Zeus and the backyard

When Zeus discovered the pumpkin he decided that he liked the smell and would start rubbing up against it. I find it absolutely hilarious! The photos below are what I managed to finally capture last night.
















Zeus smelling the pumpkin leaves in the garden.

Poseidon the Gardener

From the moment Poseidon found my watering can he wanted it in his mouth. I guess he wanted to help me garden. He carried it around in his mouth and would not give it back without coaxing from me.

Poseidon enjoys the outdoor toys that we bought him after we got home from vacation. As you can see he's already destroyed the rope that was attached to the ball.
Poseidon getting ready to shake the ball in his mouth.

Garden update

My lovely garden! It has and is providing many vegetables that are yummy and delicious! I have corn on the cob that I need to pick, green beans, artichokes are growing, pumpkins are growing (which I found out that I'm allergic to the vines, I broke out in hives when rubbing up against a leaf when I was picking the green beans. I have cantelope growing, sweet peppers, and a whole bunch of tomatos that will soon be ready. The cucumbers are sweet and yummy like they are supposed to, I am amazed at the difference in the taste between what I've grown and what is bought at the store. I'm currently contemplating what I am going to grow over the winter and am already planning on my crop for next summer. Next summer corn, roma tomatos, herbs.

As you can see in one of the pictures we've added plastic flower pots to the side of the garden that we built, I'll be moving the herbs to these boxes to give me more room for vegetables in the actual garden. Daryl is also suggesting putting the pumpkin on the outside of the garden in between the garden and the tree to fill in that space as it is taking over everything!

Enjoying the weekend

The boys aka Zeus and Poseidon like it when either of us are home on the weekend, probably more when Daryl is home as they get to spend more time in the backyard while we work out there. They enjoy running around and being able to "wrestle" in the backyard with each other.














Awww happy dogs!












Looks like Poseidon is happy to be outside!













Zeus enjoys rubbing up against the pumpkin leaves in my garden. I guess they smell good!













Look at that happy dog!












This is how big my garden has grown since it was planted

My Garden

Over the past several weeks Daryl and I have been building a garden for me. It gives me something to go out and work on that does not involve a computer, thinking like a computer, or anything about the house. It helps relieve my stress as well. We built a wooden fence (the slats) to keep the dogs out and although we still have to build the door I have plants planted in the garden already. Zeus and Poseidon are very interested in the garden. Just wait till they find out that I planted something for them to eat! Can you guess what that is? Keep thinking on that and I'll tell you at the end of this post.















So what am I growing?

Well, the plants that you see are: Chives, Cinnamon Basil, Italian Oregano, Husky Cherry Red Tomato, Sweet Pepper, Corn, Artichoke

The seeds that I planted: Corn, Cantalope, Carrots, Cucumbers, Garden Beans, Pumpkin,

Of the list above can you guess what I planted that Zeus and Poseidon will be able to eat?

If you guessed Carrots you are correct!

Our Grandson Arrives!

It's a boy!!


Our grandson, Cordae, was born this afternoon, April 19, 2009 at 5:40 pm. He was 7 pounds and 10 ounces and 19 inches long. Our congratulations go to our daughter, Lyndsay and of course the proud papa Kornell.







The proud parents!










The Proud Grandpa!










Nana and Cordae

In General.......

I've been doing a lot of thinking in general lately, not about any one thing. One of the things that I've been thinking about is what I can do around the house to help accomplish the goal of getting the house remodel done. While the house is 100+ or close to that years old (so I believe) there are lot of things that we want to get done, but not a lot of time nor money either. We are trying to tackle everything one project at a time, little by little. But life, time, and money gets in the way. We both feel a bit lost in where to start, and I have no idea of what to do. I need to come to the realization that his house is now my house as well since we are married. It's not an easy task. Why? Because not a lot of my stuff is displayed or out. I will eventually put on display my collection of dolphins, someday. But between now and then we have a lot of work to do.

Another thing that I have been asked quite recently is: are we planning on having kids? Let me answer this question this way, while he already has two adult daughters, we are going to try for a child. However, we are going to wait another year or two before we start trying so that we can get more financially stable after the wedding. Which at that point we will need to have gotten the upstairs cleaned up a lot more anyway.

Choices

Everyone has to make choices every day of their lives. Sometimes they regret the choices that they made and wish that they could go back and change the decision that they made. Do I regret some of the choices that I made? Yes. But I know that I cannot change the fact that I made the choices that I did, only try to become a part of their lives, if they will accept me. I regret not seeing my baby sister grow up, not being there for her. I wish I could go back and change the decision that I made when she was so young. All I can do is hope that she will realize that I will always be there for her should she decide to reach out for my help. I hope that she will realize that I love her and always have even though I haven't really been there.

While some of the choices that I have had to make over the years were hard, I believe that they have made me a better person, but I will always regret not being in my sister's life. I remember growing up with someone that I will always call my sister no matter what has happened over the years. Yes we have grown apart, yes we fought like hell when we were younger, and I think in all honesty we were jealous of each other. At least I was, and I'm sorry that I haven't kept in touch, didn't come back to visit when I could. I'm sorry.

The man I love

This is the man that I love. I will always love him no matter what happens. I have loved him from the day that we met. He once told me that he would never get married again, but I didn't care. I didn't want anyone else....I wanted him. I was content to be with him just as his girlfriend. When he surprised me by proposing to me yes I was surprised. I was more than surprised I was shocked. He works hard, even harder than I do at times. While he works at lot at Airport/Burien Towing he knows that not only am I working, but I'm taking care of the house, taking care of our pets ....yes pets... we have 3 cats and 2 dogs. I love him, and I don't know what I would do without him.

Good job love!

The Vice President of Airport Towing nominated my husband Daryl for Tow Person of the Year with the Towing and Recovery Association of Washington. While I don't know what he said to nominate my husband I strongly believe its because of everything that he has done to make sure that the company goes on after the sudden and tragic loss of two family members of the company. Airport and Burien Towing are a close nit family run business so it hit the company, family, and friends hard with the loss that they had this year. The tow truck is a gingerbread tow truck that was donated for the auction. There were two Tow Person's of the year both because of a tragic loss in the company. Once again, good job love. I'm proud of you.

Yoga

Today, I start yoga classes with a friend and coworker. What made me decide to do yoga? Well, I want to start feeling better and start getting into shape. Since Daryl and I plan on trying to have a baby in the next 2-3 years I want to be in better shape than I am now before we start trying. Plus I also want to lose 20 pounds. While I have started eating better, eating better is only the first step to being healthier. Along with that comes exercise. While I just said the one thing that I do not do on a regular basis I am going to start. Mostly because I will have the motivation to keep it up since I will be going at the same time as my friend. We are doing this as a team, to support each other. But there are other health benefits to yoga. Since we will be doing hot yoga... yoga in a 105 degree room, it will help relieve stress as well, as well as help with my asthma. Thankfully I haven't had a problem with my asthma in a long time but still I don't want to mess around with it. I want to help it. Yoga is supposed to help increase lung capacity as well. We will be going to Bikram Yoga here in Bellevue, WA close to where we work. http://www.bikramyogabellevue.com/index.html


On a work note, it is review time and I have to fill out my review and figure out where I want to go within the company and what I need to do in order to obtain that goal. While it means more hard work is ahead for me in order to achieve my goal, I think it will help achieve the overall goal of using my education that I worked hard at achieving. Yes it will also cost me some money for the training, and while I probably could see if the company would pay for it, knowing that everyone is having to shrink budgets because of the economy, I'm not going that route at all. I will see what I can do when I decide to move forward with the additional training. I know I will do it but it is just a matter of time and money. For now, I need to finish filling out my review. Figure out what my strengths are and where I need to develop.

My Best Friend

Without Stacy I would not have been sane on my wedding day. She helped me plan that beautiful day from the very first day. She once old me when Daryl and I got home from our vacation to Victoria, that everyone had expected me to come back engaged and were all saying, "What happened?" Little did we know at the time that Daryl had planned on proposing when we were in Victoria British Columbia. He had not purchased my engagement ring yet, and in fact he was trying hard to shake me from his side so that he could go to the jewelry store to purchase the ring. He later told me that he had planned on proposing in Victoria but that the atmosphere at the restaurants just wasn't right. He said, "The one restaurant that was perfect we ate at on our first night there and I didn't have the ring yet." Too funny!

Anyway, without Stacy's help I would not have made it to my wedding day. I owe a lot to her and I don't know if I will ever be able to repay her for what she did for me. I will always be in her debt and in her gratitude. I will always be there for her and her family no matter what. To my best friend, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

My weekends have been consisting of...

For the past two weekends all I have been doing is scrubbing walls in my kitchen. I still have the living room to do. Why? Two weekends ago I got a wild hair to see what color the walls actually were. The walls haven't been cleaned since Daryl inherited the house from his dad. Why would they when he barely stayed there up until I moved back in two years ago? I got a wild hair and decided that I was going to make this house feel like it was my house as well. Why not? After all Daryl and I did get married right? It should feel like my house as well! Now if I had been thinking I would have taken before pictures before I started scrubbing with a sponge and 409. But I got smart after I had already been scrubbing! So you will have to follow me here.

Before Pictures:
























In Process: See the difference?













After: WOW what a difference!
















































Ok in this picture the only thing that hasn't been scrubbed yet is the ceiling. I haven't figured out how I'm going to clean the ceiling yet. Tried the mop which is how that streak got there but unless the mop is really dry it drips in your face. And the sponge on the mop isn't worth scrubbing with and its hard to get elbow grease into it as well.



That is what I have been spending my weekends doing. I still have the ceiling and half of the kitchen to do that is blocked off with boxes and other stuff. When they get moved I'll do that side. In the meantime I can start in on the living room. Look for that post later on! I promise I'll post the honeymoon posts soon as well.

Assistance needed!

We have a lot of house renovating to do and a lot of projects that need done. With that said I have started a project on the inside of the house that I would like assistance on! If you are willing to get a little dirty and use some muscle power let me know! I need the help or this project may just take me the next two months to do!

Ok with that said, what the heck am I doing that I need help with? I'm scrubbing the kitchen and living room walls in preparation to paint them. Why not just prime them? Because the primer coat won't stick to grease, and soot and whatever else is on the walls. I've scrubbed a little bit and watched the walls turn three shades lighter with a little elbow grease and a lot of patience. If you want to help give me a call!

Thanks!

Look for...

As soon as we get back from Maui, please look for honeymoon posts!

Graduation Day

As if there wasn't enough happy things going on this year between the wedding and the honeymoon I also finished school this year! Exciting! Today, September 19, 2008 is the day that I graduate with my bachelors degree in Information Security. I'm happy. Tuesday we leave for Maui on our honeymoon, and while i will miss the boys I'll be spending it with my husband

Our Songs

We have two, ok well three songs, that are our songs. The first two are the same song but by different artists. John Michael Montgomery and All For One's "I Swear" and the last is Shania Twain's "You're Still The One". The photo above is our first dance, and if you were at the wedding you may have heard us singing along to our songs as we danced. The songs and the meanings behind the songs mean something to us and will always be true. To my loving sweet husband I say this with tears in my eyes, "Forever and always, I love you."

The lyrics to our songs are below.

"I Swear"

I see the questions in your eyes,
I know what's waiting on your mind
You can be sure I know my part,
Cause I stand beside you through the years,
You'll only cry those happy tears,
And though I make mistakes,
I'll never break your heart.


> I swear, By the moon and th stars in the sky,I'll be there
I swear, By the shadow that's by your side, I'll be there.
For better or worse,
till death do us part,
I'll love you with every beat in my heart,I swear

I'll give you every thing I can,
I'll build your dream with these two hands
We'll hang some memories on the wall.
And when, the silver in your hair,
You won't Have to ask if I Still care
Cause as the time turns th page,
My love won't age at all

I swear, By the moon and the stars in the sky,I'll be there
I swear, By the shadow that's by your side,I'll be there
For better or worse,
Till death do us part
I'll love you with every beat of my heart,I swear

I swear, By the moon and the stars in the sky,I'll be there,
I swear, By the shadow that's by your side,I'll be there
For better or worse,
Till death do us part
I'll love you with every beat in my heart
I swear, I swear.


"You're Still The One"


When I first saw you, I saw love.
And the first time you touched me, I felt love.
And after
all this time, you're still the one I love.)
Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong


> (You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)


Forever and alway, I love you Daryl.

Wedding Photos from Friends

On Saturday, August 16, 2008 I married my sweetheart, Daryl. It is appropriate that we married on the 16th of August as it was also our 8 year anniversary of being together as a couple. Now we are officially married and will celebrate our marriage every year on the 16th of August. I have to thank everyone who came to share our special day. I need to especially thank all of my friends and family who helped get the venue set up, me ready, keeping me calm, as well as the cleanup of the venue on Saturday. You guys and gals did a spectacular job, and we appreciate it a lot. Although I am very anxious to see the photos from my photographer, I was pleased that friends were taking pictures that day as well and posted them where I could see them.

Bachlorette Party

I'm Proud of you love

I am very proud of my husband to be. Despite very tragic losses of two of our friends whom we considered family, Daryl has been promoted to General Manager of Airport and Burien Towing in Burien Washington. Congratulations my love. On top of this responsiblity, he will still be driving a tow truck and working long hours. I also suspect that we will be going to more tow shows in the near future. I will do my darnedist to be by your side at every show and help as much as possible. I love you, Daryl. Forever and always.

Brian, Mark you are family to us and always will be in our hearts and in our thoughts. We know that you are looking down on us and watching everything that we do. We love you, we miss you. We always will.