Rich & Brittany

2011

2011-01-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

2011 already..... WOW where does the time go? Christmas & New Years was great. My parents & Rich's mom were in Utah to celebrate with us this year. My parents flew out from Vermont and spent 2 1/2 weeks :) We also celebrated Rich's 29th birthday with family & great friends :)
Not much new in January yet.. Rich's mom is starting a new chapter in her life, moving from Utah back home to Vermont! Congrats! We are happy for you and wish you luck in this new chapter of your life, we will miss you =] I started school again... Working, gym, school, and keeping up on house work.. Whew!!
Looking forward to a GREAT 2011 with awesome friends & family. Hoping to take a vacation somewhere we haven't been yet!! More to come later.....

Updates.....

2010-06-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

We've had Cooper for a little over 6 weeks now. He is a great addition to the family, minus his attitude!!! He is so playful & full of energy, but watch out if he doesn't want to do something his attitude kicks in.. He can be mean at times with his sharp teeth. We have been researching his biting issue and he is now enrolled in puppy kindergarten starting in July! We have heard nothing but good things about his trainer so we are hoping we can correct his attitude and biting! Other than that he has been fun to have around.. Loves to play, and loves loves loves ice cubes.. His most favorite treat in the world!! The kitties are adjusting to him. I think Rusty more than Leila, but they are doing well.
We are going on vacation soon to Vermont to see our family & friends. A much deserved and anticipated trip.. It will be nice to relax & see everyone.. Looking forward to dad's yummy cooking as always :) I am looking forward to seeing my 2 best friends Kelly & Angie.. It's always fun hanging out with them! Getting to see Rich's grandparents off to a new chapter in their lives. They are leaving VT and moving to Alabama to be closer to one of their daughters' Tina. It will be a new experience for them, we wish them the best of luck :)
Still working on the house, it is a Slllllllllllloooooooooooow process lately. Rich has been working a lot of overtime & I have been in school, so it's been put on the back burner.. but after vacation it needs to be done.. I am sick of looking at it half done!!
We just bought a new camper as well... Hunting season is going to be nice this year.. It has been soo nice of Ron & Davette to let us stay with them, but this year it will be super nice to have our own :) Not to mention now when we go camping we won't have to sleep in the back of the blazer or in a tent! YAY!!!!!!

RIP Bruizer...

2010-05-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

We had to put Bruizer down on April 3, 2010. We brought him into the vet for not being able to go to the bathroom and lack of appetite. The first visit they said nothing seemed to be wrong and gave him some tummy meds and sent him home. The next day we took him back in because he was lethargic and didn't have interests in anything. The vet did some xrays and found his intestines and bowels full of gas. They treated him for that and it started to get better. He still wasn't able to go to the bathroom, but he was eating small amounts of wet dog food. He had exploratory surgery and was put on several medications, but all the tests came back negative. He spent 4 nights at the vet and on the last night the vet told us he was able to come home, but he wanted to draw blood one last time. He drew his blood and told us his red blood cell count was dangerously low and he needed to stay another night. By the next morning his count was still down and continuing to drop. The vet said he would either need to be put to sleep or need a blood transfusion, but even with the transfusion it only would buy him a little more time and there was nothing they could do to guarentee he would survive because they couldn't find the cause for his problems. We opted to stop his suffering and put him down. It was the hardest thing we have ever had to do. He was in our family for 6 years. Just like one of our kids. He went everywhere with us. He even came on our vacation to Colorado with us!! He will be missed for sure.

Too Long.......

2010-02-24T08:20:00.000-08:00

Wow!!!! It's been a while since I have last posted!!!! Not too much new to update though.. Holidays went well.. Missed my family like crazy, but then again I miss them everyday so....
I have started school again. This time I am not stopping until I finish :) Criminal Justice w/focus on Forensics & Crime Scene Investigation!! I am taking an Algebra class right now. With only 4 classes & 2 tests left I am sitting with high B right now.. I will surely take that grade, considering I have taken this class at my former college and failed miserably!!! In 2 weeks I start the first of many of my criminal justice classes. I am by far excited about these type then the generals I have taken!!
Rich has started taking Ju jitsu classes at our gym.. He is really addicted to this class. His first competition is March 27th! He has been not only training during class time, but him & some of his classmates come early & stay late to get in the extra practice :) He is still really addicted to the gym and building muscle as well..
So our schedule has been pretty hectic to say the least. With us both working full time, him taking ju jitsu classes 4 times a week, my school classes 2 times a week, & my part time bar tending job 2 nights a week, we haven't had much time for anything else!!!! We still have plenty of work to do on the house.. More painting, and a bathroom to redo, but all in good time I guess!
We are excited to be taking a trip home at the end of June.. It will be nice to see all of our family :) It is tough to leave the animals though.. It's kind of a pain to find someone to watch them.. Rich wishes we could take the dog with us.. UGH.. that seems like too much of a headache for me.. I think he'd be much happier in Utah & not having to fly!!!!!
Well I guess I should get back to work now! More updates to come, when there is something else worth blogging about :)

Rich's 1st Buck

2009-11-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

Rich's 1st Buck!!!! Ron Rich & Bernie!!

Rich has gotten his first buck!! Tuesday November 10th, 2009. He is a 5 by 5 in Utah, for all of the Vermonters that read this, he would be a 10 pointer! Not too bad for a first buck:) He was very excited to say the least! He brought him around to show him off the night he got him, we then hoisted him up on the lift and cut him up.. We have meat all over the place, some in the house fridge, some hanging in the fridge out in the garage!!! He will be cut up and packaged this coming week hopefully and packed nicely away in our new chest freezer, compliments of my mom & dad.. Thanks mom and dad for the early xmas present! On Wednesday we brought his head and cape in to be mounted! We won't have him back until around July, but it will be well worth the wait! Ron (in the green flight suit) was the one that spotted him on Tuesday, he called Rich who was at the gym, he told him he needed to come right over!! Rich called Bernie (the guy in the tan vest) and told him that the big buck they saw the previous Sunday was on the right side of the fence on base. They both jumped in their vehicles and met Ron. Bernie & Rich stalked him and just has he was getting up ready to walk away, Rich shot him! Thanks to Bernie & Ron as well for helping Rich shoot this awesome buck!!!!

Annoyed......

2009-11-04T06:43:00.000-08:00

Ok... this is my "annoyed" post for the month!!! haha well maybe the week :) I was driving work yesterday excited I was going to be one time for once lol... then I see the dreaded line of cars and all the break lights... Ugh.. after sitting on I-15 for 30 minutes I finally get up to the accident scene.. An SUV upside down in the grass area between the north & southbound lanes of traffic, one of the front wheels completely off and down the road a little ways (I do hope the person or persons in the vehicle are alright, with that said..) what is up with Utah drivers.. I then sat at work for the dreaded 8 1/2 hours waiting for 5:30 to come.. With so much to do at home on the week nights having to stay at work and extra 1/2 hour really sucks. ( that's another post in itself though!) I was about a 1/4 of the way home when again I came upon the dreaded line of cars w/their break lights on, not completely stopped, but not doing more then 10 miles an hour.. That one didn't take too long to get past, but geez people come on, how hard is it to pay attention & drive?! From the site of the cops and cars pulled over on the side of the road, I don't believe it was an accident, but what was everyone doing? Besides irritating me?!!! 3/4 of the way home I was singing along to the radio when I see yellow flashing lights this time and a cute little light up sign with an arrow and a blurb stating right lane is closed.. as I got closer I notice incident management putting up flares... I though great what is it now??? Well if you live in Utah you know most of the population can't merge!!!! It doesn't matter how much time in advance that you give them, it just doesn't happen, thus the traffic jam. So I thought they were doing some sort of road work, again if you live in Utah you know there is no such thing as Spring, Summer & Fall seasons, its ROAD CONSTRUCTION season! Anyway, as I slow down, determined not to let any of the A*!holes who think they need to be sneaking get over after they should have already done so I see a few cops and the HUGE exit that is tipped over, as I get closer I notice that there is also a truck tipped over on its side as well on top of the sign... WTF??? I don't know where some of these people get their drivers license? Crackerjack box???? It isn't like it was snowing or raining or foggy... The weather was clear and dry.. UGH........

PIX

2009-09-15T18:39:00.001-07:00

Just a few pix of the living room, so you can see the new carpet!!!

2009-09-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

It's almost half way through September already... Where does the time go?? We have had a fun summer and we are sad to think its coming to an end. Well the weather is still really warm, so that is a plus, but we are going to be feeling the cooler weather soon I'm sure! I love the fall, but am not looking forward to what comes after!! Snow is a word I wish I did not have to use in my vocabulary! Wishful thinking I know =]
We have done lots of fun stuff the past 2 months.. We had 2 concerts we went too (Rich had 3).. Cruefest 2 (Motley Crue, Godsmack, Theory of a Deadman, Charm City Devils, Rev Theory, Cavo, and one other band whose name has slipped my mind) then there was Def Leppard, Poison & Cheaptrick! My friend Kelly from Vermont was out here for that! I had a blast with her. We went to Lagoon, and I took her to the Outlaw for a night of drinking & dancing!! It was like old times together, lots of fun and good memories... Whenever Davette decides to find her camera cord, I will be able to upload pix!!! Rich went to see Papa Roach, Hinder, Saving Abel & Nickelback!! I wanted to go to that one, but I was flying to VT that night!! I was in my best friend Angie's wedding the last weekend of August.. After 11 years she finally did it:) The wedding was beautiful! It was an outside, out on the dock by the lake wedding.. Although it rained for some of it, it really did turn out amazing!!!
Our new carpet came in, our house is finally starting to look like a house!!! Rich & I went camping/hunting in the Unitas like we normally do for Labor Day... Davette, Alisa and I went geocashing in the mountains and despite our LONG, and I do mean long and agonizing hike the last day we found beautiful Sargent Lake! Again once the camera cord is located I will put up some pictures!!! Rich and I are looking forward to the next few days of hunting, only 2 more days of the regular season and hopefully he gets his big buck he has been anticipating:) Good Luck Rich!!!!

NEW CARPET!!!

2009-09-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note..... I GOT NEW CARPET!! You can tell your growing up when you are excited about getting new carpet!! ha ha.. We now have new carpet throughout the whole house. It all matches and goes well with the walls!! I will update with pix as soon as I put everything back in its place!!!!

2009-08-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

Our house is starting to come together finally!!! Rich is just awesome, he painted the entire kitchen & living room ceiling on Monday, then last night painted the walls in the kitchen, hallway, living room & downstairs entry way!!! All that's left is the baseboards to paint then get our NEW carpet!!! If you can't tell, I'm a bit exicted :) We also purchased new light fixtures to replace the old, ugly, 80's brass ones that were there, he has put the majority of them up so far. We bought a new huge light fixture for the entry way too, the old one was ugly & 80's brass too!!!!! I am excited to start making my house look like a home!! Our main bathroom still has to be redone, but all in good time!!!! I am hoping to get my laundry room painted this weekend while Rich is hunting.. If all goes well, I might just paint the basement while I am at it, we will have to wait and see how the laundry room turns out!! He is the resident painter in our house, so we will see :) I would love to get it all done and surprise him when he comes home!!!! If I had more time, I'd love to paint the bedrooms upstairs too, but I think I am getting a little ahead of myself!!! haha...

Swamp Cooler Damage

2009-07-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics of the closet and the house where our swamp cooler leaked... What a mess!! The celing in the computer room closet actually fell down, you can see all the white water soaked insulation in the pics. With the heat fans in our house, the animals were sooo hot. I would soak a towel in cold water and drape it over them. Leila our black cat didn't like it much, Rusty as you can see just loved it. He would lay right there and just soak up the coolness of the towel!

July

2009-07-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

Rich & I

Mom & I in my backyard Mom & Dad @ Pineview

Rich & Dad @ Flaming Gorge

Mom @ Flaming Gorge

Dad @ Flaming Gorge

Flaming Gorge

Our antelope friend who hung around our campsites!

It's only the 20th of July and already so much has happened... Remember in my last post I said my life was boring... Well... not anymore!!!

My parents came to visit at the end of June, we had a blast with them! We took them boating and shopping, well actually they took us shopping!! For new curtains & an area rug for our living room!!! The curtains look so awesome in there, I am so excited to finally have curtains! Our living room is starting to actually look like a living room now:) We took them camping for the 4th at Flaming Gorge and it took us 6 hours to get to there because we took a wrong turn!! We did get to see Flaming Gorge Damn, which I am sure we will never see again so it wasn't a total loss. Once we finally got there we realized that the campground was nothing like the website described it. The campsites were not as big as described, no good place to get into the lake, no beach or anything, no hiking trails that were described on the website. Overall the campground itself sucked for lack of a better term!!!! The weekend was fun though. Rich & my dad did some dutch oven cooking, we went boating and got some amazing pictures of the scenery. There was even some Antelope roaming around our camp!!! We did our share of relaxing and napping too:)

We wanted to get home early on Sunday to get unpacked and our laundry done so we could enjoy our evening... Little did we know that our swamp cooler had leaked... BIG MESS.. Our house was ruined... Wet ceilings, walls, carpet, you name it, it was wet.. The water damage was so extensive that we have had contractors in our house for almost 2 weeks now. To make matters worse that night we got home, the contractors came over and set up 15-20 heat fans in our house to dry it out. You try living in a house w/heat fans and the outside temp being in the 80's. NO FUN.. We no longer have a swamp cooler which means no cool air for us..:( We will eventually get our central air unit, but until then its fans and dying of heat.. I love the warm weather, but the 100 degree days have to go:)

May/June

2009-06-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't posted anything in a while because I haven't really had anything to post! I know I know what a BORING life we live! We didn't do a whole lot in the month of May... We tried our luck at camping & boating for Memorial Day weekend.. We got up at O dark thirty Saturday morning to get on the lake before everyone else.. HA.. We were pretty much the only ones up there:) Jokes on us I guess.. We hung out and lounged all day Saturday on the boat, under the overcast skies... We ended up spending the night on the boat and got rained on Sunday morning.... Let me just say.. packing up the boat in the rain is NO FUN at all!!!
June we have some fun things planned. My parents will be here in about 2 weeks. We are planning a 4Th of July camping trip w/everyone to Flaming Gorge. That should be pretty fun since Rich & I have never been there before. It's always fun to experience something new:) Other than that, just working on the house still and hoping to get most of that done within the next few weeks before my parents get here!

More summer fun......

2009-06-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pics..... Great friends, sunny weather..... What more could you ask for?!!!

The start of summer....

2009-06-09T10:43:00.001-07:00

Well summer has been trying to get here for a month or so now.. We've had some great days, but we've also had our share of rainy & cold days.. Here are some fun pics we've taken so far! Boating is one of our favorite things to do in the summer, hence they are the only pics that are one here!!!!! Thanks to Amy & Chris for having a boat and providing a great summer hobby:)

April

2009-04-27T09:01:00.001-07:00

Well as April is on its way out the door, the warm weather is starting to surface!! We are expecting some warmer weather in the weeks to come!!
Not much is new in our lives.. Same thing, just a different week!! I do have a math final to take tonight, then I will be on summer vacation, well from school at least! I was debating on taking a summer class but with all our visitors this summer, it would have been hard to go to the classes. We have my parents coming for 2 weeks at the end of June beginning of July, then our friend Kelly is coming in the middle of August for a little over 2 weeks, I will then fly home with her for my best friend Angies wedding the last weekend of August!! Our friends Jason & Leslie from NY will be here for a few days in September as well, so.... I thought taking the summer off would be the best option, not to mention boating all summer as well!!!!
Rich has started taking vocal lessons in Salt Lake. He has been learning a lot from them. He is excited to learn how to control his tone and how to hit the notes he was unable to hit before.
Other than that, nothing else is going on right now....!

March~

2009-03-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

It's almost the middle of March already!?! Where did the time go? I celebrated my 26th birthday on the 9the.. Wow I'm getting old!! The Friday before my birthday we went to an amazing steak dinner! Our awesome friends Ron & Davette surprised me with tickets to the Def Leopard, Cheaptrick & Poison concert!!!!!!! They are coming in Aug, we are going to have a blast! On Saturday Alicia took me for an hour long massage (which I have to say was AWESOME) then she took me to lunch and then we each went home for a quick nap! Later that night Rich, his aunt Trudy and 25 of our friends had a blast at the Tavernacle Piano bar in Salt Lake City! Little did I know when it's your birthday at the Tavernacle, they make you dance on piano wearing a pink feather boa!! Boy was I embarrassed =] Turns out I wasn't the most horrible dancer in the place, but probably the most embarrassed.. Oh well what do you do! On Sunday we relaxed for most of the day.. Aunt Trudy took us shopping for decorations for our house. If you have ever been to our house, you know it's lacking in that department for sure! We bought a few things and got some GREAT ideas. She has the knack for interior decorating. We were so excited and happy to have her here FINALLY! We've lived out here for almost 7 years so it was nice to spend quality time with her, and rack her brain for ideas!!
Rich has gotten the yuckiness that has been going around. He's got the sore throat & the can't make up it's mind stuff or runny nose.. I know he hates to be sick, so he's been downing the Vitamin C and cold medicine to get rid of it.. Knock on wood I am still healthy... Nothing much else going on in the month of March.. Just hoping to purchase more decorations and make our house look like a home!

2009-02-05T12:35:00.000-08:00

*Blink*.....and we are in February already!!! It doesn't seem possible we are almost done with the first week of February. Rich & I have just been plugging along with school and work. I have decided to change my major from Radiology Technologist to Criminal Justice with special concentration in Forensic Science/Crime Scene Investigation. I have discovered it entails LOTS more work then my inital major, but I am up for the challenge! I have been interested in this career field for quite sometime, and have decided that it's now or never so I am just taking the plunge and going for it! I'd rather spend time and money going to school for something I am going to enjoy doing in the long run. Rich hasn't quite decided what he is going to do now. He is having second thoughts on the Radiology major as well... We are slowly starting to make our house look like a home. We have bought some decorations and actually put them up! I am in the process of trying to get my living room rearranged, and updated pictures in our new frames so we can hang them up as well. It's coming together slowly but surely!

The start of 2009........

2009-01-02T12:48:00.000-08:00

It's the start of 2009!!!!! The 2008 holiday season went well.. Christmas & New Years went on without a hitch. We spent Christmas in Vermont.. It was pretty cold! We aren't used of the below zero tempatures, but we survived!!! We got dumped on with snow, then it rained and melted all the snow away!!! Gotta love the Vermont weather! It was nice to be home with family and old friends. It was nice to see everyone and catch up. Hopefully we will be seeing some of their faces "WAY OUT HERE" in Utah this coming year!! New Years was fun. Angie & Jared invited us to their house for beer pong and Rock Band! Always fun times.. We rang in the new year with most of our friends & Dick Clark, watching the ball drop!!! Then we partied some more! Bruizer got to ring in the new year with Amy & Chris's dog Kyto! He was one tired doggy the next day :)
Rich & I have been shopping, and are planning on doing some more this weekend for decorations for our house! We have been lacking in that department since we've moved in! So that's our goal for 2009, finish up all the small projects we've started in the house and decorate, so it actually looks like someone lives there!!!

December 2008

2008-12-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

It's already December.. and five days into it at that! Where does the time go? Thanksgiving was good. Rich and I cooked dinner at our house, we had our friends Cassie & Justin and their little girl Kyra over, as well as Rich's mom Tammy. We had the traditional oven baked turkey with all the fixins'!! Rich also just couldn't pass up the great deal we found on prime rib, so we had some of that too! After dinner we took a nap and just relaxed.. We both got up early the next morning... him to go hunting, me to go shopping on Black Friday.. Walmart was SWAMPED.. Lots of good deals, and LOOOONG lines!!!! But I finished up my shopping for everyone while I was there.
I can't believe Christmas is just 20 days away.. Our trip to Vermont is even closer.. 13 days and counting until we fly in!!! I am hoping it isn't snowing when we leave Utah.. I hate flying in the snow. We will be in Vermont for 10 days.. It will be nice to see family and friends for the holidays. Looking forward to dad's cooking and spending time with him and my mom.

2008-11-12T12:41:00.000-08:00

Congratultions Rich on your first Elk!!!!!!!! Rich shot his first elk with his bow at a distance of 40 yards!!! His shot punctured the lung. When Rich returned to retrieve the cow she had gotten up and was on the move. Luckily him and his buddies were able to follow the blood trail and find her where she eventually died. Upon bringing the cow home we had her skinned and quarted up. The meat is now hanging and getting ready to be cut up into steaks, roasts etc... in the coming week. Great job babe, I know it was a long time coming, but you did it.. Way to go!!!!!!!!!!!

Trick or Treating '08

2008-11-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

Jonah & Jaxsen
Jonah & I

Halloween was a lot of fun this year! Rich and I went trick or treating with our nephews Jonah & Jaxsen! It was a blast. We started off at the Clinton church for the trunk or treat (for those of you that don't live in Utah a trunk or treat is when everyone pulls there cars in a line at the church and decorate there trunks and hand out candy as you walk around) not as fun as going house to house, but you get some pretty yummy treats!!!! We then headed to the Clinton Rec center for a live reptile show and train ride. As you can see in the pic above, our train car was on the small side, but luckily I am still skinny enough to fit in there even with Jonah! Other then being a little cramped it was fun!!! After the train ride, we went back to Jodi & Gene's to drop off the car and we headed out for some door to door trick or treating! Just as we got out of the car to leave it started to rain, lucky for us it only sprinkled and didn't ruin our fun! We hit a lot of houses. The boys made out like bandits!! They got about 3/4 of a pillow case full of candy!! By the end Jonah was ready to go home, not because he was tired of walking... so he could eat the candy! Jodi and Gene told him no candy until we get home and inspect it first!!!!

After trick or treating Rich and I headed to some friends house for a party.. We hung out with everyone for just a little while, because Rich had to work in the morning. It was nice to see everyones costumes.. Some people are just so creative!!!! Rich went as a vampire, with the vampire teeth and all and I went as a devil. I am pictured above!!!

2008-10-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

Rich and I wanted to go all out for Halloween this year and decorate the house really scary, but do you know how much decorations are nowadays?!! Crazy expensive.. so we decided just go traditional! Rich does have a huge furry spider to put in the web by the door, but we are waiting until it gets closer to Halloween so no one steals it or it doesn't blow away! Just wanted to put up a pic so everyone could see, nothing special!!!!

2008-10-10T06:07:00.000-07:00

As you can see we have a very weird cat. Rusty loves water! He will sit in the sink for hours with a stream of water coming out of the faucet if you would let him. I was trying to brush my teeth the other night and Rusty jumped up and decided he needed a drink. Now some of you may think, well doesn't he have a water dish. The answer... yes 2 actually. He has one near his food, which he likes to pick up with his teeth and dump all over the floor! I couldn't figure out why the water was being emptied out of the dish so fast until I watched him pick it up and dump it out the other day.. I guess I will have to get a bigger dish that he can't pick up. He also drinks out of Bruizer's water dish as well, but if he hears the water running somewhere in the house, you can bet Rusty will be there in a matter of seconds!

I was filling the bath tub up the other day, and Rusty decided to come check it out.. Big surprise! Anyway, he was walking around the edge of the tub and fell in! Most cats would freak out and trying jumping out, not Rusty!! He just stood there all for paws in the water, water coming up to his belly. He finally decided it was time to get out and just slowly climbed out. I had never seen a cat not be afraid of water like he is!! I don't know what it is about cats, but we sure seem to get the weird ones!!!!

2008-09-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Update on Rich's ankle... He had the sutures removed yesterday. He finally got to take a shower without having to put a garbage bag over his ankle!! He was excited to be able to wash his whole foot! The doctor said she still wants him to use the crutches, but he can start putting a minimal amount of weight on it when he walks. She said by the end of next week he shouldn't need the crutches at all! He will start PT next week, to start regaining strength and muscle in his ankle again.
On another note, school will be starting in about a week. We are hoping to be done with Math II by at least Christmas, then on to Math III and then Math 1010 at Weber.. Not looking forward to any of that, but what can ya do!!! We have been debating on our majors the past few weeks, wondering if it is really what we are wanting to do. We are looking into a few more options before we put in our package for the Radiology program. Rich has decided he wants to become a personal trainer at the gym. We have looked into the course you need for the certification. We will be saving for that and hopefully he will be able to complete that course after his ankle heals!

2008-09-15T12:52:00.001-07:00

The surgery went well.. Rich was in surgery for 3 hours total. He has been home laying in bed, lets see today is day 5. He is going stir crazy!!! They fixed all the things that needed fixing in there! Doctor said it went great. He has spent most of the weekend in bed watching TV and playing on the internet! Good thing for technology!!! He says he has a moderate amount of pain. They came to take out the pain pump that was inserted by IV into his ankle, on Sunday. The IV bag was filled with a numbing agent to help with is pain. He is now feeling more of the pain, but the pain meds are helping he says.
We did get out for a few hours on Saturday night.. We celebrated our 6 year anniversary a little early and went to dinner at Tepanyaki. It's an amazingly yummy Japanese food restaurant. They cook your food on a hibachi grill right in front of you. Rich said it was nice to get out, but he was glad to be home with his foot up!
Rich will be heading back to work tomorrow.. He is looking forward to going back for something to do, but he knows he will be in a tremendous amount of pain when the evening comes around. He is still on crutches and can't bear any weight on his rt foot. He can't drive for 2 weeks, so I will be bringing him to work and a friend from work will be bringing him home..

2008-09-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

BRIGHT AND EARLY TOMORROW AM, RICH GOES IN FOR SURGERY... WISH HIM LUCK!!! I WILL KEEP EVERYONE UPDATED...

2008-09-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

The time has come for Rich to finally have surgery on his ankle.. He hurt it back in December of 2007. The night we put our siamese cat Endo to sleep. He was at the gym before hand and hurt it there.. Since that night in December, he has had xrays and Mri's on it. The MRI showed a partial tear in a ligament of his ankle. He was also given meds to see if they would help. He was doing ok for a while, still sore, but he could move around so the doctor told him there was no rush for surgery. But.... last week he was at the gym again and turned the wrong way and hurt it again. He went into the doctors that day for a consultation and was given another xray. Nothing showed up, but the doctor insisted on surgery right away, due to the fact he had lost most range of motion in his ankle. He is scheduled for his surgery this Thursday, September 11th. He has since regained his range of motion, but the doctors still insists on the surgery to prevent further damage. He is suspose to stay off his foot for the first 3-4 days after surgery. For all of you who know Rich well, will know that this is going to be a difficult task for him to accomplish. He isn't one to be sitting for any period of time.. So hopefully the movies and internet will keep him entertained for the weekend!!! Emails to him I am sure would be appreciated. Would give him something to do while he is just sitting around!!!!

2008-09-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

Well.... still no luck in the hunting department.. Steps closer though that is for sure. Rich did get to see 2 bull elk on Saturday.. One was only 8 yards away.. He couldn't get a shot though, it was standing behind trees.. (Smart Elk!!) The other bull was about 20 yards away and again was behind trees. The Elk like the thick tree cover, so getting a shot is sometimes nearly impossible.. It has started snowing up there now, so Rich is hoping to get one this weekend..
On another note, Rich's ankle hasn't healed and he thinks he might have torn something else in it today at the gym.. It's looking like surgery is going to happen sooner rather then later.. He isn't any too happy about this, but there isn't any other alternatives.. At least he can still walk. He just has more pain now then before. He is a tough guy, always trying to do more then he should with his injury. He needs to see the doc again and possibly have another MRI to see if there is anything else torn in there.
In another 13 days from now, Rich & I will be married for 6 years. Time flies when your having fun.. WOW 6 years.. Unbelievable!!!

2008-08-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

Just an update, since it is the 4th of August already!!! Time has been flying this year.. I can't believe 2008 is more then half over already.. We haven't been doing a whole lot this summer. We have been on the boat every chance we get we are planning on some camping soon too!! We did get away on a little vacation in early July when my parents were here!! Fun times!! Still working on the never ending project we like to call "our house" a few more pieces of trim and some paint and that is one step closer to being done.. We still have a carpet to put in and a hole in the sheet rock downstairs to fix.. Dang leaky ice makers... That was not a fun thing to find.. at all!!! I just wish someone would buy it already!! hahaha. :) Just wishful thinking I guess!!
Our "children" are doing well.. No vet visits..(knock on wood!) Bruizer is liking the hot weather much, he isn't able to play for long periods of time, with the mix of the sun & his black coat, he heats up pretty fast!
School starts at the end of this month... SO NOT looking forward to that! But what can you do, all the hard work and "suffering" will pay off someday when we get our degree's.. Wishing it was sonner rather then later.. Going to school part time sometimes makes you feel that you aren't getting anywhere.. But you can only do what you can do, the rest will come in time.

2008-07-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

Here is Rich, finally accomplishing the tail grab wake to wake jump he has been working on!! Congrats Hun!! Like anything else Rich has started whether it be skateboarding, snowboarding or motorcycle riding and now wake boarding, he puts in all his efforts into being the best at it that he can be. He has been practicing every time we go out, watching wake boarding videos, and taken advice from the others that we go boating with. He isn't done yet though!! He has many more plans to complete several other jumps and tricks on the wake board! When Rich has his mind set to something...WATCH OUT... it will be achieved. That is one of his many qualities that has brought us together and makes our lives awesome!!! Keep achieving all your goals, your doing a great job!!!

PICS FROM VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-14T10:38:00.001-07:00

On top of the Stratosphere!! 900 ft above the Las Vegas Strip!! Cute tiger cub @ The MirageAwww.. I'm sleepy!!!!
Dad & I having a drink in our cool new blinking cups!!!

Mom & I @ The Bellagio watching the light show!
Mom & Dad!
Mom's 1st time gambling.... YAY she won... a wopping .41 cents!
Rich & I after my exciting ride on the "BIG SHOT" on top of the Stratosphere!!
The 4 of us @ The Bellagio after the light show!

Dad's 1st time gambling.. He won too.. like a dollar something!!
High flying dolphin @ The Mirage
Two of the dolphins "monkeying around"
MMMM... lunch??

Pix from the city that never sleeps... LAS VEGAS, NV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

June/July Vactions

2008-07-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

This was our very first stop of our wonderful vacation.. The beautiful Bryce Canyon in Utah! We toured the whole park. We stopped at every point to take pictures and observe the amazing views. The red rock & HUGE canyons were so unbelievable to see! We were able to see some of the wildlife here at Bryce. We saw some Ravens (who were very friendly if you gave them food.. although we weren't suspose to feed them!!!) there was a mother chipmunk we saw, who had several babies she was moving from one place to another.. That was a neat thing to see. I had never seen a baby chipmunk, they are so small.. After we left Bryce, we headed to Las Vegas. On our way to Vegas we drove through a teeny tiny portion of Zion Canyon. The view there was great too. It was getting dark so we couldn't get any pictures. We had to drive through a looong tunnel, that was pretty interesting.. We arrived in Las Vegas at night, it was cool to come over the mountains and see Las Vegas all lit up.. My parents had never been there, so it was a neat experience for them, for us as well. We have only ever driven though Vegas on our way to Arizona to see Rich's parents. We stayed at the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino when we arrived in Vegas. It was an ok place, we have decided next time we go, we are staying at the Mirage! We had lots of fun in Vegas. Rich played poker 2 nights while we were there. The first night he won a little, the next night he was doing well and bet all in against someone and lost all his money! He had a good time though, he says next time he is going to save enough money to play in a BIG tournament!! My parents are first time gamblers, so they stuck to the slot machines as did I. I'm not a big gambler.. We walked all around Vegas. Went to several different hotels & casinos along the strip. We watched the light show @ The Bellagio, the pirate show @ Treasure Island. We went to the Sigfried & Roy exhibit @ The Mirage we got to see some baby tigers and some of the adult ones too. They also have a dophin exhibit which we visited there. It was feeding time and play time, so we got to see some of the tricks they can do! It was a lot of fun.. There will be pictures to follow of our trip!!!!!

~Summer Fun~

2008-06-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

A new love? Yes... Rich & I have found yet another activity we are getting into!!! Boating & Wakeboarding!! Ahhh another activity... more money to spend on it!! Isn't that fun!! We have been boating pretty much every Sunday since the beginning of the summer this year!!! Chris & Amy have introduced us to our new favorite activity!! Rich says all the time now.. "I wish we had a boat!" Maybe someday soon we can get one, but for now we will be thankful that Chris & Amy have asked us to participate in all the fun!!!! Above is a pic of Rich doing what he loves to do!!!!! More pics soon to follow!!!!!!

Feeling Better/Rusty's Fixed!!

2008-06-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

After several trips to the vet in the past week, and xrays it looks like Bruizer is finally feeling better! He had xrays taken last Wednesday. They xrayed both hips, his upper & lower back and also his hawks (around by his ankles). His hips are GREAT! No sign of displaisa. (Sp) They did however see something on his lower lumbar film. The vet taking the xrays said he thought it might be a bone spur. He wants to review it with the other vet who won't be back until Tuesday. So sometime this week we should find out exactly what is wrong with him. He has been walking fine, getting up, and playing fine over the weekend.. He is on a diet now, well less food at meal times and he now goes for daily walks. With the exception of today b/c I had to take Rusty to the vet early to get neutered!! Hopefully the vet going is OVER for a while!!!

Frustrated!!

2008-06-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

Rich & I are very frustrated at this point with our dog Bruizer. Not so much frustrated with him, but the situation. He started limping on Friday, so by Saturday he could hardly walk. Rich took him into the vet on Saturday. Of course when he got to the vet Bruizer walked just fine. No limp, no nothing! Damn dog! Go figure.. Anyway, the vet gave him some meds, which helped by Saturday night. YAY, he was feeling better. Well on Sunday night he started limping again. So we uped the dose of meds like the vet said to do. On Monday when we got home from work, he could barely get up. He would start to stand, then imediatly sit back down. So we called the vet (who just happen to answer the phone, but the office was closed) so they told us to go to the ER vet. We ended up taking him there. We got there at 7pm, and didn't leave until well after 9pm.. They had 2 critical dogs come in & with only one vet, we waited..& waited..... She looked him all over, they pulled on his legs. No sign of pain or flinching from Bruizer. His ankles were a little swollen, so she wanted to do blood work and xrays...etc... The "estimated" cost was over $350, that's not counting the $60 I already had to pay for the visit to to see him. Rich & I decided he would be fine until today when we could have our regular vet look over the information the ER vet sent over.. So now we wait.... It's frustrating b/c he doesn't make any indication he is in pain except for not being able to get up after laying down for long periods of time. Once he is up, he walks pretty well. He is still as sweet as ever.. Giving kisses and wanting everyone to pet him!!!!!

"The Gonzales Family"

2008-06-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

I couldn't fit all of this into the "about me" section, so instead of shortening it up, I decided to use it as my first blog.. Happy reading & enjoy!

Rich & I met in September of 2001 and we were married on September 14, 2002 in St. Albans Vermont. Rich was in the USAF as an Active Duty member, so upon getting married, a week later we packed up all our belongings and moved to our first and only duty station at Hill AFB in Utah! It was an adventure to say the least. I was so excited to be moving away, until the day came of course! Rich was great the whole way and the months that preceded our move! I couldn't have asked for a better husband. We moved into our first apartment across from the base. It was the worlds smallest apt let me tell you. All of our stuff wouldn't fit. So we unpacked the things we wanted to keep and packed up the things we were sending back to Vermont! I started my first job in Utah in November. I have been there ever since! We eventually made friends and lost friends due to the military lifestyle. We now have some of the very best friends anyone could ever ask for! We have moved around several times in Utah since 2002. A duplex in Ogden, a rental house in Hooper, and our very first home we purchased in North Ogden, Utah! The journey has been a great experience for the both of us. We have learned to rely on each other for everything, it has made our marriage stronger and it continues to grow with each and every new endeavor we encounter. We have added some family members along the way. My first dog ever!! Bruizer, he's a German Shepard. Rich bought him for me when we were living in our first duplex as a companion for me when and if he was deployed or gone on a TDY. Our black cat Leila, and our newest addition, our orange tabby Rusty! Rich has since been honorably discharged from the military to due a back injury. He was discharged in 2005. At that time we were ready to move back to Vermont, I was so excited. I was excited to be back in Vermont with all my family. A week or two before we were set to leave, the base called with a job offer that was too good to refuse. He accepted the job and we started the unpacking process once again. I was pretty bummed out, as you could imagine. He started the following week as a civilian on the base. He started as an aircraft electrician, and is now building guns for the various jets & planes that Hill AFB has. I had resigned from my job, so once it was decided we were staying, I went in and asked for it back! Luckily they all love me and the position wasn't filled. I had my job back!! We have since grown to like Utah. It has many things to offer such as great places for camping, hiking, biking, boating and almost anything else that you can think of. It's close to various other states that have a great amount to offer as well. So for now we've made Utah our home! That's our life in a nutshell, if you want to know anything else, feel free to ask!