Our Optimal Occupation of Opulent Opportunity (aka - our long stay with Michael's parents)

This picture is probably how you feel after looking at the title of this post, eh? It's also kind of how I feel after being away for so long - not pretty, I know. For those of you who may know and for those of you who may not know, we were not living at home for the majority of the month of June and part of July this year. Why, you might ask? Well, starting in April Michael and one of this co-workers got the awesome opportunity to be contracted out (kind of a worker on loan sort of thing) to a large, well-known game studio in the town where his parents live, about an hour drive or so away. They carpooled for most of the time, but when the project end as well as the contract end was approaching, the game studio asked Michael to work much longer days to get everything done. Long story short, it worked out much better to "live" at his parents' house, 5 minutes from the studio, and have me drive to work (I only work part-time so it wasn't bad and I could check on the cat) so that we could like, you know, see each other or something. Yeah, why would married people want to do that? Hee hee, as crazy as it was, or at least as crazy as the poor cat got, it worked out rather well and we must say that WE LOVE OUR PARENTS. They were so much more than gracious to us during our stay there, and they are just awesome people. We had fun watching the beautiful sunsets, hanging out at the fire pit, swinging in the hammock, helping in the garden, and watching Bosa get spoiled rotten by his grandparents and having no cats to boss him around. He had so much fun with our parents' two dogs Muffin and Pubbs. The dogs were only too happy to see him go, but he would try every day to get Muffin to play with him. One of the best things was seeing Bosa bounce up and down through the myrtle plants in the back yard. We tried to get some video - it didn't work too well, but we tried. Also, our parents have chickens and get eggs every day, and one day we decided to give one to Bosa to see what he would do. Lo and behold, he carried it off carefully and hid it! We made him do it a couple of times and here is a short video of it. Anyhew, I would go here to view some pictures of our stay there. I just found out that I don't have much room on my online photo album because I upload photos to it and then anything I put on our blog also goes there, so I'm duplicating things and running out of room! (I might put some in anyway and then open an account for Michael or something... hee hee hee...).

Zions!

Over Mother's Day weekend, Michael and I got to go camping in one of our favorite places of all time: Zion's National Park, UT. We took some friends with us, who happened to be celebrating their 8 year anniversary, and we had SO much fun. We drove down and stayed at Mike's parents' condo on Friday night (they totally rock for letting us stay with them on their own 30 year anniversary trip), and then Saturday we drove into the park. Our first job after acquiring camping was to hike the amazing Angel's Landing hike (about 5 miles round-trip). Here's a view of part of the hike, it's mostly long stretches of switch-backs (until you get towards the top, then it's short stretches of steep switch-backs), and boy did our feet start aching! In this picture you can see our friends Shelly and her hubby Jason on the right-hand corner, Shelly has her arms raised.
This picture is the view of the last 1/2 mile of the hike out to the edge of Angel's Landing. It's the scariest part as you have to climb up the rock using chains and you can see down the almost 1,500 ft. you've just hiked. I was terrified the first time Michael made me go on this, but this time I was feeling gutsy and enjoyed the view beyond while I tried not to look down.

This view is the great reward for all the hard work it takes to get to the top. It is so beautiful there, you just can't believe it! You can see most of the park from the top, this picture is just the right/South side view, there's more on the left/North (but my pictures weren't as pretty). There were TONS of people on the hike, more than we've ever seen before, so the top was a bit crowded by our standards (last time we hiked it we were the only ones up there), but we were glad to see the park getting so many visitors - and it was fun to hear the wide variety of languages as people come from all over the world to see the park. My feet hurt for the rest of the trip, but it was totally worth it.
Here's Michael at the lower Emerald Springs pool, the hike we took on Mother's Day. It is a beautiful hike also with three levels of pools and waterfalls that feed them. It was so green there with it still being "Spring", it was so much fun!
Here's a picture of one of the many caterpillars that were abundant all over the park. There were fuzzy grey and green ones, big bald green ones (we saw a lizard eat one of those), and these fuzzy brown ones, all ranging in size from small to big like this guy. We found him under the tent while we were packing up camp. We totally had a blast, even though most of our fruit went bad on the way down because of the heat, squirrels ate our granola, and more than half of our loaf of bread became a giant sponge in the cooler. I only wish we could go back and spend a few weeks more.... be sure to check out our online photo album for more pictures! (The link is in our list of links on the left). :)

Does my nose look stuffy?

Alas, we have been sick collectively for almost a week now, I'm just feeling better and Michael is.... well.... a picture says a thousand words, right? I took it this morning, and it makes me laugh so hard when I look at it that I had to share. I hate being sick, Michael hates it more, and I think collectively when we are both sick it is no fun at all. Especially since my lovely friend Miranda had a beautiful baby girl a little over a week ago that I haven't been able to see, and it's also her birthday today (Happy Birthday!!) and I probably will still not be able to see either of them since I don't want to spread the sickyness. I hope all of you out there are healthy and feeling good :) Anyhew, since there isn't much else to say, here is a picture of me while sick that Michael thought was funny....

The Tour Must Go On! (I Guess)

So, I was really excited at the beginning of the year to "hype up" our blog, decorating it with fun backgrounds, writing lovely things, etc. But somewhere along the new year snowfalls, my bubble burst and it's been like pulling teeth to make myself do anything with it. Sorry. One of my big ideas was a tour of our house, and since I'm not feeling too much tooth pain at the moment (it might be pent up energy from being sick in bed all week), I figure I'll continue with another room: duh duh dah! The Pirate Basement.
Yes, the couch is hideous, but it's a comfy, cheap couch we bought at a yard sale when we were getting married and it's just too comfy to toss out until we happen to get a great replacement. I keep most of it covered, but the peach pillows are a representation of what its true glory is like. Anyhew, Michael and I somehow got interested in Pirates, oh yeah, his proposal was a "Pirate Adventure" complete with Spongebob taped to the boat (pictures someday). So somehow we ended up thinking we could decorate our basement in piratey decor.
We've had lots of fun finding new pieces, on our end table we have a clock that looks like a compass in a box, various jewelery boxes, a model ship, and a horrible lamp that Michael bought me from a second-hand store for our 3rd anniversary (we had $5 each to spend, and he thought the lamp was awesome). The lamp was so ugly we had to have it, plus the light bulb part is supposed to look like a dripping candle (although nobody will ever really look).
We have a few different glass/metal lamps, a barometer thing, fun old pictures of ships, rubber-band pistols...

Candles on the walls are fun (getting wax off carpet is not...). Maps, Pirate Taz (my find for Michael in the second hand store), treasure boxes, swords...Stuff that needs to be dusted.....Including this awesome Jack Sparrow bobble head doll...

A roll-top desk with some multi-cultural things (I have some papyrus paintings on the wall where the roll-top is, and some Asian coins, Yoga statues, etc.)...And the room wouldn't be complete without a parrot! Eventually, we would love to either paint or put up really old wallpaper.... I think the look we are going for is more like the Captain's room of a ship, or something.... Anyhew, it's a fun little room for hot summer days and for this (that's our niece Kristianna and Mike by the way):

A Very Sad Day

Today was a very sad day. It was the day our lovely little sugar gliders went to their new home in Idaho. They're probably waking up in a new house right now (sniff). We have had them for almost 3 1/2 years, their smell still permeates the house (it's a sweet smell though, at least I think so). Sadly, due to finances, the need for more room, and the critters needing more time and attention than we gave, etc., we decided about a month ago to find them a new home. I had the post up for about 3 weeks before we were contacted by someone who already has 4, and just needs more to "spread the love". Their new mom is also a teacher, and takes her critters to school a few times a week, so I know they'll be loved. I am happy that we were able to find a new home that would take good care of them, but the ache in my heart is still huge (as the large empty wall covered in food they left behind - sugar gliders like to throw their food when they're eating). It has been one of the toughest decisions that I've ever had to make, and I think I will always wish they were still here, but realistically it just wouldn't have worked if we want to have room for a family and care for human babies someday. You can't have a music studio, a kid's room, a library, and a room for the critters in only two rooms without something giving, but it really sucks anyway. I am hoping to get more someday, when we have kids that are old enough to not hug them to death, etc., so that will be fun, but these guys will always have a piece of my heart. How can you help but love the little fuzz-butts? They are cute, little, soft, fuzzy, sweet nocturnal creatures that will melt your heart when you see them and demand an automatic "awww". I've included a link to a little video we took of their last night here, and I took lots of pictures and put them in our online album. I won't post many here because I can't see their pictures all of the time without my eyes leaking - hopefully that will go away with time. They are beautiful creatures. I feel so odd only having a cat and a dog now, it seems too normal....

Welcome to the word Eli!

Welcome to the world Elijah Wolfe! Eli, as they are calling him, was born on friday February 6th at 11:41 pm, weighed 9lbs 6 oz, and was 22 inches long. He was born two years and two days after his big sister, Kristianna. It was my first (and maybe last) birth experience, but I am very glad I was there. My sister actually started having contractions on Kristianna's birthday, but, not wanting to upset his sister by confiscating her special day, little Eli waited two more days to finally decide he was ready for the world. My sister is grateful that he finally made up his mind. I must say, childbirth is definitely a miracle, but I think for the first time I find myself being happy with the idea that it may never be an experience I personally have. Cuddling with the babies afterward is definitely the best part. My sister is doing very well, she has her babies at home so it is a different experience all together but she is doing fantastic. Eli sure is a little angel, the complete opposite of his big sister. With Kristianna my sister was in labor for about 12hrs or so, and he took his sweet time. She came into the world screaming, he makes light little squeaky noises and doesn't scream at all. But they are both the cutest little sweet things I could be blessed to have in my life. Sorry the text in this post is short, I'm trying to let Eli sleep on my chest but still have my hands free to type. Here are some pictures!
Here is Eli looking at his Dad, my bother-in-law Ian.
Here is Eli wanting that crazy aunt of his to stop with the bright, flashing lights already.

This is Eli with his beautiful eyes open.

This is auntie and Kristianna opening some presents for her birthday that had to wait for 3 days until baby brother decided to come and Kristianna could come home from Grandma's house. She got a new baby doll. She was pretty confused when she first came home, but she is happy now and loves holding and rocking baby "E".

Enter the Household of Doom!

Not really - I just thought it might be an interesting title for the first installment of random information on us, starting with stuff we display around our house/house tour. Today I will show you some of the stuff we have on our shelves, mainly our Invader Zim collection of toys that you don't play with, weird concept, eh? Anyhew, when you come into our house you see this shelf-
It has lots of pretty things on it :) The story behind it all is that we were first moving into our new home about the same time that we discovered the joys of Invader Zim. I tend to get a little obsessive at times, so I decided that we needed some of these Invader Zim figurines as "decorations" for our new house. It was a great excuse to have Michael let me spend way too much money on toys, but they rock! The bottom shelf in our front room has a part of our collection - which I will tell you more about with these pictures:

We have a set with Ms. Bitters, the lovely school teacher, that includes things like her desk, a lovely neck-ring Hall Pass, and some destiny-determining blotch tests (one of which has Human Slave written next to each one). I put the mutant rats with her because they seemed more fitting. We also have Gaz, and she's holding a pink version of the C-S2, and she has things like a piece of pizza, a can of Poop soda, and her in a beaver suit.

In this picture you can see Dib, with his lovely computer desk full of gadgets, and one of our favorite figures - Dib changing into Bologna. We also have their crazy dad, Dr. Membrane, floating next to him.

One of my other favorites is our set with Gir. We have lots of different Gir figures, but the one here is just regular Gir in his living room set with his squeaky moose on the couch, some Krazy Tacos, a lovely Suck soda, and a cupcake. He's also in his dog suit riding a piggy. We have both of Zim's robot parents, but only the Mom is out on display.

On this end we have some interesting figures of Zim. One is Zim in the Old Man disguise, which is used in one of Mike's favorite episodes. We also have the crazy dog, Mini Moose, a robot bee, and Zim in his Human suit. I love Almighty Tallest Red and Almighty Tallest Purple, but unfortunately Red likes to tip over a lot so I have to glue one of his antennae back on.
Also in our front room we have an Invader Zim clock that I payed too much for also (don't buy them off of eBay- it was just an Ikea clock with a custom paper put in it - not too much fun), but I must admit the guy who made it was very creative, as it has a different Invader for each number on the clock.Other than the shelf in our front room, we also have a few things on our dresser in our bedroom - mostly Zim with the front of his house, another Dib, the giant piggy from the "Attack of the Saucer Morons" episode, and some more Girs. Can you see the box of Poop Candy?

Anyhew, if you can't tell by now, we really like Invader Zim. I love the figurines as they are such great quality and the company that made them was really brilliant with all of the little extras that come with each set. It was really sad that the company went out of business, it makes finding these really hard! The one set I really really really want still but is hard to find and expensive is a figure with Pustulio Zim, complete with a clear-ish Pustulio on the side of his head! Maybe someday.... Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the things we have around our home, until next time!