My new favorite thing

The Roku.

I seriously love this little box. 

A few months ago, Dan and I, (mainly) I decided that we could get rid of our cable.  (I know.  We didn't have it very long.)  But one of my friends introduced me to their Roku and I knew I wanted to try it out.  So I sweet talked my husband into letting us cancel the cable and getting a Roku.  I told him, "If we don't like it, we can always get cable again" and he so kindly agreed.  He may not admit it, but secretly he was just as intrigued as I was.

So, what is the Roku, you ask? 

It's awesome-ness in a box.

No, seriously, it is a little box that streams video/TV shows to your TV.  If you are a Netflix subscriber and you have the instant videos package, you can watch them on your TV through the Roku box.  Now, I know there are other devices such as the Wii and blueray players that do the same thing, but we don't have either of those.  But, it's not just Netflix.  There are other channels that are available on the Roku such as Newscaster that has your local news, Amazon on demand (which if you are a Amazon prime member, certain movies/shows you can view for free), the BYU channel and much more.   Some are free and some you have to pay a month subscription for like Netflix.  (All the ones I just listed are free.)

And the best part is...it has saved us money.  Instead of paying a $50 a month (or more) for cable, we spent $79.99 for the Roku itself and just pay our monthly subscription to Netflix that we have always paid.  Can you say awesome?!  Anytime I can save us a little moolah, I am all for it.  :)

Anyway, we have LOVED ours! There are a sufficient amount of kids movies/TV shows through Netflix alone for Alayna to be completely satisfied.  And I have not missed cable at all.  Dan only misses sports, but there is a sports channel that you can subscribe to that we just might indulge in in the coming months.  We shall see.

Really, it is my new favorite thing. 

Thanks, Kelly for introducing us to the awesome-ness of the Roku.  :)

It's an Arizona thing

or otherwise titled "This is not how it is where I'm from"

I will just state the obvious first.  The weather. Obviously 112 degree weather is not the norm in Wyoming. 

But I should also mention the "monsoon season" that we're in.  I still haven't fully grasped what that actually means here, but I do know the temperature is lower (in the 90's) and the humidity is higher...as well as the short storms that roll in almost daily.

Shortly after we moved here, we went out to eat and were puzzled by the word "burro" on the menu.  There were all different kinds.  It took us a minute to realize that burro=burrito.  Who would have thought.  It's not a bean burrito.  It's a bean burro.  I don't know why.  I have asked several different people and they all just shrug their shoulders.

Green chiles.  They are BIG down here.  It's not just an Arizona thing.  I believe it is a New Mexico thing as well.  But they are in everything here.  The other day we went out to eat and I was brought the wrong hamburger.  But before I noticed it was the wrong one, I took a big bite and sure enough, there was a huge green chile on the burger.

This next one was just introduced to me and apparently I am crazy for not knowing this one.  A cheese crisp.  I remember wrinkling my nose and saying what?  (I thought it was some sort of dessert.)  Nope.  Couldn't be more wrong.  Apparently what I know as a quesadilla is also referred to as a "cheese crisp".  I really had no idea.

I have to mention the lower elevation.  Clearly, that is not just an Arizona thing, but I am finding lower elevation+lots of sun=less (as in I think one) sunburn for a certain redhead.  Apparently I can get somewhat of a tan if I don't live at 7200ft.  And by somewhat of a tan, I mean more freckles and slightly darker than porcelain white skin.  Redheads, you know what I'm sayin, right?

Lastly (for now), the cotton fields.  We moved here just as they were harvesting the cotton.  And I was curious to see cotton grow. It really is quite intriguing to me.  I simply LOVE the green that all the cotton fields add to our community.

Sad day

It's a small miracle that in this house at this very moment a certain two and a half year old is actually taking a NAP.

Yes, it's true.  My child has officially stopped taking naps everyday.  It happened a little over a month ago and I kept hoping (and praying) that she was not to this stage of life yet.  I am a mother that thrives on nap time.  I mean I can't live with out naps...and be sane.  So, maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but that alone time is essential.  Moms, am I right?

Needless to say, it was a sad day, the day that regular naps were gone.  But in it's place came quiet time.  Oh, quiet time how I love thee!....Albeit not quite as much as nap time, but still, thank goodness for quiet time.  (And can I just say that the earlier bedtime that has been acquired from no nap is also a nice perk.)

So, for today I am going to relish the nap that my daughter is taking and soak in the alone time while I can.

I swore I would never do it

Over time, some things don't matter as much.

Like the fact that we celebrated our Half Anniversary instead of our real Anniversary this year.

As a person who has a December birthday (three days after Christmas) I understand the importance of celebrating one's actual birthday.  Therefore, I mostly feel the same about other special occasions.  I also know the importance of not combining gifts and giving a birthday gift AND a Christmas gift, but that's slightly a different topic....  

Back to the Anniversary thing.

When Dan and I got married in December (two days after my birthday) I knew it may make December somewhat of a hectic month considering Dan's birthday is in December, as well as Christmas (obviously).  But you can't plan when you fall in love.  So a December wedding it was.  January was simply out of the question.  And even if it was on option in our twitter-pated minds, it wouldn't have made that much of a difference to celebrate a couple days later. Those few weeks still would be hectic with celebrations.

So, we moved forward knowing that our Decembers would be filled with celebrations, gift-giving, and money spent.  Early on in our marriage, or maybe even when we were engaged, Dan suggested celebrating our half anniversary.  Explaining that it might be nice budget-wise as well as an extra time during the year we could celebrate.  Because to us, other than the standard holidays, we didn't know what it was like to celebrate something out of the month of December.

I shuttered at the thought.  How could my husband willingly want to celebrate the day we were married on any other day than the actual one, let alone in an entirely different month!?! (Remember. I was still a newly wed.)  How dare he concoct such an idea!

I then and there swore to him I would NEVER do such a thing.  So he could just get that little idea out of his head.

Now fast forward to this last December (when the stars were aligned. Just kidding.) and I found myself actually agreeing to the very thing I swore I would never do.  (Gasp!)   Yep.  On our Anniversary we still exchanged cards, went out to eat (with Alayna) , and watched a movie, but saved the real celebrating (aka: going out on a date without our little munchkin) and the gift giving for our half anniversary.

And it was.....

a little weird (celebrating in the summer), but really quite fabulous! 

I think we may do it again.

Maybe.  


P.S. Happy 6 1/2 years to us!

Our first, but certainly not our last

Tea party, that is.

I mean, what girl doesn't love a good tea party?  Alayna, had her first official tea party this last weekend and I think it is safe to say, she is hooked. 

And who wouldn't be with a miniature tea set like this.  Because everything is better miniature.  Or cuter, at least.

And when you have miniature snacks to go along with the "tea", life just doesn't get better.

I think Alayna filled up her cup no less than 10 times.  She couldn't get enough.

Notice her outfit.  There are a couple of rules when you have a tea party.  One must always get dressed up to go to a tea party.  A tinker bell dress, high heels, three or four necklaces, and a hat were worn on this occasion.

And, it's best to invite friends.  The more the merrier.

The 4th

Our 4th was filled with fun.  I LOVE the 4th of July!

 But this year Dan had to work.  And it may sound a little strange, but I was worried that since Dan had to work,  there would be a lack of fun.  I will admit, when I am by myself I tend to not want to brave as many things.  Not because Alayna is too hard to handle, but simply because for instance, it's easier/more fun to go to a parade with your spouse than by yourself.  But despite my worries, the day turned out to be SO fantastic.

This little firecracker and I:

*went to a pancake breakfast at some friends' house
*watched the parade (I know. You should be proud of me for bucking up and going by myself.)
*played with new friends.
*had a bbq for lunch with more friends.
*swam in the pool at the lunch bbq.
*went to another bbq for dinner at our other friend's house
*watched fireworks. (Whew!)

And, might I add.  We had two small miracles: 1. Alayna slept in 'til 7:50am.  In fact, I had to wake her up to go to the breakfast.  And she fell asleep on the couch the night before at 6:20pm.
2. She fell asleep in my arms while watching fireworks.  Truly, a miracle.

Here she is ready for the parade, which much to our my dismay was very mediocre.  Alayna walked away (and by walked away, I mean ate on the spot) with one, yes one, tootsie roll.  Mainly the lack of candy was due to the kids next to us who hoarded all two handfuls that were thrown.  Don't they know there is such thing as parade etiquette?  Well, in my book there should be.  Anyway, Alayna didn't care.  But I was a little miffed about it.   

The best part of the entire parade was this little ditty:

stinkin' cute, huh?

All in all, it was fabulous.  Now, if Dan were home, it really would have been perfect.  

THAT child

I was really hoping that my child was not going to be THAT child.  (You know, the one that throws up on her swim teacher because she was crying so much.  Yep, that one.)

But she was. 

Her poor swim teacher.  I think I apologized like a zillion times. 

Guess Alayna is not as fond of the by-herself-swim-lessons as I hoped.  So we're now the newest members of the parent/tot class.

So much for enjoying not having to wear my swimsuit to swim lessons.....

*sigh*