Porter '09 Recap

It's hard to believe that we have seen a decade come and go. I still remember Y2K. The year 2009 has been another good one. Every year we think about doing a letter or a photo card, but we have yet to do so. Maybe next year. :0) So this is our "sub" instead.

Porter Happenings of 2009:

* Dave tried a few new jobs at the beginning of
the year - car salesman, independent sales, and
he eventually ended up back at Deseret First.
* Bought a travel club membership.
* Took a trip to California using our travel
club, as a birthday/anniversary trip.
* Bought a hot tub.
* Dave's branch was robbed. The robbers were caught.
* Kim had her 3 year anniversary at her job,
a personal record...and still going.
* Did a few small home improvement projects here and there.

Here's looking to a great new year! Welcome 2010.

Funny Story, Not So Funny Story

Funny story - I had planned on making homemade pizza for dinner last night. I.E. I intended to make my own dough for the crust in our bread machine. Good plan, I thought. The first time I tried the recipe it turned out alright. The second time Dave really enjoyed it. The third time...ended in an explosion. The "dough" mix was all over the interior of the bread machine. So what went wrong? Apparently 2 3/4 cups of flour is NOT the same as 2 3/4 tablespoons of flour. I wasn't convinced when I started that there was enough flour, but for whatever reason I let it slide and basically did a flourless dough/mush puddle.

Not quite so funny story - You may recall a few entries back I wrote about Porters and pens. Apparently I wasn't as finished with that entry as I thought/would have liked. Saturday morning we went to the mall and bought Dave new work clothes. (They are way nice and he looks really good in them. Plus we got a killer deal on all the stuff we bought.) When we got home I planned on doing laundry. It was a few of Dave's "old" work clothes, none of the new stuff, and a lot of my clothes. I checked all the pockets, threw the clothes in the washer, and then the dryer. Easy enough right? Of course not. I went to check on the clothes after they had been partially dried, only to find that the stem of the blue gel pen was still in the dryer! That's right, round two of blue spots. Needless to say, I was somewhat displeased about this and frankly a little baffled that it would happen again. I believe Dave may have to take over doing the laundry or if anyone knows where I can sign up for laundry 101, please let me know. :0)

Porter Christmas '09

Well, this was Dave and my 5th Christmas together. We had a great day. We know that Christmas isn't just about the gifts, but admittedly we were pretty excited to actually have a few more presents under our tree this year. I got a new skillet and a blender, both of which are way cool. I also got a tripod for my camera, which I have already put to use. Dave got a table saw, which he plans on using to build a kayak and a gazebo in the spring. Dave's other wicked sweet gift was a picture of Fenway Park in Boston where the Red Sox play.

For the first time we just spent the day by ourselves. We have always gone up to Cache Valley and visited both of our parents. We love to see them, but it was nice to just relax at home and not feel so rushed. In the afternoon we went to my aunt's house in West Valley where we played our traditional family Bingo. Dave and I made out like bandits this year.

In remembering the true meaning of Christmas, we our very grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ - for his example and life. I enjoy this time of year and seeing everyone give a little more and show more patience and love. It is our hope that we, and everyone, will strive to carry the spirit of Christmas with us throughout the year...as the saying goes. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our friends and family.

UHC Holiday Party

This one is a few days late, but this year we had a Christmas party at my work. We usually do, but I'm pretty sure last year it just didn't happen. We had our holiday get-together at one of our doctors home this year. It was a first for me, but I guess they have done it before in the past. At any rate, it was a lot of fun. We weren't there a really long time, but I think it's always nice to see co-workers/friends outside the office. We had good food and just visited.

After we left, Dave and I went to my doctor's house. I made a Cache Valley gift basket for him and his family. Oh I wish I had taken a picture! I meant to, but then didn't do it before passing it off. It turned out Awesome! I put Cox honey, Gossner "squeaky cheese," flavored milk, Old Grist Mill cinnamon bread, Bluebird Candy chocolates, Pepperidge Farm goldfish and cookies, and some fudge and pickles my mom had made. It really was quite impressive and I think it turned out really well. (I was hoping that maybe he'd say thanks, but no thanks; and I could just take it home with me.)

Now we're only a day away from Christmas. I got to have the day off, which I needed this week. I ended up going and picking up a few last minute things. Now if only my Sweetheart could come home too. He's up at work for a few more hours, but then hopefully we can just relax and spend some much wanted time at home together.

Porters & Pens

Last week was very trying. It was NOT a good week for Porters and pens. Last Tuesday, after 3 1/2 years, I sent one of Dave's gel pens through the laundry. Congrats to me! I try so hard to check pockets, etc, but I missed this one. So, all of Dave's work pants, a few dress shirts, some of my work clothes, and then a few other things...all came out blue. You would think that was the highlight of our week, but it gets better.

Wednesday, Dave was talking to one of the credit union VP's, telling him about what happened Tuesday. The VP started laughing, and Dave assumed he was laughing about the story. When the VP got up, Dave looked down to find that the pen he had in his pocket had leaked - leaving a lovely pen spot on yet another shirt.

On Thursday Dave was looking for some pants to wear. Lucky for him I had bought some dress pants about a month ago. Unfortunately the store clerk didn't remove the security clip when I bought the pants. (I didn't pay attention.) So Dave thought he could just take it off himself. If you didn't know, there is a glass cartridge filled with ink that breaks when if you try to remove the security tag yourself.

That was our week in a nutshell. We did actually manage to make it through Friday without any pen incidents. Hooray! I also got my present from my doctor, a gift card to JCPenney...to buy new clothes. We certainly appreciated it and definitely needed it.

Saturday/Sunday Summary

Another weekend come and gone. It was sure a good one though. Friday night was our ward party at church, but we didn't make it. We were still up in the city at work. It was based around "The Polar Express," which we love. So I presume it was a lot of fun.

Yesterday I got to get together with the other MA's for our "annual" Christmas brunch and gift exchange. We all brought a part of the meal and a present for a pre-determined gift exhange. We did this last year and it turned out pretty well. So we tried it again. Another success! Next weekend we have my office holiday party. We're having it at one of our doctors house this year. I'm looking forward to it.

In Porter family tradition, once December hits we bust out the holiday movies. Some of them are classics and others are just fun. We've watched a number of Christmas movies the last couple of weeks, with several more to go. Since we got what I would call the first decent snow of the year this weekend, we got to watch "The Polar Express"...with hot chocolate. (One of our favorite traditions.) We love this time of year and the spirit of the holidays that comes with it.

DFCU Party '09

This year for Dave's Christmas party we had dinner at the Lion House in downtown Salt Lake City. They had it on a Thursday night, which was a little hard...especially Friday morning, but it was nice to see Dave's co-workers outside the office. In light of the tough economic times, we were glad they even had a party. It was Dave's branch and the downtown Deseret First branch.

While we were waiting, they did a couple of games, a Christmas movie quiz and a holiday word scramble. We won the word scramble and got a gift certificate to Texas Roadhouse. Yum! For the dinner we had salad, roast beef, mashed potatoes, vegetables, rolls, and cake. The food was awesome.

After we ate we did a white elephant gift exchange. It was fun, but we were a little put out by Dave's gift. He got a bag of used health and beauty stuff - i.e. lotion, shampoo, a nail file, etc. I realize that the point of a white elephant gift is not to buy some elaborate gift, but we decided the best description for this one would be inappropriate. Oh well. I ended up with a Barack Obama puzzle and a dating book. (I know you're all so jealous.)

So despite getting home at 10:30 and getting the short end of the stick on the gift exchange (we took decent presents) it was fun, and again nice to see people outside the office. Honestly it has been a little tough lately in Dave's job, but we are grateful he currently has a job.

To Chocolate or Not to Chocolate...

...that is NOT even a question! Every year (the last 5 years Dave and I have been together for the holidays,) we have made Needhams - a chocolate coconut, Mounds-type candy. We are ever improving in the materials we use, efficiency, and expansion of ideas.

This year we have been able to do approx 40 Needhams/hour. I realize that may not sound so impressive number, but in reality it's a vast improvement from where we started several years ago. Not too bad considering there are only 1-2 of us working on them at a time.

At any rate, this year we made the chocolates in snowman molds. It turned out pretty well. We also tried doing different flavors in the filling. We made mint, orange, cherry, raspberry, and strawberry. A couple of people have tried the flavors and we've gotten a good response on it.

So, the chocolate-making efforts continue. In doing a calculation last night, we have 130-140 done and only 4 or 5 more batches...or maybe a few more to go. :0)

And There Were Lights!

Over the weekend we got the place decorated for the holidays. Here are a few pictures.

Our outside lights.

The tree.

The family.

Turkey Thursday and Black Friday

This year we made a quick trip up to Cache Valley for Thanksgiving. We got there a little late, but really in pretty good time. Dave's grandma, parents, and 2 of his sisters families were all there. It was great to see them. We would usually visit both of our families; however, my family went to Nevada this year. I would have liked to go, but it was nice to be closer to home. I think we may get brave and try Thanksgiving ourselves in the next couple of years.

The much anticipated day after Thanksgiving, that of Black Friday. I remember going a couple of times with my mom, but I've never been a die-hard crazy shopper. I found some good deals this year, although frankly I wasn't sure if I'd get up or sleep in. It ended up that I got up and went out with the crazies. I went to Target, not sure how busy it would be. I realize that a lot of people venture out for the Black Friday sales, but I didn't know how many people would be at what stores.

The line outside wrapped around the whole shopping strip to the back of the building and I was at the back. However, I know tons of people were still piling in after I was inside. Amazingly enough, I really got just about everything I wanted. The one thing I didn't get was a little sandwich maker, but it wasn't a big deal. I ended up getting more than I had planned on. The deals were just too good to pass up and things that I had been thinking about getting anyway. Once again, I ended up saving more than I spent. Yes, I am very proud of myself. The line to check out was insane, but the time went by pretty quickly.

All in all, we had a good couple of days. We are definitely very blessed. I'm grateful for all that we have, the big things and the little ones. It is easy for me to take for granted the little things that are often viewed as every day commodities, but I do know that I am lucky to have it so good and really pretty easy. I am especially grateful for my sweet husband, the family we've started, and our families and friends!

Ongoing Home Improvements

It turns out that Dave is not the only handy type Porter in our house. Saturday morning I got to play the part of an electrician. Nothing major, but still a feat for me. Throughout our house the light switches are beige and the plate covers are white. So a year ago we bought white switches to change out. Dave replaced one...about a year ago...in a closet. The rest have stayed beige.

Dave slept in a little, which is a rarity in and of itself. So I looked around our house, couldn't decide where to start cleaning, and ended up concluding that I'd try changing out some of the light switches. I managed to do 5 in an hour, hour and a half. Being the perfectionist that I am, it took me a little longer to get a couple of them in straight. Nevertheless, I got it done and I think it looks pretty good.

I initially thought that if things didn't work out in healthcare that maybe I could go to being an electrician as a back up plan. I later thought better of that plan. I think I will stick to my job in the medical field and only occasional in-home electrical work. Next project for Dave will be to finish re-installing blinds to our back patio.

Sunday Summary

This weekend we had our annual primary program. In our church the kids 3-11 attend primary. Each year the kids present a program where they speak and they sing songs about the things they learned throughout the year. Since I play the piano for our primary, I got to participate. This was actually my 2nd primary program in our ward.

We have a very young ward. The kids 18 months to 3 years old attend nursery, and we have 3! When we have baby blessings it's rare that we only have one at a time. Usually it's 3 or 4 at a time. We have approx. 100 children in our primary currently. Despite the large group, it went really well today.

After church my sweet hubby made me an awesome lunch. He's so good at improv cooking. (I didn't think we really had any food in the house.) He made a really good chicken dish, stuffing, and green beans. Yum!

Finally, we started our needham chocolates this weekend. We've talked about trying some different varieties, but until now have not done it. This year we made mint, cherry, and orange flavored candy. We also tried forming the candy in molds - hearts and snowmen. It went pretty well. Dave has been trying to figure out a more efficient way to cover the candies. So we tried spraying the chocolate through a paint sprayer (new). That one didn't really fly. Thus, we'll have to keep working on that one, but overall it was a success.

Perspective

An 8 oz glass has 4 oz of water. Is the glass half full of half empty? If you stand on one side of a fence, is the grass actually greener on the other side? Hypothetically speaking, would it be better to be locked INside or OUTside of your own home? In the short time span of less than 12 hours, we managed to do BOTH.

Today we changed out our locks on our front door. It was a good planf, and needed to be done. We got the dead bolt replaced, no problem. The door knob however, required more effort. Dave had to drill down a little bit of the door to get the new parts in properly. He put the new part in, without the knob itself on, and it fit. But apparently without the knob you cannot actually open the door. After toying with it for a few, Dave got smart. He put the knob on, and using the key, got the door open again.

We got together with some of the neighbors for dinner tonight and had homemade pizza. We cooked one of the pizzas at our house. Well, I ended up locking the door knob and then left the keys inside the house. Pure brilliancy on my part. We ended up getting in through the window because our back door was locked as well. It's great to have new locks, and they look amazing! Now we just have to remember those little details...like keys. Of note, we also have a peep hole now. So when Dave's not home I can see who's at the door. Hooray!

Home Sweet Home!

After 15 1/2 months, "Welcome to our home!" I have wanted to post pictures of our place since we moved here. However, for various reasons it just hasn't happened until now. Although we don't always appreciate the commute, we LOVE our house!

First of all, a little background...

When we bought:
~ 1350 sq ft
~ 3 bed, 2 1/2 bath
~ New/updated carpet, tile, & paint

Since we moved in:
~ Updated kitchen appliances
~ New faucets/light plates
~ Awesome backyard

On to the tour...

Halloween '09

This year we bought a few pumpkins, but we didn't get around to carving them. Plus, we didn't have the tools to carve them. Oh well. Hopefully next year we'll be able to do some carving. We went and hung out with our good friends/neighbors tonight. We had dinner, visited, and watched "Jurassic Park". Dave really likes that movie, but I think it's a little scary. I don't mind scary movies...sometimes. However, I usually don't prefer them. We also watched "Hanted Mansion" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". We were big party poopers and put a sign on our door requesting no trick-or-treaters in an attempt to keep Sadie from completely freaking out since we weren't home.

Both Dave and I worked yesterday. This year I was Raggedy Ann. I think I pulled it off pretty well. :0) I sure had fun with it. Amazingly, Dave dressed up too. He's not all that into Halloween, dressing up specifically. His branch at work was collaboratively "The Adams Family". He was Fester Adams. I thought he did a great job with his costume.

I didn't get a picture of all of his co-workers, but he says a picture was taken. So we'll have to add it later. There is a group picture of some of my co-workers on my facebook page. Sadie got to dress up as a pumpkin this year, and Jack was himself. All in all, we had a pretty good Halloween.

Happy MA Week!

Random note - I don't like to post more than once on the same day. It's a weird quirk, can't explain it, but I just don't usually write more than 1 post at a time. Yet, here's entry #2 for today.

Last week at work we had medical assistant (MA) week. I don't know if it was just our clinic, IHC, or what, but it was fun. Pretty normal week for the most part. Clinic days with doctors, PCI days for paperwork and phone calls, and a 7:00 AM meeting to complete the week. :0)

Okay, actually Friday was the most fun. We totally got spoiled! One of the MAs made shirts for all of us, we had snacks - crackers, cheese, tomato, avacado, peppers, pita, humus, and chocolate chip zuchini bread. So good. We got lunch brought in, which was kind of amazing. It was sandwiches and pie from Marie Callendar's, not our usual pizza or cafeteria catering. Anything would have been great, but it was just a special treat to get "outside food".

My awesome doctor brought me cookies and a Macy's gift card. It was more than I expected, but very much appreciated. My job is trying at times. I know that the work I do is appreicated, but it was nice to have an official/unofficial week of recognition for what I do. The other MAs I work with are amazing! They are all so good at what they do. Happy MA week everyone.

Quick Trip Home

During my day off this last week I made a quick trip home. It was great to go up for a visit. I've gotten a lot better about going longer between visits, but I still need to see the family and friends every once in a while. The wonders of technology are great, but it can't beat a face-to-face chat.

While I was there I got to see a number of friends, most of whom I haven't talked to in some time. I had good intentions of getting home the same night, but ended up staying in Logan. Lucky me, I got to drive from Logan to Salt Lake. I was really proud of myself - up at 5:00, shower at 5:30, out the door and on the road by 6:00 to clock in at 7:30. Hooray for me! (If you didn't know, totally not a morning person.) We do a 30-45 min. commute, but kudos to anyone who consistently does one any longer.

10 Days of Dave

In the past Dave has done a couple of extra "special" surprises for me. One time he bought me roses and put little sayings in the petals and another time he did a "trail of I love you's". I know he loves me all the time, which is impressive in and of itself when I'm not feeling up to par. So I wanted to do a random special thing for him. Thus the 10 Days (or so) of Dave.

I for one had a great time doing this. I wrote a lot of mega-cheesy sayings, but it was fun and I think Dave looked forward to it. I say 10 days or so because unfortunately Dave came down with major bronchitis in the middle of my plan. He ended up being out of work an entire week, which if you know Dave at all is a super long time. After 3+ years of marriage, I finally got him to get a doctor. Thankfully he is feeling a LOT better.

Among other things, his "treats" ranged from cinnamon rolls to good & plenty to a movie to a night out at a bed & breakfast. While it is definitely not a requirement to do "big surprises" of give flowers every Thursday, I hope that Dave knows how special I think he is and how lucky I feel to be his wife. Sweetie, я люблю тебя очень 99 !

Mats, Mats

Poor, poor Sadie pup has some not quite with it parents. (*sniffle*) Our cute little puppy got her ears shaved today. Her fur gets so matted. Dave recently practically shaved her body, but her ears were too tangled. We attempted to get the knots out, but couldn't do it. So we took her in to PetSmart and were told she had to just be completely shaved. I think it's actually kind of cute.

Another mat...is the target in our backyard for potty time. I bought a "cheap" (on sale $1.50) door mat at Ikea, which has become Sadie's toilet. There are times where frankly I don't care where she goes. I'm just glad she gets her business done. Back to the initial puppy mats, mom and dad will try to keep her better brushed to avoid future shaving.

Will Wonders Never Cease?

A while back I posted that my car was fixed...without needing any additional work. That was true for about a month. But alas my car gave in (again) and refused to start. Nope, wouldn't even try to turn over. It turns out, luckily and thankfully, that it just needed a new battery. I guess my car's original battery did pretty well. It made it 6-6 1/2 years.

The other half of the wonder and amazement is that my sweetie is so handy. He helped me change out the battery...in the dark...with a cold...but we did it ourselves. Hooray porters! I continue to learn that Dave just knows all kinds of things. I definitely married a great man!

P.S. Just as a side note, Dave made it 2 1/2 years without locking his keys in the car. With his Probe he had it down to a science where he could get in in 10 seconds or so. Luckily we found a "trick" to get back into the Jeep.

Bugs 2

Today I ate lunch with a couple of co-workers outside. We figured it would be good to get out of the office for a little bit and take in some vitamin D. That was a good plan until I looked down at my homemade pizza only to find some small flying (or not flying) insect roaming in my food. I nearly ate the stupid thing, but ended up seeing it in time. The good news is that I had already eaten most of my lunch.

When we got home tonight Dave offered to grill burgers. It's apparently been longer than I thought since we last grilled. Dave pulled off the cover and found there were spiders crawling inside. I'm not sure how this happened, but Dave ended up getting bitten by a spider. Poor guy. We're headed into colder weather, so not too much longer of mega-bug season. Yay!

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

I am not a huge fan of bugs. I generally prefer to "take pity" on them - scoop them up, and throw them back outside. Most often we have occasional ants in our house. Again, not a big fan.

A few weeks ago I was sitting on our couch when I felt something crawling up my leg. It was a stupid little ant. I realize that for most people this may not be a big issue, but I was just not a happy camper. In fact, as Dave will more than willingly attest to me having a "bug face". It's sort of a scrunched up "ick" face.

At any rate, earlier this week I found a centipede crawling around our floor. Sadie wanted to eat it, but I scooped it up and tossed it out in the bushes. Today I got to work and I thought I was removing some dust off my desk, when to my surprise the "dust" (i.e. some small insect) starting flying...and I squished it...with my bare hands. I'm sure I made my bug face, but I was a bit proud of myself. So, while everything has a purpose and a place, I am just not a bug fun. And that concludes my blurb about bugs!

New Foods

Lately Dave and I have been busy with food. (I'm drawing something of a blank on my grammar/phrasing tonight.) Last weekend we made homemade salsa, earlier this week I made freezer raspberry jam, and today we tried zuchini bread. I am quite proud of this accomplishment; however, I must admit that our attempts need to be worked on. They were all first time trials.

The salsa was hit and miss. Some bites were quite good, while others tasted a little like tomato paste (which was not actually used in the recipe). We made fresh salsa 2 years ago. I never tried it because by the time we were done making it I was too sick of the smell. This time we blended the ingredients to make it more of a sauce-type salsa.

My jam turned out pretty well. I've yet to taste it, but I'm really pretty proud of myself for that one. For anyone who has ever done freezer jam, you know it's not all that complicated. Yet, it is a big deal for me. For what it's worth I did hand mash the berries.

We ended up with 2 zuchini breads. Dave made zuchini bread and I did a double chocolate zuchini bread. Neither one turned out as well as we would have liked. The taste wasn't too bad, but the crust was tough, not burned though. It was also a little dry. Like several other dishes, food explorations, whatever our attempts need to be re-tried andor tweaked.

During our vast time together, Dave and I have discovered that we rather enjoy cooking. We don't always know what to cook, but we like to "play with food" and try new things. I enjoy trying new recipes and Dave is definitely the creative cook. He's the type who throws things together and wings it. To his credit, most of what he's "made up" has turned out really well. We semi-jokingly talk about starting a restaurant; however, if and when that event occurs, it won't be anytime soon. Frankly we enjoy just cooking for ourselves, our family, and friends.

In conclusion - We do not generally get recipes right the first time; we both have some really good dishes; for now we will keep plugging away with developing our culinary skills...at home for now; and you haven't had our "fancy" cooking (or it's been a while), let us know and we'll see what we can do. :0)

P.S. Here's a random pic (from a year ago) just to get a picture attached to a post while we're still waiting to get newer/updated pictures posted.

Home Security

Home security systems are nice, but it's even better when you have an in-home "guard" for free 99. Sadie used to be a little quieter, but lately she's been on this barking kick. Sometimes it's warranted, but occasionally she just barks at nothing. (At least nothing we can see.) This morning Sadie started barking again - Dave said it was because there was a hot air balloon outside. The kicker is that Jack chimed in today.

Usually Jack just gets annoyed and/or ignores Sadie's "random barking," but this morning he was sure riled up. Jack's pretty mellow and usually goes with the flow. Admittedly though, there have been a couple of times where he got wound up for no apparent reason. At any rate, it was actually pretty funny.

Labor Day "Lessons"

1 - 3 day weekends are the best!
* Good time to catch up on sleep.
2 - (Virtually) No one is on the road at 3 AM.
3 - Okay time for a yard sale.
* Good way to de-clutter
* Not too bad a time of year for a yard sale.
* Better when people buy more, but still a good way to de-clutter.
3 - Thanks to Murphy's Law, there is a decent chance you'll be sick when you have a day off.
4 - Movies are a great pastime for extended weekends.
5 - Long weekends are never long enough, but are always highly anticipated. (Love spending time w/ the hubby.)

Drama of the Week

In case you didn't hear, earlier this week Dave's branch was involved in an armed robbery. No one was hurt, but it was definitely traumatic for everyone there. Although no one was physically injured, this has taken a toll on all of the employees. Needless to say, it has been a tough week. However, being the troopers that they are, everyone has still shown up to work. We are very thankful that everyone is doing okay and hope things can continue to get better.

Summer Work Fun

To our surprise, both of our employers actually had a summer BBQ this year. A few weeks ago Dave's branch combined with the downtown (North Temple) branch and they had a party at Liberty Park. Dave's boss grilled burgers and then everyone else brought something, semi-potluck style. It was fun to chat with Dave's co-workers. I frequent Dave's branch, so I had something of a head's up on who was who. After dinner we were going to play water balloon volleyball, but that turned into a water fight consisting of Dave's branch manager vs EVERYONE else. It was great!

Last weekend my work had a BBQ at Sugar House Park. It was also fun. Our BBQ was catered, but we had burgers and chips and fruit. Dave frequents my office as well and has an "in" with my co-workers too. We had a water balloon fight and a bunch of people played volleyball. There was a stream right by us and I went wading. The water temperature was nice. Another good party.

It was nice to see all of our co-workers, and friends, outside the office. Although, it's also interesting to see people outside of their "norm" and as people rather than co-workers. (Hope that makes sense.) We're glad we work with good people.

At Long Last...

So, 3 months, 5 trips to the DMV (4 to North Salt Lake), and 6 forms later, I FINALLY got my car registered! It was supposed to be done by the end of May, but due to extenuating circumstances (and numerous forms) I just barely got it done. Now all we have to do is get it to a mechanic to get Little ET to run again. If we're lucky we will just have to replace the battery. It is definitely a step in the right direction.

Lucky Ducky

This weekend my dentist's office had their annual pool party. (It was my first.) It was rainy and stormy yesterday morning. I wasn't sure if they'd still have the party. It cleared up some, but it was still a little chilly. I didn't think that many people would go, but I decided to just go check it out. To my surprise it was quite packed. There were probably a few 100 people there.

They did a raffle, in which you were entered if you showed up and were present to win. They gave away an iPod,massages, box of toothpaste, a mountain bike, LCD TV, and an electric motocross bike. Dave decided he didn't want to go with me, but when I left he told me to bring back the TV. So, that's what I did.

I got home and told Dave I'd won a toothbrush, but amazingly I came home with a 32" LCD TV with a built-in DVD player. Frankly I was shocked I won. With so many people who showed up, I didn't think I stood a chance. The last time I won something "big" was when I entered my dad's name in a drawing at RC Willey and he won a stereo system - still have it. While I don't win something all the time, I do feel lucky to have won something this weekend.

Boys Night Out, Girls Night In!

After a few weeks of planning, Dave was finally able to do a "guys only" camping trip. After a few changes to the original plan, the guys were off. Unfortunately, one of them ended up not being able to make it, but the 2 that went had a blast! The boys ended up at Silver Lake up American Fork Canyon. They took our Jeep and did some SERIOUS off-roading. Dave said it was awesome.

Apparently they basically drove up the side of the mountain, through a river/stream a few times, and basically anywhere else they wanted to. There were other people off-roading up the canyon, but I guess LJ did pretty well. The other off-roaderrs were pretty impressed. Dave said some of the other guys up there had trucks that couldn't do what the Jeep did. We've been thinking about getting rid of the LJ, but I guess now I know why we still have him.

While the men-folk went out in the wild, the girls had an at-home movie night. We watched "It Could Happen to You," which is a pretty cute movie. The "bad guy" of the movie, who isn't actually a bad guy per say, just made me angry. I was really annoyed with her, but nevertheless I still really liked it. The kids were good while Dave was gone, but they were excited to see him when he got home today. I LOVE spending time with Dave, but I'm glad we can occasionally do our own thing. Each of our friends are very important to us and we love and appreciate all of you.

Oh Happy Day!

Quick post during lunch today. Yes, I actually get a lunch, which is somewhat of a big deal in and of itself. However, my 2 day old spaghetti is not quite doing it for me. I do appreciate having time to breathe though. Recently I have gained a few extra pounds. Actually, a month or so ago I weighed more than I ever have in my life! Granted, I wouldn't say I was huge by any means, but I was still pretty big for a Kimmy.

Reluctantly I decided to try on my wedding dress - just to see if I could still squish myself in. Wonder of wonders, I can get in. I'm a little too big for it now, but it's not in my abdomen where I was afraid it might be. I had forgotten how bug and heavy my dress actually was. Frankly I'm amazed I didn't fall over on our wedding day. It was fun to put it back on, and even better that I hadn't ballooned enough to keep me out of it.

I think I wrote something about this in an earlier blog, but Dave and I have both been participating in a "healthy" summer program at work. While neither of us have done any "extreme" dieting or what not, we have both lost some weight and I think feel better. (I for one do.) I'm now back down to my "normal weight" and I made another wonderful discovery. I can fit back into my cute jeans from when Dave and I started dating...nearly 4 years ago! I'm pretty proud of myself for that one and Dave just thought it was amazing.

Pioneer Day '09

A day late, but what's new? Yesterday was Utah's birthday as it were. We have been having car troubles (unfortunately with both our cars) and so we spent 1/2 the day out looking at new/newer ones. The other 1/2 of the day was spent cleaning, which of course is a never-ending process. By the way, no new car yet. I think we'll just wait and see what happens. Hopefully we can at least get through this next winter before we have to trade-in the Jeep.

We decided to do a last minute get-together with a couple of neighbors. That ended up consisting of us and our good friends across the way. We thought about grilling, but ended up just getting Cafe Rio, which was fine with all of us. We all went for a walk after dinner and that finished us off. We knew there would be fireworks going on, but Dave and I got home and crashed! We didn't even make it out to the hot tub.

It was nice to have an extra day off that we could just spend with each other.

Out and About

Our puppy is nearly 1...and she's grown over the last year. When we first got Sadie we kept her in our "guest bathroom" while we were at work. She learned pretty quickly that she should try to hold it vs going potty in the house, because if she went then she had to be in/near it all day. That lasted around 5 or 6 months, but then we discovered she needed to be in a bigger space.

We invested in a $10 baby gate and borrowed a bigger, sturdier gate from my mom. It took some manipulating, but we figured out how to corral her in the kitchen. She did pretty well with that too. It really is remarkable since we're gone 11-13 hours a day. Well, it was a good plan until Sadie got bigger and discovered she could jump the big gate and get out.

Evidently Dave saw Sadie jump about a month ago, but I had no idea. At any rate, we now use the big gate to block Sadie from going upstairs while we're at work. She's done really well at holding it in this week. Now we'll just have to see how long this new plan works. Oh the joys of the growing little ones. :)

Hair Cutting 101

When Dave and I first got married we invested in a set of clippers so I could cut his hair. Unfortunately, my first attempt did NOT go so well. It didn't help that Dave is so picky about his hair. (Dave has more hair products and spends more time on his hair than I ever do.) For a long time he wouldn't let anyone but his mom cut his hair. We have a friend from our last ward who owned a salon and Dave finally got comfortable letting the girls there do his hair. I actually saw him with a couple of slightly different do's. :) Between being in banking and Dave just being Dave, he always has to have a "professional" look. Rarely, rarely will he leave the house, even on the weekend, without getting all done up. In fairness he always does look pretty polished.

While Dave was on his mission he worked with a member (I think) who had a dog grooming business. We have had Sadie professionally groomed once since we got her. Seeing as it's summer, I think Sadie's been staying more than plenty warm. So last week Dave attempted to cut Sadie's hair. I think he did a pretty good job. He only got about half of her done before she decided she'd had enough. I would have posted pictures on the last couple blogs, but someone decided to chew through the camera cord. So, no downloading for a while.

Dave still loves to have his mom cut his hair and I think Sadie may be going back to the professional groomers. As for me, my haircuts are less frequent. However, I do enjoy getting a new look from time to time and I know Dave likes to see me with different cuts, highlights, etc.

Independence Day '09

While I meant to post this yesterday, it just didn't happen. At any rate, we had thought about going camping over the weekend. However, since it was a last minute thought, in combination with Dave working Friday, that didn't happen either. (The new plan is to go camping over Pioneer Day weekend.)

We did have a good 4th of July though. In the morning it felt more like just another Saturday, but it was good. I was hoping to be able to sleep in, which I did...until 7:30. So much for that plan. On the bright side, that was when I got up, not when I was leaving/arriving at work. :) I did some cleaning early in the morning so that we could go play more during the day. We didn't have a plan so much, but we went up to Salt Lake hoping to look at a newer Jeep. When we got there we found out it had already been sold. (In case you don't know, we have decided that we love the new Jeep Liberty. It was newly designed in 2008.) We like LJ, (our current Jeep) but there are things that aren't our favorite. In particular the insane amount of bouncing that occurs on the passenger side of the car. We've been talking about maybe trading in LJ for a little while, but at this point it's not an absolute need.

After we stopped by a few car lots (just to look) we went to see our friend Paul. We met Paul in our last ward. He is an older guy who has started about 30 businesses. His last "project" was a full service salon. Thanks to Tresses I actually get my hair done once in a while and Dave will let someone other than his mom cut his hair. (I love my hubby, but he is VERY particular about his hair.) Dave also owns half of a nail salon with Paul. Unfortunately things didn't work out as well as either Paul or Dave had hoped. While it's not finalized yet, it looks like Dave will be able to get out of his share in the nail salon and get his investment back. That will be a huge blessing for us if things work out. After we had visited a while and "talked business," we went and had lunch at Iggy's.

In the afternoon we got home around 4:00. Both Dave and I crashed for a little bit. Then we went with some of our neighbors and watched the Pleasant Grove fireworks. That made it the 4th of July. It wasn't too bad of a show. Not the longest, but it was still pretty impressive. Today Dave and I wore our red, white, and blue. I had a blue and white dress with red shoes, and Dave wore his red, white, and blue Boston Red Sox tie!

Rarities

Today a few things happened that don't happen all that much. We started off the day going golfing. Dave learned how to play on his mission, and he loves it. I'm certain he would like to be able to go more, but this was only his 2nd time out this year and my first. Being the golfing newbie, I can only go to the golfing range. I've yet to "master" the game, but I do think I'm improving. I was able to hit most of the balls my 1st or 2nd try.

We came home and grilled burgers for lunch. Actually I grilled burgers for lunch. It was my very first time ever grilling. I thought they turned out pretty well. I always appreciate Dave and what he does for us, but I learn more and more just how much he actually knows and how handy he really is.

This evening we played Salt Lake City On Board. For those who may not know, it's a Salt Lake version of Monopoly that Deseret First Credit Union (Dave's employer) put out in 2007 I believe. Normally Dave does not like to play games with me because I frequently win. However he does have his shining moments. Yep, he took me to the cleaners with his boardwalk hotel equivalent. It was a good game, good day.

Happy Aminiversity!

1...2...3 years and counting. Today was our anniversary. For the first time (in our long history together) we spent the day at work. Hooray! Okay, well we took our birthday/anniversary trip early this year, i.e. the California trip. We had a decent day. Dave was pretty busy, but my day wasn't too bad.

My sweetie bought me roses, which I love and we ordered dinner from the Bombay House. (Yummy, yummy Indian food.) Dave had YM/scouts tonight, but he went over and they had enough leaders. So I got to actually see my honey. Didn't do too much else today, but it was a good day. Here's to 3 or 30 or maybe 300 more good years together. Ya Loublue Tebya Dave!!!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Bad - A few days ago Dave had the chills, which were joined by a fever, then nausea and muscle aches. I took him into the InstaCare Monday night where they said he had a viral something or other, but it was NOT swine flu. He tested negative for influenza, but when I told my doctor at work he said it sounded like the flu. Poor guy was not in good shape. He stayed home yesterday and tried to go in today - made it 6, 6 1/2 hours.

The Good - I think his fever is starting to break, although he's still staying warm. We'll see how the rest of the week goes. Hopefully he'll be back up to full speed soon.

The Other Bad - On to the other sick Porter. Sadie has been sick too. She has been on something. I believe we've hit the puppy terrible two's. She is eating anything and everything she can get her paws on...and then some. This is a new development. Another thought is maybe she's teething. I don't know enough about puppy progression, but it's a thought. Any suggestions?

The Ugly - We have a carport spot that I usually park under. I never have really liked the carports. I try to be careful pulling in and out, but alas I finally whacked the stupid pole enough to just rip my side mirror right off. We tried heavy duty taping it, but it doesn't hold up well on the highway. Plus, I let me registration lapse - trying to transfer the title and get it registered in my name. Long story that ends in applying for a lost title and being a one car family for a while longer.

One More Good/Bad - We have a storage unit (my brother and I) and I've just about got it cleaned out to so we can stop paying for it. The bad side of this is that all of the stuff I pulled out of the storage unit today is now sitting in our house. I've been working on an ongoing project to clean our house - all of the "we'll go through it one of these days" boxes, and now there's more. I think there always will be. :)

Long Week

Have you ever had one of those weeks that just doesn't seem to end? That was last week for us. It just dragged on and on. I spoke with a number of my co-workers, who seemed to agree with me. Admittedly, towards the end of the week it got better. We made it to the weekend, which has of course gone by way too fast. We did a quick trip up to Logan, less than 24 hours. Dave got a golf game in and I did some yard-saling with the family. We got home yesterday evening, did some cleaning, and then Dave and Sadie crashed. Another weekend has flown by, but we're grateful to have a break nonetheless.

New Addition

Welcome to the newest member of the Porter household. Our hot tub arrived last week. Yep, we caved and got ourselves a 6 person hot tub. We bought it used from a company that takes trade-ins and we love it! Actually, we were looking at another one, but it was sold while we were making a final decision. I think we got a better tub. It's a 2007 Infinity. It has 39 jets, a LED light, and a built-in stereo. We're still balancing the chemicals, but we did hop in once to "test" it out. Dave slept great afterward. We have put a lot of work into our backyard and I think we've got it just about finished. Next summer Dave is going to build a gazebo around the hot tub. I've seen his blueprint and I think it will turn out really well.

We're pretty proud of ourselves. In addition to the "backyard project" we've been doing various odd-jobs around the house. I for one have been feeling pretty handy and I've sure seen Dave go to town with his tools. It's been a lot of fun. Porters are also going green. We've purchased several solar lights that we're planning on implementing outside - some on the fence and some in Dave's gazebo. Still planning on getting some pics of the house posted. Hopefully in the next few posts.

Happy Birthday Dave!

...a couple days late. Thanks to our internet being accidentally shut off, I wasn't able to post Dave's birthday blog on his birthday. At any rate, it got off to a bit of a rough start, but improved as the day went on. His co-workers decorated his desk at work and his branch manager bought doughnuts for everyone. A lot of people told him "happy birthday" throughout the day.

When it was time for lunch, what do you know? Lunch was brought in for the branch. I heard that some girl bought Pizza Hut's Tuscani pasta. Oh wait, that was me. I was glad everyone enjoyed it. Well, another year down. Only one more 'til the big 30! Dave's really looking forward to it...or at least I am. Happy Birthday Sweetie! :)

Home Project

We have been busy working on the backyard. Dave started by re-tiling a patch of the yard a couple of weeks ago. I don't have a before picture, but it was just a messy mound of dirt with a few tiles thrown on top of it. Dave did a lot of the work, but I did put down a couple of rows of tiles.

The next thing we worked on was a step stool. We bought it used and Dave refinished it and I re-stained it. I think it turned out pretty well. Below are some progressive pictures.

We don't have a huge backyard by any means, but we rearranged the patio furniture, etc and I think it looks bigger. It definitely looks better. I'm hoping to get some house pictures posted soon, but I've yet to take them. We have one more backyard project and it should be done Friday. Hooray!

Happy Birthday Kim!

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Kimmy, happy birthday to me! That's right, 24 and counting. I've been told several times that I'm just a baby, but I'm fine with that. :) I got a few cards from family and friends and I had 2 birthday parties at work. We have 3 offices that I rotate through. Yesterday I was in downtown Salt Lake. The doctor I work with bought me flowers and ended up buying lunch for the office. One of the girls bought a cake for me too.

Today I was in our main office in Murray, and a bunch of people told me happy birthday...some a few times. :) The other MA's that I work with decorated my desk and they bought me a cake too. I was impressed because it was a cake from Costco and the whole thing was gone by the time I left today. (We usually have a little left over.) My sweet hubby brought me a cheeseburger from McDonald's and I got to have a late lunch with him. Also to my surprise, one of the reps who frequents our office stopped by and brought me a card and balloon for my birthday. It definitely took me by surprise. I appreciated it. All in all, today was a good day. Next week we get to celebrate Dave's birthday. We got a "joint present" that I will write about soon.

Oh, the places we'll go!

We recently invested in a "travel club," similar to a time share, but a little different. Since we haven't taken a break in nearly a year, we thought we'd take a much needed trip. We went to California, and it was great! We were gone for a week, no work, no "kids," no house cleaning. We got off to a later start than we wanted, but we made it down in pretty good time. We were planning on having Sadie stay with a co-worker, but that didn't work out. So, we took her to PetSmart's Pet Hotel. (She really had quite the posh place.) On the way down we stopped in Las Vegas and had lunch with Dave's cousin Lexie and her husband Mike. They weren't able to be at our wedding, so it was nice to meet them. We had a good visit.

The place we stayed at was Beso Del Sol in Sunset Beach, CA. It was only 300 ft or so to the beach. We had a small kitchenette and to our surprise a hot tub, which we used several times. Ironically, we didn't spend all that much time on the beach, but we did make it out a couple of times. The first day we were there, Dave and I went for a walk on the beach. Unfortunately, there was some crude oil that found it's way onto the bottom of Dave's foot. We ended up buying some Goo Gone in the paint section of Wal-Mart to get it off

We spent a couple of days at the happiest place on earth...Disneyland! We don't have kids yet, but we love it. We rode a lot of rides and saw a few of the characters. It was really nice because we only had to wait 20 minutes at the most to get on any of the rides. We even saw some of our neighbors while we were there. One other thing we did while at Disneyland was have a charicature drawn of us. That was an experience in and of itself. It's an interesting feeling having people stop and stare at you when you're not supposed to move and to see their expressions. I thought the lady did a good job on me, but Dave didn't really look like Dave. It was still fun though.

After 2 days of Disneyland fun we went to Knott's Berry Farm. Neither Dave or I had been there before. It was fun. They had some shows, some shopping, and some insane rides. We braved a few, but sadly have to say that we're getting old! In our defense however, they had a roller coaster that reached 60 mph, one that went 200 ft 90 degrees up and 90 degrees down, one that had maybe 12 corkscrews, and a water ride that had a 70 degree drop that was longer than splash mountain at Disneyland. We got our tickets about 40% off and we still had fun.

The last couple of days we took it easy and just kicked back. On Thursday we went to Burbank and had a BBQ with my Aunt Linda and her family. My mom and her other two sisters were in California the same time we were; so we got to see them as well. Friday was going to be a beach day, but we ended up going to Hollywood. That was the mistake of the trip. I had been there before, but I don't think we'll go again. It used to be fun to go and look at the "stars," but now it's something like walking the strip of Vegas. We ended up taking a 2 hour tour of Hollywood. Again, we should have gone to the beach. The good thing about the tour though is that Dave talked the guy into giving us a 2 for 1 deal.

All in all, we had a great time. We were ready to come home by the end of the week. It was great to get away, but nice to come back home. We did miss the little ones, and they missed us. Dave and I are both doing a "healthier you" program at work. We did a lot of walking, and we got a lot of sun. Another good trip behind us, and lots more to go. The next trip I think will be Hawaii or Florida. Oh, the places we'll go!

A Little More about Dave & Kim

My how time flies when you're having fun. I didn't realize it has been a month since our last post. I found this on one of my co-worker's blog and I thought I'd use it.

Here are some questions about you and your spouse. Once your finished tag whoever you want to do this! Come on, play along - inquiring minds want to know!

What are your middle names? David Spencer; Kimberly Beo Deul

How long have you been together? Married almost 3 years!

How long did you know each other before you started dating? Maybe a couple of months.

Who asked who out? I think we just started hanging out...daily.

How old are each of you? Dave 28; Kim 23

Whose siblings do you see the most? We used to see my brother once a month or so, but he's being deployed to Afghanistan now. We wish that we saw more of Dave's siblings.

Do you have any children together? Not yet. Check back every once in a while though and there may be something eventually.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Don't know, can't think of anything.

Did you go to the same school? Nope. Dave went to Windham High, Kim went to Logan High.

Are you from the same home town? Again, no. Dave grew up in Windham, ME and Kim grew up in Logan, UT.

Who is smarter? We're both smart...SMRT! I think we really are both fairly intelligent. We definitely have our "areas of expertise." I call Dave my financial genius, but he often tells people that I'm the brains of the operation.

Who is more sensitive? We're both sensitive, sometimes more than others.

Where do you eat out most as a couple? We actually eat out kind of a lot. We like Olive Garden, Chili's, and Szechwan Garden ADDENDUM: I can't believe I forgot Cafe Rio! We're also fans of the Bombay House and anywhere w/ a "lunch special" or any other sort of "attempted economic stimulus type special."

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together? So far, Maine.

Who has the craziest exes? Dave - he can tell you story after story.

Who has the worst temper? We are both pretty passive, but I will pout.

Who does the cooking? Usually I do, but Dave can make some pretty good stuff too.

Who is more social? Depends on the day.

Who is the neat-freak? I tend to be.

Who is more stubborn? I'd say that I'm a little more stubborn than Dave. Although I hope he would say that neither one of us is that often.

Who hogs the bed? Jack and Sadie

Who wakes up earlier? Definitely Dave!

Where was your first date? I think we went mini-golfing w/ some friends.

Who has the bigger family? Again definitely Dave.

Do you get flowers often? Occasionally

How do you spend the holidays? Mostly with our families.

Who is more jealous? Neither of us. Nothing to be jealous about.

How long did it take to get serious? I think 2 or 3 months.

Who eats more? That would be me.

Who does the laundry? Usually me, but Dave will help out.

Who’s better with the computer? I do pretty well, but Dave's the one that uses it more. He can do some pretty cool stuff w/ Excel, visual basic, web design, etc.

Who drives when you are together? 90% of the time, Dave. Sometimes Dave has a bit of a temper though and I think I should be the one doing the driving.

Hope you had fun learning a little about us.

Learning the Ways of the Blogger

Addendum to Porter Paws.

(Just learned how to add pics.)

Porter Paws

And then there were 4... Both being fans of animals, we should have seen it coming. It was really only a matter of time. We were married about 8 months and then came Jack - the 1st of the 4 leggers. Jack is our now 2 year old cat. Little black and white guy with quite the personality. Being the first "little Porter," you might say that he was somewhat spoiled. Okay, let's be honest, everything was about Jack. He loved his people (and still does). He can play fetch, occasionally drinks from the toilet, is very smart, and does some cute paw clubbing and face covering, etc. Life was pretty good for Jack, until...

Along came Sadie, the second "little Porter," 4th family member. Sadie is our 7 month old Cocker Spanial. She's a cutie. Well, as you can imagine, Jack was not her biggest fan. I thought that initially Jack really took Sadie's joining the family quite well. However, that didn't last long. When she stayed the night and then just didn't leave, we heard about it. Sadie was a surprise from Dave. One day he just showed up after work with her in his lap. It was really quite cute. We got her when she was only 8 weeks old. That means, she wasn't potty trained, house trained, had never been on a train, you get the idea. I had dogs growing up, but we never had a new little puppy. Training her was quite the task, and frankly, excellent parent training I believe.

We have been told that pets are not the same as kids. We know that, but I can see some definite correlations. It has certainly been a learning experience for us. Nevertheless, we love "our kids" very much. I think Sadie has now passed up Jack in size, but they get along pretty well. They keep us busy and aside from work, church, and people family, they play a huge role in our lives.

All Aboard

And it came to pass...Dave and Kim joined the blogging world. Oh the wonders of modern technology. Although we don't think we have all that much to share, we figured, what the heck. So, this is our attempt.

Here's a little bit of background on us. Dave grew up in Windham, ME; served a LDS mission in the Oklahoma, Oklahoma City mission; came out to Utah to attend Utah State University, where he got his bachelor's degree in business finance and economics.

I grew up in Logan, UT; spent a semester teaching English in Perm, Russia; and started the elementary education program at Utah State, but ended up completing the medical assisting program at Bridgerland Applied Technology College.

Dave and I lived in the same student housing. We were also in the same ward. I saw Dave at church, but we "met" at a fondue party at the complex. I recognized Dave and thought I'd go say hi. He just happened to have his arm up on the back of the couch, and my roommate thought it would be funny to push me into him. Dave didn't seem to mind that too much. We started dating and were married in June 2006 in the Logan temple.