I just started this blog and I'm probably already losing like all three readers I have due to the lack of posts! I have been trying to get it done since Sunday, but one thing kept leading to another and now here it is, 1:00pm on Tuesday! I opened with that picture of a cute little man in hopes that you'll get distracted by his smile enough to forgive me?I actually opened this up last night and started typing a little, but my eyes kept blurring out because I was so tired. I barely had the energy to shut down my laptop before I rolled over and crashed out....and it was only 9;30! This 5:30 shift of Travis' has really started to make us 'early to bed, early to rise' type of people.
So onto this past weekend.....
Friday night we decided to just hang around the house doing what we do best, nothing! We put some steaks and onions on the grill, sauteed up some mushrooms, made some super tasty garlic cheesy bread, threw together a salad, and had ourselves a pretty delicious dinner! I'm not typically a steak person. I could take 'em or leave 'em and usually when I take 'em, I prefer to douse them in steak sauce. This time though, Trav was able to guilt me into trying a bite before adding sauce and oh man I'm so glad I did! It was so perfectly seasoned and marinated and then brushed with this salad dressing/marinade I had him throw on it. It was juicy and flavorful and seriously, steak sauce would've ruined it. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water right now! And the bread! The bread was just as I was hoping it would be when I found the recipe. Tell me this doesn't look good.....
Friday night we decided to just hang around the house doing what we do best, nothing! We put some steaks and onions on the grill, sauteed up some mushrooms, made some super tasty garlic cheesy bread, threw together a salad, and had ourselves a pretty delicious dinner! I'm not typically a steak person. I could take 'em or leave 'em and usually when I take 'em, I prefer to douse them in steak sauce. This time though, Trav was able to guilt me into trying a bite before adding sauce and oh man I'm so glad I did! It was so perfectly seasoned and marinated and then brushed with this salad dressing/marinade I had him throw on it. It was juicy and flavorful and seriously, steak sauce would've ruined it. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water right now! And the bread! The bread was just as I was hoping it would be when I found the recipe. Tell me this doesn't look good.....
I absolutely love our cheap little Wal-Mart patio set. I mean, ultimately I would love to have one of those comfy looking $600 patio sets, with the COUCH and fire pit in the middle of the coffee table, but right now we have no room, not to mention the money for it! Anyway, I enjoy spending every sunny evening out there eating dinner. And that Aloe plant as our center piece, Trav picked it out. He planted it and added the decorative rocks (aka rocks from our rock bed) all on his own. It gave our patio such a cute little southwest look. Good job Trav!After I was done falling in love with my steak, we noticed that the sky went from blue to tan pretty quickly. The wind gusts we had been having grew stronger and well, what happens in the desert when you get 60-70 mph winds? A sand storm, right! evidently windy days in the spring are very normal down here and we've definitely been having them, but Friday was by far the windiest I've seen it. We decided to take in anything we thought would blow away because it was getting that bad! Well, except Dylan's sleeve to his camp chair. It blew away before we got out there. R.I.P Blue Camp Chair Sleeve, you will be missed ....
Saturday, Travis and his co-worker/friend/hunting buddy, Jonathon went to go scout out some possible hunting areas and while they were doing that, Dylan and I met up with Amy and Kaylee (Jonathon's wife and one year old daughter) at McDonald's playland for lunch. It's so sad how my son gets so excited to see the 'Golden Arches'. At first when we would drive past them and he would say, "eat, eat!" I thought he was telling me he was hungry. So if we didn't have plans for lunch or dinner and it was about that time, I would stop and get him some nuggets. If we were going to be eating soon, I would tell him, "Buddy, we're getting ready to eat soon". It wasn't until recently though, that I discovered he thinks McDonald's name, is 'Eat'. It started slowly making sense. Like there would be times when he would literally just get done eating (a good sized portion of food too) and he would see the arches and say, "eat, eat!" and sometimes it was chicken nuggets from "eat, eat!" that he had just eaten and then would see the bag, or our drink cup and he'd say it. So I put the two and two together. I'm guessing he learned that from the times I would take him there for a play date and I would say, "Do you want to go eat buddy?" Not sure, but it's funny. Since then though I've been trying to teach him that it's "McDonald's", but all I've really ever gotten him to say is, "Donald's" in his Dylan way.
So anyway, lunch with Amy and Kaylee was good. Dylan behaved pretty well and of course, so did Kaylee. I miss that age when it comes to eating out. They are usually just so content eating and/or playing with little hand toys you give them, that you can usually get through a meal without too much fuss. We ate and then let the kids play for a bit. It was pretty crowded and the older kids were just running all over not really paying any attention to the younger ones, so we decided to take off.
After we left, Amy had invited Dylan and I over after Dylan woke up from his nap, but I knew since he was going down a little later than normal, it would probably be pretty close to the guys getting home and dinner time by the time he woke up, so I just invited them over to grill out. They came over around 4 and we just grilled some chicken, let the kids play, talked, and let the guys watch their hunting! Both kids were getting extremely tired so at about 8 or so they headed home and we all called it a night. We were tired too!
Sunday was such a good day. For the past year or maybe a little more I've been feeling this need to go to church. I wasn't raised in church or in a religious family. My parents believe in God, but I think they always just felt like they didn't need to go to church on Sundays to confirm their belief. They never denied me of exploring that option though. In fact, my Mom had a really good friend who did go to church with her family every Sunday and she invited us with them to several of their Easter and Christmas services and we would go. I was very young though and only have vague memories of it. I also had a good friend in elementary school who's parent's went to church every Sunday and I would go with her once or twice a month. The biggest thing I remember about that though, was the breakfast or lunch we got to go eat afterwards.
As I got older I knew that if at anytime I wanted to start going to church, all I would have to do is ask my parents (if I needed a ride) or just go once I got old enough to drive myself. But being that it was never forced upon me and that I was young and 'had better things to do' (or so I thought), I just never did.
Ever since having my own child though, I have felt like this is something that I need to make a part of my life. And I eventually want it to be fully introduced to Dylan and any future children we may have. I will never force it on him though, I will never make church a dreaded thing and as he gets older if he decides it isn't for him, then I wont push it. But for now, I want him to know the option is out there and open that door for him, that I never fully had opened for me.
So anyway, lunch with Amy and Kaylee was good. Dylan behaved pretty well and of course, so did Kaylee. I miss that age when it comes to eating out. They are usually just so content eating and/or playing with little hand toys you give them, that you can usually get through a meal without too much fuss. We ate and then let the kids play for a bit. It was pretty crowded and the older kids were just running all over not really paying any attention to the younger ones, so we decided to take off.
After we left, Amy had invited Dylan and I over after Dylan woke up from his nap, but I knew since he was going down a little later than normal, it would probably be pretty close to the guys getting home and dinner time by the time he woke up, so I just invited them over to grill out. They came over around 4 and we just grilled some chicken, let the kids play, talked, and let the guys watch their hunting! Both kids were getting extremely tired so at about 8 or so they headed home and we all called it a night. We were tired too!
Sunday was such a good day. For the past year or maybe a little more I've been feeling this need to go to church. I wasn't raised in church or in a religious family. My parents believe in God, but I think they always just felt like they didn't need to go to church on Sundays to confirm their belief. They never denied me of exploring that option though. In fact, my Mom had a really good friend who did go to church with her family every Sunday and she invited us with them to several of their Easter and Christmas services and we would go. I was very young though and only have vague memories of it. I also had a good friend in elementary school who's parent's went to church every Sunday and I would go with her once or twice a month. The biggest thing I remember about that though, was the breakfast or lunch we got to go eat afterwards.
As I got older I knew that if at anytime I wanted to start going to church, all I would have to do is ask my parents (if I needed a ride) or just go once I got old enough to drive myself. But being that it was never forced upon me and that I was young and 'had better things to do' (or so I thought), I just never did.
Ever since having my own child though, I have felt like this is something that I need to make a part of my life. And I eventually want it to be fully introduced to Dylan and any future children we may have. I will never force it on him though, I will never make church a dreaded thing and as he gets older if he decides it isn't for him, then I wont push it. But for now, I want him to know the option is out there and open that door for him, that I never fully had opened for me.
In what seems like perfect timing, our friends Amy and Jonathan told us about their church they found here. We were going to go with them that first weekend they had mentioned it, but I had already planned on going out of town, so we decided to join them their first weekend back after vacation, which was this past Sunday.
I was nervous. Nervous because I don't know anything. Nervous because I was going to be putting Dylan in daycare and how was he going to react. Nervous because I didn't want these people to judge me for being a newcomer- to their church and to church in general. But let me tell you, from the moment we walked in the door I felt at ease. I never once felt like an outsider. The women registering Dylan were extremely nice and made me and him feel welcomed right away. And the lady watching Dylan's classroom made me feel even better. She told me we could leave whatever we needed to make him feel comfortable (i.e., his blanket!), she said I could leave his own snacks, but they had pretzels and juice that they give, etc. She just welcomed him in without any hesitation. We were a bit early, so Dylan was the first and only kid when we arrived. I thought, 'Oh man, how are we going to sneak out of here when it's just us, him, and this lady?!' We didn't have to. He walked right in there and immediately started playing with the toys. He didn't even look back at us as we left. I mean, obviously he felt comfortable with the situation or he wouldn't have let us out of his sight, but part of me wonders if this was meant to work out this way, you know? Like it was a sign. It felt right immediately. So onto the service. I won't go into too much detail, not knowing what everyones beliefs are on this subject, but I will tell you this. The Pastor was so energetic and funny, but in a very respectable way. Anytime he would use his personal experiences to reference something, he would make it entertaining, but never went overboard or too far with the story. He kept us all paying attention and wanting to hear more. The scriptures were displayed up on a big screen for those of us without Bibles (me), so that was nice. The music was lively and the sermon on Sunday, really felt like it was meant for me specifically. It was like they knew I would be there, so they chose to cover this specific subject. I left feeling refreshed and very good about our decision to join Amy and Jonathon. After the service, we headed out to pick up Dylan. There was a bit of a traffic jam exiting so it took us a while to get to him. And then once we got to the hallway where all of the classrooms are, there were huddles of parents preventing outside greeting their children, which made it even harder to make our way to the classroom. It was pretty funny though because we were pretty much the last parents to arrive (all of the other parents of kids in that class were standing outside the door chatting, so at one point I had to sort of pry my way through) and there was Dylan standing right by the door kind of like, "Okay, what's going on here? I see all these parents, where the heck are mine?" He was all smiles though. He wasn't distraught or crying or upset one bit. He was just kind of waiting. I picked him up and he said, "MOMMY!" and then I said, "Hey buddy, there's Daddy!" and he said, "Hi Daddy!". It was so sweet.
After church we were starving, so we all went down and had lunch at this pizza place called "The Old Pizza Mill and Sub Factory" we've been hearing a lot about. It's no Moose's Tooth, but it was some pretty good pizza! Just some good ol' from scratch, pizza. It reminded me of something you would get in like New York or something. Oh, and we got ours with green chilis on it! If you've never had green chilis on a pizza, I highly recommend you trying it! It was SOOOO good! You have to love green chilis though. We do. A lot. Probably a good thing since we live in the green chili capital of the world!
On the drive home Travis and I discussed how we felt about the service. I told him how much I enjoyed it and all of the reasons why. I can't wait until next weekend. I obviously want to check it out a few more times before I decide, but if I continue to feel this way and same with Travis, I would love for us to become members. I would also like to look into Bible study on Wednesday nights. I need to know more. I remember my friend Cherish mentioning in her blog that she was reading a book called, "30 Days to Understanding the Bible". I looked it up on Amazon and read through the first few pages and think I'm going to look into getting it. Just to kind of help me better understand. Because I have no clue.
In the end, I would say it was a good weekend had by all!
I was nervous. Nervous because I don't know anything. Nervous because I was going to be putting Dylan in daycare and how was he going to react. Nervous because I didn't want these people to judge me for being a newcomer- to their church and to church in general. But let me tell you, from the moment we walked in the door I felt at ease. I never once felt like an outsider. The women registering Dylan were extremely nice and made me and him feel welcomed right away. And the lady watching Dylan's classroom made me feel even better. She told me we could leave whatever we needed to make him feel comfortable (i.e., his blanket!), she said I could leave his own snacks, but they had pretzels and juice that they give, etc. She just welcomed him in without any hesitation. We were a bit early, so Dylan was the first and only kid when we arrived. I thought, 'Oh man, how are we going to sneak out of here when it's just us, him, and this lady?!' We didn't have to. He walked right in there and immediately started playing with the toys. He didn't even look back at us as we left. I mean, obviously he felt comfortable with the situation or he wouldn't have let us out of his sight, but part of me wonders if this was meant to work out this way, you know? Like it was a sign. It felt right immediately. So onto the service. I won't go into too much detail, not knowing what everyones beliefs are on this subject, but I will tell you this. The Pastor was so energetic and funny, but in a very respectable way. Anytime he would use his personal experiences to reference something, he would make it entertaining, but never went overboard or too far with the story. He kept us all paying attention and wanting to hear more. The scriptures were displayed up on a big screen for those of us without Bibles (me), so that was nice. The music was lively and the sermon on Sunday, really felt like it was meant for me specifically. It was like they knew I would be there, so they chose to cover this specific subject. I left feeling refreshed and very good about our decision to join Amy and Jonathon. After the service, we headed out to pick up Dylan. There was a bit of a traffic jam exiting so it took us a while to get to him. And then once we got to the hallway where all of the classrooms are, there were huddles of parents preventing outside greeting their children, which made it even harder to make our way to the classroom. It was pretty funny though because we were pretty much the last parents to arrive (all of the other parents of kids in that class were standing outside the door chatting, so at one point I had to sort of pry my way through) and there was Dylan standing right by the door kind of like, "Okay, what's going on here? I see all these parents, where the heck are mine?" He was all smiles though. He wasn't distraught or crying or upset one bit. He was just kind of waiting. I picked him up and he said, "MOMMY!" and then I said, "Hey buddy, there's Daddy!" and he said, "Hi Daddy!". It was so sweet.
After church we were starving, so we all went down and had lunch at this pizza place called "The Old Pizza Mill and Sub Factory" we've been hearing a lot about. It's no Moose's Tooth, but it was some pretty good pizza! Just some good ol' from scratch, pizza. It reminded me of something you would get in like New York or something. Oh, and we got ours with green chilis on it! If you've never had green chilis on a pizza, I highly recommend you trying it! It was SOOOO good! You have to love green chilis though. We do. A lot. Probably a good thing since we live in the green chili capital of the world!
On the drive home Travis and I discussed how we felt about the service. I told him how much I enjoyed it and all of the reasons why. I can't wait until next weekend. I obviously want to check it out a few more times before I decide, but if I continue to feel this way and same with Travis, I would love for us to become members. I would also like to look into Bible study on Wednesday nights. I need to know more. I remember my friend Cherish mentioning in her blog that she was reading a book called, "30 Days to Understanding the Bible". I looked it up on Amazon and read through the first few pages and think I'm going to look into getting it. Just to kind of help me better understand. Because I have no clue.
In the end, I would say it was a good weekend had by all!
So, I booked our airline tickets (mine and Dylan's) back up to Alaska! Thank you SO very much Mom & Dad for providing mileage for one of the tickets! We wouldn't be heading up there if it weren't for you. Travis has that training I was telling you about so we figured this would be a good opportunity to head up there and visit. It will probably be the only opportunity we have to head up there until about January, so I am glad that it worked out. We will be getting into Anchorage April 9th and then we head back home on May 5th. So just about an entire month! Travis' training is from April 12th through May 3rd so I planned our visit around him being able to drop us off and pick us up.
Dylan helping me book our airline tickets, or not really actually. He was more so just tearing the room apart and playing in our box o' pens!Tonight we are having Amber and her kids over for a gluten-free dinner (Apple Cranberry Stuffed Pork Roast) and tomorrow a few of us are getting together for a play date at The Bounce Place. Not sure what our plans are beyond that, (until next weekend that is, but we will save that for when it gets closer) so I guess we will just play it by ear!
I'm starting to think we don't have enough toys in this house for him? First the box of pens and now the laundry basket? Hmmm......cheap entertainment I guess! I actually have a really cute video of him sliding around in the basket, but I can't get the attachment to open in the email.
I will try to start getting better about taking more pictures, but for now I hope you enjoyed the few I put up.
I'm starting to think we don't have enough toys in this house for him? First the box of pens and now the laundry basket? Hmmm......cheap entertainment I guess! I actually have a really cute video of him sliding around in the basket, but I can't get the attachment to open in the email. 
OH MY GOSH!! I am just getting caught up on your blog and I totally cannot believe you will be here like in 2 weeks! WOOT WOOT!! :-) I love that Dylan calls McD's "Eat, eat" and you just figured it out. I would have thought the same thing as you, that he wanted to eat there! I'm totally jealous of your patio set even if it isn't the 600 dollar one. I'm getting ready to post a pic of our patio, with the 4 feet of snow in the yard!!!!!
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