The Family Statue

For the past two years there's been an ongoing joke between Dave's sister Kim, brother-in-law Tim, Dave and myself.


Tim and Kim found a statue in the attic of a house they use to live in a couple years ago.

Yep, that's him!

When we visited them a couple years ago on the east coast, they hid the statue in our bed...Creepy. Then we hid it in their shower. And they hid it in our room again.Before we went home, we hid it in their camper knowing they wouldn't find it for a while but when they did it would be GOOD! And it was.


The following Christmas, they contacted my Mom, got her address and mailed it to her house and told her to give it to us to open on Christmas morning. What a surprise! They got us.


Six months later we were in San Francisco with them. We knocked on their hotel room door, left the statue outside and RAN! They did the same thing back to us and we decided to keep it.


I left San Francisco before Dave, Tim and Kim, with the statue in my suitcase. They got to our house in San Diego a few days after me and of course, since I hadn't unpacked yet, they got in my suitcase and stole the statue. AHHHHH! Sneaky, sneaky! Dave was coming home early the next day so he and I had to start planning our revenge. Through emails we decided that I would sneak into Kim and Tim's room which was next to ours and search their luggage for the statue. They were down stairs watching a movie so into their room I went! I didn't find the statue :( We had a good feeling Tim and Kim hid it in their car so my next move was to sneak back into their room and steal their car keys. Back into their room I went and wah-la! I hit the jackpot; the keys were on the night stand. I emailed Dave to let him know I found them and here's where plan B comes into play... I kept those keys with me all night, and because I couldn't sleep from excitement, I was thinking of every possible situation. What happens when they realize the keys are gone? How are they going to get revenge? I knew they would watch me like a hawk if they realized the keys were missing. I just couldn't wait for Dave to get home in the morning to help with our next move, plan B.


Plan B: I woke up early the next morning to open our balcony door because they wake up early, and I didn't want them to hear the alarm beep when I opened it. Dave called when he pulled up in front of the house; I went on the balcony and threw the keys down to him. While he was in their car searching for the statue I went down stairs to entertain Tim and Kim. They were confused because they saw Dave walking up to the door, bend down to pick up the keys I threw to him (they landed on the grass) and turn around. They said, "Dave was walking up, then he dropped something and turned around to go back to his car." Little did they know! Dave found it in their car hidden in a back compartment. He replaced it with two care bears holding a sign that said "got ya, sucka!", and then put the statue in his truck. When Dave got inside, I eventually got him to come up stairs and he passed the keys back to me. I smoothly put them back where I found them while Kim and Tim stayed down stairs. They didn't realize the statue had been taken out of their car. They drove around for a day or so thinking it was still with them but when they found out it wasn't, they were shocked! They turned our house upside down looking for it the next day while we were working, but didn't find it. We've had it ever since!


After Kim and Tim left the joke continued. Dave opened his locker at work and you'll never guess what he saw...the care bears! Tim and Kim somehow got the number of Dave's co-worker, met up with him, gave him the care bears and asked him to hide them on the ship where Dave would find them. Crazy!

Today, 1.5yrs later, Kim asked me to scan her a drawing of a poster we're creating for work, so I sent her a picture of the statue. I just wanted to refresh her memory and make sure she didn't forget about our little joke. She sent me a text message that said “okay, it's a little different then I remember us talking about on Friday (the drawing). Do you think a big poster would work or is it a little creepy?!" I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt!


Stay tuned for more of my statue diaries...


Dun dun dunnnnnn,


CW

The official meeting

As you may know, Dave and I decided to try and conquer our front yard situation Saturday. Once we started raking leaves, all of our neighbors slowly started coming out of their homes. It was neat because we got to meet each of them and their kids. The couple who live directly across the street from us are retired. We only met the man and he use to be in the Navy. We also met two other families; next door to us (marines) and a couple down the street. I'm so glad we were outside that day. Our neighborhood really came alive! Two days after meeting the retired couple across the street, the man brought us some brownies with a note that said "Welcome!" We thought that was really kind. I'm going to bake cookies to fill their container and return it to them with a note that says "thank you!"

Remember when I said I was waiting for our "baked goods welcome?" Well, ha! Told ya it would happen! They just had to meet us first, decide they liked us and...wha-la! Brownies! And, boy are they yuuuuummy!

I hope we have more days like Saturday. It was great meeting and getting to know all of them and to know we're all here for each other. I have to say, we picked an awesome neighborhood!

Gotta run!

CW

Not this one

Dave is on his way to the hospital to have surgery on his wrist and I wish I was with him. I have to be at school within the hour and I'm hoping I'll get out of school in time to see him before they do the operation. I'm sad that I'm not with him especially since their putting him under.

On a funny note, when he left this morning he had "not this one" written on his other wrist to make sure the Dr's get the right one. He makes me laugh :)

Must turn off American Idol and finish getting ready for school. Have a wonderful day and I'll update you soon!

CW

Dining Room Table

We got a new dining room table and we love it! Our house is finally starting to look like a home, yay!

Crazy Time

So I wish I could give you an interesting update on the last few days but I just don't think it's gonna happen...sorrrrry. However, I did have a wonderful weekend with Dave. Here's the update minus the interesting part:

I am busy, busy, busy! Between school, studying, homework, work, house / yard work and all of my wifely duties, I'm trying to make sure I set aside at least 1-2 hours of down time per/day; a little in the am and a little in the pm. I have one week left of school then it's time for tests. Crazy!

I am so grateful that I am busy right now! It's just the way I like it to be on the weekdays. School is overwhelming at the moment but it will get better and I will conquer! 

I'm off to read other blogs now. I hope you had a nice weekend and I'll catch up with you again soon :-)

C doubleya

February, oh my!

February already looks like it's going to be awesome! So many great things to look forward to and a packed schedule.

Stay tuned,
Cw

Gardening and all that jazz

Dave and I were working out in our yard yesterday and discovered a couple plants/shrubs/weeds that we're unsure about. We don't know what plants go dormant for the winter then come back in the spring but if it was up to me, I'd rip it all out (except the bushes) and start over. Dave and I want our yard to look neat and less cluttered. So, I am enlisting the help of my blog readers/followers to help us! I have posted a couple pictures in hopes you could tell me, 1) What it is and 2) What we should do with it. Let the ideas begin!

Please let us know what you think :)

  

Confession #2

Other than being addicted to cereal, I'm addicted to cheese and ice cream, BIG time! I know I could've named my blog "Cheese Writer" or "Ice Cream writer" but in the end, I love cereal the most.

CW

New beginnings

Since I'm starting fresh out here on the east coast, I'm taking steps to build my life here. I think I'm finally beginning to slowly peel the covers from over my head.

Here are a few of my new adventures:

* Haircut and color tomorrow, can't wait. Fresh start, fresh do! Any ideas? In case you don't know me, I'm workin with medium length blond hair, round face and brown eyes.

*Joining the neighborhood rec center- Ready to get my fitness on and meet new humans, not Avatars.

*Work has been a great way to get me out of bed and give me some direction. Plus I'm working with a really cool chick.

*Got an oil change at Jiffy Lube today. It was an awkward experience...maybe because they have billboards that say "who lubes you? Jiffy Lube."

*This is my second week of school and it's keeping me SO busy! There is a really nice girl in my class. Since I'm on the market for friends and I think she's elligible, I was going to see if she wanted to be my studdy-buddy, without sounding creepy, desperate or lesbian-ish. 

*Bought a plane ticket home today! Can't wait to see my family and friends!

I must get to bed now so I can wake up bright and early to have coffee with my love.

Good night,

CW

Electronics

My electronics are always on the verge of dying but Dave's electronics always have a full charge...probably because hes nerdier. Same goes for our gas tanks in our cars. He fills his when it gets to 1/4 tank but I like to live on the edge :-)

Saturday fun

Good morning! It's 29 degrees and very windy outside.Dave and I decided to go for a run this morning. Well, he ran and I rode my bicycle. I have on 3 layers, muffs , gloves and I still got beat up by the wind. Dave wears 1 layer on the bottom, two on top and no ear or hand protection. Lets just say, he was hurting!

It's time for breakfast and yes, it's Honey Bunches of oats in case you were wondering.

Then we're off to check on Dave's job site and to the niece and nephew's sports activities.

Oh and, tonight we planned movie night with the whole family. I'm pretty excited!

Enjoy your Saturday and as a good friend of mine would say, there's only one more day till Monday :-)

BBFN,

CW

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

In an effort to not be "negative Nancy" I keep most of my posts on the lighter side and write about all the wonderful things in my life (I have many). I am so grateful for everyone and everything in my life and I do my very best not to take it for granted. With that said, I'm allowed to have bad days...

The truth is, in the past few weeks I have had a lot of anxiety, tears, frustration, stress, loneliness, fear, and self pity which is taking a toll on my health. And in between all of the words above, I've had a lot of excitement, laughter and love. This move has been very overwhelming for me and completely shaken me up. I feel bad that Dave is on the front line of my melt downs but thankfully he understands.

I know it will all come together in time...I'm just impatient. Now that I got all of the depressing stuff out of the way, I will tell you about my week so far.

Dave and I returned home from Indiana late Sunday night. On Monday we woke up to a 50 degree house. We ran out of heating oil (still confused as to what heating oil is) in the middle of the night which was one of the coldest nights this winter. Once I finally talked myself into getting one of my legs out from underneath the comforter, I was able to beat my fastest "getting dressed" record. In fact, I think Dave and I were both dressed and out of the house in record time. We couldn't wait to get in the car and turn on the heat. We went to the college and waited in lines for 3.5hrs. Monday was one of those days where we were running around doing a lot of things but most of it was waiting on others and not much was getting accomplished. At the college, while standing in the cashiers line, we realized that my one, I repeat, ONE class would cost us $900...you read it right. I can't get in state tuition until we receive a specific letter from Dave's ship and they aren't being helpful at all. Thankfully, during the time at the college, we were able to get Dave enrolled in a couple classes through his GI BILL. That was great news! Dave and I both intended on going in to work after this visit but by the time we finished, the work day was almost over.

After calling around to several oil companies who wouldn't do a same day delivery (not a very good first impression), we finally found one that would. When I saw the oil truck pull up I started yelling "Dave, the oil man is here! The oil man is here!" I was on the phone with my Mom at the time and she said "it sounds like you're living out in the middle of nowhere." Now, they say oil is still the cheapest way to heat your home. It didn't feel like the cheapest way when we paid $400 two months ago and another $400 on Monday. This is to fill our 150 gallon tank. That seems quite expensive to me! Once the oil man left, we couldn't get our furnace to start. We called for service and a nice man showed up about 2hrs later. He was so nice that he charged us $150 to leak the air out of our pipes; a 4 min job. At the end of the night, heat and all, Dave and I sat on the couch feeling screwed. I'm pretty sure that's exactly what we were. Heating oil is very foreign to us right now but we're doing our research and Dave took lessons from the repair man so we won't have to pay an arm and a leg for 3 min of work again! The moral of the story; don't let your heating oil run out. The other moral of the story; heating oil is a scam ;)

Instead of focusing on the things we weren't able to accomplish Monday morning, we started focusing on our home in the afternoon. We unpacked more boxes and cleaned. It felt so good to have a clean and less cluttered home. And on top of that, we accomplished a lot which felt great after our morning.

Yesterday I decided I wanted to get my real estate license and work on a team with my sister-in-law. I started the 4wk course today and I'm pumped about it! I missed Monday because on Monday I didn't know that's what I wanted to do and there were consequences for that...a lot of homework. I have been working to catch up on it but I took a break to write this post. I got a little overwhelmed with everything and usually when that happens I write...lucky you if you're even still holding on. The not so awesome thing about taking this class is that I've taken it online in two different states. The awesome thing about taking this class again is that I remember a lot of the material. Today, my life went from 0-60 all in one day. Aside from my new school schedule and intense studying, I started working again after the holidays. I am really enjoying the current work projects

If you made it this far, I'm shocked. I hope you're week is going well. Always remember to be kind to yourself and cut yourself some slack when you get stressed, sad or overwhelmed.

Back to the books!

CW

Confession #1

I think I'm finally starting to overcome my dislike of public restrooms...Do I really have a choice? Jeeze! ;-)

Indiana Shenanigans

Dave and I are on the road again...what's new!? You know how they (whoever "they" are) say you never stop learning new things about your spouse? Well that statement is so true. True as in, Dave knows every word to Donna Lewis' "I love you always and forever." He won the sing off, in case you were wondering. I find him hilarious, most of the time, and this was one of those moments. Which reminds me, on our first date he played a cd full of awkward love songs titled "this should make everything awkward", knowing first dates are usually very awkward. At that point I had two realizations; 1) He was hilarious and 2) I loved him!

We are headed home from Indiana with 11hrs remaining. We were there for our friend's wedding. We had a blast with all of our other friends that came from San Diego! They took us to an awesome dive bar to ring in the new year, ate tons of Steak and Shake at 2am, braved the single digit weather and laughed and partied A LOT! We have a great amount of love in our hearts for our friends and can't wait to see them again! A part of us is still in San Diego with all of them.

I very seldom have an idea of where my post will end up, once I start it, kind of like my life. If you're reading this, I hope you can keep up with me :-)

I'll be back again soon to fill you in on my new year resolutions...maybe!

CW