Glorious February

So far I am loving February. It has been so warm and sunny. It was above 60º today. Here is a picture of the sunny skies yesterday from work:



It feels more like May than February. It is still pretty cold at night and I have had ice on my windows in the morning. I am so in love with the weather. If this is "Global Warming" I say BRING IT ON!!! I can deal with a little less rain and a little more sun in Seattle.

Today Kelly and I took Maddy and Buster to the dog park out in Silver Firs. We normally go to Marymoore Park in Redmond. This park was much smaller but the dogs had a good time. They have been pretty quiet since then which means we did a good job wearing them out :) We also stopped by to see dad and place flowers on his grave. But he already had some that were fresh... So now I have flowers in my kitchen.

After the park we went into Seattle to have dinner with one of my co-workers. Kristina and her boyfriend Shawn drove over from Spokane for the weekend. We had a really nice dinner at Paddy Coyne's in Seattle. Dinner was really good. I started working with Kristina about a year ago. She works in sales and I have helped process some orders for her. We had never met in person so it was nice to put a face to the name.

The pub was CRaZy tonight! It was SO loud and there were people singing. I have never seen it that way, even on St. Patrick's Day.

I am not sure what we are doing tomorrow, but I am sure I will be outside in the sun. I need all the vitamin D I can get.

It's been awhile

So much has happened in the last 6 months....

2009 was such a challenging year. So many ups and downs...

(in chronological order mostly...)
The good stuff:
Getting Engaged
Planning the wedding
Trip to LA
Trip to Hawaii
All of our day trips around the state
Our Friend Sean coming home safe from Iraq
Trip to Utah
The wedding
VEGAS!!
And all the great nights out

The bad stuff:
My dad being sick
Finding out there was no surgery we could do to "fix" dad's belly
Kelly losing his job
My dad passing away

As I was making this list of all the good and bad stuff from last year it is interesting how some of the bad things also seem like good things.

First, my dad getting sick (that sounds bad.. keep reading). Watching dad struggle was the hardest thing I have done. My dad was the strongest person I knew. He could unscrew any bolt (and tighten a bolt so strong I couldn't unscrew it) or open any jar. I had seen him have surgery and not take pain med's. To me, he was Superman. Knowing there was nothing that could be done to heal him, I wanted to spend time with him. I am always so wrapped up in Whitney that I often forget that I won't always have people in my life. The last year of my dad's life I was there almost every Thursday (unless I was sick... Didn't want to pass it to him). Also, when mom wouldn't be home with him Kelly and I would go over. He didn't always need someone around to help him, but he got lonely and needed people to talk to. I am sure my mom asked us because we are the one's without kids (they take a lot of time I've heard) and our schedules are so flexible. I know my dad felt bad that he was "ruining" our night. More than once he told me that he was sorry we had to be there and that he would be OK if we left. I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen, that I loved those nights. There were even a few times I took the day off work to be with dad. Dad and I never talked about anything important but as I look back, I cherish every minute I had with him.
One of the times mom asked us to come over was on 09/15. She had things to do. Dad had gotten worse and she didn't want him alone. Kelly and I were over. My dad had gotten his appetite and taste back. He wanted milk chocolate covered cherries. I went to 9 stores to find them... Let me tell you, NO ONE had them (dark chocolate, no problem, but milk... not a chance). I finally called and told him that like it or not, he was getting homemade ones. As I was making them, Kelly mentioned chocolate covered bacon. Scott had seen something about it on TV. Dad thought that sounded interesting. So I made chocolate covered cherries, blueberries and bacon. My dad loved them, especially the bacon (it sounds gross, I know, but it is good). Kelly and I stayed at the house awhile. I didn't want to leave, but had to work early the next morning. That was the last time I saw my dad.
Being able to be of service to him up until the end was a blessing to me. He was always there to help me with anything from moving 1,000 miles to spelling. I am so thankful for all of the moments we had together, good and bad. I think that losing him quickly would have been too much to handle, but having him get sick allowed me time to show him that I love him. It also allowed other people to show how much me meant to them. There was not a single time I was at my parent's that someone wasn't stopping by to visit him. So while him being sick was bad, it was a good way to say goodbye.

Kelly losing his job is also one of the bad/good things. Bad because we need the money to live, as well as to support my shopping habits. Being on a budget does not make me happy. There are 2 reasons this was a good thing (well maybe there are more reasons, but right now, only 2 things). First, being on a budget is g...go.... good for me (even though I HATE HATE HATE it!!). I have needed to learn to control my spending for a while. This has been a great way to learn.
The other good thing is that Kelly got to take care of dad for the last month of his life. My mom had to go back to work right after Kelly got laid off. It was nice to know dad was always taken care of. And it also gave Kelly time to get to know dad better.


Now, the wedding stuff... That was ALL good!! I had a great night and I love being married to Kelly. I love being with my best friend and sharing all of our fun times together. I have all of the pictures on Facebook.. To see our wedding picture click HERE

I am hoping 2010 is a great year. We are trying to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon as soon as possible. We are just waiting to hear about a job for Kelly. I hope we get to go :)

Oh Happy Day!!

Today was a good day. I stayed home from work and spent the day with Kelly. We didn't do too much, just ran errands. After we were done with that we went to my parents. We spent the afternoon visiting with my mom and dad.

I made everyone dinner tonight (shocking, I know!!). After dinner we were all sitting around talking. My mom grabbed her camera. She said she wanted to take a picture of us sitting in front of the fireplace to remeber the day I actually cooked. Kelly was standing up but I started to sit down. I stood up and asked "Do you want to sit or stand?" He said "Well, I was thinking I could do this..." And then he got down on ONE KNEE!!!! He proposed to me in front of my parents!!!!! I said "YES!!!"

I am so happy we are getting married!!!!! And I loved that my parents were there when we got engaged. That was really important to me and Kelly. I can't wait to start all the planning. We are planning on next summer... YAYAYAYAYAYA!!!

Upcoming weekend

I am so excited for this upcoming weekend! For Christmas Kelly bought us a trip to LA, and we leave on Friday. I can't wait to get there and see sun =)

How excited am I to go?? So excited that I took Thursday off too. Just kidding. I took Thursday off so I could spend time with my dad. We don't have the specifics yet, but he will be leaving soon (hopefully) to have surgery and then recover. It is a long process and he, and my mom, should be gone for about a month. I adore my dad and I know I will miss him so I wanted to spend some time with him before he is gone. I love my mom too, but she is healthy and I will be able to call her as much as I like (yay for Verizon Wireless and unlimited IN calling).

Today was to be my last day of the month at work. But after working for about 2 hours this morning I got SUPER SUPER sick and had to come home. I felt really bad because we were so busy and there was some year-end stuff I had to rush thru with my manager that had to be done by end of month. I am starting to feel better. I have been sick off and on all month and it is really annoying. I had my yearly physical with my doctor 2 weeks ago and I am all healthy, so my never ending cold needs to go away =)

So now I am home with my dogs relaxing. I love being home with them. They are so much fun. Buster is calm and happy to lay around with me all day. Maddy is CRaZy but makes me so happy. She is always ready to play. I have already let her out 8 times to chase squirrels. She seems to be able to sense when I am bored or wanting to play because as soon as I realize it, she is bouncing up and down and getting ready to jump all over me. I love that she jumps all over me, snaps at me (playfully) and lets me push her around and never bites me. I think her favorite time is when I dance around like a crazy person (that happens a lot), she gets really excited and tries to bite my knees.

I am really looking forward to getting to LA on Friday. We are having dinner with my friend Michelle and her hubby Chris at their place that night. Chris made a tiki bar a little while ago and IO have been wanted to see it for a while. I just saw Michelle and Chris at their wedding in September, when I went down with Megan & Melissa. We didn't get to see them much because they were so busy with the wedding and honeymoon. It will be nice to spend time with them. Michelle is a great photographer and I am hoping she'll be able to get some nice shots of us while we're there.

Good Things

A few good things have happened since the last week of April.

Lets see.... After spending the weekend in Pullman with my friends (see previous post), I started thinking about my future and what I wanted to do with it. I know I need to go back to school. I have known this since I left school (which I shouldn't have done). But, I also want to go to Beauty School. It has been a dream of mine since I was about 15 or 16. My work will pay $8,000 a year for me to go to school to get a degree that is relevant to my job (communications, business, etc). And they pay up front... So I don't even have to come up with the money. So... I had a choice to make. Do I follow my dream, or get an education from an university? Well, I decided to go to university while it is still free... Besides, you are never to old to learn how to make other people look good so I can always go to beauty school later. So I applied to WSU. I am really hoping I get in. It has been a LONG time since I was in school, but I am hoping they accept most of my credits. I will keep you posted.

Last Monday, I bought a new car. I bought a 2008 Pontiac Vibe. It is SO CUTE!! It is silver (and for the record, I wasn't trying to be like Melissa, Kelly picked out the color). I took my dad shopping with me and we were able to get it about $6,000 below invoice (YAY DAD!!!). We took Buster in it yesterday. He really likes the extra room. I like that it can hold 4 adults and they all have leg room. Something my Focus did not have.

On Friday, I was again reminded that I have the best friend in the whole world. Melissa and I are HUGE Dierks Bentley fans. We have booth seen him in concert 3 times and have each met him once. She is a member of his fan club, and won 2 tickets to a private acoustic concert for 100 people. Being the wonderful person she is, she decided to take me (YAHHH WHOOO!!). I am so excited for it!! We went out shopping on Saturday and bought our outfits to wear. They are super cute.

We went to our friend's house today, Jamie and Carsten. They have been doing updates to their house and Kelly and I went out to help. I think Kelly may have helped, but Jamie and I mostly talked the whole time. But she did help me with a project. It was a lot of fun out there. Jamie and Carsten are awesome and I love hanging out with them.

After we left there, we picked up Kain, Talia and Jackson and went and saw Iron Man. I normally don't like super hero movies, but this one was really good. Jackson said it was better than Superman (GASP!). We are going to see it again on Friday at the drive-in with Team Wright, Sal & Danielle & kids, and Megan & kids. It should be a lot of fun and I am looking forward to it.

This next week should be pretty slow, but then Kelly and I have to start packing for our big move. Good thing Sal is going to help us.

Mexico part 7

I was too tired last night to post a blog... Sorry. But I am posting it now, so oh well.
It was a full day! We went mini golfing at our hotel. I think dad won (of course). We decided the course needs a lot more shade. Almost the entire thing is in the sun. After mini golfing we had some lunch and the kids swam. Then we caught the shuttle to to Beach Palace. What a beautiful beach!!
The tide was coming in at the waves were really big and really strong, but we swam anyways. I got knocked over more than once. Everytime a big wave would hit me, my swimsuit botttom would almost fall off. Megan said it wasn't a nudist beach and I said "then why does the water keep trying totake my swimsuit off me?" After the beach we swam in their pool and hung out for a while. We took the shuttle back to our hotel. We went to the fancy Mexican place for dinner.
After dinner we went to the Mayan show. The costumes were amazing! They danced and player with fire. It was great.
Today I think we are going back to the Hotel Zone to go shopping and play at the beach some more.


Megan and the kids with the Mayan dancers

Me and mom with one of the dancers The kids were being so cute on the way back. You can tell by my hair how windy it was
Dad and Talia in the pool @ Beach Palace

Me and dad in the pool @ Beach Palace
All the ladies
The Hotel Zone view from the top of the Beach Palace
Me and Megan on the roof

Megan and the kids (with mom in the back) at the beach at the Beach Palace

Mom playing in the waves

Me and Megan in our hats. They were the best at keeping the water from splashing in our face Dad and Megan in the waves
Megan gets hit by a bug one

Mexico Part 5

Hola! Today started out interesting. Megan, Jackson and I woke up to Talia informing us she had puked all over the bathroom. That meant she couldn't go out to Isla Mujeres with us. Sad face. Megan and her stayed at the hotel and relaxed. Jackson, Madre, Padre and I headed out to the island. The water was so beautiful.
Once we got there Madre & Padre went snorkeling and Jackson and I swam in the pool at a hotel there. We saw a couple of sharks. They didn't have teeth or anything. I think they are called nurse sharks or something. That was pretty cool. We also saw a Sloth (a slow moving creature from South America). I had heard of them but never seen one. They are kinda cute but have HUGE claws.
Then we went to Dolphin Discovery and we swam with dolphins. It was SOOOO awesome! Dad and Jackson did their adventure together and mom and I did ours together. We got to kiss it, dance with it, hug it, hold on to it while it took up for a ride and have it push us by our feet. It was great! I am really glad I did it! We bought some pictures of us. I haven't been able to scan them in (no scanner on vaca). But I did take a picture of the pictures... poor quality but you get the idea.
After we got back from Isla Mujeres we went swimming in the pool and then went to a show. It was pretty fun! They made people go on stage and do things like drink as fast as they can ang do music trivia. They asked for 4 people from both team with tattoos to come up on stage. I went up there, not knowing what I had to do. Well I had to dance individually and show of my tattoo as sexy as I could. So... how do you make a back tattoo look sexy? Shake your BOOTIE!!! So that is what I did. The crowd decided I did the best from my team... But the other guy beat me in the end. He took his shirt off and I didn't... I think that was the clincher.
Here are some pictures from today.


Jackson with the Sloth
Jackson on the boat back from Isla Mujeres
Megan and I at the show
Me on stage getting ready to dance
Me and Talia waiting for the golf cart to take us to our room (I do have a shirt on, I promise)
Jackson, Madre and I on the boat

Louis the dolphin is kissing me
Now I am kissing him
Mom is dancing with Louis
Jackson getting kissed by his dolphin

Mexico Part 4

Today's blog is backwards... I am starting at the end of the day and working towards the morning. We went to a Michael Jackson impersonator concert at the hotel today. It was really good. You couldn't tell it wasn't MJ until he started speaking. I am pretty sure MJ doesn't have a Mexican accent. But he nailed the "moon walk." Here are the pictures.

THRILLER!!!!!
Jackson was really excited! He loves Michael Jackson!
Me & Madre before the concert.
Megan is relaxing waiting for it to start.

This morning we were up bright and early to go "Paradise Snorkeling." We took a bus ride out to a marina and got aboard a catamaran. We went out a ways and went snorkeling. Talia and Jackson didn't like it too much and stayed on the boat most of the time. Megan saw a small shark or a baracudda (she isn't sure which). We saw a lot of gross, oh I mean pretty, fish. I freaked out at first but got more comfortable out there. They would get so close. I didn't like that at all.


Talia, Padre & Madre snorkeling

Megan & Madre on the catamaran

After snorkeling we did the coolest thing EVER!!! If you know me, you know I am UBER scared of heights. I dont even like to be up 10 stories in buildings... It is too high. Well I conqured a fear today and went PARASAILING! It was SO amazing! I didn't get scared at all when I was up. You go up 450 feet!!! WOW. Megan, Talia, Jackson & Padre all went up too. The most amazing part is that my mom was going to go too! If you know her... HOLY COW!! She didn't because when Meg tried to go with both kids a robe snapped so she went with Talia and Padre went with Jackson so Madre would have had to go alone (No thank you!). But we were all impressed she even thought about it.

Self shot at 45o feet!
Padre and Jackson in their gear
Megan, Talia and my feet. My toe nails are the same color as the water

Mexico part 3

Today was a great day.
We slept in then when to a breakfast buffet. It was a good meal. Jackson and Talia both have bigger eyes than stomachs and took way too much food. Good thing it is all included =)
After breakfast we booked all of our tours/excursions for the week. Tomorrow we are going snorkeling all day (cross your fingers that I don't have any panic attacks). Megan, the kids and dad will be going parasailing if they can. Tuesday we are going to an island (Isla Mejeras I think) to snorkel. Mom and I will be swimming with a dolphin!! I booked it today. The guy who booked it must have liked me because he gave me a 2 for 1 deal. (YAY!!!) I am really excited. Wednesday we are hanging out here again. On Thursday we are going to someplace with Ryan Mooins (Myan Ruins). I am looking forward to that. Friday we will either be at the hotel or going into the hotel zone.
Today we swam, ate, swam, ate and swam some more. In the process of swimming dad stayed his normal white tone, Talia is sunburned in some strang places (sunscreen didn't really get spread right), I am burned pretty bad for a normal person (pretty average for me) and Megan, Mom and Jackson are crispy as can be. We all wore sunscreen but not enough or too low of a SPF.
We tried out my waterproof bag for my digital camera. It worked great! I have lots of fun pictures. Here are some of them in random order....


Talia hanging out in one of the pools

Jackson and I goofing off. I love the look on his face
Jackson doing his SUUUPPPERRRRMAAANN impression
Mom and Dad relaxing on their patio
Jackson and Tali on our way to breakfast

Jackson really wanted a coconut.
Mom and Dad swimming
Dad is using Jackson as his fishing pole
Me underwater (taken with my camera in my cool bag)

Mexico Part 2

So it is 1:20 in the morning Cancun time and Megan, the kids and I are just going to bed. I don't know about them, but I am exhausted!

The plane ride was pretty cool. As we were flying over the Gulf of Mexico there was an thunder/lighting storm going on right outside the plane! We could see the tops of the clouds and millions of stars over head. I have never seen anything so amazing! I think we watched it for 30 minutes until we passed it. When were were about even with the middle of the storm clouds we watched a plane fly straight thru the middle of it! It was craziness.

We got in to Cancun around 8pm and made it to the hotel. While we were driving I made up a new word (my special talent). My new word is "Ryan Mooins." I was trying to say Myan Ruins, but Ryan Mooins came out instead. Megan said we should write a story using all the odd words I say (like Florja, campening etc). Talia made up a new word today too (a girl after my own heart!). Her word was "heatness." As in, I am suffering from my heatness. I like it and I am now going to use heatness instead of hotness.

We ate at a Caribean place tonight and the food was good. Megan didn't like that her shrimp still had it's eyes, but other than that.... lol. We walked around the hotel for a while. This place is HUGE!!! Just to give you an idea of how huge, there are 13 restruants and at least 86 hotel towers (3 stories each). We are in #85. But they have golf carts that take you around so you don't have to walk too much.

Our room is beautiful. It has a 2 person jacuzzi and a shower that is big enough for all 4 of us to fit in. There is a big patio with a nice big chase lounger on it. I am excited to relax there tomorrow. We will be staying at the hotel all day tomorrow, eating, swimming and trying not to get too burned.

Mexico part 1

Well we arrived in Mexico City! We are tired but good.

The flight was long. The stupid lady in front of me decided to lean her seat back. I HATE that! My legs touch the back of the seat when they are upright... So needless to say I was cramped. We had airplane food for breakfast. It wasn't too bad.

We touched down in Mexico City after the worse approch I have ever had. I have no issues landing when I fly, but this was horrible. But the actual landing was ok.

We are about to board our 2 hour flight to Cancun. Pool here I come!!!

Here are some pictures from Mexico City








Everyone but me outside the airport
Me & Megan outside the airport Jackson wearing Grandma's glasses
It was a long flight for Jackson too
Talia and Jackson outside the airport