Another Day, Another Dollar

It's been almost a week since I posted and that just feels strange to me. We had so much happen this last almost week.

As you know, we got Ada to replace Ridley. Well, not so much replace and fill a hole... kinda the same thing lol.

She's learning her spot, but sometimes I can't help but feel sorry for her.

With Ridley, they had to adjust to each other. Glade had been around other animals, but she was skittish around her own pet for the first week or two. Then they just bonded. Now that she has already gotten used to an animal in her house, Ada isn't like Ridley at all.

Ada is still getting used to having a toddler run after her giggling, and being picked up when she is sleeping, and getting kisses, and just having to run away. She is getting better at understanding when Glade wants to play and when she doesn't mean to hurt her, but it is still not the same as with Ridley. But Ada won't scratch Glade except on accident, which is a lot better than Ridley used to do.

Ridley would sleep next to Glade every night. Ada sleeps in Blake's armpit. Ridley would play with Glade, even if she woke him up from a nap. Ada just runs.

I know it's not right to compare them, but Glade misses her Ridley a lot. At night she still calls him before she goes to bed. It just makes me want to cry. Her and Ada are getting there, but it just isn't the same.

Onto lighter things, Bowden and his fiancee Mary came this weekend. It was a lot of fun. We ate German food friday, Mary made Fettucini Saturday, then we had a Roast on Sunday. It was a pretty laid back weekend.

Glade kept them running all the time. When she wants me to pick her up over and over and over and over, I just say no when I'm done. Bowden and Mary didn't. I think she kept them moving all day just because she knew she could. I felt bad, but at least she wasn't messing with me or Blake ;).

Blake got home from work Sunday night and we decided to do his application for graduation. The one if you graduate in May is due October 15, so almost two months from when the semester starts.

The one if you graduate in december is due February 15... a MONTH after the semester starts....

Of course we didn't know that, because they announce NOTHING at this crappy school and the counselors are paid to keep transfer students here until the government won't pay anymore.

SOOOOO, instead of graduating in December after taking his last 6 credits, Blake has to take 2 semesters of crap he doesn't need just to stay full time, and graduate next Spring, if they don't decide to change the curriculum AGAIN.

And now we are in Cedar for another year and a half, in an apartment with no air conditioning, with the roaches.... the ugly, ugly, roaches.

But I guess it's ok. We both have fairly good paying jobs, not that we like them, and we have a babysitter we LOVE, and an apartment that is pretty big for the price we pay. I shouldn't complain, but we were so SET on leaving in December to find an apartment and jobs up north so Blake could start his graduate program.

Now it just seems like rushing is just a waste of time.

But I guess now we know the application is due October 15th!!

Our new family member, Ada

On Monday, we took Ridley in to be neutered. A few hours later, we got a call from the vet himself. Never a good thing.

Ridley went into the surgery just great and came out just great. He woke up and was very responsive, then he just died before they knew what happened. The vet did an autopsy and found out his heart was half a size too big, and also, his lower ventricle of his heart was paper thin. The vet could see through it. He said that the heart gets bigger to compensate for the thinness, and there is no way they could have known it was like this. The only way to know is to put them under and see how they take it. Since animals are so small, the anaestasia puts too much pressure on their already bad heart so they die.

The best part is my mom's kitten died the same way last year, at the same exact vet... suspicious? lol... Nah.

The good thing about this was that Glade was with my parents this whole weekend. We went to Ephraim Friday to see Clint with them, they took her after his concert, and we got her back today (Wednesday).

The minute I got off the phone with the vet, both me and Blake look at each other and ask what we are going to do about Glade. Ridley was her best friend. It was so cute to see the two of them play together and sleep together. They were absolutely perfect together.

So, we went on a quest to find a new kitten before she came back. We couldn't find anything, and we called every shelter in Southern Utah.

We decided to go to St. George for In 'N Out Burger and while we were in the line, I got a call from the Ivins City Shelter. I had called them early and they said they were remodeling their shelter so everything was in Foster Care for the time being.

She says that she didn't think of it earlier, but she has a 12 week old kitten at her house. She was found after the last big snowstorm in the middle of the freeway. They took her into their house, but they didn't think she would live.

She pulled through miraculously! The woman already had four cats and couldn't keep this one and she has been looking for a home for her with little kids so she would have someone to play with and we were just what she had in mind.

We drove to Ivins and saw the cutest and ugliest kitten ever. She is a little calico and she was just filthy. Her fur was just greasy and had the pet dandruff they get when they are that dirty. But the minute we picked her up out of her box, she just purred and loved on us. She never used her claws and it just felt perfect.

We filled out the paperwork and took her home. The shelter had named her Rainbow because she has so many colors, but we figured we can't have an animal without a Video Game name, so her name is now Ada (yes, from Resident Evil).

Glade finally met her today and they are adorable together. She isn't sure what to do about her since she is so tiny, so she just follows her around giggling and tries to give her kisses.

It's not the same as having Ridley, but she is definitely a part of our family now!

Blake, Glade, and Ada
Glade was giving her kisses

Playing with daddy's game boy case with Ada.

Sweethearts Ball

Tonight at our Stake was our yearly Sweethearts Ball. Blake was supposed to work so we didn't plan on going, but one of the guys he works with asked for his shift and we were able to go ! (Thanks for reminding me Brenda).

We haven't been to a dance since the Inaugural Ball at Snow before we were married. We took Glade with us this time, and tried to put her into the nursery, but she wouldn't have any of it. So she danced with us until she got pretty cranky and tired, so we came home.

I love dances. I always have. I hate the holiday associated with this one (it's a crock), but the dance was definitely a lot of fun.

We watched Rebecka so Caleb and Brenda could dance, and they watched Glade so we could dance. Gosh, I love those two!

Glade had so much fun dancing with us and staring at all the lights. It was so cute to see her having fun. Too bad she wouldn't go in nursery though.

We will definitely be going to the other dances with the stake from now on.

The Second Most Terrifying Thing That Can Happen to a Parent

I got home from work at about 3:30 pm as usual, and Ridley wasn't at the door waiting for Glade. I didn't think it was too weird since sometimes he sleeps a lot during the day just waiting to keep me up for hours at night.

A few hours later, Glade woke up from a little nap, and wanted her kitty. I started to go around to find him and figured he was just hanging out somewhere.

A couple hours later, at about 8:30 pm, I started to get worried. Glade was getting really upset. She couldn't find her kitty and he is always there when she is eating something. So, I figured we could go on a hunt to find him. We checked EVERYWHERE.

With every room we searched in, Glade was getting more and more anxious to find her kitty. Finally she was just bawling and I was at wits end to find him. I called Blake at work to see if he had seen him sometime during the day.

He hadn't seen him since he took me to work that morning. Not a good sign.

I looked everywhere one more time while I was on the phone with him. Even checked behind the water heater...

Still no kitty.

Right after I hung up with Blake, dejected and worried that I had lost my little girl's best friend, I thought to myself, "Samus loves to climb in the dryer.... maybe Ridley would like that too!"

I walk over to the dryer, open the door, and lo and behold, there is Ridley, sleeping soundly and warm as can be.

Of course I pick him up and hand him to Glade, who immediately stops crying and giggles frantically, and of course I am so happy I found him I start to cry.

I call Blake and tell him the good news.

I have never been more worried in all my life. Well, except when Glade was born, but that's a different kind of worry. This one is a worry that you have completely ruined your daughters life and she will need therapy for the rest of her days....

I have never been more thankful in all of my life!!

Our latest addiction

Every day we all try to do our Wii Fit. Blake is at his perfect weight (or so his BMI says), I am highly underweight, and Glade is more underweight than me.

So, we try to do our Wii Fit to stay in shape.

The strangest part of it is that we will both exercize to a Video Game, but not without it.

Seriously, how hard it is to run in place or do push ups everyday? Pretty dang hard when you don't have a Super Hot Trainer telling you that you are doing great and to keep it up!!

Everyday I work out trying to put on some more weight to be at least in the "Normal" range, and every day I get a little closer to my goal! I am now 4 pounds away from entering "Normal" but at least 30 away from having a healthy BMI.

And I have found out I am a closet Yoga lover. I am not very flexible, but I can kinda fake it on the Wii. It is mostly about balance and such, and I like to think I have pretty good balance, so I love doing all the Yoga. Always with the door locked and no one around, but hopefully one day I can go take a real class.

And everyday we bring out the Wii Fit mat, Glade gets so excited to try it herself. We put her on there to test her BMI and Weight, and then let her try a couple games (with our help of course) and she absolutely loves it!

Anyone that doesn't have this game, definitely needs to buy it. I know it sounds ridiculous to spend $90 on something you can do without a Video Game, but if you think of all the money people dump into gyms they never go to or excercize equipment they never use, this is only about $340 after you buy the system and game. And considering it has more than just exercizing stuff, it is totally worth it! And the balance board is being used in more and more different types of Video games! (And let me tell you, the skiing is super fun, no matter how hard it really is).

And I know most of you are thinking how big of junkies we are with Nintendo, but we are proud of it, and recommend it to everyone!!

The War Tapes

One of Blake's classes this semester is called "Visual and Cinematic Narratives". Definitely a confusing title to be sure. To sum it up, he gets to read comic books and watch movies for class.

We both love the teacher and the class is very interesting. The few movies he had to see so far weren't worth mentioning, but this last one definitely is.

He had to watch "The War Tapes". For those of you who have never heard of this documentary, it was done by Army National Guard based in New Hampshire. Five men were given cameras and told to record their year tour in Iraq and comment on everything that happened and how it affected them.

And even watching this movie, I never actually realized how bad it has affected our military. The men in this movie pretended to treat death like it was nothing. They compared dead bodies to cookies and sausages. And the worst part of watching it was that they actually think like that so they can get past the death and destruction of war. They actually had to kill people and that lives on their conscience.

The very thing that hit me most was the homecoming. When they walked in the room and everyone stood up and cheered, it was absolutely amazing. If the news would show that just once, we wouldn't have to worry about how unpopular the war in Iraq is, or how many men have died. It would show that we are behind our troops 100%.

After they got home you just noticed the complete change in each of the men they were following. They had PTSD, and carpal tunnel (from holding thier guns all day long), and they just weren't the same men.

War is a terrible thing, but once you're in one, you shouldn't bicker about what we are trying to achieve or if we are killing civilians. Our men and women of the armed forces are overseas trying to protect our freedom. They are over their protecting their families and friends, and no one gives a crap.

They are told they are rapists and they are baby killers from people that have no idea what it is like to be in a war. We have never in our lifetimes had war on our own soil. Our men have fought in wars in other countries, but never in the USA. Which in reality is pretty lucky.

We don't have to worry about a rocket slamming into our doors or soldiers running in to take shelter from shooting. We can drive to work without having an IED blow up in our faces.

We take so much for granted. We are so spoiled. I pray for the soldiers, but in comparison to what they face everyday on foreign soil, I am not doing a thing.

They are such honorable and noble people and they do not get the credit they deserve for a job well done. It doesn't matter what end we are trying to achieve. We should back our Armed Forces completely so they know they are coming back to a home that appreciates they job they are doing for all of us.

So they know it isn't all in vain.