So its been a while....

When i say a while i of course mean almost a year.  I wish i had a clever excuse, but lets be honest, i'm just lazy.  This blog is no different than anything else in my life.  There are so many walls i've been meaning to paint, so much crap from pinterest i've been meaning to make, recipes to try, weight to lose, friends to make, religion to gain, dogs to learn to love, money to save, and my list could go on and on.  Now before you start juding, i'm not depressed.  I'm as happy as a clam. The Big Guy and I have actually stayed really busy this year,  mostly with things that have to be done, but there were some fun times here and there. 

After updating the windows in our perfect turn of the century home i really didnt do a whole alot.  I had expected to come in and totally redo everything, i was going to paint every room, have lots of cute decorations all over the place, blog about every little project, but once we got settled in, i just loved the house the way it was.  There really wasn't alot that needed to be done to the place since the previous owner had already updated everything.   I did get a wild flare one weekend and painted the dining room and living room, i think it turned out pretty cute.

We also built Romo a dog house and since he is enormous now, we fenced in a good chunk of the yard for him.  He is such a good dog and as much as I complain about him, I can't imagine our little family without him in it.   

Around the end of the summer my Grandma Stoddards Maltipoo escaped and got the neighbors Shorkie preggers.  This wasn't the first incident and the neighbors have really been able to turn a profit from all these little puppies since they can sell them for a few hundered a piece.  They always offer my Grandparents the pick of the litter, and they in turn offer it to the family.  This time around no one wanted one, but i wanted to go see the puppies.  Bad idea.  They were SO tiny, and SO cute, and SO perfect, i just had to have one.  We had to wait a few weeks for her to be old enough to bring home, but The Big Guy surprised me with her one night.  Pandora and Romo have been best friends ever since. And if you are wondering what she is,  1/4 yorkie, 1/4 maltise, 1/4 shih tzu, 1/4 poodle.  Perfection

Once The Big Guy finished his classes for the fall semister he spent 2 weeks in SLC getting his CNA course done, and then went to work for my dad in Colorado with Callin, Preston, and Trevor.  I dont know it was such a good idea to send 4 boys to live in a grimmy hotel for the summer, doing nothing buy digging holes all day.  But they somehow survived, and after a few months apart, i know we were all glad to get our boys home.   I of course was home working.

The Big Guy got back into school in August and had a pretty tough semister, put came out of it with good grades.I of course was still home working. We decided it was time for a vacation, and the only way i could talk Jess into a vacation is if it had something to do with the Dallas Cowboys.  We 'compromised' so my much needed vaca would be in Dallas TX for the Christmas Eve game against the Eagles.  Now i wouldn't call myself a fan by any means, but it was alot of fun. We bought ourselves some jersey's, and i'm pretty sure I had a few to many hot dogs.  The staduim is amazing, and i would definately do it again.  I thought my husband was obsessed, but it was a real eye opener to see some of the die-hard fans of 'America's Team'.  It made me greatful for my sweet husband that will occasionally let me turn the channel during the game, cause some of these guys were intense.We spent Christmas vegging in our hotel room, and had THE BEST Christmas dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House.  All in all, we had a great vacation, and a great Christmas.

After wrapping up some holiday festivities, The Big Guy got another call from Uncle Sam and we learned he would be sent on a 'short deployment', and would leave the end of January for Crete, Greece. I decided to stay home (in Ephraim) during the week and then go to my mom's (in Orem) on the weekends.  So far it has worked out nicely, and i think it is better for me and the dogs.

Just a few facts about Crete: 

                 -it is the largest island in Greece

                 -it has the highest ratio of guns per person in Europe, aka Paul's heaven

                 -the God Zeus was born there

                 -Jennifer Aniston's dad was born there

We had and are still having very mixed emotions when it comes down to it.  It is a great experiance for Jess and he will be able to pad our savings account a little bit, but it is hard to be away from each other any more than a week or two.  They've got the guys set up in a hotel since it is a shorter deployment, but he hasn't had alot of time to get a lay of the land because of the shifts he works.  He is on the graveyard shift so he works from 8pm-8am, and works 4 days on 2 days off, and then 3 on 3 off, so it breaks it up a little bit. 

Can i just say i am SOOOO grateful for all the new technologies out there.   We dont have to spend a fortune calling out of the country, we wait days to get snail mail.  We can just skype or tango each other every day.  Considering everything, Jess and I are very lucky to live the life we do, and even though some days are tougher than others, and i can't wait to get my Big Guy home, i really dont have a whole lot to complain about besides the fact Chy moved my sweet babies to TX.  Be honest, who wouldnt' miss these faces?

Til......next year.... maybe...

Har

We can see clearly now...

When The Big Guy and I bought our new home, we knew the first investment would be to update the windows.  What were the issues you ask?  Well, lets just say theifs couldn't get in, but we couldn't get out either.  90% of them were painted shut, and the other 10% i feared would squish my hand if i tried to open them.  They were 100 years old, and provided as much insulation as a tent.  They had to go.

Yesterday our home was filled with the sounds of hammering, sawing, and the country jams coming from the installers vehicle outside.  Those good-old-boys moved furniture out of the way, made easy conversation, and totally made my day.   Here are some pictures of the after, these wont mean much to any one that didn't ever see the first ones, but they are perfect in every way!

 And this.. yes they left the door on, but of course i'll be taking it off and making a lovely something out of it.

And the best part of the story?  Let me paint a picture:

Me (to the good-old-boys):  can you be extra careful so i can keep the old windows?
Good-old boys:  of course!

                     Jesse comes home from school to a pile of windows by the front door

Jesse (to the good-old-boys):  you guys haul all this stuff off right?
Good-old-boys (holding back a smile):  ya, usually we do.  But your wife wants to keep them, then a smirk.

Jesse stomps in the house making a scene wondering what im thinking.. 

Me (to Jesse): Oh, just a craft or two, plus some girls in the office want some. 

Jesse throwing a fit because he 'just knows' he'll be the one hauling

them all over the place, up and down stairs, bla bla bla

Good-old-boy (to jesse):  Dude, put them on the corner with a $15/peice for sale sign and you'll sell them, the ladies love these things.

Wheels turning in the Big Guys head, half hour later he's on KSL

I'm surprised he hasn't called Callin yet to ask him to go into business

Sorry, not for sale, most are already spoken for...but i just love how my husband pouts (below)... how can we ever have children?

Do you smell what The Rock is cookin'?

What did this ridiculously romantic man get me for Valentines Day?

Nope, not this....


Didn't get this....


Maybe a little of this...


yawning...

ya right...

but THIS, totally melted my butter....

Yes ladies and gents.  There was no winning and dinning, no diamonds and pearls, not even any chocolate.  Jesse surprised me with a Michelinas TV dinner, stretchy pants, and an evening of WWE raw.  He knows what The Rock does to me, and the best part?  

This face:



Similar to this face:



Perfect Valentines from a perfect man

Life as a Keele

In light of deleting my facebook forever, i decided it was time to start a blog.  I've always thought you had to have a baby to start a blog.  I figured in the last year and a half i have married one and purchased another so i think i am approved to Blog.  Romo is Jesse's puppy, i say that because i don't take care of him.  Jesse has taken the roll of mommy when it comes to Romo, and the two of them couldn't be happier.

Romo the Mastiff

the adoring mommy and the wrinkly Romo



You could say Jesse and i were childhood sweethearts.  Jesse and his ginger friend Russell were the little neighbor boys.  I'm not a cougar, i can't help it Jesse has always looked 5-10 years older (depending on the beard) I was a girl, I was older, and I was certainly cooler.  I was a hot commodity at the ripe age of 5.  Jess made up some story about sharing a hammock, (really Jess, you were 4!) but he says he's loved me ever since the alleged hammock sharing.  16 years later, when out of the blue, The Big Guy requested my friendship (through a site recently deleted from my life) and we've talked everyday since.

We were married on 9/9/09 at 9am in the Manti, UT temple.  (not only is the date perfect, Jesse will NEVER have an excuse to forget our anniversary)

After a few receptions and a very long week, we spent the night in the Albuquerque airport so we could catch our flight to Canada.  Jesse dib'sed the only bench we could find since 'he is a big guy', and i curled up on our bags and tried to catch a few z's. We landed in Canada and were on our way to The Last Frontier. (alaska) It was the only place Jesse and I could both agree on, and we had a blast.  Between all the room service Jesse could handle and the perfect weather, we couldn't have picked a better place. 

yes, thats about 6 meals worth of food for breakfast

Itinerating over waffles

the 49'ers game, The Big Guy mistakingly told me this was the best part of the honeymoon

Jesse looks more like a Mountain Man than the stars of the show

1 day shy of our 3 month anniversary, Jesse was shipped off to spend some time with Uncle Sam.  I like to refer to this as the dark days.  The first 9 weeks i wrote a letter to him everyday only to hear from him for 30 minutes on Saturdays.  It was not a pretty time.  Luckily i had a padded depression fund that carried me through while he was gone.  He came home 6 months later and 50 lbs lighter to a wife extremely excited to feel married again.



Yep, thats him, front and center.  He was the lucky one to be called Dorm Chief.  He got to do the push-ups for the weaklings, and boss everyone around, he learned well

We moved to Ephraim shortly after he got home and thats where we've been ever since.  Jesse is a full time student and is hoping to get into the nursing program here in the fall, and i am known to introduce myself as a 'sugar momma'...  It's a title i have learned to love, and I know as soon as Jesse graduates i'm never working a day again.  Needless to say, we will be country kids for the next few years.  We recently purchased an ADORABLE 100 year old home that i am extatic about fixing up and making our own.  Between school, work, Romo, Jesse, and life we are extemely busy and are loving life......