update

So it has been a little over a month since my last post. AND boy what a month it has been. I have so much to write about...but not right now...stay tuned for future posts. I am currently in El Paso, TX for Husband's brother's wedding. It is a little down time from my exhausting job (yup, that's right, I have a job) but so far has not been at all relaxing. Anyway...here is a little text conversation I had with Husband yesterday. It may (or may not) shed some light on what I have been doing with myself. Me: My whole body hurts this morning. I have bruises EVERYWHERE! Husband: That's not good. Why are you all banged up? M: Horses. H: Why of course. M: I even have bruises on the insides of my thighs from riding James. H: (the sound of crickets) M: Oh...and James is a horse...NOT a man. H: HaHa! Okay...I was like WHAT?!?!?! I am happy you are working with horses again.

home again, home again...

…Jiggity Jig! After 15 days, 9 states, and 4328 miles, we are finally home. Although we spent 5 days in El Paso and another 5 days in Denver, it felt as if we spent the entire 15 days in a vehicle. We were always on the go, doing this and that, meeting up with people. The driving to and fro was never ending. We had a very low key time in Denver. It was a week that was all about Husband. We made sure that he got to see the people that mean the most to him. We had dinner one night with his doubles volleyball partner and her fiancé, and another night he got to play with his sand volleyball team. He had a lot of fun that night. It also made his realize just how much he missed his life in Colorado. We got to experience typical spring time Colorado weather. March is typically Colorado’s snowiest month…and it did not disappoint. The last day we had some business to take care of in the morning and some happy hour action planned for the evening. We set out that morning in heavy snow fall with a nice side of fog. We were on our way home from our morning meeting when while going about 60 on the highway my engine quits. QUITS! I get pulled over to the side of the road and Husband and I sit there looking at each other. Never have I been more thankful for a cell phone with 3G service. I get started on finding a tow truck to pick us up is a snow storm and Husband starts calling nearby repair shops. Now while breaking down is not lucky, we were able to get a tow in under 45 minutes, which in a snow storm is lucky. He happened to be close by, otherwise it would have been a 6 hour wait. The bad news was that my fuel pump had gone out and it was looking like we were not going to be on the road at 6 am the next morning. The repair shop wanted to get us the truck back that night, but as the day progressed it became clear that just wasn't going to happen. Good news is that my winter driving skills are still intact and with the use of my mom's car I got us to happy hour on time. Also...I did some name dropping and was able to get a discount on the repairs. We got on the road 6 hours late, but managed to make good time and got home exactly when we thought we would. Don’t get me wrong, I love being on vacation, but I love coming home more. Man it is going to feel so good to sleep in our own bed tonight.

Carlsbad Caverns

I’m not gonna lie, when it was first suggested that we go to Carlsbad I was not all “WOOHOO let’s go to a cave”. I guess going into caves can be added to my list of irrational fears. Caves are dark, dank, and down right creepy. There are things in caves that could jump out of the darkness and onto to you. Really, what it is to keep a stalactite from dropping from the roof of the cave and impaling you…WHAT I ask you? But we went to the big cave anyway. When I say big cave I mean super giant, humongous, gargantuan cave. I knew it was big, I just didn’t know it was that BIG. And thank goodness it was so big…because this is one gal you are not going to find spelunking. As we enter this HUGE cave, I cannot help but to wonder aloud about the odds of the ceiling falling down on us. Husband looked at me (I am guessing he looked at me as it was very dark) and said that maybe I should not be thinking like that…and while I was at it maybe I should keep my irrational fears to myself…and hows about I busy myself with snapping photos instead of trying to freak myself out. So I snapped some photos. Well what I actually did was point my camera into the darkness and hoped I would get something worth looking at. After playing with settings and shutter speed I got a lot of dark blurry images. I also got a few really cool ones too. I loved all textures and how alive the cave felt. I have never been someplace that felt so other worldly. It was truly amazing. All in all I was very happy with our cave excursion. I want to thank my in-laws for taking us up there. If I ever get the chance to go back I need to remember to bring a tripod, a shoe-mount flash, and maybe a macro lens. That’s not too much extra to carry a mile down into the ground is it? If the mood strikes, you can look at some of the other images I took here.

Bucket

This handsome devil is named Bucket. He is a very sweet boy.

PRESENTS!!!

I just received a box full of beautifully wrapped Christmas presents from my mom. As much as I would love to tear into them now I decided to let the anticipation build…which is hard for me. So instead I stacked them in a neat pile where I would have put the tree had I put one up. Husband and I decided against gifts this year but thanks to our parents we will still have something to look forward to Christmas morning. It took me a long time to learn to appreciate not knowing exactly what was under the tree. I like to know what is coming to me and always have to know the who, what, where, and when. You can ask Husband and Jenn about the months of planning and covert ops that go into surprising me with anything. It is like I have a sixth sense about when a present is brought into the house. I must then sniff it out and find out what it is. As a child I learned to peel the tape away from the wrapping paper so I could pull it back a bit to see what goodies were hiding underneath. My early attempts were sloppy. So sloppy that my mom could easily see that the presents had been tampered with. In fact there was one year that she had to completely rewrap all of my presents to throw me off on Christmas morning. But in time I got better at covering my tracks. I would say that between the ages of 6-13 I always knew exactly what I was getting. Now you may say that this takes all the fun out of Christmas...but for me half the fun was the thrill of the hunt. I recently posted this photo of us three kids sitting in front of the tree Christmas morning as my Facebook profile picture. You can see I have a present in my lap and an evil grin on my face. It is because I know that in that box is Dallas the palomino Barbie horse. And below this photo are a few of the comments made by my sister, brother, and mom. I can see that the wounds of my “detective work” are still a little fresh for my mom. P.S. I did get over the whole snooping thing...eventually

thnxgving

The meal has been eaten and the leftovers are stored away. I am sitting here with a glass of wine watching the Broncos play the Giants. It has been a nice relaxing day of cooking and watching football. Just me and Husband. This is my first Thanksgiving spent away from family. It has me feeling a little sad and a little guilty. Now that all three of us kids live out of state my mom was alone today. When I spoke to her today she told she is okay and I should not feel guilty…but I can’t help it. We were also invited to Husband’s brother house with the rest of his family. We so wanted to go but flights from Seattle to Dallas were ridiculously expensive. Again the guilty feeling creeps in. I have grown so used to having a house full of people and I am really missing that this year. It felt weird to cook the traditional Thanksgiving dinner for just the two of us. I guess it would have been even weirder not to. I made our favorite things and did it the way my mom would. If I can’t be with her at least I can carry on her traditions. Tomorrow we will cook up the leftovers with a Mexican twist to carry on Husband’s family traditions. It has been a trying year for Husband and I. We have a lot to be thankful for. You know…a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, clothes on our backs, and all that jazz. Mostly I am thankful that we have had each other to lean on these last 12 months. Our relationship has been one of the only things that we have not had to worry about. It is good to know that even if we have nothing else that we will always have each other. It makes all the crap that life throws at us a little more bearable. Okay…I am done being sentimental and am going to go have some pie. Mmmmmmmmm pie!

Married? Married!

Elope Pronunciation: \i-ˈlōp\ Function: intransitive verb Inflected Form(s): eloped; elop·ing Etymology: Anglo-French aloper, esloper to abduct, run away Date: 1628 1 : to slip away 2 : to run away secretly with the intention of getting married Yeah...sooooooo...there you have it. Husband (aka Fiance, aka Boyfriend) and I got married last Friday, October 9th 2009 at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Golden, Colorado. There was no fan fare and we both wore jeans. There were maybe five people that knew what we were up to. In a way we wanted to have it be something that was between just the two if us, and the lady that took our money, and well Jenn cuz she was there too snapping photos, but really it was just a moment for me and him. I got myself a good man and a cool new last name with one of those little squiggle things above one of the n's. ©2009 Jenn LeBlanc Oh...and mark your calender for June 25th 2011 because we are going to have one hell of a party when Husband get back from doing things overseas that I am not allowed to talk about.

I just can't get enough

Nineteen years ago when I was 14 I saw Depeche Mode for the first time with my sister at Red Rocks. Last week we took my 13 year old niece to see Depeche Mode here in Seattle. I have seen close to a hundred different bands live and have seen some really good shows. I am going to have to say that this was one of my favorites because I got to see it through the eyes of my niece and it was like taking a step back in time. Very cool.

the best thing to happen to Forks, WA

I like a good vampire story as much as the next guy. I loved the movie Lost Boys and I own (yes own) all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I never read any of the Anne Rice vampire books, but did see Interview with a Vampire. And even though I had not read the books I still could not buy Tom Cruise as Lestat. Brad Pitt as Louis on the other hand…now that is a hot vampire. The Twilight Saga was first brought to my attention a few years ago by my friend Theresa; the same person who got me hooked on Buffy. She had read the first two and was reading the third. She outlined the story for me and it sounded interesting. I thought maybe I would stop by the bookstore and pick up Twilight. When Theresa told me I would have to look for them in the young adult section I heard the squealing of breaks in my head and thought maybe not. As of this last spring I believe I was the only female I knew who had not read these books. Friend: “Have you read Twilight?” Me: “No”. Friend: “What? They are the best books EVER in the history of books. Such a romantic love story and they get pretty steamy”. Me: “Steamy…how can that be…they are books written for tweenagers…and isn’t Stephenie Meyer a Mormon”? Friend: “Oh…but they are soooooooooooooo good!!!” No matter how hard I was pressured I could not bring myself to read a bunch of books written for 13 year old girls. I was standing my ground firmly and was not going to give in to reading them. EVER! Then my sister Rebecca called and asked if I wanted to see Depeche Mode in August. What does seeing Depeche Mode have to do with Twilight you ask? Well nothing really. It just meant that the show was in Seattle, which is in Washington. You know what else is in Washington? Forks…the town in which the Twilight saga is based. My 13 year old niece Amarah would be accompanying my sister to Washington. She had read all the books, is Twilight crazy, she loves Edward Cullen and she wanted to go to Forks. My sister had also read them and was up for it. Hmmmm…maybe I would have to read at least the first book to see what all the craziness is about. Fiance and I went down to El Paso the next week to visit with family. My future sister in law Christy had just started reading Twilight and was discussing it with my future mother in law Lupe. Lupe had read all four books and had loved them. She offered them to me and at first I politely declined. But as the week wore on and the conversations continued my curiosity got the best of me. I picked up that first book and read the first hundred pages. It was okay, the story moved along slowly but it was keeping my interest. Upon my departure Lupe gave me the first 3 books. I would have to buy the fourth book as she had given that one to Christy, who could not check it out from the library at the school she taught at because of sexual content. So over the course of the next four weeks I read the four books of the Twilight saga. My official opinion of the books…MEH. Yeah that’s right I said MEH! I had been duped. I read 2560 pages waiting for it to get good. They all said it was good, when does it get good?!?!? Oh…and that steamy sexual content...it’s implied…no actual sex. Every time I would get frustrated with the story line I would have to remind myself that these books are written for 13 year old girls and not the adult women that are so ga-ga over them. But I digress. And because I am a good Auntie, this past Saturday we hopped into my SUV for the four hour drive to Forks. Amarah’s excitement started to build as we drove through Port Angeles, the town where Edward saves Bella from the near do well bad guys and takes her for mushroom ravioli. 54 miles and a scenic drive along Crescent Lake (very pretty) in the Olympic National Park later we rolled into Forks. We pulled along side the road with about 20 other vehicles to take pictures of the Welcome to Forks sign. As soon as Amarah was out of the truck she let out an excited, girlish squeal. We had to wait a short line before she was able to go up and stand in front of the sign. I took pictures for the teenage girls in front of us and upon seeing them they thanked me with a swirl or screams and giggles. This was just a small taste of what was to follow once we got into town. There is an actual Twilight tour that you can take out of Port Angeles for about $40 per person. We figured with Forks being such a small town that we could find our way around. Everyone in this town, and I mean everyone is finding a way to cash in on the whole Twilight mania. You cannot walk into a business without there being some sort of Twilight angle. The Ace Hardware for instance has a put up a sign that says Newton’s Sporting Goods and you can go inside to have your picture taken in Bella’s work smock. So we drove around town and hit some of the main attractions. Amarah did not want to see any of the houses that they were trying to pass off and the Swan’s and the Cullen’s because in her words they were ghetto. We started off at the visitor’s center where Bella’s truck is parked. While not the same make or model described in the book, it is red and that is enough for most Twihards. (yes that is Fiance you see in the back ground. I forced him to come along for this unique experience). Next stop was the High School... Then on to the police department… and the Hospital... We then walked up and down the main drag and wandered in and out of stores. There is one store that is dedicated to all things Twilight which was jam packed with fans and more Twilight crap than you could shake a stick at. Fiance and I did a quick look around and then sat back to watch the pandemonium. Amarah purchased a New Moon poster and some mints that said Mrs. Cullen. As they were checking Rebecca commented to the girl ringing them up how crazy it must be in town on the weekends. She replied by saying it was crazy in town all the time. It will die down a little once school starts but ramp up again once the New Moon movie is released. And you know what that means….more $$$!!! planter boxes outside the Twilight store By this point we were starving and had lunch at the Forks Coffee Shop. I wish I had taken pictures of this place…it was a hole. I don’t think that any repairs or updates have been made to this place in…well ever. Don’t let the pictures on the website fool you. While the food was good you can tell that the prices have gone up along with the number of people coming through town. After lunch we headed south to La Push home of the Quileute Tribe (and Jacob Black) to see First Beach. Once Crossing the Treaty Line (ha ha) the drive to the beach is beautiful. The weather was less than ideal for a day at the beach but it did not take away from the beauty of it. I would say that First Beach made the whole trip worth the drive. From La Push we headed the four hours home. It was an interesting experience to say the least. We had a good day and it way kind of cool to experience something that my niece is really into. Oh…and for the record…Team Jacob!!!

tennis

an exchange while watching a rebroadcast of the Federer/Nadal finals match from last years Wimbledon this morning.

Fiance: Why are they showing this? Where are today's matches?

Me: Maybe there is a rain delay

F: Nadal won this last year right?

M: I think Federer did.

F: NO if this is last year's match NADAL won.

M: Well if you knew that then why the f*ck did you ask me?

apparently I make really good eggs...

Last Thursday stared off like any other day the only exception being it was Fiance's birthday. We stuck to our usual routine. Fiance gets up and hops in the shower, I get up make coffee, his lunch and breakfast. This morning I made one of his favorites; eggs over easy, sausage and wheat toast. While he eats he watches Sports Center while I tidy up the kitchen. We decide because I am going to meet him for lunch that I will go ahead and drive him to work this morning. Normal morning chit chat continues, nothing seems out of the ordinary. That is until I head to the bedroom to make the bed. It is then that Fiance intercepts me. He pulls me into an embrace and following exchange went a little something like this... Fiance: I like waking up next to you. Me: I like waking up next to you too. (I try to back out of the embrace) F: You made really good eggs this morning. M: ummmm...okay (I try to back away again...I mean I have an unmade bed to make) F: I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I give him a "whatchoo talkin' about Willis" look as he pulls a white box out of his pocket, did he buy me some earrings or maybe a necklace? F: With that being said...(he drops to one knee)...will you marry me? He opens the box, I see the ring, and I lose it. Tears streaming down my face I nod and mouth the word yes. He slips the ring on my finger which is followed by lots of hugging, kissing, and more tears. He had been planning this since February. We had never even gone to look at rings together. He had enlisted the help of my friend Jenn to run reconnaissance to find out what styles and cuts I liked and my ring size. They referred to the surprise mission as Operation Busty Housewife which is based off of one of my tweets. And boy did he catch me by surprise. He had been talking about taking a trip this fall and I thought that he would pop the question then. Turns out he was just trying to throw me off the track. He did an awesome job and I love my ring. Fiance isn't always all that romantic; but this was better than anything I could have asked for. I am looking forward to the happily ever after.

convo with my 13 year old neice

11:05am Melinda
you are lucky you have good genes...
your mom and I do not look as old as we are

11:05am Amarah
yeah- i look older than i am though

11:05am Melinda
so did I when I was younger

11:05am Amarah
a sixteen year old guy was flirty with me

11:05am Melinda
STAY AWAY FROM BOYS

11:05am Amarah
??????????????
why?

11:06am Melinda
I wasted too much time on boys when I was a teenager
I wish I would have paid more attention to my studies

11:06am Amarah
at least i have a 4.0


She appears to have her head screwed on way straighter than I did at her age.

Like Christmas Morning

Boyfriend has been in California for the past two weeks and contact has been very limited. He is coming home today. I liken the anticipation of seeing him to the same feeling a kid gets on Christmas morning before heading down stairs to see what Santa brought. I can't wait!!!

Chico's Tacos

Every time I would tell someone who used to live in El Paso that I was heading down they would always ask if I was going to go to Chico's Tacos. Boyfriend has talked this place up to me a millions times...yet we would never seem to make it there when in town. So yesterday while out looking a wedding venues Lupe took us to Chico's Tacos. Their tacos are basically a fried flauta. Us white folk call them taquitos and buy them frozen in large boxes at Costso when we have parties. You get three tacos per order smothered in a red chili sauce and cheese with a side of jalapeno sauce to pour over the top. Add a side of fries and an icy coke and you are set. They were pretty good...but not something I could eat everyday. I think they would best hit the spot after a night at the bar. I am glad to get yet another El Paso institution under my belt.

Sister

My sister Rebecca got into town last night from Sun Valley, Idaho. Now that we are adults we have a very close relationship. When we were kids that was not the case. Okay that is not entirely true, we were very close until she turned 12 and realized how uncool little sisters were. There are about 5 years in between us and those 5 years really made a difference until I was about 22. Until then we really did not have much to do with one another. I am not sure what changed between us but I am really glad that we have the relationship that we do...or had once she sees the picture I am posting. Rebecca circa 1987

I LOVE CAKE

There is an episode of That 70's show where Donna and Eric are sitting in the VistaCruiser talking about how her parents are driving her nuts. Donna then tells Eric that she loves him, to which Eric responds I love...cake. I told Boyfriend that I loved him last September to which he replied "That's nice to hear". Uhhhhh...what?!?!?! He did eventually tell me he loved me...and it only took him until MAY. Back to cake. Boyfriend has a birthday coming up. When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said a chocolate cake with lots of frosting. HA HA!!! I am getting off so easy. I don't have to rack my brain thinking of a meaningful gift . I just have to make a cake. So I woke up at 6 am this morning to bake him a Devil's Food cake from scratch. Frosted it with chocolate cream cheese frosting also made from scratch. I then melted semi-sweet chocolate over a double boiler and hand dipped strawberries to put on top of the cake. The finished product looks like this: Not too shabby if I do say so myself. The cake turned out super moist and weighs about 14 lbs because of all the frosting and strawberries. Oh and if Boyfriend thinks that he can pass off crappy baked goods as my birthday present he is sorely mistaken.

The Murph

This is Murphy...and up until May 31 I was lucky to have her by my side for the last 12 years. I have had a rough go this last year or so and she silently helped me through the hardest times. Sounds crazy but I don't know what I would have done had I not had her greeting me at the door every night. I am going to miss that silly puppy.