I Love You Guys!

So I have to admit, regretfully, that the most recent photos I have of my family, other than the funeral, are from B and my wedding.

B and I have used countless footage on our dogs in Smithfield, but we tend to forget our camera when we go out of town for family events.  As a result you get to see old pictures.

I love my family so much.

I truly have been blessed with the BEST siblings and the BEST in-laws anyone could ever ask for.  Each one of you commented on my sad blog the other day and your comments have meant the world to me.

Today's blog is sort of a thank you for all of the strength and help your comments gave to me during a time that I really needed it the most.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Below is a picture of B and B's momma.  She is such a sweet person.  I absolutely adore her.  When she first saw this picture, she said she didn't like it much.  I LOVE it.  In this picture, she conveys to me that she is truly proud of her son and very happy for him.  She seems so genuinely happy in this picture, it seems to be a happiness that only a mother can feel. 

Below is a picture of the boys.

Starting from the left is my brother-in-law, whom we'll call Murse.  He is Raw Chickens husband.  They have two gorgeous kids, will have been married for 10 years this August, and they are still crazy for each other.

Next is Delaware, we already know him.  He one of my brothers and the only person I can honestly say that we had a hate-love relationship.

Growing up Delaware and I absolutely hated each other.  This is not the case now.  I never would have thought I could love this guy so much, especially when I was younger.

Next in line is my rock, my anchor, my sanity, B.  He and I were together for 5 years before we were engaged.  Our engagement lasted for  1/2 year.  We are going to celebrate 2 fantastic years of marriage this July 28th.  He simply is the best and I love him with every ounce of my being.

I couldn't have asked for more when I got him.

Next to B, is my dad.  He looks so strong, sturdy and unshakeable in all of my wedding photos.  This is the way I choose to remember him.

Last but not least is good ol' Arty, in his pre-mullet days (ha ha).  He too is another brother, and a brother that I never thought I could love.  But then we all grew up and got over ourselves.  Funny how life works out.

Below now we have the girls.  First of course is Raw Chicken, my only sister.  And falling right in course with my brothers, she and I hated each other too.  We both have the IQ of a peanut, as our mom once said, at the time she was right.  Now I believe that we have at least graduated to the IQ of a walnut as we both love each other deeply now.

Next in line is me.  Shirt.  This is the day of my wedding.  It was a gorgeous day.  It was a happy day.

Opera is next to me, she is Arty's wife and I believe they will have been married for 13 years this September.  They have two darling little girls.

After Opera comes Alaska.  Alaska and Delaware are married, I tried to keep my states together.  They just celebrated 7 years of marriage (I think?) this last March.  They have a little boy and a little girl.  Both of them are beautiful and both have daring personalities.

Below here you have the whole bunch again.

I feel like posting these pictures today because, they are memories from a happier day.  All of the memories may not be that happy, but the day still managed to bond us.

Like it or not, you all are stuck with me for good! Ha, ha.  I feel like I am on the winning end of this deal!!!

Below is our dad.  He is the man that made this family possible (all except B's momma!).  Whether we all knew it or not, he began (a very long time ago) to help us as kids become close.

"Family First!"

Words spoken by dad, though not always in a kind/gentile way, but very true.

We all love and miss you very much dad.

You are the best.

Thanks to my siblings for being so good to me.  Thanks for your help throughout this completely hard time.  As stated before, we are the funnest people to mourn with, and we are also the strongest group to get through these hurdles in life with.

I love you all (more than my luggage! name the movie!).

Love

Shirt

PS- Crazy in AZ, I don't have a picture of you, but your comments were really helpful and really enduring as well.  I am glad to know how much you loved him!

I Miss My Dad So Much

So I am so very sad today and really missing my dad.  It may be cheesy, but I had rigged the playlist on my blog to play a certain song when people would visit.  This song is called 'Daddy's Hands' and I am unsure of the artist but it correlated with the first image of my sad blog.  

I MISS MY DAD.

I have found myself being so entirely upset that he is gone.  I find myself being mad, thinking that it is unfair, and wondering if he has spoken to Abe Lincoln (tee hee).

All day long, I have been hearing his voice in my head.  Just little catch phrases he had.

I think about something that is mundane to me, and I think of how upon telling my dad this mundane story his response would be 1 of 2 things:

'Oh that's cool man', or 'Don't let those bozos push you around'.

Things at work lately have been both mundane, and I truly am surrounded by bozos.

I wish my dad could come up and let them know that he is my ol' man and to leave his baby alone.  Oh, the little things I am missing the most today.

Above is a picture of my dad with my siblings and two of his grandchildren.  As I mentioned at his funeral, he really loved his grand babies.  Each and everyone.  I guess I feel guilty now that I did not let him meet a grandchild from me.

I simply thought I had more time.

Above is a picture of my dad, being a goof ball, with his geeky daughters.

I thought we had many more goofy days ahead, but no.

I miss you dad, now and forever.  I wish I could see you.

I love you so much.

Why I'm Riding For MS

Above is a picture of Arty and his Beautiful wife (whom we'll call Opera), and their beautiful, darling little girl.  In this picture they are at my wedding ceremony.

This was approximately 1 - 2 months after Opera was diagnosed with MS.

MS is Multiple Sclerosis.  But what exactly is that?

MS is a neurological disease that affects many people, but for some reason, it favors women.

With MS, an immune cell that your body produces, begins to attack your body.

Not just any part of your body is attacked.  To be specific, the myelin sheath is attacked.

The myelin sheath covers the nerve fibers and functions to increase the rate of transmission impulses as well as insulates and protects the nerve fiber(s).  

As the sheath is broken down, transmission is blocked, interrupted, or distorted.

For Opera, she lost the vision in one of her eyes temporarily.

I am sure that this was a very scary experience for Opera.  She is a very strong woman.

Not only am I riding in the MS bike tour, but Opera is as well.  Opera is going to ride 40 miles.

I plan to ride 75 miles, as does my other sister-in-law (whom we'll call Alaska).

The boys (B, Arty, and Delaware) are all planning on doing 100 miles.  Delaware did the 100 miles last year. He is such a trooper!!!

So I do ask of you to donate like crazy.  

I ride for MS because it's personal now!

So I am Playing a Tag Game

8 Quirks You May Not Have Known About Me!

1)  I absolutely HATE people who go 5 miles under the speed limit in the fast lane.  As a matter of fact, just yesterday I gave someone the bird of whom I don't know for violating me in such a manner!  Now I feel bad... Kind of.

2)  I dislike when I shave and my elbows inadvertently get cold, thus causing goose bumps, thus leading to unshaveable stubble.  Oh I hate that!

3)  I cannot stand spit.  I hate seeing it being spat, I hate the after-spat on the ground, and mostly, when slobber or drool hangs on the chin or drops down to the shirt.

4)  I drool in my sleep.  Eeew!  Yuck!  Did I just admit that?

5)  So I have listed my disliking quirks above, now for the weird ones.  I absolutely love ER (the tv show).  TNT shows 2 episodes every morning.  They always start over after having gone through all 12 seasons (or however many there are).  We always have to record them on our DVR, no matter how many times I have seen them.  Right now I am on episode 30.  Gotta have my ER.

6)  When B has free time that I don't have I must put my 2 cents in on how he should spend that free time.  Even though I know he hates it, and even though I know he will do what he pleases, it makes me feel better to give him my wise advise.

7)  Moths and butterflies absolutely bother me.  I can appreciate a picture of a butterfly, or even watch it fly if it is trapped, but if it can touch me, I am out.  Moths are just disgusting.  I saw one on a wall once and couldn't move until I was convinced that it wouldn't flutter on to my delicate and precious skin.

8)  I am a nurse.  I love giving shots, drawing blood, changing wound dressings, giving catheters, any procedure that makes the average person cringe, I love to do.  It beats just giving pills all the darn time.  And hey, getting blood on a person with stupid veins is like striking oil! 

Okay, Raw Chicken, Crazy AZ, and B Momma I wanna see your quirks!

A Proud Moment for B's Mom/My Husband the Hottie

So this is my hot husband B.

Last year for Halloween he dressed up as a '70's Gym Teacher.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get pictures of the whole costume.

However, here are some spectacular head shots.

In the picture above, this head shot could double for either the gym teacher, or a very tough police man.

Notice the 'stache.

Every citizen, as well as every police man knows that any decent police man has a 'stache.

B's momma better not show this to Kraut, who fancies himself as a police man.

Above, we are able to see the lighter and more fun side to this rigorous gym teacher.

He doesn't exactly look like the 'drop and give me 20' type.

He just looks like a rip roarin' hottie!

Above, again, the lighter and more fun side.

B used to own two pairs of the glasses that he is wearing in this photo.

He cried and cried the day he lost his first pair in the ocean.

Who swims with glasses on?

Only my baby!

And finally, above we have the back shot.

It is hard to believe that this is a wig.

I love the layers.

Oh boy, I cannot wait until next Halloween.

You're gonna love his costume!

...But I am OK

So I took my new road bike out for a ride today.

I have clip-less pedals that are very new to me.

With clip-less pedals, you have specific shoes that clip into the pedal.

I think they are designed to help you 'spin' as you ride, which means you use all of your leg muscle for every aspect and range of motion as you pedal.

This means you actually pull up with your leg, not just push down on your pedals.

All leg muscles get used, and, as a result you don't get fatigued all that fast.

Or so they say.

At any rate, I was going up a hill, lost momentum and attempted to clip out of my pedals.

I was just gonna walk my bike the rest of the way.

Couldn't clip out.

Fell.

This is what happened to my right knee. 

It was a better picture when I first got home, mainly because I didn't know I was bleeding.

So I cleaned my knee when I got home, and then found another little scrape on my left lower leg.

This one is not as impressive at all.

Upon further investigation, I found blood of an unknown source on my shirt.

Hmm, wonder what I did on my left arm.

Oh well.

So I got home, and called B, the biking expert to have him look over my bike when he gets home from work this evening.

Here I thought he would be proud of his amateur wife for going out on her own with tricky clip-less pedals.

B was bothered.

All questions were concerned about the bike.

"Did you scratch the frame?"

"Are the de-railers (sp?) okay?"

"Are the de-railers bent or scratched?"

"What direction did you fall?"

"Oh to the right?"

"You should have fallen to the left, that protects your de-railers."

"Why did you go out today?"

"It's rainy."

"When the pavement is wet, don't take your bike out..."

All these questions, the bike is fine, I have since cleaned it.

...But I am OK too!

Our Couch Guard

Gordon guards our couch end.  Don't mess with him.

Don't even think about it.

2 New Members of my Immediate Family

Break out the cigars and congratulate us on our two newest members of the family.

We welcomed home a new boy and a new girl.

Just built today.

Above is our newest girl.

I think I will name her Frita.

Here is the newest boy.  I think I will call him Humphrey.

Not sure what B will call him, probably nothing.

Awe, isn't she cute?

What boyish charm.

Stay tuned for two more members to be added to our family.

We will be riding these two to work and around town and for fun stuff.

She is OFF the Market

Yep, that's right.  Wipe the tear away because she is off the market.

Flat and all, she is off the market.

NO autotrader, NO classifieds, NO ksl.com, NO advertising at all.  Now she is off the market.

Our success story:  We just parked her in front of our condo in Smithfield for about 18 months.

Now she is off the market.

Pop Goes the Arnold

So here is me, and here is Arnold.  

We were bored, and messing around. 

Just enjoy the footage!

Just Boring Pictures

So I am slightly annoyed.

I tried to upload a video of upmost hilarious entertainment, yet alas, the blog gods won't let me.

Each time I tried I kept getting this stupid error message after about an hour of my computer looking like it was trying to upload.

Mind you, this happened twice!  

Those blog god jerks!

So now you get pictures that don't move.

So this is perhaps one of my favorite pictures of Gordon and Arnold. 

They look like they are telling each other secrets.

Below here should have been another image, but yet again, the damn blog gods errored my upload.

Jerks.

My Sweet Angel Face Sleepy B

B decided to lay down, stretch his head out, and take a nap.

Gordon and the Dreaded/Scary Heat Vent

So this is Gordon. 

Gordon, for reasons unknown to B and I, is deathly afraid of the heat vents in our home.

B has a theory that it is because Gordon watched a spider meet its' untimely demise in a heat vent.

Either way, if there is a toy, a treat, really anything tempting on our heat vent, Gordon really has a hard time retrieving the item if at all.

One evening as I came home from work, I walked in to find that B had put EVERY toy that we owned for Gordon on top of our main living room heat vent.

I laughed because Gordon could not possibly bring himself to brave the vent.

Recently we were able to record Gordon, attempting to overcome his fears, as shown below.  This is part one of a two part montage.

So as you can see, clearly the vent is evil.

In part two, we see much more of the same.

Not even all of the coaxing in the world from his favorite owner (B) could persuade Gordon to get the blessed ball off of the evil vent.

What a wimp.

Arty and the Mullet Wig

Well, here is Arty.  Ladies, calm down, he is married, and YES this IS a wig.  I know that ruins many dreams of running your fingers through his beautiful brown mullet.  I know this also ruins dreams of getting your white-trash, mullet boasting, dream boat yet another beer.  But, after all, Arty is just one man.  One married man.  Yet...
...In these photos, he teases the heart, and the mind.  Ladies, these pics will have to suffice.  Ha, ha, ha.  I can't wait till Arty sees this!!!  :)

My Immediate Family

This is Arnold.  He is our youngest miniature schnauzer and just turned One year old on April 10th, 2008.  Isn't he a cutie?
This is Gordon.  He is our first miniature schnauzer and he will be two years old on August 24th, 2008.  He and B (below) share a birthday.
This is B.  He is my husband, my best friend, and the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life.  He is just fantastic.  In the back and to the right is the back of my head.  And here you now have a somewhat small introduction to my immediate family.  These are my boys, and I love them sooo much!

I Begin on a Somewhat Sad Note

Hello friends and family!  I have been influenced by my sister, whom we'll call Raw-Chicken, to create this blog.  As I have titled this posting I am beginning on a somewhat sad note.  Our dad, and hero, passed away recently, and I feel that it is time to share some of the photos that I have from his funeral.  Though it is sad, I feel it is only somewhat sad, as my siblings and I have grown closer.  In the picture above, my siblings and I pose in front of my dads fifth child, his 1965 Gransport Riviera at his graveside services.  From left to right we have my oldest brother, whom we'll call Arty.  Next is me, Shirt.  Next to me is good ol' Raw-Chicken.  Last but not least is my other brother, Delaware.

Though it was dad's funeral, it was a good day.  We honored him properly, and grew much closer.  What can I say other than I love these guys!