7/25: My kid is a little furry but I love him so much!

I'm not a mom..to a person anyway. But Dexter has become my little world. He is so sweet, funny, smart (sometimes), dumb (most of the time), and so much fun. And I love that he loves me unconditionally..in fact in a way he's better than a kid. I can do no wrong and he doesn't talk back. Oh and he's completely potty trained so no dirty diapers. So when I finally got the perfect picture of him I had to share it. Dexter has this uncanny ability of moving whenever I snap a picture but after a long weekend in Omak I think he was just too lazy to avoid the flash :)

7/24: It's floatin time!!

We spent our second day in Omak floating the river. It would've been awesome except about 20 minutes in the thing that holds my oar lost it's nut (tee hee). So we tied my raft to Brand's and he did most the work. The river pushed us along okay but Brand did his fair share of rowing for sure.  We still had a great time even if I got a crazy sunburn (crazy as in random spots not 2nd degree burns..like I've had). We saw two bald eagles and that was really cool. Saw some deer along the banks. We see a lot of deer in Omak but it's still pretty cool. But the best thing I saw all day (second place was seeing Dexter all curled up on our pillows when we got home) was definitely this...

7/23: Full moon in Omak

We spent a great weekend in Omak floating the river, yummy meals, and good time watching Dexter with his grandparents.
The first night was gorgeous! After a hot day it was the perfect temperature and there was a full moon shining on the Omak river. We lit the tiki torches and just all sat out on the back deck. I think Omak may be one of my favorite places. It's beautiful in the summer and beautiful in the winter. I love the cool summer nights with the starry skies and the occasional breeze. And I love the snow and ice on the river during the winter. It's pretty relaxing to get away from the city.

7/22: Sushi!

I like sushi. It contains some pretty good stuff: good sauces, yummy fish, rice, and nori. We went out for sushi to celebrate our friend Jay's birthday and it was pretty awesome. I hadn't had sushi since I rolled my last sushi when I worked in the sushi fusion restaurant. We had the eel roll, california roll, and a roll dipped in tempura batter...so yummy!!
I think we'll be heading back for a date night soon :)

7/21: An empty belly

So quick pity party...I want to be a mom. Really bad. I think motherhood has got to be one of the coolest most precious things ever. The moms in my life seem to have this magical thing happen to them when they become a mom and I just can't wait for that. I can't wait to hold that little life in my arms and just love someone more than I ever thought I could, to see someone grow and learn, to watch them go to school, play sports and/or music, graduate high school, go to college, experience the world, get married, change the world, and just plain grow up to be an individual that just started out as a fertilized egg!
But now is just not the time I suppose. There are things I want to do, places I want to go before I become a mommy. I want to travel Europe, Africa, see the East coast, and have spontaneous vacations. I know all of that will be nearly impossible when we have kids and I do want to experience those freedoms that I have now. Also, I love the alone time I get with Brand. I think about it a lot when we're just hanging out how this is my favorite thing to do. And of course there's the money thing and the fact that I want to stay home with the kids and right now we can't do that. However, if I were to find out I were pregnant right now...I'd drop everything and trade all that in for mommyhood. And here's the thing, Brand and I have been married for almost a year and we have not gone anywhere or really done anything we've wanted to do before we have kids, except enjoy the freedoms a child-less life gives. And we both are certainly not going to put off kids so that we can do all this stuff because I think in the end...a child is more rewarding than a trip to Europe, a tour through the Smithsonian, a Christmas in NYC, or a road trip through the US and I'm willing to give those experiences up to have the real experience of a lifetime. Plus, I know a lady that didn't travel until her 60's and she went everywhere! But for now..just an empty belly (save for lasgna and ice cream)...

Oh and I'm sure this belly won't be around after kids...so I guess I can enjoy that..Though I think the signs of "sacrifice" that a woman gives for a child should be honored and beautified instead of something that needs to be shed so fast (thanks US Weekly).You just carried a growing human being in your body for 9 months..that should be celebrated! If someone goes to war and gets some huge scar across their body we honor them and it's a sign of their bravery, not something to be covered up. So someone tell me I said these words when my body suddenly changes from 24 year old non-mommy to 20 something year old mommy.
Anyway, pity party over..the day I found out I'm pregnant will make me the happiest person in the world, I'm willing to bet on it. But that'll be a few years from now..*sigh* all good things come to those who wait..right?

7/20: Mustachioed

For our date night on Monday we went to Despicable Me. Probably the cutest movie ever made. I loved Toy Story 3 more but Despicable Me had the cute elements down pat. But this is not about the cute little girls, the funny little minions, or even the sweet kids in the theater (one girl seriously said during the movie after Gru comes back from an amusement park with the girls.."Someone had a happy day!") this is about my awesome purchase as Brand stood in line to get a movie card (yeah we go there enough we thought we'd get those crown cards).

Fake mustaches. Pretty awesome. We look like 70's cops and I love it.

7/19: The best piece of mail ever

I got a piece of mail the other day sent to me by Oliver. I was so excited when I saw his name as the return address. I opened it up quick and unfolded the cutest thing ever. It was a picture from a coloring book where Minnie was red riding hood and her "grandma" wolf was sound asleep. And he colored it for me :)
Now if you don't know, I absolutely ADORE Oliver. He is the most precious thing this world has ever seen. He is sweet, smart, spunky, hilarious, adventurous, brave, and kind. He's also the best dancer. It kills me that I live far away where I can't see him whenever I want. He definitely monopolizes my time when I visit Boise. Sometimes I think he may have forgotten his Aunt Allison, but I always hear stories where he asks his mommy or his grandmas about where I'm at. Just the other day he asked his Grandma Debbie if Aunt Allison and Uncle Boo were coming to the Dudley family reunion. So when I got this picture my heart melted and it immediately went on the refrigerator. I can't believe he's old enough to be coloring pictures! When did that happen?
Luckily I get to see my Ollie in a couple weeks when we go camping with family. Thanks to work (boo) it'll be a quick visit but well worth it. Thanks Rheanne for sending me that. I can't wait to see you guys!

I love you Oliver John :)

7/18: I hate bees

Anyone knows me that something I hate more than coconut is bees. I feel like they've bullied me my whole life. They've stung me, followed me, and hated me. So when I started seeing some bees fly around outside on my deck I sicked my husband on them and he shot them down with some spray. They're dead now and their hive is empty. So now I can have a bee-less summer :)
The picture is blurry but those are the bee bodies..dead..forever bahaha! Oh p.s. the outside of hives are made out of tree materials..they can pretty much make their own paper.

7/17: Happy birthday Doug!

On July 20th my father-in-law Doug turned 63. So Doug and Rose came out on the 17th to celebrate. Now you're supposed to take the birthday boy out but he likes to take us out and did he ever! We went to Anthony's which is this beautiful delicious seafood restaurant on the Spokane River. We sat outside and listened to the Falls as we ate one of the most delicious dinners I've had in awhile. We all had the same thing because after the waitress described it our mouths were watering! Jumbo prawns, zucchini, and onion rings dipped in tempura batter. There was also a ginger plum sauce (something that I loved during my sushi maker days) and a ginger slaw. So much food and so delicious! For dessert we shared a huckleberry slump..kind of like a cobbler, topped with ice cream. It was so great and the waitress was awesome and friendly. So classy. Something Brand and I will be keeping in mind for special days.
Here's the classic Spokane view from our table:

7/16: Sweet baby James

Friday was dinner date night with the Darrs. Sadly we were minus one Darr. Jared was sick all day so we just had some pizza with Amanda and James.
We see them at least once a month for dinner and it's so strange how fast James grows in that time. He's already starting to stand and even takes a step or two. He's a gutsy kid who just goes for it! He's so sweet and makes the cutest faces. It's so great having him here.
He's also a good test for Dexter around babies. He was tugging at his tail and his foot and Dexter didn't care. Dexter loves to give kisses though.
We put Dexter outside for dinner but it didn't take long for sweet baby James to go find him :)

7/15: NOM NOM NOMS

In the following picture you cannot see Cookie Monster...but he's there. And he's taken over our lives!!! The large most likely diabetic blue cutie pie has seized Brand's attention as he works hard to hopefully get a better job. Even if Brand doesn't get the job, he is getting paid a pretty penny for it..which will be nice after these past few months.
I love seeing Brand work on such a cute little project. Plus he eats cookies while he's doing it hahaha. The best part is hearing him talk to his "boss" so seriously about "Pretzel Party" and "Me Hungry". Hilarious. I made him laugh today while talking to his boss because he said Me Hungry like he was talking about TPS reports or something. So here's my husband hard at work. Yeah he's just chillin' on the couch but don't let that fool you..he's working hard :)

7/14: Chocolate is pretty good payment

One of my seniors that I help frequently came bearing gifts with his next tasks. If only he knew that his tasks he brings me are a little ray of sunshine easiness. Nonetheless, I gratefully took his giant Hershey Special dark chocolate bar and helped him fill out his little survey.

7/13: Remembering a great man

July 13th was the first anniversary of the death of Michael Pritiken. Mike is the father of one of my best friend's Mollie. Mike was definitely a guy the world misses. He had a heart for children and books. Although I only met Mike a few times he was someone that stuck with you. Mollie is loud, her mom is loud, Mike..not so much. He just sat back and enjoyed the show. And although I only met him a few times, we were always hearing funny stories of him from Mollie. His first date with Mollie's mom, his awesome advice ("fart on the first date, if he's not grossed out, he's worth your time"), and his accidental dirty words for Scrabble. And out of all Mollie's friends..Mike and I had a connection. Mike grew up in Boise and was a graduate of Borah High School. We talked about the building and the teachers. I told him of the new additions of the auditorium and the new gym. It was cool how I went to Cheney, met my now best friend and then met her dad...a fellow Lion. Needless to say, it was pretty cool. Mike was going to accompany Mollie to my wedding. He was looking forward to the drive back to his hometown and was going to show Mollie Borah. Unfortunately he did not make it.
July 13th, Mike was killed by a drunk driver at 6 in the morning on his commute to work in CDA. The day before I got a text from Mollie. Her bloodhound Daisy had eaten an entire bottle of ibuprofen and she was in the vet's office all day hoping and praying that her dog would be ok. She spent the entire day with her dad. The weekend before she got to dance with her dad at a wedding. I thought of these as I thought of my friend 2 hours away alone at home (her mom and brother were on a mission trip in Venezuela) and that she got to have some precious time with her dad before he died.
Mollie is the strongest person I know. You will not meet a stronger person. She was made to be strong. She was even born without tear ducts. Her strength this year has been incredible. She's had the strength to be strong for her family, to cry when she needed, to be frustrated with life, to laugh, to change, and to be herself. Mollie has changed my life and this past year has brought all us girls closer.
On Tuesday Mollie asked me to go with her to put flowers on the cross on the highway where her father died. While most people may think it was somber and tear-filled..you don't know Mollie. We told crude jokes, gossiped, talked about celebrities and on the way back we cheered ourselves up by singing Disney songs and planning Mollie's Disney-themed wedding. It was good to be there with Mollie doing something so surreal to both of us. Mollie said it right "I can't believe it's been a year it feels like just 2 months". This is probably the picture that will stick with me for awhile.
The world misses you Mike! Thanks for giving me Mollie, I can't wait to see you in Heaven and thank you with a proper hug :)

7/12: Goofing around with my lovely

I definitely love goofing around. I will goof around with family, friends, pets, and sometimes co-workers. But my favorite is goofing around with my lovely. My handsome. My Branderpants. We may be the weirdest people we know..so watch out for some interesting offspring. Once in awhile among the goofiness some true blue normalcy comes out...and you may just get a snapshot of it...

7/11: Shut your Pie Hole!

I may be watching Pushing Daisies so I may be influenced by it's dashing pie owner who's pie restaurant is the Pie Hole. So that and the mixture of a yummy blueberry pie at work..I was inspired! I baked my first pie. Now I didn't make the bottom crust, only the crumbly part but I was still pretty proud. It was a yummy blueberry crumbly pie! I can't wait until I make the next pie, I definitely enjoy it :)

7/10: You've been invited to a tea party!

"There's a bear in our driveway...he's very vicious"
That's what Brand said that prompted me to look out our front window to see what on earth he was talking about.
Well he was wrong. There was not a bear in our driveway. There was, however, a big stuffed dog. Look to the left and there were turned over tea pots and cups, and other guests to this outdoor tea party.
We have some new neighbor girls and they've taken over the neighborhood. I don't mind that they used the end of our driveway for a tea party. They later left a note under a rock that was almost illegible but was to the effect of their lost "blak cat". They're pretty cute, even if they haven't been taught not to leave all their toys around the neighborhood..especially behind big SUVs. Luckily, we find it adorable and not annoying. They did eventually pick up their toys after a few hours. We even got to see them partake in a second tea party. I don't think I ever did tea parties as a kid so it was cute seeing these little girls have tea parties in their swimsuits (not sure the queen would approve).

7/9: My little artist in my life

I have a personal artist in my life. She's about 4'8" 115 lbs with flaming reddish-pink hair and always wearing some beads. She's not some 20 year old punk hottie back from Mardi Gras...she's my 70 something friend from Dallas. She moved to Dallas after 3 months of living in Spokane and becoming a part of my life. She still calls me almost every day. And she's still sending me her drawings :) They're some interesting drawings, but that makes them all the better :)
She recently sent me two (one for home and one for the office). They're pretty similar except for one big thing..and I can't really tell you what that big thing is....because I'm not really sure what it is...

It's the thing in the right hand upper corner. A kite? A spaceship? Not sure. Not to mention what the heck is that fuzzy antennae thing on the left hand side? Ideas anyone? Either way..you have to smile when you see it. It's pretty adorable :)

7/8:The best of the best

Just a quick thank you to my best girl friends. They have been so amazing and I love each and every one of them. I'm not sure what I'd do without them..but I definitely would be more boring. Outside of my family, I have never been with such a group of people that I feel so comfortable with to be my absolute wonderful self. I do have to say an extra special thank you to Mollie. I think she's taught us all how wonderful it is to just be ourselves and we are going to miss her so much when she goes on her next adventure to Ireland. These ladies  are the best of the best. They're the funniest, most hilarious, incredibly loving, smartest girls ever and I hope for many more years with them :)
Here's a glimpse of three of these girls during a walk in Riverfront park.

7/7: Out with the new in with the older

Wednesday marked a special day. A day we dragged our piece of crap WalMart dresser down into the garage after it had broken for the last time. Needless to say it did not make it in one piece. As we moved it downstairs it quickly fell apart.
We brought up the older, sturdier dresser we've been storing for a senior receiving Meals on Wheels who doesn't have one but is now staying in a hotel. We're not sure how long we'll have it but we had to get rid of that piece of crap.

 

7/6: Rescue Me

Rescue Me is a fantastic show! It's hilarious, heartbreaking, daring, and admirable. Every character is flawed beyond belief yet you still love and care for them. They represent our heroes from September 11th and what happens when the glory fades but the pain remains. As a former hater of Denis Leary (he always seemed so grumpy!) I quickly fell in love with him. He is the most flawed on the show but he is still lovable. Plus I read about Denis Leary and found that he is quite the guy.
Anyway, Rescue Me is back for their 6th season (2nd to last) and it's good to have them back. I missed my guys of Engine 62.
And the theme song is one of the best theme songs ever. It pumps you up for the tough firefighting life and prepares you to delve into the dirty world of the firefighters of Engine 62 and warns you to get dirty in the ashes of New York City. Absolutely love it! It's called "C'Mon C'Mon" by The Von Blondies.

7/5: Home and tired!

After a busy week and weekend we're home and exhausted! Our stomachs are still recovering from all the food and Dexter is passed out after all the fun he had. We're so excited to be home but can't wait until our next adventure :)

7/4: Annie Get your gun

The 4th of July was celebrated the good ole' fashioned American way: church, lots of food, fireworks, and shooting guns! I've never shot a gun before and the truth is I didn't really have a desire to. As stupid as it sounds, I want to know that if a zombie apocalypse ever really did happened, I would know how to shoot a gun. So that was oddly enough my main motivation for shooting my first gun on Sunday, oh and that Brand really wanted me to. I shot 2 .22 rifles..one with a scope and one without..definitely killing zombies with a scope..did pretty good with that one. Then I shot a .22 pistol..once. Guns are powerful and scary..no one should just take them lightly so shooting that one once was all I needed.
Like I said we also lit off some pretty dangerous fireworks and I was not scared! Dexter did great and only whined at the really loud ones. All in all it was a lot of fun hanging out with good friends and eating fantastic food. Even if it was chilly I had a good time :)

Oh and I'm totally wearing my "Zombies only want you for your brains!" shirt :)

7/3: A bang up good time!

Saturday we head to Odessa, WA to celebrate the 4th of July weekend. Saturday was also Drew's birthday so we got some good fun and food in as well. We head off on the boat to the lake and went innertubing. We put Dexter in a lifejacket and that was hilarious. I didn't get a picture of it because my camera's not waterproof..but you'll have to trust me..it was hilarious. Brand took the wheel the second time around when I was on the innertube and he tried really hard to knock me off. He finally succeeded and he threw me pretty high. It was so much fun! Before bed I took a picture of one of my bruises. It was small but very purple. Today it's gotten bigger and now I have these tiny little blue bruises everywhere...something happened when I landed on that water haha.

7/2: A beautiful love story

I've known my friend Whitney for about 4 years now. I've seen her grow from a wild crazy lost girl to a wild crazy beautiful woman. She knows how she is and makes zero apologies for it. Over two years ago she started dating Sack. He was a skater snowboarder who swept her off her feet. He loved her more than she ever thought she could ever be loved. I'm so thankful that she found such a great guy. July 2nd they came together and became one. Their wedding was one of the most beautiful weddings. It was so Whitney, so Sack, so perfect :) She looked beautiful and he looked so proud that he got to marry her. My best friend Mollie was a bridesmaid so we got some backstage news. Whitney was being her complete self goofing off during pictures, freaking out and having to take off the dress, making silly jokes, and standing her ground. She is who she is :) I'm so happy for both of them and I'm so excited for them to finally be together as man and wife. Here's a picture that's totally them...fun goofy but still absolutely beautiful :)

I love you guys!!

7/1: Bye bye friends!

Julie, Seanna, and Teri left early Thursday morning. I went into work an hour late so I could say goodbye. We watched some 18 kids and counting and ESPN. It was sad to see them go. Made me miss Boise even more :( I did get a little snapshot of Dexter loving up on Seanna. Dexter loves everybody but he definitely showed his love to these three ladies.

6/30: Crazy night with the ladies

Wednesday was Whitney's bachelorette party. It was pretty crazy! My lovely sister and beautiful friends Teri and Seanna were there that night too so we hung out a bit after some yummy HuHot dinner so I missed the crazy passion party but I didn't want to leave because I could hang out with my sister and friends for a long time. But I made a commitment. I got all fancied up and headed to the bars! All the girls wore black dresses and Whitney wore a white dress. We pretty much just bar hopped and danced. The dance floors were ours because it was a Wednesday night though the last place we had to share with some stinky guys....
The highlight of the night was when we were passing a sweet bar named Dolce our bar-hopper pro Ashley recognized the band playing at Dolce and the drummer waved a big dorky hi to us! He ran after us because he was friends with Ashley and told us to go listen to them and that he would play anything for the bride-to-be. She requested Wonderwall because that is her and her new husband's song and so we watched them play Wonderwall for the first time and watched Whitney get all teary eyed. It was beautiful :)

And here is one with me and Whitney...

6/29: Bye bye Kim!

Tuesday we had our goodbye party to one of our beloved coworkers. Feeling the hit of financial stress she sold out to the man and got a job with the state. She was very sad to leave us and we were sad to see her go. She is an immigrant from Vietnam and had a fiery side to her. She didn't take crap and she let everyone know it. She was hilarious during announcements to the seniors and I would frequently hear in my office "Hey you're not listening! Listen up!". She was great with them and they loved her. We're all gonna miss her!

That's Kim in the in green next to Kalen in purple and our Canadian Meredith. This is also the view from my desk when I'm not staring at the wall :) We had delicious treats that day and we all got massages too! A pretty fun day!

6/28: A hole in one for date night!

Brand and I went to Wonderland for date night. For those Boiseans it's like a Boondocks (RIP). We played some mini golf, killed some arcade zombies, shot some skee and basketball. It was a great time :) It was very similar to what we did on our engagement night. I even got a hole in one!! Brand actually won the game by three but he didn't get a hole in one haha.