Two sides to every story

I have been a bit skittish lately about the dark! We have been finding a few rather large spiders in our house the last week. First we thought they were brown recluse spiders. Fortunately they are only Wolf spiders (as if that makes it okay) but they are huge and we have killed 3 in the last week. They come out at night or first thing in the morning. Joe has me completely freaked out of getting out of bed in the dark. (Don't worry Mom we have put out traps, and they will be gone before you get here in October! I hope)
Secondly I remembered at midnight that I hadn't taken the trash out for the trash man the next morning, so I did it at midnight. I got halfway down the driveway and there was some guy walking down my street. It totally took me off guard and spooked me. I quickly walked back flew up my stairs, shut and locked the door, and jumped into bed. Joe and I were Joking about it, wondering if he would have heard me, if I screamed. I am now convinced more than ever that he wouldn't have. Here is the Story:
It is 1:15 in the morning and I was awakened by some scratching noises. I sat up and sure enough I wasn't dreaming. I sat up and listened for awhile until I figured out which direction it was coming from. It seemed to be coming from the corner of our room where there is a window, but also Joe's closet! (Which might I add the hamper is hanging on the closet door, and he still can't get the clothes in it all the time.) I couldn't figure out if the noises were for sure coming from inside the house, or not. I listened and waited and then tried to wake up Joe. Okay Seriously, I was rolling his entire body from one side to the other, and it didn't even phase him! So I started tapping him frantically, still he didn't move. Finally I got in his face and was doing all of the above, at the same time, and shouting his name in a loud whisper. He woke up enough to say "what's up", rolled over, and went back to sleep! I woke him up again and said "Joe there is some kind of animal or something in our house and I have to go to the bathroom!" My big brave husband said, and I quote;"You better run fast!" Are you kidding me!! I thought husbands were suppose to protect you and laugh in the face of danger and all that stuff. I am happy to report I survived my trip to the bathroom, I think my feet only hit the floor 3 times from my bed to the bathroom!
By the time I got back the noises had stopped. I laid awake forever trying to go back to sleep. knowing that at any given moment a fuzzy nocturnal friend might crawl into my bed and my husband wouldn't even know it!

Okay so finally it is morning and Joe thinks I am making the whole thing up! I have been reading the book Twilight, it is about a vampire. He tells me on the way out the door that I should wear some garlic around my neck to be safe, until he gets home. So today I have cleaned out the entire corner no sign of animals, but there is a vent outside that goes under our house. It doesn't stay in, so I think some nocturnal animal is making a nest under my house! There is not a chance I am sticking my head in there to find out! Fortunately we are renting so I will be calling my landlord! But for now I put the vent back in place. I am fairly certain nothing bigger than spiders, oh and those really nasty cave crickets that look like spiders until they jump, live inside my house. But I will be prepared tonight with, at the very least, a flashlight, just in case!


Joe's Version of Events:
By Joe

Last night I was awoken by the sound of my wife's hushed whispers. Now, I try to be attentive to my dear wife's every beck and call, but the middle of the night is when she is at her least reliable self. I refer to the many nights when my wife has woken me with a conversation about the shopping cart tipping over, the sheriff is on the phone, the spiders under the bed, or most recently when I awoke to find her tossing her pillows in the air - apparently under the impression that she was in a contest where it was mandatory to throw your pillow the highest (true, the winner got out of having to do the dishes). As you might guess by this point, my wife's keen sense of judgement is sometimes impaired in the wee hours of the morning. My wife insists that there was a "nocturnal animal" in the closet. I however, did not hear anything of the sort. Which is why I rolled over and went back to bed! I love her though, even if she is a little loony at night.

A Few Random Thoughts

Okay, so last night I ran the grueling 5k "Fun run" uphill both ways and barefoot! Okay maybe not barefoot but the hills were a killer!! And the humidity was awful. When I left last night my girls were of course rooting for me, and hoping that I would "WIN" the race! This morning when Jenna woke up she asked me if I won, and I said no. She said, "Well, I guess you have to keep running until you win!" Jenna always tells it how it is. I just felt lucky that I crossed the finish line, and could still stand up!! Anyway for now I will keep on running, thanks to Jenna!

Jenna had her first day of school last week and loved it. I was so sad though, she refused to let me walk her in! I tried everything from just let me hold the door to can I at least walk you to the sidewalk. Her reply " GET IN THE CAR MOM!" I was crushed. She is so grown up and 110% girl, she wears nothing but skirts and dresses to school, and we are apparently in a ponytail phase!

Madelyn ended up with her second round of stitches this week. She fell and hit nearly the same spot on a little wooden rocking chair. Off we rushed back to the Doctor to sew her up again. While waiting in the office with the band aid on her head she was still trying to climb on top of the table! Then today while we were at church Joe comes rushing by with Madelyn, and her hand was bleeding. She cut 3 fingers on the drinking fountain, trying to climb it! She is so busy, and apparently so accident prone right now. I want to strap her in her car seat, and not let her out! Other than her extreme clumsiness right now, she takes after Jenna in the girlie department. I put her Sunday dress on this morning and she was so excited about what she was wearing, it was so cute! She kept looking at her skirt and doing a little dance!

Kaitlyn is doing well in school and really loves being helpful to her teacher. She has grown up so much in the last year. They started a new incentive in primary to "get caught" being good. She thought about it all week and asked me daily what she could do to help me. I thought it was so cute to see her so excited about it. I secretly hope I can stretch it out at least one more week!

**Sorry this post is a little random, but just keep in mind, this is somewhat of my family journal too.

Saturday

Saturday was quite the day. It started at 5:45am as I got up and got ready to go to the dry pack cannery in Indianapolis Indiana. (about 2 hours from here) I have been really trying to get our food storage back to what it was and more. We started trying to use most of it when we thought we would be moving. I have really been thinking a lot about this lately, and felt like our family was very unprepared. So I decided to go to the cannery and stock up on some of the essentials again. I still have a ways to go, but at least we have something stored away.
So I had also signed up to run the 5k Texas Roadhouse Stampede. (Joe and I ran this last year. (it supports visually impaired preschoolers) The race is at night(9:00pm) and the course goes over a bridge that crosses the Ohio River. Joe and I both ended up running again this year. It was a beautiful night. I have to brag just a little, I beat Joe!! (In his defense I have been training for about 6 weeks more than he has.) All in all we both improved our times from last year, and we had a good time.
I have also signed up to run this Saturday a 3 miler. However I am already certain it will be nothing to brag about. It is through Cherokee Park which I am not really sure how, but I promise it is up hill at least 89.9% of the race! I am actually pretty worried about this one. I have found that if I sign up to run a race then I am committed, and it motivates me to exercise. So I have signed up through October to hopefully keep me exercising. (That is if I survive the run through Cherokee Park!)

Tagged again

7 Things you may or may not know about me.

*1. I am not crazy about surprises. I like things planned out and scheduled.

*2. Someday, I want to learn how to play the violin.

*3. I am rather shy and don't like to be put on the spot.

*4. I worked with my Dad doing construction work, in the summers growing up.

*5. I always wanted to be a lab technician, but I knew I would never survive microbiology. So I settled on being a nurse and drawing peoples blood.( That's the fun part anyway! just kidding)

*6. I can play the Piano, French horn, Trumpet and Saxophone.( Or at least I could at one point)

*7. I have always wanted to own a horse.

Okay so there it is! I am seriously starting to wonder how many of these "tagged" things are going around. Who starts these anyway????

I am tagging Cathy Borders who just started blogging again, and Jami Hardy.

Ive been tagged...

Okay so I have been tagged by Deanna. Here are the 9 burning questions about my Marriage....

1. Where did you meet your husband?
Joe and I first met in Pocatello Idaho while attending ISU. We were in the same ward, and the same Family Home Evening group. We first met playing a ridiculous rendition of "getting to know you", during our FHE activity. At the time we were both kind of doing our own thing and not really in the looking phase. (However Joe can tell you clear down to my sandals what I was wearing that night, so I apparently made somewhat of an impression.)

2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?
Back to the ridiculous rendition of getting to know you. We were at an activity where everyone had to name a hobby or an interest they had. Then we went around the room and tried to list everyone by what their hobby/interest was. Mine was ice skating, and his was singing. Of course I messed up and said his hobby was dancing and was completely mortified!

3.Where was your first date?
Well this is where things get tricky... I thought our first date was a double date to the drive-in to see Knotting Hill. I thought my roommate and I were going with Joe and his roommate. Somehow there ended up being 3 girls and 2 guys hmmmm. And I was NOT Joe's date, and I was not interested at all in his roommate. So I guess our official date was an over nighter (completely chaperoned, by Joe's sister) to a Mickey Mouse parade on the streets of Pocatello. Thousands of people stayed on the streets over night to secure their spots for the parade. Apparently it was supposed to be a huge thing from Disney, It turned out to be a total flop. But the company was good!

4. Where was your first kiss?
Our first kiss was on the porch swing in the backyard of my apartment. It only took Joe 3 1/2 hours to finally make his move. All the while (we had no idea!) the guy next door was professing his love to me on paper. As Joe and I were kissing right outside his window!

5. Did you have a long or short engagement/courtship?
Well our courtship apparently began on July 31, 1999, (according to Joe)
We dated I guess for about 3 1/2 months. We were engaged on November 11, 1999. And we got married in March 3, 2000.

6. Where did you get engaged?
Joe proposed to me in Idaho Falls,Idaho on the river walk, across from the Temple. We had just gone ring shopping and found the one. I thought he was planning on going back to get it that weekend. But he got it that day.
So once we were at the river walk he got down on one knee. And I kept saying what are you doing, He finally had to say "Just be quiet for a minute", and then he popped the question. I of course said yes and no lie, immediately across the river their were FIREWORKS! Real ones just randomly going off in November! It was Perfect.

7. Where were you married?
We were married in the Logan Utah Temple. It was a beautiful day.
8. How did the reception go?
I couldn't have asked for anything more. I thought it was perfect.

9. How was the honeymoon?
Before getting married I took Joe to a bridal fair in Pocatello where we won a stay at a little Bed and Breakfast half way between the 2 receptions. It worked out great and we thought it was a lot of fun. Then after the 2nd reception we left for Las Vegas. We neither one liked Vegas very much. It could have been the lack of money, and the fact that we were stuck on the strip without a car. 3 days on the strip was about 2 1/2 to many for us. Of course we would love to go somewhere again and call it our second honeymoon!

I am tagging Melissa Wooden and Jani Cotton!!( It was good to see you Jani!)

Back to School

This picture is for my Dad. The future in Turner Carpentry Service inc.(My Dad's Construction Business)

FYI: Home Depot does these little workshops for FREE, the first Saturday of the month.The girls love spending time with Dad, building things, Dad gets to hang out at Home Depot, and everybody is happy. They give them aprons, hats, pins, and certificates. It is really fun. (I have heard that Lowes has something similar as well)



Kaitlyn on her first day of School. (First Grade)

School has officially started for us. Back to the dreaded car pool lines, and living in the car.(Which will only get worse once Jenna starts next week.) Kaitlyn so far really likes first grade, and has been the first one dressed everyday this week! Hooray. It sure seems quiet here, with Kaitlyn gone most of the day. Jenna sure misses her sister when she is at school. I think once she starts preschool, it won't be so bad. Now if I could just tame the Tornado(Madelyn). I might be able to get some things done around here.

Madelyn's Stitches

This is a project that I have been working on. We bought this desk at the goodwill, and decided to refinish it. When we started sanding, we discovered that the top had a beautiful wood grain.My original plan was to paint the whole thing black but once I saw the wood I couldn't cover it up. So this is how it turned out.
Two days after moving the desk into Madelyn's room, Madelyn fell and hit her head on one of the drawer pulls.(the pointed part on the bottom of the picture.) A complete freak accident. The fun part was trying to get Jenna and Kaitlyn calmed down so I could take care of Madelyn.(They completely loose it at the sight of blood.) Madelyn ended up with 4 stitches, above her right eyebrow. She is such a little trooper, always so happy. It didn't seem to bother her that much at all. However, I was completely heart broken that my baby had to get stitiches in her head.

Our First BLOG!

I finally did it! I am hoping that this will be an easier way to stay in touch with everyone, and keep you posted on our family. My goal is to make this somewhat of a family journal as well. (Thanks Julie for the idea!) With that in mind I think I will start with our summer.
This summer has been filled with lots of fun. We went back home in June, to visit our families. We love Kentucky, but I think Idaho and Utah will always be "home" for us. The girls had so much fun playing with cousins and being spoiled by Grandparents. I think the grandparents had fun too!
The rest of the summer has been filled with camping, trips to the zoo, science center, swimming lessons, and good old back yard fun. My girls love playing in the sprinklers and wading pools in the backyard. Even Madelyn gets into it. She tries to drink the water that is shooting out of the sprinkler! It is pretty hilarious to watch. We have burned through several hundred Popsicles, and at least one bottle of sunscreen, and several hundred gallons of water. Part of me can't believe the summer is over in one week, and the other part is celebrating! I am one that thrives on schedules and our summer has had no schedule at all. I am anxious to get back into the routine of things, and I think my girls are too.
We are not calling the summer over yet, we still have at least one more camping trip to fit in. We are also hoping for a quick labor day road trip. If anyone has a favorite must see in Kentucky, or surrounding area let us know, we are still in the planning stages.