RIP ol'Blue

I know this post will make most happy, it sure makes me happy :). We finally got around to painting the house. It was suppose to happen in the July but some things came up with my father in law, that required Manuel to go out of town a few days prior to painting the house, so we canceled.

{My father in law- has a tumor. It came on pretty quickly, the symptoms anyway, the tumor had been there for a while. He went to the ER on July 6, and was told there was a possible tumor, but he needed to go down to Salt Lake City to get more tests done. Tuesday 8/7 the family took him to Utah, and met with the Dr. and on Wednesday 8/8 he was admitted for surgery. The tumor was benign, and he is doing much better. however, the medicine he was taking for the tumor and the medicine for his high blood pressure counteracted, resulting in Diabetes, and now had to have insulin shots. They have been all over from SLC to Boise seeing Dr's. It was quite scary, but we are happy the tumor was small enough to take out through the nasal cavity, and that he recovered well.}

This last Wednesday, our friends Marc and Lyndsey came up to help paint the house. A Huge Thank YOU to them for all their hard work and help as well as Frank, Gordo and Manuel. . The painting started at about 7 on Thursday morning. I was at work and when I came home at around 2 pm, the house was PAINTED. It was kind of weird driving down the street and not seeing a blue chimney {a bittersweet moment}. When I got home, everyone was hungry so I fired up the grill and we had carne asada. It was hit and then back to work we went, only this time, we were painting the trim...can I just say what a chore it is...and I never want to paint the outside again. Manuel rented a man lift to get all the high places, we were suppose to return it by 5 pm on Thursday, but there was no way we were going to be finished, so we were able to extend the return to 9 am on Friday morning. We all worked on the house until about 6 Thursday night and then went to dinner with Manuel's brothers and friends to celebrate Hector's birthday.

Friday morning Manuel and I woke up at 5:30 to get things going. It was early.. and a little to dark outside to do much, so we went to Lowe's (who would have thought they open at 5, wow) to get a few new paintbrushes. Came back home and went to work. I have never been in a man-lift before, and since we needed to return it by 9, I decided I needed to set my fears aside and get to work. I went up with Manuel and was freaking out, not a big fan of heights, but I managed. The man lift is just too wobbly for my liking. Manuel let me down and finished all the high parts and I went to work on painting in between the trim of the house and the rain gutters. that was a chore and took me most of the day,I work on the front of the house for a good maybe 4 or 5 hours. It was tedious work and i think whoever painted the house blue was serious, and took off the rain gutters and painted them individually...not me, the paintbrush works for now :)

Our house was blue, and while we love our house, we didn't so much love the blue and either did the neighbors, but painting is no 1 or 2 hour job. As people were driving by, walking by, the neighbors were verbally expressing how much they like the new color. We got horns honked, claps, HORRAYs!, We were joking with our neighbor who used to work with Manuel that after two years of living here, we have hardly spoken to our neighbors (vice verse) but after painting our house, we have decided that they have all come out of their shells, and realize that we may not be the black sheep of the neighborhood anymore...or that they can walk outside and wont be blinded by ol' blue's brightness... Regardless, we are extremely happy and love our new color.








Finally after 2 hard days painting, and touching up, here is the finished product. With the new paint job and the rose bushes finally cut down, our house looks completely different.

Who ya gonna call...911?

here are the the three of us..Don't judge, we had just returned from swimming. one thing is for sure, the three of us sure had a good time this weekend <3

Well here it is Monday morning at the late 12:19 am...I can't sleep, Miss Aaliyah Jade is fast asleep upstairs, after about 30 minutes of giggling, she is the cutest little girl-just love her little personality but she is so tomboy at the same time. She came on Friday and is here until Wednesday, when we will return to the big city of Burley :) Friday was fun, we went and picked her up in Bliss, came to Boise, did some minor shopping (BTW, she hates shopping, just keep this in mind) came to the house, watched a movie, played Basketball, took a nap, had dinner, anxiously awaited the arrival of my bestest Crystal and Kody, went to Wal-mart in the dead of the night- 10:15 and the little girl was just beat, we were all tired, but we forgot to get her a toothbrush and some toothpaste, felt bad for dragging her out that late and so Manuel gave a piggy back ride while in the store! Crystal attended Special Olympics Saturday morning, for her work, Aaliyah and I stayed behind and just relaxed at home. Manuel was sleeping b/c he had to work Saturday night. Crystal came home, took a nap, then off to more shopping we went. We were out for a good three hours at a couple different stores.

here are the fearless foursome***Manuel, Me, the old Grandpa Kody and Crystal. Kody wouldn't get up from the chair and he had a red blanket on his lap...we had to come to him to get our picture taken***

We re-decorated the kitchen this weekend, it's super cute and I love it. After Kody came home, we went to some more stores, (poor Aaliyah was done at this point), we went and visited Kody's Grandma and Great Grandma, who is 101- amazing and she looks so good- a very sweet lady, Aaliyah was pretty impressed and excited at the same time that she met someone over 100. In fact the Great Grandma is "101 and 5 months into her two's." We finished the night out by enjoying a delicious salad and pizza and yummy vanilla Dr. pepper at Smoky Mountain pizza!! This is the new decor about the sink. Love the blue plate in the middle and the Live and Laugh plates...well they are the coolest, b/c they are super light and aren't really made like a plate, they just have a cool texture to them!!

***Funny Story*** Aaliyah drew a picture of a house with smoke coming out the chimney, I told her I hope that house is not on fire! She then proceeded to draw a smoke alarm in the house that was going off, and then brought it back to me and said this house is on fire. Me a little bit on the excessive worrying side, told her I was going to dream of my house being on fire..not a good combination. So later in the night probably about 11:45 Crystal, Aaliyah and myself were just sitting on the stairs admiring all the stuff that we changed around earlier, I told them I could smell smoke and they both told me "no you can't your just worrying" I followed my nose, upstairs to the bathroom, where i sniffed outside the window and for sure I could smell smoke. Well after we turned the lights off, we could see that something on the corner/or near the corner was on fire...we could see sparks!!. So we race downstairs and frantically look for the phone and we run outside into the road, towards the fire...well we get closer to the corner and don't worry, it was just a tree with the street light. We were totally fooled. There were bugs flying around the top of the light which we believed to be the sparks from the fire. After much thought...we decided that the fire smell must have been coming from the people lighting the fireworks. When I told Manuel this story when he called from work, he interrupted me and said "who ya gonna call, 911.. It reminded me of back in time...WHO YA GONNA CALL...GHOST BUSTERS. haha, this story has made for some fun times laughing in the last 24 hours, I tell ya- it was a kicker.

Today we went swimming, it was lots of fun! We decided that after dragging Aaliyah all over the place yesterday that we had better do something totally different today. Swimming was fun. We went up to my bosses pool and we had loads of fun- I am not much of a swimmer, not one for deep ends, and definitely panic when my feet aren't touching the bottom, but I can proudly say I swam across the pool- or barely...I freaked out a couple times but it was alright, Aaliyah was my little teacher. I have never been a BIG fan of swimming and it's all b/c I am not very good at it and have this phobia of drowning. it may sound retarded but that's alright-it's me and everyone that knows me pretty good, knows my fear and today it was okay, I swam across the pool and it was good- a few minor panics but for the most part we had a good day- Manuel came with us, it was fun for him to be able to hang out with us for a little bit while Kody and Crystal were here, b/c yesterday he was sleeping, Kody was golfing, there was just no time for us to hang out- so It was fun that he was able to join us for a few hours today, but I felt bad, b/c swimming wears you out and he had to come home and go to work, so I am sure he is just beat by now!

This is the new decor for the kitchen..the clock, candle sticks, and flower vase were all in the living room above the fireplace mantle..which now sits pretty lonely. waiting for paint and a tv to be hung...but until then..

This weekend was loads of fun- it is amazing Crystal and I haven't seen each other since September when she got married. I went to Pocatello last weekend, while Manuel went to his paintball tournament in Salem, Oregon. We had fun together, it had been months since we had seen each other but it definitely didn't feel like it at all (and from the guy's perspective...we talk on the phone all the time, why do we need to see each other...boo on you) So seeing my little bestest two weekends in a row has been fantastic and it will be more fantastic if I can see her over the 4th of July..because we will be around, she will be around..so hopefully we can be around each other, trying to convince her to go camping with us, but she's not too keen on the whole "tentin" it idea!! so we shall see.


Here is to my wonderful friend, who has a great eye for house decor on a budget---who can sometimes be considered jewish because she doesn't let her husband buy a new putter, and who wants what I want, too spend my money on stuff for the house, but will loose in an argument with the husband b/c of I don't know why, but it was explained to me earlier about that our excuses are not logical about rather spend the money on stuff for the house rather on shoes or clothes anymore...isn't it funny how life changes. Crystal and I have been through a lot, but weather it has been good or bad, we have stuck with each other and it has been wonderful. Now here is too wishing this lovely little couple good luck with finding a job, and a house in Boise/Meridian area..*oh wait...a house has been found, right down the road from me, perfect, just what they want, they don't know what it looks like, they haven't seen it, I found it after they left today, but it's perfect, b/c it's in the same neighborhood--wouldn't that be wonderful

So it's planned

Well I just got off the phone from mi Padre and we have FINALLY set a date to paint this blue house of ours. I couldn't be more excited. July 11, 2009- which means in less than one month, I will no longer live in a blue house and we won't stand out in the neighborhood. We have had the paint for quite some time now, but once we bought it, the rain started pouring and didn't stop and well we were planning on March, but the rain hadn't stopped then either. So now, the week we paint the house it better be nice weather or I will tell mother nature a piece of my mind ;)!!

Speaking of Blue...not only is the outside blue, but the counter tops in the kitchen and the blinds are all blue...I am blued out I tell ya!! and I am very passionate about HATING vertical blinds, I think they are one of the most annoying accessories to a window anyone could ask for..so with that being said, I set out to find curtains, and a curtain rod!!! Today Manuel installed the curtain rod, and although it was a tight squeeze and a possible pain in the butt, they are up and I couldn't be happier. I love them. Now I just need to replace the blinds, the counter tops are bearable, but blue blinds, I mean some people really do color coordinate...just not my style to coordinate everything with everything you know!!

CaLiFoRnIa!!

I went to California with the family I nanny for. They own an amazing house in Cardiff by the Sea, it's fun, its super close to the beach and pretty much anything you need is within walking distance, it was great. The weather was amazing, not too hot, not too cold, with the exception of the last couple of days. We flew in last Saturday (June 6) and came home last Thursday (June 11). While in California, we went to the beach, San Diego Padres vs. Arizona D-Backs baseball game, we attempted to go to a Botanical Garden, but little Reese just didn't like the idea and we ended up leaving, which was just a pain b/c while attempting to get her out of the car when we arrived, I let the seat down in the back so I could pull her out and in the process lifted a little too much and the seat came off the track, so eventuallywhen we got sick of listening to her cry we went to get back in the car and I think it took Margaret and me about 30 minutes trying to get the seat back in the right position, all the while, some children just weren't being patient, yeah I would say my nerves were being tested that day, it was the only day throughout the entire time we were in California that any major tantrums were thrown and they all just happened to be on the same day. Reese was just having a hard day, we couldn't please her if the world depended on it, with the gardens to where to eat for lunch, any place just wouldn't do, so she settled for some chips and pirate booty- what a lunch, but after the little squirt got some food in her, she straightened up and we had a jolly good time shopping for clothes and shoes :) One day we met up with the kids' uncle, cousin, and aunt and we ventured on over to Lego Land. Now if you haven't been here, I don't really think your missing much. Syd, Reese and I went on one ride together, and then Syd and I were done, the lines were much too long. Reese did one other ride with her parents, they stood in line for 45 minutes and the ride lasted less than 1 minutes. Meanwhile Syd and I were indulging our selves with Mozzarella and Basil Tomato sandwiches, they were mighty delicious. One thing that was fascinating at Lego Land, was the Aquarium, it was pretty cool, it had all sorts of different fishes, sharks, and whatever else and then at the end they have a "petting pool" with starfish, and well that's all I remember being in there, I didn't touch or pet any of the living water creatures, but Reese and Syd did-I was just disgusted, I couldn't imagine touching them. (I just realized as I was uploading pictures, not a single picture was taken with Charley Grace, she was with her mom most of the time and for most of the Padres game, which is where all these pictures were taken)



One night during the week I was able to catch up with a really good friend from high school. Kristen Pedersen, she has lived in California for about 5 years and worked like 10 minutes away from my boss's house. We planned dinner and then Margaret, Dominic, and the girls went to visit their uncle. It was perfect timing, they left about 530, Kristen picked me up about 6:15, we had a fantastic dinner at EnFuego, and lots of catching up on each other's lives and then back to the house. It was great timing b/c she came inside, I gave her a tour, we had a little candid moment and we were walking outside and the family showed up, so it was a great evening out and I just loved getting together with Kristen. I was a little nervous, just because you know how awkward it can be when you haven't seen someone for so long and then you have dinner or a get together and it's just awkward chit chat...well I was thinking that's what was going to happen, but bless Kristen's' heart, it was just like we picked up from where we left off, not missing a beat you know. To say the least, I just wish she lived closer or we could get together more often. Trying to document the moment, our little candid camera session wasn't going so swell. After like 7 photo tries, we finally landed a semi-decent one- we were laughing so hard at how hard it was to take a picture of the two of us..Good Times.

Introducing Alison Vega

Manuel's brother, Hector and his Wife Paulina- brought the first Vega grandchild into the world!!! Alison Vega- was born March 22, 2009- ( I know, a little late on posting, but I needed a picture or two). She is the cutest little girl, and oh-so spoiled. It's so funny, b/c my mother in law stayed here in Boise for a week after the baby came home, we would be talking to her and hear the baby talking and all the sudden Consuelo (Manuel's mom) would disappear, back to Hector and Paulina's room to help with the baby, it was pretty funny. She is more alert now, and it was fun this weekend, having them over for the BBQ, although I missed out on holding her, it seemed everyone else was holding her, and I was a little sad, I love her little hands and feet, they are my favor tie on little babies. Paulina pierced her ears, she didn't take her any place to get them done, she literally did them herself- I was shocked when I found out, b/c I honestly can't imagine, trying to pierce the ear and having the baby stay still, if I ever tried (*don't worry, I don't have the courage, nor the ability*) but if I did, I would just have no luck- but she did a good job, they are even with both sides and the earrings are adorable and Alison is just a beautiful baby, with lots of f black hair and there amazing beautiful brown eyes, small eyeballs, definitely enough to fall in love with her.

Manuel and I are so lucky to have one of the cutest nephews and one of the cutest nieces- they are so much fun and we have lots of fun spoiling them!!! We love Aidan and Alison

NEW FRIDGE-

I have had a love/hate relationship with the refrigerator---sometimes on good days, the fridge was nice, it would keep things cool, such as a Dr. Pepper on a hot summer day, or on a bad day when I just needed that extra boost of caffeine...other days...I would go to cook some chicken and come to find it has been defrosted and refrozen....process repeated many times- so I quickly became tired of buying freezer food and having to throw it away due to the fridge's behavior. Its an older fridge, my brother in law purchased it in 2003-white, freezer on top, fridge on bottom, you know your standard fridge. Well sometimes when one would get in the fridge, and close it behind them, the freeze would pop open, not enough to where you could see it was open, but enough to make it defrost everything. Well then it became real angry and would start freezing stuff in the refrigerator part...yep, you read that right, it would freeze like eggs, sandwich meat, applesauce, WATER, you name it, if it was in the fridge, it was bound to get frozen, first it was just towards the back of the fridge, if the items on the shelf would get pushed too far back, then then it would freeze them. But then it started freezing everything, like my Brita water container, you don't know how many times I went to get water to find nothing in the glass b/c it was just solid ice- well I would complain to Manuel that we needed a new fridge and he must have thought I was going crazy, because he never found anything wrong- until one day, when he had to pack his own lunch and when he took the food out of the fridge from the night before-it was frozen- yeah that did it right there for him...(it has been doing it to me for over a year). But long before he figured it out, I quit buying meat for the freezer, I would just buy it when I needed it, which in turn sucked b/c I don't like going to the grocery store very often, and having to do it for every dinner meal, it was becoming real annoying- and a couple times turning my sweet Grandma Carol down b/c she was offering us some beef, but I told her no, b/c it would just get ruined (Ready for it now Grandma), so we have been looking for a while online for a fridge that we liked, and I was sold on a black one, it would match the other appliances, right...so finally we find time on Wednesday to go to the store and look. We went to Best Buy, found the one we wanted, left and thought about it for a while, and then I convinced him to go back that night to get it. So we were back in the store, and look at the fridges one more time and we come across this Titanium, side by side, fridge, sweet looking, same price as the one we were set on, and then I had to go back thru the "do I really like this fridge" process. IT was perfect in every way, we decided to go for it, told the guy and he was ordering it for us and there were 4 more at Best Buys warehouse- but it wasn't letting him order a new one...so he sold us the floor model. But before we were sold, I walk to the fridge and the first thing I notice is a dent in the bottom freezer door- I was a little bummed, but no worries, I didn't care- they were giving a 10% discount on the additional clearance price- so it wasn't bad- but then after we were sold on it, he pulls it out away from the other fridges, and right along the side of it was a big scratch (Appliance employees really need to learn to take better care of the appliances they deal with, Seriously) so after much thought and a headache later, we purchased the fridge and were well on our way home. I told Manuel to call someone to come help him bring it in-so Gordo and Vanessa came over, and the two men worked real hard to get inside- they couldn't bring it thru the garage, because it wouldn't fit through the two laundry room doors, and I didn't think of the sliding glass door until they were stuck in the front door, and then I tried to take the glass door off the track, but I have no clue how to do that, so I just watched them fit it through the front door-it was sad, it didn't really fit, they had to work real hard to get it through, and during that process, mind you the fridge is still wrapped in plastic, but shoving it through the front door, somehow the plastic got cut, and the handles on the fridge, have little scratches, no worries, scratches or not, I have a new fridge and I love it.



In fact, I love it so much and am so happy- I can buy otter pops and they will be frozen and delicious, not frozen, melted, frozen..etc. I have lots of room and it's funny because when I was cleaning out the other fridge, I was throwing things away that were just old, and so our new fridge looked pretty empty- I had a door full of condiments and random odds, but the rest of it it was feeling lonely-Friday, Manuel's family called and wanted to have a BBQ and it was blast, and the fridge sure can hold alot of food :) It's full now, and it looks great- WE had another BBQ today and sure was delicious- Carne Asada is my favorito!!! *and homemade TORTILLA's too- mmm...and one other good thing- I NEVER HAVE TO BUY ANOTHER BAG OF ICE WHEN MY FAMILY COMES, ICE IS ON HAND, FILTERED WATER ON HAND-WHOHWOH!!!

Sometimes its just better to cut the middle man

So- it was about 3 weeks ago, I came home from work and Manuel told me that he thought the washer was broken. I just assumed, he had messed with the settings, and it wasn't washing like usual ( He likes to push the buttons, and it's my pet peeve to hear a buzzer go off when the laundry is done). So I open the washer, and sure enough the clothes were soaking wet, (its a washer...duh) so then I was like...hmm well the spin cycle didn't run, so I set the washer to spin, and then watched for quite a while and it did nothing, then all the sudden, it starts humming, the motor was running in the washer, but the spin cycle was doing nothing...So we hung his clothes to dry, we were leaving town the next day, and didn't need to worry about it. So when we got home from Utah, it was super crazy, I had a paper due, that I had started the day it was due :) and then I was asked Manuel to look at the washer, but before he tore into it, we decided to just run the cycle and see if it would work....so I gathered some blankets to wash, started the load and we to get something to eat. Came home, I sat in front of the washer, and watched until the spin cycle started, (it was spinning during the entire wash time) so I was happy I thought it was working, happy day right...well time comes for the actual spinning, and all went silent in the house, and all I hear is the 'humming' sound...it was very sad, so Manuel takes the top of the washer off and starts reading the code manual...trying to figure out what was wrong. It wasn't until the next day, when him and Franky figure out what part needed to be replaced. I was happy when the discovered the problem, and after searching for the part on the Internet, I was pleased with the price, it was $50 to get the part, plus shipping. So on Wednesday, I called around to some repair places here in Boise area, and there was one place that had the part in stock but for almost $90----(I totally would have if my husband wouldn't have already seen the price on the Internet)... So I call the Internet store that had the part, and asked for a faster shipping- b/c the regular ship was between 4-6 days...not going to fly, I hate laundry piling up...so I ordered the part, purchased the faster shipping method- which was fed-ex home delivery, product expected within 2-3 days...right this is a Wednesday, I was thinking by Friday or Saturday we should have the part...they told me I would receive an e-mail confirmation with the tracking code...never received it! So I decided to call Friday afternoon, and the gentlemen on the phone told me "we received the part this morning and it will be shipped out momentarily"...Me thinking momentarily is that afternoon- logical right...well that night when we got home, I still had no e-mail confirmation. I called Saturday afternoon, and another gentlemen told me "We received it Friday, it will be shipped out Monday morning". I was so mad, b/c I was expecting it to be shipped Friday grr...so I vented to a few people, it was non-sense. SO after complaining to my husband, he decided to call Monday- he calls and low and behold guess what they tell him "It has shipped from our warehouse and we should receive it at our place Tuesday and we will get it shipped out to you as soon as we can, sorry for the delay, its taking so long."...WHAT??? When Manuel told me I was so mad, b/c not only had two different guys told me the product was at their place, but it still wasn't shipped out. So apparently Manuel let the gentlemen know he was mad that it had taken this long, and they had told me a different story, so I get home Monday night from class and I had an e-mail saying it had been shipped...now I was real confused b/c the gentlemen that Manuel spoke to said it hadn't been received in their place...so how were they able to ship it out that same day, when it wasn't coming in until their Tuesday shipment??? weird...but any who...8 days later, we received the part. I am just wondering why would a company have a part posted, for sale, but then order it from another company...have a customer order the part, then they order it from another place, have the other place ship it to the place where the customer purchased, and then the seller will sent it to the customer...why not just freaking have the place that has the dang part, send it to the customer- it would reduce a customers heart rate and head aches...seriously sometimes it's just better to cut the middle man out!!! I came home from class Thursday morning, and my washer was running, and spinning like a GEM!!! three weeks worth of laundry, a helpful husband, the laundry is all washed....still sitting in the dryer and laundry basket waiting to be folded, but at least we have a wardrobe again- and I couldn't be happier