A New Year

Okay so here it is the second week of a brand new year. Nothing too exciting going on yet. I am trying to think of goals for myself that I want to accomplish this year. I know that I want to take more pictures this year for one thing. I also want to put money away monthly for a special day :) That one is going to be a little harder until I can find another job but I really want to start off on the right foot and not slack off on putting money aside. I hate saying I want to lose weight even though I do. I will just keep that one aside and to myself so that I don't set myself up for failure. We will see what happens there.
I asked Marshall what some of his goals are and he hasn't really told me anything. Maybe he doesn't really have any or maybe he just doesn't want to share them with me. I will have to ask him again to see if he has thought about it more. Oh wait I just though of one that he did mention which was drink less coke. So far I am not sure how good he is doing on that. I know that he told me that one as he was just opening a can of coke. He is a funny guy :) That is why I love him!
I really want us to think about one goal that we can work on together throughout the year by the end of this month. We will see how that goes. I will have to get on him about that one when he is around.
I hope that everyone has a great year ahead. Stay positive and focus on the great things around you!!!

Work

So today I went into work and got the news that they were laying me off. I have until the 16th of January to find a new job....Oh Joy!!!

Gingerbread Houses

So at Sam's Club I found these... I was so excited because for Halloween we had a little competition with carving pumpkins and I think that Marshall won hands down so now I felt like I might have a chance to redeem myself :) So yesterday when things calmed down a little bit here we opened them for a little bit of holiday fun.

Here are some pictures from yesterday...

It was a lot of fun doing something like this together. We had Harry Potter on the tv in the background. Just relaxing and having a great time doing something to get us both in the Christmas spirit :)

In these next photos I will show you house No. 1

Now here is house No. 2
Finally here are the houses together :)
Okay now that you have seen the houses together and seperatly it is now time to vote on your favorite :) Let us know which one you like the best. Although I will say that it doesn't really matter because either way we both had a lot of fun doing.

I think that we might make this a new tradition that gets done every year :)

Thanksgiving

Well this year was a little different for me because I live so far from my family so luckily Marshall had the time off so I got out of work early on Wednesday and as soon as I got home we got in the car to drive to Marshall's dads house. It is about 4 hours away.
Thanksgiving is the most traveled holiday of the year so ummm yeah we came up against some traffic. If any of you know Marshall you know how bad his road rage is...for those of you who don't know him that well lets just say that he wasn't a happy boy at all :)
We finally got there about an hour later then we thought. Not a big deal. As soon as we got there I started cooking. I volunteered to make the dinner rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. Marshall had to run to the grandparents house to pick up a couple of things that we needed. It took me a couple of hours but it wasn't a big deal at all. I knew what needed to be done and I knew that I didn't want to do it all on Thanksgiving morning :)
Thanksgiving was a lot of fun and my rolls were a hit...so they all told me :) As always there was a ton of food. Thankfully I ate just enough to make me satisfied but not too full. I don't like to get too full because then I get tired and just want to sleep. I didn't fall asleep though even though I wanted to :)
It was really great to be around family this time of year. It really meant a lot to me that Marshall's family made it just like it is at my house this time of year. I asked Marshall what he was thankful for on Thanksgiving and he said everything. I was hoping for a more personal answer and I tried to pry it out of him but obviously I didn't get anywhere. So had I been asked what I was Thankful for this year my answer would have been....
Marshall. I don't evevn know where I would be without him. He is such a great guy. He is always there when I need him. He takes care of me when I don't feel good and gets me everything I need. I need to stop before I get to emotional :) I want everyone including him to know how much I love him!
My extended family :) They are so great. They include me in everything and always make me feel welcome. It meant the world to me to have them make Thanksgiving extra special for me this year.
My own family even though we couldn't be together this year. I want them to know how great I think they are and how much I love them.

With all of that said please post comments about what you are Thankful for this year and why because I would love to hear what others are Thankful for :)

Halloween

So I know that I am a little late but I thought that I would still post about what we did for Halloween.

We were up in New York for our friends wedding. On Hallween day we were sitting around the house so I thought that I would go outside and look through the pumpkins on the front lawn to see which one I wanted to carve.

There were a lot to choose from. I was in heaven. I love pumpkins. I even got Marshall in on the fun which made it even more fun. Here we are carving our pumpkins...

We had a little competition between us to. I think that his is better but hello I haven't carved a pumpkin in who knows how long. Oh well I will do better next year. Oh yes next year we will be having the same competition and I will be kicking his little butt.

Here are our pumpkins after they are done...

This next picture is of our pumpkins plus his Grandpa carved a pumpkin but he cheated because he used power tools so his is better then both of ours because ours were done by hand.

I love handing out Halloween candy so we sat at his Granparents house and I got the candy bowl ready but as the night went on no one knocked on the door. I couldn't believe that not one person knocked on the door. Yea crazy huh. So I ate some :)

It was a lot of fun and hopefully next Halloween will be just as fun!!!

Halloween Decorations

So I blogged a little bit ago about not having any Halloween decorations...I don't have any for any other holiday as well :)

So my sister suggested a buotique. Easier said then done when it comes to where I live. I had the hardest time tracking anything down. When I asked people around here where I can find something like that they got so confused. It was weird because they were everywhere in Utah. I couldn't keep my mom away from them :) Anyways I found one but it was picked over and I couldn't really find anything that I liked that I didn't have to be to crafty for. I am not a very crafty person so I need things to already come together.

We did find a box and some cute filler stuff to put in the box. They were in the shape pumpkins. It is really cute. I put a couple of pumpkin candles in there so it look nice.

I also went to Michaels to look for a couple of things and decided to start collecting a halloween village. Yeah I know that it sounds a little weird because my mom collects a Christmas village as do a couple of other people that I know. But I thought that this was something different. So here is a picture of what it looks like now...

I know that right now it isn't much but hopefully as time goes by I can add to it and make it something really cool in the future.

My Little Sister

I don't know if I mentioned it but me and Marshall went to my home a couple of weeks ago. While we were there we got family pictures taken...Oh joy!!!

My little sister sent me a picture frame a couple of months ago when my mom sent pictures of my whole family. Me and my little sister didn't have any pictures taken the right way to put in the frames. So it has been sitting on my night stand waiting for me to put some pictures in it. Well while I was home I had Marshall take some photos of us so that I could print them and put them in my cute picture frame to hang up in the apartment.


Here are some of the pictures that were taken...

Aren't they cute??? Now I can print them out next time Marshall is home and put them in the frame and then hang the frame up in the apartment somewhere.

I hope that one time when we go and visit Marshall's family that we get a nice photo that we can put up in the apartment. I feel bad because I now have tons of photos of my family around the apartment and we only have a couple of his family around. The Ameele family better watch out :) I will trap them one time when we are there for a visit.

My Birthday

My birthday was last Monday...Woo Hoo
I was a little nervous being away from my family for my birthday because we have always been together. I love my birthday. I know that I probably make a bigger deal out of it then I do but who doesn't enjoy a whole day about them? That isn't even normal :)
I shouldn't have worried so much about being away from my family because even though we weren't together I had a great birthday. Marshall made it great.

Thanks honey for everything that you did!!!


I had to work that day but Marshall was there in the morning wishing me a happy birthday and asking me if I wanted him to make me something for breakfast. He even got out of bed to hang out for a little bit until I had to leave for work.
Once I got home I knew that something was up because the blinds were closed and Marshall was home. There was also a happy birthday balloon taped to the front of the door. It was really cute. I walked in and there were more ballons on the walls. I also saw these...


These beautiful flowers are from my mother. They were such a suprise. I had no idea I was getting them. I thanked Marshall for them and that was when he told me that they were from my mother. She arranged for Marshall to get them for me so that I would have them when I came home. I told my mother that he didn't even try to take any credit for them. It was cute! Here is the next thing that I saw...
I got my bookshelf that I haven't been able to afford. I love it!!! All those books have been sitting in a box since I moved here because we haven't had any place to put them. How nice does it look now that they are in my new bookshelf??? Again I was so suprised because I had no idea I was getting it. He had it all put together and everything. I just had to add the books because he wasn't sure where I would want to put everything. I love it so much. I don't think that I could say that enough. It is so nice to have one more thing done in the apartment. Now we don't have to worry about bugs hiding in between the books since they aren't on the floor anymore :) They now have a new home that looks great. It matches our entertainment stand. I can't get over how good it looks. He did such a good job :)

The rest of my gifts were wrapped. He did a good job wrapping them although he probably hated doing it. I know how he feels about wrapping :) Here is what I opened next...

If you can't tell that is the movie 'Transformers'. I love that movie!!! He got it for me on blue-ray so I can't watch it in the bedroom but I am sure that one day I will be able to do just that :) I made him watch it with me once. I don't think that I could get him to do that again...Oh well I can watch it by myself. I used to watch it everynight when I was going to bed. Yea I know that I am weird but I really like the movie. In fact tonight I am going to have myself a movie night. I am going to pop some popcorn and cuddle into the couch and watch my new movie. I don't have to worry about Marshall not enjoying himself because he isn't here right now :)
He also got me two different size cutting boards. I can't wait to use them. We have a big nice wood cutting board but it will be nice to have a couple different sizes for different things. I didn't take a picture of those but I really am excited to use them. I am sure that I will get a chance to this week.
My family was great as well. They all called me throughout the day to sing me happy birthday and wish me well. I was busy when they called so I spent my lunch hour calling all of them back to thank them for all singing to me. I kept them all saved on my phone so that I can listen to all of them again. They make me smile. All of them...they are all great. I also got a card and a lotto ticket from Grandma and Grandpa Ameele. It was very thoughtful for them to think of me on my birthday. I only won $2 on the ticket but that is just my luck :) Marshall's dad also called so say happy birthday which was great. Sheesh everyone was great!!! I really appreciate what everyone did. It was all a lot of fun and everyone made it so special. Thank you everyone for everything is was such a great day...I didn't want it to end. Oh well there is always next year :)

Halloween

I was driving to work and I was thinking about how I don't have any Halloween decorations. I am such a loser. I want to go out and buy decorations right now but there in lies my problem...I have no idea what to buy. I don't think that I am very creative when it comes to things like that. I know though that I need to start collecting things so that I have stuff to put up every year. I really want to call up my sister and have her send me things that she will think will look good in my apartment but she hasn't really seen my apartment. Sheesh I don't know what I am going to do. I haven't had this problem before. I have a sign that I won playing a game but it is back in Utah so that doesn't help me out much. Plus it is kind of heavy so I don't think that I could talk my mom into sending it.
I want to get up to Marshall's dads house so that we can at least have some pumpkins but we aren't sure when we are going to make it up there again and I don't think that he would go out and buy any.
So if any of you know of any ideas that would look good in the apartment let me know. I also need to start on Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations as well.
HELP!!!

Grocery shopping

So when Marshall came back home last week we had no food. I mean the cupboards were bare :) I felt bad for him that we had nothing for breakfast so I took him out to eat. We then when grocery shopping and spent almost a $100. Now you can imagine how bare our fridge and cupboards were :) I was just sick and then I got busy with work and training. Hopefully it won't happen again. But no worries now we have enough food for a while...

See now our little fridge is full. I am afraid that all of our liquids on our top shelf are too heavy. So far the shelf is holding up and we haven't had any spills yet :)

Speaking of grocery shopping I have to go again before Monday because that is when Marshall comes back home and I want to make sure that we havve things to eat. It isn't as big of deal when he isn't here because I am gone so much that I don't eat all of my meals here. Oh well I will make sure that I go so that he doesn't have to go with me when he is home because I know how much he likes to go grocery shopping :)

UPDATE...on Jack

I have been talking with my dad this week a lot about Jack and how he is doing. As I last posted about him he had just gotten out of surgery and was back home. A lot has happened since then. Jack at the first of the week somehow got his stitches all out so his wound was all the way open because there was nothing there holding it together. Apparently it was really disgusting. So my parents took him back in to get him fixed up again and get a cone around his neck so that he would leave his wound alone so that it could heal. My dad called me when he got that done and said that they did 4 layers of stiches and then staples on top of that so that it would stay closed. I wish I had a picture but I don't think that one was taken...oh well.
My dad told me that he totally hates the cone on his head and just looks defeated when he has it on...he won't eat at all and just looks at you with those sad puppy dog eyes that he has. So they would take it off of him when they were home because they could watch him but then when my parents went to work they would put the cone back on his head. Apparently while my parents were at work Jack got the cone off (bad dog) and got out more than half the staples and the bottom half of his stitches. So now his wound is wide open and bleeding on everything that it comes in contact with. They didn't want to take him back to get stitched back together because everytime they do this it is costing me money to have them fix him again. It is frustrating. I just wish that Jack knew not to touch it becacuse it is something that will make him feel better. I mean we as humans know not to pick out our own stitches because we know that they are there to make us better.
My parents decided to switch off and stay up with him throughout the night to make sure that he didn't get at the rest off his stitches. I feel so bad that they have to stay up throughout the night when they both have to work during the day. I appreciate them and I am so thankful that they are willing to sit there during the night to watch my dog. Apparently when he gets ansy they just give him drugs to settle down and sleep throughout the night.
On Friday they started to notice that the open part might be healing and getting an extra layer of skin...BUT when my dad got home from work again the skin was off and apparently looking bad enough for them to take him in again. From what I understand there was just no more skin there. They couldn't even stitch it back together because the skin was gone. They took him in at 6:45 pm and the doctor called around 8 to let them know that they were finally done with him. They apparently took fishing wire to try to link the wound together as much as they could to try and heal somewhat normal. They are also going to keep him at the vet for a week so that they can watch him constantly and make sure that he doesn't get at it again.
I feel so bad for him. There have been so many problems with all of this. My parents are wondering if it was worth it to have the lump removed with as many problems as it has caused. I just want him better. I called my parents and asked if they were going to go and visit my dog while he was there so that he wasn't lonely all week away from home...they assured me that they will go and visit him throughout the week. My dad said that he told the doctor to take pictures so that I could post them here but I haven't received any yet. Hopefully I will get them this week and if they aren't too bad I will put them up so that you can see what I am talking about.

2008 Summer Olympics

So this past weekend we sat down to watch the 2008 summer olympics opening. It was a lot of fun and the things that they did were crazy!!! The fireworks were amazing. It was fun just to hang out with Marshall and actually agree on something that can keep us both interested :)
I will admit that I fell asleep at the last hour...I know I am retarded. But I was so freakin tired. I did wake up when China came out but I got up and went to bed when it went to a break while they were walking all the way around. It was taking forever!!! Marshall did stay up for the whole thing...I guess that I am just getting too old to stay up late :)
Since the opening games I have been addicted to watching them. They are constantly on when I am home. When I am not home I record them so that I can watch them when I am home :) I know it is crazy but I just can't stop watching. Things that are normally being recorded I have to stop so that I can watch the games!
I am addicted to the swiming and gymnastics. With girls beach volleyball coming in after that. I do watch everything else but then I do things like make dinner or something while those are on because then if I miss anything it isn't that big of deal. I sit on the edge of my seat watching the events because I want the USA to win everything. I know that they won't win everything obviously but it does keep me on the edge of my seat :)
I can't wait to watch track and field when that comes on later in the games.
Go USA!!!

Drapes for the bedroom

With the sun coming up facing our only window in the bedroom I knew that we had to get something put up there fast because it gets bright so early and it is hard to sleep. I don't have as much trouble as Marshall because when I am in the mood I sleep with an eye mask on so it blocks out all the light which is nice because then I get to sleep a little bit later :)

Marshall was away and so I wanted to suprise him. I went to target to look around at what they had. I was actually nervous picking something out without Marshall's input because I wanted him to like whatever I picked out. I did something I thought was really nutral and goes somewhat with the comforter that we keep on our bed in the winter. It is a darker shimmer green color with cream behind that to block out more light.

With it being so hot here the only blanket we have on the bed as you can see is a purple blanket that I made years ago. The blanket that we have on in the winter is brown so it goes better with the blinds that I picked out. I hung them and everything by myself :) I am so proud. I didn't tell Marshall until he figured it out for himself when he got home...he was also very proud that I did it all by myself and it wasn't even that hard.

It does the job of blocking out the light so that is good and it lets us sleep in a little bit longer on the weekends :) Just another project down in the apartment. There are many more to keep me busy with thinking of new ideas. I am still working on something in the kitchen to give us a little bit more storage but that is still a little ways away. I will let you all know though when that gets done. Let's be honest though and say that it probably won't be this year. Oh well :)

Jack

Okay for those of you who don't know I have a dog that I had to leave behind in Utah. It is very sad because I miss him like crazy. He is such a good dog. I am very happy that my parents love him enough to take such good cacre of him.

He just a birthday this month so he is one year older. My mom has a dog as well that keeps my 'older' dog busy :) They love each other though and get along great so that is another plus with having to leave him behind. He is a lab/brittany mix. Several years ago I noticed that he started growing lumps on his body. I was really worried about them and so I asked about them when I took him in for his shots. They took a sample and just said that it was a bump full of fat. They said that as long as they weren't hurting him that there was nothing to be concerned about. So I didn't really do anything because they didn't seem to bother him which is a good thing.

I guess one of the bumps on his leg was really starting to bother him according to my parents. They said that he started favoring that leg and didn't like it when people touched it. I told them to take him in to see what they had to say. They finally took him in last week. My dad called me to let me know that the surgery would cost almost $800!!! I about freaked out. I knew that it would be expensive but I had no idea that it would have cost that much. I asked my dad questions about if it was really hurting him or not. He told me that the doctor did say that it was bothering him. Even though I didn't want to pay that much as soon as I heard that it was causing him pain there was nothing I could do except suck it up and pay the money to get him taken care of. I couldn't just let him suffer because I didn't want to pay the money. Fortunatley the doctor had some cancellations that day so they fit him in right then.

***WARNING***

I am going to post a picture of the before and after of my dog but I wanted to warn you that when I showed it to Marshall he didn't like it very much because he thought that it was gross. So if you don't want to see the picture I suggest you don't continue on reading...

I am sorry if that is too gross for you to look at but I wanted everyone to know what I was talking about. I am just glad that it is gone and done causing him pain. They didn't put a cone on his head because the doctor doesn't like doing that. They just told my dad to watch out for him to make sure that he doesn't lick his sore too much. If he does then they will have to take him back to get a cone put on around his neck so that he doesn't lick his wound. I have called every day to check on him. He seems to be doing just fine. I guess that he has started licking it...that or Gizmo. They just keep telling him to stop licking it so I hope that it doesn't get infected. I want them to take him in on Monday because I guess my dad noticed a gap that might not be connecting back together. I really hope that he takes him in to see if there is anything that can be done so that it heals correctly. I really am just glad that he isn't in pain and that he is getting better everyday. I miss him like crazy and I can't wait to go home and see him :) I hope that he is excited to see me!!!

Zuchini Bread and Vegetables

We went up to Marshall's dads house this past weekend and when we came home we brought some vegetables with us. One of them obviously being zuchini. As soon as we got home I started right in grating the zuchini to make zuchini bread. I have never made it before so I was a little nervous about how it would turn out. I wasn't sure how much batter to put into each bread tin but I figured it out. I put in the batter and then it was time to put them into the oven for an hour. Once the time was up the sides ended up being a little more well done then I would have liked but there was nothing I could do about it because I needed the middle done. I had a piece last night and it was so freakin good. It tastes just like my moms :) That must mean that she did something right because I am starting to be as good a cook as she is!!! She will be so proud. I even got Marshall to have a slice. He says that he likes it but he could just be saying that to make me feel good. I don't care because I could eat both of them by myself because it is so freaking good. I really hope that he does like it but not much I can do if he doesn't. I have had two pieces so far today :)
I have enough in the freezer to make a couple more batches. I am so excited. I am going to make Marshall's family some when we go up next to see if they like it. I am not sure if all of them will try it or not but I will be there to eat some if they don't want it all :) Although I do hope that they like it. We will see what happens.
We also brought home some corn on the cob. We had some for dinner last night and it was so freaking good. I loved them. I wish that I had made two for me instead of one but oh well. It was really yummy. I love the summer because of corn on the cob. We are going to have the rest of what we brought back with us tonight with wings that we have had sitting in the croc pot so that is something that we are both really excited about.

Tradition

So today is July 4th. My family has a tradition of all getting together and sleeping outside together and then doing a big breakfast in the morning. It is always a little hectic when we all get together like that but it is also a lot of fun. They called me last night at midnight my time...needless to say I was alseep in bed but woke up and called them back. It was great talking with all of them and I miss them like crazy.
I talked with Raiven and she is so cute. She told me that she ate some apricots ( I hope I spelled that right ) I was jeaouls because I love them. And they are green so that is when they are the best :) I told her that I have been trying to get Marshall's dad to plant and tree so that I can eat them out here...It was funny.
With Marshall gone I will probably just walk around the mall a little bit to kill some time and to get me out of the apartment. I was thinking about doing a bbq hamburger or something on the grill but then again I have nver grilled anything on my own in my life so I am not sure how it will taste. I am still thinking about how smart that one is. I really want to go into a diner that we have here and have some french toast because I am craving it so bad. I also might wait for when Marshall is home to do that but we will see if I can hold out that long :) I have also thought about blowing off work tomorrow and invading Marshall's family for the weekend...okay I probably wouldn't do that without Marshall because I think that he would be mad if I went without him becauase I know that he would totally want to go if he were here. Oh well that would have been fun because they always have something going on...Maybe next year :)

Book Club

So last week I got a package in the mail saying that you coould get 5 books for .99 and all you had to do was buy 4 more books at regular price within in 2 years. So umm yeah I did it...I love to read so to buy 4 more books at regualr price in 2 years is not going to be hard to do. I can get that done in less then 6 months :) So for my 5 books for .99 I got all cooking books minus one Nora Roberts book that hasn't come out yet. I received my books at the end of last week. I am so freakin excited to have new cookbooks to make stuff out of. I haven't even had a chance to look through all the books but I am working my way through them :)
I already told Marshall that we are going to try and start eating different things. I am more nervous about me trying different things then him but I am really going to try to work on that so that we can both broaden our horizons. I got him to try an avocado the other day...he was so funny about it. I was looking through one of the cookbooks and I found a recipe for guacamole so after dinner I made him go to the store with me so that I could buy avocado's to make it. We got home and they were perfect. They just peeled very nicely and were the perfect color. Marshall had this weird look on his face the whole time and was asking me how they tasted so I cut him a little piece and he was so weird about trying it :) It suprised both of us because he usually has no hesitation in trying something new but he was a good sport and tried it. Seeing his face after he ate it was hilarious. I should have taken a picture. He said that he didn't really like the texture of it and said that it tasted like eggs :) He is funny. He also tried the guacamole and said that maybe if it were cold he would like it a little btter. He left before trying it again but there is always next time! I have been enjoying it though. If I had made this at my house it would have been gone in less then a day...more for me to enjoy!
Hopefully this week I can get through all of the cookbooks and think of something new to make. I told him that I wanted to try lobster but I haven't sold him on that idea yet because I want to try live lobster instead of frozen...he isn't liking that idea yet but I am still working on him :)
If/When my family is reading this they aren't going to believe that it is really me talking like this and wanting to try new things...I am the pickiest eater alive but I really want to step out of that and try different things. We will see how adventerous I become. If I find any great recipes I will post them here so that you can all enjoy them as much as we hopefully will!

Hair Re-done

Well I got my hair done last night. I had Marshall take a picture of me in a skirt that I bought a while ago. I have a green one exactly like it and I love it. They are so comfortable and I can wear them with anything :) The picture isn't the best but one of my sisters commented that I don't ever put pictures up here and she is forgetting what I look like so this is for her...don't forget what I look like!!! The place where I get my hair done has the most uncomfortable sink ever. When they wash my hair it is so painful to sit there and wait for them. I could barely lay down last night to go to bed because I was in so much pain. I woke up this morning today and it hurt so bad. I can't even touch it...I think that it might be a little bit swollen. How crazy is that? I can't even tilt my head up to hug Marshall because it hurts so bad...how sad is that :( Oh well I hope that maybe during sleep tonight it will go away and I won't have so much pain tomorrow.

Back to work

Well, I've been on vacation for the past three weeks and have done pretty much nothing. No idea where spring went, I think it lasted all of about a week- which I must have been on the road for most of. Earlier this week it was in the upper 90's (got to 99 one day), then it "cooled down" to only the upper 80's, lower 90's. Blah. The heat spawned some nasty thunderstorms Tuesday evening, and around 6:30pm, the power went out and didn't come back on for nearly 5 hours.

Tomorrow I go back to work. It's a nice, short 4-day rotation to get me back into the swing of things before I have three off then go out for six. I'm glad to be going back for two reasons. The first is, I'm bored silly. More importantly, I'm one of the lucky ones. With airlines spiraling down the tubes because of fuel costs (and many other reasons), they are having to park their old, inefficient airplanes, which means job losses for many pilots.

Luckily, I work for one of the few growing and desirable sectors of aviation right now- the "fractionals." Very simply, fractional ownership allows a person, group, or company to purchase a share of a private jet- as little as 1/16th. In turn, this allows them X number of hours per year of use, but they don't have to deal the hassle of managing and crewing the airplane. When they need to get somewhere- anywhere- in the world, they simply pick up the phone. In many cases they get huge tax advantages as a result of using their aircraft (or share of it), for their business. Often owners who use them primarily for business actually come out ahead when it's all said and done. While the fuel costs do affect them, it doesn't affect them nearly as much as you or I. They NEED to travel, and the phrase "time is money" is truer than you'd ever believe. Add in the facts that we have the ability to use hundreds more airports than the airlines can, and the passengers can show up whenever they want, and you have a customer base who will rarely, if ever, be seen in even the most expensive first-class airline seats.

Anyways, I was fortunate enough to get here before the airlines started tanking. Fractional pilot pay for the top three is now on par with, and in some cases better than, major airline pilot pay. Not to mention a better schedule, newer, nicer airplanes, and far more stability. Needless to say, we have a stack of resumes five figures high and this has become one of the most competitive and coveted jobs in the industry. So yeah, I'm glad to be going to work tomorrow. Things could be much worse.

Pictures

I have had Marshall busy this last week with printing up some pictures for my desk at work. In going through my pictures I have realized that I don't have as many of my family as I would like. I don't even have that many of me and Marshall. It is just hard for me to whip out the camera at any time to take pictures. I feel kind of stupid doing that but I also miss out on just random pictures that I could have of whatever.
I have some pictures of my niece Kenlei and Raiven. I also have one of Aulbanie. I have one of my little sister and me that was taken last year at the 24th of July parade that we go to every year. I have one of my parents that was taken a couple of years ago that I now think doesn't look like them at all :) I have a couple of Marshall. One of me and my friend Megan. That is all that I have up there. You might think that that is alot but I have a big family and all of them are missing except my little sister. I have told my family this so hopefully they will start sending pictures so that I can show everyone at work my family. I would also like to put some around the apartment. When I moved out here I forgot all of my pictures that were in picture frames so I have been bugging my mom constantly to send them out to me :)
I also told my niece Diamon that her younger sister Raiven is the only one up on my wall at work and she didn't like hearing that so hopefully she can bug her mom into sending me some pictures so that I can put those up on my wall as well. We will see if that happens...I am crossing my fingers though.
Aulbanie just had a birthday yesterday so hopefully someone there had a camera to take pictures. She turned 5. I told her that I was going to sit on her so that she would stop growing and she then told me that even if I do sit on her it still won't stop her from growing. Kids say the funniest things. I love it! I was sad that I missed her birthday but I am planning a trip home hopefully in September. We are just waiting to see what Marshall's schedule is doing because he will be coming with me. I can't wait to see my family again. I know that it hasn't been very long but everytime we go and visit Marshall's family I get a little jealous because I miss my family. Who would have thought :0)