Projects of mine...

A few weeks back, Jason was complaining that all of his pants had at least one pocket with holes in them.  He wanted to go buy new pants, which seemed dumb to me since there wasn't anything wrong with them except the pockets, so I told him to buy me a sewing machine and his pockets would be fixed.  Look what I got:

It's the Project Runway version, and I LOVE using it.  I did pretty good fixing his pockets (no keys or change on the floor now), even though the pockets are a little funny-shaped at times. ;)  At least no one else sees the pockets, so only we know. :)

My other project is a side table.  I found this table downstairs at Papa's house after Gramma passed away, and it was in the pile to be thrown away or burned.  I decided it was going to be my pet project, and I finally got started on it.  It's upside down in these first pictures, but that's because I was working on it!  Here is the table after I sanded it.

Here is the table after I primed it.
I thought I had a picture after I had painted it, but apparently not.  I would go take a picture of it, but it's on a truck on it's way to Tennessee, so you'll have to wait. ;)  The top will eventually be tiled by me as well, so that should be interesting, but I'm realizing how much I like little crafty projects like this.  It's fun to do.

Promised Pictures

I told you I'd post some pictures of our current living situation when my camera wasn't dead anymore, so here you go.  Here is the picture of our living room from the bedroom door... we decided to just sleep in the living room now since there's nothing in the bedroom anyway.  To the right of Jason is all the stuff we kept that the Army did not take, well, that and some of our clothes in a suitcase (the only thing in the bedroom).The view from the dining room area... pretty darn boring and echo-y.  The air mattress is nice though.

It's ALL GONE!!!

That's it, all of our things are gone... someone stole them.  Ok, not really, but the Mayflower people came this morning for almost 5 hours and packed our things.  It was only 2 guys, the driver had been doing this for 33 years and started when he was 18 years old, and the other guy was 70 years old and in the best shape ever!  They were VERY efficient too, but very nice.  No horror stories yet, but we'll see at the other end how things are.  The driver told us that we are his second drop off, so we're thinking Jason might catch our stuff before he even flies back to WA to pick me up... could be interesting.

So yeah, our apartment is VERY empty... just the things we need to get by for the week, and now an air mattress too.  We kept our small tv with us, and also some food and the bbq grill, so we're hoping it won't be TOO bad without stuff lol...

I'll take some pictures once my camera isn't dead anymore.

Go me!

I just got back from my dentist appointment this morning.  I had all of about 10 minutes to get ready this morning.  I was supposed to have my appointment at 9, but my hygienist called in sick, so I had to reschedule... and then someone cancelled at 8 this morning, so they called me at 730... UGH.  Anyway, I got there in time, still yawning though, and had a good appointment.  They said my gums are in better shape than they were last time (which isn't surprising because before last time I hadn't been to the dentist in almost 2 years), and I have no cavities (thank goodness!).  The hygienist was also surprised that I use a regular toothbrush and not an electric one because my mouth was in such good shape. :)

Now I have clean teeth and don't have to worry about finding a dentist right away in Tennessee... I have a copy of my xrays too, so I can give them to my new dentist when I DO find one.  But first I need to get a job with insurance so I don't have to pay the dentist. :)

Sunrise, pigs, shooting, cards, baptism, jetski

So after all the hype about Jason not being able to eat solid foods, he had no issues with the surgery and was able to eat normal the next day.  Since he was feeling normal, he decided he was good enough to go salmon fishing with some local fishing friends, and here's a couple pictures of the sunrise from the boat.

And here's Mt Rainier with the sunrise too... although the sunrise is behind Jason, so the mountain is still somewhat dark.
When Jason got back from fishing, we headed to Moses Lake for the weekend.  Saturday morning looked like this for Jason:

Herding pigs with Dayna and Ben and getting them ready to be sold... I just took pictures. ;)
Nicholas also came to say hi (as well as Kelli).  This is one of his new favorite things to do... at least that day it was.
Saturday afternoon was REALLY hot.  It was record heat, or maybe just really close to record heat, but either way, it was HOT.  The guys decided to go shooting... "the guys" included Jason, my brother Ben, my uncle Chris, and my cousins Kit and Alex.  They shot close to 200 clay pigeons with several different guns.  My cousin Lisa and I were planning on shooting with them, but it was too hot for us, so we just let the guys go.  Here's Jason and Ben:
Ben and Jason with Chris looking on:
Jason and Chris.
Alex and Kit.
Jason actually ended up with a bruise on his right shoulder from all the shooting, and a little bit of an agitated jaw, but not too bad considering he'd just had his wisdom teeth out 2 days before that!

We also got to go over to the Hochstatter's house for pinochle.  Jason and I don't really play pinochle, but there was food and people to talk to there, so we went anyway.  Jason was really tired because he had been awake since 5 am (to help with the pigs), but Nicholas still managed to entertain him for awhile.
Nicholas also entertained plenty of other people there... including himself.
Sunday was our niece, Thea Annelise's, baptism.  Her godparents are Chad Hall (uncle) and Amy Davison (aunt).  From left to right: Dayna (Thea's mom), Danelle (big sister), Shane (Thea's dad), Chad, Amy, Thea, Pastor Lund, my dad, (my mom behind him), Renae Hall (Shane's mom), and Keith Hall (Shane's dad).
Dayna, Danelle, Shane, Chad, Thea, Amy, and Pastor Lund.

Thea being baptized.
The baptismal candle.
Nicholas also saw his Great Papa at the baptism and was pretty excited about it!
After the baptism at church, we had a get together at my parents' house for bbq, cake and talking.  Thea decided the whole day was too much and passed out. ;)
After the get together, Jason had the opportunity to go jetskiing for the first time.  My cousin Brian has a jetski and tube to pull behind it.  It was a great way to cool down from the hot day, and they even managed to talk me into going... even though I ended up getting pretty good whiplash and still can't turn my head all the way to the right.
Jason getting ready to go.  Those chairs were pretty nice to just sit in while the others were tubing.

Jason wiping out.  If you look close, you can see his body to the right of the tube.
Ben getting ready to go... he's just pretty darn big for that tube!
Jason got to drive too...
Look at the spiky hair from speeding so fast... oh, and the life jacket that's a bit small. :)
Jason had spiky hair too... and if Brian had any hair, his probably would have been spiky too.
All in all, it was a good weekend and Jason and I didn't leave until sometime between 7 and 8 in the evening.  We had a nice light show going over the pass because there was a pretty big thunder and lightning storm in the Cascades.

For those that would like ALL the pictures I took this weekend, you'll have to wait a bit. ;)  I'm going to put them all on kodakgallery.com eventually, but I've posted so many pictures online today that I'm going to wait and do it later.  :)

Applesauce and Sweet Tea

Disclaimer:  Jason told me to take the pictures and post this blog.  I know he's drugged up, but he keeps saying he thinks "it's kind of cool".

Jason's never had surgery before, so this is a whole new experience for him.  I was pretty amazed at how quickly he was out, and that he doesn't remember anything.  The nurses were laughing at him because he asked them about 5 times if I had his wallet and Army ID while they were wheeling him in the wheelchair down to the car... then he asked me about 10 times on the way home.  Funniest part was that we are just sitting here on the couch, and he was telling me what he remembers, and he doesn't even remember being wheeled down to the car--he thought he walked.  His exact words were "ain't that some sh**".  Here's a couple pictures from right when we got home.
The strings are connected to the gauze in his mouth, which has since been removed. 
He says he feels retarded, but it's kind of cool at the same time and he's amazed at it all.  I'm just surprised he's not passed out sleeping, but apparently the anesthetic isn't as strong as it used to be.  He's still asking me questions several times though... and his sense of time is lost lol.  Kind of fun, and hard not to laugh. :)

Oh yeah... and watching him try to eat applesauce was interesting... he can't feel his bottom lip, so I used a lot of napkins to make sure it didn't go everywhere, but it did anyway.  He's pretty good at drinking sweet tea though... hence the title of the post.

Things I enjoy right now

There are two, well three, things I'm enjoying right now.  

1.  My new blender... it's wonderful, and it has a food processor attachment with it, and it was only $60.

2.  The smoothie I made with my new blender.  It's orange juice, banana, strawberry, and blueberry... and ice.  I think tomorrow I'm going to try peach and plum. :)

3.  My PedEgg.  It's great.  I thought it would hurt to use it, but it really doesn't... and it definitely makes my feet way smoother and not have ugly dry skin!  

Ice cream, applesauce, and mashed potatoes

That's all Jason will be eating for a little while.  He is getting all 4 wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow morning, and he's never had surgery before, so he's a bit nervous for it.  As one last meal, tonight he gets steak, corn on the cob and mashed potatoes (he LOVES mashed potatoes)... that way he won't starve completely once his teeth are hurting.

In other news, well, not really news, but something different... I put in my 2 weeks at work yesterday.  Really it's like 2.5 weeks, but my last day there will be August 31st.  The Army is coming to get our stuff on the 28th, so we'll be living in an empty apartment for about a week... and then we'll be living in an empty house in Tennessee for a couple weeks too because it takes 2-3 weeks for the movers to get anywhere apparently... but at least I don't have to pack any of it... they do it for me. :)

Happy Anniversary!

to Dayna and Shane!  I thought I'd at least post it on here since I seem to be VERY bad at remembering before the day of for anything lately.  Have a great day together... don't let the girls rule the roost too much. ;)

Now time to get ready for work!

Good times and laughs...

Lisa and Kit both came to eat dinner with us tonight.  I'm becoming quite the hostess, and I'm even learning how to cook well!  The food was so good, I forgot to take a picture of it, but I made a pot roast in the crock pot with potatoes, carrots, celery, and peppers.  Here's what I made for dessert:It's a Peach Cornmeal Cobbler.  I found the recipe in a magazine awhile back and decided it looked and sounded really really good... and I was right!  Yes, that's right, I even wove the dough on top.  :)  I can be creative sometimes!

Lisa and Kit were here for a good 4 hours or so, and right as we were finishing dessert, we heard a knock on our door.  Jason got up, looked through the peep hole and said "oh, it's the Mormons!"  Then he proceeded to open the door.

Just like Jason said, it was two missionaries... and they greeted us by saying "yes, as you announced, the Mormons are here!"  HAHAHA... I've NEVER heard a missionary say that, it was actually pretty funny... because usually they're pretty proper when first meeting and greeting people door to door, but I think Jason's statement caught them off guard and they didn't know what they were going to say when he opened the door.  After talking to them a little bit, we went back to our 4 person conversation, just joking about Jason's OH IT'S THE MORMONS statement... because really, it was kind of funny... I don't know, maybe you had to be there.

(And for those of you that are my Mormon friends, I hope you take no offense to this... we were making fun of Jason's comment more than anything, and I respect all of you guys quite a bit, or I wouldn't read your blogs!) ;)

Fishing in Tennessee

For some reason the only pictures I took in Tennessee (besides the house pictures) were pictures when we went fishing... I guess the rest of the trip was more about business than fun.  Here's Jason with his boat, after we put the two pedestal seats on it.
The other side of the boat.
Jason restringing his line... I think this was one of the times after he got it caught in the tree... that's what happens when you fish in the dark!  But hey, the boat floats!
Finally fishing...
Oh look!  I fish sometimes too!  And I'm wearing camo. ;)
Jason bringing the boat in... it's a good boat, we like it.
That trip was when just Jason and I went fishing.  These next pictures are when we took Brooklyn fishing because she kept saying "I want to go fishing" when Jason and I were up at their house, so finally Jason said "do you want to go tomorrow" and she said "yes" almost in disbelief.  Brooklyn really liked going fast, especially because it was hot and she had to wear that dumb life jacket because she's under 12.
Jason's first bass he caught.
Jason explaining to Brooklyn how to reel in the line... he's such a good big brother!
Going fast again...
That same night, Jason took Brooklyn catfishing with another friend of his.  I didn't go along, but Jason took some pictures of the happenings that night.  Brooklyn showing off the bluegill they caught for bait.
Keith is holding Brooklyn so she wouldn't fall off the boat with such a huge fish for her size.  She was grinning ear to ear from excitement at catching big fish!
Showing off another fish...
Jason and Brooklyn with the fish they caught that night.
Jason and Brooklyn with their big fish.
It was a fun trip.  I'm really glad Brooklyn had so much fun because that was our goal.  Jason said she was wide awake all night long, looking for jugs that the catfish had taken, and then making sure to get more bluegill for bait.  She LOVES fishing, and I'm sure will go on many more fishing trips with Jason and me.