ThE FoRrEsT's

Our trip

2009-05-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

So, we went to San Francisco for our vacation. We had a blast. Most days I was tired like no ones business, but I got by. We went on foot from 8AM till 9pm for 7 days. It was exhausting for being a vacation. We got to see alot! We had City passes that got us into the major cities attractions and free transportation. The cable cars, electric cars and the buses were all free! We went to Fisherman's wharf, The Aquarium, A submarine and a nice tour of the city as we got lost. We also saw the Science and Art Museum, A boat ride on the Bay and we hopped aboard an open top tour bus to explore the city. Boy was it cold! I had to buy a coat within the first few hours of being there. My jacket just didn't cut it. Oh, we went to Gierdelhi square, however you spell it and Small Italy, China Town and (scary)Oakland to see the USS Hornet. The San Diego Padres Ball Park and the crooked ROAD which was really cool too! I hope I didn't forget anything, but we did so much. We have 300 photos from the trip, but that is way too many to post on here. There are about 60 on my facebook page.

When we flew back home into Sky Harbor, we met up with my brother, Drew, who is staying here for the summer. It has been so much fun having him here! I am really trying to beat him at Tennis on WI. I have a lot of work to do in order to accomplish that goal. He has beat the computer on there! We plan on going to a Braves game this weekend and my brother-in-laws wedding is next week. I can't believe that me playing match maker worked. So Roy will be moving out after his honeymoon.

***************18 holes of Golf!

2009-04-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

So, we decided to go golfing today with Russell's friend and wife. We had a lot of fun, but by the time we got to hole 14, I was pooped. However, I stuck it out the rest of the way. I think I played the best I have ever done! I hope to show my brother here soon just how good I have got, but it may have been a fluke.

Russ had to act like he was going to hit his friend........;-)
Instead of walking to safety, Russ laid on the ground behind a hill hoping not to get hit!

..................Lemon Meringue Pie?

2009-04-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

Lemon Meringue Pie? The fluff is supposed to be white with a brownish tint to the peaks. My lovely husband didn't think so, so this is our end result. It smells really good! I am waiting for him to dig in. I really don't care about it being over cooked because I scrap it off and only eat the lemon center. I don't even eat the crust. Russell asks me what is the point, but the lemon part is soooo good!

This is my brother's favorite pie, so we have to master it before he comes for the summer!

I guess we could have got a blow torch to toast the peaks instead of baking it.

WOW NOTHING FOR AWHILE.....

2009-04-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't wrote in a month, geesh. I didn't have any material. So, I chose my dogs. I can't wait to blog about children. It shall make blogging so much easier.

This picture is what the dogs do when I sit at the computer doing bills, face book etc. However, they don't always look so innocent. That big dog there is one of Harley's favorite forbidden toys. He has a few chew wholes in him and hardened hair from doggie saliva.

Russ got him for me on our first Valentines day when we were dating. He got it because I am allergic to dogs! He payed attention in the beginning and still does! (However, I am not allergic to Harley and Davidson as long as they are bathed)

Harley and Davidson are starting to look a little old. However, they are only 2 years old in human years. They are starting to pull off a grey beard very nicely!

The Start of a Calendar***

2009-03-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

So, my hobby is card making and scrap booking. However, I thought I could put a calendar together. The pictures are in reverse order and I am only half way there. I love doing this sort of stuff! The lightening was horrible! They look a lot better in person, especially MAY.

...........................I'm SiCk!!!................................

2009-03-18T04:24:00.000-07:00

So, it is like 425 AM and I can't sleep because every 5 minutes I am using ocean spray to open my nose. My sore throat is gone!!! However, my voice has gone through "the change". When I cough, I sound like a dog barking. What fun it is ;-)

On Thursday I have the delima on going to work. I could be like my other co-workers and go to work all sniffly and sick sounding. Spreading my germs to those whom haven't had the wonderful opportunity of experiencing it sounds wonderful ;-) Wearing a mask in a patients room really gives them comfort.........

*LoOkInG At ThE OlD******

2009-03-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

So All of these photos are a few from the life of my brother and I. Hopefully he won't mind me posting them. We were such cute kids. For some reason I got this idea to share them. The group photo below is of my Grandparents (Aboott) and their kids and one granchild Michael. Drew is in the yarn costume in which he wasn't too fond of. His volcano was awesome. I remember helping to build it. As you can see, I played Softball in High school.
Drew, my brother, is sleeping and pouting in this section. He liked to do that from what I remember. If you can tell the photo bellow me and my Grandpa in bed, I have a perm. I used to get them all the time when I was little. It burned, but I thought it was great! Now that I have naturally curly hair I want to straighten it, go figure.
This is of my Middle School Graduation at Emge. I remember being terrified of going to High school and it turns out, I hated every minute of it. Hence a reason for graduating early. We all cried because a part of us ended.
These are just more pics of Drew and I.
This is my all time favorite picture of me when I was a little girl. I was always a ham for the camera. Just watch the home movies. I sang, danced and told people how to video tape me. Yet, I became a nurse!

* ThE MiNd***

2009-03-09T19:14:00.001-07:00

What is it about the mind?

You can think so much about getting sick, being tired or thinking you are dying and your mind allows your body to feel as if that is what is happening to you.

I have always wondered why that is.

The brain is a wonderful organ and an important one at that, but it can play evil games sometimes!

Has anyone ever felt this way?

It drives me nuts sometimes.

MoMmY 5 MoRe MiNuTeS PlEaSe!

2009-03-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

So as you can see Harley and Davidson hate to wake up or get out of bed. These pictures are priceless!

This one is my favorite!

My hobby.

2009-03-03T12:54:00.001-08:00

I thought I would share my hobby with you. I have so much fun scrap booking and making cards. I never knew I had such an imagination and creativity until I started a couple years ago. My supplies have grown by leaps and bounds which allows me to be more creative and thanks to my husband for allowing me to do so as well! I get all of my stamps from Stampin up. I can't wait to scrap a baby book! If anyone is interested in cards or making them a scrapbook, just let me know! Or if you want to buy products. It's so much fun. Here are a couple I did today.

The bees are my newest stamp set and they are my favorite thus far!!!

The Renovation!

2009-02-24T15:01:00.000-08:00

So, since we backed out of getting a second house, we thought we should turn our bathroom into what we want. Therefore, we are changing all the fixtures. As you can see below. In this first picture, the shower head hasn't been changed yet, but it WILL be. Roy, our little carpenter/brother-in-law is in the background working hard for his rent ;-)

Roy, your tongue belongs in your mouth when you work. This is very unprofessional! ;-) We are going to be changing the shower too eventually. We want to have a tile shower with a clear door with the Rustic outlining. I hunted far and wide to get a double bar towel rack!!!! YEAH!
Our new light fixture, they still have to pack the holes from the removal of the old one. Good Will will be happy to receive the stuff we don't want.
This is the sink that I have always wanted ever since I saw it at Home Depot. We have a nickle one in our other bathroom. Isn't it cool? Doesn't it make you want one? We have the tub fixture to match it, but it hasn't come in yet.
I forgot to take a picture of the flushy thingy on the toilet, but it is rustic too. I forget what it is called or if it even has a name. We are enjoying this project so far, or should I say I am because they won't let me touch a thing. I think it has to do with me being a girl and not knowing how to use the tools.......

Booked and waiting for May!

2009-02-18T11:19:00.000-08:00

So, Russell and I just booked our vacation to San Francisco. We will be leaving May 6th till May 12th. I for one am excited because I have never been there. Also, I found these cheap deals.

We booked our flight and hotel together and saved over 500 per person. I don't know if they are desperate to book, but it was a 4 star hotel. We got our flight and 4 star hotel for 5 nights/6days for dirt cheap and we all know how I don't like to spend money! The cheapest vacation I have found yet! If you are looking for a cheap vacation too, go to Expedia.com and book everything together! You have to look for awhile to find the best deal.

Most of them you have to book things together and book within a certain period of time to get the best deal. I hope everyone can go for a cheap well deserved vacation this year!!!

It really does snow in Dewey, AZ.

2009-02-10T09:07:00.000-08:00

So, Russell and I were watching TV when my brother-in-law, Roy, came home with exciting news. There was snow on the ground and it was sticking. Living here, that is exciting news. So, Russ and I stopped watching TV and got our coats on and took a drive. Most people wouldn't want to drive in it, but we are Forrest's, we due stupid things!

I had to attempt to make a snowman. It was rather pitiful, but Russ and Roy thought it was hilarious! I had to beg and plead for one of them to help me. No one budged, so it didn't turn out all that well. I can't wait to have kids so they can help me build a snowman :-(

RIP........Second house

2009-02-01T10:04:00.000-08:00

Our second house was put to rest today. It was our decision to stop it only 2 days before closing. Thank goodness I did our taxes because the money we were counting on from that for our "just in case something bad happened" stash didn't happen. We didn't get anything back like the years before as per my previous blog. It may be a blessing in disguise :-) Therefore, we will continue foreword without any regrets. Thanks for all of your comments and concerns about our possible endeavor!

Used to be a wonderful time of the YEAR!

2009-02-01T06:43:00.000-08:00

So, I got put on call from work and was too excited to go back to sleep because I knew Russell brought turbo tax home the night before. Tax season is one of my most favorite times of the year, before today. I have always got a return and for the past two years it has been quite substantial. Hence, why I love tax season. However, as I am doing my taxes it continues to say I owe. I keep thinking that this can't be right!!! I triple checked everything. I continued with the deductions and it gradually went from red (amt. owed) to green (amt. refunded). I'm sure everyone would be excited to have a refund, but it was hardly anything in which I will receive as my return. Most of my deductions don't count as deductions because it has to be more than 7.5% of your Gross Income. If anyone knows us we always have an extremely high amount of medical bills and paid interest in school loans. This year we spent thousands in medical bills and we were only off by 700 for it to count as a deduction. Hmm.... the government that we have??? I can't believe how much we couldn't deduct this year.

Here is my unrealistic solution to make it a wonderful time of year:

1. Either Russell or I have to quit our jobs because we make too much in the government's eyes.

2. Since there is no profit in paying medical bills or loan payments, just don't pay them. (Just kidding)

3. We can have kids

4. We can adopt a village of kids.

Any other suggestions are welcomed!!!!

When I finished it wouldn't even let me turn it in. Frankly, I don't care because it really isn't going to help us.

Then, when I got on here to publish a post it won't let me change my background. Bummed morning!

My patient's passing.

2009-01-18T17:28:00.000-08:00

I have been a nurse for over 5 years now and just yesterday I had my first patient die on my watch. I have always felt that if in my hands, I can save you. However, my first was a man who decided to take his own life by refusing treatment. I spent three twelve hour days trying to fight to save this man's life. I had no breaks or lunches. At times I popped candy in my mouth so my blood sugar didn't drop, there was no time to eat.

Flashback: December 8, 2008 I recovered this patient after open heart surgery. He did well, but had what we call a failure to thrive. He was depressed and didn't want to do the work to get better. With encouragement and 2 weeks time he was well enough to go to rehab. I developed a re pore with him and his two sisters.

Now, three days ago he was admitted to me. We talked and I got what I needed to keep him going that day. The second day his spirit was good, but his labs told us otherwise. The infection was taking over. I was thinking ahead and got everything ready for his downward spiral. If you are in medicine you know when it will happen and thinking ahead makes your life a little easier. Therefore, we got lines in him to manage his pressures, started medications to keep him alive, and placed a tube in his throat to keep him breathing. On the third day I knew we were going to code him. However, he didn't let that happen. We were unable to keep his blood pressure up with multiple drips. We called the power of attorney which stated to stop everything. So, we stopped everything and low and behold he held his pressures and woke up. He even talked and drank water from a straw after the tube in his throat was removed. Amazed be, but the sad part is to follow. Now that he was awake he said he wanted everything done, so we started everything back up. He talked to his daughter and not even 5 minutes after starting things, he said he didn't want anything done. We asked him 3 times and got the same answer. So treatment was stopped yet again. He wanted his daughter and sisters to talk to him and he made me promise to tell them his request for his obituary. I watched as he spoke to his daughter and sister. His blood pressure continued to drop as the conversation went on and his respiration's got shallow. It seemed he got better so he could say goodbye. It is hard to watch someone die when you are there to save them. This man was dealt a hard hand but could have fought through it. However, he opted to refuse treatment and die. It's sounds weird to say this but after this, I believe that you can sometimes fight to stay alive and when you are ready you allow yourself to go. If you were there, you would have seen what I did and probably thought that yourself.

In spite of it all, the sisters were thanking me where I was like I didn't save him........

They thought I deserved a raise, but I didn't save him..........

They thought I worked hard, but I thought I could have worked harder............

It's the way things go sometimes. I hope and pray that I go another 5 years without a death on my watch.

This is our home currently.

2009-01-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

Sneak peek in the Master bedroom

Master bathroom

Living Room

Kitchen

The Front

We live on Cancun Street. Love the name! :-)

A lot of my friends have never been to our home and I thought this would give them a little insight. We are currently looking for renters to move in to our home. We hope and pray that nice and nondestructive people will move in. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we attempt to take a risk in becoming a landlord and make another investment. We put a lot of thought into our decision. We have some critics, but most encourage us in our new venture.

I hope all of my friends and family are enjoying the fruits of this new year!

Out with the old and in with the new.

2009-01-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

Ok, so after I came up with my poll question, I did a little research and found out that Sesame Street has changed the names of some of the characters that started the show like 30 years ago. Sesame street was "The Show" when I was a toddler. It is frustrating now to hear that they changed things. I guess they are trying to keep up with "The Jones's" of TV. They now call Snuffleupagus "Snuffy". What kind of name is that? They call Cookie Monster "Veggie Monster". What happened to the basic concept of the show that children fell in love with so many years ago. They have cut down air time for those of Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie and many others to bring in new muppets, such as certain character's siblings. How can they have a sibling without a parent on the show? You try to figure it out.

Hence, I started thinking some more. Most likely what has happened is the people that played the character either died or retired, so the show had to come up with a new name for the character since the voice is different.

I think I have spent way to much time on this issue as it really doesn't affect my standard of daily living activities, but I found it very interesting. If anyone has comments please share.

Relax with Lotion!

2008-12-30T12:45:00.000-08:00

My friend, Joyce, has two kids named Bethany (3) and Charlie (1.5). For Christmas she had her kids get me the best lotion ever! Now, I don't normally like anything from Bath and Body Works, but their aromatherapy line is GREAT! However, it is a bit pricey for my taste. For those of you who know me, know that I find it hard to spend money on regularly priced items no matter how much I love it. So, I am very grateful for this gift. I can't stop smelling my hands.............. I recommend this to everyone!!!! My favorite is the Stress relief lotion, which is the Eucalyptus Spearmint. I have the oil to go into the bathtub and that works great too if you want to take an hour long bath. It is hard to get out when it is so relaxing and it smells terrific. However, it was cheaper for me to get the bath oil from a family run store in downtown Prescott. 5 bucks for a good sized bottle and you only use a couple drops each time. See, you have to get a bargain no matter what:-)

The true meaning of plants.

2008-12-26T12:41:00.000-08:00

I got called off today, so it is PJ's, a couch and a TV for me today.

I wanted to share my two favorite plants. The Christmas cactus is in full bloom this year. It actually decided to bloom at the right time. Last year it bloomed in April. It may have been stunned from the cold travel in November of 2007, so it waited until April last year to bear it's fruits.

It means so much to Russ and I because it was one of those things that Russ's dad, Ron, wanted us to have. We brought it home after his funeral in Nov. 2007.

The other plant is "Our Love Plant". Russell got me the Orchid plant 3 years ago when we were dating. It has got bigger and bloomed every year. It is a symbol of our love (sappy, yes, but cute). I would hate to think if it died, but we won't think of that.

In the background you can see some of our other plants. If you have ever been in our home, you will know that our dinning room is like the botanical gardens.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T17:26:00.000-08:00

We have been out of town and visiting family and friends for the past two weeks. I'll list the highlights and some photos below.

1. Harley and Davidson didn't get car sick at all. The first time we didn't have to clean up puke.

2. Harley and Davidson played in cow manure on the farm and loved it. They stayed there while we went to St. Louis.

3. Davidson chased a car and wouldn't come back so he spent 30 minutes in time out. (He really did it.)

4. Went to Salt Lake City for a couple of days where I saw a nice snow storm. I haven't seen that for many years. However, driving in it was fun, but Utah drivers aren't too good at it! We spent time with Russ's family in SLC.

5. I learned how to be a Utah driver. (Try to commit an accident without actually getting into an accident)

6. We ate at the Red Iguana with Jena, Brett and Jovi Raddon in Salt Lake City. I got to ride the trax system for the first time and see the downtown area at temple square during the day and night.

7. Had a horrible landing in St. Louis. I thought we were going to scrape the wing on the ground. Russell thought I was being rediculous and that it was a great flight.

8. We went to the History Museum, Union Station, Multiple Malls and a Ram's 49Er's Football game.

9. Had Christmas with my family. My brother, Drew, and I made a Ginger Bread House.

10. Had a better landing back in Salt Lake, but we had to drive back to Beaver in a snow storm.

11. Had Christmas with Russell's family. I made potato salad with Russ's mom Irene.

12. Roy, Russ's brother, moved in with us and will be going to school here. He will be getting his degree as an auto mechanic.

13. Last but not least I got to have my burrito from Costa Vida! YUM!

I can't get these pictures to go in the correct order!

Russ, Irene, Me

   Grandma
   My mom and I at the Football game.
Our Ginger Bread house. The shingles were the hardest part. The ceiling only caved in once, which was fixable.
     My brother, Drew, and I.

Davidson in time out.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This was not a drill

2008-12-10T18:53:00.000-08:00

This is my neighbors house back home in Illinois. We have known them for many years. From what I hear, the flames were raring high and smoke was coming out the second floor. That is the garage below.

The investigators or the insurance company thought that a power surge caused the dryer or the fuse box to ignite. Luckily no one was home. My brother was home that morning to witness this tragedy and to user in the fire department. Our neighbors are our dear friends so he stayed home from school to help them collect valuables that were scattered in the yard and driveway. They weren't allowed to go upstairs due to the floor being unstable.

These pictures are a look inside.

The firetruck backed up into my families pond to use the water to put out the fire. Now I know why every house has a pond in the country. Very good addition to homes! When they went to leave, they got stuck, as you can see the tracks below. A tractor came to pull it out, but got stuck as well. Unfortunately, my brother didn't capture that on camera. Drew, my brother, told me that an even bigger tractor came to bail them out. He hasn't ever seen a tractor so BIG. That mission was then successful.

It meant so much to me to hear from my mom that they had asked her for another picture of Russell and I. The picture that they had was on their fridge and it was taken in the fire. They told my mom that she said good morning to us every day. I almost teared up.

The good news is that they are going to rebuild! They are staying with family near by and the community is helping them with some food and clothing.

I hope they don't change anything when they rebuild because I absolutely loved their home. In high school I always wanted to buy it when I got older.

Santa The Terrorist

2008-12-06T11:13:00.000-08:00

So, I thought it would be a good idea to take the dogs to see Santa. Half of the proceeds go to rescuing abused dogs.

I figured I would at least get a cute picture. As you can see that wasn't the case. Harley and Davidson were terrified. Harley more so than Davidson. Harley was literally shaking. It looked like he was in below zero conditions. On the other hand, Davidson will do anything for a treat. However, he was still scared because his ears are held back and down. I'm glad I didn't cause more stress to them and have them wear bows around their neck.

After looking at the picture no wonder they were scared! Look at Santa. His eyes look as if they are ready to kill. He isn't Jolly old Saint Nick. He is Santa the Terrorist. Click on the picture and you can see what I mean. So in my efforts of getting a cute picture, I probably caused irreversibly trauma to my dogs psyche.

Betty Sue Homemaker

2008-12-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

The smell of Christmas is in the air. For me, that is the smell of many cookies baking in the oven. I made Chocolate chip cookies, Cream cheese cookies with a chocolate chip center (those are my favorite) and Sugar Cookie Cutouts of Bells, Snowmen and Christmas trees. So, for the past five hours I baked and sang Christmas songs. Before my husband left for work he was critiquing my mixtures. Doesn't he know that real bakers don't measure and that everything always turns out delicious? He should be Betty Sue Homemaker since he thinks he does such a good job :-) After the baking, I made the plates and tags for them. I love an excuse to get my scrapbook supplies out. Everything always turns out so cute! Here's the creation below. I put together about 8 packages that I will deliver to people tomorrow.

(The tag says A Merry Christmas To You)

Alert: Going out of business

2008-11-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

We went shopping today and noticed that all of the furniture stores were going out of business. Who will supply the furniture for Prescott Valley and Prescott? Also, I was wondering what job they would get after going bankrupt? Well, come to find out they get whatever they can get. We spotted one of the previous owners of Joshua Creek Furniture working at the food stand at Sam's Club. We started talking and She said that she was going to try to get a management spot over the food stand, so she could make more money. Her son-in-law has a job working nights there too. Her husband got a job at the mattress giant down the road. Their store was a family business and now they are split apart. Hmmm.... such a change. It really makes me grateful for my education and a job that is always in demand! To those that have lost there jobs, my heart goes out to you.

This is Davidson at 7 months. SO CUTE! Sometimes we think our dogs can run us into the poorhouse ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T20:31:00.000-08:00

This is my first post, so be gentle!

Thanksgiving was sort of non-traditional this year for us. We were both supposed to be working, but I got called off. I got out of bed at 10AM and thought that since I got called off, I should jump into the spirit of the day and start cooking. In order to do that I would have to go to the grocery store.

("A grocery store on a holiday, bad idea".) However, Russell thought if I wanted to cook, that I should have got up at 6am because that was what his Mom did. Also, I guess you have to thaw the turkey overnight. I did not have enough time for that. Since I didn't meet these specific qualifications, we went to the Cracker Barrel instead. The food was great and the price was cheap! I came to find out that there were not a lot of people that cook on Thanksgiving or that have family to spend it with. In the small town of Prescott Valley there had already been 1000 people served by 1pm at the Cracker Barrel when we left. Not too surprising was the average age of the population in the Cracker Barrel, which was probably 60-70 years old. That is my estimation. It was kind of sad :-( Russell and I had a great time. We took home a piece of pumpkin crumb pie.

That night there was a massive thunderstorm. The lightning woke me up with the cracking of the sky. The dogs were in their creates crying. I asked Russell what he wanted to do about the dogs and we opted to let them sleep with us so that they weren't scared. As soon as they got in bed, they were quiet and drifted to sleep. However, it wasn't so easy for Russell and I. We still had to listen to the thunder and watch the lightning. These dogs are like our children and seem a little bit too much like them at times.