Dear Sarah, You haven't been on here in forever! My goodness! So excited for July! I can't believe it's finally happening. That is all.

Baby fever

It's that time at work again! I'm putting together another surprise baby shower for a girl at work. It's getting very close to her due date, so I'm hoping she can make it that day. Instead of buying an actual gift, we are just collecting whatever anyone is willing to donate and going to put it onto a gift card so that way she can get what she needs. :)

Busy, busy!

Been a very busy last couple of weeks for me. Last week I had an interview for a 2nd job that I got a call for. Got a call back that same day for a 2nd interview which was yesterday. I should know by the weekend if I got it or not :) I'm very positive about it and I really would enjoy it. I also had a manager assessment this week for Ross. I was super nervous, but it went really well. So hopefully a spot will open up soon preferably at the store I'm already at. It was in 4 parts. There were 4 of us for the 8:30-noon spot and 4 different store managers so we just rotated. For me I did the 1st part of the interview first with the SM from Tahoe, then onto the walk-through of the store with my SM, 3rd was the 2nd part of the interview with the SM at Spanish springs and then "scenario" with the SM at Mae Anne, where this was all held at. Josh also participated so I think that helped the both of us with nervousness. That's about all I've been up to. Always work work work. And although it gets so tiring, I love it. I've realized that I really hate having days off, especially lately. I get so bored staying at home.

Lately

I'm terrible at keeping up with this thing, but I get tired of sitting at this computer for too long and since I'm without a laptop at the moment, I can't just go sit comfortably on the couch. Anyway I'm not going to continue blogging about Malea's trip yet because I'm tired and want to go to bed and that would require too much thinking to remember what we did each day. So I will just post on what I've been up to lately. Work has been quite stressful. Trying to get as many hours as possible, it's been difficult but I've been putting in applications like crazy just so I can get an extra 10-15 hours a week somewhere else to help a little and Josh has been as well. I'm eventually going to start applying at some daycares but have to go to dmv and STILL have to get my Nevada ID since I still have a Texas one, and take care of some other things that are required to work in a daycare. Most everything I can take care of once I get hired, but I'd like to get a headstart :) Anyway, I had a good weekend. Saturday Josh and I went with Sonia to the balloon races. I really enjoyed myself. I'm really glad Josh decided to go with because Sonia says he's very funny. lol Gotta watch out for those quiet ones. So thank you Sonia for the invite :) I will put pictures up. Someday. Sonia invited me to church forever ago and I've been working so haven't had a chance to but I had the day off this past Sunday so I finally went. It was very nice seeing the Howard's. Enjoyed the service very much. Also the people are just really good people. It was refreshing to feel so welcomed. Christina had me fill out a visitor card and she called me Monday to thank me for coming and to see how my day was going. Very sweet of her. I'm not used to that, that's for sure. My parents have also been getting visits from the Pastor there in Hermiston, Bro. Bankston. They are such great people. He stops by to see them all the time to see how they are doing and of course I'm sure they run into each other in town quite often, considering it's such a small town. It is just so awesome to know that there are good, caring people in this world! :)

Malea, Joaquin & Apollo's visit

So I never actually posted anything about my sister visiting so I will try and remember day by day what we did. Day 1- August 7th, 2012 2 am They got here super early Tuesday morning at 2 am. Apollo did really good on the drive here. She said he only got cranky once so they stopped in McDermitt so that he could run around. After Winnemucca she told me that Joaquin took some back dirt road out in the middle of nowhere, and threw away the directions that Mom had printed out for them. Turns out they were playing a joke on me the whole time and kept saying they were lost. Brats! lol I was panicking thinking they really were lost way out in the middle of nowhere by pyramid lake or something and since they were playing a trick on me they wouldn't answer their phone. So when they finally get here they tell me they really did get lost trying to find our place and they kept driving in circles. We finally went to sleep around 4 am, poor Josh had to work at 9 am. I kept telling him to go to sleep but he was obviously too excited and wanted to enjoy their company. After Josh left for work I got ready and woke everyone up so we could get our day started. Well Apollo and Joaquin are a little slow so we were out of the house by 10:30ish... Went to qdoba since breakfast didn't sound all that great. After that we went to Ross to do some shopping. I got a new jacket for winter, I figured I should probably get it because as soon as we get them in all the cute ones go first. I also got a couple shirts, there wasn't much to choose from, as I'm very picky and I don't really like shopping all that much. Of course had to get some things for Apollo and Malea got a new outfit and a couple things for Apollo too. After Ross we went to winco for a few groceries and then to get some gas. Just in time to get home and rest and for Josh to get home from his short day at work. We relaxed until Kenny came over, meeting his nephew for the first time. And of course what's a brother and sister visit without some fists? lol We headed to Kenny, Jerry and Janette and Elaina's new apartment after visiting with Kenny for a while. Looks like I didn't get any pictures that visit. After visiting with them for what seemed like forever, we finally headed to Peppermill to eat at the Island Buffet and then to looks at cars. After looking at cars we passed by the arcade and decided to go in for a little while

Glasses?

I still have lots more pictures to post of my family visiting but I just don't feel up to it right now. I've been having problems with my eyes the last couple days. Not sure if it's just because I'm tired or I need glasses. Things have been blurry, I feel like I have to squint or keep blinking to see better. It's driving me crazy. Maybe I'm just going crazy and it's just from being tired because I did an overnight they other night and it has messed up my sleep. I'm off tomorrow so maybe I can get some normal, long, good sleep. And then we'll see how my eyes are doing :)

Visit

I'll upload more later since I'm so forgetful I forgot which one I last uploaded :P

vacation

My sister, brother in law and my nephew headed home today. I already miss them like crazy. It was wonderful having them here for the week and I'm so thankful for the time we got to spend with them. Of course they stayed with us because we have quite a bit of space in our living room, so why pay for a hotel when you can stay somewhere free :) We were hardly even home the past week because there was so much we wanted to make sure we did. Looked at cars of course. Went to peppermill, atlantis, victorian square and the guys went by themselves to gsr one of the days also. Malea and I were tired and Apollo had been cranky so we decided to stay home and relax. We also ate the entire time they were here, lol. Peppermill buffet, bj's, chili's, genghis grill, peg's... I can't even remember them all. We went to wild island Friday and it was so much fun. I'd love to go more but it is kinda boring unless you have a group. The food there was horrible but we all took turns with Apollo so that we could go down some of the big kid slides. Malea and I stayed together while Josh and Joaquin had their fun. For about an hour we were in the lazy river and Apollo ended up falling asleep on his tummy laying on Malea while we were in our floaties and he got a nice little sunburn. Josh and Malea got the worst of the sun. Luckily my shoulders were a little red but not too bad. I didn't use sunblock or tanning oil because my skin has been so sensitive this summer so I didn't want to end up with a rash. So now we have a quiet empty house and I'm not loving it so much :(

New look and not so good look :(

Not sure about my new layout because I wanted something brighter, trying to stay away from the black but I really thought this one was cute... and I'm too lazy and tired to look through any others... Still working on it though. I have a horrible horrible heat rash and I'm not very happy about it because I want to be in the sun so bad but it's so horrible that I have welts on my legs :( I don't know why my skin has been so sensitive to it this year, but I think I might have an allergic reaction to the tanning oil I used and also when I was little I was allergic to my own sweat so that might have something to do with it. Well gotta work in the am, goodnight!

Babysitting

Tonight I got some baby time in :) A girl I work with is from Brooklyn and she and her husband live here with their 2 kids and don't have any family here. They wanted a night out together, so they went to a show and asked if I would watch the kiddos and how could I decline. A 2 year old boy and a 4 month old girl, no problem! :) They were so good for me! Hayden is their little boys name and Halani is their little girls name. They are both just so adorable. Hayden is the smartest little boy for his age. Here's one of his and Josh's conversations. Josh- "It's hot today." Hayden- "I know, tell me about it man." Hayden was not very thrilled with us or his parents when it came time to leave. They asked him if he had fun and he kept saying no. lol Although I know he did. He was happy the whole time, had the wii and the xbox all to himself. He said he wanted to stay here with us but Josh has to work in the morning and we are so ready for sleep. Midnight is not normal for us. lol

fixer upper

Well so far we have put quite a bit of money into the car that we shouldn't have had to. Especially since we paid extra so that these things would be taken care of, but they weren't. But such is life, I guess.
Started out with the dash lights, that was $200 and we got a bose stereo for $40 off ebay and then $150 to get it installed. There have been a few other things that we've fixed up also and still lots more to do.
Have to get the axles replaced, which is a quite a bit of saving.
So hopefully we can get it done sooner than later, and sell it in the future.
We shall see.
Well other than that, not much has been going on. We had 40% off this week and I did a lot more shopping then I had hoped for. I always hope that nothing will fit me so I can just return it all and get my money back. lol yes I'm cheap, I hate spending money! lol I like to pay my bills and then pretend I have no money at all! Which is usually the case anyway. Didn't really do much shopping for myself, mostly Apollo. I'm getting so excited for their visit, I can't wait! Have lots of fun things planned while they are here.
Well it's 10:00 and I'm so sleepy already so I better get off here.

Birthday girl

Happy 1 year anniversary of being 23 to me :) Just sitting here in my clean house with nothing to do. Waiting for Josh to get home from work. He requested the day off but his manager is rude and didn't accept his request. Anyway. When he gets off we are going to eat with his Dad, Mom and sister. Although I don't think his Dad knows it's my birthday. lol Then his dad wants to spend some time with just his kiddos so I will come back home and my cousin Chrissy and maybe my brother Kenny are coming over and we are going to eat pizza and watch family home videos. Sounds like a great birthday to me :)

Excuse the messiness of my blog :) I'm trying to change it and I'm doing it all off this template generator so it takes a while... and I accidentally deleted our picture so I guess that just gives me an excuse to put up some new ones :)

Oregon Trip

I don't feel like posting much because I'm still exhausted from the trip but just a quick update. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed ourselves. Josh is really considering moving there next summer and we even found some really nice new apartments we really like. There are also some others but since they are housing we will be making too much to be eligible. But it would be nice because these ones in particular don't even allow residents to smoke! How awesome that would be. Wouldn't have to worry about smelling the worst smell in the entire world! Oh well though, it is very hard to find nice apartments in Hermiston that aren't a million years old so I'm good with our other option. :) My nephew is the most adorable little boy ever and my niece is such a beautiful little girl. I can't wait to see my sister again in a little more than a month. I have so much planned for when they come. Wild Island/Wild waters, Tahoe of course, Jump man jump, chuck e cheese, and MAYBE boomtown but he is too little so we'll probably rule that one out. We are going to have a blast! :)

Vacation :)

Getting so excited but nervous! We have our trip to Oregon in just a few more days. And Malea is the only one that we told so it's a surprise for everyone else :) We can't take our car, because our mechanic told us it won't be good on it there and back considering how many miles are on it so we are going to be good and listen and going to go ahead and get a rental. Extra money we didn't plan on spending but at least we will be in a good car :) I'm really hoping this cold will be gone by our trip, mine tend to last a week or so. Started out with a sore throat, yesterday I was really achy and today my eyes and nose are running like crazy. So I'm also hoping Josh doesn't catch it because he's going to be driving and that would just be miserable for him. Well I better get going, my store manager is moving and we are all meeting at Coconut Bowl for some fun :) Have a good night!

Happy 21st Birthday Josh :)

Yesterday was Josh's 21st birthday. I am terrible with remembering to take pictures but we just spent the day together after I got off work. Went to lunch at super burrito (just wanted something quick) and then to the movies. Then Julia always takes him wherever he wants to go for dinner, and of course he chose Red Lobster. So he got his crab legs and I stuck to my chicken strips :) He didn't want dessert from there but he still had to be sung to (he hates that) He asked Julia, "Why'd you have to tell them?" lol after that went to yogurt beach for dessert and then home :) I was so tired I think it was 11 by the time I crashed. Today we are just being lazy and I'm hating this terrible cold rainy weather. Ughhh that's Reno for you. But I must say I would much rather take this over the hot, humid, rainy, tornado weather in Dallas any day :)

I love being an auntie

Apollo

Silly Face

He wasn't very happy because he didn't want to be in the stroller and he didn't want to wear shoes... And LeeAnne is just smiling away

LeeAnne wearing the onesie I got her

What a doll

Elaina

My friend Nikki just had a little boy. His name is Brendon. I've known her since 5th grade and we consider each other sisters. So now I have 2 nephews!

I'm still so lost on this new blog look. Not really on here enough to take the time and figure out what's different. Work has been crazy this past week! But I've actually enjoyed myself. Monday I worked my usual shift 6:30 am and was only scheduled til 1 but stayed til around 2:15. The last 3 days were my 4 am shifts. We have been remodeling this week so one of the area supervisor's and one other employee were the overnighters and they took everything OFF the shelves. Then me and another employee went in at 4 to put everything back. That may sound simple but let me tell you, it is very time consuming. Having to move shelves after the guys that came to put them together already had them set up, and following the map as to where which merchandise goes where. Not to mention, everything is completely different from where it was before so we had to learn the flow of the store all over again. The reason me and the other guy that I work with were the ones chosen to do these lovely early shifts is because he is the former full time hardlines (aka home depsrtment) associate and so he had to train me as I will be getting his old position, because he's going to another location. So I'm excited about that! After all my hard work and a long 4 years (almost 5!) I'm finally getting what I know I very well deserve. I will also be back up mod (manager on duty) and once an area supervisor position opens up it's mine :) I'm so thankful for the hours I've put in this week. All full shifts and even some overtime! Which is perfect timing because that gives Josh and I more money towards our Oregon trip as well as bills. So Tuesday was the start of my early days 4-1ish, Wednesday 4-12, and today 4-1. Tomorrow I'm 10am-6pm. With the weekend off (sleep sleep sleep!). That only adds up to about 40 hours but recently they changed some things withe the company. 24 hour rule. So for example, since I worked at 6 am on Monday and had to be back the next morning less than 24 hours hours from my Monday shift, it counts as 2 hours overtime. That only applies if it's a full shift. So had I only worked say 6-10 and then my shift Tuesday was 4-8 then it wouldn't be overtime. I hate that rule and I know the managers do because it makes it so much more difficult to make the schedule. Well enough of my blabbing. Going to do a post on my beautiful nieces and handsome nephews.

LeeAnne Kathleen Paris

I am an auntie once again to a beautiful baby girl. Born 5/25 @ 5:35 am 6lbs. 1/2 oz. 19 in.

Tahoe

We made a short trip up to Tahoe today! I was a little bit nervous as it was our first "trip." But it wasn't that bad really, we took 395 and 50 so not too much windy roads to deal with. :) I think I prefer going up rather than coming back down. We met Josh's Dad at Harvey's and ate at the hard rock cafe. It was a nice little visit. He works so much so it's very rare that Josh is able to see him. But he took the day off today and is working in San Fran at the moment so he was able to drive to Tahoe and have lunch with us. We are all planning on going back and meeting up for my bday/4th of July. So that should be fun :) Hopefully there will be rooms available to stay in! There are just so many things we have planned for this summer, I'm so excited and hopefully we will be able to squeeze in a trip somewhere to go to San Lorenzo to see his grandparents. I have met Josh's grandpa already but not his grandma. (Josh's Dad's parents) We have our trip to Oregon in June and then of course Tahoe in July, beginning of August my sister, nephew and brother in law will be here and then Stephy at the end of August. So we might squeeze in that trip to San Lorenzo maybe the end of July. We shall see. Well I will upload some pics of Tahoe later. Enjoy the beautiful weather!