the rowleys

2011-12-24T22:21:00.000-08:00

the (great) christmas tree hunt

2011-12-15T21:25:00.000-08:00

We've been going to the same Christmas tree lot for the past 3 years to pick out our tree. It may be a little more expensive than going to somewhere like Costco, but we like to walk around and pick out our favorite tree and pretend like we're in the forest :). Also its a mormon family owned business so we like to support them... and they send us a coupon in the mail every year which is a nice little enticement.

I think Jason's beard really completes the whole lumberjack look in these pictures. Before he had a beard I was trying to convince him to grow one, and he would say that he won't because his grows in too weak. It's funny that he said that because he gets compliments on his beard everywhere he goes. I think the only reason he'd get rid of it now is because that is all they talk about at work with him. I hope he keeps it around for a little bit longer at least.

Christmas Playlist

2011-12-14T22:23:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas music but I get really tired of hearing the same versions of songs played repeatedly on the radio. Here are some songs that I have been listening to this year (some old to me some new). Including a version of my all time favorite Christmas song "Oh Holy Night."

Christmas 11 by Romi Rowley on Grooveshark

Tarley (all grown up)

2011-12-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

It's almost been a year since we brought the adorable little fur ball home. I've been looking at her puppy pictures from last year and it melts my heart how tiny and adorable she was. I have great memories of visiting her each week until we could bring her home. It was fun seeing how much she grew since the last visit but also sad because we had to leave her there (the "bad" house we called it). She wasn't a very difficult puppy but she has turned into the perfect dog (which isn't surprising since we raised her :) ). You will never find her chewing on anything besides her toys and the only naughty thing she does is bark at strangers. She is self disciplined though and if she lets out a bark at the window she will immediately walk herself into her crate. She is very playful but not too hyper. She loves to cuddle next to me at night, and while I'm on the computer she loves to sleep on my legs that are on the coffee table. Its like having a little portable heater. She is hilarious (mainly from the voice and personality we give her) but the funniest thing she does is drag her back legs on the carpet across the living room floor to scratch her belly. It is also her funny little way of greeting me when I get home. She has a great personality and the cutest little face and we love her.

labor day weekend (via instagram)

2011-09-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

love will tear us apart

2011-09-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

There are times in my life when I listen to a song, even one I've heard before, and for some reason at that listening it hits something new in me. I then play the song repeatedly without growing tired of it and the listening almost becomes an obsession. This is that song for me right now.

100 years of style

2011-09-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

this video depicts fashion and dance styles from the past 100 years. it's pretty fun.

let it all hang out

2011-08-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

this little dog sure knows how to enjoy life. (just playing with my new 8mm app on my iphone- I love it!)

we frolicked about in our summer skin

2011-08-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

This week Jason took time off work due to his job forcing the employees to use some of their PTO. We decided to go camping for a couple days since this is also my last week of freedom before school starts. On Morning morning we got all packed up when I remembered that Death Cab for Cutie were coming to concert that night. We had already seen them twice and hadn't planned on going because Jason had work and we didn't want to pay for it. I said to Jason that we should just skip camping and go see Death Cab, and much to my surprise he agreed. I found some pit tickets on Craigslist for a decent price and we got there early so we were two people back from the stage. They definitely did not disappoint this time. I prefer their older albums over their newer ones and they played most of my favorites from past albums. They sound so incredible live and always give a great show. I felt giddy being so close and halfway through a lady left in front of me so I was able to be right up against the gate. We both had a great time and didn't regret skipping out on camping.

Us pre-concert. I wore my 70's bird dress which is one of my favorite dresses.

opening band Frightened Rabbit

Ben Gibbard

We met Frightened Rabbit afterwards. They were very Scottish and very drunk. They were also very cool and friendly. They liked my dress and the singer had a tattoo of a chemical compound on his arm which he wanted Jason to find out if it was the right thing (the formula for his eczema creme). He almost gave Jason his phone number but instead settled for writing on facebook.

nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be

2011-08-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

When Jason and I were at the thrift store today we got there as they were putting out around fifty Beatles records. Apparently someone had just donated their whole collection and we were lucky enough to be there to get pick of the lot. There were a lot of duplicates so we got to pick the best of each one. We had some other people eying our stash as we were going through them and they were quick to grab ones we put back. We didn't get any really rare albums (we got Yesterday and Today but of course it's not the butcher version) but we were excited to get a whole collection at one fell swoop. And you can't go wrong at 50 cents each!

like crazy

2011-08-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

after all of the action movies we've seen this summer I could really go for a good chick flick. this one looks way better than most.

summer playlist

2011-07-28T22:43:00.000-07:00

with some old and new favorites.

There is a city by the sea, a gentle company...

2011-07-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

Over the fourth of July we spent the week at a house by the beach with my family in Oceanside, California. It was a great trip with most of our time spent at the ocean, playing games, or hanging out with family. Some of my favorite moments of the trip were strawberry picking, swimming with sea lions, and watching dolphins in the ocean from our balcony. We had such a great week spent by the ocean with family.

Wide-eyed walker do not wander through the dawn...

2011-07-23T14:25:00.000-07:00

In May Jason and I took a weekend getaway to the romantic destination of... Tucson. I had won a two night stay and a game of golf at the Omni Hotel in Tucson at my dad's office party back in October, and when we found out Fleet Foxes were coming in May it was deemed a perfect time to go. The golf pass had actually expired last year but they were nice enough to extend it for another year. We didn't use it so we'll be going back to golf for the first time.

We spent the day of the concert driving around to thrift and vintage clothing stores. There is not a whole lot to do in Tucson and that is something we enjoy and it quickly passed the time. The concert was at The Rialto which is a historic theatre in Tucson. It was standing room only and pretty small but we were lucky enough to get close to the front. The Fleet Foxes came on and they did not disappoint. They are one of the few bands I've seen that are actually better live then on their CD. Harmonizing is their strongest point and while they do it on all of their songs, on a few songs the music would stop and it would just be their voices. It was so powerful and beautiful it actually brought tears to my eyes. I felt a little embarrassed but I looked at the guy next to me and he was wiping away tears as well. It was just that good.

Here is a video I found on youtube of them live. It gives a glimpse of their greatness.

sometimes i can't believe it, i'm moving past the feeling

2011-07-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

Back in April Jason and I got to see Arcade Fire in concert. The first time I heard them was in '07 the year we got married and I immediately loved them. That love has only grown and now they are in my top favorite bands if not my most favorite. When I found out they were coming here the tickets were already sold out, but we were able to find tickets on craigslist. It was such a great show and probably the best concert I have ever been to. I don't think I stopped smiling or dancing the entire show. We had seats and I wanted so badly to be in the front pit area so I could dance more. I just had so much energy and excitement and I felt so constrained by the seats. That is the only negative thing I could say about the concert. Jason had a blast as well and I think he agrees it was the best concert we have been to.

The lead singer Win and the backup vocalist Regine (she also plays many different instruments) are husband and wife which makes it a little more special. Regine sang a couple solos and her voice is very unique and it works perfectly with their sound. She sang Sprawl II (Mountains vs. Mountains) for the encore song and she was so captivating to watch. She was spinning around with streamers on the instrumental part and was a great performer.

Local Natives were the opening band who I had known before the concert and was happy to be able to see them too. They were signing autographs afterwards and so we had all of them sign a cd.

back to blogging

2011-07-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

It has been far too long since I have updated last. I have gotten behind and have dreaded the thought of getting caught up. I always feel like I should only update about big events, but I want to attempt to write about the smaller things as well. First I am going to try to catch up a little on some fun things from the past 6 months.

Rock n' Roll Half Marathon

2011-01-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

i finished my first half marathon! i almost thought that i wasn't going to be able to run (even though i had already paid) because the night before we were looking at the race information closer and it said that you had to have picked up your race packet at the expo which was the day before. it said "no exceptions" and that i wouldn't be able to pick it up the day of. we decided to try anyways since we already paid and luckily i was able to get my number and tracker. it made me more stressed out the night before though.

there were thousands of people running the half marathon (around 19,000 and around 5000 for the marathon) and they put you into "corrals" according to your estimated finish time. i put 2 hours for my finish time but for some reason they put me in corral 2 (out of 28) with people who would finish in 1:38! as a result of this i was being passed up the whole time. that was a little discouraging but i was mainly aiming at finishing. the race started at city hall in phoenix and ended at the cardinals stadium at asu. they blocked off the streets where we ran and it was a really fun course. there were bands playing every mile or less and it really got my adrenaline going every time i would hear one play. they had cheer teams in between the bands and water stations to keep you hydrated. it was really exciting!

i ended up finishing a little less than my estimated time at 1:55 for the 13.1 miles. i was pretty exhausted after but since i had been training and working up to it i didn't feel that bad. immediately after they gave me a little finishers medal and free food. i loaded up on as much food as i could for me and jason because i wanted to get my moneys worth :). they then had a post race concert- vertical horizon. i remember them from the 90's and they had a few good songs that i knew. it was nice sitting in the grass relaxing and listening to them play.

jason's brother brendan ran the full marathon and this about his fourth. he actually qualified to run in the boston marathon which is really impressive. i plan on running a marathon someday- hopefully in the next few years! it will take a lot more training but it is something that i want to do. after finishing the half i feel it is more accesible.

before the race

nearing the finish line

me & brendan

vertical horizon

same old city with a different name...

2011-01-13T23:01:00.000-08:00

last weekend jason and i went on our own little photoshoot. we wanted to find some interesting old buildings or even better an abandoned old building and these spots were the best we could find. we plan on going again and finding more cool places. we would have kept looking but it turned into quite the scary venture when gigi got attacked by three dogs. we let her wander around while we were taking pictures and it seemed pretty safe cause we could see her and she couldn't go far. next thing we knew we look over and couldn't see her. we ran over to where she was at and she had squeezed underneath a locked fence with barbed wire at the top and three dogs were staring her down. i then heard growling and there was a brawl with our little white pooch in the middle. it was the scariest thing ever and i thought they were going to tear her to bits with us being helpless on the other side of the fence. we started banging on the fence and yelling and luckily the dogs looked up and stopped. gigi ran over to a hole in the fence and we quickly grabbed her out. she managed to escaped with two bite marks and nothing major. she has been pretty sore this past week and has been eating up all the attention shes been getting. i think she has been playing it up because she's tired of being ignored over the puppy. :) i am so happy that she was able to escape that with just some cuts and bruises. despite that little incident we had a fun time on our adventure.

i hate how most of these are of me.. next time i'll try to get some of just jason. it would be nice to have a personal photographer to take along with us :)

tarley meets...

2011-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

mom

gigi

aubrey

caden

lexie

derek & grant

loretta

mason

catherine

madi

brindy

cole

michelle

jude

meet tarley

2011-01-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

our new baby shih tzu!! we bought her at the beginning of december but were not able to take her home until new years eve. the lady told us originally that we could take her home Christmas eve, but she wasn't ready so we had to wait an extra week. we could hardly wait to take her home and so we visited her every week. it was a long wait for us and we are so excited to have her home now! she is such a perfect little puppy and so adorable!! i'll apologize in advance because i know she is going to consume this blog. she is so freaking cute it's really hard not to show her off!

first meeting (2 weeks)

second meeting (3 weeks)

third meeting (4 weeks)

fourth meeting (5 weeks)

fifth meeting (6 weeks)

final meeting (7 weeks)- home!!

we love her so so so much!!

a little Christmas video...

2010-12-31T16:30:00.000-08:00

this is my first video ever. it's not great but it shows a little of our christmas.. enjoy! :)

music: matt pond pa "snow days"

a typical az Christmas

2010-12-30T11:49:00.000-08:00

we take family pictures

we act like the grinch

we smile

a lot!

we put as many dogs and kids on our lap that will fit

we sing Christmas carols in front of a fire

we sit on santa's lap (and steal a smooch)

we spend lots of time with family

we dress up our dogs

we have slam dunk contests

we make "leaf angels"

we have an amazing, perfect time! I can't wait til next year!

2010-11-24T21:50:00.000-08:00

little things that make me happy...

getting immersed in a great song

laughing with jason at silly things (or people)

feeling unique or different than other people

the feeling of elation after a great run

crisp winter nights and being able to bundle up in my jacket and boots

the smell of smoke from fireplaces (reminds me of christmas!)

a full moon

discovering a new favorite band

thrift store shopping for vintage clothes with jason

finding a perfect vintage dress that fits me

french movies from the 60's

or anything from that decade

or anything french

(he he..maybe minus the haircut!)

staying up late

late night drives with jason listening to music

going to concerts

qt trips

eating at sandwich shops with jason

curling up in bed with a good book

getting a meaningful compliment

being with my family and acting like a kid again with my nephews

and... watching music videos like these

so cheesy.. i love it!

since thanksgiving is this week we can just say these are things i am thankful for as well :). i love the simple little things because they are what we experience on a daily basis, or more frequently than the elaborate things, and are what make life so great. and it really is great!!

the story of the shiny black bob

2010-11-01T17:05:00.000-07:00

being a big time movie star Charlie Chaplin never had to vie for a ladies affection

he could make them laugh without saying a word

but there was one little lady, Clara Bow, who saw through his gimmicks and found his moustache to be despicable

she also said that miming gave her the creeps

although he could potentially have any other lady he was not going to give up

there was something about her shiny black bob that made his heart do cartwheels

and he found her little white pooch to be quite charming

he attempted to win her heart by complimenting her

he told her “hey baby, I don't usually like flappers but I think you're swell! lets head to the juice joint!”

she raised her eyebrows and said “I’m not into the flapper scene, I’m an actress! didn't you see me in the Scarlet West?”

to recover he blurted out “well I think you’re the bee’s knees!”

she turned away whipping her shiny black bob

but Charlie had a plan to win her heart

late one night he went to her window

he serenaded her with her favorite love song Stardust

“sometimes I wonder why I spend

The lonely night

Dreaming of a song

The melody haunts my reverie

And I am once again with you

When our love was new, and each kiss an inspiration

But that was long ago, and now my consolation

Is in the stardust of a song”

this was one thing she couldn’t resist

she instantly fell in love

and that is the untold story of Charlie Chaplin and Clara Bow

"they say it's your birthday.. it's my birthday too yeah!"

2010-07-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

Since both our birthdays are in june I decided it's easier to do one post. Jason turned 28 and I turned 23. I like to tease Jason that I am finally the same age as him when we first met!! That is a little strange to think about and i feel like i am really old- haha! We both had great birthdays spent eating practically all day. For Jason's birthday we ate free krispy kreme doughnuts for breakfast, free firehouse for lunch, and free Joe's Farm Grill for dinner because they all give out free bday meals. We bought Jack Johnson tickets for October so that was his present. For my birthday I did the same except for dinner we went to Streets of NY pizza with my family. We really didn't do anything too exciting but it was fun spending the day doing whatever we wanted and then hanging out with my family at night. I got birthday money from my parents and I bought myself a vintage '54 Western Flyer beach cruiser that I love! It is so cute and fun to ride. I still love having my birthday but I feel that it gets a little more depressing each year the older i get. I really wish I could stay my age now for the rest of my life and not get any older.. which obviously is impossible! I just hope that I enjoy the same things now as I get older and keep hobbies rather than get bored with life. Anyways here are some pics from our bdays!

my bunnies- ickle and lardee!

alpaca kiss

delicious chicken and artichoke pizza

the whole fam (minus clint and michelle)

cole surprised me with a pinata! :)

Sweet Dreams

2010-06-27T14:49:00.000-07:00

I am slightly obsessed with stop-motion animation right now. I have seen so many amazing and clever videos that I am sure had a lot of time and effort put into them. This one is one of my favorites! It's 10 minutes but I think it's worth watching.

Sweet Dreams from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

happy birthday brindy!!

2010-04-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Catherine's wedding

2010-04-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

Jason's sister Catherine's wedding was last month and it was the most amazing wedding I have ever been to! She had a '40s theme and had collected antique and vintage items from thrift stores and various places. I couldn't believe all of the incredible things she had found! Her mom made her dress and she looked gorgeous. It really was the most creative and beautiful wedding I have ever seen.

You can check out some of her pictures on the photographers blog: http://danagrantphotography.com/catie-ben-vintage-arizona-wedding-part-1/
She was also featured on greenweddingshoes http://greenweddingshoes.com/real-wedding-catie-bens-vintage-inspired-backyard-wedding/ which is very cool!

I was excited the photographer got a picture of Jason and I :)

death to the silver bullet

2010-04-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

i had to say goodbye to my little silver corolla in january. i got in 3 accidents in a span of 2 months and i'm happy to say that not one of them was my fault. i was rear-ended twice and the thing that did my car in was when jason smashed into a lady that abruptly pulled in front of him. i swear my corolla had a target on it. luckily noone got hurt in any of the accidents... and to make things even better we were able to keep the money from all 3 accidents because we didn't get one fixed before it happened again. i had my heart set on another corolla because i was really attached to my old one... until i got a 2010 ford fusion rental car. i had that thing for a week (with free satellite radio) and it was very hard to let it go. but it took 6 weeks of jason picking me up from work in his un-aircondioned car to find what we were looking for. so we drove up to showlow and got this beauty-

so its not a '10 but an '07 is still an upgrade from my '04 corolla. AND its a v6 which i can't help but speed with. it is so smooth that i can't even tell i'm going that fast. another thing we were very excited about is that it has a direct feed plug for my ipod so i don't have to use my fuzzy radio cord anymore. that is something that i was really hoping for because i only listen to my ipod and hardly ever the radio. its amazingly clear! i am very VERY happy with it!

**per jason's request here is a picture of his first demolition derby

Ties for Hair

2010-01-24T21:42:00.000-08:00

Jason and his brother are slightly obsessed with ties

not just any ties but 70's polyester ties

his brother has been buying huge bags of ties at the thrift store

and after picking out the keepers he gives the rest to Jason to sell or do whatever with.

I have been benefitting from this because i get to cut them up

and make whatever i want with the ones i want.

i have been making a lot of flower clips

and decided to make a little etsy shop to see if i could sell any.

here it is... :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MomosShop

i love christmas!

2010-01-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

we had an awesome Christmas this year! (as usual)

Gigi was spoiled with lots of treats..

jason spoiled me with a drumhead and poster signed by Rogue Wave.. i loved them!

jason is so ungreedy and never really wants anything for Christmas..

but that doesn't stop me :)

me and jude (his 1st Christmas!)

i LOVE my new camera

and jason gets to make t-shirts!

my family

jason's family

we are lucky to have our families live so close so we can spend Christmas w/ both of them

(sorry about the amount of pictures!)

'twas the day before Christmas...

2010-01-01T09:47:00.000-08:00

on Christmas eve we went to my parents house w/ my family and extended family

and celebrated my nephew Grant's 1st birthday!

he was born prematurely last Christmas eve at 2 pounds.

he is doing great now and was a miracle baby!

we also did our tradition of singing Christmas songs around the fire..

and we had a little visitor....

the grinch came to our house and tried to steal Christmas!

Cole was so scared he fell on the ground.

he brought his dog with him as well...

company of thieves

2009-12-23T18:57:00.000-08:00

Last week we went to see Company of Thieves for another Edge free concert. I had just heard them that day and they sounded good so we decided to go. We definitely did not regret it.. they were awesome! The lead singers voice was great. Her style was very unique and she could really belt it. She was also a great entertainer and was very quirky doing funny little moves the whole time. The guitarist was pretty amazing as well and Jason mentioned that he hasn't seen anyone that good for a long time. They only played 45 minutes but it was worth driving out to Scottsdale. Afterwards we got to meet them and I got their autograph. I was actually pretty nervous because I didn't know what I was going to say, but the singer Genevieve was so nice and laid back.. and seemed genuinely sweet.

with lead singer genevieve

with my signed poster

i didn't get any good videos of them so here they are on carson daly

temple lights

2009-12-22T21:27:00.000-08:00

so pretty!

the whole family besides Mitch and Lexie

it's christmastime...

2009-12-22T21:17:00.000-08:00

and I love it!!

I am always sad when it is over.

my family has started a tradition in the past couple years of decorating gingerbread houses

it has gotten pretty competitive

somehow my brother Clint (bottom left) appointed himself as the judge and had a clipboard, awards and everything.

they all surprisingly turned out very different from each other

our "hippy house"

i love picking out our Christmas tree!

the winner !!

Merry Christmas!!

I've been really bad at updating.. we found our cat Putters last week when our friendly neighborhood cat lady called us. it made us realize how much we love him! we had spent many hours searching for him.

we really miss him.

2009-11-30T14:55:00.000-08:00

wedding

2009-11-25T20:44:00.000-08:00

My brother Clint got married on saturday... the last of us kids! It seems crazy that we are all old married people now. We love his new wife Michelle she is so sweet and she fits in well with our family (especially the fact that she loves animals and she has a pet pig!) He kept the tradition of having the reception at my parents backyard which is always a lot of work but I think their yard is perfect for it. It always turns out looking beautiful. They hired a GREAT country band which was so much fun! They sounded exactly like the singers on many of their cover songs. I think they were a perfect addition to a very fun night. They had the wedding in the afternoon in my parents front yard so that they wouldn't have to take down the reception tables. Its amazing how a grass lawn can be transformed into a wedding hall with just some chairs, ribbon, lattice, an arch and flowers. It was a very simple but sweet ceremony. The best part though was when they had their pig Crush come down the ail as the ring-bearer. There were no major problems until after the ceremony when half of my family had to play catch the pig while her family watched us like we were crazy. A half hour later we were able to wrangle her up.

the pink and green looked great!

4 nephews and a niece!

her cake was made by their friend Cassy (her blog here) and she did an amazing job!

me, brin and jude :)

me and adorable niece Aubrey!

Romi and Michelle!!

i wish i wouldn't of hunched down so much in this picture. i just look silly!

thats better :)

i think they'll be very happy together :)

yodel-aye-hee-who!

2009-11-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

I have always loved Halloween. I love dressing up and seeing other peoples costumes. I usually start thinking of what I should be in September- even though I usually don't end up being what I originally planned. I'm not saying that I have always had the best costumes, but that doesn't take the fun out of it for me. This year I found my dress the end of September at a thrift store in the vintage section for 4$. I thought it was so cute and I couldn't pass it up. I added a slip and some pigtail braids and I decided that I would be a Dutch girl (a modest one despite all of the Dutch costumes I found online.) Jason doesn't enjoy dressing up nearly as much as me (or at all) so I was surprised when I came home from work one day and he was wearing a complete yodeller outfit and was doing a little dance. He was hilarious. He didn't have to buy any part of his costume which was great.

Someone mentioned we could be Hansel and Gretel but Jason was quick remind them that that would be incestuous.

We carved pumpkins and made caramel apples with my family on friday night

Jason and I did a "Where the Wild Things Are" theme and I LOVE how they turned out!

no more brain mullet...

2009-09-22T22:59:00.001-07:00

at least that's what Jason calls it. His surgery is over! It went very well and we are glad to have that part over with.. now with the healing. He is recovering pretty fast and will be out of the hospital this week sometime. I can't wait for him to heal completely and be back to normal- or hopefully much better than normal for him. He was hilarious coming out of anesthesia and had me laughing immediately. I'm pretty sure he was saying a lot of stuff intending to be funny but I didn't know that at the time. The first thing he said was- "I wanna play cars!" which is only funny if you know my 2 year old nephew who says that whenever he sees Jason. The nurse was confused but I couldn't stop laughing. Probably not the most normal reaction for seeing him after surgery but I couldn't help it. She asked if he talks in his sleep a lot because he sounded earlier like he was having a conversation with himself. I said I don't think so but I'm such a deep sleeper that if he did it wouldn't wake me up. She also said I'm never going to want to let him go to a bachelor party and get inebriated because I know how he acts now. . whatever that means!

Here are some pictures of him from the past few weeks with our nephew Caden. Jasons been playing with him a lot lately (mainly cars which he could play for hours if allowed) and Caden loves him so much.

tomorrow...

2009-09-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

Jason is getting surgery tomorrow.. finally. We are really hoping this will fix his problems. Please pray for him!

san diego, california

2009-08-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

Usually my family takes a vacation to San Diego every summer but they decided not to go this year. It made me a little sad and I realized how much it means to me to see the beach at least once a year. So Jason and I finally decided (after a lot of persuasion on my part) to take a short trip to San Diego with just us. I t was very different than going with the whole family and while I missed that and staying at a house right by the beach, it was kinda nice having the freedom of doing what we wanted the whole time. Not that we did anything that different... just pretty much relaxed at the beach the whole time. Also rollerbladed, snorkeled, swam, and at ice cream and pizza by the beach :). I just love being by the beach... especially in the evening around sunset. It is so gorgeous! And it was awesome getting away from the AZ heat. We had a great laid back vacation.

My digital camera died on this trip. Some guy hit my hand with a frisbee knocking my camera directly into the sand. It was only there for about 5 seconds but the damage was done. After an hour and a half in the target parking lot and our car battery dying (we were having a bad afternoon) Jason still wasn't able to save it. He had the camera completely apart (it was so hard for me to see that) and the parts were everywhere. We finally decided to give up and buy a disposable camera for the last 2 days. They are pretty bad quality but I actually like how they turned out.

the end.

new arrivals!

2009-08-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

So my rabbit had babies last week! There were 3 but little runtie didn't make it... it was very sad because I thought he was going to pull through. But since there are only 2 of them they seem to be growing at a super fast rate! Everyday that I look at them they are noticably larger than the day before. Its fun watching them grow but I wish they could stay cute and little forever. I love rabbits but I LOVE baby bunnies!! They are so adorable and sweet.

This is how I found them. I thought it was so cool that she actually made a nest out of her own fur. I noticed that she was losing her fur lately but I thought there was something else wrong with her. What a good mom!

A couple days later...

He (or she) reminds me of a tiny fuzzy hippo here for some reason...

One week...

Notice how the gray bunny's eyes are closed in this picture..

And now they're open! They opened while Brin and I were taking these pics!

So sweet!

I'm a bunny geek- I admit it!!

I love windy days!

2009-07-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

Gigi looked like she was going to blow away! Speaking of which... this actually this happened to a chihuahua I read about in a funny (funny/sad?) news story... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30448774/

Finally...

2009-07-13T11:54:00.000-07:00

Most everybody who knows me also knows that I have had some odd health problems for several years. Generally I have a dull headache with neck and shoulder problems and a difficult time sleeping. While it is typically mild pain it would often be so much I could hardly get out of bed. Lately it has been worse than usual and my hands and feet have been going numb. It has been hard on both me and Romi to have to deal with this and at the same time, get through school. Honestly, it has pretty much crippled my chances of moving on to Med-School. Romi and I had become pretty desperate for an answer for what has been causing the problems. We got our answer a little different than expected.
On my birthday (June 11) we went out to eat. Towards the end of our meal I began to feel sick. I looked up at Romi and collapsed on the table. I couldn’t move anything for about 30 seconds. Although I was conscious I felt paralyzed. When I was able to pick myself up, I could barely see due to my eyes filled with tears. The waitress had come up in the mean time and was rushing off to call 911. I stopped her but couldn’t speak correctly. Although I was clear inside my head I could only get out slurred sounds. After about 3 minutes, it went away instantly as if it never happened. I didn’t really know what to think so we went home.
Five days later I met up with a neurologist. I had actually made the appointment prior to the episode. He ignored everything I had made the appointment for and focused on what happened on my birthday. He diagnosed me with an anxiety disorder and suggested an anti-depressant called nortriptyline (it made me hallucinate). As can be imagined, I was pretty mad. As he was explaining that he wasn’t qualified to deal with this and that I should see a psychologist, I passed out on his table. He changed his mind a little and allowed for the possibility of something else but was sticking to anxiety. I passed out again at the scheduling desk before I could leave the office. I was ticked that he ignored all the symptoms I have had over the last several years and based it off of one incidence. I knew I didn’t have anxiety problems. His plan of attack would have taken 9 weeks just to see if he was right.
Everyday after that appointment I passed out. It was getting scary and they were lasting longer and were now associated with shaking. I even had to pull off the freeway because I felt one coming and so stopped driving entirely. After seven days of passing out in a row, Romi finally convinced me to go to the ER.
While in the ER I had blood work, CT, and an EKG before I was admitted at midnight. I had three episodes while in the ER. On Tuesday the 23rd, they had me have an Echo, MRI, and drew blood many times. I passed out five times that day. The next day I had and EEG to determine if they were seizures. The hospital neurologist reviewed all the tests and came in to talk to my mom and me. He had contacted the previous neurologist and came to the same conclusion. He said all my tests were clear and suggested seeing a psychiatrist. Again, I was fuming mad that he was even insinuating the possibility. He left with my jaw literally hanging down and devastated.
Minutes later my father-in-law came in. Earlier that day he and I discussed what I felt it might be. Six months earlier I had used a four year old MRI (which was also supposed to be clean) and diagnosed myself with a neurological disorder called Arnold-Chiari Malformation type 1 or Chiari for short. This is a herniation of the lower portion of the brain into the spinal column which creates a blockage of the flow of cerebral spinal fluid and pulls on the brain stem and is typified by every symptom I have displayed. I felt it was a strong possibility because my brother was diagnosed with it 14 years earlier. We had never considered it because the old radiologist report said I was clean. I showed the MRI to my father-in-law and he agreed with me.
The neurologist returned to release me from the hospital and my father-in-law questioned him on his diagnosis and asked about Chiari. Being put on the spot by another physician, the neurologist finally admitted that the radiology report stated that I did in fact have Chiari along with sinus problems. He then said some things which lead us to believe he knew very little on the subject and stuck his ground on anxiety. He was just being prideful because an OB put him in his place.
I now had two neurologists telling me I had an anxiety disorder despite a diagnosis of a neurological disorder by the radiologist. Fortunately for me, family and friends had some connections. On top of a father-in-law who advocated for me, a co-worker of Romi’s who is associated with a pediatric neurosurgeon (peds neurosurgeons actually deal with Chiari more often) had him look at my images and said I have a moderate to severe problem. Also my sister’s brother-in-law, who is my primary care physician, agreed with me that the two neurologists were clueless.
For now, due to insurance protocol, I wait for a referral to come through. Most likely I will end up at Barrow Neurological Institute. I can also expect brain surgery by the end of the year. If all goes well I should be free from this nightmare. Success rates for this surgery are high and recovery time is surprisingly quick. Hopefully this corrects everything and Romi and I can move on.
The image below is an MRI that was taken in Jan. 2005. It clearly shows the herniation at the lower portion of the skull which should have been caught.

one year older (and hopefully wiser too!)

2009-07-01T19:35:00.001-07:00

first birthday...

eighth birthday...

twenty-second birthday

jason doesn't have any birthday pics i could find but these are adorable...

and still adorable at 27

(he had imaginary candles)

jason's birthday was on the 11th and mine the 28th but i decided to make things easier and do a combined post :)

3eb

2009-06-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

For both of our birthdays Jason and I went to see Third Eye Blind in concert last night. They are one of our favorite bands from the 90's and we were way excited to see that they were coming here! It was at Marquee Theater which is standing room only which was great because we got way close. We were only 2 people away from the barrier gate, dead center. The place was packed and I was suprised to see how many hardcore 3eb fans there still are! They have a new cd coming out in august- 6 years after their last- and I can't wait!

The one thing that bothers both Jason and I about concerts-especially with huge bands like them- is when the audience feels that they need to sing along. I come to concerts to hear the band alone and not everyone else! Sometimes it is so loud that it overpowers the singer. I know that the bands probably like it though because it gives them support, and I'm sure they get tired of singing their songs themselves- but I think it is very annoying. They can sing along in their car. What is worse is when the singer puts the microphone out to the audience to sing part of the chorus- and sometimes the whole thing! I've actually seen that before at the Goo Goo Dolls concert where they had the audience sing every chorus of Iris.. It made me so mad! We think its because either their voices need a break, they can't hit those notes live, or they are sick of singing it. There was a lot of singing along at this concert but it was bearable at least. I really wonder if anyone else feels this way or if its just us??

I love how stephen jenkins was barefoot

500 Days of Summer

2009-06-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

I cannot wait for this movie to come out! It comes out July 24. It looks so cute and I think Zooey Deschanel is great! (She has a band by the way called She and Him. Definitely inspired by 60's music and I really like them. She has a very unique and clear voice.) And she is also engaged to the amazing Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie. That proves that she must be a great person.

musical chairs

2009-05-31T22:02:00.000-07:00

I somehow forgot how much fun kid games can be. Today my family was at my parents and my nephew Cole wanted to play musical chairs. We began playing for Cole but had so much fun that when he wanted to play tag, we practically ignored him so we could still play. It was like, Ok Cole you can go play your kiddy game but us grownups are going to continue our musical chairs. And we did. At least until we had done the championship round. He was upset but we let him handle the music so that he wouldn't get hurt. It was a very intense game.

Jason graduated...

2009-05-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

From ASU on friday with a Bachelors degree in Biology. I am so proud of him!!! :)

We had a little photo shoot at the park a few weeks ago for his announcement. Here are some of my favorites I took...

And the winner... (Jason's favorite)

Ruined Songs

2009-05-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

I really don't understand why musicians have to put swear words in their songs. If they are doing it to gain popularity then it is the wrong way to do it, because usually those songs are not played as much on the radio because of it...or they have to take the time to edit them. Most swear words I can tolerate because I hear them so often but F is one that always makes me jump inside. No matter how many times I hear it (I think one guy in my class said it about 30 times in a 5 minute conversation with his friend) it never ceases to upset me. So when I am listening to a great song and it suddenly sneaks its way in- my heart drops and it ruins the song for me. One song in particular I was listening to today got ruined by it. Its "Oxford Comma" by Vampire Weekend. Great, great song but that pesky little F had to ruin it again. I guess I forget that most people use that word like any other word and it doesn't have the same effect on them. I wish I knew how to get edited songs so during those songs I can keep my hand off the volume...for the ones I still listen to.

the helio sequence

2009-05-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

This is a great band I found called The Helio Sequence. I love their unique mellow sound. Here is a great video of one of my favorite songs of theirs.

Everyone Knows Everyone

Wolverine Premiere

2009-04-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

So Tempe Marketplace won out over thousands of other cities to host the Wolverine premiere so we decided to go and check it out. We were going to camp out all night on friday because they were giving away 500 tickets but by the time we got there it was already full. We still had a great time seeing the cast! Brindy was more excited for Hugh Jackman but I went mainly to see Ryan Reynolds. In my opinion he is much better looking...even if Hugh is wolverine.

The closest I'll ever get to the red carpet

The whole cast... we only knew 2 of them really.

The great Ryan Reynolds :)

Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

2009-04-23T21:27:00.001-07:00

We went to a free Joshua Radin concert last week and although we weren't able to stay and see his whole show, (he didn't start until 10 and I had work the next day,) we got to see some great opening acts- a talented girl named Meiko and another great band that sounded like a mix between Iron & Wine and Damien Rice. Here is a short video of one of my favorites of the night-Joshua Radin doing a Bob Dylan cover. I'm so used to hearing him sing very mellow songs that this one took me by surprise... but I loved it! He has a great voice.

(Sorry the video is a little shaky and I wish I would've gotten the whole song)

Easter

2009-04-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

My nephews Cole and Caden

Like owner, like dog.

2009-03-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

I've never been a big fan of chihuahuas (probably because most of them I've met have been mean) and apparently my dog Gigi isn't either. When I let her outside when I came home she immediately shot after a little black chihuahua and chased it as fast as she could. I don't know why but every time I think of that I can't stop laughing.

Imagine her...
chasing this beast.

"I just flew in from the windy city..."

2009-03-13T09:48:00.001-07:00

For Christmas Jason's sister Ginger gave us plane tickets to fly anywhere Southwest goes and so for Spring Break we decided to visit Chicago. We were there for five days and we had a really great time! We got to stay at the Palmer House, the oldest hotel in America now owned by Hilton, which is a gorgeous hotel (especially the lobby). We were only looking to find a cheap hotel to stay at but we got an amazing deal which we couldn't pass up. The first couple of days we walked around a lot just looking at the city which was cool but it was raining most of the time. The bottom half of our pants were soaked and we were freezing! The rest of the time we went to some museums, to the top of the Sears Tower, the free Lincoln Park Zoo, Wrigley Field, paid homage to some Ferris Bueller sites, and we ate at a bunch of delicious sandwich places and a lot of great deep dish pizza! One of our favorite things to do was getting on buses or the 'L' and getting off at random places and seeing what was around.

Some things that are distinctly Chicago:

- Public places do not have 'Restroom' signs, they simply say 'Toilets.' Jason thought that was funny.

- You cannot find Dr. Pepper anywhere!

- Every pizza place is deep dish

- A lot of the homeless beggers were very agressive and they would yell at us if we didn't give them anything!

(There are a lot of pictures to follow!)

This is the fancy lobby of our hotel

This is a sculpture called Cloud Gate by famous artist Anish Kapoor, which resembles a giant reflective bean, at Millenium Park near our hotel. It was weird but fun!

It wasn't really that cold until the last day when it was in the 20's and very windy!!

Me over the Chicago River on Michigan Ave.

Our favorite sandwich place- Potbelly! We went to three different restaurants and they all had a great atmosphere! Our favorite was our first one we went to where the background music was a guy singing with his guitar. He was really good and both of us didn't even realize it wasn't the radio at first.

Jason and I by lake Michigan. The lake was frozen!

We took the subway mostly everywhere. What was great was we bought a card at the beginning that can be used unlimited for the subway, the 'El' and bus for the whole week!

The city at night! There wasn't a whole lot to do there at night like New York so we usually ate dinner and then just walked around!

We went to the Field museum of natural history and they had a Pirate exhibition which was really interesting. Supposedly this is the only real pirate treasure to have ever been found.

This is me trying my best to copy the Ferris Bueller scene with the Georges Seurat painting 'Sunday Afternoon on La Gran Jatte.'
At the science/industry museum there was an actual WWII German submarine that we were able to go inside! We weren't able take pictures inside but it was amazing to see!

This was at my favorite pizza restaurant we ate at called "Gino's East of Chicago". The walls were all covered with graffitti (purposefully) and it had low lighting and was very hip. They had signed pictures of celebrities that ate there and what they ordered. The pizza was delicious too!

There were squirrels in all the parks and the last day I fed one a cookie! He was a little pig and kept wanting more!

When we were walking down the street one evening by Wrigley field we came across a bunch of people and media standing around. We asked someone what was going on and they said U2 is playing there and everyone is waiting around for them. We decided to hang out there just in case we could catch a glimpse of them. Well after we were there about 15 minutes a car pulled up and everyone got very excited and was like- its Adam! We only know the Edge and Bono so we just got pictures of him but we weren't crazy like everyone else. Then about 5 minutes later Bono shows up and he comes out and signs autographs and takes pictures with a lot of people in the crowd! We weren't that far back and I probably could've pushed my way up and got a picture or autograph and I wish I had! (The girl right in front of me got her picture with Bono!) It was still very exciting being that close and I got a bunch of pictures of him. We were probably the least crazy in the group though and there were some people who waited for hours for them and drove around looking for the place (it was a private concert.) We just happened to be in the right place at the right time!

You can see the bottom of my head in this picture!

We had our 2 year wedding anniversary when we were there on March 10. Crazy its already been 2 years!!

Free sandwiches for Life

2009-03-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

If you were to ask Jason and I what our favorite meal is (or what we eat most often) it would be sandwiches. They are quick, easy, cheap and delicious. When we go out to eat we tend to go to sandwich places but the one that we go to more than any other is Firehouse Subs. I think they have to be the most delicious sandwiches I have ever put in my mouth! Their secret is that they steam the sandwiches and it makes them incredibly juicy! We go there at least every other week. It is conveniently very close to our house. We were there a few months ago and they were having a big celebration (when they made their first dollar after paying off the building I think) and the chamber of commerce was there and reps from a bunch of different companies. We were eating outside because it was way too packed inside. Well they suddenly all came out and lined up for a picture and Jason decided to stand in the back on his tiptoes (which makes him probably 7 feet tall) and I was a little embarrased so I just stood normal trying to be inconspicuous. We kept joking afterwards that it would be funny if they actually put that picture up with us in it. Well when we were there last weekend we saw that picture on the wall with Jason and I in it! We thought it was SO funny!! Jason told one of the workers about it and they were like "you got in it?? I'm not even in that picture!" I think we deserve free sandwiches for life or something. We're such great customers that we actually have our picture on the wall!

You can see Jason pretty easily but you can only catch the side of my face. (I am the square)

my life

2009-03-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

Here are some random pictures of my life for the past couple months. Nothing too exciting just work and school- and some new pets on the side! :) We took a weekend trip up to a cabin in pinetop last weekend with Jason's family. It was a nice little getaway and I got to see some snow before it's too late. The cabin actually belongs to the Wright family (who owns the reception place the Wright house) and since Loretta is good friends with their son they were way generous and let us use it. It was huge and there was plenty of room for Jason's family.

My rabbit I keep at my mom's house had babies! We didn't find them til they were this size because they were hiding in the hole they dug in their cage.

I took Jason to his first Suns game. It was way fun even though they lost.

And heres Putters our gorgeous new cat! The pictures do not do justice to his beautiful coloring! He is polydactyl meaning he has more than the usual amount of toes. (he's already stolen Gigi's bed!) You can see his crazy feet in the next pic...

We are going to Chicago this saturday for spring break and I cannot wait!! I could really use a weeks vacation from work and school. And I am way excited to see Chicago!

Top Ten 2008

2009-01-03T09:47:00.000-08:00

So here are some lists of my top ten favorites of 2008.

BANDS:

These aren’t necessarily my top favorite bands of all time but ones that I discovered this year and LOVE! I have probably listened to these bands more than any other this year. (Despite Death Cab who has been my favorite for a few years. Also the Shins, Stills, and Stokes.) I could add a ton more to this list. I have found more great unknown bands on my own this year than I ever have. I have gotten tired of all the same old unoriginal popular music and have learned that there is a ton of great music out there that not a lot of people know about. It has sort of become a hobby of mine in finding new music.

1. Band of Horses
2. Rogue Wave
3. Death Cab for Cutie
4. The Stills
5. The Shins
6. Matt Costa
7. Fleet Foxes
8. Built to Spill
9. The Strokes
10. Regina Spektor

SONGS:

1. “Noones Gonna Love You” Band of Horses
2. “First Day of My Life” Bright Eyes
3. “Chicago x 12” Rogue Wave
4. “White Winter Hymnal” Fleet Foxes
5. “Gone for Good” The Shins
6. “Free bird” Lynryd Skynyrd
7. “A Movie Script Ending” Death Cab for Cutie (or pretty much anything by them)
8. “The End Has No End” The Strokes
9. “Else” Built to Spill
10. “Shiver” Coldplay

BOOKS:
I have grown to love reading more than ever.

1. The Age of Innocence
2. Wuthering Heights
3. Jane Eyre
4. The House of Mirth
5. The Fountainhead (I’m not nearly finished but so far its amazing!)
6. The Catcher in the Rye
7. The Thirteenth Tale
8. Twilight Series (I don’t necessarily think they are the best written books but I enjoyed reading them.)
9. Angels & Demons
10. Marley and Me

MOVIES:

This one was actually hard for me to find 10 of. There have been some amazing movies out this year but not as many as I thought. I still haven't seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which would probably make the list.

1. Ironman
2. Definitely, Maybe
3. The Dark Knight
4. The Incredible Hulk
5. Cloverfield
6. 27 Dresses
7. Quantum of Solace
8. 21
9. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
10. Valkryie
11. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

TV SHOWS:

1. The Office
2. Heroes
3. Chuck
4. Pushing Daisies
5. That 70's Show
6. Privileged
7. Bones
8. Seinfeld (always a favorite)
9. Scrubs

HAPPY 2009!

So this is Christmas...

2009-01-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

So I haven't updated this whole month and it has become overwhelming because so much has happened! December is usually a busy month for everyone with holiday shopping and parties but this month was especially crazy for us. My sister Ashley was in the hospital because of complications with her pregnancy and she ended up delivering via C-section 2 months early on Christmas Eve. His name is Grant Mitchell Carlon and he is a tiny 2 1/2 pounds but growing! He will have to stay at the hospital for a couple months but should be a healthy baby boy soon. On top of that Jason's mom was in a car accident which totaled her van (not her fault) on Dec 23 which caused a mild heart attack. It may have been a good thing because they found some blocked coronary arteries and she had a triple bypass surgery on Christmas Eve as well. (Yes, this is the same van that I sandwiched Jason into and dented the door. Now we don't have to fix it.) It was strange because she had her surgery not only the same day as Ashley's C-section but they were both at 12:00! It would have been great if they were at the same hospital to make visiting easier but Jason's mom was in Phoenix and Ash in Mesa. They are both doing great and are at their homes now. Even though things were a little stressful we were still able to have a great Christmas! We are very grateful that Ashley and Jason's mom are both healthy again.

Jason and I Christmas tree shopping
She couldn't wait to get a drink at home

We got our gorgeous tree for only $32 at a lot! It was supposed to be $60 but the guy was very nice and helped us out.

Gingerbread decorating with the family

My family's new baby goat Coco!!

My parents got Jason and I a gorgeous bed frame for Christmas! Jason and I at the hospital

It is crazy that another Christmas has already come and gone. This whole year has sped by for me faster than any other. Christmas time is always a great way to end the year because you get to spend a lot of time doing fun things with the family. Even though this Christmas was different because Ashley was in the hospital it made me remember what is most important. I'm so grateful to have such an amazing family!

Thanksgiving Turkey Trot!

2008-11-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving morning I did the 10k turkey trot!! A 10k is 6.2 miles and it really wasn't that bad because I have been training for it. I run every day at least 3 miles and I ran 6 miles twice last week so that this wouldn't be that big of a deal. I expected to be dead tired at the end but instead I had a ton of energy and my muscles felt tingly. It was weird but great! It was an amazing day for it as well because it was cloudy and perfectly cool.. I was glad that it wasn't raining though like it was the day before. The weather was perfect! I actually did really good and got 49 minutes! That is better than I have done when I was training and I think all of the people motivated me to go faster. There was probably 1000 people running in it! It was crazy but very fun! Jason's siblings ran the race also. I was surprised that I beat all of Jason's siblings (except Brendan who is an awesome runner and got about 36 minutes!!)- I did not expect to at all. Overall I had a great time and am very glad I did it!

I had to get a picture with the turkey!

All of us after the race!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Have you seen the new naked pirate movie? Its rated ARRRRR!!!!

2008-11-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

So Jason and I were pirates this year for Halloween. I was excited when he agreed to dress up with me because its the first year that we've dressed up as a couple. Usually he'll dress up but it has nothing to do with my costume. Probably because I don't make it very easy for him. Like last year I was a flapper and its hard for him to find a costume to go along with that!

This was my flapper costume last year. I actually loved that costume with the feather and everything! It was one of my mom's costumes which she has tons of!

And this year's costumes!! They aren't that original or anything... especially since at a party we went to the next 2 couples that showed up were pirates! But we didn't care and had fun with our costumes.

Of course we couldn't leave Gigi out!

Michelle, me, and Brin!

Me with Frankenstein

Jason's very proud of his weird "pirate" beard.

THE BIRDS:

Gigi's second costume my mom got for her! It's pretty hilarious!

My mom with my nephew Caden. Lexie made Caden's duck costume!! It was adorable!

Weezer

2008-10-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

First off, because we went to the race and managed to muster enough energy to make it to the Weezer concert that evening, this post (my first, how cute) is placed on top of Romi's Race Results. Read that first, then come back or Romi will cut off my... sugarmama spending.
Anyways, we made it to our second Weezer concert, the first being our second date. Let me just say... FREAKING AWESOME! They played with The Tokyo Police Club (we didn't see because the tickets had the wrong time on them) whoever they are, and Angels & Airwaves. When we walked in A&A was just starting and we were ushered to our seats way up front and watched Tom DeLonge SUI, (sing under the influence). The light show was pretty cool but I really like A&A drunk or not. After they played and they were setting up for Weezer we reallized were in the wrong seats the whole time. Ours were in the section behind us, still floor, but further back and there were people in ours. In the end it didn't matter because when Weezer came out, everybody rushed the stage. We were pretty close for the first three songs and then a 4'9" woman with mean flashlight skills started sending people back. I pulled the I-don't-speak-english card but still got flashlighted. We managed to find two empty seats closer than ours and stayed there the rest of the concert. Weezer is always a crowd pleaser with awsome covers, tag-team singing/playing, and family friendly topics. Tom DeLonge was invited back for "Undone-The Sweater Song." At the end they had around 30 people up there that won some radio contest and they all played their own instruments from home. It was funny. There were violins, guitars, trumpets, marachas, and a digeridoo. Weezer is a great concert if you ever get a chance. The whole concert ended at 9:00pm and the fair is too trashy for even me so we left. My ears are still ringing and I am content.
The newest member of Weezer

Fun Run

2008-10-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Jason and I ran a race at Tempe Town Lake for the Frank Kush foundation. It was a 5k race which is 3.1 miles and it was so much fun!! We did it last year with a few of Jason's siblings but this year it was just the two of us. There were a lot of people there. Some of them had their dogs with them to do the race but I didn't think that Gigi's little legs could handle it! Plus it would have been a pain to run the race with a dog. When we started out Jason and I stayed together for a while and then I just took off ahead of him. He didn't care that I left him so I ran ahead of him the whole time. I was running with this girl and a guy and my goal was to stay with them throughout the race because they were going pretty fast. I managed to most of the way but at the end I got really tired and started to slow down. The whole race was pretty flat except for at the end we had to go up some little hills which was difficult. It was also a lot hotter than I wanted and the sun was glaring down on us. But I managed to finish 46th place out of about 350 people! My time was 24:25 min for the three miles. I was proud of myself and Jason was too. He finished shortly after which is great considering he doesn't ever go running like I do. We were both glad that neither of us stopped and walked even once. On top of that, I finished 1st in the female 21-25 age division and so they gave me a little geeky medal! They called my name after the race was over and I went up and got my medal in front of everyone and they were all clapping. I felt a little silly but it was exciting! Oh and my name is now Romi Davey because that is what they listed me as on the results sheet. Luckily we changed it before they called me up. I don't know how they got that from Rowley... probably because they type in so many names.. but it has a nice ring to it :)

Now I'm going to start training for the Turkey Trot which is a 10k or 6.2 miles! Its going to be hard but I will at least try and see how I do! Thankfully it will be a lot cooler by Thanksgiving!

Me after the race with my fancy medal!

Our free race shirt. It looks the same as last years except the lettering was grey. This one is way better!

Quirky Me

2008-10-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

So I was tagged by Kathy a couple weeks ago to write 6 quirks about myself and I am finally going to do it! Here it is...

1. I drink A LOT of water! Especially when I am at work I have to continually fill up my water bottle. It is a good thing but it has become more of an obsession for me.

2. On the weekends I will not let myself go to bed before 12:00. Even if we are just at home I will go on the computer or read.. anything so that I stay awake. I try to make Jason always stay up with me but he prefers actually going to bed when hes tired..unlike me. I just love nighttime and being up late. I have to go to bed early during the week so I take advantage of staying up on the weekends.

3. The only meat I will eat is chicken, turkey, and some fish. My family makes fun of me for it but it is just my preference! I guess thats a little quirky because most people love gross juicy steaks.

4. I hate the sound of syrofoam. It is worse than nails on a chalkboard.

5. Jason says that I will continually ask a question until I get the answer I want. For example.. Me: Do you want to go see..(random chick flick)? Jason: No. Me: Are you sure you don't want to see it? Jason: Yes. Me: Wait... does that mean we can go??

6. Before going to sleep I have to check my closet and bathroom for monsters and then lock the bedroom door. Jason thinks I'm ridiculous but I like to feel safe when I sleep.

bird freaks

2008-09-21T21:27:00.000-07:00

So for some reason the past month has been new bird month for my family. Brindy has always has her parakeet Boots but she added another one to the pack. And then my brother Clint got his girlfriend Michelle a cockatoo named Lily. She is the sweetest bird ever!! I really want one but they are expense and need CONSTANT attention! If you do not hold her and she knows you are home she will scream really loud. I will eventually get one when I am older but for now I just got myself a cockatiel. I named her Pepper and she is a little bit feisty but I am working on her. She has gotten a lot better than when we first got her.. she still bites but not nearly as much. But Brin and I grew up having a lot of birds so we are not that scared of them and know a little how to train them. I was originally thinking about getting a love bird but they don't like to be held as much. We had a "bird party" today and here as some of the pics..

this is michelle's gorgeous cockatoo lily

The Airborne Toxic Event

2008-08-22T23:36:00.000-07:00

So last night Jason and I got to see a free concert at Tempe Marketplace. The edge 103.9 puts on a free show there every third thursday every month. We had been to 2 of these free shows before which were "Unwritten Law" and "Ludo"- both of which were great especially since they were free! Last night the band was "The Airborne Toxic Event". I only knew a couple songs that they sang but I enjoyed almost every song they played. Its great that they have these shows.. nothing beats a free concert!!

Does This Mean You're Moving On

Sometime Around Midnight

Farewell Az Hair!

2008-08-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

So Friday was officially my last day at the salon where I have been working for the last year and a half. Although I have been contemplating quitting for about 6 months now it is still a bittersweet thing for me. Because I only worked there part time, the laxity of the salon has been very enjoyable. On the days that were slow (which were very abundant in the summertime) I was able spend my time there reading books. I have made a list of all the books I have read since I began working there and it is surprisingly over 20 books! Not that I only read at work but still I have read more than I have in any other time in my life. But the problem there is I'm not getting paid to read. I got paid by commission and so those days that I spend almost entirely reading were not very beneficial to my paycheck. At least I had another job so I was bringing in some money when things were slow. And from now on I will only be working at the doctors office. No more hair for me right now, at least not in a salon. I've had some good times there but it's not very wise to stay there just because I love being able to read. I will never be able to do that at the office. It is definitely a more structured job and it is worth it to bring in a steady pay rather than one that varies a ridiculous amount. I do enjoy doing hair but I can get my fill having people come to my house. A big advantage of that is I get the full $ amount rather than a small percentage of it.

home alone

2008-08-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

So Jason left me alone this weekend to hike Havasupai with his family. Although his family had been planning it for a while he only decided to join them the day they left because his family begged him to. I would have loved to go but my job kept me from it- those dang responsibilities. I didn’t care that much. I wanted him to go and have some fun. And I was looking forward to spending a weekend alone at our townhouse. The only thing I neglected to think about was how freaked out I get once the sun goes down. I am on my guard at all times especially when I am by myself. I become very paranoid and I have to sleep with the bedroom door locked and sometimes I leave a light one. It is ridiculous I know but being in a family of 5 kids I'm used to always having someone there. It wasn’t actually as bad as I expected even though our neighbors woke me up at around 2:30 last night and kept me up til 4:00. That wasn't the first time either.. it happens about twice a week and not always on the weekend. They are a bunch of young guys whose lives involve playing video games all day and partying all night. At least as far as I can tell because I hardly ever see them except late at night, and at daytime we can hear them play Halo or another game. And last night I heard the "F" word maybe more than I have in my entire life. When Jason is here he calls the cops (well he has once.. usually other neighbors call) but I just laid there trying to block out the profanity and the laughter of ditzy girls. I had Gigi and Angie (my parents Bernese Mountain Dog) there with me and Angie just stared at them the whole time because you can see directly into their back porch from our window. I should have sent her on them but the most she would do is sit on their feet or lick them to death. Other than that I had a pretty good weekend and was able to face my fear of sleeping alone.

i <3 cali

2008-07-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

california trip

So last week my family and I took a trip to San Diego for our annual vacation. It was so much fun- and the weather was GREAT! We stayed in a 3 story beach house in walking distance from the beach. It had 5 balconies including one on the roof. There were 14 people (and 2 dogs) in all and we had a great time! We went to the beach every day and when we weren't there we went to Sea World and the San diego zoo. We went to Sea World about 5 times because we had passes that allowed us to go as many times as we wanted. We went boogie boarding, snorkeling, and Jason even went scuba diving with my brother. We rode bikes on the boardwalk and relaxed on the beach. I finished one book (The Host) and started another (Marley and Me). Luckily I didn't get burnt hardly at all but got a lot more color on my pale skin :). Belmont park was a lot of fun. It is just like a carnival with fun rides and a great rollercoaster! We went there one night (half price night cause its very expensive) and had a great time! It was so nice being there but now its back to work for me! :( I could've stayed there all summer!

Brin and I just relaxing on the beach!

The rollercoaster!!

I love riding bikes by the beach!

Just posing with my dolphin friends Lexie, Me, and Brindy
The whole LEPETICH, CARLON, ARNETT, AND ROWLEY FAM!

July 4th Blast!

2008-07-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

We had a long day at the pool with my family. Jason was having SO much fun! He really was- he loves swimming but hates pictures!
We then had a bbq at my parents house and watched fireworks with his family that night

My sister in law Lexie made this cake! She makes all our birthday cakes and they are all so cute! We sang "Happy Birthday" to America. It was a little strange.. but funny!

The nephews- Cole and Caden

21!

2008-06-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

SO IT'S OFFICALLY LEGAL! I turned 21 on saturday and decided to celebrate... But since I don't drink I just had some sparkling cider. Nothing too crazy for me!! I had a really good birthday and since it was on a saturday I was able to do stuff all day. Jason took me to get a massage in the morning, then we went to Tia Rosas with my fam.

We saw Wall e which was good. But even though its made for them, it did not seem to be a movie that kids would enjoy or understand. My dad called it "dark" and my brother "boring." But I think everyone else liked it. After that we went home and they sang to me.. twice because the first time my nephew Cole blew out the candles instead of me and so they did it again. I opened presents and I got a new camera, some gift cards, and a book called "The Host". Jason got me a new ipod stereo transmittor for my car.. but it still has not come yet. I was very excited about my presents! That night Jason and I went to a bar called "The Big Bang" and they have dueling pianos there which is a lot of fun. They let me in free cause it was my b-day. It was fun but we were a little bit akward cause we were the only ones not drinking. We still enjoyed watching them sing and play songs like "Sweet Caroline", "Born in the USA" and even the Spongebob theme.I had a great birthday!

*More Birthday Pics*

JIMMY EAT WORLD & DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

2008-06-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

So this week Jason and I got to see 2 concerts in a row. First we saw Jimmy Eat World on wednesday night at Dodge Theatre. The tickets were about 55$ a person but Jason bought extra ones and sold them so our tickets were only about 12$ each. We were also in the pit rather than in seats so we were able to get really close when the crowd started moshing. They pushed me so that I was only one person away from the gate in front of the stage. It was great! I had actually seen them before but I was way far back and I had to sit through a bunch of screaming punk bands. This time they had 2 opening bands and one of them I really enjoyed.. they are called "Minus the Bear." It's weird because we actually have one of their CDs in our huge collection of music. I have no idea where it came from. The other band "Deer and the Headlights" was good but it was hard to hear the lead singer.

When JEW came on you could tell they have way more experience performing.. and are just plain better! It was such a fun concert- I enjoyed every song and did not want it to end!

So even though we were tired from that concert (especially with me having work the next morning) we did not want to miss seeing Death Cab For Cutie. We had seen them 2 years ago and it was one of the best concerts we had been to. We had not even planned on going last time but since it was at Mesa Amphitheatre we thought we would just stay outside and get a free show. But once they came on we both wanted badly to be inside and we bought tickets. This time it was planned and we went with Jason's sibs Brendan and Catherine. One major difference this time from last was the temperature. Previously we went in winter and it was probably 50 degrees.. a lot better than 105 this time! It was still a lot of fun even though we were all drenched. Another difference was the singer Ben Gibbard. I did not recognize him because he probably lost 50 and wasn't wearing his signature glasses. It was hard for me to accept that it was really him because I had a certain image of him for so long. I got over it eventually and really enjoyed the concert. The opening band was Rogue Wave who most people do not know but I love! I was very glad that I was able to see them. Death Cab was amazing as usual- they put on a great concert! We were both so worn out afterwards because we were standing for both concerts. But I am very glad that we went.

Jason's birthday!

2008-06-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

So Jason had his 26 birthday on wednesday. That seems very old to me- especially since I am just starting my 20's and he is near the end of them. At least I will always be a young chick to him. I didn't get him anything that exciting really because he is really hard to shop for. I just took him shopping instead cause he hasn't gotten new clothes in probably 5 years. He has bought clothes but they are only new to him. He buys used stuff from goodwill or other places cause he doesn't care enough to spend more on clothes. I guess it was more of a present to me than to him.

We ate here after seeing Kung Fu panda. He got a free b-day meal (well it counted for 22$ towards a meal.. he still had to pay 8$ for his steak and crab) but at least we didn't have to pay 60$ for our meal there.

The whole happy family!

New blogger

2008-06-08T21:45:00.000-07:00

So I finally decided to make a blog for Jason and I, not because we really have anything THAT interesting to write about but because everyone else was doing it. We felt out of the loop (at least I did) on this whole blogging world and I decided to give a shot. I've had fun designing our blog but who knows if I will actually keep up with it. I'll try my best and hopefully I won't bore you too much. You can at least enjoy the pretty pictures and music.

Wedding Week

2008-06-07T23:08:00.000-07:00

This week has been very busy for us because we had two family weddings. My aunt got married on thursday at my parent's house and my cousin on saturday. My whole family was stressed over getting everything ready for my aunt's wedding, but luckily we just had to show up to my cousin's. It was a fun but busy week!

Nephews Caden and Cole!

My aunt and her new husband riding off on their miniature horse drawn carriage!