Christmas from the Parkert side. Olive made this picture....but notice how Nick is holding his front and back legs....it didn't last long =-)

My mom spent Christmas in California with my brother Jason and his family, and is now on her way to LA to spend New Years with my other brother Aaron and his family. She has been gone for all this snow and just sent this pictures to me via phone......Is she trying to rub it in?

The Color Purple

2008-12-13T22:06:00.000-08:00

My mom took me to "The Color Purple" on Friday night. I had never seen the movie, so I didn't know the full story line. I must say that it was so fabulous. It was about a young girl back in the early 1900's that could not catch a break. Her journey was really horrible and beautiful. Also the music was wonderful, and their voices were breathtaking. It was a wonderful night, thanks mom!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-13T21:48:00.001-08:00

Nick and I also went to find a Christmas tree on Sunday. As you see below I had a very important job....Nick did too I guess. Also the makings of my forest are below. It is not done at the moment and I am still experimenting, but it has been a fun project....Maybe I will post more when we are fully decorated.

New addition to the neighborhood

2008-12-13T21:38:00.001-08:00

Our best friends and neighbors finally had their newest addition on Sunday. We were so thrilled to meet Peyton Rose and look forward to watching her grow. Congratulations!!!

Wenatchee/Lake Chelan 2008

2008-11-16T20:27:00.000-08:00

Nick and I were able to get away for the weekend to visit his sister Libby and her husband Eric. They moved to Wenatchee from Helena, MT not too long ago. So we went to see their new pad. We also stayed at Chelan for a night. I must say the pooches had a great time as well. Thanks Libby, Eric and Snickers for showing us a fun and relaxing weekend. A few pics below...

How to find a best friend...

2008-11-04T07:13:00.000-08:00

It's not who you know or how you got there. It's not what you have in common or even the fact that you are the same species. But it's how much fun you have together, how safe you feel and of course how comfortable the other one is as a pillow. Enjoy!

Christmas Photo

2008-11-03T17:16:00.000-08:00

Nick and I decided to take our Christmas photos early this year. We are being prepared. Now just so you know the lighting needs to be altered a bit, then we won't be so washed out. But other than that, I think they turned out fabulous!! What is your favorite?

Pumpkin Party

2008-10-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

We went to Greenbluff a couple weeks ago with our neighbors. We had a great time, we ate pumpkin donuts, picked out pumpkins, went on a carriage ride, the works.

We then were invited to a pumpkin carving part at our friends and lots of fun was had by all. Here are some pictures below. I carved an owl, its hard to tell until the lit picture, ours are the top left two. Nick carved a sideways pumpkin happy face. You can enjoy our carvings below!

Santa Barbara No. 5 - Last but not least

2008-10-16T19:59:00.001-07:00

I am tired of posting, so this last one is just fund pictures of us riding the carriages around the beach and funny hat pictures.

Santa Barbara No. 4

2008-10-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Surf day! The boys rented a couple of surf boards and hit the waves. Nick wore a wet suit but my brothers were both crazy and braved the freezing water.

Santa Barbara No. 3

2008-10-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to be there on Abby's 6th birthday. It was really cute, when Erin asked her who she wanted to sit by for her Birthday Breakfast, she quickly chose Uncle Nick. Very very cute!

The waiters brought her a brownie and ice cream with a candle at 9am. She only licked all the chocolate sauce off.Then it was off to the zoo! The below picture is an ant eater....I was fascinated with it. It was really weird looking and so cool. You should google it...its worth the picture.Then we saw the gorillas. There was a huge one and the girls were really excited. Then Mr. Gorilla decided to reach down and poop in his hand then eat it. Abby said "look he found an apple to eat." We quickly agreed trying to keep a straight face and shooed them off to the next exhibit. It was hilarious!
I don't know what you do when you are in a dinosaur egg, but we Farley's Raaaawwwwrrrr!

We also like to try on silly hats.
The kids got to feed the giraffes, it was really cool. Abby was all over it, Zori would not even get close and Cedric was too short to feed the giraffe and it would put it's tongue through the fence and grab the treat out of his hand.
After the day at the zoo, we had to have a party, and what always ends up happening at parties? Balloon fights!I think Abigail will remember her birthday!

Santa Barbara No. 2

2008-10-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

But here is the star of the week! This is Lyla Rae Farley she was 3 weeks at this point. She is beautiful and Aaron and Michelle are great parents and I hope we get to see her more often.

She is getting used to her daddy taking her picture. But this cracked me up....whoa flash!

Santa Barbara No. 1

2008-10-12T19:02:00.001-07:00

We had a family reunion in Santa Barbara at the beginning of this month. And by family reunion I mean just my mom Nick and my brothers and their families. The above picture was the view from our hotel. I cannot complain! So I am not sure what you guys do when you get to the beach, but the Farley family runs!

And digs!

And play!

Then because the ocean is really cold we went to try out the pool and hottub

What Dahlias are supposed to look like.....

2008-09-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

So one of my passions is Dahlias. I think they are wonderful and beautiful flowers. And I get really excited each year when it's time to plant them. This year I had to plant them late and in really rocky soil. Well...they were not cooperative at all and they look horrible. So Nick and I went down to Manito and took pictures of the really pretty Dahlia garden. I figured maybe mine at home didn't know what they were supposed to look like. So I showed them how beautiful they could be and how much potential each blossom had. Hopefully next year they will try a bit harder.

Such a beautiful Fall morning

2008-09-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

Nick and I enjoyed an early morning float down the Little Spokane on Saturday morning. It was beautiful! Nick really wanted to see a moose, but we had no luck. We did see lots of foul, deer, fish fresh water clams and bugs. I am so glad that the Little Spokane is a protected area. Someone needs to protect the wildlife and the natural flow of life other than human up there. It is a shame that people don't follow the rules and leave beer cans at the bottom. Anyways here are a few pictures. Enjoy...

4 years down and 76 to go....

2008-09-12T07:14:00.000-07:00

I joke with Nick telling him when he married me he signed an 80 year contract so he can't get out of it. So now he says: "*sigh*... 76 to go" That's why I love him! We joke, we snuggle, we race to see who can get down the steps the fastest, or who can open the other persons car door faster. We have so much fun! And yet he has been so compassionate, patient, and loving with me in these last few rough years. God has molded the perfect partner for me and I could not be any more greatful.

We went to the Spokane County Fair last night to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. We had fun as always!

This is Nick, not missing a crumb of the cinnamon and sugar....that's why I love him, he is not wasteful.
Me getting in the hot tub because it was a bit chilly when the sun went down.
Me holding my hand up so I could get my ring off.....Once a year free ring cleaning only at the fair!!!
The two love birds....the one on the left sure has her eyes open wide....sheesh!

2008-08-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

So it's not completely done....but I could not wait to post some pictures **excuse the dirty camera lense, someone with golden hair licked it, and it has never been the same**. The color is a bit hard to see, but it is olive green with cream trim and black accents. Both doors will be black, but I think I have to get different paint, or an additive because they are aluminum. The chimney will come next. It is in pretty poor shape, so we have to get a mason out here to fix both of them. So I am sure I will post another picture when it is completely done. Wait, is it possible to be completely done.....I am not sure we would know what to do with ourselves. Oh wait, thats right, next year comes the landscaping. FINALLY!

I thought I would show my next project. My mom gave me this antique dresser, which I am going to use as a sideboard for the dinning room (a.k.a. the new place to lean the chuckit up against). I am thinking I will paint it black and get some cool knobs. What do you think?

And finally, my Grandma gave us bar stools for our birthdays....pretty cool grandma! We love them!

Those Parkert's sure are busy folk

2008-08-06T08:48:00.001-07:00

Nick and I have been frantically trying to get our house ready for the winter. We are officially done putting the siding up, whoo hoo! And we started painting last night. I decided not to put up any of the paint yet because I want to show off the final product. But just so you know, Nick and I love the color. So you will have to wait for the surprise. Or you can drive by our house and see what it looks like, I can't stop you from doing that, he he.

We are still trying to decided what to do with the chimney. I think I am going to paint it. It is not in very good shape....

Next summer: Landscaping.....finally =-)

Fun with Bowling

2008-08-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

I must say, we could have the best next door neighbors (Jamie, Morgan, Delaney and of course Molly) on earth. One day we will have a sky walk built from our house to theirs, then we won't have to fare the weather when we go to their house on a daily basis. When we move they are just going to buy the house next to us, and if they move, we will have to buy the house next to them. It is that simple. Morgan and Nick work on projects and Jamie and I go on lots of walks. They let us borrow all their tools, and let us keep some tools in their garage, because it locks and ours doesn't. We eat at each others house at least once a week. And they tolerate our many projects with lots of noise, and have never made a comment on the fact that our dog is still tied up in the front yard! We couldn't ask for more. But, as long as we have lived next door, and as often as we have hung out, we have never had an adult only date. I never even noticed because their daughter Delaney is such a delight. So Friday night was the first time.

Jamie and Morgan delighted us with their presence last Friday night. We went to Ferrantes for Calzones (so stuffed after), Maggie Moos for Ice Cream (could barely walk after) and some good ol' fashion bowling (just really needed to shower after) to burn off all the carbs that we ate. Only thing to say was it was a great night of fun. I put up an action shot of each of us. I managed to only get behinds.....no faces. Whoops!

I hate coming up with titles....

2008-07-24T21:42:00.001-07:00

So to make a long story short, our camera is not the most reliable and really needs to be replaced. So here are some pictures that I have taken with my phone.

My good friend Katie stopped by for a short visit from Portland on Tuesday and brought her new puppy Kerby. She is just a little dolly and I really wanted to keep her. Gage and Olive really liked her too. Gage was a bit overwhelming for her but Olive was just her size. Here are some pics. She was really fast, so these are just a few pictures that are not blurry.

Gage finally calmed down a little bit and Kerby got used to the idea of a 90+ pound dog, and they did well together, but here is poor Gage longing to be outside playing with us. He is inside looking out the window, whining. We finally gave in and let him have a try at being gentle. He did very well.

I also have to share my new toys with all of you (all two of you who read this). I received two new very cool toys for my birthday. I already mentioned my awesome new phone (from Nick), which I would take a picture of if the camera was not stuck to the back of it. And I got a new vacuum from my mom. My mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told her a new vacuum, and I told her the one I was looking at down at Costco (it was $80). She went down there to buy it and came home with the below model instead.....
A Dyson Animal....I have to say I am in love with it and the attachments are so amazing for my really hairy dog. If only he would let me vacuum him (I tried....it did not go over so well). Anyways, I recommend it for anyone with pets, and who really appreciate great cleaning tools. I am so spoiled, and so blessed!!

Fun Birthday at the lake...

2008-07-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

Nick, Gage and I went to lake Cocalala for my birthday. It was wonderful. Not only did we get a break from "the house" but we relaxed and just hung out together (which has not happened without a hammer in our hands for a while). So we read and played and had fun. Nick also got me a new phone for my birthday (a palm/phone). What I did not realize was that even if the palm is on, that does not mean the phone is on. So I had my phone turned off for two days and did not even realize it. I felt selfish, but it was weird that no one called me on my birthday. Then I realized on Saturday that my phone was off. So once I figured out how to turn the phone part on, it told me I had 8 voicemails. So thank you to everyone who called! Sorry I didn't answer, I didn't even know how at the time =-)

Anyways, here are a lot of pictures from our weekend o' fun.

Even though Nick and I had a blast, I think Gage had the most fun of all. He finally figured out how to NOT splash himself while he swam. And lots of rolling, rolling, rolling.
My first attempt at a self portrait
Second attempt, almost got it.
Yeah, the third time is a charm
My boys
Gage had lots of dry land fun too.
I love this picture, especially the tongue
The turtle I caught
The turtle Nick caught.
Thanks for a great birthday!

Is it really already July 6th?

2008-07-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe the year is already half over. Especially since Nick and I have so much work to do on the house before it snows!!! Wait....wasn't it just snowing? Anyhoo.....

Here is what we did on our relaxing 4th of July weekend. Not much too say except I have a lot of cuts and bruises, siding looks a lot better when it's level and a skill does not work properly when you cut through the power cord...whoops. But Nick still loves me, and he is proud of me for using the skill saw, the nail gun (which is sooo heavy that my right shoulder is now 10xs stronger) and all the caulking that I did. So enough construction talk, look at my pictures.

This is our house the day we bought it. So this is the "before"

This is after Nick and Brad and Morgan tore off all the original siding. And that is me down at the very end putting up the Tyvek paper.Here is the house all wrapped up ready for trim and siding!!

Just a close up of what it looks like.
Here is after the siding is done on this side. You really feel like you have accomplished something after you see this. Now it is ready for paint!
Here is the a picture to compare to the first one from the day we bought the house. A pretty big difference huh?
And here is my cute husband!

WALL-E

2008-06-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

I know it has been awhile since my last post, so here is a review of the last few weeks. I was in L.A. until Monday evening, then Nick and I had bible study Tuesday night, friends over Wednesday night, Thursday night we rested, Friday night dinner and a movie with friends, Saturday afternoon I hosted a baby shower, Sunday morning church and I volunteered in the Pre-K sunday school class, amd Sunday evening we hosted a birthday party. So needless to say I have not had many chances to breathe....and I have dirty piles of laundry to prove it.

But on a lighter note! We went to see WALL-E. I must say it greatly exceeded my expectations. There was little talking and it was so creative. It focused on our wastefulness as humans and gave a ugly picture of what the future could hold if we continue on our path. So all of you who need a boost in moral, go see WALL-E you will fall in love with him. And maybe we will all think twice about creating so much garbage.....

The Craziness of Spring or is it Summer

2008-06-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous this past week. Spokane is a small portion of the country where there are absolutely no natural disasters. But man has the warm weather brought so many projects!!! I have not stopped moving for two weeks! I wake up at 5am to go running, then I go to work, then I get home, walk the dog, make dinner, water the lawn (yes, manually, no sprinklers yet!) usually do laundry then go to bed. But lately we have had small group, barbeque's, birthday parties, good bye parties, and more taking up our weekends.

Nick and I rented movies from the library and we had them for two weeks, and did not watch a single one. Such a bummer, they were due today. Also, I have been waiting all year for the third season of "So You Think You Can Dance" and I have only seen a half hour of one episode. I believe that it and "Project Runway" are the only good reality shows out there (okay fine, I will admit I occasionally watch an online episode of "The Hills." Don't Judge).

Anyways, I feel like this is an email more than a blog but...I am going to L.A. this weekend to attend my sister-in-laws baby shower but I will be back on Monday, and hopefully things will have calmed down a bit. So enjoy or dodge the weather where ever you are, and I will post more pictures soon. Hopefully of my cute pregnant sister-in-law!

Blogging is not just for the young folk...

2008-06-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is actually in response to my friend Ivy's blog about getting old. I know that I am not "old" by any means. But can anyone tell me where the point is that you forget how old you are?

Nick and I were at Costco for our weekly browsing/samples/lunch when I saw a woman with Fruit by the Foot samples. I walked over amazed that they still made the highly processed and heavily died fruit impostor and exclaimed "I used to love these when I was a kid" not realizing what I had said to a 75 yr old woman, she shot back very quickly, "How old are you?" Now I had to think for a minute but I confidently answered "25," to which she replied "Honey, you are still just a kid!" She was right compared to the years and experience she was carrying, I am just a kid.

When we got home, Nick looked at me and said "you are not 25 you are 26." My own husband could not remember how old I was. But I did the math really quick in my head to make sure I was indeed 25 and threw it back at him. I reminded him that he married a young spring chicken, and we were only the same age for 2 months, then he passes me up. So he was 26, but I was still 25 for one more month.

So back to my point, when did it get difficult to remember my age? Does it get worse???

My furry babies

2008-05-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share really quick, how cute my dog and cat are. They are best buddies and olive (the cat) follows Gage (the dog) around like a little brother. This was after a long afternoon of chasing each other around in the yard. Olive is 11 pounds now....wow, he sure grows fast. Enjoy!

Don't mess with anyone's momma

2008-05-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

We went to Minihaha (Spell???) a couple weeks ago. It was a breezy day, so if you notice in the pictures below I wore my hooded sweatshirt and gloves. We had never climbed here before, we have always driven out to Post Falls to climb (which is still my favorite). My first climb was going really well until I noticed two beady black eyes staring back at me. There was a momma robin sitting on her nest that was on a ledge in the rock. Now you are probably all thinking, ahhh how cute. Well that is what I would have been saying if I wasn't 2 feet from her pointy beak. She did not move an inch, even when I was close. Well I wanted to finish my climb so I selfishly waved my arms to scare her away....she didn't move, only looks deeper into my eyes. So needles to say I came down, and we moved climbs so we wouldn't disturb her, or get our eyes pecked out. It was still a great morning!

I bet you are so glad that "Ashley loves Tiffany"
First climb...
2nd climb, no crazy momma birds, so I reached the top

Nick is so cute with his pants rolled up.

First concert in a long time.........

2008-05-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

I used to go to concert after concert, and I am sad to say that it has been years and years since I have been to a concert. So here is a little about my "welcome back" concert. Hopefully, there will be many more in the future.

My sister-in-law (Joelle) and I went to Carrie Underwood last night at the Spokane Arena. There was much fun to be had. The concert was so great that even though there were two drunk obnoxious guys in front of us, we still had a great time. She is very cute and has some great pipes. She even said Yamika instead of Yakima, pretty great. I am most definitely a bigger fan after her concert. Josh Turner opened for her and he was great too. His voice is even lower than Randy Travis, and all his songs were love songs to his wife and kids, pretty cute. So I am not sure I could say "great" any more so here are some pictures.....

The before...

2008-05-23T12:24:00.001-07:00

New Roofs create New Wounds

2008-05-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

Well the exciting news is that we finally got a new roof this week! So now the top of our house looks amazing. It is only making us excited to finish the siding. But boy does it look great with the one side of the house that is done. It is hard to explain, so here are some pictures...

You can see the new siding on the left side of the house. It looks great, now we just have to decide on a color....we are thinking Olive/Grey Green. We will see, I can never make up my mind.

New roofs also mean lots of nails. We think Gage stepped on a nail or something in our driveway. His pad was sliced and bloody, so Vet Jessi stepped up and washed it and shaved the hair from the wound. Wish that it heals nicely and we don't have to make a real vet trip. The new roof took all our money.

We are having a Pot Luck at work and I need to make my fruit salad....gotta go!

You know it's Spring at the Parkert's when...

2008-05-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

Your lawn has more dandelions than grass, but you think it still looks great because it's actually green...

You are so excited to mow the lawn for the first time of the season, even though its not quite long enough, you still think it looks nice with the wheel marks the lawn mower makes...

You are not worried about the snow killing your tulips, but you are worried about the fact that the cat is eating all the heads off...

You think your cat is wandering the neighborhood during the nice warm days, but really he has made a nice den in the neighbors grape hyacinths across the driveway...

Your dog is so excited to see grass and dirt rather than snow, he manages to dig up your newly planted tree...

You have to vacuum/lint roller the house daily, because if you didn't you would have Pomeranian size hair balls rolling down the hallway...

Your dog does not come inside completely wet from rolling in the snow, but he is now wet from the sprinkler and green because he just rolled in the fresh cut grass...

And when you bathe your dog, the water is more green than brown from rolling in that freshly cut grass...

During the first rock climbing adventure of the season, you still sport pants, a hooded sweatshirt, gloves, and your puffy coat...

You finally put your flannel sheets away in anticipation for warm nights, only to add a down comforter because your freezing...

You bought two bags of dahlias months ago, and they are sitting in the dining room, still just sitting...

You have to wear a wool sweater at work because they turned the air conditioning on to 60 degrees...

The Parkert's are so excited for Spring!!!!