Las Vegas Bowl

We had the pleasure of attending the Las Vegas Bowl with our friends Brad & Melody! It was a blast! We started the night off by eating at a most delicious Greek place and then we drove (in one car) to the game. I don't know if anyone's been to a game, but the traffic is crazy! Going to the game it's pretty much one way, so there's not really anywhere to go if you have to leave. We were in the line to pay for our parking (a whopping $10!) when Brad realizes he doesn't have the tickets. We couldn't help but laugh...where were we going to go to get out and go get them? So we do a huge loop around the parking lot and find a way to go. Of course there's always one jerk who wants to pass everyone. Well ALL of the cars were on the left and we were on the right and there's ONE car that "didn't know" it was one way (did he not see the other 1o0 cars sitting in one line?)! There was no way we were going to get through so Michael told him he needed to back up. The guy said "I am not backing up." He puts his car in stealth mode by tucking in the side mirror and passes right by us. After I was done having a panic attack we all had a good ole' laugh about it. Then we made fun of Brad for forgetting the tickets and then we made fun of each other for not asking if he had the tickets when we first left. Oh well. We only made it about 10 minutes late and enjoyed our cold night out! Brrr....oh yeah, go Cougars! Haha.

Let It Snow!

Visibility distance = apx. 100 ft!

Amount of snow = enough to make a snowman and still have left over for a snowball fight!

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas = priceless.

LAST day of work!

Marie will miss me. We'll have to get together to practice for our band after you work.

My sister Melissa. You are so funny! How perfect did this picture turn out? I won't miss you so much because I will still see you!

I'll miss you, NST!

Hooray!

Yesterday at work I felt like this







Today I feel like this








Why you ask? I put in my 2 weeks notice! Oh yeah! Now what am I going to do you ask? I'm going to substitute teach! I'm excited!

Happy Halloween

A guy at Michael's work got them all costumes and this is his. He is a guru. Cool huh?

These girls are my super cute back-yard neighbors. Grace was Belle and Aliza was Jasmin. Aren't they beautiful?










This is Michael and me at our trunk-or-treat. He was himself for Halloween and I was 'glamorous.'

The House

Here is the final look of the outside of our house. Isn't the blue awesome?





Here is the kitchen. I cleaned after I took the picture but was too lazy to re-take the picture and put it on the computer so you get the messy/lived-in picture. Pay attention to the counter tops, they are from India!


This is the dining room. The walls are the color 'Mint Hint.'




Michael and I installed the floor tiles ourselves! After many long nights, we got it done and I think it looks pretty good.
This is the living room. It's not quite complete yet, but the huge Santa sure adds to the room!
(Do these pictures seem smaller than normal?)

Cheaters

Is it just me or are the people keeping track of movie ticket sales cheating? I mean, how is it comparable to 10 years ago? 10 years ago the price of a movie ticket was like $5 compared to now at $9.75. So when they say "Dark Knight has the highest sales in one day" that means nothing to me anymore. Why don't they keep track of number of tickets sold? Then they could say "Dark Knight sold more tickets in one day than any other movie ever!" Wouldn't that make more sense and be more accurate? Therefore, movie people cheat because the price of the movie ticket keeps increasing making it seem like their movie is totally fantastic when in all actuality it could be the worst movie ever.

Party Anyone?

The moment has FINALLY arrived for the Oliver Housewarming Party! It will be Saturday, October 11, 2008 from 3pm-5pm. Please let us know if you would like to come and we'll send you directions!

Can't wait to see you there!

Falling Apart

Every birthday is the same. Why is number 26 different? Here are my reasons:

1. I am finding many gray hairs.
2. I actually feel older. My joints hurt, my head hurts, my knees ache, everything pops, sometimes when I get up it takes me a few steps in order for me to walk normal again, shall I go on?
3. I am tired as soon as the sun goes down.
4. I am much more snacky (will this lead to mid-night snacking?)

I am falling apart.

Big Bows

I have to take a minute to talk about people putting those HUGE bows on their poor little bald-headed daughters' heads.
What is up with that? I am all for a bow, but a bow that's bigger than your child's head is not acceptable. You know why your kid is crying? They can't see anything! So tone it down a few notches and people will still be able to tell your daughter is a girl!

My 26th Birthday!

July 12, 1982 I was born in Sedalia, Missouri. Pretty exciting huh? Well my day started off pretty well. I was loading up the fridge with soda (for those who drink it, nice of me right?) when all of a sudden, a diet coke slipped right through my arms and fell on the bar stool chair. Well it decided to EXPLODE all over my hair, my clothes, the fridge door, the floor and the counter. It was pretty funny, I mean, the force of the explosion caused my hair to blow backwards! I had to take a picture because it looks like I peed my pants!
The next picture is of my beautiful birthday cake that I really only wanted for the flower and the bees because they are magnets! Cool huh?
And of course what would a birthday be without Red Robin? I had a free burger because it was my birthday and it was so delicious! Whiskey River BBQ burger...oh yeah!
Michael and I also went and saw Wall-E with our free movie tickets that we've had for about 1 year (we do splurge once in a while). It was fun, cute and sad all in one movie.

4th of July

We had a little party at Jeremy & Rachel's house. It was fun to hang out and watch some major fireworks going on!

Feeling Left Out

I can't help but feel left out with blogging...I have no children. EVERYONE has kids and gets to post all these cute things about them. So here is my tribute to my "children":
Billy & Spike's friend Jax came to play with them today.
They started to smell like the outside, so it was time for a bath! They weren't too happy about it.
After all their adventures, they are all tuckered out. Time for a nap on the couch.

Jobs!

Michael has a job! He works for SAFY (Specialized Alternatives for Youth)! He is an FSY (I'm not really sure what that is yet) and he is excited (as am I)! Way to go Michael!
Now he is working 40 hours at SAFY and 15-20 hours at LDS Family Services because he's trying to get his LCSW which means a couple long nights...is he in school again? Sure feels like it!

Mom Update

As some of you know, my mom had a hypertensive hemorrhage. She had a really bad headache and when my dad came home from walking the dog, she had stroke-like symptoms. He called 911, they took her to the hospital only to find extreme bleeding in her brain stem. They sent her to Sunrise Hospital where they have a neurological unit and did brain surgery. She had tubes coming out of everywhere (breathing tube, drainage tubes, iv's, etc.) not to mention part of her head was shaved. It was so scary! I've never had anyone close to me have something like this happen. But my mom is strong-willed and is improving every day. She has a speech therapist, an occupational therapist and all sorts of other people helping her get better. She is re-learning to walk and trying not to get dizzy. Thanks to all those supporting her, praying for her, and visiting her (she still LOVES to talk). Get well soon!

House Update

Would you like to see pictures of our house? Click on the picture of our house on the right and you can see the difference of each week. We just got notified that we have our walk-through on July 28th! Yay! Any suggestions on what we could look for in the walk-through? Let us know!

Job Update

Who knew that it would take so long to get a job after you get your Master's degree? Michael is in the process of getting a full-time job with SAFY. They are a non-profit organization and seem pretty good. He started working part-time with LDS Family Services this week as he received his license and internship numbers! Yay! Now we wait for his diploma...

Graduation!

On Friday May 16, 2008 there was a pinning ceremony for the Social Work department. It was nice because there weren't 2,639 people graduating. (I like this picture because everyone's doing something else).



On Saturday, May 17, 2008 Michael got his Master's in Social Work! Way to go Michael! Thanks to Jeff and Deanna for showing your support!


Michael is getting his diploma! Now we need to wait another hour for everyone else to get theirs! The graduation ceremony lasted 2 hours 40 minutes! Can you believe it?

Home Sweet Home

We have been approved for our home! As you can see, it is in the process of being built! We are super excited! We are planning on doing some upgrades ourselves, so if you know how to be handy, we may come looking for you...

Hooray!

Michael has passed his comprehensive exam needed in order to graduate! He also passed his licensing exam, enabling him to take on an intern position! Michael will be graduating Saturday May 17, 2008. Way to go Michael!

Freakin' Out

I have to take a moment and make fun of myself and my fear of bugs. I hate pretty much all bugs, but I hate big bugs and bugs that fly the most! One night I was laying on the bed playing with the dogs and I happen to see a BIG bug on the wall near the ceiling. I thought it was a cockroach as it was that color and did not look like it had wings. I had to act fast; how was I going to get it? I gathered a bowl and a plate to catch it in and then once I caught it, I would take it outside and release it. Good idea! Wrong, how was I going to get it down? It was about 9 or 10 feet up and I am only 5'2". I took my dog's ball and started throwing it at the wall, but I was too scared to actually hit the bug because I didn't want it to fly around the room and get me (all the while the dog's thought I was playing ball with them). I then plugged in my hand-held Oreck vacuum and attached both long arms. Then I added a circular end to that because I thought the hole was a little too small. I then got on the bed and turned the vacuum on. As I leaned for the bug, it started flying and I screamed. As I was trying to suck up the bug with the vacuum as it's flying around the room, my dogs were barking at me. Eventually I did suck it up and took the vacuum outside and got the bug out of the vacuum so it wouldn't come out and get me! Where's the video camera when you need it?

Easter Fun

Darby does not like getting her picture taken!

Crazy times in the Gwin home.

Brenden is showing me a bug flying around the room.

Isis is enjoying her time playing with Jax. She is so cute!

Jeremy is showing off his model pose. Do we have the next Zoolander?Logan & Brenden LOVE to ride bikes....and Connor loves Herbie the Love Bug (and any other car)!

Grandma Ivers 78 birthday

Grandma Ivers turned 78 on March 11, 2008. All her kids, grandkids, etc. celebrated with her. We had the wonderful opportunity of listening to her yoddel! You go grandma!
Ben & Heidi (Mike's cousins) had a blast hanging out with us...Right guys?!

Brooklyn

Brooklyn Kaylee Kennedy was born February 1, 2008. Isn't she the cutest niece ever? (No offense Isis...you are the cutest too!)

Christmas Vacation

Michael had a couple weeks off of school and work and Heather got 11 days off of work so we decided to go to Reno & Sacramento. It was great to have so much time off work and be able to spend it together!We went to Sacramento and attended the temple. It is a small temple, but beautiful none-the-less. Michael's Grandma was able to meet us there and help us out with family names! It was fantastic!

Of course we had to visit Lake Tahoe! It was gorgeous! It was actually quite funny to see the beaches full of snow and not sand.

This was a very cold day! We stopped by the Truckee River before we went back home.