Where did the time go?

Goodness, where have we been? The end of February, and even the first week of March, have been a blur. Here's an update:

• After jumping through some hoops, we are set to sign papers tomorrow. As of Monday, we should be homeowners again! We're making mental lists of things to do. This evening, we went to Lowe's and decided on some sample paint colors. We're definitely in the same ballpark when it comes to colors. Minor detail - Brett thought we were only painting the master bedroom. I thought we were painting the entire house. :o)
• As of today, I am 19-weeks pregnant. I saw my doc on Tuesday. All is well, the baby is growing. I gained back the two pounds I lost last month so now I'm even again. In THREE weeks we will be able to find out if it's a boy or girl. Are we going to find out? HECK YES!!
• Brett has been working hard lately. He is working with a hockey team, arena football team, doing research, and seeing his normal patients.
• Last weekend, Brett accompanied me to a conference in Anaheim. Thank goodness for the sun! My dad met us down there and we were able to hang out for a couple of days.

A New House?

As you may know, we have spent the last four months looking for houses in Boise. I would have never guessed that we would have such difficulty finding "The One." I guess our house in Wenatchee was hard to compare to though. I'll spare you the crazy details of our house hunt and just say that we put an offer on a house last Sunday. The offer was accepted a couple of days later. Right now, we are waiting for the inspection (Tuesday). If all goes well, we will be homeowners again as of March 6. We'll definitely have some work to do, thankfully, but with any luck we'll be ready for baby come July. Yes, there's room for visitors so we'd love to see you all in Boise some time soon!

Here's a little info about this home:

• It is 1.5 miles from where Brett works.
• It is in the foothills.
• 3 bd/2 ba, 1661 sq. feet
• The owners really liked green (carpet/walls)
• It lacks curb appeal, but that's an easy fix.
• Houses around it are way nicer.
• It can use some updates in the kitchen, bathroom, and master.
• There's room for a garden.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has never been a huge priority for the two of us. In fact, we'd much rather celebrate St. Patrick's Day instead. Yes, since we're both Irish! :o) So, here's a recap of our Valentine's Day together. I'm sure you'll feel a lot better about yours after this!

We woke up late (so nice!) and ate cereal for breakfast. You can't go wrong with Cinnamon Toast Crunch! Actually, if I'm being entirely honest, it was the generic brand from WinCo. We then went to the mall to return a pair of Brett's shoes, grabbed a bite to eat at Good Burger (not so good by the way), drove by the house we put an offer on (more to come about that), and went to the public library. This excursion was capped off by a nap. We're getting old, folks! Following the extended nap, we took Puckett to the park to play a game of fetch. Puckett is great at fetching the ball. It's the retrieving aspect of the game where he does not excel. Dinner time! Our original plan was to actually make something; however, it's not quite a celebration without Taco John's. Yes, I'm serious. If you know me at all, you should know that Taco John's is tops on my list. So...we drove to Nampa (10 miles), ate some TJ's, and trucked it back home. We were home just in time to throw in a movie from Red Box. By the way, I do not recommend Forgetting Sarah Marshall. At some point in the movie, I realized my pants were too tight and they were giving me a stomach ache. Consequently, we went to bed immediately following that terrible movie. And that, my friends, is how we spent our last Valentine's Day as a small family of two.

Valentine's Day Party

I guess you're never too old to have a Valentine's Day party. All of the classes at my school reserved the last hour on Friday for class parties. Like all of our class parties, the kids ate a lot of food, played games, and visited. They really know how to win my heart!

Happy Birthday!

Saturday, Feb. 7, Puckett turned THREE! That's right! He celebrated his birthday by sleeping in (usual), took a ride in the car (typical), let his gums flap in the wind (always), and we went for a little hike. He topped it off with a nice dinner (his usual 1.5 cups of dry dog food) and got to sleep on his pillow in our room. It must have been a good day because he snored like the dickens!


Almost three years ago, at eight weeks old, we brought Puckett home. Actually, Brett had to make an unexpected trip to MN that weekend, but I was sure I could handle it. What was I thinking?! The first night, I was convinced I wanted to return him. Thankfully, he doesn't whine like that anymore. And slowly, he's matured. Has he gotten smarter? No, not at all. Over the last year he has calmed down significantly though. Seriously. Regardless, we still like him...a little. :o)

This is the day we picked him out. We picked him out thinking he was the calm one of the bunch. Little did we know, little Puckett was sick that day because he had eaten a collar. This was just the beginning.

I think this picture was taken about a week or so after we had him at home. So cute!

Here's Puckett in the snow in Jan. or Feb. of 2008. He looks the same now though.

The Alien is A-OK

This afternoon I had my 14-week checkup. The doctors tell me there is still an alien in there! The heart beat sounds good and oddly enough, there were lots of kicks interrupting our listening. Do you think that's a sign of what life is going to be like? Is this pay back?

Since our big ski trip a couple of weeks ago, it seems that I don't have anything exciting to blog about. I guess it is hard to compare to that though. Here's a quick list of what we've been doing in Boise:

• Preparing our 2008 taxes. They're ready to go to the CPA! You should see my spreadsheets!
• Looking for houses. Of course, this is nothing new. We did, however, get a new realtor. Things are looking up!
• Puckett attempted suicide. As it turns out, he ate one of my gloves the night before we went skiing. I looked all over for it! Thankfully, it came out his mouth in the form of a large barf. And Brett actually asked me if I wanted to keep it.
• Sick. I caught a little cold a couple of days ago and am still trying to fight it off.
• Work, work, and work. Brett is working with a 13-14 year old soccer team to whip them into shape before their season. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, they extended it becauese they liked it so much! Good job!
• Pregnant. Yep, still at it. I have my 14-week appointment on Tuesday. Weight gain? Nope. None.

My Favorite Picture

Here is my favorite picture from the trip. I think it is the contrast in colors that makes it so appealing. Here is Brett snowboarding out to the run.

3rd Annual Ski Trip

Brett and I were able to take a long weekend, along with my mom and Greg, and hide out in Bozeman, Montana. We actually stayed up at Moonlight Basin which is adjacent to Big Sky. It all started three years ago when Megan, Brett's sister, had her senior concert at MSU. We had a couple of 2-for-1 tickets to Moonlight and decided to check it out. We're hooked!

Notice the moon to the right of Lone Peak.

We flew in Thursday afternoon and had the chance to visit with Brett's sister, Megan, while she worked at a quaint italian restaurant. I wanted to eat, but if you know me at all, you know how much I L-O-V-E Taco John's. I saved my appetite for TJ's later. Yes, it's pathetic. I map out every Taco John's on every trip we take. :o)

Friday morning, we all (Mom, Greg, Josh, Jan, and Brett) made the trip up to Moonlight with the gear in tow. You might remember that I'm pregnant. At my last appointment, my doctor said, "If it was me, I would ski. But, I should tell you not to." I had every intention of not skiing. I promise. In fact, I left my skis and boots at home for that purpose. As it turned out, there was no one on the slopes, consequently, figured I could ski since no one else was there. I joined everyone else in three fun, sunny days of skiing! Baby Walker enjoyed every minute of it!

Greg (gray) and Brett (yellow) hit the slopes.

These pictures never (ever) turn out as cute as I imagine them!

After three days of skiing, we took a break at the lodge. We actually took a picture in the exact same spot last year. So cute!

We've been thinking about baking lately. What? Baking? Us? Why? I've got a...


After much anticipation, and an ultrasound as proof, I'm ecstatic to tell everyone that we are expecting (an alien)! Currently, I am 10 weeks and four days pregnant with a due date of July 30.

Driver's Test Update

Just so you don't think I'm a complete loser, I wanted you all to know that I passed my driver's test today with flying colors!

Happy 3rd Anniversary to US!

Between November and January there is always a lot going on. November brings Brett's birthday; in December there is Christmas, New Year's, and our anniversary; and nine days later we celebrate my birthday in January. Yikes! While it seems like there are so many things to celebrate, one of my favorites is our anniversary. It may only be three years, well short of a decade, but each year I am reminded of the love Brett and I share and the many things we have to be thankful for.

First of all, if you didn't know already, my sophomore year in college I wanted one of our mutual friends to set us up. She said to Brett, "I know a softball girl who thinks you're hot." Apparently, softball girls don't have a reputation for liking men (weird), so it's no surprise that Brett's response was, "I'm really busy." What a lie! Many years later, I am still recovering from that devastating rejection.

Thankfully, he came to his senses. I'm not sure that I swept him off his feet, but he sure did have that effect on me! Many times I would go to work early (yes, we worked together), volunteer to work extra shifts (if he was working), and looked mighty cute when I showed up to work in those days. Something must have clicked because just over two years later we got hitched!

Even though the fancy dress has long since been boxed up, I like to think that the honeymoon continues. I'm very much in love with Brett as much as I was three years ago. Good thing, right?! There are so many things that I adore about him. More than that, I believe I am a better person because of him. There's no one else I'd rather share my life with. In three short years, we've lived in three states (Brett lived in four), bought a house, sold a house, built a deck (which did not collapse), bought a dog, set a bbq on fire, had many nephews and nieces born, been to many weddings and some funerals (sadly), visited 12 states and Mexico, landscaped a yard, and moved a couple times. Thankfully, we survived it all together!

I'm not sure that Brett reads "our" blog, but if you do: Happy Anniversary! You're my favorite!

Christmas 2008

I apologize ahead of time. This turned out to be rather lengthy, but I really wanted to post some photos from our trip. Hopefully, everyone was able to enjoy the holidays with family and/or friends. As usual, we were gone for Christmas. This year, we made a short trip back to California to visit my faimly. The plan was to fly from Boise to Fresno with one stop in Portland. When we arrived at the Boise airport, we found out that our flight was already delayed. Great. To make a long story short, we ran (the out-of-breath movie kind of running) to our new gate to catch a flight to Phoenix instead of Portland. Here is a picture of our boarding passes...for the flights over.

I know this is really mature of us, but while we were in Phoenix (for the first time ever) we noticed the the mountains looked a lot like Puckett's bowel movements. What do you think?

We finally arrived on Christmas evening. We got to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Seaver for a little while.

The next day, we drove to Pismo Beach to spend the evening there with my Dad and Sylvia. What's Christmas without going to the beach?!

For the final days of our trip, we made the short trip to Visalia to be with my mom and Greg! We were able to get in some much needed R&R, go to one of my favorite places (BT's), visit and laugh, and one of my best friend's, Sara, came to say hi! I can't forget to mention that Brett got some fly fishing lessons from Greg. No river? Why not use the pool?

I'm a Failure

When was the last time you took a written driver's test? Well for me, it has been ten years ago that my dad took Bryce and me to the DMV for that dreaded permit test. At that point in time, I had studied off a couple of old permit tests. Thankfully, I walked right in to the DMV, took the test, and passed with flying colors! What a great student! Well, the entire time I was in North Dakota, I kept my CA driver's license. However, I did get a Washington license a few years back, but mostly because I wanted to sport my new married name.

Why is any of this relevant? Well, this morning I had the exciting task of getting Brett new Idaho plates. I was having nightmares of long lines and was picturing the CA DMV. Boy was I astonished to find not a single person in line and about 10 tellers waiting to help me! That's what I call service! After getting Brett's plates in order, I inquired about a new driver's license. After all, a cop was nice enough to let me know I am only allowed 90 days from the date I became a resident to get this done. Thanks, officer! The gal at the counter was nice enough to let me know that I need my driver's license, proof of residency, and then I can take the test. Test? What test? A written test? Oh, crap! She told me I could go home and study. Well, being the wonderful driver I am, I knew that I could ace this bad boy with no problem. Do you see where this is going? Not only did I not pass (otherwise known as "failed"), the computer automatically shuts down after you miss too many. What a self-esteem booster! C'mon, who cares what an "open range" is anyway? Well, I can honestly admit that I failed. I am a failure. I could not pass a simple driver's test. Don't laugh, please. And, if you think I'm so dumb, try the practice test: http://www.dmv.org/dmv-practice-test.php?thestate=IDAHO%20&testtype=DRIVERS%20LICENSE&testname=nationwide.

Just wait until next week. I'm going to walk in there, pay my three dollars and pass that stinking test. Now, I'm just plain mad about it. I'll show them!

Oh, what to blog about...

This evening, I was in search of something interesting to blog about because, let's face it, there is nothing very exciting going on here. I thought of two completely random things to share with everyone. First, this is the picture of our school's Christmas tree. Each year, St. Alphonsus Medical Center puts on an event called the Festival of Trees. The trees are auctioned off, and the proceeds go toward healthcare. I think that's how it works anyway. It's hard to see from this picture, but the ornaments are blue and silver. Our school's tree got third place!

The other random thing I found out today was that the Nobel Peace Prize medal depicts three naked men with their hands on each other's shoulders! Does anyone find that weird? Don't look closely, you might something you didn't want to see. How did I find out? I'm glad you asked. I was so hard up for something to blog about that I actually Googled "weird facts." Like I said, there is nothing exciting going on here. :o)