Top 10 for 2011

Here is the top 10 list for 2011. We have had an amazing year and cannot wait for what the future holds.

10. Bought a new camp trailer.
9. Spent a few weekends camping.
8. Spending time with family.
7. Celebrated a big wedding anniversary.
6. Bought a new truck.
5. Little brother came home from his mission.
4. Watching Real games.
3. Went on vacation to Costa Rica.
2. Went to Africa.
1. Became a mom and a dad.

Our Niece

This past weekend Caleb and I watched our niece overnight. We watched a movie with her and did a few craft projects with her. She is so stinking cute. She told us she was tired and wanted to go to bed. We put her in our spare bedroom. She watched another movie...all the way through. Around midnight she decided she wanted to sleep with us. Lets just say I laid in every spot on the bed. I eventually went and grabbed a blanket and spare blanket and slept on the floor next to the bed. When I woke up and looked on the bed our niece was cuddled up against Caleb. Caleb was as close to the edge without falling off. Which means I could have had the whole bed pretty much to myself if I would have climbed back in. I think we both slept better Saturday night. Having a little one in our bed could be right around the corner. We need to start getting ready for when that happens.

Camping

Caleb and I spent the weekend camping. We had a great time. Caleb's mom and our niece came up for the day on Saturday. Last night as we climbed into bed I mentioned that this could easily be the last time it is just us two camping. Just the thought of that makes this girl soooooo happy.

One done and sooo many more to go

Caleb had yesterday off from work. From the list in my last post he completed #6. The storm door has been installed. It looks great. On to our next thing.

Something inside me

Lately all I want is more time to get things done. For whatever reason I have been in the mood to clean/organize everything. This weekend was all about our bedroom. Both closets got new shoe organizers. I bought a few organization things to help out my closet. We bought all new "decorative" towels to hang in our bathroom. My only issue is not having enough time to get everything done I want to. In addition to the streak I am on...I keep coming up with so many ideas of things to do around the house. We decided we need to start a list of everything we want to do and start checking them off. Here are some of the things on the list. BTW this is not any kind of order.

1. Start working on finishing the basement.
2. Put in a tile back splash in the kitchen.
3. Replace the carpet in the family room with hardwood floors.
4. Install hardware in the kitchen.
5. New couches for the living room.
6. Install a storm door.
7. Replace or redo our front door.
8. Get a fence installed.
9. Get the fire pit done.
10. Hmmmm....sooooo many ideas

I have been trying to keep my eye out for art work for our spare bathroom upstairs. I have changed out the shower curtain and bought new towels to hang. It was a little too girly and we plan on our little guy using it when he gets home. My next room to get organized is our coat closet. At this point is has become a junk collector. It's a good thing it isn't winter yet because there is no room for guests coats the way it is now.

Oh....I Love him

Who do I love??? Caleb. There are days when it hits me so hard how much I really do love him. He is amazing. I am so thankful he is my husband and that I get to spend every day with him. I love being head over heels in love with him. All I can say is...I am one lucky girl.

Another stamp in our passports....Costa Rica

This past week we were in Costa Rica. We went with Caleb's parents and had a great time. We joked the whole time about them being old...Mind you they are only in their 50s...so not old at all. We barely get out of the rental car place and there is a guy in the middle of the street selling flags to everyone in their cars. Caleb's mom says, "I don't think he really needs crutches." My response, "He only has one leg". And this is how our vacation started. Let's just say there was lots to laugh about. Here is a quick recap and a couple of pictures.

We stayed in a very secluded hotel. This time in Costa Rica is the off season so there were not a lot of guests which didn't bother us at all. One thing we learned and were thankful for was the SUV we rented. Things we had read and researched said there are a lot of unpaved roads....They were not kidding. We spent a good amount of time getting from one place to the next on dirt roads. By dirt roads I mean like this...

The couple of beaches around our place were clear and amazing. We went snorkeling a few times and saw lots of fish. Some were a little too close for comfort. The weather for the most part was pretty clear for all the times we were on the beach.

(I already miss our toes being in the sand.)

We took two days and went to a little town way up in the mountains. We went and did an amazing zip line in the middle of the jungle. After our first couple lines clouds started to settle in. The guys helping us told us to watch for the signal so we would know when to break....a hello...we couldn't see more than 10-15 feet ahead of us. there is no way we were going to to the signal before it was to late. A few people in our group came in a little too fast. I don't think at the time this was my favorite part, but in the middle of everything there was a huge burst of rain. We were all drenched. Good thing we brought our rain coats. We all now know what it is like to be in the jungle during a down pour. After we finished we found a great little place to eat dinner. The restaurant was Americanized....and for this girl that is great. The next day we went and ran a course of suspension bridges. It actually didn't rain on us, which is a good thing because the hike in between bridges was pretty long and the last thing we needed was for it to be slick. The bridges were in the trees. Everything was so green and lush.

We had a great time and had looked so forward to this trip for months. I think deep down we both loved this trip but are looking forward to our next one even more. We hope that we will be back on a plane to Africa very soon.

Getting excited for this week to be over

I cannot even explain how excited we are for this work week to be over. 

Caleb's BiRtHdAy is this weekend.

Husband

I am pretty sure everyone knows how I feel about Caleb. He really is an amazing man. I love him more and more everyday. For those that are close to him know that he is a genius. Honestly, I don't anyone as smart as him. Things will be changing for him. He has a new role at work and is now over a team of people. He is so dedicated and hard working. He deserves nothing but the best. I am one lucky girl to get to call him my husband. 

Party? What Party?

Who shows up to a party to be the only one there? This girl. Today I went to the house where there was going to be a party. Let's just say I never got the cancelation notice. Hello??? I'm a loser.

Camping with the Calls

Hi ho...hi ho...off to Colorado we go. We spent this last weekend with Caleb's side of the family. Caleb's uncles put together the first ever family re-union. It seemed like it took us forever to get there. At 6 miles per gallon we were cruising. It was great to see people we have not seen in years and some people I had never met. I wish all of Caleb's brothers and sisters could have made it. This weekend seemed to go by really fast. Two of my favorite things about this weekend. 1 - Spending a whole lot of great time with my amazing husband. 2 - getting away from work.

Labor of Love

Yesterday our family decided to try and help one of our own. Sometimes I think we tend to look past the people closest to us. Caleb's parents came up with a plan and we all followed. It was truly amazing to see the family come together. None of us knew what we were walking into. Walking into the house a feeling of defeat hit me. Where do we start??? There were about 10 of us that jumped in with rags, vacuums, brooms and buckets. We all went to work. We worked for 5 hours from top to bottom and front to back. There is always more to be done but we made a huge dent in this project of love.

Quick update

A lot has happened since Fathers day. We have a new pet. Caleb found an itty bitty kitten in our shed. She was about 4 weeks old. She is the smallest thing I have ever seen. I have never had a new born anything so I am learning. Cort came home on the 25th of June. He is doing great. He is still shorter than me and I like it. I think it took him coming home to realize how much I missed him and what an important role he plays in my life. I have been working a ton and by ton I mean 65-70 hours a week. We were able to get a couple days off from work over the 4th of July weekend. Caleb and I tried to get in as much as possible. We went to the drive in, picnic in the park, fireworks at Sugar house park and then fun in the sun at a water park. Caleb sold his motorcycle. His thought is to try different bikes until he knows what he likes. He has been looking but hasn't found the right one yet. I think that pretty much wraps up the last few weeks.

HaPpY Father's Day

Today really didn't seem like fathers day. We celebrated Caleb's dad last weekend and my dad yesterday. Both of these men are such great examples not only to us but to everyone that gets to have them in their lives. We love you both.

Happy Fathers Day

Memorial Weekend

Guess what we did over Memorial Day weekend??? Yep, we went camping. I kept joking that we were in Idaho, ok so we were close but not quite. My brother and his wife came and camped with us. We were not sure what the weather was going to be like. Thankfully we only had rain and wind. So glad we didn't get any of that white stuff....SNOW. Even though it was a little cold we played catch, practiced chipping, played lots of games and even went swimming. (The pool was heated = PERFECT) Caleb even got in a motorcycle ride. I really enjoyed getting away for the weekend. Spending time with my amazing husband and family made it a great weekend.

Oh My....Really?

1 Month...That's all we have left until Cort comes home.

It seems like it has taken forever to get to this point.

I am soooo glad we our to our own month countdown.

Love you brother and can't wait to see you.

The Future

The FUTURE belongs to 

those who BELIEVE in the 

beauty of their DREAMS.

* eleanor roosevelt

First camping trip

Last weekend Caleb and I went on our first camping trip with the trailer. We figured we needed to get out and figure everything out on our own before we went out with other people and look dumb for not knowing how to work everything. I think our biggest challenge was trying to figure out how to get water into the hot water heater. After running into town to buy a screwdriver we were set. After getting the hot water going we didn't have a worry in the world. We had a great time and enjoyed being away from our everyday things. Here are a couple of pictures from the trip.

On the road.....

We played a few games but this was our favorite.

and ohhhh the views.

Last year we camped once. We plan to beat that just in the month of May. We are looking to forward to as many trips as we can get in this summer. I have to say I have never really looked forward to camping. the fact that this last camping trip involved microwave popcorn, a movie and cuddling on the couch. Yep that's my kind of camping.

What's better than giving a gift that gives?

This year I told Caleb I knew exactly what I wanted to give our mom's for Mother's day. I have had the idea for a few weeks now. It seems like we give a lot of gift cards to those we love on his or her special day. Not this Mother's day. I wasn't sure how to buy the gifts without the help from both moms. Hmmmm... On Easter my mom actually mentioned the gift that I was thinking about. I was caught off guard. Do I talk about it? Do I ignore her? Is this my sign to tell her what my plan for Mother's day is? So what is my plan? My mother-n-law doesn't know the plan yet...only because she was out of town this weekend...If you are my mother-n-law read no further....

One for one...what's that? There is an amazing company out there that if you buy one pair of shoes they give a pair of shoes to a child/person in need. Back in 2008 TOMS had their eyes set on Ethiopia. (Click on the word Ethiopia to go to their page for a brief description of their trip.) They went to Ethiopia on a mission trip to donate shoes to those in need. How cool is that? When we were in Ethiopia we witnessed for ourselves how many people are still without shoes. Giving a pair of these shoes to each of our moms will mean that there are four more people in the world getting new shoes. I love the idea. So I have to place an order for the shoes but need to take my mother-n-law out to try them on so we know what size to get her.

HaPpY Mother's Day

Here is a link to the TOMS website if you want to check out what they do. http://www.toms.com/

May

Ohhhh month of May...lets see what you have in store for us.

* Baby Shower
* Boston
* Mothers Day
* Camping
* Mom's Birthday
* More camping

2 months left

I cannot believe we only have two more months until Cort comes home.

YiPpEe....I am getting so excited.

HaPpY Easter

HaPpy Anniversary to my amazing husband

Anniversary weekend

This weekend was a great weekend. It was a much needed weekend. Caleb and I celebrated our anniversary. We started with a movie down at the Gateway. We had a yummy Italian dinner. Spending time together was my favorite part. I had booked a room at The Grand America hotel. We slept in then went and had brunch. We finished the day with a BBQ at our house with some of Caleb's family.

Just the thing....

Just went and had a pedicure. I need to do that more often.

One year

I cannot believe it has already been a year since 

Mr. and Mrs. Gardner got married. 

Congrats and Happy Anniversary.

Welcome April

Caleb asked me if I wanted to help him clean the garage today.

I waited for him to say....April Fools, but it was no joke.

The garage is sparkling.

Here is hoping for a great APRIL.

Well guess what???

We (my family) got word that Cort gets to come home on June 25th. So this means I have to Hurry and put up the 3 month countdown because the next two numbers are going to come quickly. I am soooo excited he is coming home a couple of weeks early. The only thing I have to figure out now is the 25th is one of the days of my MS150 bike ride. Hmmmm...I have to figure something out.

A camping we will go....

Caleb and I have been looking at getting a camp trailer. We have talked about getting one for a couple of years now. We have always camped in a tent. There is nothing wrong with our tent but I am looking for convenience. We normally spend a good amount of time trying to pack for a weekend camp out, and I hate it. Having a home on wheels will be great. Clothes and food will be the only things needed to grab and go. It will also making camping with a little guy a lot easier. (Planning ahead for when he is home.) Being our first camper we didn't hold back. This thing is huge. We went and looked at a bunch of them before deciding on this one. We liked the separate bedroom, the open living space and the outdoor kitchen. It has everything we want plus some. ** I almost typed it has everything we need...ha ha who needs an AC, Heater, running water or TV while camping? That's right, this girl. I think this is the first time I have ever been excited about camping. WooHoo. Maybe I can sweet talk my parents into coming camping with us. This would be the first time they have ever camped. I will keep you posted on that challenge. Here are a couple of pictures of our home on wheels.