A great week has come and gone

What a sweet time this past week has been. I was a little worried about keeping myself entertained since Brian was still in Europe with Sydne but it all worked itself out. At the beginning of the week, I stayed pretty busy trying to get school work out of the way, cleaning the house and packing for Las Vegas. On Wednesday is when all of the excitement began. My teammates, Mary Melich, Michelle Stribling and I boarded a plane for Vegas. The flight was very bumpy due to windy skies but we all arrived safely. All of the teams connected at the Apollo College Las Vegas campus to begin our conference. That evening I got a text msg from Chez letting me know that she was wanting to take advantage of the 72 hr sale that SW Airlines was putting on and plan a trip out to Tucson. Since I did not have email I just told her to book any weekend in January and that would work just fine. During this same chunk of time, Chez and Elizabeth connected with each other, Chez told Liz where she was going and Liz booked a ticket too!!!!

Thursday night was also our awards ceremony. Michelle won Team Play of the Year, Mary won Presenter with the most Success, I won Newcomer of the Year and we all won Campus of the Year!!!!!!! All of our hard work over the past year has definitely paid off!


After the conference ended on Friday I was picked up but my cousin Caren and 2nd cousin Bridget. We spent the rest of Friday bonding with family, walking around Caesars Palace, eating a delicious meal together and watching some old home movies from 16+ yrs ago. It was a sweet evening of just getting to catch up.

On Saturday morning we tagged along with Bridget to a Halloween 5K that she had planned to run. Bridget ran with her sisters, Christine and Jaime and Caren & I kept each other company.




After the 5K we went back to the house, had a yummy homemade breakfast, drank lots of coffee and then headed out to a shooting range in Boulder City. Jay brought along all of his guns and let Bridget and I have a go at all of them. It was so invigorating!! :)






Adam came and picked me up that afternoon, took me to meet his girlfriend (I approve), went to REI to buy Brian another pair of Reefs since his cratered a few weeks ago and then dropped me off at the airport.

Brian returned home last night. There was seem issues with the luggage carrier so we left Phoenix for home more than an hour after we should have. We safely made it home about 10:30 pm. I am so thankful he is home!!!

U2 Concert

Brian, Bill & Kim Dycus and I went to the U2 concert last week at the AZ Cardinals football stadium. It took about 4 hours to get there (it should have only taken 2 1/2) but the traffic was so bad. We got there in time to see the last Black Eyed Peas song performed. The concert was very good. I was surprised how many of the songs I recognized or could hum along to. Brian and I didn't end up getting home until after 3 in the morning and I had to be at work by 8 AM. That was not a fun day.

On Thursday, I left work early to take Brian to the Phoenix airport. He got on a plane that evening to head to England to see Sydne. He is now in Barcelona for two days and then will travel to Marrakesh, Morocco to spend a couple of days there.

I am enjoying the house to myself for a few days and then I head for Las Vegas for a work conference. Here are some pictures from the U2 concert...

Happy Anniversary

Brian and I celebrated one year of marriage on October 18th. It is hard to believe how quickly the past year has flown by. It does not feel like it has been a year since we last saw so many of our friends. We are so thankful for all the blessings we have had and look so forward to what the Lord has in store for us and our family.

We spent Sunday like we do most Sundays. We went to church, Brian had to go show some houses, we watched a movie (The Incredible Hulk...it was actually pretty good), and made a yummy dinner. Brian grilled fresh salmon, I baked some chicken and made some yummy veggies that Brian will eat.

All in all it was a great relaxing day. We enjoyed all the phone calls and getting to catch up with different family members. I missed all my sweet friends at ACU homecoming as well. I (not really we) wished I could have been there.


>

One year down...

...and many many more to go!

As of Sunday afternoon Brian and I will have been married one year! What a ride it has been so far.

I began a new job that I love.
Brian went off on his own to be his own Real Estate agent and has been uber successful.
I learned how to snowboard in Canada.
We have paid off all of our credit card debt.
We found a church that we love and Brian is now on their Board of Directors.

We are so thankful for the past year of our life together and look forward to so many more. Thank you so much for all of your love, support and prayers through this journey!

Happy Anniversary!

A month later...

So, I guess I don't have a lot of exciting things going on so I am down to posting about once a month.

Today is Brian's 27th birthday. I am so thankful to have him in my life and to be a part of his. We have celebrated many birthdays together but this is the first as a married couple. Brian got glasses for his birthday. I know that is very exciting. He has been without them for over a year because I allegedly broke his old ones. I, however, do not recall that occurring.

Brian didn't really want anything extra and I am not creative enough to think of something else to get him. He is also on his way to Washington to spend the rest of the week and weekend with the Wick family for the grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. I wished I could be there but alas, I get to work instead!

When I got home from work this evening I was surprised to find a sweet note on the chalk board and flowers from Brian. The thought that pops into my head is that this is Brian's birthday and he got me flowers! Ladies, I'm sorry, I know you think you have the best husband...but you're wrong. So, thanks for trying! :)



I did try to make the recipe for palachinki Valerie gave me. She made it and put some nice pictures up n her blog. I followed the recipe. It made 5. The first I burned. The 2-4 all ripped in half when I tried to flip them and the last one looked pretty...but just like a pancake...not palachinki.


Brian and tried one with some nutella and melted margarine and it tasted not very good. I have no idea what I did wrong but we ended up throwing them all out and going to Paradise Bakery instead.

That's what has been going on with The Wicks!

Veeves & Baklava

I got to talk with Veeves for about 3 hours this morning (her evening). It was wonderful. She called at 6:54 am Tucson time and I called her back about 7:30...it is now 11 am. So much for finishing my paper this morning. However, I am 100% NOT complaining and am so thankful we finally got to catch up. At the beginning of our conversation I mentioned that I had already bought all the ingredients for baklava so she just walked we through how to do it over the phone. It was so easy. I also started, finished and put away a load of laundry while we were on the phone, washed my bed sheets and made my bed. It was great!
Here is what it looked like right out of the oven.
'
A view from above

All the yummy layers!

Brian and I both had a piece and were really impressed. As I was taking a bit Veeves said, "You know what would be so good with that." I cut her off, "A scoop of Blue Bell ice cream". "That is exactly what I was thinking!" Veeves said...she didn't even call me Uncle Lindel for cutting her off! :)

I don't know if I shared this already but I thought it was just too pretty not to take a picture! I like to make things from scratch when I can and have the time. Since Brian and I are trying to somewhat watch what we eat it is hard to justify buying or ordering alfredo knowing that cream sauce is not the best thing for your body. However, I was craving fettucini alfredo so I went looking online at allrecipes.com to see if I could find anything decent. I found a great recipe that had almost 500 reviews and a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars. With all the cheeses and dairy that the recipe called for I used fat-free or skim instead and used the Brummel & Braun cream spread instead of sticks of butter. We didn't have fettucini noodles either so I just used the pasta I had on hand which added a nice color to it and instead of chicken we used crab & shrimp.

I was pretty impressed with myself and Brian liked it too! That always helps! :)

San Diego pictures

Sandy, Lyndsey & Heather on one of the back porches. This compound was amazing!

Lyndsey "the birthday girl" and Heather "the bride"

Nate & Sandy Parde, Lyndsey and my San Diego hosts! Thank you guys SOOO much!

The gang socializing

Lyndsey's birthday cake!
This really was one of the sweetest moments of the evening. The party was for Matt & Heather however they went and got a birthday cake to also celebrate Lyndsey's birthday!! Those are good friends I tell you!

Heather & Lyndsey with the birthday cake!

Lyndsey and Heather took the fancy rings of the cake and wore them proudly for the rest of the night!

The sisters!

San Diego

I had a great weekend...after entirely too many border patrol stops! I headed out to visit Lyndsey for a super quick fabulous 30th birthday celebration! She was in San Diego celebrating her friends, Matt & Heather, 3.5 wedding party. They were married in NY back in November but have had parties in Long Island and San Diego so the families could celebrate too! Since Lyndsey was the maid of honor and best man in the wedding she has been invited to all the parties.

The drive was only 6 hours and actually quite enjoyable with just me, Brian's GPS and a good couple books on tape (my iPod). We had a great time with all of Matt's side of the family and friends and then went and had mexican food for her birthday. The sweetest part of the day though was when Matt & Heather brought out a birthday cake for Lyndsey during their wedding party! That screams AMAZING FRIENDSHIPS!!

Lyndsey and I spent the night at Nate & Sandy Parde's super cute house and then I headed back home on Sunday morning. I wished I could have stayed longer but I accomplished what I had set out to do!

Happy 30th Lyndsey!!

It's Saturday!

Finally! Work has been going very well but I just have not been feeling very well which has worn me out. I wished I had some exciting stories...but alas, welcome to the wonderful life of living in Tucson.

I have another big paper coming up for school so I will be working on that this weekend.

My friend Shannon will be turning 25 on Sunday so we went to Ra for sushi last night. That was delicious and a lot of fun because Dave (good friend to us all) was able to hang out for a while and Gavin & Veronica (Brian's cousin & gf) met up with us too! We went with them for gelato afterward! YUMMY!

I am really sad to be missing my friends Shep and Tabitha wedding next weekend. I know it will be beautiful but plane tickets are not my friend right now as they seem to be cheap most places but Tucson to Dallas on AA.

Brian is playing racketball with Dave now so I just got done bleaching the shower and the toilets. You might think that everything is spotless now but remember the house is old with a lot of its original parts and we live in the desert which means DIRT!!! EVERYWHERE! All the time!

Love your guts!

Oh, and for VEEVES & LYNDZ: I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Legally Blonde musical soundtrack! It is what I listen to every time I set at my computer!! It's so much fun! Now, I just need to get out to NY again so I can see it...and catch Wicked one more time! :)

Heee's Baaaack!

Harry the Javelina is back! Brian was working and Harry stopped by the say hi. Well not really...he just eats. All of the wildlife is a nice change up for Brian while he's working and staring out the window.


I really wished we had more exciting news to share with you. We are like the people who have kids and that is all they have to talk about...exact it's all about the wild animals. I am staying busy between work and school and trying to figure out future travel plans. Brian is swamped with work. Aren't we exciting!!

I did get to talk with my sweet friend Chez yesterday for a brief moment. She is in Austin busy with work, a puppy and being a wife. I am so thankful that I have the best friends in the world who I may not get to talk to for two months at a time but when we finally connect it feels like there is no space nor distance between use. Man, I love that girl! Thanks Chez for continuing to be one of my favorite friends!

the snake

Brian has a great view from his office. He saw this little guy (as in over 4 ft long and 3 inches in diameter) slithering around in front of his office.



Last night we had a church picnic. I had volunteered to bring turkey burgers, all the condiments and a dessert. I had not thought about it being 4 pm on a saturday afternoon in the middle of July in TUCSON!!! It was 108 degrees...Brian was not a happy camper. We stayed for about an hour and then left...too hot. We came home, took a quick shower and then went up to the movie theater to see Harry Potter!!

I really enjoyed it. Brian was a little bummed because so much detail from the book was left out.

That's all I've got for now!

Veeves loves bug spray...I just try to avoid the bugs...

With the monsoons rolling through bugs are coming out to play in full force. Last night we were cleaning out Brian's car and the june bugs were every where. They kept flying in my hair and running into my leg. Dingy creatures really! We also have had some new visitors.
The Palo Verde beetle

And are good friend the trantula


They don't really bother us but they are big, nasty and I don't want them to touch me. We went to bed around 10:15 pm last night and I woke up at 10:56 pm (I looked at the alarm clock) screaming. Like seriously, jumped out of the bed, startled Brian screaming. I had a VIVID dream that there was a trantula crawling on our bed right by my face. It was entirely too real of a dream. Brian and I moved all the covered, he looked under the bed, then he laughed at me...go figure. That was a crazy moment.

Lyndsey found a job prospect in Tucson. The U of A has a position available in the theater department. She hasn't applied for it yet nor has she spoken with anyone on at the University...but wouldn't that be CRAZY if she got a job in Tucson. I thought that was pretty exciting!

Brian and I are planning a trip to go visit Veeves in October or November of 2010! I have a year-ish to start saving my pennies! I can't wait!!!!

Here is a fabulous picture of Brian and I having way too much fun with the camera during our 4th of July Extravaganza at the Dycus family home!!

A quick little update

1) I just completed my final for class #1 of my MBA program...only 18 more to go! Yeah! :)

2) I finished my paper yesterday. I kept asking Brian to read to for me for any thoughts or advice but that never happened. I turned it in this morning and hopefully I will know by tomorrow how I did!

3) This morning when I was walking into the bathroom I noticed a bird acting oddly outside. Brian went outside and picked it up, its wing was broken so was hopping around, then placed it on a tree. It was a wood pecker so hopefully it will peck its way to its final resting place.

4) Catherine: I feel sorry for the bird. But it's wild and I'm not going to pay for a vet bill.
Brian: Yep, at least Harry the Javelina will have dinner if he comes back.

5) I finally had my 90 Day Review at work last week. Yes, I was hired in January...it was only 2 monthly delayed!

6) I got to talk with Valerie on Skype again. I always love getting to see that girls face! Now only if the rest of my family would get on so we could talk 'face to face'...instead of the 'normal' places mom and I always talk...you know what I talking about Vic!

7) I guess Brian and I are now officially a married couple. No anulment jokes anymore because I can now take all of "his" money with me! Just kidding...but really, we did finally get a joint account yesterday at Wells Fargo. Since we both already had accounts we were able to merge all of his things over and blend them in with mine. It was painless! Now, Brian is waiting on a new debit card so is out of money for a week and I am the official bill payer and checkbook keeper of ALL bills that come to our house. This was pretty exciting because we have been talking about this since before the actual wedding day. We are both thrilled to continue to be checking things off our financial to do list. Hopefully within the next few months we will be completely credit card debit free too!! What a bless!!

Love you guys!

The pictures from the last post

Scroll down to the last post to read the stories...here are the pictures!

The picture below is the javelina giving itself a dirt bath. He layed down and started kicking dirt up all over himself. I hope to feels so fresh and so clean clean now


The picture below is when Brian is standing by the carport yelling at it trying to get its attention and it just keeps walking.

The baby baby bunny!



2 bigger bunnies...I hope these are the baby baby bunnies parents because we only see him by himself...hummm.


See, I promised we really did see a javelina in our yard and now you hopefully believe me! Happy Friday.