The End Was Inevitable

I have been reading some old friends blogs and it made me retrospect my own. As I was reading I felt many blogs are A: to show off your kids  B: to show off your stuff C: teach something new or D: show others cool stuff E: share sob stories or joy stores. Well, we don't have A, I don't do C or D, I feel like I unintentionally brag about what we got or what we have done. And in reality our lives are pretty boring, so you only see the good stuff and I am definitely not giving sob stories. So I think I may dis ban my blog. It has been a fun 175 posts but I feel we must part. We have had our ups and downs but I can't bare to read blogs similar to mine so why should I post one like mine. Thank you so much for following but I will no longer be posting.

Lots of Love, Dom 

It was fun.

This last week has been ridiculously busy, I seriously haven't had time to stop and breath. I have a feeling I wont be able to till January.

 But tonight was quite enjoyable, Derek had a bachelor party to go to and I had to attend the bridal shower. After attending the shower, the girl friends all thought we should do something fun so what did we do, we went dancing. Oh goodness it was so much fun just to hang out on the dance floor and just let loose. The wedding is next Saturday so we talked about going again next Friday. It'll be fun, something I need a little more in my life. 

I've heard that before

I have been talking to a lot of my friends who are saying, I haven't had time since I got back from fall break, I feel like this statement has never been truer in my life. So here I am saying I haven't had time since we got back from fall break. I didn't even have time to update pictures from our Fall trip to California because as soon as we got home from trip I was working on our Halloween costumes, then we had parties to go to and now I am finally updating! YAY!! So here we go, we'll start with what we did we the few weeks before we went on Fall break. I should probably put this in three different posts but what the heck we're going to throw it all into one.

So a few weeks before we went on Fall break we actually did something that was so fun! That we did two years ago and that I absolutely love to do. We canned fruit, lots and lots of fruit. I spent quite a few days canning.

Derek did a really good job eating the cherries, I feel like we ate about half of them before we even got them into jars, and I don't really like cherries but these were the most delicious cherries I have ever had in my life.

The cherries when we were done. So yummy and not very much sugar. 

Next we canned peaches. 

One for the jars one for Derek. I think we consumed a ton of peaches too. 

It took us two days to can two boxes of yummy peaches, two years ago we had the help of Derek's mom so it only it took a one day. Since most of it was me and a little bit of Derek, it took a quite a bit longer. 

We were both so proud of all our hardwork, next we are to work on apples. Do you think we could survive during a zombie attack on apples, peaches and cherries? We think so. 

Later that we got into our car and drove down to Casa Grande were Derek's sister and mom live and we made pizza and played games with his nieces and nephews. The next day I drove back up to the valley and went to work while Derek played all day long. He played racquetball with his step-dad and then shot off rockets with his nephews and step-dad. They had a blast and I knew he would appreciate it if I added pictures to the blog. 

Once I got off work on Saturday I drove back down to Casa Grande to pick up Derek and to go out to dinner and then bright and early Sunday morning we departed to California. Our first destination was the beach with my way awesome cousins. I am waiting for her to send the only picture we took together. 

Driving to Hollywood we go, Derek was not impressed with my navigational skills. hahah 

In front of the Kodak theater, to those who go to California, Hollywood is only worth it the first time. It's like Times Square, you go for the feeling and then call it good. 

While in Hollywood, we found our favorite cupcake shop, Crumbs. it's so good we got two... each! 

 Eventually we went to Redondo Beach and found a place of my childhood, Quality Seafood!! It was so yum! There was so much variety, almost everything was caught that day, steamed right there for you and dipped in butter sauce!

 Derek was so proud of his feast of shrimp, shark steak, clam chowder, oysters, and a yummy crab.

 Yep, still looks delish. I wish I could eat here once a week. 

 Nothing survived. 

 Derek makes so much fun of me because I absolutely love churros. There is just something so yummy about cinnamon sugar coated fried bread. 

Even despite eating a whole heap of seafood we were still able to enjoy some yummy churros, in fact these were probably the best churros I have ever had in my life. 

We were finally able to visit my brother and his family. He took us to the Ontario Aircraft Museum with our nephews it was such a blast. 

 My big brother Tony and my big nephew Andrew, Derek would say how similar Andrew and I were. We both needed naps, we would be cranky if we didn't nap or eat, we loved to play and snuggle and we are mostly both chunkers!! We love food so much! 

 Derek in second command of the aircraft. 

 I climbed into the shooting seat, and we blasted off. 

 Aiden my other studly nephew, sitting in the dome. 

 Andrew was starting to get hungry and cranky so he didnt want to take pictures with us. 

 We went to Bucca di Peppo, and it was hilarious hearing my nephews say it over and over the entire drive. Then Andrew started talking in London. (his absolutly adorable british accent, Derek still quotes it to this day, "Mummy can we watch Thomas on the Tele") 

 While at Bucca we all enjoyed the giant sunday, okay mostly just the boys, they all enjoyed.

We weren't planning on going to Disneyland or California Adventure because it is so expensive and we were trying to keep the trip low budget. But we were able to find a very very good discount for tickets So we took advantage of the opportunity and drove down to the Happiest Place on Earth. 

We started in the Hollywood Tower of Terror. We only went once so I didn't get as sick as I did last year.  

 While in California Adventure we went to the Animation Academy, probably our favorite part of this trip. You sit down with a real animator and every one has their own paper and clipboard and the animator shows you how to draw a character. We loved it so much that we did it twice, first time was Pluto and the second time was Jack Skellington. 

 For being October, it was unbelievably warm even wearing shorts and a t-shirts was still too hot. Disneyland needs misters all over the place. 

 The new Star Tours was probably the coolest transformation ever. I was very impressed with all that they did, minus the ridiculously long line.

 The Haunted Mansion was very impressive. We loved every minute of what Jack did to the place.

Once we got back from California, sewing commenced to make our wicked cool costumes. It took Derek and I forever to agree on a costume and once we did I never stopped sewing till I needed to go to work. We had two costume parties to go to and I was so excited to dress up as a couple. This is our first time in three years that we had the opportunity and reason to dress up. And for Halloween being Derek's favorite holiday I was very surprised with how much he hated dressing up. So this year we agreed on a tightrope walker and the circus ringleader. I think he made a great ring leader and people wanted me to balance on everything. 

Hope your Halloween and October was as busy as ours and that the rest of the Holiday Season isn't too overwhelming! 

Just a snip-it

This is just a quick snip-it, I will update later with tons of fun pictures and lots of details of everything we have been up to.  Things are quite crazy right now, I am cutting and sewing, hot gluing and of course taking it all apart and trying again.  So in lieu of Halloween being just around the corner I thought I would share a snip-it of our costumes but wait to share the final revealing. So without further adiu here you are.

Any Guesses?

You're newest assistant

Did I tell you yet? I am super excited about this opportunity! I just got a job as an assistant in salon! I am so beyond ecstatic, I spent the last year in cosmetology school and the last sixish months looking for a job. I finally took a job out of desperation and I loved it, but I felt like I didn't know anything and didn't want to drive for 40 mins to get to work everyday. So after a week of debating I quit, it was a huge leap of faith. And I was greatly blessed after I jumped. I got a call from my "dream salon" in Gilbert about 15-20 minutes away. Yippy! I did a short interview and then I did a working interview that very same week and they loved me, they really loved me!
They offered for me to start soon but since I have been nannying I told them I needed to find a replacement first.As of right now my start date is next Thursday!! YAY! I am totally bummed though, they said I have to wear all black! That is worse then cosmetology school, at least then we got to wear white too! But other than that it is a great salon in downtown Gilbert, a mile away from my cousin so I will get to see her, and in 9 months to a year I will be a commission stylist!

Always Remember

I have started this post countless times today and through out the week I have pondered what I would write. And I am still at a loss for words. I wasn't in NYC, I was all the way across the country right here in sunny AZ.  had never been to NY, but I knew I would love it. I don't know a soul that was lost that day, but I know they are with our loving Heavenly Father.

I have been to New York countless times since the tragedy of 9/11. I love it every time I visit. I've been to the memorial and it has brought tears. I have read many blogs and facebook statuses today each one bringing more tears. I really don't know what more to post than where I was this day 10 years ago and how I feel now, and hope that I am not to redundant on the subject of remembering.

I was on my way to high school listening to the radio as the first plane hit. I didn't fully comprehend what was going on I was only 16, I didn't even know what the twin towers were. In every class I was in that day all we did was watch the T.V. screens in each class as they replayed the planes and as we watched rescue units and newscasters  We sat in silence as our small teenage minds tried to understand how devastating this was. As we tried to understand what we could do. I came home and cried, I had no idea why I was in tears I had no connection to New York in anyway but my tender spirit was scared, scared of what the future would bring, scared for the people that would later serve our country to fight and protect us. But I was also filled with peace, I knew everything would be alright. But it took time to rebuild, I was never there but I have seen the aftermath I have seen the memorials I have seen the hope. It was a terrible event and sometimes I do find myself worried for the future, I worry about bringing life into this scary world and trying to raise it to know that his/her Heavenly Father loves them. That everything will work out and it will, there is a plan and we will live with our Father again and we will feel that peace continually.

It's my birthday

So it's my birthday I'm turning 25... again. Just in case you were wondering I plan on being here for the next ten years and at that point I will turn 29. Here is the conversation I had with my sister a few weeks ago that explains everything. 

Alisha- So how does it feel that you're going to be 26 in a couple weeks. 

Me- EWWAA!! I am turning 25... again.

Alisha- LOL but I thought Steph was turning 25 that would make no sense that Mom was only pregnant for    four month.
Me-She can turn 25, but like I said I am also turning 25. I would like to stay here for the next ten years at least.
Alisha- How old is Derek?
Me-25
Alisha-So after 25 you stay at 25?
Me-Well, I will at least, I am going to allow derek to go along for ten years while I stay 25.
Derek-So now your like a vampire and never age

Me- Well no, I will be 25 for ten years, then I will turn 29. And stay there for a very very long time... it's actually still undetermined.  And I do not sparkle.
Alisha-So in ten years you'll just turn  29?

Alisha- You don't want to be like Mom and amaze people of how young you look for your age.
Me- No because I will look as young as they think I am.
Alisha- Karlie (your niece) would only be 27 only two years younger than you.
Me-umm... I was so young when she was born.
Alisha- Spencer and Austin will have just turned 30.
Me-Yep.
Alisha-How did the oldest suddenly become the youngest? What are you going to tell your kids so they don't blow your cover?
Me-That I never age.

So now that we have our bases covered yes, I am turning 25 again. And I will enjoy it for the next ten years thank you very much.

Our Wedding Album FINALLY

It has taken me two long years, to figure out what I was doing and how I was going to scrapbook our wedding. And I just finished, I am so excited. Now that I have finally updated it to shutterfly all I have to do is pay for it. Now onto 2009, 2010 and 2011 hahah So enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Well that was... counterproductive

Some days I work so hard on losing five inches, on most days I eat pretty healthy and workout. But some days I eat chips and salsa for lunch with ice cream as dessert. But there is always tomorrow...

Dog

So about a month and a half ago a few things happened to my family, I don't really want to go into much detail the only part that truly matters is that we had to take in my sisters dog Babe for a few weeks. Babe is a maltipoo she is a pretty good dog she is a really good cuddler and super small, but there are the few downsides we have taken her before and she has gone to the bathroom in my house, she hates baths and she will eat anything. One time we were watching her and I was decorating a cake, we ran out and came back and babe had broken out of her cage and ate a huge chunk of said cake. I was furious, good thing I had enough time to fix it. Well, this time was different, my mom said she didn't need to be in her cage when we left she does much better when she has free reign of the house. I thought "that makes sense". So lets rewind to a month and half ago, we took in babe and if we weren't home she was fine, she wouldn't go to the bathroom till we let her out. She was doing really well. Then Derek and I decided to go on a church campout which by the way was way fun! I purchased all the snack and got the car ready, then picked Derek up from work and headed up north. My mom said she would stop by and let Babe out while we were gone. So it worked out. Well this is where the story gets good, we came home from our camping trip and the garbage can was outside, we figured something had happened and my mom had cleaned it up. So we continued unpacking and putting all our stuff away, even most of the snacks I apparently like to be over prepared. Derek and I don't usually purchase a lot of snacks let alone beef jerky, so it was truly a real treat. We don't have very much storage in our kitchen so I put the jerky and other snacks in this itty bitty shelf, well lets fast forward to sunday morning, church was hard for some reason my kids in primary were unruly and I was short teachers so I came home frustrated. I opened the kitchen door and the garbage was knocked over and the jerky our precious jerky bag was empty! The dog ate two huge bags of JERKY!! I was livid! So Derek my lifesaver came in and cleaned up the mess and said it would be okay. Let's fast forward to this last Saturday,  we had a package in the mail and it was sent to Derek and I, but the sender was Dog, we knew the address was from Dereks sister, we just thought it was my birthday gift a month early to drive me crazy. So we opened the package and there was a letter that said in her best I can haz cheeseberger writing "Deer Dereck and Dohm I haz been supr gassy since eatsin thiz dizguztng meet. Plz haz it bak withe me complitmintz. Dog" Oh Derek and I were dying it was too funny, and of course they sent us the costco size jerky! Amazing! What's even funnier is the person who gave us the jerky was not the owner of said dog. But it's all good, we love our jerky!

Update

There are a handful of things going on in the last month and handful of things not going on this month.
1. Derek has officially started teaching seminary for three hours a day Monday through Friday. For FHE this last Monday Derek and I decorated his classroom and I printed some pictures to go in his office and we also purchased a whiteboard to write daily quotes. Yesterday when he was done teaching, he texted me many pictures with his officially finished classroom. I think Derek is very excited to be teaching and to be studying the Old Testament. I am very sad because I have no one to cuddle with in the morning since Derek is gone by 530am.

2. I have finished school and am now looking for a cosmetology job. I have done a number of interviews and printed a ton of resumes. But still nothing, it is slightly frustrating. So until I find a job I am back to nannying. I love being a nannny but I want so badly to work in a salon and use the knowledge I have learned and to gain more knowledge.


3. Our callings are going great.


like I said not much is going on

The Great Haboob

Okay honestly I don't know what a Haboob is because all my years in Arizona we have called them dust storms but that is the trend. So what happened that night is my friend Heather asked me to go with her to help clean an office building. As we were driving we saw this giant cloud rolling towards us so as Heather and I thought we were going to die, I recorded our last moments. lol Gladly we survived and only suffered some massive dirty cars. So without further ado here is our near death dusty experience. 

A letter

Dear Mother Nature,

          I have a feeling that it is early enough in the season that I could make a difference. I absolutely love monsoon season, I enjoy the lightning and the thunder and of course the rain. But this is where I am somewhat frustrated with you, it being July it is uncomfortably humid 100% of the day and then you only rain for 5 minutes. I think there is something wrong with that. If you are going to make Arizona humid at least rain for 2 hours is that to much to ask?

Sincerly,
Domanique

Vaycation, no STAYCATION!!

Can you believe it Derek and I have been together for two years! woot woot time sure does fly. Well, it happened that our anniversary was the same weekend I graduated and also the same weekend as memorial day, lets just say it was a busy weekend. So we decided we needed to A: go on vacation and B: celebrate our anniversary. So we decided to do both. But going up north was out of the question, it was to expensive, going to Cali would have required 6 hours of driving time each way, and flying was out of the question too flights were overbooked so we couldn't have used buddy passes. So we opted to go on a staycation. So we went to the Hilton in Scottsdale, sat by the pool, hung out at the mall because it was too dang hot to be outside, and went to restaurants we have wanted to go to for quite some time. While hanging out at the mall Derek's cousins met up with us, they have been stalking Haagen Dazs for a few months so they made a visit and it happened to be the same time that we were there. We have also been wanting to try out Fogo de Chao, ever hear about it, AMAZING! Fogo de Chao is a brazillian churrascaria or a brazillian steakhouse with all you can eat meat. yummy! I ate my weight in meat, and I feel like I could go vegetarian to make up for the amount of meat we ate that night. By the time we were done eating we realized we were stuffed, but while talking to the waiters we had mentioned we were there for our anniversary so they came out with the best creme brulee I have ever eaten in my life. To think we were stuffed but then realized we could still eat more... this is why america is obese. But it was so worth it. Well without further ado here are some pictures of our fun adventure and I highly recommend a staycation.

 Us with Laura and Jordan, oh my husband is so silly.

 Now that I think about it Derek and Laura both have similar personalities. Love them!

 Love him!

Moral of the story

We need a new camera with a manual setting. I took tons of 4th of July pictures and they turned out horrible. I was so proud of myself for taking pictures and they didn't look great on the viewfinder but they looked passable. Well, I just uploaded them to my computer and they sucketh! But I will show you some of the passable ones.

 Derek really enjoyed shooting off fireworks. Derek, Tyler, and Andrew all looked like children in a candy store.

 The boys had so much fun that Andrew pointed the fireworks in the direction of me and his sister Courtney and pour Court ended up in the rosemary bush..

Derek and Andrew lighting off fireworks. 

Court and I! 

Tyler, Derek and Andrew all thought they were wizards and were shouting things like Expelliarmus, Expecto Patronum, Accio, and of course Lumos. 

 Courtney and Tyler apparently don't have any pictures together so we needed to solve that problem Ü

 My studly husband with his magic light the fireworks on fire wand!

 Oh we are cute!

Love him!