No more trainng wheels!!

Jared has a few scrapes and bruises to show for this new milestone, but overall he took to it fairly easily. I think he's pretty pleased with himself, and he should be! His friend down the street rides a two-wheeler so I think that sparked his interest. After a while, as I was putting the bikes and scooter away, I heard everyone head inside from the garage, so I followed once I was finished, and closed the garage door. A couple minutes later I hear the doorbell, and I open the door to find Jade standing with her hand on her hip looking perplexed. "Mom, I can't believe you forgot me!" Well shoot. I guess it's a good thing I only have two.

Hmm...

Jared swears there's a ghost in the house. Like, he will NOT let it go. He says it's a nice ghost and won't hurt us. He also says he can't really see it, but he can feel it. Okay, now, most of you all know I'm sort-of superstitious and actually DO believe in ghosts. I can't help it--I just do. Having said that, I seriously doubt out house is haunted. If it were, I think I would have noticed it. Right? Wouldn't you have noticed if your house had a ghost? I have not felt anything "off", and I find this house to be very peaceful. Still...I can't help but remember all the orb-y things that came out in our pictures the first couple weeks we lived here. I'm sure it's just dust. In fact, I've told myself that over and over again. I just find it slightly strange that Jared came up with this "ghost" thing all of a sudden. I posted some "orby" picture for you all to view. Dust, right? (The house isn't nearly as dingy as it looks....especially now, since I scrubbed the snot out of the grout) The last pic is the night we moved in. Our nephew Holden is the middle. Notice the orb on the wall above them. Dust. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Look what came in the mail today!

I totally won this fantastic handbag made my my friend Mushbelly. She did a giveaway on her blog and I whooped everyone's butts and won it! Okay, it was really just the luck of the draw. But still, can I just gloat a little about how darling this thing is? It's even cuter in person. Really--it is!! Plus--and this is a HUGE bonus...it was filled with CANDY. Yep. I bet you're all even more jealous now. The best thing about the bag is that it matches EVERYTHING. I have tons of bold colors in my closet and I can wear just about any color with this purse. So...I took pictures for you all to admire, even though I didn't bother to do my hair today. Jared took the one of me, so that explains my giagantor-like appearance. You'll just have to look past that and focus on my prize. Thanks Mush!

From cockroaches to scorpions

So, since moving here I've had to get used to a few things:1)Water conservation--seriously, you can't even wash your car without someone shaking their heads at you for all the wasted water trickling down the gutter. 2) No helmet laws for motorcyclists. I think this is just plain crazy--but whatever. I guess technically it really shouldn't have to be a law, but dang I think it's pretty stupid to ride without one. And 3) My fear of scorpions.

Now, since we've been here, which is just over a month I've seen two. The first one was a little baby scorpion in the dining room. I didn't freak out--I remained calm --okay relatively calm. I was more surprised than anything. I went to grab a broom to smack the little sucker and it shot fast as lightening (kind of like a cockroach) under a tv. I wasn't about to move it, so I went back to doing my daily routine. Since most of my routine consists of sitting in the computer chair nowadays, I completely lucked out where the scorpion is concerned. A couple of hours later, I saw something lying flat and definitely squished on my tile floor near my computer desk. Yep, the scorpion. My weight and computer chair did the dirty work for me. All I had to do was scrape him off. Done! No more scorpion. That night I had nightmares about little scorpions crawling into bed with me. I checked everyone's bedding every night for weeks afterward.

Fast forward to yesterday. Jade and I were in the garage, taking the trash can out to the curb for today's pickup. I hear Jade screaming and hopping up and down talking about a "big yellow disgusting scorpion". I walk over, thinking it's just some beetle or something because she always over-reacts to bugs. (where does she get that from?) Well, sure enough there was a big yellow scorpion crawling towards the car. You know what I did about it? Nothing. Not a dang thing. I was secretly glad it crawled under the tire so I literally could not get to it. I admit it--I'm too much of a wuss to kill it. The thing creeps me out man. And, it's still there. In the garage. Somewhere. I do NOT want to deal with it. Doug won't take care of it. I won't take care of it. I guess we just won't go in the garage ever again--unless we need to go somewhere. Crap.

It's time!

9/22/08

This has been a very long time coming, and Doug and I have been going through withdrawls for months. Finally the day has arrived and I'm giddy as a virgin on her wedding night. I think I'll even make treats for the occasion.

It's like I'm dating all over again.

My friend Marie says I have to put myself out there, insecurities and all, and be confident about who I am. She says I need to reach out, and not to be afraid to make connections with people; and that sometimes making new friends is like dating. Some people will connect with you, and others won't. Well, I'm putting myself out there. I'm doing it.

Remember Alegra ? She's with the property management company I called when we lived in CA. She and her husband took Doug all over Anthem to look at homes and we didn't choose any of them. We went with a different pm company. Well, the first week we moved here, we actually ran into them at the park. I really kind of wanted to hide, but of course they recognized Doug and struck up an conversation with him. He introduces me to them, and Alegra puts my phone # in her phone because she wants to get together! They are honestly the nicest people ever. Since that meeting we've had 3 playdates and we're all going out to dinner together tomorrow night. She and I clicked immediately, and our girls are now great friends. Alegra also invited me to church on Sunday to hear her sing. I think we'll go this time, but I told her I was inactive LDS, at which point she gets a huge smile on her face and tells me she grew up in Salt Lake. Ha! She and I had an interesting and respectful religious discussion yesterday. She's very fond of Mormons and her best friends growing up were all LDS. She understands the "Mormon culture" perfectly and we had a great time joking about the "coke-drinkers" and the "non coke-drinkers". Anyway, I'm so glad I met up with her. I really think she and I will become great friends.

And THEN, I was asked to be in a book club! Several of the moms at the bustop and I talk in the mornings and afternoons. One of the ladies, named Evie, moved here from Washington 4 months ago and really misses her club. She asked if I'd like to be a part of her group if she gets one going. I told her I'd LOVE to! I'm really hoping Evie gets this started so I can get to know other moms in the neighborhood. This morning I actually asked two of the bustop moms out on a Starbucks coffee/bagel date for Tuesday morning. I was really nervous to ask, but I had Marie's words of advice ringing in my ears to put myself out there. Well, it worked, and we are meeting at 9 am. I can't believe I'm making friends! Yay!

Pictures, lots. Post is at bottom, for some reason.

Poor kid. This slide's sooooo fast. He always comes up gasping for air--and then promptly goes back up the steps for another ride.

Okay, Jared is actually underneath the dang innertube. As soon as he hit the water he sank.

I love how Jared looks like he's using "The Force" on me. *It is not time to go home.*

We'll see how many I can get in one post. Jared had a half day today, so I took the kids to the waterpark at the community center. All the community center fees are paid with the HOA. It's really nice to just pack up and drive down the road to the waterslides pretty much whenever we want (as long as they're open). I was in a bad mood today and I hoped this would get me out of my funk. It helped a little. Jared's driving me batty, being as obnoxious as he possibly can get away with. I don't know what's with that kid. I've had no desire to be around him these past few days. I hope he doesn't sense that. He asked for bedtime snuggles tonight, (different from bedtime hugs and kisses) which I gave. I felt a little better snuggling and talking with him in his bed. Maybe he does sense my distance....

Anyway, on to pics!!

Secondly, for the latest town gossip, go to the local hairdresser.

Yes, I cut my hair. It was to my mid to lower back, full of frayed and split ends and it was time to chop that crap off. And, I like it muuuuch better.

Anyway, as I was saying, I got the scoop on our little "Stepford community"--which is what I call it because it looks picture perfect on the outside with its tidy yards, and immaculate parks. Even the wives here have skinny little work-out bodies and perky, bouncy boobies to match. But ohhh yes, a dirty little secret lies within. Amanda, my new hairdresser dished all the juicy gossip while she was chopping my golden locks. Apparently, there's an interesting little upper-class-type sushi, martini bar here in town called "Off the Hook" (cool name right?). Well, at this swankified hot spot there's much more going on then sipping martinis. There's wife swapping. WIFE SWAPPING. I'm serious--and disgusted. There's some big fish bowl at the end of the bar where you dump your keys in. Whoever picks up your keys gets your wife for the night, and you get his. I guess it's some big underground thing here. Like, PTA moms, lawyers, teachers, and even cops have this secret double life they lead when the sun goes down. No one really admits to it....but it does happen. A lot. Supposedly it was even on Oprah. She had a few couples from Anthem talk about their swinging lifestyles, and they even pointed out that it was one of the biggest swingers communities in the country. Yikes! I've also been told to watch for the painted white rocks in the front yard. I guess that's their "part of the club" sign. So far I haven't seen any--and yes I have been looking. Oh, you know you would too! So, anyway I did learn a lot about this new town of ours, mostly things I didn't want to know. But, hey...honestly it's a really great place for kids, the people are nice, the area is clean, the crime rate is low, and what do I care what people do behind closed doors? Yes, it's gross, and creepy, but it's kind of considered a thing on the "down low", so as long as it stays that way I'm perfectly happy here--just won't be going to any sushi bars.

Firstly, the house...

I'm alive. I promise. There's been so much to blog about, that it felt overwhelming, so my solution was to just put it off. But, I can't do it any longer! It's time to show you all our house, and I think each day I'll try to catch you all up with everything else that's been going on these three weeks. First off, we really love the house. It's a perfect floorplan and size for us, and I'm soooooo happy to finally have a backyard! There's grass, (and weeds) shrubs, bushes with flowers, and a pretty nice covered patio. Love it! Also, we have tile. A LOT of tile. Granted, it's not throughout the entire house, just the wet areas-- but STILL...I'm realizing tile is going to be a big pain in my butt. First off, the grout is DISGUSTING. Seriously nasty stuff we're talking here. I have no idea when the last time it was cleaned, or even IF it's been cleaned. Who knows what kind of nasty little organisms are growing in there. So, I got on this huge vinegar-cleans-everything kick, and bought a scrub brush, and some baking soda, and doused the heck out of out tile with vinegar. I scrubbed, and scrubbed and SCRUBBED. My house smelled like an Easter Egg afterwards but to my surprise, it worked!! It's not perfect by a longshot but what a huge difference it made!! I'm so proud of my accomplishment. I did about half the floor today, and I think I'll do the rest tomorrow.

So, there's that. Now, let me tell you about these thunderstorms. They're SPECTACULAR. I literally park myself on the porch and watch in wonder as the lightening illuminates the sky. Sometimes there's so much activity it's like I'm watching a strobe light in the clouds. The kids love it too. I've taught them to appreciate the storms, and not be afraid of them. The kids get so excited to hear thunder in the distance, and they run to the window or beg to go outside. I told Jade God was watering the plants. Cute right? Hey whatever works!

Oh, don't you just love that sunset? We have them like that EVERY NIGHT.

So, here are some pics of the living/kitchen/dining area.