Since We've Been Home

I forget how traveling for a long period of time makes it so hard to get back into the groove of things when you get home. It has taken me a few weeks to get back into the routine, but I think I have finally got it. We've been quite busy since we got home, or at least I feel like we have. Here are a few things that we have done. We still don't have a camera, so pictures from this post are compliments of Google Image Search :)


First we turned this:
(This actually looks way better than the chair we had.  Ours was in worse condition and much older)

Into this:

Thanks to Wray Family Santa Clause!  We LOVE it and are so thankful for it.  Josh is still a little sad to give up the pink chair for some reason that I just don't understand.  It still hasn't made it's way down to the street, but I assure you that it will this Tuesday on Trash Day!

Second, we have decided that we NEED a strict budget.  After looking and talking we finally found something that works for us!  We never have cash and use different cards/bank accounts for certain things based on reward programs and needed something that would track all of our accounts.  We found MINT.COM!  Oh my gosh, we LOVE it.  It tracks all of our accounts and allows us to categorize each transaction.  We also have a budget set up and it will tell you how much you have left to spend for the month in each category.  If you are an online banker and need a new budget system, this is the way to go!  And it's FREE!  I love it!  It makes me happy :)

Third, we filed our taxes and got a nice tax return already!  We used TurboTax and it was so easy!  It was/is in our bank account already!  YIPEE!  The only good thing about paying taxes...getting a hug lump sum of money!

Fourth and probably the most exciting thing that we have done since we have been home is that we bought a camera!  I am sooo stoked and cannot wait to get it!  We bought it on Amazon and should be getting it this week.  After much researching, talking and debating, we decided to go with the Nikon D3100.  I can't wait!  I'm soo excited.  It's Nikon's most basic DSLR, but I can't wait to start using it...not that I am going to know how to use it for a while though.  I'm hoping to catch on quickly though...fingers are crossed.

The best part about it is that we had to pay hardly anything out of our own pocket.  How you ask?  Well, it's mainly thanks to Swagbuck.com!  You can click here to get more info and to sign up!  (Oh and please do click the link if you decide to sign up; that way I can earn swagbucks when you earn them.)  We have been using Swagbucks as our search engine for a little over a year.  We use it to search everything, even sites that we already know, like gmail or facebook.  We also did a few surveys, daily polls and swag codes.  But we ended up earning about $400 in Amazon gift cards!  Then used our tax return to cover the rest!  We were going to wait a little longer; but now that our camera doesn't work anymore, I just couldn't....Just wish I had it right now :)  We are now going to start saving our swagbucks to buys a XBox 360/Kinect.  I never wanted to have a gaming system in my house (I never had one growing up), but we played the Kinect at our friends house and fell in love.  I believe it's way better than the Wii; although I do still love the Wii.  Hopefully we will have enough swagbucks to get it soon!

Ok..so now that I have advertised Mint.com, TurboTax, Nikon, Amazon, Swagbucks and XBox Kinect; I think I better stop before this post turns into a huge advertisement :)

Taylor & Becca's Wedding Weekend

I left Oklahoma on Thursday afternoon.  I hadn't been feeling well all that day, but nothing too bad.  I was flying by myself because Josh left the day before (flying standby and didn't want to chance not making it to the wedding).  My flight out of Oklahoma City was delayed, I didn't think much of it.  I already had a three hour layover in Vegas and thought that it would just cut into that time.  Once I got on the plane, my cold or whatever it was hit me hard.  I sneezed the whole flight and felt AWFUL!  Luckily I had some Puffs Plus with Lotion tissues, but only enough for that flight.  I felt so bad that as soon as I walked off the plane in Vegas, I went straight to the little shop and spent a ridiculous amount on money on medicine and the cheap tissues that hurt my nose.  My flight into Salt Lake was then delayed too.  I didn't get into Salt Lake until about 1am (3am my time)!  Not only was I exhausted but not feeling well at all.  We stayed the night at Josh's aunt and uncles (thanks Jordan and Melissa).  Josh had gotten sick too, so we stopped and loaded up on NyQuil and the good tissues!  That night I slept in until I HAD to get up to get ready for the wedding.  It was a beautiful ceremony in the Bountiful Temple.  I felt bad though cause I was coughing and sniffling the entire time.  It was so embarrassing, but I got through it.  Then pictures, it was soo cold.  I don't know how Becca did it without a coat!  I was freezing and we were out there for quite a while.  After pictures at the temple, we headed to the luncheon.  It was really beautiful and great food.  I could only eat a few bites though!  Didn't really even eat my cake and that is just crazy for me!  After a few bites, I went and found a little couch and took a nap.  Then off to the reception and more pictures.  The reception was at Becca's parents' GORGEOUS house!  We were there for a little bit, but Josh and I left a little early.  I slept all the way to Idaho and then slept til about 5pm the next day, getting up only to get some medicine ever couple hours.  I felt so bad not spending time with Josh's family especially since we don't get to see them very often.  I once again only got up to go to the reception.  When we got back home, I went to bed and slept pretty much until we had to leave for the airport.  I couldn't believe how much I slept that weekend!  I don't think I have ever been that sick from a cold before!  Sorry, now I'm just being whinny...

Anyways, it was an interesting weekend for me!  But Josh and I are both so happy for Taylor and Becca!  They are completely happy and we all LOVE Becca!  She's great and they make a perfect match!  Congrats you too!  We love you guys!

So, I still didn't have my camera, so I stole some pictures from my sister-in-law's blog (Thanks Ashley!)

Here is Taylor & Becca coming out of the temple:

Rylee & I waiting for them to come out:

Reese & Josh:

Congrats again Taylor and Becca!  We are so happy for you guys!  It was a short weekend and I wish could have been more help or awake to spend more time with the family.  Hopefully next time I won't be so sick.  It was good to get home and to get back to "normal."  I was sick for a while once we got home too, but am much better now!  We finally feel like we are back into the swing of things after a lot of traveling.  And now I am almost all caught up on blogging...feels sooo good!

Oklahoma 2011

Yes, we are alive and doin well.  It's been a crazy month for us!  We have been doing a lot of travel and are happy to be back in Cleveland!  When we got back from Idaho for Christmas, we were only in Cleveland for a few days then off to Oklahoma.  I was suppose to be going by myself, but Josh was able to get one more day off clinic and my dad overnighted a pass for him to come out.  I flew out on the 30th and Josh a few days later.  I spent New Years Eve with just my mom and David!  It was really low key but super nice.  We just watched a movie then the ball drop and off to bed! 

The next day Christine's family came down from Nebraska!  That night we let off a few fireworks.  They were totally awesome.  We went to bed about an hour after the fireworks.  Shortly after we had fallen asleep, Christine comes running into the room Josh and I were sleeping in and says there's a fire.  A little out of it, we jump up and run outside.  Sure enough, the trash cans that we put the hot fireworks in had caught on fire and a little bit of grass.  We were really lucky that it didn't spread that much and we were able to get it out with a shovel and a couple buckets of water!  It was crazy and we were all in a little shock and had a hard time falling asleep after that :)

For the first few days there, we didn't do anything way exciting.  Just relaxed, did a little shopping and ate at my FAVORITE burger/ice cream place...BRAUM'S...Oh I LOVE that place. We actually went there a few times while we were there.  In fact, it's where we went after picking Logan up from the airport.  It was his first choice!

I pretty much stole Christine's camera while we were there so I could have some pics!  Ours, unfortnately, still not working...but I am getting a newer and better one SOON!

Here is Josh, Emmi and myself:

Robby and Christine...always doing their strange poses:

Emmi:

While we were there I met Darcy (Karri's baby) and Jenna (Dad & Nola's) for the first time.  They are both super cute. 

  This is Darcy!  She's adorable!

Shawnee holding Darcy:

James & Josh:

You will notice lots of pictures of Emmi...She was always ready to pose for a picture for me.  She's so cute and I can't believe how big she is now!

This was just adorable.  I wish I could have gotten a few better pictures of this, but here is Emmi (loving her picture being taken) kissing Darcy on the cheek.  It was too cute!

When we got there, Stirling had a VERY VERY loose tooth but was nervous about losing it.  We tried to get him to let us take it out, but he wouldn't let anyone near it.  The one morning that Josh and I were watching the kids for Christine and Robby, Stirling is eating his cereal and hits his tooth causing it to just dangle there.  After a few words of encouragement from Josh, Stirling finally lets Josh near it to finish taking it out.  Here is Stirling with his front tooth missing and a few tears :)

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of Nathan and his family :(  Nathan is super busy with working mandatory overtime and going to school full time.  Plus both Nathan and Nichole were really sick.  But here's Matthew, one of the CUTEST boys EVER!

Ok...Hang in there.  I'm almost done.  I thought about doing this in a few posts, but decided that I just needed to get it done or it may never happen...so one LONG post it is :)

On Monday, January 3 of 2011, Logan came home from serving a 2 year mission for our church in Ogden, Utah!  We were sooo excited to see him!  He is such a good brother and was an amazing missionary.  He's all grown up now and actually mature ;)  This was the first time all of the siblings were together in well over 2 years.  He came home to some older and some new nieces and nephews and a new half sister! I think he may have been a little overwhelmed at the airport.

Here he is, right off the airplane:

I love this picture, except for the ugly OU banner in the background.  I should have cropped it out...Here's Shawnee, Stirling, Logan, Christine and I! We were all so excited to see him especially Sitrling!

Logan and a very happy Mom!:

That night we had Christmas with my mom!  Then the next night, Christmas with my dad!  It was so nice to finally all be together again.  It's great having Logan home!  We missed him tremendously and glad to be able to call and text him all we want!

We all got PJs from my mom and Kylie had the cutest ones!  Here is a picture of her in them.  A little random to put it at the bottom, but too lazy to move it at this point.

We had such a fun time in Oklahoma, seeing all of my family and eating at all the places we love in Stillwater!  Oh and it was pretty nice weather too! A nice break from the snow and COLD!

After leaving Oklahoma, we went straight to Idaho for Taylor and Becca's wedding...but that will have to be in another post :) which will hopefully come sooner rather than later...but no promises...