I Was Tagged!

4 Jobs I've Had
Jamba Juice: I took pride in my smoothie making skills, it is an art!
Deluxe: ordering checks for bankers in a cubicle... worst job
Targus: Uncle's Fly Fishing Company, who can say they know what a Wholly Bugger is?
Massage Therapist at Payson Day Spa: Oddly enough I was known for the deep tissue work?, I think its because I can find peoples knots and work them out

4 Movies I Could Watch Over and Over
The Holiday: Its like therapy
Joe Versus the Volcano: Tom Hanks is hilarious (Carrie knows what I'm talking about)
Whats Eating Gilbert Grape: I don't even know why, it just sucks me in
Toy Story: Not that I choose to watch it over and over, but out of all the movies Abbey likes to watch this one is the one I can tolerate the most!

4 Places I Have Lived
Only 4?!?
Payson, AZ
Peachtree City, GA
La Jolla, CA
Frankfurt, Germany

4 Of My Favorite Places To Visit
California: anywhere near the coast
Pinetop, AZ: whats better than family and relaxation?
Disney land: I love going and allowing myself to feel like a little girl in awe
Silverton, CO: we have gone with the Merrill's twice and it is so beautiful

4 Favorite Desserts
Bananas Foster: Dad's specialty, just had it last night and it was yummy
Lemon Meringue Pie: Webb Family tradition
Pizookie: pizza cookie with ice cream, the best one is at Oregano's
Ice Cream Fudge Sunday with Nuts: its what mom always got when we went to Dairy Queen, so of course I would get it too!

4 Favorite Dinners
Homemade Pizza: with garlic butter crust
Chicken Enchiladas: the way mom always made them, with cream of chicken soup and sour cream
Spaghetti: as long as I don't make it (it doesn't taste as good when I make it!)
Navajo Tacos: homemade fry bread and beans, I'm craving that right now!

4 Websites I Visit Daily
I don't really visit anything daily, but these are the ones I will check out the most...
Blogspot
Msn Entertainment: I love the gossip page!
Popcap.com: free games, ZUMA
Hotmail

4 Hobbies I Have
Reading: I try not to start a book that often because you won't see me until its done!
Crocheting: I taught myself with a book before I had Abbey and am looking forward to making another as soon as I can find out what colors I need!
Puzzles: I love puzzles and will stay up all night to do them
Going out to dinner and seeing movies: that is why we have no $!

4 People I Tag
Christine Williams
Jenny Webb
Carrie Webb
Tricia Merrill

What Do You Think?

I had my monthly check up for baby #2 yesterday and was surprised to hear that I was already 17 weeks! Wow, I was telling people I was almost 4 months (16 weeks), oops! When I was pregnant with Abbey I was so aware of how far along I was. Second go round that crazy anxiety isn't so much around. It is funny how time slips by with out us noticing. (Maybe it has to do with taking care of a almost 2 year old) In fact, in two weeks I have my ultrasound to find out, among other things, if this baby is a boy or a girl. The most popular guess that people have had is that it will be another girl. Is that because I already have a girl? Maybe because Tim's brother has already had two girls? Or is the reason because they can't see my with boys? However, a few tend to think it will be a boy. So what do you think? It would be fun to take a poll and then in two weeks see who was right!

A Happy Note

With a lot of hard work and determination to be the squeaky wheel, Tim has finally convinced his Sargent to allow him to have Sundays off!! He has been waiting for this opportunity and it came up when his Sargent switched the guys schedule to 4/10's (four days, working 10 hours). This allows the guys to have 3 days off rather than the 2 when working 5/8's. Were excited to have Tim home on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday even if he works 4pm to 2am! The one catch, Tim has to up his DUI stats. This shouldn't be a problem since he will be out till all hours of the night! I'm so proud of Tim... his sacrifice and hard work for our family blows me away! He deserves to finally get a full "day of rest."

Oscar is his name-o!

Our little puppy received the name Oscar after much consideration during our drive home from St. David. He has been a really calm and cuddly dog for the most part. However, we had quite the scare a few days after we got him home. He seemed to be depressed, then he lost his appetite. His depression turned into lethargy by Sunday, all he wanted to do was sleep. All Sunday he had the runs really bad! I felt so bad for the little guy and thought we would give it one more day before we took him to the vet. But that night he looked pretty bad and even threw up! I called Tim at work and long story short, a guy at works wife (who is a vet tech. )thought it sounded like Parvo! It can kill a puppy, but if you catch it early it can be treated. In other words, get him to a vet quick!! As soon as Tim got home around 12:00 am we left to take him to a 24 emergency animal hospital. We got him tested and it came back negative, whew! That was really good, not only for Oscar but for us, turns out that having Parvo is VERY expensive. So after he was given fluids and meds we headed home to hit the pillow just after 2:00 am! But we are happy to announce that Oscar looked a lot better in the morning and every day has become more of a puppy than a sick dog! In fact, he has more energy than I bargained for. We have been having fun with him though. Both he and Abbey love to take walks in the morning to the park. Abbey wakes up asking for "Doggie" almost every time. She also loves to pick him up and carry him around too. We have to watch her because she gets a little rough sometimes. We have to watch Oscar too because he likes to go potty in the house! (He is almost house trained though) He has been a good addition to the family thus far. I just have to say, anyone who owns a dog needs to read Cesar Millan's book, Cesar's Way. It has changed the way I think for the better. Lets all be Pack Leaders!! (If you want to know what that means, read the book!)

St. David

Saturday, Aug. 25th, we headed out to St. David to visit Pete, Brit, Meg, and Mel for the weekend. We had a lot of fun seeing how the other "Merrill's" spend their days at home. Abbey sure enjoyed playing with her cousins Megan and Melanie. They went swimming, played with dogs and puppies, rode in a big grocery cart, went to Nursery and church together, water color painted, and played with toys as much as they could! Us adults got to enjoy the cooler weather, BBQ and watch the kids play while we talked! I know that Tim and Pete enjoyed catching up, they don't get to see each other much since both of their schedules are demanding. I always like seeing Tim with his older brother, there is a bond there that is fun to observe. Plus they are so much alike in many ways! That makes it fun to talk with Brittney too, both of us being married to Merrill boys allows for some fun discussions! Brittney and Peter amaze me, they are such great examples of sacrifice and enjoying what you have in the moment. While relaxing in small town fashion something very unexpected came our way. The neighbor across the street had little Yorkie puppies. I happened to notice them and Brittney assured me that we could take one over for the girls to play with. That was the end of it... I became attached to a very cuddly male puppy. Abbey has been really obsessed every time she sees a dog so I knew that she would love a puppy around. It didn't take Tim long to agree. So we ended up taking a puppy home with us on Monday! All thanks to Brittney, just kidding... we all know that it really was me. So needless to say we had a lot of fun visiting for the weekend. It was the perfect way to end our two week vacation.

Happy Birthday to Us!

Once we got home from California (in between Dr. appointments for me and court dates/gas mask fittings for Tim) it was Birthday time... First was Tim, we went up to Payson that morning for his favorite breakfast at Beeline Cafe! It was a lot of fun to go visit Payson. That evening my dad treated us to Buca di Beppo, Christine watched Abbey so it was a very nice and relaxing evening. For my birthday Christine came over with cake and Wyatt and Abbey got to play! That evening Tim and I went out to dinner and a movie. I have to apologize to my family... I didn't know where my cell phone charger was after getting home from California so I didn't have my phone on! I appreciate every ones calls to wish me happy birthday from Pinetop, Queen Creek and New York City! I think I had a total of 5 Birthday messages! We both felt loved and had a great Birthday... how can you top getting to spend a week on the beach?

It's About Time Right?

Sorry about it being just about a month since my last post. You know the feeling of being blog overwhelmed from being behind in your posts? I have had that nagging feeling in the back of my head for about a month now! I guess I thought if I just ignored it would go away. It doesn't help to procrastinate either! You think I would have learned that after many late nights finishing school work or packing for a trip! Oh well, here it goes...

As some of you know Tim had a little over a two week vacation the end of August! We took full advantage of our time off together by heading out first to Newport Beach, California! I must admit, I wasn't feeling that excited about the vacation before we left. I think it had to do with the fact I was a little nervous about it just being Tim, Abbey and me for a week! I mean, who is that excited to drive 6 hours with a almost 2 year old and have to go back to the hotel for naps in the middle of the day? I was so wrong. We had a blast! Abbey did really well on the car rides, considering she was stuck in a car seat the whole time. Having bought her the Curious George movie for her viewing pleasure, it made the car trips 100% better! As far as Tim and I, listening to Jack Johnson anytime we were in the car helped our moods to be cool and calm. In the end I think it really helped that it was just our little family, we were quite in tune with one another by the time we got home.

It is pretty easy to sum up what we did in California, we went to the beach every day except one day! The one exception was our trip to the outlet mall in Carlsbad to buy some new digs for mine and Tim's birthdays! There was a lot of playing in the sand and surf, running after fearless and social Abbey, reading books (mostly on my part), eating snacks like chocolate covered bananas and ice cream, walking on the boardwalk, going to restaurants for dinner, and naps! Towards the end of our stay my dad came out to eat a good dinner with us and to see Abbey. He ended up giving us his hotel points to stay two extra days!! We were very grateful for the opportunity to extend our stay. I think we squeezed in as much beach time as possible. Or last day we were slightly pink skinned and ready to get back home. Tim and I have decided that everyone needs to move to California, the weather is so nice and you can't beat going to the beach whenever you want!