Starting over

So, I decided that with a new house comes new things. A new start if you will. New neighbors, new friends, new things, new chapter. With that being said, I decided that I am going to start a new blog. Not sure when exactly, things have been crazy busy. I also am going to find my passion this year and am going to do it no matter if it scares me. Can't wait for this chapter...

Updates

So, it has been some time since I have posted. I felt my blog was a snoozer, I am not clever and witty and swore I wouldn't post until I became those things. Yeah, didn't happen but thought I should update this for the poor souls who actually take the time to look at this.

Let's see...I went to the circus which I have not been to in gosh, maybe 20+ years! I can't say it was everything I remembered because I remember it being really "cool". I guess it will be a few more years till I return and that will not be until I have children who think it is "cool". I have been going to the doctors without insurance to figure out why I have been in such pain when I sit. Of course nothing shows up in tests, why would it? The medication I am on now seems to be helping a bit, actually it is helping a lot compared to the amount of pain I have been in. I just wish they could find out what is causing it. I have been working on my tan which I feel is amazing, according to me. I feel like I have some color back on this old body of mine. I also have been reading a ton while working on my tan. We just had Ryan's mom here for the first time and I think she really liked it. That kept us busy those few days and now my grandmother is in town for the rest of the week. Oh and...

We bought a house!!!!

Yep, that's all.

Sweet little things

Sometimes it is just simple little things that are just simply the best. Last week it was frozen grapes! If you have never frozen grapes before try it. It is a healthy snack that tricks you into thinking its shaved ice, all in a neat little ball form. Anyway, this week we went on a road trip to Montezuma's Castle, the well and then we just went to Jerome. We had to make a few stops before we were on our way and I have been craving french fries. He stopped and McDonald's at 10 am. I told him they don't make fries until lunch, it is on the lunch menu. He stopped anyway and demanded that they make me fries because it says it in writing on the menu. I have to say, thank GOD I was not present and waited in the car. The girl behind the counter couldn't speak English and kept repeating, "hash, hash brown". So he surprised me with a breakfast sandwich instead. Almost the same as fries, wouldn't you say? ;) Hehe but it was super yummy. Once we got all our small stops in we were off. He says, I have a surprise for you. I LOVE surprises. He pulls out his Zune (equal to an ipod and much better) and the music begins to blast through the speakers. What was it..."I think we are alone now, doesn't seem to be anyone around", Tiffany and the rest of the bunch from the 80's! He downloaded tons of 80's music because he knows its my favorite (yes, I admit I am a HUGE 80's fan). We listened to it for hours as we drove and he didn't complain once. He just laughed every time my eyes lit up as another song popped up! Haha...I love simple things like this.

Seriously?

What in the world is this and why in the world would people waste there money on it?! Actually it is called the baby snuggie but come on, seriously?

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

It has been two years today since we began "officially" dating. Happy Anniversary Ryan!

People

People disappoint me.

That's it.

OH MY GOLLY!

So Ryan tells me he got out of work a bit early tonight. I sent him a text back asking what he has been doing since that time and he responds, "cleaning dishes, waiting for this oven to heat up...I've also been cleaning up the kitchen cause it's messy." Now I am thinking, how many dishes and mess can the kitchen be since there are only two of them living there? Also, Ryan didn't get back to Ajo till late yesterday and I had fed him dinner before I returned him yesterday night. Not only that but both boys were working the entire day. So seriously, what kind of mess could there possibly be that has taken all of this "time" to clean? So, I asked him. Ready for this?..."There are crumbs all over the counter..."Crumbs everywhere! You've instilled cleanliness in me." HAHA...HAHA...HAHA...I couldn't stop laughing that crumbs are now bothering my little crumb maker himself!

The dreaded Valentines Day

Actually didn't turn out so bad! For two people who don't like the day we sure did go all out! I don't know why he does but for me I think it was many reasons which are too long to post and not important. We both feel that one day is just not enough to express your love for another and people should celebrate v-day throughout the year. Anyway, it is still fun I have to admit, getting caught up in a day of surprises and love. This year v-day just happened to fall on Ryan's first day home from training. I wanted to do something fun and romantic since it has been a long time. My day kinda got ruined because of the cold weather but here is how the events actually went...


Thursday, February 12



24 long stemmed red roses were delivered to me









Saturday, February 14


I made a breakfast strudel. It is basically scrambled eggs with the fixings of an omelet put into a puff pastry and braided fancy then baked. I gave Ryan his gift. Get ready girls this is SOOOO romantic...a lunch box! Haha, he needed a cooler/lunch box for work since he will be working in the desert for 10-12 hours a day. A paper sack wouldn't cut it. He liked it even though it wasn't so romantic.


Lunch I served a not so fancy turkey and cheese sandwich and brownies drizzled with caramel and pecans. I had to improvise since I really didn't plan on cold weather!








Dinner was a surprise planned by Ryan. He took me to the Zoo! It was strangely odd at first because there was not a single soul there besides the people for the event. It was called, Jungle of Love! You come in and they take your picture, two to be exact. They give you a glass of champagne and you play a game. Matching pictures of animal(s) to people behaviors. Example: there was a picture of a couple necking which would be matched to the giraffe. We didn't do so well. :) They also serve h'orderves then scoot you into a huge room. They serve a salad, chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans and a desert. While you enjoy dinner they bring in a few animals and also put on a slide show of the animal world and how they mate! Haha! It was pretty funny and a really good time.











I didn't take too many pictures, I was a little embarrassed to do so.


Valentines Day Continued:


Friday, February 20:



My day got moved to the following weekend since it was much nicer weather. I spent the morning in the kitchen making our gourmet lunch. I had already decorated red plates and glasses and wrapped cans I was bringing along. I made a Orecchiette pasta salad with mixed greens, goat cheese and prosciutto. The sandwich wasn't turkey again, although that turkey sandwich was super gourmet! ;) This time I spent a little more time on it and I made a warm Caponata Sandwich with fresh mozzarella. Desert I made carrot cake cupcakes since that is Ryan's favorite. They came out really good, I was a little worried since I am no baker. We had cheese, prosciutto, olives and mixed nuts for a starter. It was a nice day.
















The lunch. Those are hearts by the way on the cupcakes. Think I should have stuck with just sprinkles on the top! Oh well. Also, notice how creative and funny I am on the cans..."Olive You" on the olive can and the "Nuts 4 You" on the nut can. Oh gosh, I crack myself up! ;) Hope you all had a romantic day as well!

Time is up!

This post is dedicated to Ryan...

I am so proud of you for all that you have accomplished in the past 5 months! I can't believe all the things you have learned and how well you have done. OK, I should rephrase that...I think it's so fun that you got to learn so much and its amazing how much in such a short time. I CAN believe you have done so well because I have always known you could do it and am just so crazy proud of you. I know you will do great in your new job and can't wait to hear all your fun stories and see you all dressed up in uniform...men in uniform, nuff said! ;)

Since you have been away I have learned I NEVER want you to go away ever again! That is me putting my foot down. :) I have learned that I was spoiled and how much I grew attached to being with you ALL the time. I learned I am not so sure I like my space all that much and would much rather you be constantly following me than not. I can see how lucky I really was to get to wake up with you in the mornings, go to work with you and come home each night with you. I learned I took that for granted. I also need to let you know that being at home again I have been lucky, if you want to call it that, to have been around house guests that let me learn it could be worse. I mean, either you aren't so messy or I trained you well and I need to cool it on the little things. Brittney, your going to love this...I miss his CRUMBS! Ry they let me know you aren't far away. Little messes and those annoying crumbs all over let me know my house is filled with someone who loves me and that they are there. A house with no crumbs, clean, yes, but means the person or people you love aren't with you and that is much worse then some little crumbs on the counter. I would much rather have them there then not and I truly do miss them and I have missed you Ryan William! Glad to have you back and can't wait for this year to be over so you can leave crumbs all over again. (Check back with me next year when I had time to deal with those crumbs, my story might change.)

It is that time of year...

BLOOD ORANGE TIME! I can't tell you how excited I am for this. You can't get good oranges in Pennsylvania and they don't even know what a blood orange is. Since moving back this is all I have wanted and have been patiently waiting till they are sold. I am finding though not many places, even the groves are not selling these oranges any longer. I am also saddened to see that many of Arizona's orchards are becoming extinct. How sad is it when we have the land that grows such amazing things and would rather see a new home on it? One day we wont even remember what an Arizona orange taste like and will be buying our fruit from another country! Anyway, I found ONE place that will be selling my favorite orange of all time. That time is upon us now and I just simply can't wait!

Learning

So, the five months of training is winding down...three weeks left. So much has happened, so much has changed. I can't believe that time has gone by so fast, yet some days feel like they lasted for eternity. I still remember sitting on the couch like it was yesterday, the both of us wondering if this was the right choice. I still sit here and wonder the same thing but I also have to have some faith in the fact that so far so good...just believe a little Erin. It might not have gone exactly as planned BUT I am not so sure I would change a thing. I have learned a lot these past five months, not just with myself but about Ryan and our relationship and things that have just known deep down but they have just been reinforced.

I am not going to go into great details, this is a public blog after all. I am going to say though I have realized how important it is for two people to go through ups and downs. The highs you feel with someone special are amazing and the lows...well, not so much. But if not for all the lows you would never feel the greatest bond and the greatest amount of love that the two people in the relationship have for each other in order for you to survive it. The lows are a true test of yourselves, each other and your relationship. I am thankful for this and the bumps in the road so far.

I don't know what this next year will bring. Plans changed and that will bring more challenges...some good, some bad but hopefully all of which we will learn from. I know no matter what after these past five months we can get through anything if we stick together and our love remains strong. I know that he isn't going anyplace and will stick by me even in the lowest of lows.

Weekend

So this weekend was pretty nice. It started off Thursday with a special delivery...GORGEOUS roses! Yellowish with burnt red tips, my fave!
Saturday morning Ryan flew in and off to Ajo we went. Ok, this wasn't the best part of the weekend but I got to be with Ryan. What is Ajo like? Nothing worth mentioning, let me tell you. We looked around for some rentals for him then back home we drove. We went out to dinner after, I have had a craving for pizza the last 3 weeks. Sunday we opened our Christmas gifts and I got some nice things. A new phone for starters! Touch screen which I am loving. I got a car charger and a blue tooth, both of which I have wanted. The next group of gifts were very well thought out and just very sweet. I have a really bad back and my darling often gives me the BEST backrubs. Since he hasn't been around he got me a hand held back rubber to hold me over until he can do it himself. He also got some oil and these fun massage cards. He thought they would be something fun to spend time together and learn other ways to massage. His gifts are always fun! The rest of the day we just bummed around and watched football and just talked. Monday cooked him eggs, once over lightly. He asked for them "once over hard". I didn't know what that was and thought he was a bit off his rocker. He says that they leave them real runny where he is staying so he has them break the yoke and cook them through. Ewww. Being as amazing as I am, only kidding, I cooked him eggs the way they should be and made him a few sandwiches for his long trip back. Oh, Ryan LOVES your Christmas cookies by the way mom! I told him I made those last year! "Not these chocolate ones", he told me with a mouth full of cookies. Anyway, we said our goodbyes and off he went. I HATE saying goodbye, which I have mentioned before. The good news is he has less then a month to go! I can't believe it is over but so happy it is.

Weirdo facts about me

1. I love to take pictures and would love to learn professionally and do little things on the side.

2. I want a monkey or maybe even a gorilla. ;) I just love all primates.

3. I think the smell of rubber is amazing and wish the world could smell like new tires. Hey, some like the smell of gasoline...I think that is weird.

4. I love to people watch, people just fascinate me.

5. I don't get bored easily.

6. I could eat Mexican food everyday for the rest of my life and be ok with that.

7. I am neurotic at wanting to do everything perfectly.

8. I love a freezing cold glass of water and love to chew on ice.

9. I don't like people around me when I cook. Take #7 and multiply it by 20!

10. I hate to bake. I think it is because I don't do it well.

11. On the other hand I love to cook but like cooking finger foods the most.

12. I hate hang nails and obsess about it until I pull it out. Yes, I said PULL not cut.

13. It drives me crazy that no one knows how to do their job but yet I can't find one.

14. Hiking is one of my favorite things to do, it clears my mind.

15. I always seem to get excited about something and in vision it to be a certain way later to be disappointed.

16. I over think EVERYTHING. Even things well into the future.

17. I am not a huge meat eater but sometimes I get crazy cravings.

18. I don't like the fan turned on high, the blowing of a fan bothers me. I can't even explain this one.

19. I don't understand why the government does some of the things it does.

20. I truly believe the world would have been different if women ran it and we were given rights a long time ago!

? Health Field Question ?

Does anyone know anything about being a sonogram tech.? I read on one school here in the area you have to have some kinda health degree already in order to even apply, like an RN, LPN, etc. Does anyone know if that is true at all schools or know of any that teach this? I will take any kind of information.

Annoyance Thursdays

So I am dedicating Thursdays as my complaint days. Yippie! So what do I have to cry about...Police.

I would like to know why there seriously is such a huge crime rate all over the country when we have lovely officers who just go around putting "warning" stickers on peoples cars? So the officer returns my call and says, "well, we had a complaint and when I came out to examine the issue I had noticed the car looks to be abandoned." "There were several signs of this that have lead me to believe the following... It is out of state and even though I called it in and the plates are all up to date and its not reported missing the car hasn't been moved in 3 weeks. It was parked on the side walk, and it is dirty." I couldn't believe my ears! Did the city of Chandler seriously give this man a job not to mention a gun?!

Number one: the car was NOT on the side walk! Maybe on the curved part of the curb it could have had one wheel on but it was NOT on the side walk or I would have had it moved. So lets not exaggerate my little coppie poo. No one likes a liar OR an over exaggerator which you seem to be.

Number two: It is dirty? I most have missed the memo and the law that says you can't have a dirty car. Note, my car hasn't been cleaned since I got here either. Ryan's car doesn't have mud or anything else on it that would indicate anything at all. Dirt from wind maybe but seriously? It is dirty? You think it is abandoned because it is dirty. That blows my mind.

Number three: The plates are out of state and you think it was abandoned because the plates are out of state? Yet the car checks out as someone has been paying to update the tags but it is in the wrong state.

So let me get this straight...A car in AZ or maybe just in Chandler can NOT have an out of states license plate on it or its considered stolen or abandoned. The car can NOT be dirty or else! Or else it is abandoned or stolen. The car must be parked perfectly or else? You got it, it is considered stolen or abandoned. Well city of Chandler you picked a real winner, he is sure to get an award for being the most intelligent cop this year, maybe ever. Now if I were a cop and it were me who got called out to a NICE neighborhood MY intelligence would not go right towards stolen. I would assume someone wouldn't steal a car from another state, drive it across country with gas prices being this high, then drive it to a nice neighbor hood and just leave it there. I mean cars with out of state plates draw attention so if I had stolen the car I am not going to drive it to a nice neighborhood to get caught. Also I would assume if someone steals a car they might take some of its parts, not just steal it for a joy ride across the country then dump it where people are going to find it. Then after I call in the tags and it checks out that the tags are up to date, all the stickers are and it hasn't been reported stolen I would probably assume they are visiting. I mean I pay the dues on my car and so I would notice if it were missing for a month now even if I didn't drive my car. Third, I would not assume because the car hasn't been washed since it has rained at least once a week for the past few weeks the car isn't stolen. I still can't believe he actually said that. And finally, you try and park a stick shift car that isn't yours. You might be a little off as well.

He then proceeds to tell me if I don't use the car often I should make a mental note and move it a few feet every 48 hours. Will do officer intelligent. I will do whatever I can to move a car that I can't drive to the other side of my driveway, a few feet every few days to make your job a little easier and keep you off those dangerous streets. How about you tell the stupid neighbor who is obviously bored and NOT minding their own business to get a job and stop bothering Chandlers finest with a car not being used and parked in front of a house in a nice neighborhood. I have never heard of moving a car a few feet just for the sake of it and give cops something to do out here where the crime rate is obviously so high it is keeping these men very busy. Good freakin greif, lucky the neighbor and the cop don't live and work in the city of brotherly love. All those cars abandoned and some that you just not sure if they will even hold together if you were to even look at it would make them have a heart attack! Not to mention I don't think the neighbor would be alive after complaining about something like that to a cop in Philadelphia.

Diet, Day 2

Ok, so today is day two of eating right. It is going MUCH better than yesterday, I even had a salad! A pain in the fanny salad. I am still learning my way and had a little mishap with my salad. I ordered it today from CPK thinking it was the one on Val Vista, I got there and the girl is like we don't have that but i will put a rush on it for you. I took a menu and realized I didn't call the Gilbert one, this one is NOT listed on the website, I SWEAR. I ended up calling the one in Chandler! I was MUCH to embarrassed to say anything so I waited and paid my dues. Then off to find the one in Chandler. I had not a clue how to get to the mall but I found my way AND found my way home! This is a HUGE accomplishment for me. Anyway, I had to get the other salad because I felt so horrible for ordering then not paying. So an hour late I made it. I told the guy I was sorry, I just moved here and am a little stupid. He laughed and said it happens ALL the time. Haha, yeah right. I think he was being nice. Another two points to the stupid Easterner!

Oh right, the salad was super yummy and I now have dinner. Yippie! Note to you all, tax in Chandler is cheaper than Gilbert by like 53 cents! That is a lot!

Bring on day 3! Anyone want to go to the mall? I know how to get there now. ;)

Starving

So along with the New Year usually comes resolutions. The time where you sit down and list things you want to improve, change and make goals for yourself. I never do this. Why? Because lets be honest, who actually keeps to all of them? No one. It leaves you sad that you didn't accomplish anything on your list and I also feel that if you want to make changes you can do them at anytime during the year. BUT, this year I decided, what they hey, lets give it a go.

1. I WILL get down to the weight I started before I began to date Ryan. This is day one and I am STARVING! Don't ask me why, I think because I said to myself, "you are on a diet, NO junk food." My tummy is missing some good fatty food and thinks its starving.

Oh this is going to be a fun next two months if this is just day one! :(

2. I will TRY and do some kinda exercises a day. Even if it is sit ups.

3. I will find some kinda job.

That is it. Those are it. Are we thinking...Wow, that is a boring list. Yes, yes it is. Hey, at least it is something and these are all the things I want to do so might as well just try for 3.