More about the Morris'

Welcome to the Boat Show

2012-02-08T09:15:00.000-06:00

This weekend I caught a ride with the Perkins to Tulsa and spent the weekend with Ashley and Alex. Alex really wanted to go to the boat show, mostly to show Ashley his dream boat. So, to the boat show we went. Of course I love being on the water, but the chances of Bryan and me buying a boat are very very slim. On the other hand, Ashley and Alex chances of purchasing a boat are much more promising. My idea of a boat would be one with enough room to lay out and relax, perhaps a Yacht? A yacht would be fantastic! But, on the more practical side, a ski boat will suffice. We stayed at the boat show for almost three hours (at least that is what it seemed, an eternity) and I managed to find the one girly booth and bought some Scentsy. After the boat show we went to a home goods market, had lunch at the Ripe Tomato, and then, possibly the most productive part of the weekend was our shopping trip to BabiesRUs. Later we dined with Alex's parents and then capped off the weekend by watching KU lose to Missouri.

Practical? Maybe not, but who would not enjoy boating on this?

Welcome to the 3rd Trimester

2012-01-29T12:27:00.002-06:00

This week marks the start of my 3rd trimester. At 28 weeks my belly has not changed much since last week, but I have noticed I have been knocking it on doors because I am not used to needing so much clearance. Co-workers are not use to me taking up so much space either because I have been knocked into the printer by one of them backing into me. Other than big belly issues, not much has changed. I had another 3D Ultrasound done last week, but we were not able to get a good picture of his face because he was chewing on the cord the whole time with the cord bunched in front of his face. He is a stubborn boy, that is for sure. He is also, I'm guessing, practicing his swimming strokes because he is all over the place.

26/27 Weeks

2012-01-23T18:57:00.003-06:00

This week I am now in my 27th week of pregnancy, it's moving along pretty fast especially since they have moved my due date up so I skipped week 26. The boy has been on the move pretty much all day long every day. We had our first 3D ultrasound done last week and will have another since the little man was moving around so much so that we could not get a clear picture. I am waiting for the phenomenon called 'nesting' to begin because a lot needs to be done around the house and especially the nursery. We have a crib, but it is in pieces and who knows when we will get it put together. So much to do but I am feeling so lazy. On a work note, my request to split my maternity leave up was approved so I will be taking 8 weeks full-time and then 8 weeks part-time off. So, if little man Morris plans on making his grand appearance around the April 24th then I will be back to work full-time around the end of August/beginning of September.

Last picture with the purple shirt, on the recommendation to wear a tighter one by Mrs. Perkins, plus I look thinner in the white anyways.

3D Ultrasound, take 1

2012-01-23T16:19:00.000-06:00

For a surprise gift to Bryan, I had 3D ultrasound photos taken of the little man. So, far every ultrasound that we have had his face has been tucked or buried and we never are able to get a shot of his face. This time we were a little more successful, but he would not stop moving so that we could get a clear shot of his face. Seriously, for a solid hour he was on the move. But, this seems to be his routine, always on the move...at least I am able to sleep at night without being woke up by the movement. Anyways, the company is offering me another session for free in hopes that we can get a clear picture of his face. Let's hope this time he stays still for at least 30 seconds.

I am pretty sure he is doing the 'tebow' in this picture or just flexing his biceps

Peace Out!

Breckenridge 2012

2012-01-23T15:57:00.000-06:00

Martin Luther King weekend marked our annual trip to Breckenridge. This trip was not the same as the years before because we were missing three important vacationers: Ashley, Emily, and Josh, and of course I am pregnant so I really could not do any activities outdoors, so I stayed inside and relaxed all weekend. Relaxing was my goal and I managed to stick with it and only left the coziness of the condo on two occasions. One occasion was to go eat at Downstairs at Eric's. I'd like to say that the food at Downstairs at Eric's was as great as years before, however with my pregnancy taste buds, it was not :( . And, the second trip out of the condo was to find the little man a Breckenridge onesie. Of course, I could not forget about Miss Kinley, so matching onesies for the future snowboarders!

This trip was also vastly different because I took close to zero photos. Yes, you read that correctly, I probably only took three photos and two were of my dogs! It's a travesty, I know. Next year I will make up for my photographing lapse. This year our group included: Bryan, Alex, Rainbow, Jason, Garrett, Youssef, Jessica, Joe, Tim, and me. Next year our group should resume as normal and will include two newbies: Kinley and baby boy Morris, which should prove to be an interesting trip with two little ones!

25 weeks....well maybe

2012-01-18T16:04:00.002-06:00

Today we had our monthly check up and a repeat ultrasound. The little man was on the move the entire time and Bryan got to see first hand how he moves, which is all the time. We got to see mostly everything this time, but he still had his face buried or tucked down most of the time, so we were not able to get a great shot of his face. However, we did get to see a profile of his face and he is looking pretty cute! He has grown a pound this month and is at 1 lb 14 oz and his measurements are all over the place:

Femur : 27 1/2 weeks
Tibia:    26 1/2 weeks
Belly:    24 weeks and 5 days
Head:   25 weeks
Heart rate: 147bpm

Needless to say my due date has moved up and is now April 24th instead of the 29th, so I guess I am in my 26th week rather than 25th? I am still not very big, my circumference (I think that is what she was measuring) measured at 24" and weight gain is 10.5 lbs. The tech attempted to get some 3D shots, but he was not in the right position for a good face shot or any other shots. But, he for sure is still a BOY, has an awesome looking heart, and does not have a cleft palate.  That was probably my last ultrasound, so the development from herein out will be a surprise at delivery, which will be sooner than expected!

24 weeks and a Belly

2012-01-08T18:13:00.002-06:00

I have reached 24 weeks today and I sort of have a belly. Although my belly is growing, I think it just looks like I have been eating too many cheeseburgers, but I am posting a photo because many have been insisting I start posting some belly shots. As you can tell from Emily's 6 month post, no two women have the same pregnancy belly. I will try to post a photo from now on about every other week....that's the goal anyways. We have another doctors appointment on the 18th for another ultrasound and check-up, so hopefully we will have some better ultrasound photos to post than we did last appointment.

23 Weeks

2012-01-03T11:50:00.002-06:00

This week I am in my 23rd week of pregnancy. My belly has finally grown, although I do not have the cute baby bump yet and with this growth has forced me to for the first time of the pregnancy to wear maternity pants. they make me feel like I am wearing grandma pants, but they are much more comfortable. The only complaint of this pregnancy is the heartburn, which has gotten much worse, to the point that I wake up every morning around 3:30 am with the worst chest pain imaginable. Although it seems worse when I am sleeping, my heartburn goes strong all day long. I have been taking TUMS, but I think now it is time to move on to something stronger.
The little man is on the move all the time, it seems he never takes a break from the constant kicking, punching, or somersaulting and I can see him squirming even over my clothing. I can already tell he is going to be just like his Dad, always on the move. :) Kinley Perkins better enjoy this time of being the only baby around because once this little boy is old enough he is going to be quite the handful and will want to have a play-mate all the time.
Over New Years Holiday, Aunt Ashley and Uncle Alex were also able to feel the little man moving around, which made this the first time Alex has felt a baby move. We attempted to hear his heartbeat with a stethoscope, but that attempt was not successful. I am also trying to listen to as much classical music as I can, even though there is not solid proof that this does anything for babies, I do feel it calms myself and Bryan down a bit.
Celebrating New Years 2013 will be a rather different experience for Bryan and me. I predict we will spend it with Baby Morris, Josh, Emily, Kinley, Lance, Stacey, and Baby Meyer. Sounds like a fantastic way to ring in the next New Year!

The Big Reveal

2011-12-21T08:43:00.000-06:00

This has been a much anticipated announcement! Bryan and I are not good at surprises and waiting 21 1/2 weeks to find out what we are having was torture, seriously it was torturous! But, the day has finally come, we can now stop calling the baby 'it' and we can finally say "our baby BOY"! Now the registering, shopping, and nursery accessory colors can all be picked out. We cannot wait for April to come so we can finally meet our little baby BOY. He was very cooperative for the first couple shots of the sonogram, but after that he was not liking the experience and would not flip over so we could get a good picture of his face or his heart, so in order to get all the measurements we get to have another sonogram in January. The measurements we were able to get show he is healthy, his heartbeat is 144, he weighs 1 pound, I have gained 6 pounds, and I am within 1 day of my original due date.

This photo is not the best quality since it is a picture with my cell phone, but it is very clear this is no doubt a boy! :)

Master Time

2011-12-19T10:30:00.001-06:00

Saturday was the endpoint of my education and thankfully for being a week before Christmas the weather was perfect for the graduation ceremony that took place at Baker University's main campus in Baldwin City, KS. The graduates were led into the auditorium by bag pipers who even were wearing kilts. They were the highlight of the graduation and by far made this the best one I have been involved in yet. Although, the speakers were a little boring they did not talk for long. The graduation was the end point to my education, I have finished my graduate degree and now have a Masters in Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution through Baker University. I have walked the stage, received my diploma, and have pictures to prove it. Now, what is next? Well, baby Morris will make a grand appearance in late April, I will take 12-16 weeks off of work, and then join the working world again full-time. Hopefully, I can see the value of this education payoff after I return from maternity leave. We shall see! Thanks to my family and most of all my wonderful husband who supported me through these tough 18 months of school work!

Tis the season at 20 Weeks

2011-12-11T11:59:00.001-06:00

Today marks our baby's 20th week! As mentioned in earlier posts the baby has been on the move all day long every day, so much so that Bryan was able to feel the movement at the beginning of week 19. The only bad side effect that bothers me on a daily basis is the heartburn, cured by milk, which I do not like but I have managed to choke it down. I started drinking coffee in the mornings again, at the advice of my doctor since I was starting to have throbbing headaches, and the small amount of coffee has so far taken care of that problem. On a daily basis, I am getting told "I can't even tell you are pregnant!"I enjoy hearing that, I figure I will only hear that for a couple more weeks so enjoy it while I can. I'm still fitting into normal clothing and have not needed maternity clothing yet. So far so good at 5 months!
Today we also met with our daycare provider. We only need part-time and she is willing to do it for part-time pricing. So, that is a big check off our baby check-list and one less thing to worry about!
And, tis the season for Holiday Parties. All of ours were in one weekend, so at least we got them all out of he way in one weekend. Friday after work, the unit I work in at the District Attorney's Office went to Houlihans for dinner and a gift exchange. Then, Saturday I had my office Christmas Party, which this year I decided to go since four of the ladies in our office are retiring and this was going to be the last Party with some wonderful ladies. Jack Stack Catered the party so there was good food and at least 50 people, which was a pretty good turn out. I was of course the designated driver and got to enjoy water while everyone else was drinking it up. After the office party two of my coworkers and myself went to The Other Place to go to Bryan's 24 hour Fitness Party. It was a long night, by the time I got home after driving everyone home it was 2:30am. Needless to say, I feel hungover today although I had only water to drink all night!
Only a little while longer and we finally will know if we have a Boy or a Girl!

Kung Fu Baby

2011-12-05T23:00:00.001-06:00

Baby Morris has been on the move for a couple weeks now, it seems like now it is moving around all day long. It is the strangest feeling. I cannot really pin point a specific time of day that it becomes active, because literally it is all the time....more often when I am sitting or right after I have eaten. Since I am not really showing yet, Bryan was not convinced that I was really feeling the baby move. However, tonight Baby Morris proved him wrong. When I had just gotten to bed, the baby was moving all around and I was able to feel one of the kicks/punches on the outside. Bryan came into the room and after about five minutes he was finally able to feel our baby for the very first time!

19 weeks and counting

2011-12-04T16:46:00.001-06:00

Today I am 19 weeks pregnant. This pregnancy so far has been pretty uneventful/easy. I have had no morning sickness or any other bad symptoms. Really all that has bothered me is my sometimes dry eyes, heartburn, occasional headaches, and I have had no cravings yet. So far, at our four month check-up I had only gained two pounds and I am still fitting into pre-pregnancy clothing. The good news is that around week sixteen I started feeling the baby move and this week it is constantly on the move. I think I can almost feel it from the outside moving, so it should not long for Bryan to start feeling the movements too. I have been having very weird dreams and an article that I just read said that the gender of your kid/baby in your dreams is usually what the baby's gender really is. We will see if that assumption is correct in a couple weeks! At Thanksgiving we were offered a crib from Kay and Bryan which we of course accepted. The crib was my godson's and his sisters, now it is being passed down to our baby, which seems now has become a pattern/tradition since Ashley and I used the crib that Kay and Bryan's children used as well.

Baby Loot

2011-10-31T10:40:00.000-05:00

Bryan and I had so far refrained from buying baby stuff....that is until this weekend. Since I am in the second trimester I feel a little more comfortable starting to stock up on baby items. Sunday morning I woke up at 7:00 a.m. which is way too early for the weekend, but I was awake, so what else is there to do than look for stuff for the baby. I started looking on Craigslist and found some activity items and emailed the seller. Since, all were still available I made an offer and picked them up at 1:30. But, before picking them up I made myself even more useful and cleaned out the garage....It was in pretty bad shape, but now it actually is functional!
Hopefully our baby likes all the items and will use it all! We ended up getting a Graco swing with nature sounds and soothing vibration functions, an evenflo exersaucer, and a Fisher Price Luv U Zoo Deluxe Musical Mobile Gym.

Sammy trying it out...

And the beat goes on...

2011-10-25T09:36:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Bryan and I had another Doctors appointment, this time to hear the heartbeat. I have to admit, being pregnant finally seems real now that we have heard it's little heart beating. It was pretty amazing! Sure, we saw it last month with the ultrasound, but it still had not hit me yet. Dr. Estrada said it's heartbeat sounded perfect. As for me, my blood and urine samples all are perfect and my weight gain is zero. Our next appointment is November 21st, to check the heartbeat again and to check my progress. She said I will have to wait until 20 weeks to find out the gender, which will put that around December 12th. My prediction, it is a Boy and Bryan thinks it will be a Girl! It seems like such a long wait, but we will have to try to be patient to see who has the correct instinct. And, to end our day we bought a new car! So, after a long wait we bought a Toyota Camry. A very baby safe and reliable car. :)

The Great Outdoors

2011-10-17T13:33:00.002-05:00

This weekend Bryan and I spent some quality time with the Morris/DeSilva/Barnhart/Snavely clan at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park in California. This was my first true camping experience because in the past we either stay in cabins or campers when we go to the lake....the easy and comfortable way! Bryan's mother bought us a nice air mattress, since she does not want her pregnant daughter-in-law sleeping on the ground, and I definitely did not want to sleep on the ground either. After some campground location drama on Thursday we finally arrived at our site around 7:00pm and Bryan started drinking with the family and I of course started eating. I was the only non-drinking person there, so this was both depressing and entertaining since this family are drinkers and are rather entertaining while doing so! When you start hearing British accents, you know the party has begun. During the trip the group spent time playing some softball, I was the score-keeper to prevent getting hit with the ball, which turned out to be a good decision since two pitchers got nailed and a couple people almost got hit in the head by the ball being thrown...who knew slow-pitch softball could be so dangerous. After softball we went to the gorge. I was not aware of how tretourous of a hike this was going to be, but I prevailed and made it to the gorge, but there was no way I was jumping in the water. I think my body would have gone in shock and hyperthermia due to the frigid mountain water. But, some of the group took the challenge and enjoyed it, until they got out of the water! The nights were spent around the campfire, playing games, and drinking (water for me). The last full day we were there we spent at Monterrery at the Wishermans Wharf, Cannery Row, and the Monterrery Bay Aquarium. The Aquarium is a little pricey but worth it. Then it was back to camp for another round of dinner, drinks, and games. This night most of the family decided to go all out to celebrate one last night, and they did go all out! We did take a group photo, but it was with Amanda's camera, so I will have to wait for her to post that photo and then I'll copy it! Thank you all for a weekend of great memories: Matthew, Rick, Marina, Joey, Amanda, Jason, Rainbow, Kathy, Ian, Uncle Joe, Aunt Susie, Breanna, Joey, Eric, Andrew, Solome, Elaine, Luta, Jewell, Marie, Frank, Kyle, Garrett, Giuseppe, Claire, Ravi, Raj, and of course Bryan....I think that is everyone!

To the Gorge we go

Flauna at the Aquarium

Penguins living it up

I have a fasination with Jelly Fish, since the attack in Belize.

Sunfish...prehistoric!

Photos from the 'mans retreat', no women allowed.

The Morris Brothers

Good thing he has Health Insurance!

Happy 60th Birthdays to: Susie, Elaine, and Marie!

Baby makes three!

2011-09-28T17:57:00.002-05:00

Actually, baby makes five since it will be joining our furry children, Sammy and Zoey! After five or so pregnancy tests on August 24th and then another one a week later, Bryan and I finally came to the conclusion that I was indeed pregnant. I know they say there cannot be a false-positive pregnancy test, but I was not convinced that I was actually pregnant. I mean I did not feel pregnant at all. So far this has been a pretty easy pregnancy, I felt sick for only one short week and other than that the only symptoms that have been bothering me is that I have been extremely tired and my face is breaking out like crazy. Today Bryan and I had our first Doctors appointment so that we could see and hear our Baby...and thankfully there was only one! We are about 9 1/2 weeks along with only 214 more days to go!

And our Baby's first photo!

7th Annual Dinkel Days

2011-09-28T13:21:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again for our annual Dinkel Days celebration at Wilson Lake, which was combined this year with the celebration of my Grandfather's 79th Birthday. Bryan and I were only able to make it for the Saturday night events, which consisted of Brad's legendary fish fry. This year, I believe there were about 30-40 people there, ranging from ages one month to 80 years old! It was great to see everyone and of course show Bryan my amazing football throwing skills, he couldn't believe that I could throw a spiral better than him....I do not think he will ever come to the realization that I can do most things better...I am a Dinkel/Siler woman after all! :) After dinner we all sat around the camp fire and talked about everything. I even saw my first scorpion and four inch millipede! They were both equally disturbing, and I would rather never see either one again!

A trip down Memory Lane

2011-09-28T11:31:00.005-05:00

Labor Day weekend Mom and I took a long awaited trip to Montana. We flew into Bozeman Friday morning, rented a car and headed to Glacier National Park. On the way we stopped in Missoula and Florence to see where we use to live when we lived there in the early 1980's and then we were on the journey to Glacier National Park. We stayed the first night at the Outlook Bed and Breakfast overlooking Flathead Lake. The next day we decided to go to the Big Mountain Ski Resort to take the ski lift up the mountain and then we hiked down the mountain. I'd have to say this trip was definitely a healthy trip considering all the hiking we did. Saturday night we stayed at another bed and breakfast, that seemed like a dude ranch full of horses. Unfortunately we did not take advantage of riding the horses because we did not have time and for other reasons...

The next day we got up bright and early and drove to Glacier National Park. We decided to take our time and stop as many times as we felt like to try to get the perfect scenery pictures. We took a short 1 mile hike through the woods. Luckily did not encounter any grizzlies since we had no protection with us. And, then we drove onto Logan Pass which is by the Continental Divide. Mom has been there a couple times and each time no one was willing to hike with her down to the Hidden Lake, so for the first time she has been able to see the Hidden Lake. Although we were not able to hike all the way down due to it being closed for Grizzly sitings, we were able to go 1.5 miles up to overlook the lake and had a snack (3 miles total). A snack that consisted of bread and homemade cherry jam and entertainment from some kind of rodent that stalked me and wouldn't leave us alone. It seems I am always getting stalked by some kind of creature, be it a Grouper or a Squirrel type thing. We had an interesting night at the Many Glacier Inn....The walls there are very thin and you can hear everything from the adjoining rooms....and by everything, I mean everything! Last but not least, we went to the Lewis and Clark Caverns, this was my first cave and it was pretty spectacular. Below are just some of the photos from this trip.

Salute to the Farmers

2011-08-16T15:46:00.002-05:00

Family Members have been in the farming industry, in one way or another, for the last century or more. So, last Saturday Bryan, Emily, Josh, and I went to Farm Aid 2011 in honor of all those that help provide us with the fruits, vegetables, grains, poultry, and beef that we so greatly love to eat. The artists started playing at 1:00pm, however we did not make it until sixish, but just in time to hear Jason Mraz do his thing. Next up was Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, and finally Willie Nelson. I would have to say, that although Jason and Dave were fantastic, I think John Cougar Mellencamp rocked Farm Aid 2011. He was full of energy and also had an awesome violinist. Willie was a let down, so we left shortly after he began. Regardless of Willie being a bust, the weather and food were great, as was the company, The Perkins!

The Morris'

The Perkins'

John Cougar Mellencamp

Emily and Kinley

Two women and their husbands were sitting in front of us at the show. Of course, Bryan started chatting in up with them and found out that the women have been friends since six grade, now they are 46. Emily and I met when we were in seventh grade, I think, and we have remained friends and now live less than five minutes away from each other....Emily we only have 17 more years to go and we can be like those women! We can do it!

Willie Nelson

The Boys

Dave Matthews

Jason Mraz

The Westermans

2011-08-16T15:12:00.002-05:00

Alex and Ashley Westerman

August 5th, 2011 marked the day my mother and father 'gave away' their last daughter. Ashley and Alex were married at the Blue Heavens Studio in Salina, KS, reception followed at the Salina Country Club. It was a fantastic day and night. It was great meeting all of Alexs' family and seeing all of mine, it is a rare occasion when I have both sides of my family together in one building. Ashley of course looked beautiful and she was not one bit nervous to sign her life away to Alex. Alex is a great guy and I know he is going to take good care of my baby sister. It takes a good man to put up with us Dinkel/Siler girls, we are; stubborn, relentless, and confident but he seems to deal with us both with ease. Alex has entered a very tight nit family and he fits right in. So, congratulations to Ashley and Alex, Bryan and I wish you a happy life together! :)

The Wedding Party

Always the Drama Queen

Dance Dance Revolution

Need I say more! :)

Some of the Dinkel Clan

This was such a bad and painful idea

The Westerman's spent their honeymoon in the Bahamas. This will definitely be a vacation to remember for both of them, especially since Ashley found out, the hard way, that she has now acquired an allergy to shellfish. I'll spare you all the gruesome details, but for the first time in her life she had to use her epipen. However easy most would think this would be for two nurses, we would be dead wrong. Who knew that nurses don't actually use epipens, rather they use the IV to inject epinephrine....Greys Anatomy has mislead me all these years. Anyways, neither one of them had ever had to use an epipen so, needless to say it is painful, according to Ashley. And, although she used the pen, she still had to go to the hospital and was put on steroids for the rest of the vacation. Like I have always said, she is a drama queen! :) If Ashley ever updates her blog maybe we will all be able to read about their full honeymoon events.

Oh Kentucky.....

2011-08-08T14:29:00.002-05:00

Derby, Fried Chicken, Bourbon, Bats, and Disco Balls! Oh what all Louisville, KY has to offer. I have been honored to have been the only person in my office that was chosen to go to the annual National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA) conference which is being held in Louisville September 11-14th. My days will be pretty busy, but my nights will be open for site-seeing. One night the conference is holding a social/networking event at Churchill Downs Museum, which should be pretty fun. September is going to be a pretty busy month for me now, since I will be leaving for Kentucky four days after I get back from Montana. Who knew life after graduate school would be so busy! :)

Big Sky Country

2011-07-20T12:43:00.002-05:00

In about six weeks some major milestones are happening. For one, I will finally be done with my Masters Program and will have a Masters in Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution and secondly, I will be taking a trip back to Montana (my birthplace), where I have not been since I was very very young. This is my celebratory trip for the completion of school. Mom and I will be leaving Kansas September 2nd and once we arrive in Bozeman will make our way to Glacier National Park. This will also be a photography learning vacation for me as well. Hopefully Mom can teach me how to use my DSLR camera I received for Christmas in 2009! This lesson will be useful for picture taking in Big Sur the following month.

Camping?

2011-06-20T16:53:00.004-05:00

As many of you know, my idea of camping is having a cabin next to a body of water where there is running water, a kitchen, and toilets. So, you may be shocked to know that I am joining Bryan and his family to their annual camping trip to Big Sur, CA. Shocked? I know, it is hard to believe. Well October 13th will mark my first ever legitimate camping trip, we will be ruffing it for three nights in the redwood forest, in a tent of course. Bryan assures me that there are communal showers and toilets...I'm hoping near our camping site! Although camping is not my thing, who can pass up this view?!

Blast from the Past

2011-06-13T10:21:00.003-05:00

I cannot believe it has already been 10 years since we graduated high school, time has gone by so fast. Saturday morning Bryan, Zoey, Sammy, and I left Olathe just in time to go to the Smoky Hill River Festival with Mom and Mike. This was Bryan's first time to experience the Festival and mine in about ten years! We enjoyed all the food, none of which was healthy, but it was a special occasion. Bryan was a little tired after consuming: funnel cakes, stir fry, gyros, bierocks, and corn dogs and needed a nap....Sorry Bryan I had to post this picture, it's too funny not to! It was the beginning of the Blast from the Past that continued on throughout the night.

After the festival we watched the horse races and were ready to go to the Labor Building for my 10 year reunion. Surprisingly the reunion was actually fun, at least the parts I remember! It started at 7:00 and I believe we were back to Mom's around midnight...I think, time is a blur to me. About 50 classmates made it to the reunion, with guests there were about 100 people there.

Morris/Perkins....We can't go anywhere without each other! Friends since seventh grade = 17 years! And we still live 5 minutes from each other.

The Sellers....Matt and I go way back to our days in Kindergarten at Coronado Elementary School!

This is probably around the time that Bryan was getting hit on by some girl I graduated with...Sorry Ladies, he is officially off the market! :)

This is what they might look like at our 40 year reunion...no teeth!

Pregnant! Yes!

Mr & Mrs Morris

Of course I took many more photos, you can check them out on Facebook.

Our Belizean Wedding

2011-06-03T17:51:00.003-05:00

I have been on somewhat of a blog hiatus the last two months, but fear no more I am back. April 14th, Josh, Emily, Bryan, and I departed for our Belizean adventure! We were the first to arrive in the Belize airport and soon thereafter met by Mom, Mike, Joy, Brent, and Alex Rapada. We were the first to get on the island hopper, allowing us to be the first to arrive on the Island, which is fitting since it was our wedding vacation. And, then we arrived in Paradise! The weather was perfect, the staff and accommodations at the Caribbean Villas Hotel were wonderful, and the drinks were flowing nonstop.

The vacation begin Thursday afternoon with rum punches and lunch, watermelon martinis, Belikins, and a whole host of other drinks. Guests slowing began to arrive, many with flight issues, however once they arrived on the Island all the issues dissipated. Most of the guests arrived Thursday and we all had a group dinner that night. Since it was my vacation, I was going to have fun so the Rum Punches were tasting pretty delicious. So, needless to say Thursday night came pretty quickly and I was ready for bed.

Friday morning came pretty fast, since the sun rises at about 5am that is when I woke up every morning. We had a scuba trip that morning, at first I didn't know if I was going to be able to make the trip because the Rum Punches were still effecting me a bit. But, I persevered and made it on the boat. This was Josh and Alex Westerman's first dive, thus they spent most of the time with the Robbie, Dive master, going through their checkout dive.

Our first dive was a definite workout, the undercurrent was so strong at some points we had to hold onto the ground to keep from drifting backwards. By the time the dive was over we were pretty exhausted and thankful that we were only going to snorkel afterwards. I was excited to hear that we were going to 'Shark/Ray Alley', and the name says it all. The area was full of sharks, Bull and Reef, and plenty of sting and bat rays. I have to admit the Bull Shark was huge and intimidating, but it ignored us and went on their way.

After that the dive trip was over and we were taken back to the villas and were greeted by more guests arriving. That night we had a Sunset Cruise trip planned. By that time all the guests had arrived and all 35 of us were loaded on a speed boat and taken to the catamaran. The catamaran was stocked full of beer and rum punches, as well as, chips and ceviche and some wonderful pineapple. We cruised around for about two hours, watched the sunset, and just enjoyed the experience.

The rest of the vacation, was just that, a vacation. There were more scuba and snorkeling trips that occurred. Mom, Mike, Lance, Stacey, and I took the voyage to the Mayan Ruins, which took six hours round-trip, but it was well worth the time.

We left the island on Thursday, April 20th. Although we were there a week, it did not seem long enough. Hopefully we will take another trip soon as MR & MRS MORRIS. :)

The way to a man's heart

2011-03-27T19:17:00.001-05:00

In an effort to switch up our usual and boring chicken dinners I used the other white meat and made some turkey burgers. Bryan and I are trying to eat healthy, for many reasons but two of the most important right now is to get my cholesterol down and because we are going on our wedding vacation in less than three weeks! Turkey burgers with a garlic avocado sauce, topped with tomato, and sauteed onions and red bell peppers were on the menu for tonight's dinner. And they were pretty amazing! I winged it since I don't normally use recipes and I think that's what made them even better. Bryan loved them too, probably mostly because it wasn't chicken or pork. :)

Doggie Days

2011-03-23T20:03:00.001-05:00

Zoey and Sammy had their "camper interview" today at Camp Bow Wow. We want to have them stay there when we are in Belize instead of boarding them at the Vet's so that they are not stuck in a kennel all day. But, before they are allowed to stay at CBW, they have to stay there one day and see how they act with other dogs. I was a little worried about Sammy since he is not a very social dog, but he passed his 'interview'. Zoey, on the other hand, did not. She had a very stressful day and supposedly snapped at some other dogs. So, we will try it again and hope next time she passes. To reward Sammy and console Zoey I made them some home-made doggie treats!

Bridal Shower

2011-03-23T19:26:00.002-05:00

This past weekend my Aunt Joy hosted a bridal shower for me in Minneapolis. It was a very nice sit down brunch. The menu included: praline bacon, blueberry french toast, and an egg fritata. It was all delicious and it was topped of by a fruit salad with a white chocolate sauce. Of course, I was also showered with lots of great gifts with my family and friends.

Hitched

2011-03-23T18:42:00.002-05:00

Well I was attempting to keep this a secret, but somehow word spread pretty quickly around the courthouse... Bryan and I got hitched March 10th. We had a super private and fast civil ceremony officiated by Judge Sheppard. We are having our wedding in Belize, but we did not want to pay the extra $500 to have a legal wedding there so it will just be a symbolic wedding that everyone will be a part of, and definitely will be fun and beautiful! So, we have now been married two weeks tomorrow! Married life is treating us both pretty well :)

Workouts with Bryan

2011-03-06T18:32:00.002-06:00

Today Bryan and I had our first training session together. We tried this once before and it did not end so well. But, now he is a certified personal trainer, so this time I listened to what he told me to do and went with it. We are planning on training together at least 15 times before Belize, the other days I'm on my own. We'll see how this goes :)

Big Decisions!

2011-03-02T10:22:00.001-06:00

Wedding/Vacation is nearly here, only 43 more days until we are flying over the clear blue Caribbean Sea! Now I have some big decisions to make: what color to color my hair and what color of fingernail polish to wear...I have to say this has been a very easy wedding to plan, I was able to plan it all on my own, without the use of a wedding planner, and with little to no stress. We do have some things planned, but so far the agenda is pretty flexible for everyone that is coming.

Thursday: arrival day for most
Friday:     Scuba diving in the morning
               Sunset Cocktail Cruise in the evening
Saturday: Scuba diving in the morning
               Wedding Ceremony at 4:00 and Reception afterwards
Sunday:   Volleyball and Cornhole tourney morning or afternoon
              Beach BBQ 12:30-2:00
               Deepsea fishing for some, Mayan Ruins for others
Monday: Mayan Ruins
Tuesday: Free day, might take a kayaking trip to the Lagoon on the back side
Wednesday: R&R
Thursday: We unfortunatly leave the island

Belize Sunset Cruise 2009

61 days!

2011-02-14T09:12:00.002-06:00

Today of course is Valentines Day, more importantly we are getting closer to Belize! Today is the 2 month countdown to the start of our vacation and wedding week! I had many goals before April came along: lose 10 pounds, workout 5 days a week, and be more active...of course none of those have been accomplished yet, except I am eating much healthier. I go this week for my first dress fitting and it will need to be taken in, I knew I should have gotten a smaller size....

So far there are 37 of us going to Belize, which is a much higher number than I would have ever expected or imagined...I thought maybe there would be 15 at the most, I was obviously way off...Bryan and I are extremely grateful for all of those that are making the trip for our wedding!

The agenda consists of sunset cruising, scuba diving, the wedding (of course :) ), mayan ruins tour, kayaking, deep sea fishing, volleyball, sunbathing, relaxing and whatever else we feel like doing!

We could only be so lucky to be able to see another group of sharks...Awesome or Crazy depending on who you ask! :)

Mayan Ruins...How in the world were they able to build these things? Aliens perhaps?

Charlie

2011-02-13T22:41:00.002-06:00

During the spring, summer, and fall we always had a pair of cardinals that stayed around our front porch. This was probably because they had a nest in the bush in front of our porch. As most birds fly south for the winter, at least one of the cardinals stayed around, maybe both I'm not talented enough to tell if it is the same Cardinal or not...But, the one pictured above is who I call Charlie, Charlie the Cardinal! One day I kept hearing this pecking sound, I just thought it was snow melting or that it was raining....But, it was Charlie in our window pecking at the glass. I do not know if this is normal of Cardinals, but he is always there, maybe he's trying to tell me it's about time I clean the window...Hum, it's not time for Spring cleaning yet, so that can wait. At least twice a day the last couple of months he has been there and finally I took a picture, it is not the best picture but you get the drift. Bryan thinks I'm crazy for blogging about Charlie, but who knew Cardinals would stay around all winter and would hang out on our window ledge!!

The Blizzard!

2011-02-02T19:42:00.003-06:00

So, the weatherman said a huge storm was coming, a storm that would be worse than any for a decade! I was skeptical, mainly because the weatherman is mostly always wrong. But, come Tuesday morning the snow was falling, the wind was blowing, and the temperatures were diving. Luckily the office let us go home around 12:30 when there was only about four inches of snow....I made it home with ease, the Corolla can really handle snow packed roads. But, once home the blizzard came, but I was home so I didn't really care. I had gone grocery shopping Monday, which was an awful idea because the store was packed! If you have never been to our Price Chopper then you would not know how nice it is to go to because there is never a crowd, but this time it was a madhouse! I was there to get stuff for dinner, the rest of the people were there to stock up before the bad weather hit. But, I have a pretty stocked pantry, freezer, and deepfreeze so I would have been ok either way. But, since I was held hostage in my house I made veggie beef stew, roast chicken, falafels (our vegetarian meal for the week), egg sandwiches for breakfast, and just now made brownies. Thank god I'm not home all the time because all I would be doing is cooking and eating!
This morning came and we were basically snowed in, because our cul-de-sac had not been plowed and there was no way I was getting up and shoveling the driveway when the windchill was -20ish. So, I called in a snow day because no matter how bad it is Johnson County will not close!

Once we got out of bed ate breakfast and lunch we finally tackled the driveway. Zoey had fun outside with us, Sammy not so much he hates the cold and snow so he stayed inside. Unfortunately our street still has not been plowed so who knows if I'll be able to get to work tomorrow! Owell, I'm glad I'm a hoarder of my vacation days :)

Taking a break after all the hard work :)

Breckenridge, take two

2011-01-31T12:00:00.002-06:00

Bryan and I ventured back to Colorado for our annual trip to Breckenridge over the Martin Luther King holiday. Of course the usual suspects were there: Emily, Josh, Randy, and Alex who was with us over NYE. This trip the Californians flew in: Amanda, Joe, Jason, Rainbow, and Garrett. So, there were 11 people crammed into our condo, but I think we could have easily fit more, maybe it'll be tested next year! Bryan, the accommodater, was rather stressed most of the time during this trip since he really wanted to make sure his family had a good time for many reasons: 1st time in Colorado, he was afraid of how Emily and I were going to act (apparently we need to be told how to act before we go anywhere so we don't embarrass him), and the list could go on and on...once he realized he didn't need to try so hard he started having a good time too. This time the weather was better than it was during our trip in December but it was still pretty chilly. Along with skiing we had countless Kinect tournaments. If you haven't played Kinect it's basically like the Wii, but it's for Xbox 360 and involves way more exertion than the Wii. The last night we had a tournament between Team Cali and Team Kansas. Team Kansas Prevailed! For some reason I cannot get videos to upload on here, once I figure that out I'll post some of us in action. It seems the only game our group can play without getting into fights is Kinect....maybe because we actually got to 'fight' each other when we did the boxing event :) . We also made our normal dinner outing to Downstairs at Eric's for some good food and beer and then headed back to the condo for more games. But, before we went back I bought another pair of goggles! This happened for two reasons: too much beer and because Bryan hid my pair for sunny conditions under his bed which we found when we got home.

Bryan getting some air!

Pizza from Downstairs at Eric's...yumm, I'm having a huge craving for this right now!

The Skittles

Team Kansas - The Winners!

Team California plus the lost boy Bryan....

Kinect boxing....I kicked ass, of course :)

Bryan and the gangsta trying to box...

We'll see you all back next year!

New Years Eve, Breckenridge style

2011-01-12T14:33:00.001-06:00

To get away from dreary Kansas we went to the bitterly cold Breckenridge, CO....and when I say bitterly cold that is not an exaggeration at all, with wind chill it got down to -40! Burrr! Bryan, Ashley, Alex, Mike, Mom, and I all make the trip out there. Needless to say we spent most of the time in the condo until the weather was decent enough to go skiing. Although it was bitterly cold on Friday we did attempt to ski, I lasted two runs before my goggles had fogged over and then froze over, basically it was miserable. Bryan and Alex lasted a little longer, but then Alex dropped his glove off the lift and that was the end of his day to say the least...even a drink didn't cheer that boy up! :)
Since we were in the condo most of the time there we watched all the football games and played many many games of Catch Phrase. Most of the time the women were the victors but a couple times the boys managed to pull out a win. Not with the help of Bryan though. For example his phrase was "Truck Load", you would think that would be easy enough to get your teammates to guess, but for Bryan it is always an adventure especially when he starts out saying "Alex! You have a poopy in your pants, A POOPY IN YOUR PANTS!!!" I don't think there was a dry eye in that room from us laughing at him so hard along with his "Boogie Woggie" phrase in which he preceded to boggie dance. And, the best comment he made to my Mom was, "Debbie I swear I'll be smart from now on!" He claims though that he does these things on purpose to waste time so that the next person is out of time....Good idea, but it rarely works for him. :)
For New Years Eve we enjoyed a Vintage 2000 bottle of Dom Perignon. It was delicious and I don't really like champagne. We finally got to see Sunday, although it was still cold it was bearable. Bryan somehow managed to get a gash on the top of his new board, which did not make either of us too happy, but once we got back to KC he was able to take it back to Sitzmark and they are getting him a new board.
We are again heading to Breckenridge tomorrow morning for our annual MLK trip, this time we are being joined by: Emily, Josh, Alex, Randy, Amanda, Joey, Garrett, Jason, and Rainbow.

Christmas in LaLa Land

2011-01-12T14:14:00.001-06:00

This Christmas Bryan and I ventured to Encino, CA to spend some time with his family and go to their annual Christmas Eve Bash at his Uncle Joe and Susie's. Everyone was there and all had a lot of fun, food, and drinks. It was a short trip for me, but I got to see everyone that I had not seen about four or five years. Bryan and I are finally going to plan our holidays a little better so we are able to see both our families over the holiday time. Before I left on my red-eye flight we stopped back by his cousin's house and played a game of Cranium....We did not win, but we still had a good time....we hate losing :) Below are some pictures that others took that weekend, I for some reason only took three pictures, I know that's very unlike me.

2010 Holiday Dinner

2010-12-08T20:35:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we had our second annual Holiday Dinner. We had lots of food: Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed corn, pumpkin/squash soup, black bean dip, pretzel dip, salad, marshmallow salad, broccoli salad, deviled eggs, cheesecake, and Emily's homemade apple pie! I think that was it, but I may have missed something....The only 'event' on the agenda that night was to watch the OU v NE game. Maybe next year we can plan some games so that the men and women would mingle a bit :) For future reference, from now on a group photo will be taken for every group type of event..you all will appreciate them when we are old :) So, thank you: Emily, Josh, Stacey, Lance, Mary, Ryan, and Randy for joining Bryan and me for our Holiday Dinner!

Everything is Bigger in Texas!

2010-11-29T20:49:00.004-06:00

Warning----This is a rather long blog! This Thanksgiving Bryan and I made the long trip down to Arlington, Texas to spend some quality time with Mike and Mom and our old roomies, Ashley and Alex. The trip down there was rather exhausting! To begin with the GPS instructed us to take the back-roads all the way down, back-roads meaning basically 2 laned roads the entire way! If that was not awful enough Zoey decided to eat a sock a couple days before we left, so on our drive she had to go to the bathroom about every hour. So, really the GPS did us a favor, if we had taken I35 all the way down we may have had a stinky mess in the car... And, we knew she ate a sock because it eventually made it's way through her system once we got to Texas! I'm sure that leaves a wonderful picture in your mind :-)

The trip down there was the only issue we had. The rest of the vacation/holiday went on perfectly. When we arrived all six of us went Rudy's BBQ, so that the newbies (Mike and Bryan) could have the full on Rudy's experience! We all loved it, especially Bryan who was able to eat with his hands.

Thursday was our Thanksgiving feast, football marathon, and on-and-off nap time. Although Ashley forgot to get me curry my Pumpkin/Squash soup was delicious along with everything else, including Ashley's cake balls!

Friday we made it to Fuzzy's Taco Shop, Ashley's favorite place to drink/eat after each test. Then we were off to get mani/pedi's. It was the most amazing mani/pedi I have ever had! We were able to drink wine and get a neck/upper back massage. It was awesome!

Later that night, we all dug down to our inner dorkness and went to the Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament. This was a night of feasting and battles. Ashley and I went to a similar tournament in Vegas when we were in middle school. This was different, but maybe it was because we are older and the knights were such tools! Our Yellow Knight was such a dork, but he won. Bryan once again got to eat with his hands....I'm going to have to try and train him to eat with silverware again!

Saturday was a pretty special day, Bryan's 29th Birthday! He took turning almost 30 like a champ. For his birthday breakfast mom made our favorite, sausage gravy and biscuits. Then the day was again full of football, birthday cake for lunch, and then off to the Fort Worth Stock Yards.

Bryan picked The Lonesome Dove Bistro for his birthday dinner. It was the most amazing food! The Chef/Owner, Tim Love, defeated Iron Chef Morimoto on Iron Chef America. And, he has also been featured on Bravo's Top Chef: Masters, Paula's Party w/ Paula Deen, NBC's The Today Show, CBS's The Early Show, ABC's Good Morning America, the Food Network, and the Home Shopping Network. After dinner we were off to Billy Bobs....Only in Texas would they have a bar named Billy Bobs! And, that's the end of our Thanksgiving Adventure!

And of course Cowboys Stadium

Halloween DinkMo style

2010-10-31T20:49:00.002-05:00

This year Bryan and I decided to carve pumpkins. This would seem normal for most people, but throughout our 7 years together, Bryan and I have never carved pumpkins. So, this was a first for us. Of course I thought this was going to be a pumpkin carving contest, but after Bryan had finished his I realized this was not going to be a contest after-all. Bryan decided he was going to carve Michael Myers free form and I used a pattern for my witch, so needless to say there was no reason for a contest :) And in normal tradition for trick-or-treaters, we sat the bowl outside and are peacefully watching tv without the constant interruptions and dogs going crazy every time the door bell rings. I know we are pathetic.

Summit Pass

2010-10-28T23:33:00.001-05:00

Today I bought something that was a first for me! I bought a Summit Pass for this years ski season! Normally Bryan and I go with Emily, Josh, and a host of other people over MLK weekend. But, this year we are going at least two times, maybe more. We will be ringing in the New Year in style once again, this time in a snowy wonderland, Breckenridge! This trip will be with Mike, Mom, Ashley, Alex, Bryan, and me. And then we are going back two weeks later for our annual Martin Luther King weekend trip. This time we have some newcomers on Bryan's family joining us and of course the Perkins will be there too. So far Bryan's cousins that are going: Amanda, Joey, Jason, Rainbow, and Garrett. More have been invited be we don't know for sure yet if they are coming.
Now lets talk about the savings with the Summit Pass. I am planning for sure to ski 6 days, with those six days I will be saving $20/day, $120 total savings for just 6 days and of course the savings continue to rise the more times we go. If I manage to ski 10 days I'd save about $50 off each day, which would of course greatly improve my savings. Sucks skiing has become such an expensive activity. Remember the days when lift tickets cost under $40 a day! Crazy!

Is it vacation time yet?

2010-10-23T10:51:00.000-05:00

So today was my one Saturday a month that I come in and help charged people that were arrested overnight. Most of the time I have extra time so I do my homework. But, today my USB drive is not working, meaning no homework can be done. So, what else is there to do besides plan out the vacations for the next year! This year was not an active vacationing year for me. Bryan and I were in Paris over New Years, but since then nothing, for me at least. Bryan was a bum and vacationed for a month in Thailand, but I stayed here :( .
2011, looks much better for me. Over New Years we are planning on going to Breckenridge and then Breckenridge again a couple weeks later over Martin Luther King's weekend. And, of course we are celebrating our nuptials in Belize for a week. After April we have no definite plans, but I would like to go to Greers Ferry Lake in Arkansas in the summer and there was talk that we might go to Hawaii over Christmas to watch the Jayhawks play in the Maui Invitation. I'm not really a KU fan, but any reason for a vacation is good enough for me!

Home Cooking

2010-10-20T12:03:00.002-05:00

In an effort to satisfy my cravings for Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana soup and save money by not going out to eat I attempted to make the soup at home. And, the attempt was a success! Bryan normally enjoys eating whatever I make, but on this occasion he had about 3 bowls of the soup along with the chicken piccata that I made. He would get a bowl of it and one minute later the bowl would be empty. I think that ranks as a good meal. And, as the saying goes, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach", I think Bryan will stay around for a long time. So if you also enjoy this soup and would like to try it at home here is the recipe and the changes I made while cooking it.

Olive Garden® Zuppa Toscana

Makes: 6-8 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage

• 1½ tsp crushed red peppers

• 1 large diced white onion

• 4 Tbsp bacon pieces

• 2 tsp garlic puree (I used minced garlic)

• 10 cups water

• 5 cubes of chicken bouillon

• 1 cup heavy cream (I used 2% milk to cut down the calories and fat)

• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes (I used 2 potatoes and that was more than enough)

• ¼ of a bunch of kale (I used an entire bunch of kale)

1. Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.
2. In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
3. Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.
4. Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour. (if you cut them small like they do at Olive Garden it should only take around 15mins)
5. Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.
6. Stir in the sausage and the kale, let all heat through and serve.

Along with this soup earlier this week I made an impromptu soup out of the sweet potato, squash, and onion hash that I had made. Just put it all in the blender with some milk and I had creamy sweet potato and squash soup. Although it looked like baby food it did taste pretty good. :)

Fall is here

2010-10-03T22:22:00.005-05:00

Fall is finally here and my decorations are up along with the scents of my autumn and leaves scented plug-in's. Pretty much everything seems better when it's this time of year, especially cooking.

So, because I am in the baking/cooking mood I had Lance and Stacey over for breakfast, unfortunately Emily and Josh missed out because they were verticutting their yard. For the menu I decided to pay homage to our trip to Paris and make croque madames. But, instead of making them the traditional way, I made it into a casserole. Along with that I made french toast casserole, I know the origin of french toast is not technically French, but it's in the name so it fit with the theme of the morning. :) And, of course we had fruit and some danishes. Next Sunday morning I think cherry coffee cake sounds pretty good...

It was still early by the time we were done eating that we all decided to see an early movie, Catfish. Not the best movie, but it was supposedly a documentary about social networking on facebook. I would recommend waiting to see it on DVD.

After the movie we were both hungry again (big surprise), so we took the trip to Paola to the BBQ Shack, which was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. This was Bryan's first trip there and he loved their corn nuggets along with everything else.

All-in-all we had a pretty productive day! Now it's time to relax and get ready for the week ahead, which includes making the trip to Manhattan for the KSU-NE game on Thursday. GO STATE!

The progress continues

2010-10-02T17:20:00.003-05:00

This past week as been rather productive with regards to our wedding planning. I finally found 'the dress', thanks to the help of my fantastic bridesmaids, Emily and Stacey, who patiently stayed at Davids Bridal with me for almost three long hours! I ordered our invitations and they should be delivered by Friday. We finally got our plane tickets ordered today. And, I am in the progress of putting our music together, 6 hours worth, this may take awhile! :) Check out our wedding website to see our flight and seat location if you are interested in flying to Belize with us from Kansas City.
Countdown: 196 days!

Wedding photographer changes...

2010-09-24T10:22:00.007-05:00

After some discussion we have changed photographers for our wedding. Bryan was very impressed with his cousins destination wedding photographer and so was I, but I knew he was WAY out of the budget. And, when he gave us his quote Bryan finally realized it wasn't going to happen. But, to much of our surprise after some negotiating, he offered to do it for simply the cost of the plane ride and the cost of 3 days worth of food. All that will cover the entire day of photographs, which he averages 300/hour, and all rights to all photos! Plus he'll be in Belize for 3 days so he'll be taking pictures the whole time and will probably post them on his personal facebook page. So needless to say, this is a much better deal than what we were originally going to go with and we will end up getting many more pictures of everything and everyone. If you want to check out some of his photos, our new photographer is Alex Rapada. Now I just need to tell the original photographer that we decided to go with another photographer.....And for this weekend, I am planning on buying my wedding dress, ordering the invitations, and might even buy the plane tickets. That should take care of most of the major things, only 204 days to go!

Not much...

2010-09-13T10:21:00.000-05:00

Not a lot has been going on lately except shelling out money because my car seems to keep breaking down. For awhile now it had been making some loud sounds so I took it in, mainly because I didn't want to break down on the side of the road somewhere, because that would have been embarrasing. So, after a large amount of money fixing all the spark plugs, coils, the battery, and the windshied wipers the Lincoln sounded as good as new. Well that was Thursday anyways, Sunday was another story. Sunday, the power steering went out and the motor started smoking, of course it happend on Sunday when nothing could be done about it. So, we bought some more power steering fluid to get me to the shop Monday morning. And, it got me to the shop, but barely with smoke and all. Now my power steering pressure switch blew, whatever that is! Cars are such a pain...
The wedding is getting closer, a little over 7 months now! Saturday I bought some new running shoes, so my goal is to lose 12 more pounds before our Belizean wedding. Sometimes I don't know what I was thinking planning a beach getaway for our entire family when I don't like being in a swimsuit in front of a couple people let alone 40 of our closest family and friends!
Anyways, fantasy football kicked off this weekend, so far I am in third place in our league, hopefully I can keep moving up :).

August Date Night: Jack Johnson To the Sea

2010-08-19T09:34:00.001-05:00

For our monthly date outing Bryan and I ventured out to Bonner Springs to go see Jack Johnson along with ALO and G.Love live at Sandstone. The weather was finally perfect and it was a great night, if only people would stop smoking the night would have been even better, but that's a blog for another day...The concert opened up with a ALO is a small band from San Francisco. Next up was G.Love who is the front man for G.love and Special Sauce, but for this concert he was performing solo, just him, his guitar, and his harmonica. Unfortunately, Bryan made a bathroom and beer room at the beginning of G.Love and missed most of his performance. And, of course the best was saved for last, Jack Johnson. I first started listening to Jack when I was a freshman in college and have been hooked since then. He sang all his older hits and some new ones.

Make way for the Groomzilla

2010-08-14T11:32:00.005-05:00

I never thought those words would come out of my mouth but here they are, Bryan has become a Groomzilla! I guess it was bound to happen since he was so preoccupied with his trip to Thailand for his cousins wedding, that he could care less about our wedding, now he is freaking out that his family has not booked their rooms probably because he has still not mailed out their save the dates (maybe it's because he failed to get their addresses 4 months ago when I told him to). He calls me at work freaking out about some minor detail, when I tell him I'm working and can't discuss it, he gets mad and hangs up on me....what has happened to my even-keeled groom? I show him pictures for ideas and he thinks they are awful because he focuses on some insignificant detail that I wasn't even showing him...what am I going to to do? One website on how to deal with groomzillas says to take them to a bridal fair and that should shock them into reality, but I don't even want to go to one of those, so that is out of the question. Invitations are becoming impossible. I would just order them without his input, but I know what that would result in. He thinks the bridesmaid dresses I like look like middle school dresses, I don't know where he comes up with these thoughts..And now he wants to hire a different photographer, the one from his cousins wedding, Alex Rapada. Bryan says he'll pay for him, which will mean paying for: his flight, room, and photos, but he keeps forgetting he is a full-time student who has yet found a job...perplexing...

Landscaping Challenge 2010

2010-08-09T11:29:00.003-05:00

This weekend Bryan's mother made her very first visit to Kansas, along with his younger brother Matthew who came to visit about 4 years ago. Her visit was mainly to tackle phase 1 of our challenged backyard. So, I picked all three of them up at the airport Wednesday afternoon and we started our projects later that evening. After many days of 100+ temperatures we managed to complete the tasks with some help from Bryan :)

Back view of the house before the paint and new plants/landscaping - Ugly

After (I'll get a better photo after I get off work...)

I think that smile means Sammy approves!

Phase 2: Plant grass seed, plant more trees, and try to help our leaning tree.

Thanks for all the hard work Jan and Matthew!

O.A.R. & Citizen Cope

2010-07-23T10:41:00.002-05:00

Last Friday Stacey and I made the trip out to Starlight during the Hurricane/Tornado like weather to go see O.A.R. and Citizen Cope perform live at Starlight theatre in Missouri. Although the weather was horrindous in Kansas once we got to the theatre the skies were blue and the sun was shining = Perfect. Citizen Cope started out the show and they were really good, their music is really low key and chill...I guess would be the perfect way to describe it.

And, then was the main attraction...OAR. I remember them first from when I was in college and I still love listening to their music. I don't think their music could ever go out of style. And, the saxophonist, there is not even words to describe him. But, unfortunatly they come on after dark and I wasn't able to get very good pictures of them, but some of the better ones I was able to take are posted below...

This photo is blurry, but I think it kind of takes on a cool effect.

Basement Project

2010-07-23T09:54:00.006-05:00

This week mom and I took on the task of putting in new flooring in our basement. I should emphasize that it was more of mom's hard work than mine because I was at work most of the time, but I did take off two half days to help. Tuesday at 1:00 pm, we began the project by ripping out the carpet and the foam, and may I say that was disgusting to say the least with all the dirt, dog hair, and dead bugs. Then we began taking out the tack strips. Finally once that was done we starting laying out the flooring. This process was done and accomplished through trial and error, mostly through error. It is of course, a little more difficult than it looks on the how-to videos. By 10:00 we had accomplished laying 1/3 of floor, mom had blistered her knees from the knee pads, and Zoey was annoying all of us by pacing around non-stop.
Day 2, I had to work and then immediately go to class afterwards so I was no help to mom that day. I got home around 8:30 and much to my surprise she had gotten all of the flooring put down and was now waiting on me to bring home food :) . So we ate, and then I started painted the quarter round trim and that was about it for that day.
Day 3, I worked another half day and got home around 1:30. Mom had all the trim cut, had already been to Lowes twice today and now was going to start putting the trim down. But, the paint was too bright. So, off to Lowes we go for the third time. We got the right color, got some rugs, she managed to find a bargain rug for $37.00 regular $189! Crazy! Then we got back home, I took a power nap while she was putting the trim on the wall and then I started painting the trim and floor boards. They were so dirty, it was really disgusting!
All is done, except for some cleaning and putting away of the tools and such. It all looks so good! Thanks to Mom! Couldn't do it without her and thanks to her she saved me tons of $$!

And a before photo....

On top of the flooring project she also fixed my couch, fixed the drainage problem in the downstairs bathroom, towel rack, and she cleaned by garage! Just call her the handy-woman extraordinaire!

Guess who has joined the blogosphere..

2010-07-22T13:19:00.002-05:00

Good news to all, since Ashley and Alex have moved to Texas we can all hear more from them...They have started a blog! So for the DW happenings, check out their blog: ashleyandalex12.blogspot.com

Some photos from Thailand...

2010-07-13T09:00:00.002-05:00

Rick getting a tattoo...ouch!

Bryan with the Bride & Groom

All together there were 52 guests that attended Joey & Amanda's Thailand Wedding!

Snickerdoodle Blondie - Take 2

2010-07-11T20:42:00.002-05:00

I saw the recipe for Snickerdoodle Blondie's on the Brown Eyed Bakers Website, and of course they looked and sounded good. Well my first attempt to make these Blondie's was a failure. I realized I left out the baking powder, 5 minutes after they had been in the oven. I still attempted to add it ...maybe not the best idea. Later remembered I forgot the vanilla, but it was too late to make up for that mistake. I am the first to admit that I am not a baker and that is why, if you forget one thing it's a failure. Although they did not look very good they still did taste pretty good. But, I attempted to make it again today to take to work tomorrow. And, it was a success. Good thing I tried again. It seems since Bryan has been gone I am either eating or baking/cooking. On that note, only 24 more days until Bryan is back. :)

Another Diner, Drive-in, and Dive: The BBQ Shack

2010-07-11T17:02:00.002-05:00

Today Ashley, Stacey, and I decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Paola, KS to the BBQ Shack. The Shack was featured on The Food Networks, Diners, Drive-in, and Dives. I think originally it was a dive, but now it has been moved into a new building, so can it still be considered a 'dive'? Now this is the third restaurant I have ventured to that Guy Fieri visited, before this I have been to; RJ's Bob-Be-Que in Mission, KS and Chef Point Cafe in Watuaga, TX. At the BBQ Shack we shared the, Atomic Buffalo Turds, a pound of burnt ends, mac and cheese, corn nuggets, and potatoes. It was all delicious, the atomic turds were seriously atomic and Ashley and I could not finish ours. Normally we can handle spicy, but these were too spicy for us. Below are some pictures that I took of our food, granted they are not the best photos, but after awhile people start to look at you funny when you keep taking pictures of your food :)

YUMMO!

From Thailand :)

2010-07-07T09:27:00.006-05:00

The Dress...well, maybe

2010-07-06T20:11:00.000-05:00

I have on a whim ordered a wedding dress! It was on sale, so I was able to buy it for under $200.00, so I decided what the heck! I had been looking at it for awhile, trying to decide if I wanted to get it and when I saw that it was on sale I bit the bullet. Although, it is a little risky since I have not tried it on, have not even seen it in person, and have not even felt it in person, it will be alright. If I don't like it, I can still return it.

Save the Dates

2010-07-06T11:35:00.000-05:00

The Save the Dates have finally been mailed, well most of them have anyways. Most of mine have been mailed out except the addresses I am not positive are correct and the last names of my cousins that I do not know, I know pathetic! But, to my credit, my mom does not know either....Bryan, did not manage to get addresses for his side of the family so he is tasked with doing his own when he gets back from vacation. Unforntunatly that only leaves his side of the family with less than 9 months to plan their vacation to Belize, but they will have to blame Bryan for that because I told him near 3 months ago to get addresses....men, do they ever listen/learn?

What to do for 29 more days...

2010-07-05T20:25:00.002-05:00

Bryan is having fun in Thailand for his cousins wedding and I am here, in Olathe, bored. Especially since I haven't been able to talk to him since Friday morning, even when he was in Iraq I talked to him more than I'll be able to while he is in Thailand. To keep myself occupied I have been cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning! There is so much junk in this house, no wonder we have no room for anything. I have also been trying out new recipes. Yesterday I tried out a recipe from The Brown Eyed Baker to take over to Lance and Stacey's for their Independence Day BBQ. Cucumber-Tomato Bruschetta, It was good, I used basil instead of parsley because I like basil better and used 1/3 less fat cream cheese, but other than those changes I followed the recipe. The picture of the appetizer is below, and amazingly mine looked just the same.

After my intervention marathon today, I tried out the Salmon Burger recipe from Cooking Light. And, it was another success. I'm trying to find new recipes to make when Bryan comes back with his mom and brother in August.

Next Up: Paula Deen's Pecan Crusted Pork Tenderloin...

On another note, I have made the deposit for our room and wedding package at the Caribbean Villas Resort. Pretty much now everything has been taken care of, well almost everything :) I still need to find a dress, that means I should start looking...but I have 10 months so I have time, right? I'm always on the lookout for bridesmaids dresses, just have not found the right ones yet. I am also trying to decide if I should have a wedding cake or not, any thoughts?

Where have the years gone?

2010-06-26T19:36:00.001-05:00

This month is our 7 year anniversary! Crazy how the time goes by! We celebrated a couple days early since Bryan will be in California during our official anniversary, so to celebrate we finally made it to the World War 1 Museum. Bryan is a history buff so he really enjoyed it and so did I. Unfortunately, the heat index was 100 degrees so our time outside was limited.

After the Museum we drove to Martin City, MO to eat at Jess & Jim's Steak House, family owned steakhouse since 1938 and has been featured on Food Network. Just a tip if you eat there, a cheeseburger is almost a pound of beef! Crazy!

Anyways, I decided to post a photo of us from each year that we have been together! Enjoy! :)

After we first met (Rusty's)

Year 1 (Ft. Riley)

Year 2 (Cabo)

Year 3 (Nordstrom Wedding)

Year 4 (Meyer Wedding)

Year 5 (Cabo)

Year 6 (Ft. Myers)

Year 7!

June - A little of everything

2010-06-22T14:32:00.008-05:00

This past week I went to Salina and went to the Jewel concert with Mom and Mike. She was a great performer, it was just her and her guitar. Saturday we drove around moms new land, which has some missile silos on it from the cold war...pretty cool.

Currently, Bryan is in the process of staining our deck. He is staining it a very dark color that should look really good with our house color. Unfortunately the weather has not been cooperating so it is taking a little longer than expected. And, no I have not helped with this project, this is all Bryan. :)

On a health note, Bryan and I ate at Chili's yesterday for lunch and I got a horrible surprise after I got back to work....FOOD POISONING! It was awful. I, at least left work just in time, by the time I got into the parking lot it really hit me. I am hoping no one was around that I know, otherwise they might have some very embarrassing photos of me hurling in the parking lot....So, I was pretty much praying to the porcelain gods from 2:00 - 6:30pm = not fun. Finally around 6:30, I was able to move from the bathroom floor and lay on the bed. Today I am feeling much better, but I thought my body needed to recuperate so I stayed home from work. While around the house Bryan noticed a baby bird on our front steps, which I assume it's a baby cardinal since a male and female cardinal were in the tree above it.

Mike in front of some of the missile silos, pointing out all the cities you can see from the top of the hill.

Looking at the land...

Bryan hard at work staining the deck

Baby Cardinal (make notice of the blurred out background, I am finally figuring out how to use my camera!)

Male Cardinal

Female Cardinal

I almost forgot my 28th birthday weekend celebrations!

The weekend of my birthday, Bryan and I finally did a tour of the Boulevard Brewery. We had a good time and it was even better with samples of Beer at the end of the tour. Following the Brewery we had an early dinner at La Bodega and went to a movie with some of his friends. And, in following with the tradition of the June birthday BBQ (Josh, Randy, and my birthday) we BBQ'd Sunday night. I made the usual German Chocolate Cake, since it is my favorite, and to go with it, homemade coconut ice-cream...Simply Delicious! On my actual birthday Bryan made me grilled chicken stuffed with cheese wrapped in bacon...Yum! :)

Sampling the Beer

On the tour

And we spent some time at the Perkins', on my actual birthday, sitting around their new chiminea drinking some wine and beer.

The Adventures of Mowing

2010-05-23T16:26:00.005-05:00

I'm sure many of you were surprised by the title of this blog, rest assured Bryan and I do not think of mowing as an adventure, but rather a long exhausting task since our lot is huge and we do not have a riding lawnmower. Because it has rained so much the last couple of weeks we hadn't been able to mow in awhile and needless to say our grass was rather long. So, as I am making my homemade salsa with ingredients out of my garden :), Bryan was mowing. And, suddenly he is rushing into the house because he mowed over a nest of 6 baby rabbits, at first I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. None were injured, but now we had to figure out what in the world to do with these rabbits that were in the middle of our yard. Surprisingly the dogs had not noticed them yet, but they would for sure now since there nest had been messed with. After calling all our parents and getting conflicting suggestions from them all we decided to cover them for the rest of the evening and uncover when we are going to bed and hope that the momma bunny will move the nest tonight. Otherwise we'll have to go to plan B or C.....

Bryan trying to figure out what we are going to do (and yes the tree in the background is the leaning tree of the Dinkel-Morris ranch, that's another task on our to-do list)

This one kept crawling out of the nest and was basking in the sun...hopefully my scent didn't get on it....

Our solution for today and hopefully they'll have moved in the morning.

Our wedding Website

2010-05-18T11:20:00.003-05:00

I am working on completing our wedding website. It is still in progress but I thought before the save the dates are sent out I should probably finish this first.

http://angelaandbryanbelize.weddingwindow.com/

*I have officially put a hold on the entire Caribbean Villas Hotel for the wedding and rooms (caribbeanvillashotel.com) for a four night stay starting April 15th! :) Unfortunatly the holds will only last until November 30th, so those that are planning on coming will need to have their room reserved before then and if you are planning on coming earlier than the 15th and/or staying longer than the four days it would be best to have your rooms reserved early to ensure you get the dates you want. *

I am in the process of putting down the deposit for our room, we are going to be there from April 14th - 23rd :)

Tubac, never happened...

2010-05-16T17:10:00.010-05:00

This weekend Ashley, Mom, and I had planned a girls trip to Tubac for the weekend. Our plan was to relax in the sun, go to the spa, and drink some good wine. So, on Friday we woke up super early at 4:15am and headed to the airport. Our flight was set to depart at 6:40am, we checked in and went to wait for our plane and then noticed a message saying that we needed to see the Frontier agents. Apparently our plane had mechanical problems and was canceled, so we had to go wait at the ticket counter, which took an hour to even get to the counter....This is Kansas City it is not normal for it to take that long to get helped. Anyways, we had to switch airlines in order to get to Tubac anytime soon. So, our new tickets were for a 9:30ish flight with a stop in Dallas and then to Tuscan. Our plane arrives late because of weather and we are finally off around 10am.

We finally approach Dallas just as the pilot announces he has some bad news...He has been directed to circle Dallas for 30 minutes to wait out the weather...of course 30mins turns into 60mins and then we get another announcement that he has some more bad news, "We are running out of fuel we will have to fly to Shreveport,LA to get fuel." That's right we had to fly to a private airport in Shreveport to get fuel along with about 10 other flights that were diverted there. And, once there we waited on the tarmac for about 3-4 hours! Finally we were allowed to head back to Dallas where we were told we were all re booked on other flights....This all happened Friday and they had re booked us on standby for Saturday at 5:30pm! We were supposed to have been in Tucson by 10:30am Friday morning and now we were not going to be there until 9:00pm on Saturday.

Of course they wouldn't work so we canceled the AZ trip and just stayed Saturday in Dallas at Ashley and Alexs'. Although the trip did not go as planned it was not complete bust.

While in Dallas we hung out with Alex and his parents and went out to eat. We ate at the famous Rudy's BBQ .

We also ate at the Chef Point Cafe, which has been featured on Food Networks, Diners Drive-ins and Dives.

Oddly enough both restaurants were inside gas stations....But the food was delish!

Backyard Photos

2010-05-02T20:36:00.006-05:00

Palapa Bar and Grill

2010-04-28T10:25:00.006-05:00

While perusing Ambergris Caye's website I came across the Palapa Bar and Grill's website. It has been rated one of the most unique places on the Caye. Although it would be a water taxi or rather long golf cart ride to get to the north end of the island, it would be a fun day after the wedding celebration. While munching on some pulled pork and seafood we could be lounging in an inner tube in the ocean with our buckets of beer!

Wedding Location

2010-04-26T22:51:00.005-05:00

Bryan and I may have decided on a ceremony/reception/accomodation location for our Belizean Wedding. I should stress the word 'may' because it is not booked yet, but the list has at least been narrowed down. So, it just may be the Caribbean Villas Hotel....

355 days until our wedding!

16 year old drunk driver

2010-04-22T11:19:00.002-05:00

Today I had a confernce with a 16 year old girl that was arrested for a DUI. She had her drivers license for less than two short months. Her story is that she wasn't feeling well, headach and a stomach ache, so she didn't go to school. But, around 10:00am she was bored, so the only way to get over her boredom was to start drinking. I told her normally when one is not feeling well alcohol just worsens their 'sickness'...But, she said that is not the case with her....So, she had a couple of beers and then moved on to vodka shots. She claims she only had a couple beers and 5-6 vodka shots during 10:00-3:00pm, which in reality it's probably double that amount. At 3:00pm she went to pick her 14 year old friend up from school. On the way to her friends house she started not to feel very well so she pulled over and started throwing up out the window. And, that is when the police arrived on the scene. She failed all but one of her tests and she blew a .20 on the preliminary breath test, which if you are not aware the legal limit is .08. She doesn't think she has a problem with alcohol, even though she normally drinks every weekend, sometimes during the week, and worst of all she drinks alone. On top of that she is being treated for depression, I guess she doesn't realize that alcohol can be a depressant, especially when drinking/taking shots alone. I see a suicidal alcoholic in her near future.

Wedding Photographer

2010-04-15T17:35:00.003-05:00

It's official, we have a wedding photographer! Kay Scott was available on April 16th, so one task can be checked off our list!

Wedding Date

2010-04-13T18:36:00.002-05:00

Bryan and I have decided the 'Big day' will be April 16th! It is now a long 368 days until I am officially Mrs. Morris....that's going to be hard to get use to, but I'm sure I will forever be called Dinkel at work. This weekend we might have some photos taken so we can send out save-the-dates, but for now this is our announcement :) http://www.ambergriscaye.com/ has some info about the island and attractions that Ambergris Caye has to offer. I should hear back from Kay Scott tomorrow to find out if she is available to take our wedding pictures, so the planning has begun....finally!

Wedding Plans

2010-04-11T18:11:00.003-05:00

Bryan and I have come close to agreeing on wedding plans. We have finally chosen a location that we both agree on, Ambergris Caye, Belize. I have found potential photographer (Kay Scott) , ceremony & reception locations, and places to stay, now to decide on a date....Maybe the weekend of November 20th, 2010 or April 16th, 2011. We went on a vacation there last year and had a great time hopefully this trip I won't be stung by jellyfish! Stay tuned for more plans to come.

Big 12 Tournament

2010-03-15T08:59:00.006-05:00

March Madness has begun! It was Big 12 Tournament time at the Sprint Center this weekend and Bryan and I watched all the action. K-State pulled off a big wins on Thursday and Friday nights, which set them up to compete against KU in the championship game . Although they put up a good fight they just could not pull out the win against the Jayhawks aka chicken hawks! The final score was 64-72! So, K-State is now 0-3 against the Jayhawks, but hopefully we will have one more chance to try to beat them. Coach Martin was his usual self, I'm surprise he hasn't had health problems yet.

Josh enjoyed the championship game along with his 1 1/2 pounder dog w/brisket, no wonder he was full the rest of the night and then talked about how he needed to start working out again.... :)

Bill Snider and Bob Knight were also in attendance to enjoy the tournament games.

And, then there is the four of us...the lady taking the picture didn't really know how to use my camera, I think she focused on the crowd and not us....but it'll do.

Elton John and the World of Allergies

2010-03-01T16:22:00.004-06:00

This weekend Bryan, Emily, Josh, Dad, June, Joyce, Tim ,and I went to The Face 2 Face Tour featuring Elton John and Billy Joel. We had a great time during the 3 hour show! I still love Elton John's songs, but Billy Joel is a much better performing...all-in-all in was great evening along with our dinner at Ragland Road and Bryan and my late night trip to Taco Bell! Take a look at Emily's Blog to watch Elton John and Billy sing/play the Piano Man together. I don't have very good pictures from the show because Ashley has my small camera and I couldn't fit my Olympus into my purse :( too bad because with my paparazzi camera I really would have had some good photos (I should have taken a bigger purse)! Below are pictures taken with my phone from as far back as Topeka, as Billy Joel put it.

And, on a health note, after a couple years of awful allergies I finally went to the doctor to figure out what the heck I am allergic to. Much to my surprise I am allergic to pretty much everything: mold, dust mites, American cockroach, all trees (except the Black Willow), grasses, and weeds. Luckily I am not allergic to Dogs! :) So, the course of treatment includes: daily use of nasal spray, as needed eye drops, antihistamine, and a set of 3 allergy shots/week. When I went home after my doctors appointment I attempted to de-allergy our house, but I think I need a professional cleaner for that...it's too much work!

A year in review!

2010-01-21T11:21:00.003-06:00

Last year was a very fun and busy year!
Our Travels

We started the year off by going on our annual skiing trip to Breckenridge, CO over Martin Luther King Weekend with the usual crew to our ski in ski out condo.

In early March Ashley, Mom, my aunt Laurie, and I went to Tubac, AZ for a weekend getaway to Mom and Mike's desert condo for some spa time.

Later in March, Bryan and I went to Fort Myers, FL to meet up with Jackie & Bryan, Kelly and Jordan for some fun in the sun and some needed beach time!

After a short break from vacationing Mike and Mom took Ashley, Bryan, and I to Belize for Bryan's very first scuba diving adventure! It was a blast and we very able to see many sea creatures including my battle with the jellyfish, which I still have scars from :(!

For a once in a lifetime fishing trip we went to Hatchet Lake Lodge in Saskatchewan, Canada, it was incredible! Along with the usual vacationing clan (Ashley, Bryan, Mike, Mom, and Me), Mikes' daughter Amy and her kids also were on the trip. We were served massive portions of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner and would fish all day long. The scenary there was beautiful and we will never forget seeing the island bear, along with the camp dog chewing on the massive bone, which we think was an elk bone...

And, last but not least Bryan, Mom, Mike, and I went to Paris Christmas - New Years! Paris is amazing, the people may be a little on the rude side, but everything else was great!

For Bryan's job with the Buckle he was able to travel to Georgia and St. Louis, although he was on a business trip I am sure he had some good times traveling around Georgia.

Other Happenings

I was promoted to Diversion Case Manager, I deal with some interesting characters in my current position!

I was also accepted into Baker University's graduate program and will be starting in February 2010.

Ashley found out she was accepted into Texas Christian University's Nurse of Anethesia Program and will be moving to Fort Worth, Tx to start school August 2010.

Bryan is currently working on his Bachelor's Degree and is planning on fiinishing out his studies at Kansas University in the Fall 2010 semester.

And, Bryan asked me to marry him! And will at some point start planning the wedding (hopefully sooner than later)!

Fun in the snow

2010-01-06T20:55:00.003-06:00

More pictures of the dogs enjoying the snow!

You would never guess Zoey is almost 12 years old!

Don't worry no animals were harmed! :)

Bailey attempting to intervene....

Sad Eyes & Big Momma

Sammy, the little man of the house :)

Paris

2010-01-03T10:56:00.012-06:00

We had a great time in Paris did a lot while we were there!
Warning: this is a very long blog!

Day 1:

We met up with Alex, Amy, Malcolm, Leo, and Milo at the Luxembourg Gardens which were a block from our hotel.

Then we went to Saint-Sulpice church, where the Meridian Line was featured in the Da Vinci Code.

After walking around for hours and many miles later we decided to go back to the hotel and take a short nap.

Napped and refreshed we met up with Alex and the family and walked down to the Montparnasse. The Montparnasse is familiar landmark in Paris that is 59 stories tall and is visible all over Paris (which is good when you are lost and trying to find your way back to the hotel in the dark :). That night we had Pizza for dinner and then headed to bed. (pictures of Montparnasse to come when Mom sends me her photos)

Day 2:

We met Alex & Leo, got on the subway and headed to Montmartre. Unfortunately we were 10 minutes late and missed the walking tour. So, Alex led the way up to Montmartre and showed us around. Montmartre is a hill, in which the district was named after that the steeples of the Basilique de Sacre can been seen from most of Paris. Many famous artist had studios in Montmartre: Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, and many others that I have never heard of.

After touring the Basilique de Sacre we got on a trolley and toured Montmartre and the surrrounding areas, including the Red Light District.

Before heading to the hotel Bryan and I made a detour to look for someplace selling Donar Kebabs! He had been craving them since we got on the plane to go to Paris. They are kind of like gyros, but a little different.

After more hours of walking around Paris we headed back to the hotel and got ready for our night out at the Moulin-Rouge cabaret show and a stroll down the streets of the Red Light District of Paris. One of the names of the 'dance club's was the Sexodrome!

Day 3:

We bought 2 day tickets to ride the Paris City bus tour which pretty much takes you all over Paris and you can get off and back on at many stops along the way. We attempted to go to the Louvre, but the line was way to long so we decided we would do it on Day 4 (Tuesday). We rode around some more saw pretty much all of Paris and then went to Notre Dame, ate lunch, and then got back on the bus. We got off the bus again at the Arc de Triomphe on the tip of the Champs-elysees which is in line with the Arc du Carrousel and the Arche de la Defense. And, I finally had my first chocolate croissant.

Day 4:

We woke up to rain! So, it was a very very cold and wet day! We planned on getting up early and beating the crowds at The Louvre, so we headed out at around 8:30 to get in line before it opened at 9:00am. We got there with plenty of time to spare and there was no line at all! We thought because it was raining and it was early. But, we soon found out there was no line because the Museum was closed on Tuesdays! So, we decided to have breakfast and make new plans for the day. We asked the water if the Eiffel tower was closed on Tuesdays too and he said that it was. We thought that was weird, but we went along with it and decided to go to the nearest hotel and catch a cab back to our hotel. The concierge there said the Eiffel tower never closes and didn't know why the water told us that. So, we got a cab and headed to the eiffel tower! But, once we got there it was still raining and very foggy and we could barely see half of the tower, which would make going to the top pretty pointless. We then told the cabby to take us to the Pompidu Museum instead. He took us there and dropped us off. Once again no lines because it was closed too on Tuesdays! Would have been nice if Alex and Amy would have told us that!

The rain had let up so Mom and I decided to just walk around....Mike didn't like that idea so he decided he was going to get a cab and go back to the hotel, because he didn't want to "roam around Paris". Which was fine with us we would do our own thing, so the boys took off looking for a cab while Mom and I looked for places to shop. But, for some reason they didn't get into a cab and decided to follow us around. :)

We were close to the city boat tours which were included in our 2 day pass so we decided to take a river boat tour and see the sites. It was a long tour that sheltered us from the rain, but also very very long and I fell asleep a couple time...woops! But, the tour made it's way to the Eiffel tour which had came out of the fog so we got off and preceded to start our wait in line. I am not a very patient person and this was a killer wait! Lines after Lines! 2 hours later we were finally at the top of the Eiffel tour and the view was fantastic! That night Alex took us to an Argentinean Steak house and we had some great steaks, which was a nice break from the french food!

Day 5:

Bryan and I took a half day trip to the Palace of Versailles. After we got back to Paris we decided to walk to The Louvre. The line was not that bad and we managed to get into the museum in 30 minutes! The museum is huge and there was no way we could see everything, but we did manage to see the Mona Lisa and walked around other areas a little bit and then started our walk back to the hotel. 2 1/2 hours later we arrived back at hotel, we made it back in time to change and head out to dinner to the Pompidu with Alex and Amy.

Day 6 (New Years Eve):

Bryan, Mom, and I went to Normandy for the day. It was an experience that we will never forget. Utah beach is still covered with craters that were caused by the bombings and still have the bunkers that were built by the Germans. We also went to the memorial which was incredible.

We also switched hotels and now were staying at the Lutetia, which was the headquarters for the Gestapos. We got ready for a night out and headed out to eat and back to the hotel for drinks and to watch the fireworks, which was kind of a let down compared to how America celebrates the new year.

Luxembourg Gardens

Montmartre

The Donar Kebab

On the bus tour (it was so cold!)

Palace of Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors

The original Moulin Rouge windmill

Mom & Mike in front of Notre Dame

Craters on Utah Beach caused by the bombings on D-Day

Les Braves, memorial for the fallen soldiers

Cemetery

View from our hotel on New Years Eve

New Years Eve, the view is foggy but you can see the beacon at the top of the Eiffel tower.

Copy and paste the links below for more pictures of our vacation:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47531&id=1298277935&l=9f6ebbed82

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47608&id=1298277935&l=358b9ff015

Christmas - We're Engaged!

2010-01-03T09:46:00.004-06:00

This Christmas we celebrated a week early since Bryan, Mom, Mike and I were going to be in Paris for Christmas through New Years. Mom and I made lasagna and Bryan was in charge of the drinks. So, he went to the liquor store to grab a few things, so he said. An hour later he came back with everything he needed to make Mistle Toe, Lemon Drop, and Apple Martinis and needless to say we have enough liquor to last through our Breckenridge trip and long after that! :)

Mom & Mike bought all four of us (Ashley, Alex, Bryan and me) Wet Suits presumably for a trip her and Mike have planned sometime in the near future ;) Now Alex just needs to get certified for Scuba Diving and we will all be ready to go! And, Mom got me an awesome new Olympus camera that I got to use for the first time in Paris.

Bryan gave me a special gift that has been 6 1/2 years in the making!

There are no set plans, but some of the tentative plans include having a civil ceremony at the courthouse and then go somewhere sunny and tropical to have a wedding celebration.

To Paris we go

2009-12-25T08:03:00.004-06:00

After the dreadful drive we finally made it to Salina Christmas Eve and waiting for us was dinner with Mike, Mom, Amy, and the kids. Bryan and I stayed up until midnight and then I crashed, that drive was a killer and wore me out! Now it's Christmas morning, Bryan is still sleep, so much for him saying he was going to not sleep much today so that he could sleep on the plane....but, it's Bryan and he can fall asleep in a plane, train, car, humvee or bus in about 1 minute flat so he will have no problem at all.

We are set to arrive in Paris at 9:30a.m. which is 2:00ish a.m. our time so we are going to have to pull an all day-er tomorrow! I'll try to keep up but I do like my sleep. Alex (Mike's son) booked our hotel for us and we are staying at the Hotel Perreyve right next to the Luxembourg Gardens and I'm sure we have a day full of sightseeing when we get there....I am going to try to resist the pastries! We will see how that goes though :)

Well we are off to Paris, see you all back in a week! I'm sure we will have plenty of news and pictures to share!

Soon to be a Horned Frog!

2009-12-15T16:33:00.003-06:00

Ashley found out today that she was accepted into Texas Christian University's (TCU) Nurse of Anesthesia Program! Soon she will be putting people to sleep for a living!

Congratulation Ashley!

The countdown has Begun!

2009-12-15T11:24:00.001-06:00

In just 9 days Bryan and I will be heading to Wichita, KS to get on a plane and start our Christmas trip to PARIS! That's right, Paris! Mike asked us at Thanksgiving if we would be interested in going to Paris for Christmas but as a workaholic (I know I laughed at that statement too) I said "No, I don't think I will be able to get off work with this short of a notice" . I quickly retracted my initial answer and said "Yes"....I mean what was I thinking saying No to begin with????

Our plane leaves Wichita Christmas Day around 2:00pm and we arrive in Paris in the morning hours. We have a long list of places we would like to visit, but with the time constraints and spending time with Alex (step-brother who lives in Paris) and his family we probably won't get to all the places, but we will hopefully get to see our top choices. We tried to think of places to visit other than museums and architecture type attractions, which lead us to The Catacombs and Jim Morrison’s Grave. Those two options are really absurd sounding for places to visit, but it should be interesting. Of course the other places on our list are: Notre Dame, The Louvre, Pompidou, Eifel tower, Versailles, La Conciergerie, and Moulin Rouge to name a few.

We are also going to be celebrating the New Year in Paris, which will definitely top our list of New Year celebrations!

Happy Holidays!

Joyeuses fêtes!

December Snowfall

2009-12-08T19:56:00.003-06:00

It's December 8th and we finally have snowfall and I still have a rose blooming on my rosebush! Bryan and I both love the snow and so does Zoey. Sammy on the other hand hates snow, cold, rain, wind...he pretty much hates any kind of weather other than warm and sunny.

Just call me the 'Blue Eyed Baker'

2009-12-06T10:46:00.003-06:00

Since it is the season of baking, I attempted to bake Bryan's grandma Katie's chocolate chip cookies. I am not a baker and because I don't like to make things with exact measurements I stay away from baking and leave that for Ashley to do. But, I decided to give the cookies a try since I was craving them and Ashley was at work! To my surprise they were some chewy chocolaty goodness....not as good as Bryan's moms, but maybe with some practice I'll get there.

We are in the middle of decorating for Christmas so the furniture arrangement is not ideal, especially with the dogs who think that if we leave the room they can walk onto the counter to get whatever food is near! Sammy is just waiting for the right moment to snag a cookie...

Temptation got the better of him!

Because I was in the baking mood I decided to make some cookies for our babies... (Sammy, Zoey, Bailey, and Ayla). I found a recipe on the Brown Eyed Bakers website and decided to give it a try. The recipe was really easy, but it instructed the baker to roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness....Like I said above I am not a baker and I have never owned a rolling pin! I know that seems crazy since I cook all the time, but like I said I never bake. I improvised by rolling the dough into little balls and flattening them out to the correct thickness. Needless to say the dogs loved them!

Christmas Decorating!

2009-11-29T22:17:00.011-06:00

It's finally time to start decorating for Christmas....our favorite time of the year! Over the past couple of days we have unpacked some of the Santas, we have boxes full of them! We have unpacked maybe 15 Santas with at least 40 more to go, I don't know where we are going to put them all! We have decked out the tree, decorated the mantle, decorated the 'nook', and started decorating the kitchen. Below are pictures of our christmas decorating work in progress.

Once we are finally done, I'll take some better photos with my camera instead of my phone! :)

From Christmas Past (2008):

Christmas Plans!

Bryan and I might spend Christmas in Paris this year....I have the time off, now time for the planning!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T20:13:00.005-06:00

Over the last week we had 3 Thanksgivings. The week before Thanksgiving we had a Pre-Thanksgiving celebration with: Lance, Stacey, Emily, Josh, Randy, Alex, Bryan and me! It was work! I attempted for the first time to smoke a turkey (8 hours on the smoker), it was pretty good and so was all the rest of our fixins! I was exhausted needless to say the next day and slept while Bryan watched the football games.
This week Bryan and I went to Salina Wednesday night and were up early Thursday morning to head to Russell to have Thanksgiving with Dads' family....then back to Salina at 5:00 to celebrate with Mom.

KU v Mizzu

Saturday we headed to Arrowhead Stadium at 10:00am and tailgated until the game started at 2:30pm! Unfortunately the Jayhawks lost, but we had a good time tailgating with some Jack Stack BBQ and lots of liquor!

After all that excitement we all passed out by 9:30, except Bryan he was still going strong!

Time for a Masters!

2009-11-09T16:02:00.001-06:00

I found out today that I was accepted into the Masters of Science in Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution program at Baker University! I am a little nervous since I haven't been in school for almost 4 1/2 years, but it's only an 18 month program so it shouldn't be too bad :)

KSU v KU 2009

2009-11-08T12:01:00.008-06:00

It was an early morning, Brent, Stacy, Bryan, and I headed to the field around 8:00 am , played a couple games of Polish horse shoes (Brent and I were of course the champions) we drank some Mimosas and beers, and then were off to see the Wildcats beat the Jayhawks. I had a little incident with the port-a-potty since I was in such a hurry to get the hell out of it the door hit my arm on the way out of it and gave me a nice welt...The game ended well for KSU 17-10. Hopefully they are able to win 1 more and then we are off to Arlington, TX home of the Dallas Cowboys Stadium!

Ashley was able to get Alex to wear KU apparel

The port-a-potty injury (I don't know how I manage to do the things I do to myself!)

You betta Belize it!

2009-11-05T21:44:00.000-06:00

I am some what behind on posting about our vacation to Belize, in May...better late than never! Ashley, Bryan, Mike, Mom, and I took a scuba trip to Belize. Ashley, Bryan, and I departed Kansas City early Saturday morning and arrived in Belize in the afternoon, unfortunately our luggage did not! After a minor freak out we made it to our hotel and walked the beach, in our jeans, which was not very fun! After a couple of hours of drinking and eating our luggage finally arrived. This was Bryan's first scuba trip and he was ready to dive. Unfortunately he ran out of air too quick and had to come back up and missed out on seeing the sharks! And, then of course he thought we were lying about seeing them, good thing we had our underwater cameras so we could show him proof...Besides seeing sharks, I was stalked by a grouper and attacked by a jellyfish! The jellyfish stings were awful and they have left scars (see the photo below, click on it to see the full effect of the jellyfish)!

Wildcats

2009-11-04T22:14:00.007-06:00

I have been a very fair weathered fan the past couple of years, mainly because I am LAZY and came up with every excuse that I could so I didn't have to drive all the way to Manhattan...I know it is less than a two hour drive, but it is so boring! But, since Bill is back I'm trying to get back into the swing of things and of course I couldn't pass up a chance to see K-State whoop KU! So on Friday Bryan and I are driving to Manhattan and staying with my cousins and then going to tailgate with them at 8:00am! Mimosa & Bloody Mary Time!

And, when K-State wins the Big 12 North we are planning on taking a road trip to Arlington, TX, hometown of the Dallas Cowboys stadium.

GO CATS!

More photoshopping

2009-10-25T20:29:00.008-05:00

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Still Practicing...

Kitchen Redo So far

2009-10-24T22:36:00.001-05:00

So far I have painted over the shiny oak cabinets, replaced the gold hardware with aged bronze and replaced the white appliances with stainless steel. Next on the list replace backsplash and countertops....

After:

Before:

Elton John & Billy Joel

2009-10-24T11:48:00.012-05:00

Elton John & Billy Joel are coming to town for their Face 2 Face tour! I went to Elton John's show when we were in Las Vegas and it was great. So, when I heard that he was coming to town I made sure to get online and get tickets before they sold out. Unfortunately, at the beginning I couldn't get all the tickets together so I bought tickets in pairs and got enough. But, then after awhile groupings became available so I got those as well. Needless to say I have some extras, but I'm sure they won't be hard to get rid of. The first pair I was able to get and the only ones I thought I would be able to get were 2 FLOOR level @ $177 a ticket(but now I have been refunded on these tickets since the show was rescheduled)! Then, I was finally able to get 2 @ $52 and the others at $97. I haven't decided which I will sell yet and Emily and Josh haven't decided it they want to go yet either. But, as of now these are the ones that are going: Ashley, Alex, Laura, Luke, Mom, Bryan, and me. Dad might go if he can have the 4 tickets that are together and only the 4.

And the tickets are:

Section 103, Row 21 Seats 1-4 - Dad, June, Mahoney's

Section 232, Row 2 Seats 9-13 - Bryan, Emily, Josh, Me, ?

Section 231, Row 7 Seats 13-14 - Laura and Luke

Section 228, Row 6 Seats 7-9 - Ashley, Alex, ?

If anyone is interested in some tickets let me know!

H1N1

2009-10-23T13:21:00.002-05:00

Well it's official someone I know has H1N1. Alex was diagnosed today so he is staying far far away from our house. Yuck!

Photoshopping

2009-10-19T21:55:00.012-05:00

During my mono week off I worked on my photoshop skills. I have had the program for about a year now and had yet to really work with it. So, here is a picture of Zoey before and after. At least photoshop can make my grass look good! Next spring I plan a tackling our lawn issues, but for now photoshop will suffice.

Before:

After:

Bryan Before:

Bryan After:

Before:

After:

Baby steps, eventually I will become a pro! :) But, I think I will have to buy a mouse for my Apple Laptop because trying to edit without one is rather difficult.

Back to Work

2009-10-19T13:40:00.008-05:00

Today is my first day back to work since October 8th, it's been rough! Alex said when he had mono every morning made him feel like he was hung over, and today that's exactly what it felt like when my alarm went off at 7:00. Good thing for makeup, at least it covers up the dark eye circles and pale skin. I definitely need a nap.

This weekend Mom is coming to town after returning on her long trip to Europe and her cruise on the Danube River.

I'm also nearing the finish on my kitchen cabinets. I finally bought some more paint and finished the paint job on the cabinet doors yesterday and hopefully will be putting them up today, if the paint is dried. Unfortunately, I stripped one of the nails on the old hinges so now I can't get it off. If anyone has any suggestions on how to remove nails that have been stripped that would be great! But, for now one door will have gold and an aged bronzed hinge.

Also, this weekend I went to Dicks Sporting Goods and bought 3 winter jackets! I know out of control, but they were on sale, so I couldn't resist. Emily, if you are reading this, they had an off-white Burton jacket that you might like, but I don't think it would match your ski pants...

Day 4,5 & 6 of Mono Week off

2009-10-14T20:33:00.001-05:00

The last couple of days have been pretty uneventful. I went to the doctors office today for my 'release' papers to go back to work and the papers were written so that I can go back on Monday. So I have 4 more days of rest and relaxation.

Day 3 of Mono week off & Chiefs v Cowboys

2009-10-11T12:55:00.009-05:00

Another boring day! Ashley is at work and Bryan is at the Cowboys v Chiefs game sitting on the 50 yard line 19 rows from the bench. Which are the tickets Ashley and I had to give up since I have mono and she couldn't get off of work! So, now I am watching the game on tv, at least I am in my nice and warm house and not outside freezing my butt off.

Go Cowboys!

Alex thought it be nice to send me a picture of our seats....

And a picture of Alex and his tailgate burrito

And the Cowboys win in OT, 26-20!

The House of Dogs

2009-10-11T12:38:00.006-05:00

It seems our house has been taken over by dogs...

Day 2 of Mono week off

2009-10-10T15:28:00.001-05:00

Well, it's day 2 of not being able to do anything! I took a shower and got out with a heart rate of 150 beats/min! I thought I was going to have a heart attack! And, then later vacuumed and felt like I was going to pass out. I know in my previous post I had mentioned Bryan was taking over the household chores, but I can't look at dog hair that long before I start obsessing over needing to vacuum! The doctors say the effects of mono can linger 4 weeks to 4 months, I am really hoping this doesn't last that long because it's going to be even harder for me to start working out again if I get exhausted from vacuuming.

I have watched both the movies I rented (Confessions of a Shopaholic & Ghosts of Girlfriends Past) and they were great, I haven't started The Tudors yet. Bryan has been watching football all day long! Gets boring after awhile. Maybe I will start reading my book while Bryan watches football or practice photoshop.....