Cynophobia

Ever since I can remember I have been scared of dogs. As soon as I hear a dog bark I jump and my heart starts racing. It's really weird and I don't like it. This phobia of dogs combined with their annoying barks, shedding, pooping and peeing in my living room (I knew I shouldn't have left the door open), and their terrible smell all the time has really caused me to not care for them.

On that note, I want two dogs. Is that weird? The first one I have always wanted since I was offered one for free in 6th grade is a teacup poodle.




I fell in love with a little black one back then and my parents said I couldn't have it because it was too small and we would step on it in our house...which is probably true.

The other dog I want is a Great Dane. After watching Seven Pounds a while back I loved how beautiful Rosario Dawsens' dog was in that show. They may scare me to death if I met one face to face now, but if I get one while it's a tiny puppy and watch it grow I should be ok.





Maybe someday...

On Marriage and Such

I wish I could remember exactly where I heard this, but I can't. I just remembered it as I was thinking of church yesterday and my bank account today. I know those two don't sound connected in the least, but let me explain.

First with the thing I heard, but can't remember where. It was some sort of church lesson/fireside for young marrieds. They were discussing finances and the person speaking said something like this, "Most of you probably never had to pay any bills before you were married." I was like, WHAT?!...in my head of course. Really? Did that person just say that? Then I thought about people I knew through college. Their parents paid tuition, their cell phone, car insurance, gave them food money, etc. But I really don't think that is the norm. Then I thought about how young a lot of people get married. And the comment made a little more sense. Man, what a learning curve that would be...You're out of the high school and your parents house, you live "on your own" for a year and then you're hitched! All of the sudden, your parents cut you off, you're living with practically a stranger, (I hardly call 2 months of courtship and a 4 month engagement "knowing someone"), and all the aspects of adulthood are thrown at you all at once! I can't imagine and I don't wish it upon anyone.

I hope this doesn't sound like I am judging anyone. For those who did go through that, I'm sure it was extremely hard and good for you. Maybe I just couldn't handle such an experience myself. I took my steps little by little and eventually made a pretty good life for myself. Yeah, we're pretty broke most of the time. We have a little debt that we shouldn't have, but we don't stress about it and we manage our money and time well. Who knows why I am writing this on my blog?! Just thought I would share some thoughts. I guess I just couldn't get over that comment of most of us not paying bills before we got married! Ha ha I really really don't think that is true...

Oh and the church and bank account thing. A very young newly married girl spoke in sacrament meeting. It was interesting. And when I checked my bank account this morning it was looking good so I could pay some bills today. So, that's how I came to this topic.

On another note. My good friends Sarah and Spencer had their sister and her family in town last weekend. Their sister Janna is a photographer and she was taking some engagement photos for someone. She is extremely talented, but takes mostly family photos and kids photos. She is trying to build up a portfolio for engagements now. She asked if she could take some "engagement" photos of Tyler and me for her portfolio. We did Saturday and it was a lot of fun. I can't wait to see the end results in a couple weeks. If you are looking for some family photos, wedding or engagement photos, senior pictures or whatever check out her website here. Her prices are good and she will travel, especially to the Rexburg area where she has family.

Here is a picture she took of her and her siblings.

It's Official

The kitchen is done. Last night I washed a bunch of dishes in the dish washer. I've never been so excited to do dishes in my life! And I hate doing dishes so that's a big deal. It's still a mess in there so no pictures yet. I'll post soon before and after pictures. It's going to be great. For now, here are a couple pictures of us working away...

Painting...



More painting...



Me painting... Notice above me the upper cabinets are on the wall! Sorry for the bad picture. This view is from the entry of the living room. To the right is our front door and to the left is a coat closet full of boxes. Which, is all cleaned out and painted now!



Me painting again... I painted the most :)



But Tyler did all the handy work.



Hooking up the sink. It is much harder than it looks. But, the dishwasher and garbage disposal are hooked up and we have running water!



Overall, this has been a good/learning experience. Someday we might completely remodel an old home, like this 12 bedroom beauty in Chicago:



It's selling price you might ask? $18,500

East Coast Here We Come!

As many of you already know, Tyler works for a summer sales company called APX. This will be his fourth summer working with an office somewhere in the country, our second together. Last summer we went to Chicago and this summer we thought we might be going to DC. The news came in today...we will not be going to DC. Sorry Lauren, Wendy, Emily and anyone else living in the area! But we will be heading to the great state of Connecticut!



We will most likely be located near the capital, Hartford. The office we are going with is covering the whole state, so the sales manager really gets to decide where we live.

Downtown Hartford:


I don't know if I told you yet, but I'm excited to get out of Rexburg and into an exciting new city! I've never lived, or really gone out east before. I don't really count Florida. This is going to be a great adventure. I love adventures!

State Capital building:


Everyone please come visit me. New York City is a mere 2.5 hours away. I will be visiting often and wouldn't mind a travel buddy ;)

Blast From The Recent Past

We spent all of last summer just north of Chicago, in a "village" called Gurnee. Both our laptops had stopped working so I didn't really post any pictures. SO, I decided to put a few up. Enjoy...

Driving into downtown Chicago. Gotta love the traffic.



My sis and her family came to visit from Indianapolis the second weekend we were there. Here is her hubby and son at the beach of lake Michigan.



Her family...between my feet. I was trying to be creative or something. I don't know.



Building a sand castle!



We could see six flags from our apartment balcony. It was funny, because we could hear people screaming on the rides when we went outside. Anyway, we all went to Six Flags on Fathers Day. My sis is talking on the phone with my mom while we were waiting in line for the Superman ride.



We tried to go to a Cubs game while we were there, but Tyler worked so much it was nearly impossible. The last couple days we were there Tyler took off work and we went to a White Sox game. The Cubs weren't playing :( It was really fun though.



At the end of the summer we went down through Indianapolis to visit my sister and her family on our way back out west. Here is our niece and Tyler at the zoo. She loved being on his shoulders. I bet she liked the view from 7 feet up.



We went to the zoo in Chicago, but I stupidly forgot the camera. So, the only pictures we have are on Tyler's phone. Anyway, this is a cute elephant at the Indianapolis zoo.



A good friend from high school moved to Indianapolis for her husband to go to dental school. Actually the same dental school as my brother-in-law. We visited her while we were there.



Tyler's parents bought a boat last summer so when we got back to Rexburg we went boating as much as we could before the weather got bad. Here is one time that we went with his parents and convinced them to ride on a tube together! It really was hilarious. Thanks for the entertainment Sid and Karen ;)



Always the designated driver.



This summer we will be working for the same company as last year. Tyler will be a tech while I will continue to work for Hatch Marketing on my home computer. We are really looking forward to a change of scenery and Tyler having a break from school. We are probably going out east somewhere...maybe Washington DC.