Lost in Laramie

A Quick Update

2011-08-13T09:54:00.006-06:00

Ok, so here's the thing... I SUCK at updating our blog. Honestly, I need to hand all responsibility for it over to Gordon. It's like a journal. I was never able to keep one of those either. I can't believe it's been 5 months since I last posted.

In June we went to Disneyland with the Meier family. The girls had so much fun. Miranda keeps asking to go back. We told her she had to learn to go potty in the toilet first. Little did we know that motivation like that really works. She got her "big girl underwear" almost two weeks ago and hasn't had an accident since. Oops! How do I explain to a three year old that we still have to wait 3 more months for Daddy to get enough vacation time??

Our first day at Disneyland was kinda rough. Our girls don't usually get out of bed until 9 or 10. We had them up by 7 (6 Mountain time) so we could get there before the crowds and go home for a nap later. Miranda had a meltdown while waiting in line for Buzz Lightyear. She needed that nap!

Of course, that all changed once she got inside. She LOVED Buzz! This is BY FAR her favorite ride. She always talks about "Big Buzz" and how she is going back to see him. We probably rode this ride 20 times that week.

Here we are saying, "Hi!" to Sully. Claire did not trust the Disney characters. She kept a wary eye on all of them.

On the way home we stopped by the beach. We couldn't get too dirty because we had to drive 5 hours to Vegas before we could shower. HAHA Have you ever heard of NOT getting dirty at the beach? Oh well, it was fun anyway. Claire was not happy with Papa for getting her that close to the water, but Miranda loved it.

This is one of my favorite things that happens when Daddy comes home. The kids attack him before he can even get in the door. They're sitting in the mudroom because Daddy couldn't get any further.

And here are the girls and me playing with camera instead of cleaning. Miranda loves to say, "cheese". Claire, on the other had, is impossible to pin down long enough to get pictures.

Not much new around here

2011-03-11T00:08:00.002-07:00

I finally took a picture of our house. I absolutely LOVE our neighborhood and ward. I think this is where we were supposed to be.

I am trying to get a garden going in the back yard. There is a spot just under the kitchen window that looks like it may have been used for that before. I can't tell for sure, but it's a squarish, dead spot in the grass. It's mostly mud and weeds now, but it's obvious grass hasn't been there in a while. I'm hoping it will work for a garden. It gets A LOT of water (floods very often). That can be good and bad. I don't want to drown my garden. I want to make some raised beds to help. I'm also hoping that the garden will help with the flooding. Hopefully tilling the soil will help with the drainage. I'm also a little worried about the amount of sun it gets. It is on the east side of the house so it's in direct sunlight for about 6-7 hours a day. I know that the garden would do better on the south side of the house (which would be in the sun longer), but the south side of our house is where the RV pad is supposed to be. There isn't a pad there yet, but I think it would be silly to have the RV gate access and then a garden behind it. It might hurt the resale, just a little. =)

The girls and I are supposed to be heading to Vegas this Sunday for a wedding. We'll be riding with Grandma and Papa, if we go. I'm a little torn because Claire is still sick or getting sick again. We can't have more than a day or two of a healthy house, I swear! She has her wellness check this Saturday, so I'll have the doctor check her if she is still sick.

I forgot to mention that we had Claire's birthday party this last Saturday. We celebrated at Jungle Jim's. The kids had a blast. Candice took the pictures with her camera, so I'll post some when I get copies. It really was a nice party. It's a fun place for the kids to go. If your kids don't insist on playing the arcades it can actually be a good price, too. Just make sure you check their website for coupons (we found a meal coupon that saved us like $7.00 on each pizza/soda we ordered).

I still haven't gotten any more done around the house. It takes so long to keep up the house that I can never get ahead and actually unpack. I keep hoping that the girls will finally feel better so they aren't so clingy/demanding and I'll get something done. It doesn't help when I spent 4 hours meeting up with my mom to borrow tools and then running to Home Depot. Two hours in Home Depot and I bought ONE thing! HAHA I was too shocked at the price of lumber to buy the stuff to build my garden. Instead I priced everything and redid my plans. It will save me over $300, but it's not exactly what I wanted. Oh well. I was hoping to spend less than $200 and the original cost (NOT including dirt or plants) was going to be close to $600. I couldn't believe it! I can buy a lot of tomatoes and celery for $600... haha

Alright. I better try to get Claire to bed again. She is refusing to sleep. Little squirt! Thinks just because she had a 10 minute nap at 8:30 that she doesn't have to go to bed. Well, Mommy does!! *sigh* Hopefully...

"We're tired of being sick, we're sick of being poor"

2011-02-20T21:36:00.004-07:00

Have I mentioned how great my husband is? He cleans, does laundry, dishes AND changes poopie diapers! I love this man!

Saturday was a lot of fun. First I went to a craft class that Candice invited us to. We made frames and mounted temple pictures in them. (the frames we did are slightly different than the picture above, but I chose this picture) They're GORGEOUS! It has to dry for one more day and then I can antique it and hang it. Here is a picture of the one I did (not mine, but the picture from their website). They are very big. I wanna try to do something like this on our own. Then we went to a coupon class at my mom's house. Yes... I know... coupon class. Sounds terribly boring. But this is the second time I've been. It's fun!! I've finally started saving money (it takes a few weeks to gather enough coupons for it to work).

Things still haven't gotten far in the unpacking. It's funny because I'm home all day with the girls and somehow don't have any time. The last couple weeks have just been filled with sick children. Like I mentioned, Miranda had her tonsils out. She is finally back to normal. We have her check up this coming Wednesday to see if she's completely healed. Claire and Miranda both got a stomach bug right after Miranda's surgery (this was a house of throw up for several days). Now Claire has RSV! I'm so sick of us always being sick! I thought this was normal because I was always sick growing up, but Gordon said it is NOT normal for a family to be ill this often.

We've Moved... again

2011-02-04T15:08:00.003-07:00

Hooray! We have our first house. We actually moved in about two weeks ago. And this is a picture I stole from the listing because I still haven't gone out to take any. Our house is a disaster! I don't understand how people can unpack so fast. It takes me MONTHS... if not years. ;) We are excited, though. We love the neighborhood and the ward. And I love that it is close enough to family to visit (although, eventually we'd like to live even closer).

Ok, I know this is a crappy post. There is actually a lot to catch up on (Miranda had her tonsils out on Tuesday). But I am really tired and I should get Miranda something to eat now that Claire is asleep.

2011

2011-01-02T15:34:00.007-07:00

Ok, so there is no excuse for how long it's been since I've posted. I don't know what to say except that I'm REALLY bad at blogging!

A lot has happened since my last post (duh, it's been more than 4 months!). Gordon got a job at Harmon's in Ogden. So we have moved back to Utah! HOORAY!!! He started there at the beginning of October. We've been living in Payson with Gordon's parents, and staying in Draper with my parents a couple nights a week. We're really lucky to have family that has let us do this. Otherwise we would have rented a place and had to sign a year long contract (they wouldn't go any shorter, we asked). Because we didn't have to rent we were able to save up some money and are now trying to buy a house. We're in the process right now. If this goes through we'll be living in Syracuse (about 20 minutes southwest of Ogden).

We had a great time on the last few holidays. Being here is GREAT because we get to see family (there are only five things I miss in Casper: Brianna, Brandon, Braylynn, Brinlee, and the Lime Leaf). For Halloween we wore our Harry Potter costumes again (young Lily, young Snape, and a snitch). I tried to make Claire be the Sorting Hat, but I didn't get the costume done in time. So she was a jack-o-lantern. It was really cute.

Oh yeah, Claire being the jack-o-lantern... she had to wear a corrective helmet for three months. She developed a flat spot on her head because she had a tight neck muscle. She is all done wearing it and everything looks great. She was such a good sport about it.

We were able to spend some time with both families for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go Black Friday shopping because I wasn't feeling well. That has been the biggest downside to moving back home. We have been sick A LOT! It's just because we actually see people here. When we lived in Wyoming we stayed home 99% of the time.

Christmas Eve we had breakfast with Santa with the Meier family. I love this idea! We need to keep doing it. Then we spent Christmas day in Payson with the Hardys. It was really fun to open presents with Braxton and Zach, too. Miranda was so excited this year. She finally understands presents. We spoiled her, just a little... but she has hardly gotten anything from us for Christmas the first two years (probably 1-2 toys each year). So it's ok. haha

Ok, maybe I didn't make it out of the Abyss...

2010-08-27T12:20:00.005-06:00

So, apparently I'm really bad at keeping the blog updated. I have to get Gordon to start doing it! He usually remembers to do things online. It seems like the only computer I ever get to use is the laptop because I can't keep Miranda entertained upstairs. =) Miranda, Claire, and I are going to Utah on Monday. I wanted to make one last trip before the deer shop gets really busy. I think I might be too late though. I thought the big hunts didn't start until mid September, but Papa sounded pretty busy the last couple times I've called. =(

The girls are getting SO big! I can't believe how fast they grow up. It's been nice since Brianna moved here. At least Miranda has some friends to play with now. It's nice for me to have someone to hang out with too!

This is very short considering it's been almost 3 months since I posted, but Claire is getting impatient. Gotta go!

Back from the abyss

2010-06-07T14:59:00.002-06:00

Ok, so it's only been 5 months since my last post. HAHA I thought I had gotten on here and posted the pictures when Claire was born, but apparently it was only on Facebook. Which is really weird because I hardly ever use Facebook anymore. I am posting this from my laptop so I only have the pictures that I can pull from Facebook. I'll post one here. These were taken the day after Claire (Clarissa Lynn Hardy) was born. She looks a lot different now. She just turned 3 months old.

We moved to Casper, Wyoming, last week. It seems like a nice town, but Gordon is pretty unhappy with his job. There was some miscommunication about the work schedule. We're not sure if it was intentional or accidental. He was told this was a good position for him (as opposed to Grand Junction and Cheyenne... the places we wanted more) because he would have good mentoring here and there would be a lot of overlap hours so he wouldn't be working on his own. Well, now that he's here he's found out that not only will there be no other pharmacist on duty while he working, but there will be a lot of time without a tech as well! Arg! So much for this being a good position for a newbie. We figured the recruiter told him this was a good fit for him because it is such a hard position for them to fill, not because it actually is good for him.

Oh well, at least he is getting experience. He plans on taking the NAPLEX at the end of June and the law exam the next week. He wanted to put it off as long as possible so he could have a little more time working with someone else. He will be by himself as soon as he's certified.

I am feeling so isolated today. Verizon's phone service is down AGAIN. It's happened here (all of Wyoming) before. Maybe it's a good thing... it made me get online and actually update the blog. =)

January Blues...

2010-01-21T10:50:00.002-07:00

Well, this time it was a little longer than a month but at least I got the post in while it is still January. Gordon has been in Scottsbluff, Nebraska since the 2nd. Miranda and I met him in Cheyenne last weekend so we could see him. He has another week and a half in NE and then another week in Laramie. *sigh* I hate it when he's away. I feel for the wives whose husbands jobs take them away a lot.

I've started to get the apartment put together. I had it fairly clean yesterday, but then I grabbed a few boxes from the closet (office stuff) and am trying to go through those... now my house is trashed again. Arg! Unpacking is a nightmare. I want to make sure it's all done before Gordon comes home. =)

Miranda is getting SO big! She talks a TON and really knows how to ham it up if she wants something. She has started being a fussy butt at bedtime. She still goes down just fine as long as I let her go to sleep in my bed. Little monster! She won't even let me put her into the crib until she is asleep. She usually is ok being transferred, even if she wakes up, but she refuses to go to bed in her bed. It's a really bad habit that I should have broken her of sooner, but it's hard to want to when she is so good about just rolling over and going to sleep in my bed.

PS- Ok, here is the belly shot... =)

Another Trip to Cheyenne

2009-12-09T22:10:00.001-07:00

It's been about a month since I've posted. I did say that once a month is good for me, right?

We're in Utah right now. We've been here since November 20th (except for the quick trip back to Cheyenne for a doctor's appointment). It's been nice to be around family again. It's crazy how fast time is flying. We have been splitting our time between Draper and Payson. We love being around family! The crazy thing is that our apartment is still TRASHED. It's hard to get the motivation to organize it when we're still not 100% sure that we'll end up staying here. We're still trying to work things out with Housing so we could move into a two bedroom apartment. But, it looks like we will probably end up staying here. That's ok. This is a very nice apartment... just a small one for a family of four.

We'll be heading to Cheyenne tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to the drive. The weather looks kinda gross. We wouldn't be heading back until Wednesday or Thursday, but I have some doctor's appointments to go to earlier in the week.

Anyways, I better get going. We still have a bunch of packing to do and I wanna hit the road early so we're not driving too much in the dark. hahaha Yes... us, hit the road early... hahaha

Random updates

2009-11-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

Miranda has been such a grumpy guss lately. Maybe she is having sympathy pregnancy mood swings! I know I've been having them. I hate being hormonal!

We didn't do much for Halloween. I did make us get dressed up (in Harry Potter costumes... again...). Chris came over and we had pizza. Mark, Mary and Ollie stopped by and visited for a bit. It was fun. We haven't seen them in a couple months. Then we went to Cold Stone and grabbed an ice cream before bedtime.

I spent all day today packing things up. I barely dented the office and now my house is trashed. Ugh... I'm hoping to have everything packed before we go to Utah for Thanksgiving. That way we don't have to come back here early to pack before the move.

I'm also trying to put together another cookbook. This is supposed to be an "All Time Favorites" book. If anyone has a great recipe, please send it to me.

(I'll update this post with some pictures of Miranda in her costume as soon as I'm back on the main computer)

UPDATE- Finally got the picture on there (like a week later). She's the golden snitch from Harry Potter.

Chinese Food

2009-10-16T23:32:00.001-06:00

Wow, has it really been a month since I last posted? Well... at least I'm back on track with my "normal" posting, eh?

Not a lot is going on here. Gordon just finished his third week at this rotation. It is going by really fast, actually. If this were a normal rotation (and not a double) he'd be finished next week. I've only gotten a few things packed around the house. I really need to get on the ball. I'd like to have the place mostly packed before we head to Utah for Thanksgiving. That way there won't be much to do when we come back for the move. It is kinda hard to pack since we're still going to be here for more than a month...

We had Chris and Julie over for dinner tonight. It was fun. I think we're doing Chinese for lunch tomorrow. Homemade, of course. =) Julie is coming over and we're going to experiment. Fun. I love cooking. We'll see if Miranda cooperates. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *gasp* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

No, really, she is a good girl. She just wants to be involved in everything we're doing. I think she gets scared by the frying pans when I cook, too. She stands in the doorway and cries for me but won't come any closer if she can hear it sizzling. She knows that the sound means hot and it scares her. Poor thing. So funny what scares her and what doesn't.

I can't believe I'm almost half way done with this pregnancy. It's going much better now that I'm past the morning sickness. I can deal with being tired. =) I'll be 20 weeks this Thursday. Crazy! We were just talking about how Miranda will handle a little sister. I feel kinda bad that she hasn't interacted with more kids until now. Hopefully she does ok. I think the biggest shocker will be that she will have to share Mom and Dad's attention now.

Oh well, I better get to bed. I think Gordon has fallen asleep on the couch. I didn't mean to be on so late. =) Goodnight!

~Christi

It's a Girl!

2009-09-16T14:33:00.000-06:00

We went to Fetal Studios before we left Utah and found out that it's a girl! We're actually both really excited about it. It does help that we have most things we'll need already. haha Miranda will love having a little sister... once she gets over the shock of not being an only child anymore.

Gordon is almost done with his third rotation. It has gone by kinda quick (to me at least). He was in Byron for two weeks of it and then he's been able to do the other two weeks from home. He has a bunch of meetings in Cheyenne he has to attend for the rotation, but it's still nice to have him home with us. I hate being home alone for weeks at a time. :(

There is so much stuff to do before we move. We'll be moving back to Utah in December. That way I won't be alone all of January while he is gone on rotation. We didn't think that was a good idea since I'd be 7-8 months pregnant at the time. Another perk is that our parents won't have to travel when the baby is born. That'll be nice. We are sad about one thing, though. We just found out that Bob and Kimber might be moving to Cheyenne in November. We are sad to be leaving just after they come. They're so fun to hang out with. And Gracie is so cute. She calls us the Harry Potter friends. haha I love it!!

I better try and take a little nap before Miranda wakes up. I'm still useless without one (still morning sick, etc. but hoping it will end soon).

Another Post

2009-08-31T22:49:00.000-06:00

Well, it's only been a month since my last post... about normal for me, right?

Miranda and I are in Utah right now. Daddy is doing a rotation in northern Wyoming. I decided to spend some time here because we weren't sure how often he'd be able to come home this month. He has to drive about 6 1/2 hours to Cheyenne. The fun thing is that he came to visit us this weekend here in Utah. It was about a 9 hour drive, but he said he'd rather do the extra 2 1/2 hours to here than be home alone.=) We were happy to see him. Miranda LOVES her Daddy!!

Miranda is growing up so fast. I can't believe how big she is. Do all parents feel this way? Again, I can't post pictures because I'm not even on my computer. Candice is letting me borrow her laptop... that's the only reason I've been able to get online. Thanks, Candice!

Sorry this is so short, especially since I haven't said anything important... but I better get to bed. Fixing the gas leak didn't make the morning sickness go away, unfortunately. It'll all be worth it in the end, right?

Scary

2009-07-25T16:17:00.000-06:00

Good news... Gordon survived his rotation. He passed and is happy it is over.

Not-so-good news... I've posted how I've been really morning sick with this pregnancy. I noticed last night that I felt better when we went to a BBQ and were out of the house for a few hours. I made a joke that I felt sick within seconds of walking back into the house. "Maybe I'm allergic to this apartment, haha". Well, the last couple days Gordon has been feeling sick too and he basically passed out on the couch this afternoon, even though he finally had a good night's sleep last night. While I was sitting on the other couch I noticed a natural gas smell and joked that maybe we have CO poisoning. Gordon got the CO detector out and it looked ok, but he smelled the gas too. So we called the gas company and it turns out we have a leak! Our maintanence guys are trying to fix the leak now, but this could actually explain why I've been so sick the last few weeks. I've blamed it all on the pregnancy but I usually felt better whenever I'd leave the house. I thought that was just because I usually feel better when I'm being productive... Now we're worried about Miranda and the baby. I am going to call my doctor on Monday to see what they suggest. I think everything should be ok with the baby. I've had minor symptoms, but nothing extreme. It just felt like really bad morning sickness. I have noticed that Miranda is sleeping a TON. I thought that maybe she was going through a growth spurt but she's been sleeping 11-13 hours a night plus a 2 hour nap everyday for the last few weeks. That is not like her. She usually sleeps 9-10 hours a night.

We have all the windows open right now. Hopefully that helps clear some of this out. Maybe I'll even feel better! Hooray for less morning sickness... =)

I posted again, can you believe it?

2009-07-24T10:37:00.000-06:00

Gordon will be doing a rotation this next month so he can have February off. I hope everything goes ok on this new rotation. I'll feel really bad if it turns out like this first one did. He is hating life. Today is his last day there, thank goodness! He is really worried about failing the rotation. At this point he has done everything he can, so we'll see how it goes. He has worked his butt off, too. He comes home and does homework all night. It feels like he never gets to see/play with Miranda. It's been almost as bad as a rotation away from home. We're really hoping that this is the exception and not the rule. There are one or two other rotations where he expects a lot of homework, but hopefully the rest are not this bad.

I am happy that we got pregnant so fast, but I forgot how bad being pregnant was. The outcome of pregnancy is great... actual pregnancy is not so great. At least the first half. I am so morning sick (all day long) that all I do is lay on the couch all day. Poor Miranda has watched so much Elmo lately. She loves Elmo, but usually I wouldn't let her watch this much tv.

It sounds like Miranda has woken up. I better go get her and feed the beast. HAHA No, she's actually a really good girl. =)

Almost There

2009-07-18T16:31:00.000-06:00

I am so unfaithful to this blog, no matter how much I try. It's hard to get on everyday (or even every few days) to post something when there really isn't much going on.

I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter last Tuesday. Yes, I am one of those dorks who goes in costume. I LOVE it. haha Brian (Gordon's brother) has a bunch of friends that get together for every HP movie and book. They do a Pot(ter) Luck, which is an all day party and then they get in line like 10 hours early. It's really fun.

Gordon is close to being done with this rotation. He is trying to decide if he should switch his month off and do a rotation next month. If he does he will have February off, just in case I have the baby early. The only bad thing is that the rotation he has in February sounds better to him than the one they offer next month.

Miranda is getting bigger every day. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to post because I'm writing from the laptop. She has decided she LOVES Elmo. She will dance and get excited when the song comes on. She only watches it for a couple minutes at a time, though. I don't want her to be a kid that watches TV all day, but it would be nice if she would sit and watch something for 30-60 minutes. Free time... Does anyone actually remember what that was? I know I don't! ;) And I really won't know what it is once the next one is born. At least now I do get free time during her nap. I won't even get that anymore since they won't have similar sleep patterns for a long while. What were we thinking??? One kid is enough!! I changed my mind!! HAHAHA

Speaking of "one kid"... I better make her eat. She just sits there and plays with it if we don't feed her. She is still so dependent. Most kids her age get upset when you try to cut up their food and feed them. She'll pick it up and hold it out to us so we have to put it in her mouth. Silly girl!!

Some Good News at Last!

2009-07-06T23:19:00.000-06:00

Wow, my last post sure was angry. I am still a little miffed with this place, but we did finally get in on Monday. We were really lucky and a bunch of people showed up from Julie's ward and our new ward here to help us move in. It was great. We got the truck unpacked in less than 45 minutes. Unpacking the apartment is a different story. I had to COMPLETELY scrub a room before I dared to unpack it. I don't expect a place to be perfect when I move in, but it should at least be cleaned. This place was pretty dirty. There were still bread crumbs all over inside the cutting board. ICK! Seriously, I probably spent at least 10 hours scrubbing the kitchen before I unpacked anything into it. I still haven't done the master bathroom, so we use the other bathroom for everything. I guess all this is making it sound like I don't like this place. All in all, it will be an ok place to live. I do LOVE all the space. It's going to be hard jumping back and forth from this three bedroom bahemeth to the 400 square foot mini-apartment back in Utah. haha At least Draper has my parent's house right up the driveway for when i feel too crowded.

Well, I better get to bed. It's now 1:00 AM. I am SO addicted to WoW, it's not even funny. I better get to the point of my post tonight... We found out today that Miranda is going to be a big sister!

Never rent from Mountainside Apartments... Tell your friends!!

2009-06-19T18:21:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm here to vent...
We have been planning on moving into a new apartment for about a month. We had all our application stuff in at the end of May with a move in date of June 20th. We've already rented a truck and put our notice in with our current landlord. I called the apartment place yesterday to set up a time to sign the lease and get the keys. The lady tells me that the University's Financial Aid department filled out one of their forms wrong and we need to have that in before they can even process our paperwork. Then she pulls up our file and sees that some information wasn't ever returned by America First Credit Union either. She then tells me that it takes 24-48 hours to process this paper work once they get it back... This is Thursday morning and we're scheduled to move in Saturday... Ok, a call would have been nice!!! They NEVER even told us there was a problem. I called them less than 2 weeks ago to verify that everything was ok and they said it was. Well, we run around like mad on Thursday and get everything turned in by the end of the day. She tells me that she'll send it in first thing Friday morning (for some reason she couldn't do it that evening even though it came in before 4:00). On Friday we were in Cheyenne to pick up the rental truck so we stop by the apartment place because they are not answering their phones. She tells me, "Oh, I'm glad you stopped by. The verification lady called me about half an hour ago and told me something was still wrong with the information from America First. But, we can have you fill out this other form while you're here and just turn this in instead." Ok... so I'm thinking, "Why didn't we just do this form in the first place since America First was giving them such a hard time to do the form they wanted??" So we jump through that hoop and she says she'll let us know by 5:00 what's going on. At 4:50 she calls and says that she hasn't heard back from the verification company and since it's after 5:00 she can't call them (even though it's NOT after 5:00 yet). I asked if there was any way to move our stuff in on Saturday if we stayed with family and didn't live in it until Monday. She said that if our stuff is in there then we officially have "possession" of the property and we can't do that until we sign a lease. She's like, "I have a sticky note on my computer to contact them back first thing on Monday morning to find out what's going on". Well, THANKS! We already have a rental truck, our family is coming up from Utah to help us move and now we don't even have a place... and we still don't know if we'll have it Monday. Great! Even if we do get it Monday Gordon and I will have to move everything in ourselves now because our family has work to get to on Monday.

*sigh* You know, I'm not mad that the verification takes 24-48 hours. They probably have no control over that. By WHY, oh WHY, did they not call us and tell us that they were having problems so we could have gotten it taken care of in time to move in? They never even called at all! The only reason we knew there was a problem was because I called them. WTF??

A Month in a Nutshell

2009-04-18T13:44:00.000-06:00

Ok, so we're back to posting here once a month...

In March Gordon, Miranda, and I went to Utah for Spring Break. Miranda and I stayed behind to visit with family after Gordon went home. It was a lot of fun. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Hardy on the weekends and with Grandma and Papa Meier on the weekdays.

Miranda sure loved to take people for walks. Here she is cruising the kitchen with Grandpa Hardy.

While we were visiting Miranda got really sick. Here's the video I sent to Daddy to show him how much she wanted him. We found out a couple days later that she actually had viral AND bacterial pneumonia. Poor Girl.

Then we went to Vegas with Grandma and Papa. Here is the big girl walking around the Dinosaur park with Grandma. It was so warm!

Miranda went down her first slide at the Dinosaur park. She laughed at the end, but I don't think you can hear it well in the video.

Miranda and Papa crashed in the backseat on the way home from Vegas. It was a long drive, but she did really well.

We did have a lot of fun in Utah, but it sure was nice to get home to Daddy!

STILL waiting!

2009-03-10T10:07:00.001-06:00

I am seriously going insane. We were supposed to have the results for Gordon's rotations by Feb 23. We STILL don't have them (over two weeks later)! We're never going to find out where we're headed.
Friday is my last day of work. What's crazy about that is I have work today, but Wednesday is my normal day off and I took Thursday off because Gordon has some tests. So I only have two more days of work. Weird...
We're looking forward to our trip to Utah on Friday (or Saturday, weather depending).

2009-02-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

It's Gordon's birthday. It's only been 2 months since I last posted. HAHA I started a post a couple weeks ago and never got it done. Miranda is getting SO big. She's mad at me in this video because I won't let her have the cell phone. I think it's funny when she fake cries.
We're still waiting for Gordon's rotation list to come in. It was supposed to be posted last Monday and it STILL isn't there! I'm going insane. Depending on what he gets we will be moving to Utah or Cheyenne. If he has enough locations in Cheyenne, Laramie and Fort Collins then we will move to Cheyenne with him. If not, we'll head to Utah so we won't be alone the whole time... by we I mean Miranda and me. HAHA.
I better get going. We're heading to Cheyenne to do some shopping and go to Texas Roadhouse for Gordon's birthday. There is a surprise party waiting for him there. I hope he has fun. =)

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe...

2008-12-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post that Gordon passed all his classes. There was one class he was worried about failing (anything below a 70% is failing in Pharmacy school). He did so well on the final that he raised his grade to a B. HAHA It was great! He only has one more semester of classroom study left and then he'll be out on rotations. It's crazy that we're getting this close to being finished. I'm not looking forward to the year apart when he's on rotations, though. Good thing I'll be in Utah so I can see family and friends. That'll help... but it's still not the same. I'll miss my Precious.

We went to Cheyenne to help Julie move today. Unfortunately we didn't get there until 10:00 and they had almost everything done already! Sorry, Julie. Her new place looks nice. I hope she gets along better with this roommate. Her last one didn't have quite the same moral qualities as she did.

While we were in Cheyenne we decided to get me some new shoes. I've been wearing this pair for about 10 years. The insides are worn all the way to the soles and they are backless... not a good pair of shoes for Laramie in the winter. Let's just say my feet have been cold for months.

Miranda isn't walking yet, but she is spending a lot more time up on her feet. We couldn't even get her to put weight on them before. Even the doctor tried and she would just lift up her legs into a sitting position in the air. It's funny. She still does it sometimes, but now she'll at least get up on her feet. We think she'll do the same thing she did with crawling. One day she'll decide she wants to and just start doing it perfectly... It's weird. She could do it all along but just didn't want to, and then BLAM!

Christmas Break

2008-12-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been home for about a week and a half. I was able to get a couple more days off of my work so I could be with Candice when she had her baby. It was nice... well, nice to be there! HAHA It's always hard to see someone you love hurting. She did great, though. Parker was born Dec 1st at 8:13 AM (after a long night of labor). He sure had a set of lungs on him! I sent Gordon the video of him crying and told him to compare it to Miranda's. She was so quiet.

I just found out that my 10 year class reunion has set their date. May 29th! Yikes! That just cut off 3 months from what we thought it was going to be. It was originally going to be late summer/early fall. I hope we're moved by then. Gordon will be out of school, but will we have our apartment? I hope so! I have been looking forward to going, but now I'm nervous. Timber just told me that she probably can't make it since they moved it up. And April has already told me she isn't coming. I don't think I'll know anyone! Shame on me for not being more active in highschool and making friends! Arg! I think I'll still go... I guess I will as long as Gordon isn't on rotations yet. I don't wanna go COMPLETELY by myself since I won't know anyone there.

Well, I gotta get going. I have to take advantage of Miranda's nap time before it's over.

Are you my Daddy?

2008-11-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

We having fun at Grandma and Papa's house. Miranda is handling the new people really well. She was reserved the first day, but has warmed up since then. She seems to like playing with Ashlynn. Those two are cute together. We saw Lizzy last night too. She is so grown up! Lizzy and Miranda are almost the same size, but Lizzy just looks so grown up. She has lots of teeth and hair and is walking already. It's so cute!

Aunt Ginger did Miranda's hair for the first time yesterday. It was adorable! I will load some pictures as soon as I have them on the computer. I tried to do it this morning (after her bath), but I couldn't even get the elastic to go around twice. Those things don't stretch at all. I'll have to watch Aunt Ginger do it.

Daddy should be here tomorrow. We're excited to see him. Miranda keeps asking for him, "Dada? Dada?" It's sad. She misses her daddy.

That's ME!

2008-11-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

I have some good news about Thanksgiving. I don't have to ride by myself! Julie and I are going to carpool. That's awesome! Miranda is a good girl, but I am pretty sure she'd put up a stink having to sit in the back seat by herself for 6 hours with nothing to do. Even she isn't THAT good. =) I think we'll be leaving Saturday but we aren't sure yet. Julie has something she might have to do for school. My boss already said it was ok for me to take the whole week off (as long as we don't get slammed in this next week).

I had to post this video of Miranda. She is looking in a mirror and at the end she points at the mirror and then herself. She does that when she knows something is her (reflections, pictures, etc). It's so cute! It is kinda low quality, but I took it with my cell phone. =)

Candy and Cake

2008-11-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I'm really bad at keeping this blog up to date!Things have been crazy busy here. Gordon has been studying like mad. He has actually decided that he won't be able to come to Utah for Thanksgiving because he has so many tests and things to study for. =(

Here is a picture of Gordon, me and Miranda dressed as (young) Snape, Lily and the Golden Snitch. She wasn't thrilled about her costume. She felt like the little kid in A Christmas Story. She could barely move because it was so fluffy... poor thing. She didn't complain when she got to eat the candy though, figures!

And here's Miranda on her first birthday. Unhappy, yet again! HAHA She didn't like the cupcake because the frosting was sticking to her fingers. She wouldn't touch (or eat) it after that.

Birthday, Buck and a Baby

2008-10-28T21:23:00.000-06:00

Hey, this is kind of funny. This is the story of what happened when Danny and Ginger had their baby. It's cute! I love watching it... I can see some of my family... =)

Hardy Family Pictures

2008-10-21T17:38:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I'm not posting every day, but it's better than before... right? How do people think of stuff to write everyday? I guess we're just boring. Gordon has another big test next Monday. He is stressing, big time! He's already told me that he will be spending the entire weekend at school so he can get some "quality" study time. I even have Monday off work so he can study more. HAHA But, we are here for his schooling, not my work... so it's worth it.

We had some pictures taken with the Hardy family this last weekend. It was fun to get everyone together.

Hardy Family Fun

2008-10-13T14:07:00.000-06:00

Mike, Bonnie & Shirley came to visit this weekend. They were on their way through to Mount Rushmore. It was a lot of fun to see everyone. We went to Cheyenne on Saturday to visit and have dinner. I believe Michael will be coming up later this week. So next weekend we should have the whole family.

10 years lost, 30 lbs found...

2008-10-01T10:51:00.000-06:00

It has come to my attention that I am terrible at keeping up with the blog... Uh... didn't see that one coming! HAHA

Miranda is continuing to grow like a weed. She is almost 11 months old. Where did the time go?? Gordon and I have been busy with work and school. Gordon had two tests this week. He was really stressed about them because each was worth 1/3 of the class grade. That was fun. I've been going crazy at work. Things there have gotten a little better. We're starting to catch up (and that means were only a week behind instead of 2... j/k). Part of me can't wait until I'm a stay home mom, but I don't know how I will really handle it. I think I will get bored/depressed when I'm home all day. Don't get me wrong, I love Miranda! But sometimes you need to see friends and other adults.

I've just found out that we're having a 10 year class reunion next summer. I've offered to help put it together. I'm actually really excited, even though Gordon's didn't seem all that great. I wonder if ours will be like that. There wasn't much of a turn out at his, and the open bar just made all the non-drinkers pay for the drinkers' tabs. That kinda sucked. I'm hoping since it's in Utah that the open bar thing won't even be an issue. I guess I better start hitting the gym so I can feel good about myself for the reunion. I had a goal set to lose 15 lbs and I'm down 12 already. Only 3 more to go and then I've made my first goal. That feels good. It's been a long time since the scale has gone THAT direction. HAHA!

Here in Crazy Town!

2008-08-27T10:50:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I'm seriously slacking in the blogging area. I knew I would! I'm only posting because Beth asked for my blogging address... I have been SUPER slammed at work! In the last two weeks I earned 90 hours of comp/overtime. It would be great if I could use it, but I think in the end I'll just get paid out. That's alright too! LOL We'll probably be able to use that money to get me back to Utah next Summer.
Mirand is a monster! Well, in size anyway. She is HUGE. I can't believe how fast she is going. She has been wearing 12 month clothes since she was 9 months old! She is a good girl, though. I have to say that Gordon and I lucked out. And we know it! Good thing too, because Daddy has to baby sit while I'm at work. :) We still haven't moved her out of our room. We have her in her own crib, but it's next to our bed. HAHA That'll be nice when we clean up a space in the office to move her in here.
Anyway, I have to get back to work while she is taking a nap. Here are some pictures to look at.

~Christi

Fullmetal ADDICTION!!

2008-06-02T22:09:00.001-06:00

There's not much new going on in Laramie. Gordon is in his last week of a three week class. It has been crammed, but not hard. Good thing too! Because I've been leaving him with Miranda A LOT! I've been stuck at work for hours and hours after close everyday. We are SUPER busy. It's driving me crazy! Anyway, Gordon said I should make a post about my new obsession, so I decided to!

A friend of ours let us borrow this japanimation series called Fullmetal Alchemist. At first I thought it was just kinda cute, but now I'm hooked. There are only two seasons and a movie (and I've already seen them ALL), but apparently it is still an ongoing comic in Japan. I told Gordon I will learn Japanese just to read more! LOL It really is a cute story.

Fullmetal Alchemist:

Edward and Alphonse Elric are brothers living in the village of Resembool in the country of Amestris. Their father Hohenheim left home when Edward and Alphonse were still very young. Years later, their mother, Trisha Elric, dies of a terminal illness. After their mother's death, Edward becomes determined to bring her back through the use of alchemy. However, this attempt failed, ultimately resulting in the loss of Edward's left leg and Alphonse's entire body. In a desperate effort to save his brother, Edward sacrifices his right arm to affix his brother's soul to a suit of armor. After that, Edward's left leg and right arm are fitted with two sets of automail, a type of advanced prosthetic limb.

Edward sets out to become a State Alchemist, enabling him to use the resources available to State Alchemists to discover a way to restore what he and Alphonse had lost. The brothers eventually learn of the Philosopher's Stone and set off in search of it as a means to restore their bodies. Along the way they discover secrets about the Philosopher's Stone they never wanted to know, and find others who seek it as well, doing almost whatever they can to get their hands on it.

When will this week end?

2008-05-01T13:09:00.000-06:00

What was I saying about things warming up here? It's snowing AGAIN! Wyoming has some messed up weather...
Things have been super busy around here. Gordon is trying to study for his finals, but Miranda is being a monster and making it impossible for him to do so while he is babysitting. I have been trying to only work my 20 hours, but my boss quit last week so I have to do 80 hours of work in 20 hours time (my job is supposed to be 40 hours but they are letting me do part time as long as I can keep up). Because of this I have been putting in extra time (NOT because I really want to, but I need to) and this is cutting into Gordon's study time even more. Poor Gordon, he already has major test anxiety... now lets take away 30 hours a week of study time...

Crazy

2008-04-20T22:03:00.000-06:00

I don't know how people keep up with these things. I don't seem to have any time and I only have one kid and work part time. This is insane. I thought I should at least say that things are going well here. The weather is starting to warm up (some days). Finals are in a couple weeks so Gordon has to start studying even more... I won't know who he is soon! I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. Miranda has another check up and she needs more shots. I hate being the bad guy. I told Gordon that I'm scheduling the next appointment for when I have work. HAHA.

On the road again

2008-03-12T10:07:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time since I last wrote. I've been waiting for a new card reader so I could post more pictures of Miranda... we all know that is the only reason to do this, right? haha =) We're heading to Utah today and I am so excited!! Only Candice knows we're coming today (in my family). My mom thinks we're coming tomorrow and hasn't told anyone because we were going to surprise my dad who thinks we're coming Friday! LOL I am so easily amused. I've been trying to get everything ready while Gordon is at school, but Miranda makes it difficult. I'm hoping to be on the road by 1:30, but we'll see...

What did Mommy call me???

2008-02-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

Ya'll thought I was kidding, but Miranda really is my little piggy! Last month she was 90th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight (at 9 lbs 6 oz). She is now 25th percentile in weight (at 11 lbs 9.5 oz). She gained over 2 lbs in one month!!! Thats my little piggy! =)

My Little Piggy

2008-02-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

She is such a talker. I love it! Here she is talking up a storm (just like her mother used to). I thought the overalls were perfect. We call her our little piggy because she is such a hog jaws now. =)

2008-02-14T17:15:00.000-07:00

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

VISITORS!!

2008-02-06T05:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a little out of the norm... Chris is here in Laramie. His work sent him to be a part of the job fair at the University. He stayed the night with us so he wouldn't have to come up twice. It has been nice to have him here. We all went to dinner last night and Miranda was surprisingly good! She loved her uncle Chris. =)

5:00 AM but what choice do I have?

2008-02-05T06:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, I actually made it back for a second time! haha. It's way too early for civilized activities, but Miranda was hungry, so what can you do? Things around here have been going pretty good. Miranda is getting better at sleeping through the night (tonight is not a good example). She'll sometimes go 5-6 hours! ...sometimes...
Work has been going good for me. I actually like being back there. It's fun to see all my friends again and get out of the house for a little bit. I do miss Miranda the whole time I'm gone though. I also worry for Gordon. She hasn't been letting him study very much. We have to be careful because we don't want his grades to suffer.
Miranda has been getting SO big!! She laughed for the first time January 25th. It was so cute!! It lasted a few minutes but we only got the last 2 chuckles on the camcorder. She hasn't really done it since, although I think I've seen her starting to do it more when she is just falling asleep. She is also starting to "talk" a lot. She loves to smile and mouth conversations with us. She is starting to make all kinds of noises when she "talks."
Well, she is almost done eating so I better finish up and try to get that last half hour of sleep before it's time for work...

Giving this a try...

2008-01-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, we've tried the blogging thing before... lets see if it works this time!! We had a great time in Utah over the holidays, but we're back in Laramie now. It's nice to be home, but we miss everyone (and all the help we were getting!).
Miranda was born 11/06/07 at 5:53 P.M. She is getting so big now. She'll be 11 weeks old tomorrow. Gordon and I are still adjusting to life with the little one. She makes EVERYTHING so much more complicated!! I start work again tomorrow and Gordon will watch her while I'm there. We're worried about how that will affect his studying... hopefully all goes well.
This weekend we helped Brian, Crystal and Julie move. Well, actually Gordon helped them move. I didn't even make it there until after 5 P.M. We're excited to have Julie back in Cheyenne. I know she'll be as busy as Gordon with the schoolwork, but I hope we can get together sometimes. Brian applied to the medical school here (actually it's Washington but they do the first year in Laramie). We hope he gets in so they can move here. It would be fun to have them that close, even if it is for such a short time.

Look at her now!

2008-01-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

Wow! Check out the difference from about 1 week old to almost 11 weeks! I can't believe how big she is.