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Christmas Parties

So Brock and I went to the Allen Christmas party tonight at my Aunt Brenda's house. It was a lot of fun! I brought my cello and my dad and me played Christmas songs- he played the trumpet. Usually every year the kids put on a "play" of Mary and Joseph and stuff... BUT this year my aunt decided that the "married people and older" were going to do it.

We decided that my Grandpa Allen would read from Luke 2, and every few versus we sang songs that had to do with what he was reading. So I played my cello to songs like, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger, Far Far Away on Judea's plane, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World, and I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Wow, it was so amazing and I couldn't hold back the tears. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day is my FAVORITE song and we all sang the first two verses while my Grandpa sang that last ones. I played my cello and it was amazing. I didn't really know the notes but it just came to me and somehow my fingers moved and it translated into the notes of the song. I felt so overwhelmed, and so happy. I love my families so much, life means so much to mean and I am so happy to belong to the true church of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for his sacrifice for me individually. I know he loves us all, and wants us all to return to live with him. What a wonderful plan of happiness we have. I know it is worth all the sacrifices we have to make to stay on the straight and narrow. This was one of the best Christmas parties i've been to with the Allen family. I love my Grandpa and Grandma- I was thinking about how he sealed Brock and I in the temple about 2 1/2 years ago... what a wonderful experience! I'm so excited to start a family (hopefully soon) and am thankful for this season.

Tomorrow we have the Champlin Family Christmas Party- wahoo! That will be way fun! Monday is the Roberts Family Party. Brock and I are going to be partied out!

Thank you everyone for your love and examples to me, what a wonderful life!!!

Howie's First Real Snow!

So this morning I took Brock to work and it was snowing, a few hours later it was snowing like crazy! There was about 4 inches outside, and Howie was doing his, 'i've held it so long and i've got to go' sit by the door move. So my sister, Nicole, and I bundled up and went out with him. Yeah I don't think snow is Howie's favorite right now, he was barely stepping out the front door. I threw him out into the "deep end" and he just seemed like- what is this stuff!!!??!

He eventually started walking around and exploring but I couldn't tell if he had already gone the bathroom. We went back inside, he has little snowballs stuck in his fur and his face was SO CUTE all covered in snowflakes! I loved it!

P.S. We went bowling last night, and I got 37 the first time and 60-something the next. Yeah bowling is my favorite sport...

Welcome Home Max!!

Well we all went to pick up Max today, Luke and Rick drove down with us to the airport. I can't describe how I felt while I was waiting.. it was nervous excitement to say the least! I've never welcomed a missionary home at the airport before (that I can remember) and it was an awesome experience. We all were a little teary eyed when Linda was finally holding her missionary again! I didn't take too many pictures, and the ones I did were a little blurry, but here they are!

We ended up waiting at the bottom of some stairs/escalators and it took FOREVER before we saw Max, Brock and I brought Howie too. Afterwards we went to Tepanyaki for dinner... always a treat to have your food diced and sliced in front of you! The chef guy made an onion volcano, and Brock and I both caught the shrimp he tossed to us. (me on the second try) and LUKE- aka MR Professional shrimp catcher, caught 3 in a row!

It was a lot of fun, I think my favorite part was just sitting at the Champlin's talking with the family and laughing about great things.

Go White Rhino.

Cool Blog

I found a blog that I thought was pretty cool: http://cedric-paris2e.blogspot.com/ also you should look at http://bancop617.blogspot.com/ to see cute pictures of Howie in his santa suit!

Thanksgiving Photos

So Brock and I went down to St George for Thanksgiving. It was so fun, and so delishous (sp?) Here are some pictures! We had alot of fun with Dylan and Trey!



Luke gave Trey a "broken arm"

I Got Tagged

Eight things I did yesterday
1. Skipped Financial Policy Class
2. Rearranged our front room
3. Finally caught and disciplined Howie for pooping in the house (he has become stealthy lately)
4. Watched HGTV.com holiday tips
5. Went to Walmart at 11:30 to buy printer ink for my homework
6. Got a massage… from the Hubby
7. Watched the Office
8. Went to work


Eight Places I like to eat
1. Fredrico’s
2. Jamba Juice (does that count?)
3. Rodizio’s
4. Black Pearl (except when I get bad sushi)
5. Hamilton’s
6. Pizza Hut- Stuffed crust
7. Home
8. Pizzeria Sicilia

Eight Shows I like to Watch
1. Prison Break
2. Heroes
3. Fringe
4. Criminal Minds
5. The Office
6. Lost
7. Two and a Half Men
8. CSI

Eight Things I look forward too
1. Thanksgiving in St. George
2. Christmas/My Birthday
3. Buying presents for everyone
4. Going home to Howie
5. Finals… so the semester is over
6. When Brock gets a new job that is during the day instead of night
7. Graduating next year!!
8. Having kids
8.1 Max coming home

Eight People I Tag:
1. Ashley Poulsen
2. Courtney Burkholder
3. AJ Anderson
4. Jenny Jewkes Johnson
5. Kenny Wilkes
6. Aubrey Revo
7. Marissa Wilkinson Anderson
8. Danny Brownell

Christmas for Thanksgiving

So today I felt in the Christmas mood- Brock and I have been listening to Christmas music on Pandora since November started and we've enjoyed it. My theory is- every year after Christmas is over I always wish it would last a little longer. So why not start it earlier!!

When I got to work today I had a new PC (my old one would turn off randomly...yet especially when I had someone at my desk) however I didn't have a keyboard. So I had to work at the empty desk aka "new accounts" desk. So I cleaned it off, very dusty, I even cleaned some of the very dirty letters on the keyboard and I wiped off the mouse.

That computer at that desk is the one that determines what music is played, so since it was my desk for the day- so was the music. I decided that some nice classic oldies Christmas would do just fine. WELL let me tell YOU that was not what everyone else thought. I have never seen such a reaction to music. I mean I probably could have played rap-sic-not your mama's music (not that I like that garbage) and gotten a relatively kinder response.

I overheard a few of my co-workers complain about the music, and claim that "people were complaining" about the music.... well guess what.... I had people complain that we didn't play Christmas music more often! No one ever asked me to change the station. Anyways, Steve- who is awesome and I know he doesn't like Christmas music before Thanksgiving, started a fun little game once he was back from lunch. He had turned the stereo volume all the way off. Once I noticed I casually turned it back on. IT WAS ALL FUN AND GAMES, but everyone seemed so passionate about it. I thought I might just get a demerit of some sort! Eventually my Pandora station was changed, and the power was cut to the speakers SO I had to go to my backup plan. I had a personal stereo at my desk from Halloween so I could play spooky music, and I decided to put on the non stop Christmas station. Since the speakers to the whole building had been sabotaged by NOT me, everyone could apparently hear my personal Christmas experience.

Donna, Kristi and Ali stormed over and demanded I turn it off. Ha, they were so funny because it drove them crazy. (Sorry guys but it's true). They ended up stealing the cord that goes from my stereo to the plug in the wall... which I got back later.

Anyways I think my boss was a little concerned about how everyone was picking on me, how I was being rebellious, and how everyone was being very Grinchy. And I hope I didn't make anyone mad by calling then Grinches... if I did I am sorry, it was all in fun.

It was so hilarious, and I couldn't help but keep playing along. I would never have thought that playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving would get me almost beaten by an umbrella.

Congratulation

I just wanted to take the time to congratulate myself on the fact that someone from:

Republic of Seoul, Korea, on Sun, 09 Nov 2008 05:47:37 -0600

visited my blog.


I'll be famous, one day.

Homework

So I have way too much Homework to do this weekend, and i've just finished Part 3 of my Portfolio for my Fashion class. It's a great class, just a lot of random stuff I have to do. We watched this youtube video in class and I thought it was worth sharing! It's what people back in the 50's(or sometime back in the day) thought the dress in the year 2000 would look like.

Listen for the, "ohh swish"!



Enjoy!

"We are fellow Americans"

Well, i'm one for one! Congratulations Barack, you almost have the same name as my husband! (and you are the president elect) I thought that John McCain did an excellent job on his concession speech. A few things he said:

He pledged to "do all in his power" to help Obama improve the country in these dangerous and fiscally challenging time.
He told his supporters to give Obama their help "to help restore our prosperity" and to defend the country.
"Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans."

GO USA, I hope that we can all come together and not loose faith in this great country of ours.

“If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,”

Obama also had some good words: We are not red and blue states, but The United States.

I like how he said to his two daughters "you are earned the new puppy that is coming with us to the White House".
"I will never forget who this victory belongs to, it belongs to you."
"the road ahead will be long, the road is steep, we may not get there in one year or one term but I promise you we will get there"
"I will always be honest with you on on the challenges we face"
"let us summon a spirit of patriotism, of service"
He said that those whom he did not win their vote, he will be their president too.

He also talked about a lady in Georgia who went to the polls today at 106 years old. She has seen so much, from cars, planes, man on the moon, the berlin wall coming down, and now today she had touched a screen that helped change history. What changes will the younger generations see in a century? What will his daughters live to see?

"May God Bless the United States of America"

Get out and Vote today!

Well today is here. Every leap year on the first Tuesday in November we should all be out to vote. We've all probably followed at least a little of what's going on- some of the issues that our country and state faces. This is the first year i'm able to vote (I missed it by a few months 4 years ago) and Brock and I just got back from doing exactly that.

It was actually pretty fun. Since i've never voted before I was a little nervous- only because I didn't want to look like a gomer with all these older people there able to work technology better than I could. They didn't even check my ID... ? When I got to my little booth I found myself looking over my shoulders to make sure no one was looking. I didn't really know how to use the card the poll lady gave me. I tried swiping it like a credit card, then I clicked it in and out of the machine. It said "Your ballot has been cancelled, please see the poll lady"... What?! Did I ruin my chance to finally vote? No I just didn't push the card in right. Ha.

So I started my voting process. There was alot of people to vote for! I think next time i'll learn about the local issues because I was a little confused at what I was voting for some of the time (please don't take that as stupidity-- i'm a very smart person). I wrote myself in on a few... I almost did for President but then I realized even if I won I wasn't old enough. :)

Ha ha overall voting was great, and there wasn't really any line for Brock and I to wait in. So moral of the story is-- get out and vote! Even if it's for yourself!

I

How to make said cute Halloween Wreath

How to do what I talked about in the Title of this blog, and sorry that it's coming about 361 days late!

STEP ONE

Buy this wreath :

($3.00 at Michaels, and a similar one would probably do)

STEP TWO

Buy some cute things to glue on to your wreath:

Wood gravestones/"trick or treat" saying : $0.50 each

Googely Eyes: $1.00 for a bag of tons

Spooky old-looking picture frames: $1.00

Natalee's face as she hot glue's her finger: Priceless

STEP THREE

If you don't have a hot glue gun, (like me) you can buy one for pretty cheap. I got one that is fairly small and it was only $2.99 at Michael's and I think a bag of glue was about that much as well. Print off some black and white pictures of you, your family, you're cute dog... etc and glue different size googely eyes onto the eyes in your pictures. Then place the pictures in the frames and place your decorations around the wreath. Hot glue them on.

STEP FOUR

Finishing touches. I used some extra ribbon that I had to make the center ribbon and then just folded it around my fingers to make the curls. Be creative... maybe you could add creppy fake spiderwebs or even real fake spiders!

Then hang and enjoy!!

Halloween Hot and Cold!

Well Halloween is my Dad's birthday so we always get to celebrate! I'd have to say when I was young it was not really a big bummer because we still got to go trick or treating, and it gets better every year because I think the Halloween parties that people in CV throw are lame. Like the Howl/Scream... yeah they combined the institute dance and the cyran (sp?) wrap model rave together. Who knows?

Brock and I dressed up for work. He was a bad Jedi- aka Sith, and my work had the theme "Where's Waldo" so I dressed up as "Witch Waldo" haha. Clever I might add... I was trying really hard to find a Sarah Palin Waldo outfit but, aparently there's not much you can do at 10PM on Oct 30th. And of course Howie dressed up, he had a cute little bee costume... stinger, antena and all!

Also I made Brock go shopping with me on Saturday to get all the 50% off, 75% off Halloween decor items. It's the way to go when you're a poor college wife who just HAS to have cutsie things. I should try and become more creative. Wait.... wait... wait!! What am I talking about! Brock and I made a craft, yes--- a wreath! We even took pictures on purpose so I could blog about my DIY halloween wreath. (More to come on that later)

Now to the hot and cold.... I was just at home tonight making dinner when I thought I smelt a familiar smell... One step it would smell strongly, and then one more step it got fainter... I got on my hands and knee's. It wasn't under the rocking chair, nor on the love sac, I looked near the computer and all the corners by the banana chairs... I was about to give up when I caught a glimpse of what looked like deer droppings underneath the dinning table. I had found the source. Howie had a few little "poops" he left for me to find under the table.

It's just a good thing I have the sence of smell or we couldv'e run into some stinky situation!

Thanks for reading!

St George

This post will be dedicated to the adventures of St George that Brock, me, Adam and Maria Covington had a few weekends ago... a few things to be mentioned:

-all the shopping we did
-me getting us there in like 4 hours
-body world
-fiesta fun (or not fun)
-getting lost on the golf course in a golf kart
-soccer sluts (pardone mi frenche)

Modifications and updates to come..

Snowing in October

So this weekend the Lurp (aka Brock Poulsen) and his wife Ashley, came to visit Brock and I. We went to El Sol Friday night, then came back to our apartment. Stu, and Kraig and Katie came over (Zoe too). Howie and Zoe chased each other the whole night.

We played a Wii olympics game which was pretty cool, then we were going to watch Hellboy but Brock couldn't find the DVD. The boys left to go to Red Box while Ashley and I had some good girl bonding time. They came back with Jumper- which is an awesome movie, however I feel asleep pretty fast too.

This morning we are just hanging out, and are going to lunch with AJ, Jessica, and baby Zoee!! I am so excited! The last time I saw baby Zoee was when she was about a week old.

Yeah for friends, I love spending time with people and getting to know them better. Ashley- you are way cool and we should hang out while our husbands play the wii and earn money for us.

Also *note* it SNOWED today! Crazy! I really think that Howie needs to get a sweater or jacket of some sort. He was shaking for a while after he came inside from his bathroom break.

Scoville Scale

So if anyone was wondering, this is the scale of how hot a peper is..

Scoville scale Scoville rating Type of pepper
15,000,000-16,000,000 Pure capsaicin
8,600,000-9,100,000 Various capsaicinoids (e.g. homocapsaicin, homodihydrocapsaicin, nordihydrocapsaicin)
2,000,000-5,300,000 Standard U.S. Grade pepper spray, FN 303 irritant ammunition
855,000-1,050,000 Naga Jolokia

350,000-580,000 Red Savina Habanero
100,000-350,000 Habanero chili, Scotch Bonnet Pepper, Datil pepper, Rocoto, Jamaican Hot Pepper African Birdseye

50,000-100,000 Thai Pepper, Malagueta Pepper, Chiltepin Pepper, Pequin Pepper
30,000-50,000 Cayenne Pepper, Ají pepper, Tabasco pepper, some Chipotle peppers
10,000-23,000 Serrano Pepper, some Chipotle peppers
2,500-8,000 Jalapeño Pepper, Guajillo pepper, New Mexican varieties of Anaheim pepper,Paprika (hungarian wax pepper)
500-2,500 Anaheim pepper , Poblano Pepper, Rocotillo Pepper
100-500 Pimento, Pepperoncini
0 No heat, Bell pepper

Eagle Eye

So Brock, Luke, and I just got back from watching the movie Eagle Eye. AMAZING! So far all the movies I've seen with Shia LaBeouf have been awesome and i'd buy them all.
When we got to the theatre I specifically selected seats that had no one in the row in front of me so I could put my feet up. A few minutes before the movie started a family walked in and as they walked by some old guy said

"Let's sit here so we can smell feet" and then he grabbed my flip flop

WHAT!! Yeah I gave Brock a wide eyed HUH kinda look. They laughed because aparently strange old men touching good looking young womans feet is appropriate at movie theatres.

I ended up being polite and moved my feet to the cup holder rest in front of me. Then they pulled that down too... Come on people! Don't you know who I am? Natalee doesn't take no, or no crap at the movie theatre. I decided to be nice and just sat indian style most of the movie. My toes were violated/cold anyways. Haha.

What Was Lost Now Is Found!

Well, Brock's bike was found by the manager of our little community/apartment complex! (woot.) Yeah apparently the neighbor boys stole it. So I called the cops to let them know we had gotten the bike back and I also asked that they go talk to the family/little boy to let them know that what they did was wrong. Because stealing IS wrong.

Speaking of stealing... I have come into possession of information that would probably make people want to steal. My father in law revealed the long awaited, divinely inspired, secret of AUNT LYNELL'S SALSA!! And guess what.. I didn't have to steal the information. It was willingly given to me. I have it secretly written down in my mind and I wont give it up. But the recipe does go a little something like this....

1 cup Magic
2 cups Yummy things
3 tsp Envy
1 Pinch of Addiction
and some cilantro... not parsley.

I will not break, though you may try I'm too strong. Knowing the recipe makes my life worth more... so perhaps if I am ever in a situation like Michael Scofield I will be able to use it as leverage. Just as he uses his intellect, charm, and good looks to stay out of jail and help the government bring down "The company" by rescuing the contents of "scylla".

"I'll never tell..."

Stolen in Logan

Well, Brock's bike got stolen. That sucks major. We've been riding our bikes to work and such, and yesterday when I rode home from work I saw Brock's bike resting in the driveway along our garage wall. I thought, "oh I should remind him to put that in the garage". We went to Angie's for dinner, came back (bike still there) then at about 11 ish we took Howie out to go the bathroom before we went to bed and it was gone.

Brock called the non-emergency police number (yes I have it on speed dial and yes i've called on all those stupid Walmart people who think they can park in the fire lane) and an officer came out, took Brock's testimony or whatever you call it... report? Anyways he said he'd look for it (good luck sir) and he also made a comment that he would look at the apartment complex next to us... like he's had trouble there before...

So today I've felt all violated that someone would do that. When I got home from work today, I was all paranoid about running into the house to open the garage door while leaving my bike at the front door. Then I SWEAR I locked the front door after I came inside. I went upstairs to change, then came down to clean up the front room. When I went up again it smelled like a candle was burning, and then when I went to take Howie to the bathroom the front door was unlocked. I'm a spaz like that I guess, but I swear I consciously locked the front door thinking about creepy stealing killing puppy-napping bad guys.



At least Howie will protect me... he's showing off his teeth... or most likely laughing at me.. :D


Anyways I'm at home know, counting change so I can pay the pizza delivery guy when he gets here. I"m sure he'll like me. It was actually cheaper to call and order rather than do it online. So take that stuffed crust. It also took me like 30 mintues just to figure out what I wanted, and then whemn I called they said it would be about 55 mintues. What happened to speeding eh? I'm thinking 30 minutes. But whatever, I'll just fill up on Milky Way candy bar untill he gets here... Yumm!

Entertain Me Wally

So there were a few things that happened last week that I wanted to Blog about but now I can't really remember them....I'll try my best...

So saturday Brock and I started cleaning out the 2nd bedroom closet... aka the throw junk in boxes then just shove the boxes somewhere, closet. While I was cleaning off some shelves I felt something warm on my foot. I thought "oh how cute, Howie is licking my foot" and as I looked down I saw Howie, pooping on my foot.

Brock was vacuuming our bedroom and so I loudy said "He pooped on my foot!" Brock actually didn't belive me at first, then I showed him the skid mark on my left leg. It was rather hilarious and I wasn't mad at all. Howie was then banished while I cleaned up the poo and febreezed that room.

Tonight, Brock and I had a few things to grab at the store.. unfortunately we live within 2 minutes of walking distance to walmart so we always go to that devil store. So we were walking down the aisle, (duh nah-na-na, duh nah nu nah) and I saw some cool fall colored ribbon. As I was looking some walmart associate walked by with those metal-i-make-things-easier-to-pull things that had boxes 8ft high. As he walked by I put that thing of ribbon on the tallest box I could reach and snickered. Lame I know, but it gets better. As we were leaving I saw these giant chairs with carts attached to the front. They had green and red lights, but were plugged into the wall. I unattached the piece of equipment from the wall and starting driving! Then I parallel parked next to the pepsi machine and went home.

Oh thank you Wally World, even though I hate you, you can sometimes be entertaining.

No... Your OTHER Manager

So last night Brock and I went to Ruby Tuesdays with our friends Adam and Maria Covington. When we got in there was another group of 4, consisting mainly of older people (aka grandparents age) the host asked how many in thier group and the oldest man said, "Four, and while you're at it I need to see your manager" The host said well I am a manager, as he pointed to his badge saying "Shift leader"... The older gentleman said, "oh your other manager"

*snicker*

I then proceeded to turn around to Brock and said sarcastically "You're OTHER manager"

So we were seated and some fool named Jeff was our waiter. He was a jerk from the start. He was skimpy (in my opinion) in he gave us (aka bottomless lemonades), rude, smark alek, and not willing to provide 110% service.. which I at least expect 101% service... he was more like an F- server. I don't think either of us tipped him very well seeing as how we determine the tip by preformance. For example we left like a $15 tip the other day because the waiter guy was AWESOME! So there you go waitering world... please don't suck because nobody likes that.

Walking Home From Work

So I get alot of time to think in the 5-8 minutes it takes me to walk home from work. I wanted to share all the thoughts/funny things I see or that happen on the way home.

-Half the days I always see this lady sitting in a wheel chair pushing herself around with her feet.... yes her non broken ones
-WARNING GROSS AHEAD:Used pregnancy tests/things that are supposed to prevent pregnancy
-This random old car that it FULL of junk, ie food, newspapers, dolls, purses, trash, and more trash... and i think it's unlocked so i'm always temped to clean it
-I usually look at the rocks by walmart to find "crab rocks" (see pirates 3)
-Today I walked home with a half full gallon of milk. I felt like Juno, but with milk.
-Yesterday I forgot my keys to the house so I had to walk to the Hampton for Brock's keys, but he just threw them to me from across the sidewalk
-Frequenly, when I drive to work (that is rarely done) I will walk home without my car... then I think it's stolen when I go to use it... then I walk back to work to get it.
-I also always think about how rent is coming due when I see the "devonshire" sign...then I think about how i'm excited for every other thursday
-Today on my way TO and FROM work I actually waited for some cars to pass along 2nd East and 16th North. Normally I just walk out in front of the cars but I didn't feel like dodging death AGAIN.... thanks for not killing me Donna
-I though about how Brock would be proud when I told him about the above bullet point

This Weekend

Things that happened/will happen this weekend:

-Brock and I sent our letter to Chad
-I watched the first 6 episodes of Prison Break... aka hott Michael and Lincoln(I still like you more Brock)
-Lacey threw a banana at me
-DFCU Company Party/Picnic in which I am bringing Howie too... and Jasper coming as well. I hope I win BIG $$ PRIZES
-I came up with some swell slogans for Deseret First
-Brock and I rolled 100 million quarters for his vending machine stuff
-I yoinked a Pepsi from the 2nd floor and Brock didn't find out till after the 3rd floor
-I listed to "the Final Countdown" from Arrested Development
-I actually tried getting my haircut but no one wanted too... or they just wouldn't answer their phones
-I watched the aftermath of Zions bank being robbed
-Brock suggested that he buy me a new outfit for school....WOW AWESOME so I got 2 new jeans for 40 bucks and Big Black shirt... DO WORK!!!
-I took Howie to puppy class and he was the favorite puppy of them all!

This should probably be followed with posts of things YOU have done this weekend. :D And Mine will continue to be updated.

CONTINUED....

Alright now as of Sunday these things happened,
-Finished Prison Break...WOW
-Went to the company party, and left my ticket for the prize drawing in my pocket THE WHOLE DANG time!!! When I finnally put 2 and 2 together I won stupid Utah/BYU tickets that I traded for an AWESOME book by an apostle. I didn't even want an iPod or trip to disneyland so take that!!
-went to Hamiltons and found out they no longer have the chocolate torte.. so not much reason to go there anymore. (ok there a few other reasons to still go)
-some other stuff that was way cool

Random Stuff to Catch Up On

Well there's alot I'd like to write about, but right now I can't think of anything... I'll just start.

So Dani, Brent, and Patrick came up last weekend to hang with Brock and I- that was fun. We went to the Celebration Centre here in Logan where we rode the Sky Coaster (you basically freefall a couple hundred feet and swing back and forth) I made Dani pull the rip cord when we went. We also went on the Go Karts. We made yummy malibu chicken with this "company cous cous", very good times.

So Howie got his first haircut! Can't remember if I've posted about that or not. Yeah it was $40!!!! I am definately learning how to cut puppy hair- or Howie is going to put us on the streets... :D

So Chad wrote Brock and I a letter. It sounds like he is enjoying his mission experience so far. It's cool to know that the spirit is so strong and that Chad is strengthening his testimony everyday. Go Chad! We love you!

Oh SO here is a good story.... the other day I drove to work, which is odd because I usually walk... it's only about a 7 minute walk... anyways on thursday night after work i'm like.. yeah! Time to walk home! Nicole was over and at 8PM I needed to take Howie to puppy school, so I went over and opened the door to the garage. "Where's the car?!" I had no idea where the car was! I thought it was stolen! Then I remembered that I had left it at work. Lo and behold we still made it to puppy school fairly ontime.

Howie's Elephant

So I went to Khols today and bough one of those stuffed elephants that are always near where you check out... the one where 100% of the money goes to little kids or something. Anyways this elephant is bigger than Howie and when I brought it home to him it was hilarious!

Howie was acting all scared of it. He would come up to it, bark, and then army crawl away. I had to grab him and the elephant so howie knew it wasn't another real animal... he is now happily chewing on its trunk, and half whiplashing it around. So cute! When I find my camera charger I'll post a picture.

Also tonight was very eventful. It was the first time in 2 years that I have not been able to use my credit card because the name on my card did not match my license. Yep, it's been 2 years and my license still says Allen on it. Grrr... I was so mad at the girl- it was $5. I think it was absurd. The only reason people ID it to make sure people are really using their own credit card. She had no reasonable reason to think that I wasn't who I said I was. How many people spell their name with two EE's?? I had other cards with Champlin but noooo... this girl wouldn't let me. I guess I didn't need that cute bamboo magazine holder anyways...

What I Didn't Know About Little Boy Dogs

So Howie as been a handfull lately, this afternoon before work I took him upstairs with me to grab a few last minutes things and he ran under the bed and peed. He has been peeing everywhere! He used to do so well to go on his puppy pad, I even bought that spray that is suppsosed to help him want to go there (maybe it's just sugar water). Ha anyways its fairly hit and miss with the potty training... but mostly miss.

Also Brock sure did enlighten me tonight, lets just leave it at: I learned something about boy puppies that I never thought I would...

On the 24th of July we went down with my Grandma Lenis and Grandpa Ted to Maddox with the Marshes. Apparently Kale, Jennifers son, asked her "is that one cool mom who plays rock back going to come"? ... aka Natalee. It made my day!

Well i'm trying to figure out a better way to leave Howie alone when Brock and I have work. He can't just stay in his little 1 foot tall crate all day. My ideas have been:

1. Puppy proof the bathroom or extrabedroom and let him roam in there
2. Get a baby port-a-crib
3. Find some fence/larger cage thing for him
4. Get suggestion from other people... :P

Well thats my quick update. XOXO

Howie's Haircut and Batman Adventures

So I have to confess, I am not one for standing in lines, especially for movies. So I don't do it. Saturday the 19th, everyone (aka Champlin Fam) went to the Dark Knight at 3pm. We got there around 2ish and the line was out the door, around the building, and back to the side exit doors. We waiting and got our hands marked so they knew we had our tickets taken.

Well I had meant to get there early, but didn't so the back of the line just didn't cut it. I saw that the showing right before ours got out so I decided to see if I could put my "1st in line skills" to work.

Heidi came with me to get a drink of water and we just walked in the theatre while poeple were still filing out. We sat there and pretended to watch the end credits while we talked a little, then the ushers started moving people out. So we got up and walked towards the dark hallway. There is a smaller wall when you make the first turn and so I told Heidi to stand up against that quietly while we waited for the worker boy to leave. Unfortunately our Kronk like skills are not perfected and we were detected. Lol. (anybody want a peanut...) ANYWAYS he was like, "What is this?" I made up some mummble jumble and he was like "you have to go to the back of the line". By this time people were already running in for seats so I just said, "What, yeah? Ok... Whatever!?" and walked right on in and saved 3rd row seats in the back section. Yeah basically it was pretty sweet. If we hadn't there was no way all 11 or 12 of us could have sat on the same row.

Hey i'm just trying to keep the fam together.

Moral of the story is... go to movies with me.

NOW on to Howie, so he has grey hair on the top of his head. Silly old man puppy! It started parting down the middle so he had very grey roots with black ends. I thought he looked like one of the 3 stooges so I gave him a little trim on his head. I don't think it looks that bad.

Natalee 2 : Movie Theatre 0.

Hello Tegucigalpa!

Well last night Chad was set apart as a missionary. What an amazing experience that I was able to participate in. I don't remember ever being apart of that for someone I am so close to. Chad is such an amazing guy and when you heard the words of that prayer you KNEW that the Lord was speaking directly to Chad.

I am so proud that he has made this choice, if you think about it a mission is a pretty crazy committment. We pray for you always Chad and know that you will be safe, your family back home will be safe, and that the Lord has a plan in store for the next 2 years of your life!!

And boy do I love Brock... what a babe! I am so glad I married him, if not for his good looks and loving personality, but his awesome family! I could NOT have asked for better, you guys are more than I desereve!

Sunday, July 20th, was not only Chad's farewell but Brock and I's 2 Year Anniversary!! GO US!! We are probably going to celebrate it officially in a few weeks because we wanted to be with family as much as possible. And I got to play Abide With Me on my cello for Chad in sacrament meeting. That was awesome. The thing I was worried about most is that I would look at Linda and start to cry and not be able to read the music because I didn't have it memorized. Luckily I was able to focus and hopefully it sounded good.

Speaking of family, ahem, Zach-Trisha/Talia-Wes, I miss you and never get to see you! It's so much fun to spend time with you guys so visit when you can. We love it.

Well back to Chad, for all who want to know his address is:

Elder Chad Paul Champlin
Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission
Provo Mission Training Center
2005 North 900 East
Provo, UT 84604

Brock will most likely be taking care of Chads facebook while gone so Chad wanted us to make sure that no one thought he was on breaking the rules or anything. I'm thinking of making a blog or something dedicated to him... but there's always Jeweza Broma Chaluk.

Thanks always for reading. I LOVE YOU CHAMPLINS! Thank you for being such a wonderful, strong, loving family!

Birthday Fun

Well there have been quite a few Birthdays in the last week. My best girl friend Stacey Arrington Leybas turned 21, my sister-in-law Trisha Champlin, and my sister Nichelle Allen. We celebrated both Trisha's and Nichelle's birthday on the same night (saturday). I had some friends from Oregon come down, Elise (other best girl friend) and Austin Dungan, Brent Cazinha, and Patrick Williams.

Pat and Brent mostly came to hang out with Brock I think. It's funny how well Brock gets along with the Oregon friends that he's met. He's quite the people person. *Perharps he is a paper person's paper people* So we watched stuff on Patricks iPod and then I forgot that I still needed to get Nichelle a present. Which I still haven't given her because I forgot.... oops.





I had dinner with the Champlins at Hamiltons. I got the Halibut California- SO GOOD, I really liked it. Naomi was wearing onions as bracelets and making sunglasses with her fingers. She starting putting her thumbs in her nose and her other fingers up by her ears saying look! look! It was totally cute. Luke was quoting Brian Regan as I was holding back tears of laughter. Fortunately we had a table in back where the other guests couldn't really hear us. We also got an appetizer that Zach guessed was $39.99- I wonder how much it really was. I might never know...





So as dinner wrapped up Jeff and Linda were fawning over cute baby James. Some great face-pulling action. Naomi was combing Heidi and I's hair with a loud mooing flashlight, and we all were laughing at Chad and Luke's good quote-abilities.







After dinner I raced over to my parents with Luke, most of my Dad's family was there. I had a good talk with my Grandpa Ed about life, and saw that Howie was being passed around as to spread his cuteness to all the family. Brock could not make it to either party so at my parents I grabbed the video camera and had everyone say a little tribute to him. The best was my Grandpa Allen made up a rhyme. Actually is was more like a rap.. :D






My Uncle Randall came up from Nevada to hang with my Dad. They saw the stix concert and the cruise in, in Cache Valley on Friday night while Mom and the rest of us girls went and played Bingo with the Marshes. (Jennifer's son, Kale, does mutton bustin and its the cutest ever) SIDETRACK--- back to the party. What an awesome barbeque Mom! THANKS!



That night Brock, Elise, Brent, Pat, and Austin and I went to the Champlins with Luke to watch Iron Man. It was way fun. In the morning we played Simpsons Monopoly (I was the banker because I declined to play a game that had to do with filthy simpsons-ha).

Sunday night we had more birthday festivities for Nichelle- which I forgot her present for the 2nd time. Then my Mom and Nichelle and I went to the Champlins to chat. It was hilarious- what a riot we all can be. That night Brock and I watched Vantage Point, which I enjoyed.


LAST THING!! AJ Anderson and his wife had a baby on sunday night and named her Zoee.. and they spelled her name after me. 2 EE!!!

WHEW what a post. If you read that all Thanks, I owe you a brownie.

Stuff Howie has eaten...besides dog food.

Well yesterday we were invited over to the Davis' for a 4th of July barbeque. It was really good food and lots of fun. Everyone thought Howie was adorable... because he is... however he was eating all this crazy stuff. He had watermelon, Santa Fe Chicken, even part of a wasps nest! The wasps nest was like the sized of a squished golf ball- I couldn't believe that little stinker- I had already taken it away from him a few times before he finally swallowed it. He also jumped into the slimy part of the pond in the Davis's backyard.

Then we were playing soccer and Howie would run so fast after the ball, and when he caught up he'd head butt it. Alot of exercise for that pup. Brock and Luke were being Howie's commentators- funny brothers! Good summer times.

Howie's Second Shots

So Brock and I took Howie to the vet this morning. They had apparently lost his file so we had to fill out new info. The first time he had shots he didn't cry at all. When he came back in he ran over to Brock and was perched on his shoulder like a little parrot. It was way cute. When we has 8 weeks he weighed 2.8 pounds.

Today when we took him (11 weeks) he was 3.3 pounds. They took him back to give him the shots and we heard him cry so loud. When the girl came back in she said he started crying before she even gave him the shot. Silly Howie.

He can be fearless sometimes thought, him and my Parents dog, Lotte (a Samoyed) were running around playing like best friends. Thought I think Lotte likes younger men... ha. Right now we're back at our apartment and Howie is sleeping on the love sac and Brock is sleeping on the couch. What silly boys I have.

Snoop Dog

Check it out. Pray for Snoop y'all. :P

Breaking Tradition

I'm going to go ahead and break the tradition of posting once a year, and see if I can yet again challenge myself to get back into blogging. Brock and I have a new puppy (as opposed to an old puppy) named Howie. He is a little Yorkshire Terrier and he is so spunky. We got him on June 7 from a family in American Fork. They said that they didn't want their Yorkies to have puppies just yet but their little girl let the boy dog out, and one thing led to another- and Howie was born!

Brock graduated this May, as i'm sure all you know, with B.A. in Psychology, and is working at the Hampton Inn. I have 40 credits left, aka a little over 1 year, and I am working at Deseret First Credit Union.

Well that's kind of boring, stay tuned for cool features on this blog-- as soon as I can figure them out, or as soon as Trisha gets here and can show me how. :P