FALL

I am SO wishing for some FALL weather... I have been reminiscing for the last few days about Fall in Idaho. Especially in Pocatello. September and October were my MOST FAVORITE months when I lived there. It was cool, like sweater or long sleeve shirt cool, and I LOVE THAT! Its my favorite time of year, and I miss it so much. Lately it has been cooling down a bit here in NM, but that only means it gets into the upper 80's or lower 90's instead of the 100's. Whoopie... C'mon, PLEASE send me some Fall weather!!

SUMMER

I can't believe summer is OVER! Well technically atleast. Summer weather doesn't end until like December here :) However School has started and our lives have gotten BUSY! GOODBYE to summer laziness.

Now in honor of the end of summer, here are photos (LONG OVERDUE) that sum up most of our summer festivities :)

Enjoy!






















We had a GREAT summer! It took us a while to find the water, and good camping spots, but once we did we definitely made the most of it! Getting to go camping and swimming with the dogs was so fun. Harley really impressed us this year with her intense love for water! She LOVED jumping off the dock! We didn't even have to throw a stick for her, she would just do it for fun! Maddie has never been a HUGE fan of the water, but she likes to swim a little and watch from the shore :) All in all we had some good times!

Now we are looking forward to some cooler temps and exciting new adventures with our Jobs!

Welcome Fall!

HELLO

Yes we are still alive! May was quite the month! I was able to spend a few weeks in Idaho with my family, helping take care of my sweet neices while my sister had jury duty. It was SO FUN to be around my family for an extended period of time, I have missed them SO MUCH! But it is so nice to be home with Ken again. He made a few new friends while I was gone and has kept me extra busy (and exhausted!) this week introducing me to everyone! We already have more close friends here in Hobbs then we ever had in Texas, so thats pretty exciting!

Here is the weeks breakdown!

Sunday- I got back into Hobbs at about 1am... Ya it was a LONG drive but I had stayed in Vernal Friday night and broke the drive up so it only took 16 hours on Saturday as opposed to the 21 it would have taken from Boise. ANYWAY, I got in at 1am, slept till, oh maybe noonish :) then we BBQ'd with Ken's co-worker and his family and got to take a swim in their pool! It was so fun, and we stayed for hours eating swimming and just hanging out! Shane and Jen are great!

Monday- Today the exhaustion started to hit me from my long travels... So I was lazy and stayed home, cleaned up the house (thats what I get for being gone for 3 weeks!) and did some laundry.

Tuesday- I had an interview for a position as a Secretary at Stone Elementary! I was so nervous because I have 0 experience and didn't really know what to expect. But the interview went great and I felt pretty confident. Today was also our first SOFTBALL game! We are playing on a team with Shane and Jen and its awesome. I love softball! AND its a really great way to get to know people in the community! I didn't have a super great game, but it was fun! After we went over to Shane and Jens and took a dip in their pool!

Wednesday- Boy was I SORE! My muscles were starting to ache from softball the night before! But it was another productive day at home! You won't believe how much dirt accrues in house left virtually unoccupied for 3 weeks! I'm still not done! And I spent the whole day worrying about whether or not the school would call with good news... They didn't. Then Ken got called out to work :( And he didn't make it home at all that night!

Thursday- Ken finally made it home at about 2pm, poor guy... But was in good spirits! I sat around, waiting by the phone most of the day, and at about 4pm the call came! They offered me the position and I go in on Monday to fill out paperwork! I'm scared out of my mind, but SO EXCITED! I hope that this job will help me get a foot in the door with the school district and open up opportunities to me in the future for teaching/coaching! YAY! Also we had another softball game, at which I was kind of a stud! I hit MUCH better, and even threw someone out at third from centerfield! Ya I play in the outfield... weird right? But I love it and it was so fun!

Friday- I have no idea what today will bring, hopefully something awesome! BRING ON THE WEEKEND!

DOGGIES

It has been brought to my attention that I have not posted enough pictures of my handsome pups on my blog recently so this post is dedicated solely to my Maddie and Harley.



MADDIE~
Our sweet loving Maddie has been a part of our family for almost as long as we have even been a family! We were married in Aug. of 2008 and we rescued a 2.5 month old Maddie from the pound on Jan. 2 of 2009. These are the very first pictures we ever took of her, the day we picked her up from the pound!




She was so adorable and so pitiful looking that Ken just COULDN'T say no, even though we were not allowed to have dogs in our apartment! It was love at first sight, and we were moving in less than a month, so like I said he COULD NOT leave her!

Maddie was a great dog from the very beginning (with lots of good training from Ken) she never chewed up ANYTHING, she LOVED to snuggle, and did quite well on a leash. Potty training was a little rough, especially with all the moving we did! My mother-in-law used to call her Miss Piddles because she would be running around the front room having a great time and would just piddle as she went, leaving a trail of tiny spots behind her because she would be to excited to even stop and squat! What a nightmare! Kens mom did enjoy putting a little sweater on her though, Ken was not as thrilled...




She is also a BIG FAT WHINER! Good grief does she let you know just how she feels! The husky in her definitely shows because she doesn't bark so much as just whine, LOUDLY! But she is very obedient (mostly to Ken haha), loves being out in the sun, and does so well with children. We love her so much and our lives just wouldn't be the same without her! Here is Maddie lounging in the sun, but she is such a princess that she wouldn't lay in the dirt, and instead opted for the pool!





~Did I mention its impossible to keep her clean!? :)


HARLEY~
Our not-so-little-anymore Babydog is such a joy! We had been wanting to get a second dog for quite a while as a companion for Maddie, and we had adopted a German Shepard/wolf-Alaskan Malamute mix while we lived in vernal (Ben) and loved it, but when we moved to Boise we just couldn't find a place that would allow LARGE dogs, let alone 2 fairly LARGE dogs, so we had to give him away. (Don't worry we went to the extent of holding interviews for a good home for him!)


(BEN) We miss him and wish we could see what he is like today!

Anyway a couple months later (Aug. 2009) we moved back to Pocatello and ended up finding a place that had NO PROBLEM with dogs, of any size or breed! So we started the search for a second dog again. We looked around for months, wanting to find that same "love at first sight" connection with a pup or even a breed to search for. After countless trips to animal shelters (we really wanted to rescue another puppy) we just weren't finding what we were looking for. Then one day in the grocery store we saw an ad for American Bulldog puppies for sale. The flyer said 300$ each so we didn't really think twice about it, but the puppies were certainly adorable. A few weeks later a new flyer appeared and the puppies had been priced to 200$! We went home and started researching the breed, since we didn't know much about them, and Ken instantly fell in love! We figured that since the price was continuing to drop we might be able to negotiate if we had a connection with one of their pups! So we called and set up a time to see the puppies. The owners said they were all purebred but not papered (hence the lofty price) and they were all DIRECT DESCENDANTS of CHANCE from Homeward Bound! Here is a pic of her dad... HUGE!



Anyway, there were about 8-10 puppies left and Ken was loving one and I was loving another (the soon to be Harley!). We couldn't really decide what to do. We knew we wanted one, but couldn't agree on WHICH one. It was my logic that ALL animals love Ken and only FEW love me, that got Ken to go with my pup! Ken wasn't thrilled because he didn't have the same connection as with Maddie, but he loved the breed enough to be ok with it! So in Oct. of 2009 we brought home Harley!! Here is Harley as an 8 week old!




She was so adorable, and she always liked to sleep in the strangest places! Harley did fairly well with Potty Training, thanks mostly to Maddie teaching her!



Harley was an incredibly sweet puppy! And everyone thought she and Maddie were related! When she was little they did look similar, but she didn't stay little for long! And as was typical of us, We ended up moving only 3 months after. Ken left for Texas in Dec. of 2009 and I stayed to finish up the semester and get things ready to move. I moved down in Feb. of 2010 and this is the Harley I found...



Just as big as Maddie and continuing to grow like a weed! She went through a rough phase of not being able to tell just how HUGE a puppy she was, but has since grown into a really great dog!! She was never a snugly puppy, but after she turned about a year she started to like to sit on Kens lap all the time, just like Maddie! So we now have a 60-70lb and a 85-95lb lap dog! GOOD GRIEF! Harley also rarely barks, or makes any noise for that matter. Which we love since Maddie is always so vocal! But when she does bark she sure does sound ferocious!

All in all I LOVE my dogs, so so much. I know I sometimes put off that I could do without them, or they don't quite mean the world to me, but they honestly DO! I can't imagine my life without them, I would be so lonely!

Maddie and Harley, we sure do love you!

Mothers Day

I know its the day AFTER Mothers Day but I want to dedicate this post to the beautiful Mothers and Women in my life who have been there for me, taught me, laughed and cried with me, greatly influenced who I am now, and continue to help me to become the woman I am meant to be.

1. My Momma.


My Momma has been to every sporting event, music recital, and other church/school event that I can remember. For those of you who know anything about my family you know that pretty much makes my Momma SUPERWOMAN. Between juggling 7 kids, a job, a calling, and countless other endeavors, she is ALWAYS there for me. You know how they say, You don't miss it till its gone... Lets multiply that by about 100,000,000 and then you might just begin to understand how much I miss my mom. Moving away as a newlywed was probably the toughest thing I have ever done, not having my mom close to help me through this weird transition phase in my life has been hard! But we talk on the phone pretty regularly and skype now and then, so that helps! My Momma is a caring, loving, kind, and patient woman. She is a perfect example of someone who knows the value of HARD WORK, but still has the most gentle touch. I LOVE YOU MOMMA!

2. My Mother-in-law.


Susan Checketts is an amazing woman! Even though we haven't had a ton of time to be together I have learned so much from her. I swear this woman LIVES to serve others. It is incredible to me how selfless and willing to serve she is. Whether it be a fellow church member, a neighbor, or anyone in the community she is always ready and willing to help, in any situation. But the most amazing part of her love for service is that it all starts within the walls of her own home. She tirelessly works to serve her family, to teach them the gospel, and share her own personal testimony. She works hard to make sure all her children are taken care of and know that they are loved! She is beautiful and strong, and I'm so thankful to have such an incredible Mother-in-law!

3. My Grandma.


My Grandma is truly an incredible woman. When I think of the word nurturer, I simultaneously think of my grandma. She is so loving and so wise! She is also an excellent teacher. I can't even count the times I have called and sought her help with my cooking or sewing endeavors, and she teaches me everything I need to know, right over the phone! We had the opportunity to live with my grandma and grandpa for a while when I was in junior high and it was such a learning experience for me! My poor grandma hated to see my fight with my little sisters, I remember it bringing her to tears once, and I swore I would NEVER let that happen again, and it didn't! She made me realize how important my family relationships are and how we should really love one another, because when its all said and done our families are the ones who are always there, our closest friends, our biggest supporters. I have an amazing relationship with my siblings and I truly believe it was my grandma who helped me forge that bond.

Last but certainly not least... My Older Sisters. Valerie, Becky & Cassie.


Not only are these three women GORGEOUS, but they are incredible mothers, sisters, aunts, wives, and most of all FRIENDS! They are my best friends, my confidants, they keep me sane and NEVER judge me, no matter what. I can go to them with any issue, any problem, and I know they will NOT laugh, they will NOT criticize (unless of course I need it) and they will do ANYTHING they can to help me, always keeping my best interests in mind. They have laughed with me until we have cried, and cried with me until we have laughed, they have held my hand and given me advice through hard times and celebrated with me during the good times. They are my SISTERS and I love them with everything I am. I couldn't be me without them.

I am so grateful to have these INCREDIBLE women in my life, to call them FAMILY and FRIENDS. As I reflect and think about the ways they have touched my life I count myself so very lucky to just know them, let alone be related to them. I wish with all my heart I could be nearer to them, to be able to see their faces everyday. Hopefully someday I will have that luxury, but that is the beauty of having such amazing people in my life, no matter where I go, no matter how miles stretch between us, we are always connected.

Happy Mothers Day.

HELLO!

UPDATE: I am LOVING our new place... Well our new APARTMENT, the city is... EH... :)

What I LOVE about our new house:
~The family room is large enough for ALL our furniture, plus provides room for a small dinning area.
~There is a designated laundry area with its own cupboards for cleaning supplies
~There is a PANTRY!!
~The bathroom is big enough that me, Ken, and both the dogs can all stand in it at the same time.
~The bathroom has a mirror 3ft tall and 6ft wide!! HELLLLLOOOO Vanity Area!!
~Our bedroom is as large as our last place's FAMILY ROOM. (I don't even know how to fill all the space!)
It is fabulous and I love it. But don't let my "love's" fool you, our last place was SMALL, we dont live in a mansion or anything ;~)

My FEW dislikes...
~NO yard, but there is a park less than 100yards from our front door :)
~Very little parking- since Ken has a work truck now we have more vehicles then we could EVER possibly need...

But overall, I love it. Yay us :)

Have a great day!

White Walls

I have this pet peeve, its bothered me since I was a little girl and only gets worse with age. Sometimes this pet peeve actually bothers me enough that I start to get a little CRAZY! What could this possibly be... you guessed it, WHITE WALLS.

When I was little my dad was very adamant that all the walls should be perfectly white and clean, no nail holes, or as few as possibe, and no scratches/dents ect. Now there is nothing wrong with this, who doesn't want as clean and nice a home as possible? But I always dreamed of painting the walls of my room crazy colors like ORANGE, GREEN, or SUNFIRE YELLOW!!

When I was finally all grown up and had a house of my own, with which I could do whatever I pleased, I WENT TO TOWN on those walls! There was not ONE white wall in my entire house. I believe there are even a few pictures on my blog from long ago... I painted GREENS, BLUE, RED, BROWN, and even SUNFIRE YELLOW! It was so fun, and so awesome. Some people thought it was tacky, some thought it was peculiar, and others thought it matched my personality perfectly, BUT I DIDN'T CARE what anyone thought because I LOVED it :)

Now I am in a new home, which I LOVE, but our landlords are not NEARLY as cool as our last one and I cannot paint ANY walls. I am so sad. I am hanging up pictures and colored curtains, but its just not the same. I HOPE they do not drive me to madness.

That is all. Have a wonderful day :)

NEW HOME!

We are FINALLY done moving!!!!!!!!!!! HOORAY! Now to get everything we just packed UNPACKED :) It has been quite a wild ride these last two weeks and I am happy they are over, but I have learned a few lessons and created a few good memories so I would chalk this experience up to a success!

A few lessons and a memory from this experience:

1. NEVER shut the utilities off in your home until you are COMPLETELY done moving.
- I thought I would save some change by shutting off our utilities a day early instead of paying for the whole weekend, BAD IDEA! We ended up moving in the dark using flashlights and headlights 2 nights in a row, then had no water or electricity to clean with :S OOPS! Good thing our landlord was awesome!

2. There is NO DISGRACE in asking for help.
- I was having a rough go when I was trying to find a place to live by myself. In fact I was to the point I was ready to RIP MY HAIR OUT because I couldn't find anything! But then I was able to attend a church function for our new ward and ask some of the members for help, and what do you know? The very next day I was able to sign lease papers on a new place. WHAT A BLESSING!

3. I was PULLED OVER for the first time in 4 years, and the 1st time EVER in Texas!
- It was about 12:30am and we were making our VERY LAST haul to our new place and we were about 20 minutes from the border when I thought smugly to myself "MAN I haven't ever been pulled over in Texas and now I'm leaving for GOOD!" Well just then I saw the lights pull up behind me! I was only going MAYBE 2 miles over the speed limit, and yes I was tired, but not overly tired to the point I was swerving or anything! So I was confused! So I pulled over and rolled my window down and the next thing I know the Police Officer is yelling at me to get out the truck!!! WTF?! I had no idea what to do! Should I put my hands up and walk slowly? Was I going to jail? I wasn't even speeding!! SO I calmly get out of the car and walk back to the officer, who strikes up a perfectly normal conversation about me and my husband and us moving. What the heck?! Then he tells me that I was pulled over because I was going a "little too fast" Ya LITTLE is right! So he asks for my DL but obviously its in the truck. So I begin to walk back and he stops abruptly and asks very strangely if my dogs will BITE HIM!! hahaha it was then that I realized why I was asked to get out of my truck, my dogs were in the back and he was SCARED of them!!!!!! I guess they are quite effective watch dogs after all! They even scare the POLICE away! So of course I tell him they won't bite and he walks me to Kens window to get my DL (of course I stayed between him and the dogs:) As we walk back and he takes my DL to his car I realize that he had walked me right through a BIG BLACK ANT HILL and they were starting to CLIMB MY LEGS!!! I was in flip flops and shorts too... GREAT. So if he thought I was intoxicated before I sure wasn't helping my case doing the ANTS DANCE in his spotlight trying to get them off me! When he finally returned he gave me my DL and a warning to slow down... hahaha Thanks A lot! He then SPED off and had another person pulled over before I even got moving again. WHAT A JOKE!! P.S. Ken got pulled over the night before for his license plate light being out... haha

Now that everything is said and done I can't complain too much. We really lucked out finding such a great place, and we got to know some members of our new ward! I'm excited for this experience and can't wait to see where it takes us next!

Now to find a job... Oh joy... :)

A New Chapter

I can't believe we have finally arrived and it is time for a new chapter of our lives to begin. What a crazy road it has been! After a gruelling week filled with stress, anxiety, being stuck in a hotel, and even a few tears (on my part of course, not Ken's :) we have found a place, we paid our dues, we got the keys, now all we have to do is move our stuff and we will begin the New Mexico chapter! Its quite exciting, a little scary, and even minutely sad... We LOVED Texas, it was SO good to and for us. We had the opportunity to meet SO MANY AMAZING people and we will definitely miss them all, but we are ready to take on this new challenge and see what life has in store for us next. :) I promise to put some pictures up as soon as I can... However we haven't quite figured out what we would like to do for Internet at the new place yet, so it may be more than a while... STAY TUNED!

pics!

A few pics of the fam!



Lucky for Ken, his birthday just happened to be during the week that the fam was visiting! The BIG 25! Wahoo! Ken LOVES cheesecake, so we made him a very special one! This cake is a swirl of Blueberry, Strawberry, and Pineapple cheesecake! We even seperated them with gramcracker crust! We rock :) We also had an intense nerf gun war.... unfortunately it didn't make it to the camera. Bummer

Booya!

Friends and Family I am happy to announce that Ken did indeed get the job at NOVA MUD and started this last monday!! We are so excited that he will not be out on the rigs any longer. Well he will be out there checking fluids, but he no longer has to do so much hard manual labor! Plus he gets a company phone and truck!! What a blessing this will be for us! The only down side... Moving to NEW MEXICO. I'm not super excited about this, but whats adding one more state to my list of places lived? :) They want us to move ASAP but its hard to find a decently priced place that will allow us to keep our dogs... Please keep us in your prayers as we go through this transition phase.

After making the move to Texas, and allowing adequate grieving time for being so far from family, I am beginning to feel like I could stand to see some more of the country. It has been quite an experience and adventure living so far from the only home I have ever known, but it seems like it would be easier now, and even kind of fun, to experience more of the vast unknown! Who knows where this new job of Kens will lead us next! If you would have asked me 2 years ago if I would ever live anywhere other than Idaho/Utah I would have adamantly said NO WAY, but look at me now! :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!~ And we will keep you posted about finding a new place!!

The countdown is on!!

Ok it actually started MANY days ago, but this is the LAST monday before my FAMILY gets here! YAY! My little sisters, their boyfriends, and my baby brother will all be getting here on SATURDAY!! I'm so excited I can barely stand it, its been almost a year since I have seen them so I know I'm going to be a bawl-baby! They will be here for an entire week so I promise there will be many pictures and exciting stories to tell coming soon!! I hope everyone has a wonderful week! HAPPY MONDAY!

Latest Obsession

This is a picture of my latest obsession. Now don't get the wrong idea, I CANNOT stand having my fingernails painted (atleas not a color like this) but I do LOVE having my toenails painted. I've been practicing and experimenting with different colors and this is my latest favorite! I never thought I would be a blue nail polish type of girl, but hey, I've surprised myself many times before :) Besides it looks great with my new flip flop tan! Thats right all of my Idaho/Utah friends, I have already got a flip flop tan! You can all be jealous :)

In other news, Ken and I have started looking at moving to be closer to his job, we are trying to decide where to go though. We would really like to stay in Texas, but Carlsbad NM as well as Hobbs NM have also become options for us so we'll see what happens! Living in Texas has been such an adventure for us and it just keeps getting more exciting!

I hope everyone is having an excellent week!

Keep on Keepin on

My word of the year is DILIGENCE. I am really trying to keep to this word as I pursue my other goals. Today was a serious test for me. I'm trying to have a better attitude, a brighter disposition, and be a more approachable person. You never know when someone you associate with is in need of a friend, a shoulder, or a helping hand, and if my face says "I'm tired and cranky, BACK OFF!" no one is going to give me a second thought... But being happy and chipper ALL the time is not easy, and every once in a while you come across someone who REALLY knows how to put you in a bad mood. That happened to me today. I was so angry I was in tears (yes usually when I get REALLY REALLY mad I cry... But only when I'm alone of course ;) and it ruined about 2 hours of my day (a day I was really happy with, and very much enjoying) before I realized that I had succumbed to this person's black mood and I was LETTING it ruin me. It was one of those LIGHTBULB moments, in which I remembered that I need to remain diligent in my goal to be there for others, but not so much that I go full circle and am so easily affected by other people's BAD moods, the goal is to be happy right?! Well anyway what would we be if not human, and given new experiences to test us and help us grow everyday? SO I'm just going to Keep on Keepin on and hope for the best!

Week in Review

WHAT A WEEK! Seriously, this was a crazy one! Let me take you back and start from the beginning!

First of all, a typical week in the Checketts household actually runs from Wednesday to Wednesday, unlike the traditional family's Sunday to Sunday, thanks to Ken's crazy job. So my story actually begins last Tuesday night...

Ken is constantly hurting himself at work, he works on a drilling rig, its kind of unavoidable, so when he texted me on Tuesday night (just a few hours before he was supposed to start heading home) and began his text with "Sorry Baby, bad news..." I figured he had cut his hand, or twisted his ankle or some other small injury. When he then proceeded to tell me that he had SMASHED his hand under a 10,000lb pipe I started to worry, but he didn't seem all that concerned so I figured it couldn't be too serious. Again I was WRONG. But it had been about half an hour and he never answered my questions about broken bones or trips to the hospital and I was heading into a Zumba class so I just assumed if he was in any real mortal danger he would have called atleast, and what could happen to a smashed hand in just an hour? Well when I finished my class I had about 10 texts and 2 messages from Ken telling me he was in fact in the hospital getting his hand x-rayed, and he was SURE that with that kind of impact he fingers had to have been crushed. Well now I was in full blown worry mode! And I couldn't even get a hold of him because he was not allowed to use his phone during x-rays or when he was talking to the doctor, plus he was over 3 hours away so I had no idea whether or not I would need to drive there to help! Finally he called me back with news and said that the doctors were completely blown away because there were NO BROKEN BONES! His right ring finger has practically exploded (Ken uses the example of a hotdog in the microwave for too long haha) with the impact and he would need stitches, but the bones were all sound, not even a fracture! WHAT A MIRACLE! 10,000lbs and no damage to the bone, my husband must be BIONIC or something, because thats incredible! Anyway his middle finger and pinky were just badly bruised and he is very sore, but we are incredibly grateful to the gaurdian angels looking out for him!

Thursday I went into the dentist to have a few cavaties filled and was informed that one of my affected teeth had been filled previously and that filling was large and had broken, coming dangerously close to the root so I would need a crown instead of just the filling I was expecting... I wasn't too suprised but I had NO IDEA what a crown entailed... So when I felt that pretty much my entire tooth had been drilled off I was a little shocked! Well everything went smoothly with the procedure (until I found out how much that crap costs!! OUCH!!) I was sized for my procelain crown and recieved my temporary and I was sent home. I have never had this done before so I was unaware exactly what to expect as far as pain later... And there had been A LOT of pain! I usually have a pretty high threshold for pain, but this seemed extreme, so I called the dentist a few days later and told him about it. He of course wanted x-rays and decided that yes, I was in need of a ROOT CANAL. Awesome. Atleast there will be no pain later! Oh the joys of trips to the dentist. He is making a good living off me this month...

Friday night Ken took me out on a date! It was so fun! We didn't really want to drive all the way to Lubbock and spend a bunch of money, so we loaded up the dogs in the truck, got some fast food and drove out into the country. We pulled over on an old dirt road, let the dogs out to run and sat in the bed of the truck to eat, watch the dogs play, and see the sunset! I LOVE my roughneck husband! It was probably the best cheap date we have been on in a LONG time! <3

Saturday Ken was so sweet and even though he had pains all his own, he felt bad that I was in so much pain and decided to help make me feel better... So he took me SHOPPING! All you girls out there know how much that helps ;) I got 2 new dresses for church! I've been in desperate need of a new skirt or dress so I was so ecstatic to find a couple dresses that I LOVE! And we found them at Ross so we spent less than 30$! You can't beat that! Now all I need are some great black boots!! :)

Monday was all about Ken, I was so grateful for my shopping trip that I allowed him one! However his idea of a shopping trip is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of mine! We spent the day driving around town scoping out old, used, seemingly unwanted toys (3 or 4 wheelers, dirtbikes, ect...) It was actually alot of fun and we weren't disappointed at the end of the day! We came home with two 3 wheelers and a dirtbike! And the best part is they were all FREE!!! Now of course they are all old and need work, but I don't think there is anything in the world Ken likes more than tinkering with old gadgets and actually getting them to work! And we figure between the three 3 wheelers we now have we should have enough parts to put together atleast 1 decent one! And Ken has already gotten the dirtbike running! It needs a few repairs to be safe for riding, but its always a good sign when I hear an engine come to life in our backyard!!

The best parts of this week have been the WONDERFUL WARM WEATHER (It was 70-80 degrees all week! We broke out the shorts and summer clothes and it was GREAT!) and finding out that my little sisters and brother are coming! HELLO SPRING BREAK! They will coming down in about a month and I CANNOT WAIT!! It will be so much fun!

It was quite the week, but I LOVE having a whole week off with Ken! Its really hard having him gone for an entire week, but the week get to spend together is always crazy and fun and I love having that time with him!

P.S. Pictures to come soon!

Valentines Day

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! I hope everyone has a wonderfully SWEET day shared with the ones you love!

New Years Resolutions... In February

Ken and I have decided that this year we are going to be more healthy! (I know, oh so original!)

So we took our first step at this goal by getting gym memberships last weekend! I, like many others, have made this goal before... But this year with Ken's help I am determined to succeed! Ken is strangely very enthusiastic about our goal and has already begun creating a spreadsheet with our theo max's and what percent of each max/how many reps we should do according to our goals... ect ect ect. Its quite funny to see him so thrilled and excited about it, but its also wonderful because his enthusiam motivates ME even more. I think we will be great workout partners! (Our stubborn/competitive personalities also help!) When we went to do our maxes I had a suprisingly fun time... Ken was actually really good at pushing me, but not too far. Even though he can lift about 100lbs more than me in about every single lift we did, he never made me feel insecure. I've been down the weightlifting road before in high school and college and I know that having the right partner who can motivate you without putting you down is essential, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish together!


However we also know that working out is only half of the entire goal... Changing our eating habits is a big part too! And THAT is going to be tougher than the working out I think. I'll admit we are BAD about eating out. With Kens work schedule we pretty much party for the whole week that he is home, which sounds fun, and believe me it is, but it has started catching up with us (hence the goal!) So that is where I come in and play the big role of the main motivator! I know I can do it, I just have to hone in my will power, and strap on my apron a little more! :)



To aid in my adjustment I have taken a cue from one of my cousins, who has for the past few years been picking a "word of the year" as a resolution and using that word throughout the year to help accomplish her goals. This year I have chosen DILIGENCE.

Definition given by Wikipedia:

Diligence is a zealous and careful nature in one's actions and work, exemplified by a decisive work ethic, budgeting of one's time, monitoring one's own activities to guard against laziness, and putting forth full concentration in one's work.

Diligence is the act of doing all things efficiently and relentlessly to the best of one's ability in order to achieve success in every endeavor.

I have this problem with laziness, as I'm sure we all experience from time to time, and I've been fighting it lately with lists and agendas and I feel like maybe I'm making some headway, so thats why I decided to make this my word. I want to be more productive this year than I have been in the last couple. I want to be more aware of my laziness and procrastinations and be more ZEALOUS in my ALL my endeavors! (Including but not limited to working out and eating a more healty diet:) I have a feeling that this is going to be a GREAT year!

Cold Weather? WHAT!?

It has been a frigid 0-15 degrees here in West Texas for about the last week or so. With a windchill of -11 and lower!! We even accumulated about 3-4 inches of snow at one point! Um HELLO? SERIOUSLY? It is COLD! Even by Idaho standards!! It was getting to be 70-75 degrees before this cold front hit and BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I was actually looking forward to the nice weather returning... Or atleast moving into spring and the RAINY SEASON! (I LOVE the rainy season here. The thunderstorms are AWESOME!) I do miss the cold weather, but now that Im experiencing it for the first time in about a year, I've had about enough :) Bring on the WARM weather!!!

LOVE!

So we all know the big day is coming up... thats right, VALENTINES day. Well in the Checketts household we (meaning KEN) do not believe in such a commercialized day of "love", so we decided after our first failed attempt at a "Valentines" day to celebrate our love on a day NEAR Valentines day but not ON Valentines day... haha That makes us less commercialized right?? This year Ken will be away at work on Valentines and the whole week before so he suprised me and treated me to a wonderful night earlier this week! It was incredible, and he totally caught me off guard, which RARELY happens ;) He rented us a suite at a hotel in Lubbock (complete with HUGE jacuzzi tub) and stocked it with roses, sparkling cider, and of course a rather LARGE heart-shaped box of chocolates!! He took me out to a nice dinner and also a movie and we just had a really great time! And for those of you who know my husband, you know this is COMPLETELY uncharacteristic of him, so you probably understand how shocked I was! Anyway it was so nice, I am so lucky to have such a great husband who continually suprises me and makes me love him even more! I hope that you all are treated to a Valentines day that is as wonderful as mine was!

REALLY?!?!?!?!?!

Today, my friends, has been a day full of SMACKS to the forehead while muttering (or sometimes shouting) REALLY?! Here is the tale (so far) of my "REALLY?!" day...

My "REALLY!?" day actually began at about midnight, when it first began to snow. I had just talked to Ken and looked outside to see if the weatherman was full of BS when he said it would snow. Turns out he wasn't. It was snowing alright. (Not the real Idaho snow I'm used to and love, but light dusting snow made to look fierce by 40mph winds :) I smacked my forehead and said REALLY?! I was excited, and had dreams of building a snowman in the morning! PLUS Ken was coming home tomorrow so I was NOT going to let ANYTHING get me down!!! However when I woke up I found the snow to be un-packable and in no way was it possible to build a snowman, so I smacked my forehead again and said "REALLY?! the only snow we get ALL winter that stay for more than 10 minutes and you can't even build with it!?" After being incredibly disappointed I remembered I was not going to let things get to me, Ken is coming home! So I decided to continue working on the laundry that I started yesterday. I was washing whites so I turned the washer to warm and let her do her thing... about 6.5 minutes later I heard the washer begin to drain and spin... and then A WHOLE LOT of SPLASHING! uh oh. I RAN into the kitchen (ya our washer is in our kitchen I know that's weird) and found all of the water from the washer falling to the floor behind it... Yes, I smacked my forehead and SHOUTED "REALLY?!" I then proceeded to use all our towels (which thankfully were going to be washed next) to mop up the water... It was only after I moved the washer to dry under it that it dawned on me... Our pipes must be frozen. There was no leak from any of the hoses, and the water had come BACK UP the drain pipe. I tested the cold water on the washer and big surprise NOTHING! So once again I SMACKED my forehead and muttered "REALLY!?" Well what is a girl supposed to do when this kind of thing happens and her husband is at work and can't be on the phone? OF COURSE, I called my DAD :) which led to me calling my landlord, who was no help, which THEN led me to calling my friend who helped me find the water meter to make sure there was no leak, which thank goodness there wasn't, at least as far as I could tell. So in order to hopefully warm up the pipe I was instructed to put use a space heater and point it at the wall, turn on the oven to help heat up the kitchen (we don't have central heat so the kitchen does get COLD) and hope to high heaven that the pipe does not burst. (Solid advice right?) WHAT A DEBACLE! Finally satisfied that I could leave for work and the whole house would not flood or burn down I started getting ready. Besides Ken is coming home, NOTHING, not even this was going to bring me down!!! Just then Ken texted me and said he was going to be home MUCH later than expected (and he usually gets home around 11pm) because he drove the BOMBER (his old truck that can't take the cold) to work and it is going to take a jump to start it and then quite a while to get warm enough to leave and then even LONGER because its tires aren't great and the roads are slick... that's right, SMACK.... "REALLY?!" Crisis' seem to happen most when he is gone and I'm left to deal with them alone... GO FIGURE! So I set out for work still little disappointed, but trying to remember that he WILL be home tonight, just not as fast as I would like... Well work was good until the very end when I found out I that I didn't balance, I won't go into detail, but its not good. You guessed it.... SMACK "REALLY?!" Oh what a day! Well I got home somehow still feeling OK about life, but ready to find a disaster. Yet Somehow, the house was still in one piece! "REALLY?!" lol And that is where I'm at right now... I don't feel like attempting to clean, or cook, or DO anything. So instead I sat down to write the story of my day....

Moral of the story... DO NOT post on facebook: "NO matter what, I will not let ANYTHING get me down today!".... You WILL be tested! :)

Funnies!!

Today I am basing my post on things that I find funny... However my definition of funny is sometimes quite different from the norm, so just go with me on this... :)

Today I was feeling incredibly lazy, so for dinner I decided to eat a microwavable dinner... I had to cook the meal for 2.5 minutes, while it was cooking I moved and started a new load of laundry, I fed my dogs, I cleared off the counters, I poured a cup of milk AND drank half of it! ALL in 2.5 minutes!!! Isn't it FUNNY how we always complain that there is never enough time during the day? (And I'm NOT pointing any fingers because I am the WORST at using that line) I have no idea why I noticed this today, but I couldn't believe how much I actually got done in those 2.5 minutes! I just thought it was kind of FUNNY!

A couple of weeks ago some friends of ours gave us a big ol' dogloo because they were moving and don't have dogs so they don't need it. Our dogs like to run in and out and play tag in it, but they don't really use it as a house (Ken would KILL me if I made them sleep outside!) Well yesterday these friends call me and ask if we use the dogloo at all... They recently took in a dog and need a place for it to sleep... So they texted me and came and picked it up, even though I never gave them the ok and didn't even get the text until 3 hours later!! Isn't it FUNNY how some people are total INDIAN GIVERS!! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not mad, my dogs just played with the thing... but I just found it kind of FUNNY that they saw nothing wrong with coming to MY house, getting into MY backyard, and taking MY dogloo without even getting my consent... Hmmm...

The weather for this week is forecasting a 30% chance of snow for tonight and tomorrow... Every person I know or have talked to here in Brownfield has been or will be going to the store to stock up on water, milk, bread, and soup! haha I thought that was REALLY FUNNY! Isn't it funny that people who rarely see snow FREAK OUT when more than half an inch accumulates on the ground! Our whole town pretty much shuts down whenever it snows! My co-workers were cautioning me all day about how HORRIBLE Texans are at driving in the snow! Hopefully I don't end up on the street with some bad drivers! We'll see what happens tonight and how many people hole up inside if it really does snow!

I bought some new shampoo and conditioner over the weekend because I had run out. I bought a different brand than I usually do because my hair was starting to get super static-y and for some reason I attribute that to a continued use of the same kind of S/C! lol Anyway I was at work, with my hair in a ponytail and every time my hair hit my face I could smell just how WONDERFUL my new S/C is! To me it was a little bit FUNNY because when I use/smell a particular scent for an extended period of time its like I almost stop smelling it completely, and the fact that I could actually smell how great my hair was made me smile :)

These are a few things that I thought were kind of funny... Whether you could follow my reasoning or not is a whole different story! But I hope you enjoyed my little tid bits none the less! :)

My Random Thoughts Today

This post is solely based on my random thoughts today. Its a boring Saturday while Ken is at work so I have had plenty of time to let my mind wander :)

1. Have you ever been at a crossroads in your life? Gotten to a point where you know you have to make a decision that could change the course of your life for good... Ya, me too. I feel like Ken and I have been constantly coming up on junctions over the last year or so, and they just keep on coming! Good Grief can't life just settle down for like 2 seconds? Guess not! :) At least it keeps life interesting... Right?

2. I LOVE getting my hair cut! Well trimmed I should say. Ken would probably KILL me if I CUT it :) I've been trying to grow it out but the ends were splitting something horrible, so I went in today to get a trim and it was like Heaven! I just love how your hair feels so much more healthy after its trimmed!

3. I've always kind of wanted to try the whole headband thing, but I just never really thought I could pull it off. You know what I mean, those super cute girls with the pony tail and headband... Ok maybe its just me. But I bought a couple today and I'm going to try it out for church tomorrow :) We'll see how it goes!

4. I really like cheese quesadillas... Like I REALLY like them, I could eat atleast one everyday and be happy. I had one tonight in fact, and I was pleasantly suprised when I opened the pack of tortillas (which were a brand we had never tried before so i was a little skeptical) and found them to be probably the softest, most tasty tortillas I've ever had! It was awesome :)

5. I used to think that I preferred citrus scented candles above all others, but I realized today that the last 4-5 candle purchases I have made have all been more of a baked goods/foodsy type scent. Such as hazelnut, pumpkin spice, cinnamon ect... I guess I found my true preference :)

Such is the crazy wanderings of my mind! I hope you enjoyed it :)

Part 2! Oh how I just LOVE my family!

Some more pictures of our BEAWESOME vacation with Val, Perry, and the kids! Seriously, it was the most fun I've had in SO LONG! I miss them so much!!

Claire, Val and I! We are pretty cute. Just sayin! Well atleast Claire is, there is NO denying that!

Again Claire is so adorable! And looks just like her Daddy! He was focused on a video game I think!

My sister is SO SASSY!! I totally LOVE it!! Not to mention how totally HOT she is ;)

Oh my Ruby-doo... I love her so much! She has a little leap frog laptop she brought to our house and she accidentally left it here. You can plug it into a real laptop and leave her "emails", and it knows her name so everytime you push the letter R it says "R, thats the first letter of YOUR name Ruby!" Its so cute, and I'm totally lame and miss her so much so I play with it now and then... It will be a sad day when I mail it back to her!

I know its a little dark, but this picture is really amazing! I just love her! She is such a doll!

I CANNOT get enough of my family! I feel so lucky that they came and visited us! I hope hope hope that MORE of our family will be able to make a trip sometime soon!!