Hello from Alaska!

Rene and I have been having a wonderful vacation here in Alaska for the last week. Not only have our families been trying to get us back home to AK but Mother Nature as well. You see, from the moment we arrived till about two days ago it's been snowing constantly. We've had about 1.5-2 ft of snow and it's so beautiful!! It is quite enticing.... We've had so much fun seeing all of our family and friends.... we've also been able to eat at most of the places we missed and loved :) Our schedule has been busy and so there really hasn't been any time for me to blog and this is going to be short as we still have things to do before our flight out tomorrow morning.

It's been forever

Sorry about the lack of blogging for the last month, things have been CrAZy. I was sick for like 2.5 weeks, found out I had a sinus infection and bronchitis. I still have a cough, but so much better than before. I could barely walk from my bed to the bathroom... it was bad. :( Poor Rene starved, the guys at work commented on how he'd lost weight. LOL Anyways, after being sick we had a wonderful visit from our friends Spencer Fischback and Anya Wiezerbecki. They stayed with us for 2 days and it was a blast. It was nice having more people to play games with, Rene and I love playing games together but it's so much better with more people. Spencer and Anya had impeccable timing as well, they arrived just as I was gaining my strength back. I was so happy I was able to play hostess, I cooked up a storm! And speaking of cooking..... So I've had this credit card since I was in college and every time you purchase something you gain points. I've never redeemed those points and so recently Rene and I were looking online at the items we could get. I found something I really wanted, but I was torn because I wanted the item to be for Rene and I. Well, I ended up getting what I wanted. :) Our previous non-stick pots were getting really dingy and were scrapped up on the bottom (we got them from a friend like this), but they've worked well for us. I'd been really wanting a new set forever but I could never rationalize the purchase. So when I saw these, I was super excited. I got my own set of lime green Rachael Ray pots and pans!!!!! The only downer was they arrived just after I got sick, I was so anxious to get cooking! :) But here they are....

Aren't they pretty?!! I love them so much. There are still a few I haven't used yet, but that'll change within the next few days. :)

On another note, it's CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!!! Wahoo! I am so excited, I love this time of year. You start with Thanksgiving (my most favorite meal... turkey, mashed taters, gravy, pie..) and then move right into Christmas the next day. This time of year is the only time when people are nicer to one another, where you'll see people being nice to strangers. It just feels like there's love in the air.... corny, I know. In keeping with tradition, Rene and I put up our tree the day after thanksgiving. I also decorated a little around the house - putting up lights and garland on the railings and in the living room. On Saturday we put up our icicle lights outside. It was the first time we've ever done that. It's not exactly the way we'd like to do it, but being on a budget we wont be buying anything till maybe next year. The lights were given to us by my parents years ago, they are wonderful but I'm just hoping I can find more just like them. It seems like the newer icicle lights are all closer together but we'll see. Anyways, take a look at our holiday decor.
The outside lights, it's not a great pic but the best one I got. You can also see our tree in the window and the rain drops. :)
The living room.... the garland is only on the entertainment center and the long wall of windows. We enjoy the lighting though, very soft.
The stair railings and part of the living room.

And last, but surely not least is our tree. I love all the lights. :) I thought about getting a pic of the tree during the day but I don't know, it just doesn't have the same feel. One thing I really love about our tree, which you cannot see, is all the personal ornaments. Rene and I decided at the beginning that we'd begin a tradition where we'd buy each other an ornament every year and after some time they'd be the only ornaments on the tree. We also try to get ornaments from different places we visit. It's so much fun when we dig out our ornaments and revisit the personal ones we've got one another. It just brings back the wonderful memories. :)

Lastly, Rene and I are getting ready for our trip home to Alaska! We leave in just 8 short days. We are both so excited, we have one week there and are going to be super busy. Every day is planned out and there will barely any time for relaxing. It's going to be so wonderful to see my mountains, family and friends!

A Recap, a long one at that :)

I know it's been quite a while since our last post but things have been pretty busy. Yes, there are only two of us and we live a boring life but man has time flown by. Just the other day we were trying to figure out when I went to Washington and could not believe that was only a little over a month ago. It seems like forever since I was there. And then to think that August was only two months ago.... wow. Rene thinks it's because of his training but I told him how times flown by for myself as well, we've just had so many things going on.

To give you an idea, this was probably the MOST frustrating day ever!! The Monday before last Rene and I had a few errands to run. We began at 9:30am by dropping Ash (our pup) off to be groomed and then on to Rene's eye appointment. When we arrived at the eye doctors they didn't have Rene scheduled so they said they could 'squeeze us in.' We interpreted that as they'd get us in asap. 1.5 hours later, Rene was finally seen by the doctor. Not once did the receptionists tell us how long our wait was, ask us if we needed anything, or communicate with us at all. We were soooo frustrated!! After an hour we didn't want to just go since we'd been there for so long, but the funny thing is. Our pup's appointment was supposed to be 3 hours and he was done before Rene was. But it doesn't stop there, we picked up Ash and found out his ear was infected and his belly/legs were pretty pink/red (he had a lot of hair and got shaved down). We still had a lot of errands so we decided to do those before taking Ash to the vet. We had lunch, got some papers notarized, and went to Costco. By the time we got home it was around 4:30pm. We went straight to the vets and was there till just about 7:30pm!!! We were gone waaaayyyy too long and spent too much money. That one day felt like a week alone.

In our last post we carved our first pumpkin for Halloween. I guess we were a little too anxious because our pumpkin died. :( It got all moldy and gross and started to get slumpy so we went out and bought a new pumpkin this past Monday. The weather's been pretty warm so we waited till tonight to carve it (or rather, I carved it). Here's a pic of the new one.

This one is not as cool as our first one, but it's not bad. I like the spooky house and tree limb more than the moon, but whatever. Next year, I want to do one totally free hand... I had to practice some this year and get my own technique going. :D Happy Halloween everyone!!!!

For some BIG news.... last night Rene decided to take on a huge project, the downstairs bathroom!! It may not sound too daunting, but it was. This bathroom has been only for boys since we moved in. It wouldn't flush toilet paper, it just wouldn't. Rene tried to snake it a few times but it never worked (a snake is the tool plumbers use to fix a clogged toilet, you can get your own for just a few bucks) . So last night Rene took apart the toilet. I wish I had pictures but I was in the kitchen baking cookies for his work during the entire process. Anyways, he took everything apart, there was water all over the place but after a few times 'snaking' the pipes he found the blockage..... a child's toy cell phone. It was beyond nasty!! It was covered in brown gunk. (I will not go into details) Rene was supposed to throw the thing out with the trash today but I guess he didn't so I have a pic for you.

Ewww, I know... Rene was using my towel for something (I didn't want to know what for) but I told him to just toss it. I don't want to use it after this. Anyways, after all that work, I was not about to clean up his mess so Rene put everything back together and then mopped up. :) He's such a great husband! I was very impressed with his skills though, he figured it all out on his own! What a man!!! :)

Fall Time

I've been meaning to take some pictures of the beautiful fall colors for a while now but every time I remembered to do so it would be rainy or just a nasty day, then on the clear days I would forget my camera. Anyways, yesterday I remembered to grab my camera so here's a sample of what we see. This tree in particular is one I love, the leaves change colors at different times... it's just pretty :) Yesterday was a beautiful day. It was in the low 60's with a slight breeze so after Rene got off work we really wanted to go out and do something. We looked up some stuff on the internet and found out a lot of people were celebrating fall. One orchard in particular, Beasley's Orchard, had a fall festival with lot's of different activities for kids, food to eat, and a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. We decided that would be fun so we headed out. When we arrived at the orchard, I was super excited because this was the first time I've seen apple trees! (slightly pathetic, I know) It was a lot of fun. We enjoyed ourselves and could really see how it'd be even better with little ones around. But oh, this was the first time I've seen a pumpkin patch too!!! And no, I did NOT grow up in the city.... we just didn't have apple trees and pumpkins.

Above was a pumpkin surrounded by some dried grass. Below we have this weird plant... It was connected to the pumpkin's somehow so I wanted to take pics of it. When I started I realized there was also this little lady bug :) Isn't she/he cute?!!

Then this is just the same thing, but a little bit of an artsy pic.

Now, as much as we (I) wanted to pick out a fresh pumpkin, they were just too expensive so we went to WalMart and bought one there. Today, we decided to go ahead and carve it. Rene worked hard at cutting out the top so he could rip out the guts. I then scrapped out the inside as he separated his precious pumpkin seeds from the innards. And as for the carving, I did about 99% of it cause Rene cannot be doing little tasks like that where he has to hold a tool for too long since he has (what we assume is a) little carpel tunnel. But, I didn't mind. This is our first carving together, and the first one I've done myself :)

Drum roll please....... ta daa!!! Our completed pumpkin!! Happy Halloween everyone :)

Halloween fun

I came upon this website and just had to play around with it. This is Rene, my neices (Jess, Mac and Katie) and I. If you haven't checked out this site, you need to!!

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11 weeks & 1 day

Okay, so I know it's been a while since there's been an update on here, but I've been pretty busy and not knowing what to write about. It's been the same old around here... Rene working, me looking for work and hanging out with our dog. Before I went to Washington, Rene and I went the Indianapolis Zoo for the first time. It's something we've been wanting to do since we got here (we love zoos!). Here are some of the pics from our visit (and yes, I know there are a lot... like I said, we like zoos)
Here's Rene petting a SHARK!!! I know, cool, huh?!! They were so awesome. The skin feels like the softest velvet.... I could've petted them ALL day. :)

Then there was this walrus who just decided to stand up in his tank. There were two more walrus' swimming around him but he was just hanging out standing up. We've never seen a walrus do that!

This was cool.... I love turtles and here was this HUGE desert turtle. This pic doesn't depict just how big he was but believe you me, he was enormous!

So on the zoos 'calendar' you can visit certain animals during feeding time and even pay to feed them. They were charging $1 for a piece of sweet potato to feed the giraffe, but we decided it was cool enough to just be standing so close to them and watching others do it. Now, if we had little kids with us we most likely would have paid, but it was just us so no reason. But still, super neat to be so close. Oh, and their tongues.... they really are black and SUPER long.

The elephant show... Neither Rene nor I have ever seen one before and it was fun to see this huge guy do tricks.

This is one thing I've been waiting to see... the Botanical/Butterfly gardens! Anyone who knows me knows I love butterflies. I was getting so frustrated though when they wouldn't stay still for just a couple seconds for me to get a picture!! They just kept fluttering all around me and teasing me. :( However, I did get this one of an older moth (I think).

And here, I did get a picture of one getting some nectar! :)

I know those were a lot of pictures from the zoo, but really, it's nothing compared to what I have :) Other than the zoo, me going to Spokane, and Rene working not too much else is going on.... exceeeeeppt, we bought our tickets home to ALASKA!!!!!!!!! We are so excited!! Can you tell? I've been keeping a count-down in my head, 11 weeks and 1 day from today we will be in Alaska. It'll be about 1.5 years for me since I've been home and a little over 2 years for Rene. We'll be there for a week before Christmas. I wish it could be longer but it's better than nothing. I cannot wait to see my family and Rene's as well.

Oh, so a little bit of news.... our dog, Ash, bit me Wednesday night. :( A few weeks ago he snapped at Rene and we figure it's because Rene was petting too close to his behind (he's pretty sensitive about that area and his tail) so we were just like, okay - no touching his backside area. There haven't been any incidents since then till the other night. It was the day after I got back from Spokane, things were going well. We were watching some TV or something and Ash was on my chest (I was laying down). He went to sniff my phone so was half on and half off of me... I went to pick him up behind his front paws to place him back on my chest. It was something I've done tons before. So, he's back on my chest just standing there and then he snaps. Luckily, he only went for my hand. In hindsight, it could've been so much worse since my face was right there next to him. Thanks to Rene though, he threw Ash off of me so nothing else would happen and put him outside. Unfortunately for me, Ash got me pretty well.... he broke the skin with one tooth and irritated the muscles/veins in my hand. Because neither of us have ever been bitten, we went to an Urgent care place.... my hand was hurting really bad, burning/throbbing and sending sharp pains up my arm. Oh, and one of my veins had swollen up. It hurt to barely touch my hand/wrist/arm. But after an hour at the Urgent care, we finally saw a Doctor and he said everything was fine and wanted to put me on antibiotics just in case. But since the incident, I've been afraid of Ash. I know he didn't mean to hurt me and this may be some trauma thing from his past owners, but I just don't know when I can trust him. I get paranoid having him lay with me or even we play or he's in Rene's lap and too close to me. I thought he was 'closer' to me and I was just doing something I'd done tons before, but for some reason he snapped at me. :( I hate not being able to trust our little guy.... I love him but I just don't trust him anymore. We're going to look into some doggie training classes or something. I would hate for this to happen again, or goodness, someone else. Does anyone have any suggestions/tips??

M.I.W.

Missing in Washington..... I know it's been forever since I blogged but I've been in Washington these last two weeks. Rene's home in Indiana working hard while I've been with my great friend, Cambria, in Spokane having fun :) Rene's so good to let me come out here! It's been so much fun to hang out with an old friend from Alaska and just catch up, it's been about 2 years since we've been able to do this. And Cam's husband has been great to put up with me and our shenanigans.

Look what we saw!

Just a little bit ago Rene and I took Ash for a walk. The weather's been really nice, like in the late 60's early 70's, so we wanted to take a long walk. Just as soon as we got on the walking trail behind our home and went just a little way, I saw something.... it was on the side of the trail next to the woods. I leaned in and realized it was a..............SnaKe!! :) How exciting! I've never seen a snake in the wild like this and was super excited. I stood there and watched it for a little bit because the way it was just laying there with it's head not moving at all. I didn't know if it was real, but I was pretty sure. I wanted a picture of it so Rene waited there with Ash to see if the snake moved while I returned home to get my camera. Can you see the snake?? Now, I don't know if many of you know but Rene does not care for snakes. I on the other hand don't mind them and wouldn't mind having one for a pet. :) I highly doubt that will happen though. Anyways, I got my pictures of the snake but I still wanted to know if it was poisonous or not. As we've never encountered a snake we didn't look up the types of snakes here in Indiana.
However, as soon as we got home we looked this guy up. He's a Northern and Midland Water Snake. They are found everywhere in Indiana, close to water as they primarily eat small fish, frogs and salamanders. We read that these guys get confused with another type of snake that are poisonous but he is not. (I wanted to bring him home, isn't he cute?) So now Rene and I have seen our snake and most likely I'll be keeping an eye out for more. :)

I promise....

Okay, I am not going to be that person who blogs about their pets but I have to say that this past week with our little Ash has been great! He's such a great fit with us.... he does this really cute thing that Rene calls 'commando' where he crawls towards you on his belly with his front paws out. Rene just loves it and they are really cute when they play together. And tonight before bed he got all excited and decided to attack me!! He cornered me and wouldn't let me pass, snipping at my feet every time I moved no matter what direction I went. ^_^ Anyways, I promise not to do a lot of blogging about him!!

An update on Rene: He's been training for the last week - actually talking to planes - and it's been great!! His trainers have praised him on his work so that's always great. It's been tough, he'll be the first to tell you that it's not easy and when he's done he's mentally drained. But he really has been doing a wonderful job. Just to give you a quick idea, one day the traffic was super busy and his trainer gave him a heads up that he may pull Rene off the 'scope' and take over. Well, he never had to take Rene off. Rene was able to keep up with all the traffic! :) (can you tell I'm proud of him??)

Me.... nothing much to say. Oh, I did get a call this week from a potential employer. He saw my resume online and called me to come in for an interview! I was so excited and apprehensive. With unemployment so high right now I know there are a lot of people out there fighting for jobs. I wanted to make sure that I was prepared and looked the part. The interview went well but as I was driving home I thought to myself that it may not be the right fit for me. Actually, it came down to pay.... they were going to pay me a little over minimum wage with a huge work load. I know I shouldn't be too picky in this market, but it just so happened that I didn't have to be. I never received a call back but it's all good. I wasn't really feeling the position and I didn't want to leave our pup after such a short time. Who wants to get a dog and then leave him alone all day???

The Newest Member of Our Family

:) Today, Rene and I went to a local furniture store for their grand opening... they were having some type of drawing where the winner gets up to $2000 to furnish a room. I wanted that prize, but we didn't win :( However, we got something better!!! Next door was a PetSmart and they were having adoption day. We decided to check it out cause we both love dogs and enjoy seeing all the pups. What we didn't expect was to fall in love with one of them. He's a 3 yr old Shih Tzu... his previous owners were both fairly old and ended up dying. No one in the family wanted to keep the little guy so he was sent to the animal shelter. Upon arrival, he was so covered in fleas he didn't have much fur on his back going to his behind and his tail. :( In the picture you'll see how his tail is black and pink... this is from the fleas and because he wasn't feed well or groomed often. We were told this would go away after a while of proper caring. He's already looking soooooooo much better. As soon as we got home he got a bath which helped out a ton. Oh, and his name was Roscoe...... ya, we didn't really care for that so his new name is Ash (the tips of his ears are gray and look like they were dipped in ash ^_^) So, here's our little guy. He's been wonderful, he really is a great fit. We couldn't have asked for a better pup!!!!!

After his bath

First time in his new bed :)

Aaron and Ginny's Wedding

This weekend, Rene and I went down to Evansville, IN for Ginny Fischback's wedding. She married Aaron Wiles in the Louisville, KY Temple. It was a wonderful weekend!!! It was such a treat to spend this time with them, plus Lee was able to come home for it! :) It's been a long time since we've seen him so it was nice to spend some time with him and his family (We LOVE the Fischbacks!!!). However, it was super hott! That was not so great but, Ginny still looked beautiful and everything went great. I was slightly disappointed because I forgot my nice SLR at home along with my chargers, so although I did have my point and shoot I didn't get many pics. I tried to save the battery for the reception since the happy couple didn't have a photographer. (and not that I'm great or anything, I just thought it'd be nice to get a few candid shots) Here are a few....

The Louisville Temple

Aaron and Ginny - First Dance

Cutting loose - Anya & Hannah, Dad Fischback & Ginny

Cousins - Lindsay and Bonnie

Happy Anniversary...

...to us! :) 4 years ago today, Rene and I were married in the Anchorage Alaska Temple. We cannot believe how fast time has flown by. It really doesn't feel like it's been 4 years.
We've enjoyed a lot of adventures, from moving cross county to taking a beautiful cruise. What a joy it's been to share all these memories with each other! Tonight we will be celebrating by going to dinner at the Melting Pot. :)

Gray hair

Does anyone else fret over a few gray hairs?? Well recently I have discovered my 3rd, permanent, gray hair! What's permanent? It's the fact that I stopped pulling out the occasional gray years ago and have lived with 1 and then 2, and now....3. Some may think, 3... really?? all this fuss over just 3? Yes!! To me that is a lot. Gray hairs, to me, are a sign of old age... old age is a sign that the ole' biological clock is ticking (tick, tick, tick...). Sure, I'm only 27 and on the verge of 28 and it's still kinda young but not when there are so many odds stacked against you. It just makes me feel old, not having any kids yet makes me feel old so this just makes me feel doubly old. :( Oh, and Rene pointed out his first gray to me the other day as well!!

A Serious Note

Is there ever such a thing as too serious?? Well, I may just cross that line this time. When I blog I usually just update what Rene and I are up to. I don't go into specifics about ourselves or into deep thoughts. I guess it's because I'm a pretty private person and there are certain areas in my life I just don't share... sometimes out of shame. But, I've been thinking for a while about changing this. Every once in a while I sit down at the computer and type out this big blog with what's going on in my head/heart and then I delete it. Why you may ask? I have no idea... I guess I worry about other's knowing my personal thoughts and feelings. Now, before I go into the depths of my soul here's some great news on Rene and his job.

Back in June Rene started his final stage of training as an Air Traffic Controller. Without going into the specifics I'll just say this, there are 2 stages of his training and he completed his first stage back in November. Since then he's been working in that particular area alone. Now he's into the 2nd and last stage which is the most difficult. He most likely wont be done with this part til next April or May, which I don't think are coming soon enough for him. LOL Oh, and the other week his supervisor gave him his yearly evaluation and with that he gave Rene a bonus!! Yay Rene!! His sup' told him that normally trainees don't get these bonus' but because of his spectacular work, he was the exception. :) I'm so proud of him and all of his hard work!!

That's Rene right now... work, work and more work. When he's not working he hangs out with me and relaxes on the computer :) I on the other hand still have yet to find a job. I don't know what is going on. Back home in the great state of Alaska I never had problems finding work but here... it's a whole new story. When we first got here a little over a year ago I had the hardest time finding work. I eventually took a job as a nanny and then got a job through a temp agency. I have now been out of work 2.5 months and the only prospect I had was going to Korea to teach English! Rene and I have talked about what type of job I should look for since I reached the desperate stage and we've decided that I will continue to hold out for a good job, something that doesn't include minimum wage, fast food and retail. I know there's something out there I just have yet to find it.

Anyways, this isn't really what I had in mind when I spoke of serious... or shame. As some of you may have noticed I have changed the background of our blog again. I tend to do this for all the holidays that arise. You may be thinking, what holiday is coming up?? To answer that very silly question, it's our 4 Year Anniversary!!! Can you believe it? I know we can't! These past 4 years have really flown by. Rene and I have enjoyed a lot of laughs, adventures, and of course... tears. (as Rene would tell you, there isn't a day that goes by where I don't cry at least once - no joke!) So although I am so happy and grateful for these 4 years together they also bring tears... tears of joy and tears of sadness. The tears of joy should be pretty self explanatory but tears of sadness... why you may be wondering? Who could ever be sad when they've been married to the love of their life... their partner in crime? One simple answer... babies. If there was one thing we are missing, one thing that would make us happier and more of a family it would be children. For a reason unknown to us, we have yet to be blessed with children, with the joys of parenthood.

Here's the shame in it all... I don't like to talk about our not having babies. I feel ashamed that I can't give Rene babies the conventional way... that without the help of modern medicine or a Divine miracle, I will never be able to give Rene beautiful babies. I'm still not to terms with this I guess and I struggle with it every day. Even now as I type I'm crying and wanting to erase everything I just wrote. I cannot believe I'm actually putting my heart out there for everyone to read on the world wide web, but maybe, just maybe these words may help someone else. I've seen some blogs about infertility and the struggles of wanting and not having children and sometimes it helps to read about someone else. To feel like there's someone else out there who gets it... who understands, really understands. Anyways, this was not what I had in mind when I started this post.... all I wanted to do was follow through with what I had started. For some reason I've wanted to share this with you for a reason unknown to me... I have failed countless times but here goes. I may just delete it after an hour, a day or a week... but for now here it is - The Longest post ever!!! :)

Batting cage fun

These past 2 weeks has been a lot of fun spending time with Rene's family. After a week in French Lick, IN with the whole gang Rene's parents came back to Indianapolis with us to spend more time with just the two of us (or more likely, Rene). We spent a lot of time just hanging out playing games together and eating some food... I always like an excuse to cook for others :) We went to the batting cages to hit some balls... something neither mom or Hal had ever done. It was a lot of fun. I really think Hal enjoyed himself and mom liked watching everyone. The last time Rene and I went I pretty much stayed with the slow pitches (40mph) but this time I thought I'd try medium pitch (70mph)... it was not good. I hit a few and oh man did I hurt my hands!!! No wonder those guys wear batting gloves, or whatever they are called. Rene did well on both the slow and medium pitches... he however, did not go to the fast balls this time. Here are some pics:


Here's Rene's mom at bat


This is Hal... pretty good action shot :)


And last, but not least, Rene... go slugger!!!!

Weekend in French Lick

This past weekend Rene and I went to French Lick, IN (2 hrs south of Indianapolis) to spend time with his family. Rene's parents got a place in French Lick for a family get together. All of Mom's sisters came along with Lavada (Rene's sister), Dan (Lavada's now fiance), Rene and I. Vacation's with Rene's mom's family is never boring, and hardly ever quiet! lol Seriously, I've never known a family like this one. We had a great time spending time with everyone. This was the first time I've been with the family when all of Rene's aunts were there, normally there's one or two who couldn't make it.

We drove down on Friday and had a nice family dinner together, spent a long time talking and telling embarrassing stories about one another. On Saturday the girls and guys split for breakfast, although the girls were gone MUCH longer than the guys :) Saturday evening we had our Fashion Show and Talent Show. (Rene's family is big on this, the sisters always put on quite the production) It was this night when Lavada and Dan decided to do an impromptu skit and announce their engagement. Congrats to them!! After all the festivities and fun, we took a group shot... it came out pretty nice


Back Row (L-R) Lavada, Dan, Nancy, Linda, Jean, Cathy
Front Row (L-R) Dave, Joan, Hal, Mom, Rene

Thanks to Mom and Hal for always inviting the family to spend time with them on their vacations! We love and miss you all!!!

Mmmm Mmmmm Good (I hope)

Yesterday I decided to bake a Key Lime Cheesecake. I love cheesecake and I wanted to make something new and something Rene might like (he's not a cheesecake lover which is okay with me cause then I don't have to share mine ;P) Anyways, he enjoys the tart desserts and I make a pretty good Key Lime Pie so I decided to try the cheesecake. I looked at a lot of different recipes and saw somethings I did and didn't like. So, I combined some of them together to make this delicious looking cheesecake.

Doesn't it look yummy??!! I'm so happy it came out perfect too, no cracks! I haven't had a chance to try it yet as I'm saving it for tonight when we have company over. (Although I did taste the batter and it was really good!) It's hard for me to try out new recipes with guests because I always want things to turn out perfectly but I think it might be okay this time. Cross your fingers it tastes as good as it looks, and smells!! I'll let you know if it's any good. :)

A gift for.... Rene???

About a week ago Rene celebrated his 27th birthday. It was pretty low key, just Rene and I at home. He really didn't want to do anything and as we are trying to keep to our very strict budget, we couldn't anyways. However, we did go see his oldest brother, Ramin in Alabama that weekend (19-21). Ramin was down here for some training and since the boys haven't seen each other in over a year, it was really great for them. I think Rene had a pretty spectacular time, probably a birthday wish come true... He and Ramin spent the entire weekend playing computer games :) Anyways, I made him a Lemon Meringue Pie on his birthday. It was my first attempt at a homemade Lemon Meringue and it turned out pretty good. It's not one of my favorite deserts, but Rene loves the tart stuff.



Now, I've been trying to find a storage container for my rice. I like to get the larger bags of rice because they are overall cheaper than buying the smaller bags. Only problem, how to store it. My mom has this fabulous rice dispenser that I've always enjoyed. As a little girl I loved pushing the buttons and listening to the rice pour down. However, I couldn't find anything like it. I was in Wal Mart one day trying to find something cheap when my mom called. I told her what I was looking for and she told me to find one similar to hers and she'd buy it for us as Rene's birthday present. Well, I looked online and couldn't find anything remotely similar and then I called all the Oriental/Korean food stores in Indy I could find and found only 1 place to sell rice dispensers. I went there thinking that it was going to be one of these small little things I've seen on the internet but, I was very pleasantly surprised. It was one just like my moms!!!! (only slightly smaller)



HAPPY BIRTHDAY RENE!!! :)

Day 1 - Driving to Virginia/D.C

We are finally going on vacation!!!! We are going to Virgina and D.C. to see family and the sites of our Nations Capitol. I'm really excited because I will be seeing my Harmony (mom's mom) for the first time in like 12 years, along with my Uncle whom I've never meet and my Aunt whom I havent seen in 25 years. Can you believe I'm that old?? Wait! Do NOT answer that!!

This is a short video showing just how fun Rene and I are while on these Road Trips... He is such a nut, but ya gotta love him!!! Now, I dont know how long Rene will let me keep this video up so enjoy it while it lasts :)

Anyways, here is one of the stops we made on our 10 hour road trip. This museum was in Dayton, OH or close to there. It was getting late so the actual museum was closed but luckily there were still some things to see.
Rene really wanted this picture put it... he's such a nut. We thought this plane looked a little like Snoopy so Rene got this brilliant idea to get in front of the plane and have it sniff his keister. I know, I know... I married him. But he sure keeps things entertaining... slightly embarrassing at times, but fun nevertheless. :)
This is Hercules.. oh, and a place :) j/k The planes name is Hercules so I got out there in my travel clothes, mind you, to do a 'muscle' shot.

There was also a playground there with this cool Helicopter. Rene was such a trooper for me and got into it (sorta) so I could take a picture. I think he had a lot of fun cause there are more pics of him being a 'fighter' pilot and trying to get the blades to actually spin.

The beautiful sunset in OH... I think we drove for like 5 more hours after this before we decided to take a short nap.

Day 2 - Arrive at Uncle and Aunt's House

We finally made it to Virginia!! We are going to be staying with my Uncle and Aunt (on my mom's side). :) I've been really excited too cause I have never meet my Uncle and it's been about 25 years since I saw my Aunt. I'm so glad we were able to come see them as well as my Harmony (that's how you saw Grandma in Korean - totally what I will have my grandkids call me, it just sounds so much better than GRANDma. lol) First of all, Uncle Jason and Aunt took us to the grocery store to get some food as well as lunch. Afterwards we went to Great Falls National Park. It's so pretty!! I didnt think Virginia had so much greenery and big trees! :) Rena and I loved it. The park was beautiful. Here are some of the pics... Rene took this one of Uncle Jason. It's the only pic we have of him... most of the time he's snapping shots of my Beautiful Aunt :)

Now, I tried to get away with not having to post any pics of myself but this was the only one we had of my Aunt at Great Falls. (My Uncle is there too, but he's not looking at the camera)

Here's a great pic of the Falls.... it's not large, but it was so nice to see water that wasnt put somewhere man made like in Indy. What's neat about this is that while we were on the Virgina side of the park, right across the Potomac is the Maryland side. I have a pic where you can actually see the Maryland visitor's looking across the Falls at us.

Now this was interesting... this post shows the water level of the River thru the years. We could not believe how high the water got. We were well above the river as is and to think the water came up and over where we were standing... Ahhh!!! This is Rene drowning?? going down??? Not sure what he's doing, but that's my guy! :)

Oh, and I forgot to add this picture to Day 3 or 4... one night Rene and I came home from being the tourist and my Aunt suggested we sing some Karaoke. We tried to get my Uncle to sing with us but he told us that we did NOT want to hear him sing. So, Aunt, Rene and I sang for a few hours. The song Aunt's singing is in Korean but Rene and I did the few American songs she had in her collection.