Mini-Update

Hey all, just wanted to give a little update while I have a small break in the chaos.
Dellas headed over to Seattle yesterday to take a load of big stuff (trailer, jetski, etc) then spent this morning looking for places for us to live. We were very fortunate and got lucky on the 2nd place! I found a duplex in Issaquah on Craigslist so Dellas took a look and snatched it up!
It's a little dated, but it's 3br, 2.5ba and more importantly has a small back yard for Oak! Issaquah is one of the more expensive areas to live so we were a little worried about what we could find but I think this one will do nicely! I'll post pics later...

On another note, I was offered a job at my current bank's Bellevue branch and will start on January 17th! This allows me to take a week for our Hawaii trip and a week to move but come right back to a job with no lapse in pay or benefits! I only have 2 days left of work in Meridian so the girls are throwing a little going away party tomorrow at work but they won't tell me what all it's going to entail.
It's definitely a time for mixed emotions...getting ready to leave some fabulous friends and a lot of familiarity behind, but so excited to go to Hawaii on Sunday then come back to a place to live!

Things have been coming together nicely for us and we're so thankful. Dellas even said, "it's kinda scary how things are falling into place for us..." haha, not really sure why it's scary but oh well; it makes me feel like this was how everything is supposed to happen for us!

More to come after we relax with our toes in the sand for a week then make the journey over to Issaquah!

Our Fate is Decided

Well, many of you already know what this post is going to say, but I feel it's worth posting anyway! After 4 long months of waiting on pins and needles, Kiewit has decided our fate and are sending us to Bellevue, WA for Dellas to start work on the rebuilding of the 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington (which spans between downtown Seattle and Bellevue.) This job was one of Dellas' first picks so he's pretty excited. I, on the other hand, bypassed the excitement and immediately went into planning mode but didn't have long before family came into town to help us celebrate Del's graduation.

Now that we have him OFFICIALLY done with college we're starting to put together our plans and line up a place to live. Luckily, I'm familiar enough with the area to help eliminate certain places but it's still nice to have family who is local to help out.
This upcoming week will be spent enjoying time with Dellas' parents (and soon his brother) who are in town until after Christmas, while trying to tie up loose ends in Meridian. My last day at work isn't until the 30th so Dellas' job, from the 27th-31st, is to go to Seattle and scrape up some houses and hopefully pin something down before we head to Hawaii for a week on the 1st. We get back from Hawaii on the 8th and Dellas starts work the 16th. Somewhere in that mesh of activity we'll need to come back to Boise, pack up our house, haul it over, and hopefully unload it into a house! If not, I hope my family will let us crash in on them temporarily!
As for my job, I'm not sure yet. I'm checking into transferring with my current bank but also trying to weigh how long of a commute I want. So we'll see what happens there.

Everything that we've been thinking about and wondering about for the last 6 months is actually starting to happen now! It's a crazy, stressful, exciting, scary time for us but that's life! We'll be keeping everyone updated as things come together. I apologize ahead of time if I'm not the best blog updater over the next month but I promise it'll come!

Oakley's Newest Trick!

This evening I was bored and thought it would be fun to see what new tricks I could teach Oakely. At first I tried "high-five" but realized it was too close to "shake" so then I moved on to "play dead." It was so easy! All I did was push him over a few times, while he was laying down, while saying "play dead." Then I let him try it on his own and he did it! It took a total of maybe 15 mins to get him to not hesitate and/or flail around but now he's pretty good!

I must say, I'm a pretty proud mama, haha, or just easily entertained...

Project Complete

Just thought I'd share the finished product of the path. We brought in fill dirt and planted a few small things, but the fun things are the new raised vegetable garden box (hidden in the background) and the sweet "barriers" Del built. (The mini fences are to keep Oakley on path when screaming around the corner and will easily come out for whoever lives here next who may not have a crazy dog)

I'm very happy with how this turned out! Unfortunately, we don't get to enjoy it tho :-( Del and I looked at each other and said, "why didn't we do this a LONG time ago!?" Oh well, live and learn and hopefully someone else down the road will appreciate it...if not, at least it's less lawn to mow or replace when it gets neglected by tenants :-P

In other news, my mom comes to town tomorrow followed by my dad on Thursday night. The guys will then head up to New Meadows for a weekend of hunting while mom and I have some girl time at home! Looking forward to it!

Checking In

I just realized that it has been over a month since our last update and the reason is two-fold. Partly because we haven't had any drastic news or events to report and also because we've been busy doing this and that.

Since Del's return to Boise we have been busy many of the weekends. Labor Day weekend was camping, then a visit to my Grandma in Twin Falls, ID, and an overnight trip to The Big Nasty Hill Climb in New Plymouth, ID (dirty bikes racing up a steep hill).

Our Labor Day camp site - on the N Fork of the Boise River

Family Photo :)

And if we werent' out of town, we were home getting things done! We took on one last project before calling it quits (kind of) on the house. Our dog has a habit of running back and forth from our back sliding door to the side door into the garage and that poor small area of lawn in between became a mud pit. So to avoid a really messy upcoming winter and future frustration, we found a good deal on Craigslist for a load of pavers. Del got to work, dug out the grass, and laid the pavers!

Del awesome work! As usual...

Since this pic was taken, we've trans-planted that big Sandcherry to the bigger area across the path by the fence and moved a shrub from out front to replace it. We've also bought a few new plants but we aren't sure we want to spend more money on plants we won't be here to take care of in the spring. So it may stay pretty sparse back here. Renters won't mind :-P

Well, I don't think there's much else to report. Del's just forcing himself through this last semester of school while I work. Still no word where we're going with Kiewit, probably not for at least another month :-(
I think time is going to fly though! It's already October and we're fast approaching another busy stretch! Parents coming to visit in a couple wks, then Thanksgiving, then my birthday, then Del's graduation and more family coming to town, then Xmas......all leading up to the big move and our Hawaii trip!! I just hope I can stay sane thru all this....:-P

It's Official!!!

Those of you who are close to us already know this, but Dellas was offered a job after completing his internship with Kiewit this summer. We're now proud to say that he has......ACCEPTED the job offer, officially, as of today!!! We thought he might take a little bit of time to explore some more options but we decided this was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.
We don't know details as to where we'll be, and we don't even have a very good idea of when we'll know either! His boss told him "hopefully around November" but the HR gal told him today it's exactly like the internship process (which was 2 wks before he started!) I'm praying more towards the November side, personally! We're also speculating that Seattle is the most likely area, but he was also told the Hawaii project is looking for new hires to go out there...but we're trying not to get our minds set on anything yet. Del still has to actually FINISH school first haha.

Other than that exciting news, it's awesome having Del back home with me! This past weekend, we went to Lake Cascade to a friend's cabin and relaxed. He started school again yesterday and is fine tuning his schedule to be easy as possible for his very last semester. This coming weekend will be spent at home then Labor Day weekend will be spent on our 1st, and possibly last, camping trip of the summer.

Anyway, hope all is well with everyone. As usual, I'll keep you posted once we know anything on the new job! Wherever we go, we better get some visitors!

Summer Heat!

Today has hit about 100 degrees so, since I'm actually home and plan-free, Oakley and I had to find a way to keep cool! (Other than sit inside in the A/C). Not sure why the video is sideways but I'm not gonna worry about it - just tilt your head :)

In other quick news, Dellas had his evaluation with his boss at Kiewit yesterday and it sounds like it went very well! I'm so proud of my hubby for doing such a great job and impressing everyone out west. Says a lot that they are still impressed even after he showed them his true, sarcastic colors ;)

Proud 'Mater Grower!

When my mom came over this past June, she brought over a small tomato plant that a family friend's great(?) grandparents had brought over with them from Italy. It's a little different type of tomato but we're thinking it will turn out to be somewhere between a cherry and regular sized tomato.
Anywho, it's my very first tomato plant, but in the month and 1/2 I've had it, it has really taken off in this heat and I was super excited when I noticed that I may have done something right!

My sis-in-law seems to think I have some sort of green thumb, but I just tell her all I do is water things and they seem to grow! So I just wanted to share what my "just watering" has produced! Can't wait to taste them :)

10 Down, 2 1/2 To Go!

We're coming to the home stretch of Dellas' absence and I'm getting anxious! This past weekend marked my last visit to the coast that I returned home alone. Luckily, a little bit of warm weather followed me over to the great Northwet and we had a wonderful summer weekend together.
I flew in a little earlier than usual (3pm) which we thought would be nice but, after sitting for 2hrs in "the Friday Flee" traffic to get down to Olympia, we sort of wondered if I should've just stuck to my usual 8pm arrival :-P However, enduring the traffic allowed us to get to Oly in time to meet my parents downtown for dinner and ice cream which was nice.

My favorite mountain, always fun to see from the air. (Mt Rainier)

On Saturday, we did our usual Starbucks/Costco/Home Depot run and got home in time for the weather to be warming up nicely. The "men" puttered around outside on the tractor for a couple of hrs before I put my foot down and told them to stop being boring and go kayaking with me :-P
In order to see pics of kayaking you'll have to check out this facebook album because the pics are from my mom's camera and not available for upload from my laptop.
After kayaking a bit, we came back for a yummy meal of BBQ ribs, homemade potato salad, dutch oven baked beans, and dutch oven berry cobbler with homemade ice cream.
My plane wasn't due to leave on Sunday until 8:15pm so we had a little more time to putter around home with mom and dad. Del drove dad's tractor around most of the day so I hopped on for a few minutes as well :)

Once the "work" was done, Dad and Del took each other on at HORSE and played best of 3. They'd been talking about this game all weekend so it was an intense hour!

After splitting 1-1, game 3 was the deciding match that gave dad the winning title. Maybe next time, Del ;)


The time came for Del and I to head back up to the airport so we gave ourselves 2 hrs to get there and we needed almost all of it again due to traffic. Once close to the airport, I decided I had a few extra minutes to grab a bite to eat and I'm glad I did! Because, halfway through eating, I received a text from my airline stating "Flight #### is delayed. New departure time is 10:40pm" (remember, it was 8:15pm) UGH! Instead of sitting alone at the gate, we wasted those 2 hrs sitting in a mall parking lot, reading, talking, and getting a McFlurry from McDonald's :-P I was also glad that I was able to coordinate with Del's cousin to drop my car off at the airport to avoid her having to pick me at 1am!
At 12:40am I landed in Boise and was welcome by 80 degree weather. By 1:30am I was in bed, exhausted, dreading work. Luckily, I had texted my boss on Sunday night (in case my flight got canceled or something) so on Monday morning, she texted me and told me to go back to bed and come in at 11am  :) I didn't question her and crawled back into bed for a couple of hours!


SO! I'm home now for just 2.5 more weeks until I go to steal my husband back!

Together Again (for a few days)

I suppose I should probably give an update on how Dellas' visit home went, and it went fabulously :) He flew in Wednesday around noon so we were able to grab a quick lunch and run home (before I returned to work) for Del to reunite with his pup. Funny thing is, Oakley ran right past Del and straight to me! But once he gave Del some sniffs and they started playing together, I could tell it all came rushing back to Oak of who this guy was and they enjoyed each other's company the rest of the week.
Since I had to work Wed, Thurs, and Friday, Dellas did his thing during the day which included, washing my car a few times, replacing the drip system in the front flower bed, mow the lawn a couple times, clean up the exterior of the house and a few other odds and ends. I sure appreciate all the things he can do around the house!
Saturday, Dellas invited an old Norco co-worker over for sourdough pancakes which were DELICIOUS! That afternoon, Del, Jake (his best friend), Oakley and I went up to Lucky Peak for some fun in the sun. Jake had his jetski running so they dumped it in the water and took turns cruising around while I relaxed on the beach. In between jetski runs, Del would swim around with Oakley too.

Del and Oak, takin a swim

Lucky Peak

Toes in the sand :)

Oakley intently watching Del ride on the ski

Saturday evening my oldest sister, Jeni, and her two sons, came into town to stay with us for a night until her husband flew into Boise Sunday morning. (They were on their was south to Jake's family's cabin.) We had a little BBQ at our house and visited for the evening. I bought my nephews a couple of Super Soakers for my oldest nephew's bday (turned 11 on Sunday) so they chased each other around the neighborhood for awhile too.
Sunday afternoon Del and I were able to stop by his aunt and uncle's house to have lunch with them and Gma & Gpa Clark who were in town from San Diego for about a week. It was a special visit since it was the first time we'd seen them since the wedding! Almost 2 yrs ago! We hope to make it down to SD this fall, but who knows what our schedule will be like for Del's last semester.

All in all, it was a great 5 days! It made me feel a little more normal to have hubby home and be doing everyday things with him. My next visit is next weekend and it will be the last trip I take without bringing him home with me!

Happy 4th!

Oakley and I just got back from a very busy but FUN weekend! Although Del couldn't join us, we definitely made the best of it.
Saturday morning we headed up to McCall to join about 40 members of the Vance family who all came together to help my grandparents celebrate 60 years together! It was a short but very special visit.

View from an area of my family's property called "The Knoll"

Older Sis Julie, Mom, and Me

On Sunday afternoon, we made a short drive from New Meadows to Donnelly, ID on Lake Cascade (still near McCall) to meet up with a friend of mine whose family has a cabin RIGHT on the lake. I spent Sunday afternoon until Monday afternoon soaking up the sun, sea-dooing, water trampoline jumping, and boating. I think Oakley had the most fun when Rachel and I walked down to a park nearby and let him have some fun in the water.

View from our spot on the Lake

Apparently I have a kangaroo instead of a lab :-P The water was just shallow enough that he bounded thru it instead of swimming. It was pretty entertaining.

After our fun weekend it's time to get ready for Del to come home! He comes in Wednesday morning and will head back Sunday night. Even though I have to work W-F it'll be nice having him around and feel like normal again for a bit. :)

Public vs Private Blog...

My last post seemed to grab the attention of an "anonymous" commenter and I'm not sure how I feel about it haha. If you're the anonymous commenter I'd love to know so I can be set at ease that I know you. But I donno how I feel about strangers giving input on my husband's job haha.
I've always kept my blog public just because of the pain it can be to have to approve everyone who wants to read it. However, I want to say to my family and friends that I may have to consider going private to keep unfamiliar people from helping themselves to our life story and feeling free to give their input. I will give notice before I do this but this is sort of a heads up.
If you don't know us, move on please :) if you do, I'll let you know before I go private.

Thanks! :)

Bummer Deal

This is going to be a boring post but it's the easiest way to get the story out there.

Del and I just got a taste of how life working for Kiewit (or any other construction company) could be some day. Yesterday, about 20 mins before Del was going to take off for his 5.5 day weekend, the head boss of his project asked to speak to him. He asked if Del could possibly be one of 2 Kiewit guys to work thru the weekend. A little back story, a couple of weeks ago they realized that a huge underground pipe was leaking and that it was built to incorrect specifications. Well, they have a deadline of 30 days to correct this error so they've been working men 24hrs a day. So anyway, Dellas agreed to stay and is now going to work 6pm-6am Saturday, Sunday and probably Monday or Tuesday night.
Needless to say, I was NOT happy with this sudden change. I went from going to see him in about 24hrs to waiting another 5 days. The nice thing is that Kiewit is possibly going to reimburse us some of the extra expense we're taking on in order to get him new last minute flights to come home. But, he's coming home! Hopefully! We'll know for sure this afternoon but we're thinking Wed morning to Sunday night.

Anyway, it's a huge bummer but it's reality and situations like this are what we'll have to be ready for in this field. But it makes us ask ourselves, at what point do you stop sacrificing family for career....? We'll have to find out as we go!

3 Down, 9 To Go

Dellas has just started into week 4 of his internship and is still enjoying it. His tasks vary every day and he's always looking for more to do and learn. So far, he feels like he's learned a lot about what it'd be like to work for this company for his career and I think that's one of the most important things he needs to figure out!
I've also made trip #2 out there to visit him just this past weekend.

Mt Rainier with St Helens just beyond taken from the plane

This time, we stayed up in the Seattle area and played tourist for a bit which was fun.
We took the Underground Tour of Seattle (look it up, Seattle has an interesting history!), went to Pike Place, walked the waterfront, visited the Ballard Locks (where boats go between Lake Washington and the Sound) and spent a few hrs on the rooftop terrace of my aunt and uncle's condo just blocks from the Space Needle. I didn't take any downtown pictures just because I've been there 100 times and sort of neglected my camera. But on Sunday afternoon we took a short drive out to Snoqualmie Falls which was fantastic!

The weekend went by way too fast, but it was great just to spend a little time together. We're getting closer to the 1 month mark of him being gone but it seems much longer! Our next time together will be over the 4th of July but we'll have Friday night until Tues night so it won't feel quite as short. So as of today, 9 weeks to go.....
But, I'm lucky to have lots going on to keep me busy! This week my wonderful madre comes into town for church convention! She'll be in town for about 5 days which will give me some company and help time go a little fast. Then next weekend I'm heading to New Meadows/McCall to meet my sister (from Spokane) and a few other girls. I can't wait for that because it's been about 6 months since I saw my sis, so it'll be fun times! Then...the weekend after THAT is....the 4TH! So I'm hoping time will just keep flying :)

May Madness!

Where do I start?? It's been 1 month exactly since my last post, but what a busy month it's been!
I guess it's logical to go chronologically so first thing is first: Our Trip to D.C!
We were fortunate enough to be able spend a whole week back east visiting Del's sister and her husband who live in Virginia just outside of D.C. At the risk of boring you with too many details I'll just hit the major points...Day 1 and 2 were pretty laid back with a shopping trip, a peak at the National Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport, the Holocaust Museum and a short walk around downtown.

In front of the Washington Monument (kinda grey)

Clark Siblings

Takin a breather at the Botanical Gardens

 Afternoon of Day 3 we went to Georgetown Cupcakes, on a cruise along the Potomac, and drove up to Great Falls National Park.

Yummy Georgetown Cupcakes!

Waitin' for the cruise on the Potomac

Peter and Wes

Great Falls Nat'l Park

  Day 4 was our most exhausting day with about 6 miles of walking! We started at Arlington, made our way by the Lincoln and Vietnam Memorials, up to the White House, then metro-ed up to the Zoo and back.

At Gen. Robert Lee's mansion at Arlington Cemetery

Coolin down on the marble of the Lincoln Memorial

Sayin hi to Mr. Prez

Panda at the Zoo

 Day 5 was recovery day and on Day 6 we went and saw where George Washington lived at Mount Vernon.

Sibling love at Mount Vernon

The "Clark" Kids

View at Mount Vernon over the Potomac

D.C. was a blast for sure but it was only the beginning! Del and I flew back Thursday evening and Friday morning we took off with Boise in the rear-view and Olympia, WA up ahead. We spent a short weekend at my parent's house soaking up our last few moments together before he started a new chapter at his internship in Bothell, WA (about 1.5hrs north of Olympia.)
Last Sunday night (not yesterday), I returned home husband-less but still excited for his new opportunity. Del made it through week 1 last week and is really enjoying it! He's had nothing but great things to say about all the people and the project itself. And again, not wanting to overload you with details, his main job, so far, is to put together a database that will evaluate the completeness of the project (which is scheduled to end in September.) So his time has been split between the office and field visits trying to get enough info to start piecing the database together. His boss is also already throwing extra tasks at him that are keeping him on his toes!

Lastly, after just 1 week apart I made another visit to Seattle to make the most of this Memorial Day weekend and had some fun with Del and my parents. On Saturday night we went and watched the Mariners beat the Yankees in a grueling 12 innings (we didn't stay the WHOLE time.) Sunday afternoon, Del and Dad were dedicated to checking off some of my dad's "to do list" while mom and I resumed a sewing project we had started last weekend. (I will post my results when I have the finished product in a couple weeks!)

Greetings from Safeco Field!

All-in-all it's been a crazy few weeks for us, but all good things! Well, maybe living 500 miles apart isn't ideal, but in the scheme of things it'll hopefully be good! My next visit is in just under 2 weeks, I hope I can make it!!

Early Bday for Del

This weekend is the last weekend Del has off of work before our D.C trip for a week then he turns around and heads to Seattle so we've been trying to make the most out of it. Also, while we're in D.C, Del will celebrate his 26th bday so I decided to give him his present a little early so he can have some fun with it.
Of course, we had to see what Oakley's reaction would be to Del's new toy and some funny moments came out of it. At first, Oakley was pretty scared of it, hiding behind us, refusing to go near it and barking at it. But this evening we gave it another go outside and I caught a few funny moments on video so I have to share...

The Verdict is In...

For those who read my last post about Dellas' 5 preferences for internship location, you may remember that his first 4 choices were in the Seattle/Olympia area and his 5th in Portland. Well, after 4.5 long months of waiting, we FINALLY know the verdict!
Drum roll please......he has been placed in Bothell, WA on the Brightwater Influent Pump Station (his #4 preference).

He's very excited about the project and says it sounds cool. Although we were hoping for choices 1 or 2, so that he could live with my parents, we're still lucky that he's in the Seattle area and can hopefully stay with a different family member. We plan to drive over on May 20th (I'll fly back to Boise myself) and he will report to the job on May 23rd.

Part of my anxieties are calmed now that I KNOW where he's going, but new anxieties and unknowns are taking over :-P what else is new? haha.
We'll keep you posted on how things go. But first thing is first, we're going to focus on our upcoming May trip to Washington DC to visit Del's sis and her hubby. YAY!! Can't wait to spend a week back there before the mayhem of this summer begins.

Bit 'o News

Last night, while Dellas was working, I was sitting at the computer when a much anticipated email came in. We've been waiting 3 months to find out where Dellas will be going for his summer internship with Kiewit.
(refer back to this post to refresh your memory)
I knew he'd be disappointed that I was first to see the email (since he'd been checking for it every 5mins for the last month) but I called him anyway. The instructions in the email were to take a look at the attached projects and email them back with your top 5 preferences asap. They'd first be placing previous Kiewit interns according to their preferences and then placing the remaining interns in the order of when they received their emails back; so we knew we needed to get on the ball to try to be one of the first to respond.
While Del tried to work, he stayed on the phone with me while I gave him the low-down on his options based on location first then project type second. We were able to narrow down the 17 projects to his top 5 so here they are!

1. Pier 23 Replacement Project in Tacoma, WA
2. Casting Facility & Pontoon Construction in Grays Harbor, WA (about 45mins west of Olympia where mom and dad Vance are)
3. Brightwater Treatment Plant in Woodinville, WA
4. Brightwater Pump Station in Bothell, WA
5. Willamette River Transit Bridge in Portland, OR

So, although we still don't know EXACTLY where he'll be this summer, at least we have an idea, finally! One of the great things about the first 2 choices are that Del will be able to stay with mom and dad Vance to help cut living costs and make it easy for me to visit. Options 3, 4, and 5 are still convenient for me to fly into a major airport but we'll have to search a bit for a place for him to stay. (So if anyone knows anyone north of Seattle or near Portland, we'd be glad to hear about it!)

I'll let everyone know when we know his placement for sure.

Laundry Room Reveal

Well, if you read my last post, then you read that I was hoping for a new & improved laundry room by the end of this week and I'm happy to say that I already have it!! Del and I got started on our laundry room yesterday and it went pretty fast! Easy for me to say though because I didn't have to mull over the perfect cuts and fits like Del did ;-) But by 9pm last night he had all the new linoleum installed already! His afternoon today was spent doing the baseboard, touch up paint, and moving washer & dryer back in. So when I came home tonight from work, I stepped into a fresh, clean, pretty laundry room!
As usual, I must remind you of the before...

First ever pic taken in Aug 2009

and also a shot from during...

During prep

And finally.........the final masterpiece! haha.

Final product!

Believe it or not, this room cost a whopping $50 to update! We opted to go with the linoleum peel-and-stick tiles and went right over our old linoleum (after a thorough cleaning and prep job). It was a cheap and quick way to update the room that'll last long enough for us to enjoy and the next owners to redo if they want to pry up everything down to the plywood :-P
So that's it!! We're done with EVERY room in the house now! Only took 1 year and 7 months, almost to the day, to get it done! Not too shabby I'd say.

Rainy Saturday

This week, Dellas decided he'd finally worked up enough motivation to resume work on the house. We don't have too much left to do, (especially since we may be outta here in 8 months) but we've been wanting/needing to get the office painted and done. The office and laundry room are the last on our list to complete so we decided to tackle the office today!
First let's revisit how the office used to look:

As of October 2009

This was one of the dirtiest rooms in the house, not that you can tell in this pic, but the walls were by far the gunkiest.

But now let's see the new and improved office! All we did was slap up a fresh coat of paint all around, buy a couple new cork boards to keep things organized and that's it!

After!

Jill's Half of the room

 

 

 

 

Dellas' Half of the room

Now that we've clean up this room, Dellas has kept up enough motivation and is talking about replacing the floor in the laundry room. Next to the office, the laundry room is the 2nd dirtiest room in the house. The linoleum floor is probably 16yrs old and is in dire need of a replacement, so maybe that'll get done next week during Del's spring break!

Silly Oakley

Last week, while I was away for 4 days at a training in Tri-Cities WA, Dellas informed me, during one of our phone calls, that he found a new way to help with Oakley's excessive shedding. Before letting him in the house he "rakes" (brushes) him, makes him run around, then finishes with blowing him off with his shop vac. First chance he got after I got home Dellas had to show me their new ritual....

The goal was supposed to be to blow any excess hair off of Oak but it quickly turned into a game instead! Haha. Silly boys!

I'm Spoiled!

Alright, so Del and I did something completely unexpected yesterday........we bought a new CAR!!!

 

My new 2010 Ford Edge Limited

We've been talking about it for awhile but it was always with the assumption we'd wait till he graduated. Then that changed to waiting till we found the right deal which turned out to be Saturday! We paid off Del's pickup on Friday (my car was paid off last year), then Saturday went to just browse and see what deals there were and drove off the lot with a new SUV!

About a month ago, we test drove an Edge Limited and also a Nissan Murano but fell in love with the Edge (sorry Ris, I know you love your Murano!). Nothing could compare to the fabulous options Ford offers! Granted, the Limited package includes all the bells and whistles anyway, but it still stood out from the others. 

 

I just have to brag for a minute since this is the nicest and funnest car I've ever had...this car does EVERYTHING. It is all bluetooth capable, (meaning it syncs with my phone and I can make and take calls just by using my voice or 1 button on the steering wheel), I can listen to any music saved on my phone thru the car, it links to my iPod and I can tell it whatever I want it to play (e.g. "play playlist Favs" and it does), and it'll speak turn by turn directions to anywhere I need to go. That's just the start; there's so much stuff I won't even use very often (such as it telling me traffic updates, sports updates, news headlines, etc.) We've also got leather seats and panoramic sun roofs (yes roofs, one up front that slides and tilts and one over the rear seats.)

The Interior

Inside with the ambient lights on in blue (has 5 other colors too)

 

Other than all the fun technology things, it'll be so great to have a roomier car. With Del taking his truck with him this summer, I'll still be able to easily take my pup places with me! Of course, the room will come in handy as we add kids into the equation down the road. 

Anyway, I'm very excited about my new toy! My husband says I owe him though haha.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I just want to wish everyone a  Happy Valentine's day!

Not only am I thinking of my wonderful hubby :) but all of my friends and family! I'm so thankful for each and everyone person I have in my life and am reminded how lucky and blessed I am. I hope you all know how much you mean to me and Del!

Some Winter Fun

I'm a little slow posting this so anyone with Facebook has probably already seen these pictures, but oh well!

Dellas, Oakley and I started 2011 with a trip into the mountains near Idaho City, an hr or so from town. We didn't have anything in mind except to play in the snow; and that we did!

Oakley was SO excited to leave he wouldn't sit still!

 

Pup and me - he was eying some people snowshoeing

First in a sequence of me falling in the snow.

The end of my fall...before Oakley pounced on me.

And there he is!

Winter Wonderland :)

It was fun times getting away for a few hrs. We stopped in Idaho City (tiny old gold rush town) on the way back down and grabbed a hot chocolate to warm up.
Other than that day-trip we haven't been up to too much. Mom and Dad Vance were in town a couple of weekends ago and we're thinking a McCall trip is in the very near future. 2011 has started out great and Del and I keep wondering aloud what it will hold! Del's internship away from home, graduation, new career(s), a very possible move away from ID...can't wait to see what unfolds!