Jake and Madi

San Diego

2011-05-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Jake and I traveled to San Diego with our friends Brooke and Daniel. We didn't really do much but drive around, eat, and sleep, but it was WONDERFUL!! We left early Sunday morning and arrived at about 8:30. It was super windy and rainy once we got into CA so we were a little worried for our plans to lay out on the beach.
Since it was Sunday, we had planned on walking around the temple for a bit but it was all locked up so we just hung out in the parking lot for an hour. Brooke and I ate a wonderful breakfast in the car while our boys played Frisbee.

From there we traveled to the pier. On the way we saw this green van, Dan loved it so much he made us drive by several times, and was seriously considering finding the owner and asking if he could buy it.

It was freezing on the pier! So windy, and the waves were huge! Once we got to the cafe on the end the guys were hungry and bought some tacos (never mind that it was only 10 in the morning).

After that, while we were waiting for the day to warm up, we decided to visit the San Diego Humane Society! Something everyone does when they're on vacation, go to the pound. This place was ridiculous. I'm happy the animals of San Diego have such a comfortable place to stay while they are waiting to be adopted, but it didn't really look like any of these animals needed a home. The Mesa animal shelter is cage after cage of sad looking animals, it makes your heart hurt and you want to take them all home. In San Diego, each animal had it's own ornately decorated room. With couches and blankets, some even had a TV. It was crazy and didn't make me feel bad enough to want to take one home at all.

By this time we were all tired so we checked into our hotel and had a good nap. By 4:00 I was pretty bored so I woke everyone up so we could visit my cousin Krista, who lived literally just around the corner from where we were staying. She is so cute and I got to see her precious little girl Alila for the first time.
That night we visited Little Italy, where we ate some pizza and visited a local artists gallery. His work was amazing and it made me want to dance. Some pieces were on sale for $10-12,000!! That's where I need to be in my career :) I could sell two paintings a year and be set.

Then we made our way to Old Town. Brooke and I found this cute tin lantern store, we wanted to buy everything in there! We walked around for a bit, grabbed some fresh tortilla's and headed back to the hotel to relax in the pool/hot tub.

Monday was beach day, and the weather was beautiful! While the boys worked up their courage to head to the cold water, Brooke and I laid on the sand and watched them sculpt seahorses :)

It was so nice to relax and not worry about anything! I wish we could have stayed longer but real life was calling. While at the beach though we got to see some advertising for the new X-men movie! There's an article about it here.

Baby Girl Rucker

2011-05-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

We're having a GIRL!!!! AH!!!! We are so excited! When we went for the first ultrasound a couple weeks ago we were able to find out her gender but we weren't able to get any good shots of her face. So I had to go back yesterday for them to find some things she wasn't cooperating with the first time and she was so good! We got some nice 3D shots (which are kinda creepy but cool) and learned that her size is perfectly normal, she's right on track. She's moving around a lot, Jake first felt her move a couple weeks ago which I loved. She is very nice to me and doesn't kick when I'm sleeping, mostly when I'm driving. The only thing that's starting to bother me about getting so big is not being able to bend over. If my foot itches when I'm driving I can't get at it! And pretty soon it'll be hard to put my shoes on.
The next big hurdle is picking a name. This process makes me not want to have kids anymore! It's so hard! We've had a couple that we agree on (which is a miracle!) but I don't think we've found it yet. So if anyone has any suggestions please share! I mostly like old and not very common names.

I take my last final today, so starting tomorrow I can focus on summer painting, baby stuff, and everything else I've been slacking on over the past four months. Hopefully we'll be moving soon, we're just not sure where.

Jake said this one looks like Voldemort...

Baby Rucker

2011-02-04T09:20:00.001-08:00

So if you haven't heard yet.... WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!! YAY!!! We had our first look at our little kidney bean last week, he/she is due September 6th! We are crazy excited but can't really do anything to prepare until we move out, and until school is over. As far as pregnancy symptoms and stuff goes... I've never wanted to sleep so much in my life. I've only had one bad day of awful sickness, most of the time I just feel icky, and nothing sounds good to eat. I always thought people were being wimps about the whole morning sickness thing... but now I know better :)
The thing I'm most disappointed about is how Jake heard the news. I found out we were pregnant the day we got back from UT after Christmas. I took a test and it was positive! Jake was at work already, and I wanted to tell him in person so I put the test in one of my dresser drawers.
Now, when I asked Jake what he wanted for Christmas, his only serious answer was socks. I bought him socks (and other things too!), but once I knew we had a baby on the way I bought some baby socks, which I was going to give to him as an extra Christmas gift when I got home from work that night. I was so excited to see his face as he worked through why I would be giving him baby socks.

Well I got home from work and went up to our room, only to find all the drawers pulled out of the dresser, and the dresser gone! The boys had decided to move the dresser to the new house that night. RARR!! So Jake saw the test, and I didn't get to see his face when he found out he was going to be a dad. Sigh.
But anyway... we are super happy and excited and terrified. We also decided that we are the worst people at showing emotion (like during the ultrasound we both just sat there and didn't say anything, but inside we were rejoicing!) So if we ever seem passive about anything baby-ish, just know that publicly we are very shy when it comes to letting our feelings gush all over, and we really are truly so excited to start this new adventure!

Desert Botanical Garden

2011-01-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

I loved my biology class this semester. I have never really been a science person, and I usually find most of that stuff so confusing and/or boring. But I had a great teacher and it ended up being one my my favorite classes! Well throughout the semester for our labs we had to go on two field trips and they were fun! The first one was the Gilbert Riparian which is sort of a marsh in the middle of the desert. I'm sure it's beautiful in the spring but... not so much in September. The second one was the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. I loved it!!! It was gorgeous. The dessert really can be pretty with just a little care and attention.

This was in the herb garden, it smelled so good in there

This is my favorite, I love how the spines look with the sun behind them. These little cacti look like a miniature city.

I made Jake come with me but it was fun :) there was a chocolate festival going on at the same time so we got to taste some yummy chocolate!

Ending 2010

2011-01-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

I'm definitely behind on posts. The biggest reason being that we lost our camera. Well I found it last week, but now I can't find the cord to hook it up to the computer! Oh well. So now you get lots of writing and phone pictures. Yay!

Life is still great, school ended nicely and our jobs are going well. I'll start school again in a week or so and I'm taking awesome classes! Painting, photography, graphic design, and.... geology. Ok so the geology class probably won't be that fun but it's the only class I need to FINALLY get my Associates. Jake finished his first University of Phoenix class and is on to the next! His first class was a joke but hopefully this next one will be more challenging and interesting for him.
We've moved from Tempe to Maricopa and are living with Jake's parents again, this time with hopes of buying a house soon. However, now that I live here and have to drive 45 mins to work every day, I'm less and less excited about house hunting here. I feel like we're in Limbo and I'm not sure where we should be going. But we'll figure it out with time and with prayer.
So the Holidays! I'm sad they're over but relieved at the same time. (I really loathe Christmas shopping). For Christmas this year we visited my family in UT. Most of the pictures were taken by my parents and can be seen on their blog brendandoug.blogspot.com. My dad is the best blogger around. Here are some of our festive photos...

My wonderful public speaking class friends! That class was so fun, couldn't have asked for a better teacher or class.

This was definitely the highlight of the trip! Jake was swerving like crazy through my mom's office park. She's so cute! The best is her laugh at the end, it's a long video but worth the watch.

I totally forgot about Thanksgiving! It was fun and pretty low key. We had dinner with another family in the ward. The best part of that day though was finding these little guys! Jake caught one before dinner, then as we drove home after dinner we found two more! Jake got out of the car and meowed to them, and they both came running! It was so cute, like something from a movie. We had to give them all away but I'm sure they made wonderful Christmas presents for some happy children.

And that's that! We'll have more to come soon, I promise!

Sorry!

2010-11-05T08:05:00.001-07:00

I know it's been way too long, I just don't have time to blog! I have so many pictures to post from Lake Powell and our very first camping trip together! I'll get to it eventually I promise. Things are going great, Jake really loves his job, the people there are so nice and it is a really great company. I got a new co-receptionist at work (for the third time) and she is amazing! We're the same age and have a lot in common, including our husbands working for the same company, in the same building, on the same floor! Such a funny coincidence. And school is just as crazy as ever. I really enjoy it but I can't get anything done around the house because I'm always bogged down with tons of homework. But I'm learning a lot and I'm so grateful I am able to go to school. Next semester should be better (although no less time consuming) because I'm taking painting, photography, and a graphic design class. Woot!
We're moving back in with Jake's parents this week. We've been thinking of saving up to buy a house since they are so cheap and because we'll probably be here until Jake can finish school. (It's a bummer I know... maybe we'll get lucky and he can transfer somewhere!) The drive from Maricopa won't be very fun, especially at 10:00 at night... but we'll survive.
On another note. Um... it's November. Where did this year go?? Seriously! It flew by. I'm so happy though, I love this time of year! It finally feels like fall in AZ. Time to bring on the Christmas music!

Valley of the Goblins

2010-08-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

On the drive home from UT Jake and I decided to do some sightseeing. I'm usually too anxious to get to UT on our drives up, and too tired on the drives home to stop and look at anything. So we put Goblin Valley into our official plans so I couldn't make any excuses.
If you've never been you must GO! It's basically this huge valley with tons of cool rocks worn down by an ancient ocean. There is a lot to explore and fun shapes to discover.

Can you see the gorilla?

Find the Ninja Turtle Head

Jake found a Geocash thing! Haha at first I thought it was a snake trap or something, but Jake thought it was a treasure chest and he was right! Don't worry we put it back just as we found it.

Running from the goblins

Jake's jet ski

Kissing rocks

Oh boys. :)

Ok this was probably the scariest driving experience of my life. After Goblin Valley we came across this road (if you can even call it a road). As we rounded the corner onto this cliff there was a barrier with spray paint that read "Welcome to Hell Town" and there was a crow sitting right above it. How's that for creepy? This road had NO railings and it was DIRT. I was seriously driving 5 mph. Jake asked if I wanted him to drive but I knew he would drive over 5 mph and I would have a panic attack. Seriously how anyone can deem this road passable is beyond me. Needless to say we will never be driving that way again.

Zaugg Reunion 2010

2010-08-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted anything! My computer died, taking photoshop with it so I haven't been very motivated to post pictures. There are just so many that I love from this trip and since I lost my montage program be prepared for an onslaught of pictures!

This was the first night. It was also my grandparents anniversary (I can't remember which anniversary, but they're both over 90 so it was probably their 70th) This was great because I got to see cousins I haven't seen in YEARS! Like my cousin Sabrina from Canada and my cousins in AZ (who live right done the street yet I never see them!) And most of them have never met Jake so it was nice.

And of course Emery is always a highlight so there are plenty of pictures of her :)

Sydney, Carson, cousins Katie, Mindy, and Jake. Me and Dad! See those cow shirts? I designed those!! There's this rusty old Zaugg Dairy sign that I cleaned up and added the words and stuff.
This was probably the most exciting thing we did all weekend. Night Ultimate Frisbee! SO FUN!! We taped some glow sticks onto a frisbee and then we all wore some on our wrists. Half way through the game the sprinklers turned on but that just made it more fun!! My cousin Mindy was a superstar, I'm pretty sure she scored all of our points. I think we're going to make it a Zaugg reunion tradition.

I can't even tell you what a JOY is was to be OUTSIDE!!! I miss bearable summers so much. I loved being able to eat outside, and play games without getting heat stroke.

I love my family! And COLOR!

I love this little girl! This is my cousin's daughter, Alora. My cousin has always been a Disney princess fanatic (hence the name Alora, similar to Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty) and has obviously taught her daughter well! I got this AMAZING Art of the Disney Princesses book from my brother Taylor, it just has a bunch of gorgeous pictures of different artists' interpretations of the princesses. Some of them are hard to recognize at first but Alora knew them! So cute.

Wildlife World Zoo

2010-06-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Jake and I went to the Wildlife World Zoo with our nieces and Jake's parents. Um... coolest zoo ever! I would even say if tops the San Diego Zoo. We made the long trek north to Litchfield, trying to beat the storm clouds that seemed to be chasing us. It started raining right as we got there but it was perfect because we went to the aquarium first. Sadie and Grace had a blast in there! They probably would have been happy to play in there all day, petting starfish, sea urchins, horseshoe crabs, and sting rays! When we left the aquarium the rain had stopped and had lowered the temperature dramatically. It was a perfect day in Arizona! We started at the petting zoo, where we got to touch turtles, goats, deer, and even a lama! The girls loved running around feeding all the baby goats.

So this is why I loved this zoo so much. Everything just seemed so personal. We were two feet away from tigers. Two feet! Jake almost touched a jaguar (until it heard him and growled/hissed, scaring the bajeezes out of him haha). A lot of the animals weren't even caged. It felt like most of the barriers were there to keep humans out, not to keep the animals in.

I loved the baby animal exhibit. We saw a baby lion, baby ocelot, and baby tigers (precious!).

The Kangaroo walkabout area was fun too. We had a couple kangaroos following us ;)

It was such a great day! It is so worth the 45 min trek up there! It's a tad pricey so if any of you Arizonians ever find some coupons, GO! You will not be disappointed!

The Amazing Jake

2010-06-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

What an amazing husband I have.

We have struggled with a problem our entire 2 years of marriage. That problem? Where to store our shoes when we come home at the end of the day. Our entryway of every apartment we've lived in has been cluttered beyond imagination. We've thought of buying a basket of sorts, but Jake's shoes are so huge, two pairs would fill any decent sized container. We're both too lazy to take them off and walk them back to our closet, and we both wear several different pairs each week. What to do??

About a month ago Jake announced that he was going to make a shelf for our shoes. I scoffed at him and immediately came up with a million reasons why that was not possible. What a terrible wife I am! Here my husband was trying to solve our problem and I basically tell him he doesn't have the means or the ability to do it. I felt bad about it later though and told him to do it, but I think he was crushed.

It's a good thing he's so determined though, because the next week he went shopping for wood, nails, and a hand saw. He told me his idea, I sketched a rough design and that was that! Several hours later we had a shelf. And an awesome one at that. We painted it black to match the rest of our furniture, but the artist in me will have to revamp it one day.

My handy man :)

Jake wanted to include a shelf for my purse. He was tired of me throwing it on top of our shoes. I love it.

No More Cleo

2010-06-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well we no longer have our dog Cleo. There were several reasons for getting rid of her but the biggest one was that she was locked up too long while we were at work. So Jake put an ad on craigslist and we got a response back from a guy who lives outside of Maricopa. He lives on a ranch and has over 100 acres (30 of which are fenced so Cleo could run around outside!) He has a little 3 year old and a baby on the way so he wanted to make sure Cleo is good with kids, which she is! He also wanted a guard dog, and we told him Cleo pretty much growls or barks whenever she hears people outside. He came by last week to see her and she wasn't shy at all, which was a first. He was really nice and Jake and I both felt good about letting our dog go with him. Even though she was frustrating at times it is still hard to say goodbye to a life you have been responsible for.

The guy texted Jake a couple days later and said that Cleo was doing great. She runs around all day chasing lizards! So everything has worked out really well. We are really happy for her and grateful that she went to such a good home. Now my job is trying to keep Jake from convincing me to get another dog (I didn't even make it a month last time!). I told him the only dogs we are ever getting again are chihuahuas. And as much as I would love to have one, there are several factors that keep me from wanting one at the moment.

So now we just have our cat (who is sick and Jake hand feeds everyday!). Cats are easy though and even though they aren't as entertaining as dogs, it's nice to have her around. Ok I'm done for the day. Stay tuned for a picture of our newest piece of furniture, designed and created by my wonderful husband!

2 Years of Blissfulness :)

2010-05-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if blissfulness is a word, but it describes Jake and I perfectly! Extremely happy and a little crazy. I can't believe it has been two years already. We've had so much fun! This year we both had to work on our anniversary. Rarr! But we just got back from our UT trip and we didn't want to take another day off. So we celebrated that Saturday by eating at Buca Di Beppo (because we had a sweet coupon and wanted to try some place new) it was really good! They serve things family style which is a little different, but that just means we had tons of left overs the next day. They put us in the love booth where we were surrounded by pictures of all the famous romance singers like Elvis and Dean Martin. There were also a lot of pictures and weird sculptures of dogs. After that we walked off our meal at the mall and headed to the theater to see Robin Hood. Such a good movie. Like wo. We love epic adventures and classic stories.

All in all it has been a wonderful two years. I don't think we've even had a real fight yet (knock on wood!). Jake is an amazing husband and my favorite thing about him is that he is always trying to make me laugh. We have so much fun together and spend all our free time together. I am so grateful and so blessed to have him in my life. And I love knowing he is mine FOREVER! I'm so excited to share life's greatest adventures with this wonderful man. Happy Anniversary Jake!!

Pictures from our first date/s

Little St. George

2010-05-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

My mom's family (the Little's) had a family reunion type thing in St. George a couple weeks ago. Jake and I drove up there after I got off work at 8pm. We were supposed to get there by 3 AM, which isn't too bad for us, we're usually up until 2. But we didn't get there until 6 AM. We missed the exit to Vegas and ended up in CA. ARGH! Poor Jake drove the entire time. He's so amazing! Activities started at 9 the next day so Jake was running on 3 hours of sleep that day. What a trooper!

The trip consisted of hiking, talking, more hiking and eating. We went to Zions because I guess my grandpa used to drive the tour buses through there. The next day we hiked up through a little canyon with a river. It was really beautiful and made me appreciate the desert again (see previous post...). Before we took off we were able to visit Jake's cousin Roy and his cute little family. Jake and Roy used to sell alarms together so we know them pretty well, it was nice to catch up with them again.

I love my family (on both sides!!) Family is what makes life worth living! Here are some pictures from the trip!

This picture perfectly shows how tired he was!

First stop on hike #1 @Zions. We are standing under a waterfall.

Everyone has such funny faces in this one!

Stop #2 at the middle pools. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of them.

Stop #3, upper pool.

Cliff Dweller :)

One of my favorite parts of the trip was playing with Emery! She is so cute! And the funniest thing she did all weekend was scream at Carson. If he ever walked too close or tried to hold her she'd scream at him! It reminded me of the bird Kevin from Up who is always screeching at the dog.

Hike #2 Red Cliffs in Leeds, UT.

My favorite picture from the entire weekend. Oh brothers.

Arthritis Walk

2010-05-21T08:51:00.001-07:00

Several weeks ago Jake's work sponsored an arthritis walk at the Phoenix Zoo. Jake signed up because we'd get free t-shirts, but BONUS! We also got free admission to the zoo all day! The walk was probably just about a mile, and it took us on a loop through the zoo. It was awesome being there so early because it wasn't hot yet and most of the animals were still active (like the big cats who normally just sleep all day). So here are some pictures from the walk. We want to go to the Wildlife Zoo sometime soon, so if anyone wants to come with us just let us know!

Learning to Appreciate the Desert

2010-05-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long! I have tons to blog about, but I have the hardest time motivating myself to do it. So I'll try to knock one out each day until I'm all caught up.

I wanted to write this post before it gets too hot here and I change my mind! But I've been trying to be more optimistic about living in the desert. A few weeks ago Jake, Cleo, and I went hiking up South Mountain, on the Mormon trail! It was super fun! Cleo did really well and it was nice to do something different. I also started to pay attention to the terrain and found some interestingly pretty flowers. So I took lots of pictures in hopes that they will remind me that there are some good things in this ridiculous climate we live in.

Allergies=Suck.

2010-04-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

I NEVER had allergies growing up. I think they first started when I moved to MA, but they have never been this bad! Jake and I both hate taking any kind of medicine (unless absolutely necessary), but last week I had to give in. Itchy eyes, itchy throat, frustratingly annoying runny nose, everything was so fuzzy!! So now I basically can't get through the day without some form of allergy medication. I hope this allergy season is almost over. On the bright side, allergy season brings beautiful things like this...

These pretty trees were all over our complex a few weeks ago, and I couldn't help taking a picture. This desert of ours will only be pretty for so long!

Cleo Complex

2010-04-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

So... we got a new dog a few weeks ago. I've delayed blogging about it because it's still sort of up in the air if we will keep her or not. We found her at a shelter and instantly liked her. She was loving and happy and liked lots of attention. She was listed as a Chinese Shar pei mix, but we can't see the resemblance. So Jake and I decided that she looks more like a mix between a border collie and a pharaoh hound. We named her Cleo (Cleopatra) because of how Egyptian she looks. She really is a gorgeous dog.

Well about a day or two after we got her I started having second thoughts. I don't think I was ready for a new dog (I still miss Jitters) and especially not a bigger dog. I was having the hardest time adjusting to a big creature that I couldn't pick up and move it where it wouldn't bother me. I hated taking her outside because whenever we saw a dog she'd freak out and jump all over the place. I didn't enjoy playing with her, because she could jump high and nip at me (where the worst Jitters could do was scratch at your shins). I couldn't sit on my couch because she was constantly in my face, and whenever I pushed her away she would think I was playing and came back for more. And to make matters worse our cat hates us again. I knew that getting a bigger dog would take some adjusting, I just wasn't willing to do that.
On top of that, I lost my job a week after we got her. So we had a dog I didn't want, and we couldn't afford.
Things are slowly getting tolerable. I started a new job yesterday working as a receptionist at a cosmetology school (so there goes the "we can't afford her" excuse). And she is getting better. Or maybe I'm getting better haha. The only thing that really bothers me now is how she reacts to other dogs. Whenever a dog gets too close she nips at them. I also miss my cat. She lives under our bed these days.
So if any of you out there know of anyone looking for a dog, we've got one for ya! She really is super sweet and loves to play. And I know that over time I'll learn to love her but right now she just seems like more a burden or a chore. I think she'd do better in a house with a yard, and someone who could give her lots of love (now that both Jake and I work nights she's locked up all night). But for now I just need to suck it up and learn to live (and be happy) with this decision we made.

This is my favorite thing about Cleo. Her ears! She is a short haired dog, but her ears are really fuzzy. It's cute :)

Home Again Home Again

2010-03-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

Well, a couple weeks ago we made the trek up to UT again to visit my family. Jake needed a break from work and I missed my family so... yeah! I honestly can't even remember doing a whole lot, and we hardly took any pictures, gr! But here were some highlights of the trip.

We were able to visit my friend Megan and her new husband Randy. I'd never met him before and it was nice to see them together and visit them in their home.
SNOW! We drove through a storm on the way up and on the way back. It was lovely.

Cool rock formations! We drove a different way this time and found this neat little place on the side of the road. Jake had fun running around and being goofy :) I told him this place is NOTHING compared to Goblin Valley. So next time we drive up to UT we'll be stopping there so he can see its wonderment.

On the drive up we stopped in Taylorsville to visit Rory and Rebecca. They just got a German Shepherd puppy named Mowgli. He is super cute and HUGE (and of course I left the camera in the car). I'm glad we visited them then because they were both pretty sick that weekend or were busy with work so we hardly got to see them.
We got to spend lots of time with Emery! I haven't seen her walking yet so that was fun. She is such a good baby! We took her swimming which she loved, and when we all went to play tennis (in 45 degree weather :D) she was happy just to sit on one of our laps and watch the others play. My favorite part though was her falling asleep on me while we were watching a movie. Love love love. I'm so glad we were able to visit on a weekend that Taylor gets his daughter.

Learning that we have a new nephew! Of course he had to come on the one weekend we're out of town! Braxton was born on March 7 (11-ish weeks early) he is still in the hospital but is doing great! We were able to visit him the day after we got home, what a cute little bugger he is!
On Sunday we had both the Zaugg and Little Grandparents over, which was nice! The original plan was to have dinner in Logan but my grandparents decided to come visit us instead. This was kinda a bummer because I was planning on visiting some friends in Logan... but I guess that will have to wait for the next UT trip! Dinner was great and it was nice to have both sets of grandparents in one place.

I know my mom looks funny in this one, but it's the only one I could find with my grandpa and dad looking normal. That's how awful I was at taking pictures this trip, that is 1 of 2 pictures of my dad, and this is the good one.

Learning new card games! Oh how I love playing games with my family. I think Jake is getting used to it, he seemed to enjoy playing them more this trip (or he just faked it). He's so good to me!
We played a lot of Wii. Funniest thing is watching my dad bowl. Best technique ever haha. And my mom is a pro BTW. They have finally found a video game where they can beat their children!

Taylor golfs sitting down :)

We saw the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I think Jake enjoyed it more than he was expecting to, which is awesome! If he can live through that then I think there will be many more musicals in our future!
Before the play we went out to eat with our good friends the Krebs. I haven't seen them since our wedding, so it was nice to catch up.
Rainbow on the drive home! It was a nice ending to a great trip. Really we didn't do anything monumental, it was just fun to get away and relax.

And last but not least, coming home to a clean house! Seriously it feels so good to walk into a clutter free space after being cooped up in a car for 12 hours.

New Job and Finished Art. Sort of.

2010-03-01T17:50:00.001-08:00

So Jake got a new job! Sort of. He's with the same company, but he is now answering emails instead of answering phones. He started today and he was so excited not to have to deal with obnoxious people on the phone. He has to work in Gilbert though, and his schedule is back to 3:30 to midnight, but it'll be worth it just knowing he enjoys his work that much better! I'm really happy for him and so proud! I've got such a talented guy!

And I finished this piece. Sort of. I'm still not happy with the field, and her one arm disappears weirdly, but I got sick of working on it and called it quits. It's called "He Loves Me." Also, I'm kinda taking a break from the digital stuff because I really need to work on illustrating my mom's book and that requires lots and lots of sketching. So probably no art for a while.. sorry!

Jitters

2010-02-10T18:35:00.003-08:00

Well I have some bad news. We had to put Jitters down yesterday. She had been sick for a couple days, but was doing better on Monday. We decided if she was still sick the next day we'd take her to the vet. But we were too late. Tuesday morning we woke up to find Jitter in a sort of coma. She couldn't move, but she was breathing and she would blink whenever we'd pet her. We rushed her to the vet and waited to hear what was wrong. Her temperature was about 20 degrees lower than normal, and her blood sugar was very low. She was dehydrated and couldn't see. To run all the tests they needed to diagnose her, and to hospitalize her for two days would cost us over $600. And even after all that there was no guarantee she would recover, or if she did recover that she'd get her sight back.
So we then had to make one of the hardest decisions we'll ever have to make. We knew we couldn't afford $600, but we would have happily paid it if we knew Jitters would get better. But the doctor said the chance of that happening was very slim. So we decided to put her down. When they brought her in to say goodbye her tail started wagging when she heard Jake's voice. Our hearts broke right there, knowing our baby was still around but knowing we could do nothing to help her.
It's barely been over a day and we are finding it hard to go on with our normal lives. Jitters was constantly on our minds and we took her almost everywhere. We hate coming home because we know she won't be there to greet us. The smallest things are always reminding me of her, like dropping a piece of food on the floor, or even making the car horn beep when we lock the door. Our cat seems bored and she sometimes goes to where Jitter's bed was, looking for her.
I know for some people this might seem ridiculous. I would have thought so too until we had Jitters. She was so perfect. She had such a great personality and made everyone happy. She was my constant companion for over a year and a half. I find myself feeling like I'm forgetting to do something throughout the day, and then I remember that I should be taking Jitters for a walk but I can't anymore. I had a stomach ache last night but she wasn't there to be my little heater to help me feel better. She's not here to growl at me whenever I've been on the computer too long, or to make me play hide and seek with her. Our apartment is really depressing without her, and I almost want to move somewhere new that doesn't have memories of her.
I'm sorry this is so long. I could go on some more but I won't. Thanks everyone for your concern and kind words. We'll move on eventually, and we will get another dog one day but probably not until we have kids. I put together some collages of some of our favorite Jitter pictures. Hope you like them.

We love you Jitters.

Baby Jitters. The bottom right picture is the day we got her.

Jake and Jitters

Madi and Jitters

Sleeping :)

Fun shots

We'll miss you.

Engagement Anniversary

2010-02-08T12:43:00.001-08:00

I don't know how much the rest of the world celebrates little occasions like this, but I like to! I loved growing up when my mom would randomly say, "we went on our first date 20 years ago today." I think it is important to remember little things like that, even if you don't do anything big to celebrate it.

I can't believe it has already been two years. The time has flown by! I still feel like a newlywed and probably will until we have kids. But in remembrance of that joyous day two years ago, I decided to blog about it since I never have before.
Every weekend when I was a sophomore at Utah State I would drive home to work at our restaurant, Zoggers. It was Friday, February 8th, and my brother Taylor and I had taken over the restaurant for the night so my parents could go home. Usually I would be anxious to rush home as well, but I knew that Jake was playing Halo with his buddies that night and probably wouldn't call me until later. I didn't mind though, since I would be flying to AZ next week for Valentine's Day. We had talked about getting married when I visited him for New Years, so I expected to return to UT with a ring on my finger :)
So Taylor and I closed up the shop and made the icy trek home. It was freezing so I was bundled up with my marshmallow coat and multi-colored scarf. When we got home the family was watching a movie, and there was Chinese food waiting on the counter. Normally I would rush downstairs to my room to call Jake, but since I knew he was busy I decided to hang out with my family. That's when my mom came up to me and said, "Madi, why don't you go get your pajama's on and come watch the movie with us." Ok... that was weird. But I took her advice and started toward my bedroom.
The first thing that tipped me off was my door. It is always open. But someone had closed it and hung a wooden heart on the doorknob. I stopped mid staircase, and mentally reviewed my appearance. I smelled like hamburgers and fries, my face and hair were greasy, my puffy winter coat might have been attractive in the 6th grade, and my clothes were baggy and messy. Ugh! So I ran back up the stairs, stripped off my coat and scarf, and attempted to make myself presentable. Then I slowly made my way back downstairs.
When I opened the bedroom door the first thing I noticed was the smell. I was instantly hit by a wonderfully fresh aroma of rose petals. They were strewn all over my floor, and there were two large bouquets on my dresser. There were candles all along the shelving on the walls, and kneeling in the middle of the room, holding a ring, was my beautiful and wonderful Jacob. He was smiling like crazy and I walked right out of the room from of shock and embarrassment. He looked so perfect and I was so gross! But he didn't care. I turned back to him and he asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes!

So that is our happy little story. My mom told me a few days later that she had asked what Jake's plans were for proposing and offered to help with anything, like setting up some place where we could be alone. But Jake wanted my family to be there and be a part of it so he proposed in our house. I love that about him. My family is my life and having them part of this memory just makes it that much sweeter! So happy engagement anniversary Jake! I love you beyond words and I am so happy that you are mine forever!

Churchy-Art

2010-01-16T12:52:00.000-08:00

I have some more art to show you! I hope it doesn't get boring. Firstly, the Las Vegas Temple. My friend Megan just got married there, she was my best friend in high school. I couldn't make it to the wedding so i wanted to give her something more special than a gift card to Target (even though those are awesome wedding gifts).

Next is a project Mom Rucker commissioned. She's teaching the Young Women in her ward next week and wanted to talk about the 10 commandments. So she had me draw 10 illustrations that go along with 10 stories that help you memorize the order of the 10 commandments. This one is my favorite.

And here are the rest. 1. Sun, 2. Shoe, 3. Tree, 4. Door, 5. Hive, 6. Sticks, 7. Heaven, 8. Freight, 9. Line, 10. Hen

Tablet Take One

2010-01-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

So here are some pictures I've done on my new graphic tablet! I still need a lot of practice and to take a class to learn some new techniques, and of course PRACTICE some more but this is what i have so far. Enjoy!

This one is called snow angel. I liked the idea of having a "snow angel" actually be an angel! I did this around new years and I was really missing snow.

This is my ballerina doll I drew for the book my mom is writing. She has two other versions, a cheerleader and a baseball player. I'll get around to coloring those soon. I think I need to push the darks a little on this one and the hair still bugs me, but other than that I'm happy with it!

This is a work in progress, called "He Loves Me." It makes me think of that part in Beauty and the Beast when she's singing in the field with the daffodils flying around her. I love that movie! Her face and body is done, I just need to fix the dress and obviously the field/background.

Christmas!

2010-01-06T14:42:00.001-08:00

Merry late Christmas (and New Year...) from the Ruckers!

We had a lovely holiday season! We woke up early Christmas morning so we could get to Jake's parents early enough to make some breakfast knottybunz! But we opened some presents on our own before we left.

Jake got me a beautiful and amazing graphic tablet to help me do some digital painting. I love it to pieces and I use it everyday! I've finished some paintings and I'll post them later. He also got me all of the Harry Potter movies! He knows me too well :) I love the background of this picture-our fake fire screen saver. It crackled and everything!

Jake got Xbox live for a year, some caramel popcorn seasoning that he gets every time we go to the movies but we can't find in stores anywhere (thank you amazon.com) and tennis rackets!

We also got some beautiful decorations from Jake's family to help cover the bare walls in our apartment, and awesome kitchen stuff from my family.

We had fun hanging out with Jake's family all day. The only bummer was that Jake had to work that afternoon. Seriously, who makes people work on Christmas?? That's what happens when you work for a place that's open 24/7. Here are some pictures of the rest of the day.

No pictures for New Years Eve, but we celebrated the new year with Josh and Rebecca. It was nice and relaxing, except for when the guys started to play with fireworks!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and Happy 2010!!!

Jake's Work Party

2009-12-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

Several weeks ago Jake and I went to his work party. It was probably the coolest party we will ever go to. Every year his boss rents out Chase Stadium and holds a wicked awesome party. We got to see some famous people like Muhammad Ali, Melissa Peterman (who plays Barbara Jean in the show Reba), and of course Danika Patrick. There was live music, a comedian, a delicious buffet, cash giveaways, and fireworks! The only downside was that we didn't know anyone! Thousands of people and Jake and I just sat at our table all alone. It really was just great to be a part of it though. Here are some pictures, enjoy!

Danika's sweet cars!

The Temptations

Muhammad Ali! We felt like such losers taking his picture but couldn't pass up the chance.

Jake and his boss

Thanksgiving Weekend

2009-12-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

My family came to AZ for Thanksgiving this year. It was so much fun! We spent most of the day hanging out and eating with Jake's family, and then we went to Tucson for the weekend to visit my cousins down there. I love having my family in my home, and I love all the crazy games we play and the inside jokes we have. I didn't get any pictures from Thanksgiving dinner but here are some highlights from the rest of the week.

This was my dad's first time playing Mario Kart Wii. He did really well! I love Jack's face in this picture. And Carson is so talented that he can play and text at the same time :)

My momma and baby Kate.

We visited this really cool old mission south of Tucson called Tumacacori.

Yes, we're sisters.

Remember that cool game where the fish spin around and open and close their mouths and you try to catch them? Well we played it. And I was pretty much awful. Krista won but she totally cheated!

My favorite part of the weekend was going on a walk one morning with my parents and my aunt Clarinda. My dad and I were wearing shorts and t-shirts, we passed an old couple who were adorned in coats, hats, and gloves. They thought we were from Alaska :)

I love these trees! I call them Dr. Seuss trees because they are so crazy and fun, they look like they came out a Dr. Seuss book. They look fuzzy and charming from far away but they're actually pretty spiky, they might be some sort of cactus. Every time I go to Tucson I want to take a picture of these guys and I finally did. My parents were fascinated by some of the desert plants we have down here, especially the huge Saguaro cacti.

Growing Old Together

2009-11-23T20:19:00.000-08:00

Ok I've been meaning to write about this for a while so I'm doing it now before I forget! A couple weeks ago at work there was this old man who just made my day. I work as a receptionist/sales rep for a vacation membership club. Customers come in and we give them a presentation about our company. There are a number of qualifications people have to meet in able to see the presentation, for example, we aren't allowed to tour single males. That's where the old man comes in. He was alone, so we couldn't tour him, and we had to turn him away. One of the managers explained our regulations and sent him on his way. About 5 minutes later he comes back in and walks up to the front desk. I thought he was going to yell at me (which is a pretty common occurrence) but he just started talking. He was pretty offended that he couldn't see the presentation only because he was single. He told me how his wife had died of cancer earlier this year, and showed me pictures of them dancing on their 50th wedding anniversary. He told me about how they met (on a blind date), he could even remember what she was wearing. He gave such lovely descriptions of her. You could hear in his voice how much he missed her. I wish I could have talked to him longer but I was really busy and my boss was rushing me to get things done. Before he left he told me a joke/pick up line that I love. He asked me, "are my eyes blue?" and I answered yes. Then he said, "That is so weird. They only turn blue when I'm looking as something pretty." Isn't that so precious? Haha I have a point to all this I promise.
Sometimes I am terrified of getting old. Like.... dentures? They freak me out. So does having to get glasses, hearing aids, and having back/knee/any kind of joint trouble. It scares me. But that old man helped me see a little bit of the sweeter side of old age. Spending all those years with someone you love. Nothing could be better. Our hair will turn gray, our skin will get loose and wrinkly, our bodies will weaken, and our senses will dim, but love will always stay strong. Even after death. I'm in no rush to reach old age, but I am excited about all of the life Jake and I get to live before we get there. I am so grateful for him and most especially that I get to keep him forever! This isn't nearly as eloquent as it sounded in my head. In a nut shell, life is precious! Enjoy every bit of it!

New Apartment!!

2009-11-23T19:48:00.000-08:00

A quick shout out to Mom and Dad Rucker for letting us live with them for a couple months. They helped us out so much, we will be forever in their debt! And again thanks to Jesse and Mallory for storing our stuff all summer. Seriously. Thank you!

Well, Jake and I are really picky (or maybe it's just me...) but once we found our apartment we fell in love! So here are some pictures of our new place. We're on the third floor which is sometimes a bummer but we get a good workout! And I feel safer on the third floor when I'm home alone.

My favorite room! I love love love this kitchen. Our last two kitchens (in Mesa and CA) were so small! Absolutely no counter space. But this one is marvelous!

Dining room. Out table looks tiny in this picture. All of the walls are so blank. We need some cool art to cover them and bring in some color!!

Bathroom!

The bedroom is pretty boring. Just a bed, a side table, and a lamp. There is a sliding door in the bedroom, which is another reason I'm glad we're on the third floor. Sliding door+bedroom+1st floor=scariness. So we'll move onto the wicked awesome closet! We don't have a dresser so it's pretty packed in there.

Family room! Wahoo! And that concludes our tour.

Dress Design for Shabby Apple Dresses

2009-11-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

So I was reading a friend's blog yesterday and saw that she had drawn some dress designs for a contest by Shabby Apple dresses. I've always loved their dresses and since I love drawing I figured I'd sketch something fast (since the contest ends today!) and post it. So here is my dress design. I couldn't decide which color I liked better so I did both. Wish me luck!

Yellow is by far my favorite spring color, and I always have the hardest time finding a fun, modest spring dress. The main part of the dress would be a strech cotton, with white sleeves overlayed with a sheer fabric (Sorry, I don't know much about fabric and their specific names). The sheer fabric is also ruffled along the neckline and toward the hem, which ends just below the knee. A light flowery/paisley pattern in a darker yellow fades in and out sparadically throughout the dress. This dress is designed to be light, airy, and is sure to turn quite a few heads.Alghouth dark blue is rarely seen as a spring color, the stark contrast with the sleeves and waistband still maintain the fun and flirty aspects of the yellow version of the dress. The type of fabric used would be the same, the only difference is the striped wasteband verses the buttons on the yellow dress, and this dress is a solid color (no flowery designs).

Phoenix Symphony

2009-09-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Jake and I went to the Phoenix Symphony! A friend of ours has a friend that was able to score us some sweet tickets! And it was amazing. Jake picked me up after the Relief Society conference (which was great), and we made our way to Phoenix. I had never been in that part of the city before and I loved it. There really is some great architecture in Phoenix. We'll have to go back one day and go through some museums or just walk around.

Alondra de la Parra was the conductor, and Adam Golka was a guest pianist. Both are in their 20s. It was great to be able to see such young, talented, successful people. My favorite piece was the Sinfonia India, composed by Carlos Chavez. Parts of it made me feel like I was suddenly in The Lord of the Rings or some other fantasy book. Next was the Concerto No.2 in G minor by Sergei Prokofiev. This is where Golka preformed. He was brilliant. We were lucky enough to be seated on the side of the concert hall that allowed us to see his hands. At some points they were moving so fast everything was a blur! And he played without any sheet music. A-maz-ing. Last was Symphony No. 8 in G major by Antonin Dvorak. The whole experience was wonderful. I'm always amazed at the feelings and emotions that music can invoke.

Art Take 2

2009-09-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

So I've been working on a few things (not nearly as much as I should) and I thought I'd share! It's hard for me to be motivated to do art projects without an art teacher and a due date. I start a lot of things but don't finish them. But since I'm unemployed and with Jake now starting his new job I have a lot of free time. Jake is pushing me and his mom to start a mural business, where we'd paint murals and little flourishes in peoples homes. It'd be an awesome job but I need some practice! So I'm determined to sketch AT LEAST once a day, and paint something a few times a week.

This is called The Girl with the Blue Sucker. It's my sister Sydney when she was little. She is my favorite person to draw/paint. Not really happy with the shirt. I get impatient with oils after a while, since I haven't had much practice with them. So as soon as the face was done I scrambled through the rest.

Mesa Temple! This was commissioned by my father in law. It took me FOREVER! I'd probably rather draw hands all day (which I hate) than draw buildings. It's crazy hard to get all the angles right and there is so much detail. But it's nice to broaden my horizons and work on something different. It was a really neat project. My mom wants one in water color, and I think I'm going to do a big drawing/painting of the Bountiful Temple whenever I can afford to get it framed.

Sorry this one is so dark! I couldn't figure out the scanner so I had to take a picture. I did this today as my daily sketch. It's called Rain Dance. I want to do more with it, it'd look really sweet done in watercolor, and I think it has the makings of a cute book. Anyone want to write a story?

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-18T14:48:00.000-07:00

We drove up to Utah again for Labor day. The drive was pretty uneventful, except we did get to see how construction is going on the new bridge at Hoover Dam. We drove by it last Christmas and were impressed. It's a HUGE bridge.

Sydney was visiting from Tucson this weekend too, but we went a day early to surprise my family. We pulled into the driveway and no cars were there. The door was unlocked so we let ourselves in, but there was no one home! We drive 13 hours and there is no one to suprise. What a bummer!
Some highlights of the week include, going to the Music and the Spoken word on Sunday, visiting my niece Emery, playing tennis with the fam, visiting grandparents, my parents buying a Cadillac (haha!), eating delicious peaches, seeing my brother Rory and his wife Rebecca (hadn't seen them since Christmas!) feeling the first touches of fall, and the 2 year anniversary of our first date/kiss! It was such a wonderful weekend!

Carson drew on Jake's neck with a permanent marker. So Jake tackled Carson and did this :)

The Orchestra and the bells were there. It was amazing!

2 Years from our first date/kiss at Temple Square

Emery! She's getting so big! And she has hair!

Tippie toes! She can stand on her own pretty well and can walk a little bit when she has her toy cart thing.

Yellow watermelon. I kid you not.

Pretty Zaugg farm

I've always loved this sign. I think it'd look really neat all cleaned up and in someones laundry room or something.

Tucson

2009-09-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

My little Sister Sydney moved to Tucson last month to live with my cousin Amber. Originally she was going to nanny for a family down there but they changed their mind once she got down there. But Syd loves being with my cousin and helping her take care of her kids. It's been great for Sydney, teaching her more responsibility and patience. She's always been amazing with kids. She isn't sure how long she'll be down there but I like having her so close! I've visited her twice, once when Jake was still in CA and then again when Jake came home. Here are some cute pictures from the trips!

Syd and baby Kate

We forgot her hat when we went to the pool. Amber's was too big so we fashioned one out of my tank top.

Amber and Jack

Jack's pre-birthday presents :)

Jali on her first day of school

Rain dance

Well since she wasn't soaked enough, she decided to sit in a tub of water.

Jake's reaction whenever I make him hold a baby

The Incredible Indestructable Blackberry

2009-09-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been FOREVER since the last post. I've had tons to blog about, and plenty of time to do it, I'm just extremely forgetful. So apologies all around. Today I'd like the tell the story of Jake's extremely tough Blackberry. We got it a few days after our wedding, and since then it has undergone some harsh treatment, such as.... falling onto concrete or a hard surface dozens (and dozens) of times, falling into a milk shake, falling into water multiple times, falling on the beach and getting sand stuck in the little ball scroller thing, and.... getting run over by a truck!! No joke! Here is the picture to prove it.

Jake was out with a friend offroading and hiking and somehow his phone fell out of his pocket. When they were half way down the mountain he realized his phone was missing so they drove back to find it. Jake found it implanted in the ground with tire marks on it. And it still works! What an amazing phone!
We're back in Arizona, living with Jake's parents and uncertain about the future. We'd been thinking of moving to Utah at the end of the year but I doubt that is going to happen now. So we're just gunna wing it and see where jobs take us. Jake's had some interviews at Go Daddy and is hoping to get a call back soon.
Our last days in CA were pretty fun. I'd moved back to AZ a week or so before to start job hunting but went back to CA to clean our apartment and haul the rest of our stuff home. We drove down through San Diego on or way home because Jake wanted to go swimming with sharks, like my sister and I did last summer with my cousin Krista. So we drove to La Jolla and had a blast snorkeling with leopard sharks! They are completely harmless and pretty small so now worries! We did see a sting ray though and that kinda freaked me out. I miss our friends from CA and the nice weather but it's good to be home.

Ode to Madi's Magnificent Bag

2009-08-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

Oh my beautiful Argentinian companion. How I weep for thee. Our six years together have seemed but a moment, and the thought of life without you torments my heart. You have been by my side everyday. Walked where I have walked, cried where I have cried. You were there, a gentle presence, for every important occasion in my teen and adult life. No school day passed without your beauty. No track meet occurred without your colorful threads. No date was allowed without you as my chaperon. Each time my feet stepped out into the world I felt safe with your soft pressure on my shoulders.

You've been the receiver of countless compliments given by unknown passersby. You bend and twist to hold whatever I desire. Your strings have snapped carrying my burdens, and still you thrive; despite my meager attempts of mending. You are a precious gift, brought by a beloved brother over thousands of miles, to serve a small girl of fifteen. I thank you now for your tireless efforts, and give you the respite you deserve. Although you will no longer travel with me each day, I will always remember our time together, and miss you eternally.

OK so this might seem a little over the top, but for those of you who have known me for several years you know that this bag goes EVERYWHERE I do. I have never been a purse person, and I love this bag so much because it's a backpack and I don't have to carry it or worry about it falling off my shoulder. It's perfect for every occasion except one. And that occasion is job interviews. The last few interviews I went to I felt pretty ridiculous dressed up in my awesome suit pants and blouse, carrying a brightly colored, shabby backpack. So I decided I needed something a little more mature. And boring. So I made Jake help me pick out a purse that looks professional but still retains a lot of functions that I like in my old bag. I have never liked the way I look wearing a purse so Jake was great at giving me his opinions and we found one we liked! I'm sure I will still use my backpack all the time, but for normal day to day stuff I have a new "grown up" bag. So farewell my sweet Argentine accessory!

Birthday Boy

2009-07-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

We went back to AZ again for Jake's birthday. It was great to see family and relax for the weekend! We especially had fun playing with Jake's twin nieces Sadie and Grace. They are pretty much the only thing I took pictures of the whole weekend.

Oh BONUS! I got see my wonderful friend Sarah, who just moved to Mesa. I wasn't planing on visiting her but Jake and I needed to go to the distribution center and when we walked in, there she was! She was busy working but it was so nice to visit with her for a while!

Sadie and Jake, Grace and Madi

Jake and the girls were playing with jitters, crawling around and barking at her. I think Sadie kept meowing though...

The girls had so much fun digging in the backyard with their new gardening gloves! And Grace found Jessy's hat and glasses and turned into a gangster :)

Jake + Wings =
:)

Creepy Jake. Creepy Madi.

To the Beach

2009-07-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

Jake and I have been able to go to the beach quite a bit, so here a few pictures of our adventures.

We took a frisbee and the guys were playing in the waves. Jake made a sweet catch here! And paid the consequences with a burn from the sand.

My friend Naomi and I took our dogs to the beach last week. We had a blast! The dogs hate the water though. Jitters loves to run around in the sand, but I wasn't allowed to her off her leash.
Naomi looked so cute in her dress and sun hat. Here she took Jitters out to the water, she was so terrified!

LACMA

2009-07-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

So a few of my friends here in CA and I decided to head to L.A. yesterday and visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It was AMAZING! We got sort of lost on the way there but thank goodness for iphones and for the good parking lot guy who gave us our money back when we accidentally parked 6 miles away from our destination. This museums is huge and spread over quite a large area so we didn't even get to see half of the stuff there, but what we did see was great! We started in the European art section which featured mostly Christian art which is awesome and creepy and super symbolic. I wish I remembered all the stuff from my art history classes! One of my favorite sections was the Roman gallery. They have some beautiful statues and jewelry and pottery. Ugh I need to go to Rome!

This was an interesting forest of lampost right outside the museum. It would probably look awesome at night!

I also loved the Japanese Pavilion. Such beautiful ink paintings on silk, and some pretty amazing block prints too.
I was so excited about these panels! I actually learned about these in my Japanese art history class. I never imagined I'd get to see these in my entire life!! Oh i love art museums!

This is a beautiful Mary Cassatt piece. She was a famous impressionist painter known for her paintings of mothers and children. She is my high school art teachers favorite artist.

I about died when I saw this chair. Back at Utah State I had to build a chair out of cardboard for a 3D design class and this was the EXACT chair I modeled mine after. I'm not sure why but I just love it so much! Designed by Charles Rohlfs.

Volleyball

2009-07-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

Every Monday and Wednesday the guys get together to play volleyball before work. Last week Jake did a killer baseball slide in an attempt to save the ball, and this is what happened to his leg.

Pretty sweet scab eh?

Everyone loves action shots!

This one is my favorite! It's fun to watch him play sports and be competitive in something other than video games :)

Newport

2009-07-01T16:54:00.000-07:00

Last week Jesse and Mallory invited us to their beach house in Newport! Wohoo! Jake took a day off of work and we drove down there early in the morning. When we got there it was pretty cloudy so we decided to go see Transformers and wait for the sun to come out. After the movie we spent a lovely afternoon at the beach! Jake and Jesse went boogie boarding and Mallory and I sat on the beach. Jake almost got attacked by a seal (haha!) and every once in a while a dolphin would show up to play in the waves.

That night Mallory's parents took us out to eat which was super nice. Then we walked around the shops at Huntington Beach, ate some ice cream and a frozen banana, and went back to chill at the beach house. We had to leave early the next morning but we had so much fun! Thanks Jesse and Mallory for a wonderful day!

Jake found a kite on the beach in the morning. After about an hour of untangling string, he wrapped it around a toiletpaper roll and ta da!

Mother Dear I Love You So

2009-06-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

So my lovely mother came to visit me a couple weeks ago! She was in LA for business but scheduled her flight to leave a few days later so she could visit Jake and me. This was the first time she had been to see me with a house/apartment of my own so it was pretty exciting! We spent most of our time shopping, trying to find clothes for my dad and my siblings. And as much as I loathe shopping, it was great to get out of the house and spend time with my mom! My throat was sore from talking so much! She bought Jake and I tons of cool groceries that we would never buy ourselves but love having them, she took me to Trader Joe's for the first time (awesome!!), and we watched girly movies and ate chocolate. Oh and one morning we played soccer in the park and ran around with Jitters. Then we went home and made freezer jam! Huzzah!!! So thanks mom for a wonderful weekend and for making our home feel a little homier. We love and and miss you tons!

Rainy California

2009-06-02T20:02:00.000-07:00

So our first week in sunny California has been all rain. But I love it! It's actually mostly just rainy in the morning, then by the afternoon the sun comes out. It's nice. We went to the beach with Jake's work and it was freezing! But we had hot dogs and s'mores and had a grand time. Jake is getting into the swing of things with work and I am (as usual) job hunting. If I don't have any offers by the end of this week I'm going to have to swallow my pride and apply at some fast food places. Darn it all! We have lots of friends close by and life is just swell! We love you all and miss you bunches!

A Birthday, a Holiday, and a Graduation

2009-06-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

First off, I need to express our appreciation to Jesse and Mallory for letting us stay with them while we made our transition from AZ to CA. And for storing so much of our stuff for the summer! We wouldn't have survived without you guys, we owe you big time! So here is what has happened since then.

We arrived in Rancho Cucamonga Saturday evening and went straight to the pool to enjoy a wonderful meal provided by Roy and Megan. We couldn't stay long however since we were pretty sure our pets were freaking out in our new appartnemt. So we hurried home and finished unpacking. The next day was our 1 year anniversary!! YAY! It's surprising how fast the year went. We didn't really do anything special since it was Sunday, but it was nice to get settled into our place and spend all day together since I was flying out to Utah the next morning.
So Utah! I had such a wonderful time. It was so so so so nice to be with my family, it's been too long! My mom and Syd picked me up and we spent the day in Salt Lake. The week was pretty uneventful (but still awesome) since everyone still had school and work, but on Thursday my brother Taylor came! Taylor and I haven't had a chance to be one on one in a long time, and it was so nice to sit and chat and joke about the good ol' days.
Saturday was a momentous day. We were celebrating my grandma's 90th birthday. It was like a family reunion! I got to see lots of family from all over, who I probably won't see again for a long time. And to top off the day, Emma decided to let us take Emery (my niece) for the night! I hadn't seen her since she was a month old. It was fun to see her smile and laugh.
Memorial Day was one of the best days. My family went on hike! It's been so long since we did something like that. We were sad Rory wasn't there though. There were tons of people and we were all pretty gross and sweaty by the time we reached the waterfall but it was worth it! At home we had some hot dogs and ice cream to complete the perfect day.
And on Tuesday my little sister graduated. Congrats Syd! We're all super proud of you. But graduations are really boring, and she was the last one in line.
I flew back to CA the next morning. It was really hard to leave the comfort of my family, but I didn't feel complete without Jake. And he missed me tonnage so it's nice to be back :) Sorry for the hecka long post, now for lots of pictures!
My grandma is such an awesome lady. She raised 11 kids! And my poor grandpa was in a car accident a few days earlier. He's about 95 and going strong!

Cute little Emery! She has eyes only for her dad!

I was trying to get her to smile for the longest time! So I asked Taylor to help, and as soon as he said her name, boom. She smiled. So precious!

Hike Montage

Carson's moment of glory

A Day With Choncho

2009-05-07T09:12:00.000-07:00

This is Choncho. Jake found Choncho running around our apartment complex on the day we were moving, and brought him home. I was just a tad irritated. How are we supposed to move THREE ANIMALS to CA and back? All the while keeping him separated from Jitters because neither of them are fixed. Oh and worry about feeding him and watching him, and making sure he gets along with Jesse and Mallory's dogs while we stay with them. And wondering if he'll attack our cat or not. And getting him to the vet to see if he's diseased. AH! All of these questions were running through my head while we drove back home Monday night. Turns out Choncho is fine with other dogs, he didn't eat or drink anything, he's house trained, and he was fine being locked up all night. But I had to put my foot down. We can't afford another dog right now, and I don't want to live with three animals in an apartment. So the next day I dropped Jake off at school and Choncho and I returned to the apartment to finish cleaning. He sat and watched me while I cleaned the bathroom, followed me everywhere, played with the vacuum, and helped me sweep. Seriously. I'd set some treats out for him on the kitchen floor, which he didn't eat. When I started sweeping he picked up the treats and moved them onto the carpet, out of harms way. And that's when I started to like him. He was just a good natured, jolly dog, but I knew if we kept him I'd go crazy. So when Jake finished school we took him to a shelter. Jake went in first because I knew I'd cry if I went, but he didn't have his license with him so I had to go in too. We waited in line, and just before our number was called a couple walked in the door. The man walked passed us but turned around right when our number was called and asked, "are you giving away that dog?" We said yes, so we walked with them outside and told them how we found him and how he was really nice and playful. They were looking for a small dog as a companion for their dog. It was perfect! I was so happy to see Choncho go to a family rather than to a cage. We walked around the shelter afterwards to look at all the dogs and it was so sad. I never would have been happy with myself knowing I'd confined such a good dog into such a sad and scary place. So it was a happy ending. But Jake and I decided that the next dog we get will be from a shelter. There are too many good dogs out there just waiting for a home.

This is what happens when grocery stores double bag. And when two people get very bored on a Saturday night.

News Glorious News!

2009-04-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

Ok well we don't really have glorious news, just a few updates here and there.

Easter was strange and exciting at the same time. Our sacrament meeting consisted of mostly music, which is awesome. Music can bring such a sweet spirit! Our little primary class was moved into a new classroom because the nursery was split and took over our old room. So now we have a room with one of those divider things down the middle, which wouldn't bother me normally but we have to try to keep the kids extra quiet now so as not to disturb the other class. The kids were a little distracted that day, Easter is turning into a second Christmas. But Jake gave a great lesson (and our kids are so smart!) and we ate delicious sugar cookies and had a jolly good time.
For dinner we were lucky enough to be invited to Mallory's parent's house! It was fun to get to know her family better. The food and company were great (and they have the sweetest cats ever). I love being around family, even if they aren't my own.
This last weekend we got to be a part of something extremely special. Jake's dad was called to be bishop of the Maricopa 2nd ward! So we went down there Saturday afternoon, spent the day with family, and went to their ward the next day. The neatest thing was being able to see him set apart as bishop. What an amazing and spiritual experience that I hope to remember all my life. After that we went home and helped with dinner, spent time with family, and waited for the bishop to return home so we could congratulate him on his first day on the job. But he never showed! We waited until 8 that night but to no avail. These new bishop hours will take a while to get used to.
And last but not least, we made the decision to go to CA for the summer. We were on the fence about it for awhile but we thought about it a lot and decided it's the best thing to do. I'm excited to get out of AZ for the summer. It was about 104 degrees here the other day, and that is a little much for April. So hopefully we'll do well this summer and have a great time in CA!

We took a walk around the MCC rose garden a few weeks ago. It was pretty neat. It's the second largest rose garden (for variety) in the nation. How cool is that?

Family Visits

2009-03-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's hard living so far away from family. Most of Jake's family is close, which is nice, and we hang out all the time. But seeing my family is a little more challenging. That's why I was so excited when my grandparents told me they were coming to visit! They drove down from Utah last week, all the way to Tucson to visit my cousin Amber and her family. I hadn't seen Amber in years, and she had never met Jake so we decided to head down there for the weekend. It was so much fun! Jake had an awesome time playing with their two kids, Jack and Jali, and it was nice to be able to catch up with my cousin. We also walked around their club house which is INSANE. They have a water park, swimming pools, an enormous gym, tennis and basketball courts, day care centers, pretty much everything awesome. It would have been a perfect trip if our car hadn't been so ridiculous. Seriously, we have the worst luck with cars. So on Saturday night Jake discovered that our battery was dead. So the guys jump started and all was well. But the next morning they had to charge it two or three more times. So we took it to the dealership the next day and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. They just said the lights were left on, which doesn't make sense because our lights turn off automatically, and we would have noticed if they had been on. But oh well. It's worked fine ever since so that's a relief!

My grandparents visited us again here in Mesa yesterday. I helped them find their hotel in Chandler, and we went to the mall to pick up some things. It was pretty hilarious. My grandma bought us a wooden spoon and nut cracker (they gave us a bag full of pecans to crack), then they took Jake and I out to eat at Marie Callenders. Mmm!
So that's that! We probably won't see any of my family for awhile. I want to make it up to Utah before we head out to California for the summer, hopefully in time for my sisters graduation!

Our Entertainment

2009-03-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

I think it's funny that half of our posts are about our pets. But since we don't have any kids, they are pretty much the only thing we have to blog about. I just wanted to share these, thought they were pretty funny. Whenever Jake sits down to do homework, Jitters is always there to give him kisses. And then she'll either stand there in his face so he can't see anything, or she'll lay down right under his chin so he can barely move. She is the cutest thing ever! And then Jake managed to get a video of the cat that climbs our wall almost everyday now.

Oh, and they did finally split our primary class. One of the boys, Tanner, he loves Jake so much! If Jake is out of the room for two seconds Tanner will be like, "Hey where's Rucker?" So cute! Well Tanner got put into the other class, but he didn't want to go so Jake had to carry him there and he was crying the whole time. It was so sad! Now we only have 4 kids in our class. We'll have to plan our lessons better now, since we won't need to spend half of the class just trying to keep them quiet!

Romeo and Juliet

2009-02-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

So for the past few months we have had a visitor on our back porch every so often. And living on the second floor, it is rather uncommon for any creature to find their way into our house. We leave our porch door open almost all day because our cat likes to sit outside and relax or watch birds. Our apartment complex has several stray cats, and one of them likes to scale the stucco wall up onto our porch. It is an amazing feat, and I'm not quite sure how he's done it so many times without falling. But the most bizarre thing is how he gets back down. It's something you have to see for yourself to really appreciate it. And as entertained as Jake and I are by his theatrics, Sphynx has no interest. She hisses and runs into the house to hide. Poor Romeo. He'll have to scale another maiden's wall.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-18T11:53:00.000-08:00

Well this year for Valentine's Day we were house sitting for Jesse and Mallory while they were in Texas. It was great to be in an actual house and have so much more space (I miss their kitchen already) but we also had two more dogs to take care of. They are quite a handful, but they love attention and would get so excited every time we'd walk into the room.
The day started out by Jake showering me with chocolate. And not just any chocolate, DOVE dark chocolate. My favorite! He's so good. All I did for him was make a card. Nothing too spectacular. Throughout the day I was greeted by other little surprises that were so sweet! It was great! Later in the afternoon we went to this cool park with Jitters and walked around for a while. All in all it was a pretty spectacular day!
Life right now is pretty slow, Jake has school every morning and he's enjoying that. I'm still job hunting and trying to teach myself new techniques on the computer (in photoshop and illustrator), and drawing every once in a while.
I don't remember posting that we got a calling, but we teach CTR 6 in church. We have about 10 kids and it is crazy! Some days it's hard to keep their attention for more than 10 seconds. The primary president is considering splitting our class, which is sad but will probably help the kids learn better, and that's the important thing!

White Christmas

2009-01-13T12:21:00.001-08:00

Well it's been a while but we're finally getting some pictures up from Christmas! Jake and I went to Utah for Christmas and it snowed almost the entire time! We left a day earlier than planned because there was a huge storm the next day. The drive was fun, we thought it was pretty exciting driving through Hoover Dam, where they filmed part of Transformers! The week in Utah was so fun! We were a little worried that Jitters would freeze in the snow so Jake tried to make her a little sweater :) so cute! But it turns out she didn't need it. She LOVED the snow! Funny story, the first night we were there Jake and I drove my little brother and sister around the neighborhood to hand out some goodies, so my parents were in charge of watching Jitters. They look her outside to to her business when suddenly a huge owl came out of no where and swooped down to pick up our dog! My parents ran screaming after Jitters and caught her just in time. Talk about scary!

My family loves to play games. And eat delicious food. So that's basically what we did the entire time. It was too snowy to drive anywhere and it's always cheaper to stay home anyway! I think Jake was a little gamed out by the time we left though. But he's super amazing for putting up with my competitive family for so long!
On Christmas eve we went to Salt Lake to see the lights at temple square. They were beautiful! I'm always so blown away by how great they are. And we also went up to Logan to visit some more family and eat some more good food. The roads were treacherous! I am so glad I don't go to school in freezing icy Logan anymore!
It was so wonderful to spend time with family, I love them so much! But it's always nice to come home after a trip and relax. On the drive home we stopped and both Rucker and Warner Grandparents houses. I'd never been to the Warner's home so it was neat to see that and spend some time with them.
And that was our amazing trip to Utah! Sorry this is so long!

Hoover Dam. They are building a new bridge and it's ginormous! And scarily high.

Festive Jitters :) She didn't like it so much.

BLIZZARD!

The whole gang at temple square

Christmas loot. Favorite items from my family: Muffin tins and a rolling pin w/pie roller sheet. And we got a sweet mixer from Jake's parents. Bring on the baking!

I love this picture. That's Fernando. He's a beast!!

Phoenix Zoo Lights

2008-12-19T11:25:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Jake and I went to see Zoolights with our friend Tamlage and his gf Kalicia. It was quite an interesting experience. My back was killing me and I couldn't breath half the time, but I had to suck it up and walk around for a few hours. The lights were pretty but I think we all were expecting more. It definitely wasn't $8 worth! It might have been made more for kids anyway. But even though it wasn't all we were hoping for it was fun to leave the house and do something new. Afterwards we had some hot chocolate and played the dice game! yay! Tonight we're planning to go see the lights at the Mesa Temple. Oh, and yesterday Jake's unofficial adoptive brother Josh got married! Congrats Josh and Rebecca! It was fun to spend time with family and get to know them a little better.

And update from the last post: we never found anything out about the policemen and helicopters, but we think it was probably drug related or something. Woot!

Leaving the Temple. The photographers made them walk out about three times.

These were some zoolights across the lake. They were really pretty!

An orangutan/ballerina/elf

Ghetto Much?

2008-12-11T21:01:00.000-08:00

So at this moment, Jake is looking out our windows at some cops with M-16s and a helicopter flying over our complex shining a spot light. Um... creepy? About five minutes ago Jake was taking Jitters outside when he saw something out of the corner of his eye... a cop up against the wall, brandishing a very large gun. Then he was hit by the spot light, and he stood there trying to look as innocent as possible to avoid being taken down by the watchful cop. The helicopter is still circling and we'll be looking online for the news to see if we can learn anything about what is going on!! Our apartment is so ghetto!! But thank goodness for a wonderful husband who doesn't make me take the dog out at night :)

Elf Dance

2008-12-08T19:06:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Babysitting

2008-12-03T11:14:00.000-08:00

Well today ends our two week babysitting adventure. We were privileged to watch our good friends Tomi and Naomi's dogs while they were visiting family in Japan. There names are Mei and Sue, both chihuahua's, and Jitters is used to them because she was at there place while we were in Utah. The only problem has been our cat. She was terrified at first and we had to lock her in our room. But now, on the day they leave of course, the cat roams free. The dogs are probably more scared of her than she is of them. It's been pretty crazy having two extra dogs in our tiny apartment, but these dogs are very obedient and love to cuddle! Sue is very inquisitive and likes to know what's going on. She likes to sit and watch me make dinner a lot. Mei is so sweet, she is constantly scratching at my arm so I'll pet her. These dogs love attention, and Jitters acted pretty jealous at first. We've had a lot of fun but we know these guys will be happy to get home where they can run around again!

The girls

Sue

All four of them in one picture! The cat was too terrified to run away

Jitters. So crazy cute!

This is what Mei does when she wants attention. And every time I tried to take her picture she'd turn her head like that.

The cat found high ground to stay safe

Weddings Galore

2008-10-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

Well it seems there have been an unusual number of weddings this year. I think I've gone to more weddings in the past 9 months than I have in my whole life. But last week Jake and I were able to witness my brother Rory be happily married to his wife Rebecca, and what an amazing day it was! We flew to Utah on Oct. 15th so we could be there when Becca went through the temple (in Logan). Then we had a sweet dinner at her aunt and uncle's house. Thursday was exciting, my mom and sister and I went shopping for shoes, jewelry, and food. Doesn't get much better than that! Jake was driving around Salt Lake and Provo all day trying to find chocolate for his mom and the APX place for his check, so I felt pretty bad for having such a fun time while he was stuck in a car. Thursday night we set up for the luncheon. The church where the luncheon was being held had a reception just before we got there so we got stuck cleaning that up so we could deccorate. It was hard work but it turned out beautiful so it payed off. Then the big day, Oct. 17th. They were married early that morning in Salt Lake. My grandpa Zaugg sealed them and it was lovely! What a neat experience! After the ceremony and pictures, we headed to the luncheon for some great food from Maddox. After lunch and clean up, we went back home for some R and R, but all too soon we were off again. The reception was nice, it was fun to see family and friends and be able to spend more time with them. The rest of the weekend we just hung out with family, cooked food, played games, watched movies. The usual. I love my family! And I miss them tons but it's nice to be back home and in the swing of things again.

The happy couple

My parents and the bride and groom

We loved our shoes but they hurt like crazy! Why do we put ourselves through such torture?

Mmmm... Maddox...

Busy, busy, busy

2008-10-02T13:31:00.000-07:00

Well we are now in Arizona, and things have been rather hectic! Right after we moved in I started school at ASU, which has taken some time to get used to. I still hardly know where anything is on campus! We drove up to my parents house in Utah over Labor Day weekend to pick up our wedding gifts and get the rest of my stuff. Jake is still selling security but he has a new job starting soon. Jake's brother got married last week and lots of family came to visit so it was fun to see them again. And in a couple of weeks we will be returning to Utah because my brother is getting married! So a lot has been going on. But... a friend of mine has been wanting to see some of my art and i figured posting it on here would be the easiest way so, ta da!

Our Cute Family

2008-08-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

One of Jitters new favorite things is sunbathing! She loves to sit in the sun. So between about 8 and 9 in the morning she pushes the blinds aside and sits. She loves it so much she usually won't come even if Jake calls her. And that's huge. We actually caught Jitters and Sphynx napping in the sun together one day. That never happens! And here is another picture of Jake and Jitters. So freaking cute!

Sydney Pays a Visit

2008-08-20T19:02:00.000-07:00

My sister Sydney came to visit last week, it was so fun! I missed being with her so much! We didn't take too many pictures bet we got to do some pretty awesome things while she was here. On Tuesday we drove down to San Diego to visit my cousin Krista. We went snorkeling and saw sharks and a sting ray! There were leopard sharks and guitar sharks in only about 5 to 6 feet of water. So much fun! We also got to look in some tide pools, and later we ate at a great Mexican restaurant in Old Town. One condition for Sydney's visit was that we had to pay for half of her plane ticket. But my mom called and said we wouldn't have to pay if we took Syd to see the musical Wicked in LA. So Jake was nice enough to let us go and it was AMAZING!! The performers were brilliant and the effects were fantastic! We had such a good time! So other than that we watched movies, went shopping, and went to the pool. Thanks Jake, and mom and dad, for letting me spend some much needed quality time with my sister!

Sisters, Sisters. Never were these such devoted sisters!

The drive to LA. Probably one of the scariest driving experiences of my life. We saw the Hollywood sign though! So that was cool.

Sydney and Jake had so much fun together!

Family Update

2008-07-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

So life here is pretty much the same as usual. Jake goes to work and I stay home with the pets. We did get to go to the beach with Jake's office the other night. We had a bonfire with hot dogs and s'mores. Pretty sweet! The ocean always astounds me every time I see it. Hopefully we'll be able to go more often before the end of the summer! Here are some pictures of the beach trip we took this morning. It was wicked cold at first but got pretty nice by the time we were leaving. On the way home we got stuck in traffic for three hours. Fun eh?? We have the best luck. And here are some more pictures of "the kids." They are getting so big!

What a beautiful day to go to the beach huh?

Boys will be boys. They see a hole and they have to start digging.

We buried Jake! It was quite hilarious to see a random head sticking up out of the sand.

Jitters, back when she had cute ears. Now they just stick up like a normal chihuahua's.

Isn't that just the cutest thing? Jitters loves to cuddle with Jake! He's the only one she'll listen to as well.

Our gorgeous Sphynxy Cat. She's almost full grown!

Bath time for Jitters! She is so tiny!

San Diego Zoo For Real

2008-07-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

So we finally did make it to the zoo, and we had a grand ol' time! We had to drive back to San Diego to get our car anyway so Jake took another day off and we went to the zoo. It was pretty much amazing! My favorite animals of the day were the otters. They are just so much fun to watch! The gorillas were awesome as well. So big and such incredible creatures! We were able to see a seal show and got a close look at these enormous cat looking things. One of the best thing about the day was at around 6:00 most of the families went home, so it got less crowded and easier to see some of the animals. If ever you are in San Diego go to the zoo! You won't be disappointed!

There were tons of monkeys at the zoo! This one was my favorite though...

Jake took TONS of pictures of birds. Again this one is my favorite.

The otters. They seriously are the cutest things!

My pet giraffe.

San Diego Zoo Take 1

2008-07-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

So Jake took the day off so we could go to the zoo, which is sort of a belated birthday present. We were crazy excited, and after the hour and a half drive to San Diego we were ready to see some wicked awesome animals! Well we got lost and had to turn around, and at about that time our car decided to stop working! The oil pressure light came on and it kept telling us to stop. So we pulled into some ghetto gas station and baked in the sun for over an hour while we waited for a tow truck. In the mean time, Jake was trying to work out our insurance/warranty for the car. It was all very frustrating. But eventually we were towed to the nearest VW dealership where we surrendered our car which we've only had for a month. By this time it was too late to go to the zoo, so we rented a car and drove back home. We're still trying to figure everything out with the car, but hopefully when we pick it up we'll make it to the zoo!

The exciting drive down

Jake's angry eyes. waiting for a tow. We've been married about a month and a half and have been towed twice already.

We did get to see a bird show from some sweet pigeons and finches, so the day wasn't a total loss!

Kitten and Pup

2008-06-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

Well in order to keep Madi occupied while I am gone at work, we decided to get her something to play with. It started out with a kitten which we adopted from a shelter. Her name is Sphynx. She has tons of energy and loves to play and cuddle. A few weeks later I figured that we should get another kitten for our cat to play with. While Madi was on a search for a new kitten she sent me a pix message and it was a picture of a really cool lookin chihuahua. She intended this as a joke but thats not how it turned out in the long run. We found a lady trying to get rid of her new born pups and we purchased a chihuahua. She is the coolest little thing. Her name is Jitters because she shakes a ton, which is typical in the chihuahua breed.