Building Character

So Lame So Lame

2012-01-29T21:18:00.002-07:00

This blog is SO lame. Oops - I obviously don't update well.

So here's the low down on us:

1. Jake's parents came to see us in the middle of November! It was SO NICE to see people that I knew from before my "Lincoln Life." We played a lot and went on walks. I love Sid and Eva - they are the best "in laws" I could ask for. Sam had a great time, and I was able to get some good time off. I love grandparents :)

2. We had a great Thanksgiving. We stayed in Lincoln with friends and had a couple of feasts. It was wonderful and even though we weren't able to be around family, I love when I get to the point where my friends become my family.

3. In the midst of November, we were travelling back from Lincoln to Hastings (both in Nebraska) to find a place to live in Hastings. Wow - can I just say Hastings is NOT a renter's market. It was SO HARD to find something to feel comfortable in. We looked at a lot of homes that should and been condemned. Even some apartments that should be condemned! For example, there was this one old home we looked at. It was really old and to say it was a 2 bathroom place, they stuck a shower in a bedroom closet. You just open up the door and there's a shower curtain and a shower. Fishy, eh? It was scary. We finally found a place we could live with but we weren't too happy about having to sign a year lease (seeing that we only KNOW we will be here 6 months....)

4. December 3rd Jake turned 30! HA HA! I can't believe he's 30. I always thought that was SO OLD :) We celebrated by taking Sam to the babysitters and going out to eat at Red Robin. Poor Jake, I chose where to eat because I was craving a garden burger.

5. December got crazier by us moving - I don't remember the exact dates, but I think it was a Wednesday night we had some ward members (so many - THANK YOU) come and load all of our stuff up into a U-Haul. We stayed at our apartment that night and Thursday morning I went to get a massage (Happy Anniversary to Me from Jake!). Jake drove the U-Haul to Hastings and a friend watched Sam. Then I picked up Sam and cleaned a bit of my apartment (a sweet girl from the ward was already cleaning it) then Sam and I drove out to Hastings. We unloaded our stuff and spent Thursday and Friday unpacking.

SIDE NOTE: Friday morning was HORRIBLE - We were SO tired from all this packing, unpacking, moving, unloading, etc. So Thursday night we go to bed about 9. Friday morning at 5:10 or so our upstairs neighbor's alarm goes off! It's that BEEP BEEP BEEP over and over. I get up and get a bowl of cereal thinking he will turn it off. 15 minutes later it's still going. So I ring his doorbell. Nothing. His car is in the garage, but Jake convinces me that he's not there (maybe a friend picked him up or something and he left his alarm on). So we clear stuff off the couches and make a bed for us in the living room thinking the noise won't be SO LOUD. Nope - we can still here the beeping in the living room. So we head back to the bedroom to at least be comfortable even though we can still hear the beeping. But I turned on the bathroom fan and it kind of drowned out the beeping noise (it's about 7 by now - the alarm going off for OVER an hour!). I want to shoot this guy with a sniper rifle. Seriously. So - about 7:30 I'm getting back to sleep, and guess what? Mr. Upstairs Neighbor WAKES UP! And he proceeds to get ready for the day super noisily. So I'm awake. I can't sleep through that. And then Sam wakes up at 8. I swear I could kill that guy. I wanted to go out and talk to him at 7:30 but Jake told me not to. Anyways - Jake went to talk to him later that day about sharing the garbage can. Then Jake just said offhand "We heard your alarm go off really early this morning, like 5 or so..." The guy just said "I don't know what you are talking about - my alarm doesn't go off until 6:30." So I called management and told them how ridiculous it was - they agreed and talked to him about it. Since then his alarm has woke me up once again and Jake had to go up and knock on the door. Thankfully the guy now has a roommate who was awake and told him to shut off his alarm (after about 15 minutes of it going off). There's not many people I can't stand, but he's one of them. And I've never met him. I've really only seen him twice when he was getting in his car and I was looking out the window. Anyways - back to our moving in...

So we spent that Thursday and Friday unpacking (and not getting a lot of sleep!). Then Saturday morning we woke up at 4:30 and drove to my parents house for Christmas.

6. Christmas in Monticello was awesome except there was no snow. We played a lot and relaxed. I spent one day with my sister and her kiddos. She has a new baby who is FAT! He is MASSIVE. At three months, he weighed 18 lbs. That little boy is a chunk. Sam didn't get to be 18 lbs until he was 6 months old, and I thought Sam was a fat little boy. But we had a great time in Monticello with family.

7. Christmas Eve we drove up to Jake's parent's house and spent 4 to 5 days there. We saw his sister and brother in law we hadn't seen in a year. We played and relaxed so much there too! I got Jake some awesome high powered dart guns for Christmas. He shot me both in the face and the crotch (accidentally) and I hit him hard. We ate some yummy Indian and Chinese food there and played a cool new game called Sabetour. It was really fun and Jake and I want to get it.

8. Then we drove back to Hastings Dec 30 and started a new life here. Since then I have just tried to stay busy. I really miss all my friends in Lincoln - there was always someone to hang out with and Sam had a ton of friends and so did I. Here it's different. We have a children's museum pass. It's definitely not as cool as the Lincoln Children's museum, but Sam doesn't really know the different. He just has a lot of fun - which is important. We also got a YMCA membership. This has been really great for me because I've been able to work out regularly and they have a child watch so I can go during the day and Sam can hang out. They also have a great little climbing area that Sam really loves. So after I work out most of the time we go climbing or to the children's museum before we come back from lunch and naps. Then we intermix that with some Toddler Time at the library and I do have one friend here (I'll get to that later!) and we try and do play dates once a week. Different from Lincoln, but it's pretty good here.

9. We're having another baby! Ha - I bet you suspected such seeing that I never update, but I guess that's not too out of the norm, is it? So I've been sleeping and puking instead of blogging. I'm 25 weeks now and we are due May 9th. This pregnancy has been pretty similar to the one with Sam, I was just lucky enough to have Zofran from the beginning. I got my regular Dr. to prescribe me some pills at 6 weeks. I still was super nauseas and threw up, but it wasn't as bad as with Sam. After we came back from Christmas we had my ultrasound and the baby was super active. So the ultrasound tech didn't get an awesome view of the baby, and she only checked ONCE, but she said it looked like a GIRL! Ha - I don't know if I believe it. But I'm still buying little girl clothes and making girly blankets. But we will see when she/he comes out if we name them Max or Olivia. Oh - and the sickness has not left! My Dr wanted me to wean myself off of Zofran. So I've got down from 2 pills a day to 1. So Friday I forgot to take my pill immediately in the morning, so I thought, "Why not? I'll try to go without it today." I was fine for the day, but the night came and I was puking again! Seriously? Doesn't this qualify me to have other women have babies for me? Just get my egg, Jake's sperm and grow the baby in their bodies that don't hate being pregnant, then give the baby to me? I want more kids, but this pregnancy thing is crazy.

10. Another random, but tender mercy from the Lord. So while we were trying to find a place to live in Hastings, we were in contact with the ward and bishop here to see if they had any information on housing. They didn't, but that's because there is nothing here. Anyways, the Bishop had heard from this other couple planning to move to Hastings in January about housing. He asked us to tell them what we had heard about the options. So we end up calling them and guess what? I was college roommates with the girl! YEAH! We only lived together for a summer and didn't hang out all that often, but it really made me feel like at least I would know someone. So they have a little girl about 7 months older than Sam (also named Olivia - if this baby is a girl he's going to be confused with 2 Olivia's!). So we hang out and I swear if she didn't move here I wouldn't have a normal girl to girl conversation at all. The only hard part is they moved into a house about 20 miles from Hastings, so they don't come into Hastings every day - So we just see them about once a week for play dates then at church. But even that little bit is better than nothing!

11. I AM DONE WITH SCHOOL! I finished my last paper and I am done! I should be getting my diploma here soon and I can officially write my name as Stephanie Kaye Keller, J.D. :) So now I just need to get a schedule together so I can start studying for A bar. I don't know which state to take it in yet, but I will probably take it in Utah. That way if we stay in Nebraska, I can "waive" into Nebraska's bar. (Nebraska's bar will accept my Utah bar pass). But since the Bar is only offered in July and February, I will probably be taking it February 2013. I don't know if it's in my capacity to take a bar when I have a 2 year old and a 2 month old. Maybe a 3 year old and a 10 month old. Does that even sound better? I hope so! I'll try anyways. :)

12. Sam started doing some really great independent type things: He can now climb up and down into his carseat. YEAH :) Now I don't have to lift him up and down - which was really hurting my back being pregnant. He just climbs up into the 4-Runner (tough boy) and into his seat and helps me buckle himself in. :) We also took the front of his crib off so now he's in a toddler bed. I was really afraid for his that he wouldn't sleep as well (or nap at all) or get out and play early in the morning etc... But there really hasn't been a change with his sleep habits! I asked him last night if he liked his bed this way, and he said "Yeah, but I fall." Lol! poor little boy has fallen out of bed a couple of times... We keep a couple of blankets on the carpet so it's not hard, but he's a tough kid. I think the first night he fell out and just kept on sleeping. I went to check on him and he was just sleeping on the ground. Lol... I love him. :)

Well, I'm tired and I've got to get to bed! I'll try and not have my next post be pictures of a little baby.... Hopefully you get more updates before that!

Pictures

2011-10-11T20:32:00.002-06:00

Last week Sam turned 2! I never thought I would be a mother to a two year old.

He's beautiful and so fun to be around. I mean he's handsome, right? :)

We had a Lightning McQueen (from the movie Cars) cake and friends over. He's obsessed with "Queen" and always carries as many Queen cars around as he can.

We are doing good - we are probably in our last semester here in Lincoln and are getting ready to head out for an internship in Hastings Nebraska in January. We will see where life leads us after that!

Sorry about the lack of updates, I just couldn't help but share this picture - he really is the cutest little boy I've ever seen.

When did we get here?

2011-08-27T15:09:00.003-06:00

As usual, I'm not good at keeping up.

But here's a bit of info from today. We had a stake softball tournament today and our ward WON! Awesome! I only played in a scrimmage game, so I can't claim too much credit, but it's my claim to fame. :)

While I was playing in the game Jake was with Sam. Sam actually had a good time watching. In the last inning (like I really know softball/baseball talk!) I was in the outfield and we needed another player so Jake came out too. I was keeping my eye on Sam and saw him walking around with his little snack cup and playing. He went behind a little building and came back out a couple of minutes later. It wasn't a very long inning and we were done. We slapped the other team's hand and Jake and I said to each other "When did we get to the point where we could leave Sam to play by himself and we can BOTH play softball?"

Life is grand isn't it? I love this stage.

He's a climber!

2011-05-23T10:03:00.000-06:00

Stinky Picture

2010-11-11T23:49:00.003-07:00

So the picture above stinks but I'm done messing with blogger for tonight!

This is when Emily (Jake's sister) and I took Sam trick or treating at the law school. He really didn't like it until the end. Too bad! But we got a lot of candy I'm still eating. :)

I made his costume! He's Pigwidgeon from Harry Potter. :)

I'll get a better picture of his costume on here soon! I'm just lazy uploading photos from my camera now that my computer is dead. Oh well!

Good news: Only THREE more weeks left of classes! Yipee! I can't believe I'm almost done! Only two more classes after this semester and I can sign my name

Stephanie Keller, J.D.

Jake thinks it's a little arrogant to do that.. you know, mostly on the roll list in church or something. I don't really see the problem. ;)

UPDATE - sorry - I changed the picture again! I'll get a picture of Sam in his awesome Owl costumer with his tail featers.. :) Sweet!

Handsome.

2010-11-05T14:49:00.006-06:00

Here's some of our recent family pictures :)

Matt Mellor did a GREAT JOB! I'm so happy. :) Look him up if you are in the Lincoln area.

I know you are thinking... what is this porcupine thing by Sam's head? It's Jake's noggin. It took me a bit to figure it out too.. :)

Here's us in all our glory.

I absolutely love this one. This is life. Both of us trying to entertain Sam. And he's just looking at us like we are crazy. :) he he he...

Here he is clapping. It's the new thing. He also says something familiar to "Good Job"

Handsome.

My boys. :)

One of our favorites

2010-11-05T11:34:00.003-06:00

Blogger isn't letting me add any of Sam's cute halloween pictures. And they are way cute. :) I'll try to add them later on a school computer. :)

Anyways, here's an awesome recipe. It really tastes like PF Chang's lettuce wraps. Yummo!

Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps

1 1/4 lb of extra lean ground turkey
1 package (16 oz/of Oriental mixed vegetables, thawed
1/3 cup reduced-sodium teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
3 tablespoon creamy peanutbutter
2 tablespoon minced fresh gingerroot
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 green onions, chopped
10 Boston lettuce leaves

1. cook turkey in skillet until no longer pink.
2. chop veggies and put in pan.
3. Mix teriyaki sauce, hoisin sauce, peanut butter, gingerroot, garlic, and oil and then put in pan with meat and veggies.
4. Heat through
5. Add onions.
6. EAT with lettuce.

(I didn't add the sesame oil or green onions and I used regular lettuce leaves.) AWESOME. :) Worth it to buy all those ingredients we don't use regularly (hoisin sauce, teriyaki sauce, gingerroot, etc.)

Let me know what you think if you try it.

Oh - and it was enough for us for dinner and we have leftovers. It was more filling than we planned on!

Imagine

2010-10-17T22:49:00.002-06:00

Imagine the corner of a small kitchen.

Imagine a small square table butted against the corner to make room for two chairs and a high chair.

Imagine a nice window in that corner.

And a nice cool breeze blowing of your face while you feed your beautiful baby boy.

Then imagine wanting that window closed.

The beloved MAC computer is on the table.

The much needed tall glass of water is also on the table.

Did I mention is it that beautiful boy's first birthday?

Anyways, imagine the breeze getting to warm and wanting to close the window.

I reach for the window.

I close the window.

Birthday boy makes a suspicious sound.

I turn back...

I knock over the water...

the water is seeping into the bottom most parts of the computer...

and filtering in between the keys...

even on the cell phone (new too because Jake just went swimming with the last one!)

I panic....

Grab a towell and wipe everything off.

The computer even gets the fan on it. For days.

Sadly, the computer didn't survive. Luckily, the cell phone did.

Motherboard is fried. Cost of motherboard: around $600. Cost of new Mac: around $850 with a student discount.

Not really worth the $600 since my computer is over 4 years old.

So I may be saving for an Ipad. But I really wish Apple would put a dvd drive and a usb port in the Ipad. Think they will come out with that version by the time I save up enough money?

hhhhmm....

Good luck, Right!

Watering

2010-10-17T12:30:00.002-06:00

Did you know computers don't need to be watered? They are not plants. They don't grow.

Anyways, I watered my Mac. It's fried. Now I'm working from my husband's PC. And using the PC's at school...

I went through withdrawal for a bit there. I didn't have a computer attached to me... it was hard.

Now it's kind of liberating. Hard sometimes, but liberating.

So if there are less posts, it's because I don't like PC's very much and I would rather not deal with them. So you get less of me. :( Sorry!

I guess Panasonic makes a waterproof laptop. I wish Mac would. I would buy it.

Bestie

2010-09-23T21:54:00.002-06:00

Look at this girl. She is one of the best people I know. She's probably not too happy I put this picture up on my blog. But she also put it on hers.

We were companions on a mission TWO times. That's pretty rare. We walked the town of Brusque together in the hot summer days... then again at Jardim das Acasias.

I haven't seen Courtney in over TWO YEARS! I love her and miss her. She's an amazing friend.

And she can sing so many songs from Saturday's Warrior. I love it!

forgot the picture.

2010-09-12T19:14:00.001-06:00

This is Sam.. watching THIS video. We watch it once a day at least. we both love it. :)

Making the Bed

2010-09-12T19:12:00.003-06:00

So sometimes Jake and I have hard time making the bed. I hate it when it comes time to go to bed and the bed is all messy. It's kind of gross...

Anyways. We came up with a way to remedy that situation.

The deal: whoever is the last one to get out of bed has ONE HOUR to make the bed. If they don't, they owe the other one a FOOT RUB that night.

Wow! The bed has been made EVERY DAY since we made the deal.

It's great.

p.s. Sam is getting his second tooth in. He's crazy and VOLATILE. Poor baby... I just hold him and hug him... hopefully it breaks through and he feels better. soon.

Advice

2010-09-07T15:45:00.004-06:00

To start out with - what a cute little baby bum, huh?

LOL - He cracks me up. Just trying to climb into the stroller. Love that boy!

On a different note - and not to get to personal and all... and I don't even know how many people read this blog..

BUT -

I need some advice. Just a quick question to all you nursing mothers out there...

How tired do you get from nursing? As soon as you stop, do you feel a burst of energy running through your veins?

And for those of you who don't "nurse" you can tell me what you think... if you did... or whatever.

Thanks :)

Newest Creations....

2010-09-05T14:07:00.003-06:00

So swear this isn't going to turn into a craft blog... But I am SO excited about these...

as excited as staying up past 1:00 in the morning to get them done.....

Another little skirt for Bekah... (Sorry - these pictures are from the camera on my computer... so they aren't the most high quality)

Just imagine a little noggin in this! I messed up on the pattern and it's smaller than it should be. Will probably only fit a newborn or a preme... Any takers? Let me know if you want it!

And last - a picture of the hottie husband. :) What a man!

Better go take care of Mr. Sammers. He's been a sleeping champ this week! Wednesday he took a 4 1/2 hour nap! WOW. Can I say THANK YOU! :)

Owl Baby

2010-09-02T12:37:00.003-06:00

This is what I am making for Sam for Halloween - I've been debating about his costume for about a month now. :) You would think I would be studying Criminal Procedure or something. Nope - Halloween costumes :)

I can't wait to see him in this - I'll post pictures :)

Oh - and one more thing - I MADE THIS YESTERDAY (during Sam's nap time)!

It's for Bekah - her mom watches Sam on Monday's and Tuesdays while Jake and I are in class at the same time! :)

Monday

2010-08-31T23:28:00.003-06:00

So Jake and I are both in school - me finishing law school and him starting his masters.

I would like to honestly get some sympathy... really.

Let me tell you about Mondays.

Jake has class at 8 so he rides his bike the 2 miles to school about 7:30.

Sam and I wake up about 7:45 or 8. We like to sleep.

While Jake goes to class and studies, Sam and I eat, work out (hopefully!), and play.

Sam takes a nap about 10 or 10:30 and I start to study.

Jake rides his bike home about 12.

I leave. I ride my bike up to campus to study or take care of other things - like getting things printed I couldn't on Saturday... (see previous post!).

My class starts at 1:30 - Criminal Procedure.

Jake takes the car and drops Sam off at a sweet girls house. She has a baby about 3 weeks younger than Sam and Sam and Bekah play. :)

Jake parks the car south of campus so we don't have to buy a parking pass...

Jake goes to class - starts at 2:00.

Jake texts me and tells me where he parked the car that day... :)

I get out of class at 2:45 and haul bum to the car. I put the bike on the bike rack on the car. Then I haul to grab Sam.

Sam and I go home and we both eat.

Sam and I take the car (with my bike still on it) up to campus at 4:00

We meet Jake - Jake drops me and my bike off at the law school.

Jake and Sam go home to eat more and play.

I am in class from 4:30 until 6:30.

I bike home.

At least Mondays only happen once a week.

And one beautiful picture of my scrumptious baby. We were hiking in Moab this summer.

Scream!

2010-08-28T11:30:00.003-06:00

So it's been a while. I won't even try to update you all. If there is anyone out there.

We live in Lincoln and we are both going to school. And Sam is surviving.

But right now... I'm venting.

I WANT TO SCREAM!

Why is it that IT people like to confuse us all?

Can they not make something USER FRIENDLY??

I have been trying for OVER AN HOUR to print a document. Is that insane?

I believe it is. I want to scream.

But I'll try and refrain.

I'll update more later.

Boxes

2010-05-21T14:49:00.004-06:00

boxes...

and more boxes...

Sam explored cardboard boxes. He's a fan!

We are collecting boxes for a special purpose :)

We are moving to Nebraska in two weeks! :) Goodbye Texas, Hello Nebraska! :)

Jake is going back to school for his Masters and I am going to finish law school....

Wish us luck!! :)

Almost a Year!

2010-05-16T22:56:00.006-06:00

It's been almost a year since I arrived in Tx! Wow~ Time flies!

We are back at the beginning of the worst part of living in east Texas. The HOT HUMID summers! If I could change one thing about living here, it would not be the red-necks (though there are MANY) and it surprisingly would not even be the snakes (which I have never seen, but am deathly afraid of)! It would be the summer heat and humidity. It's unbearable. UNBEARABLE! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

It makes me want to shrivel up and die. I'm not kidding. If you think I'm being dramatic. Come. Come visit. Live here. Visit here. Just step outside your house and melt. Basically die. That's how it is...

Ok - I might have been a little too dramatic, but seriously. Who ever thought of settling here? If I were on a horse, thinking of places to live, I probably would have settled here in the fall, winter or spring. Those are awesome, beautiful times. But the summer, I would have RAN. RAN FAR! North in fact.

Anyways, sorry to complain. I'm an outside summer person. East Texas makes me an inside summer person. It's a bit hard.

Next - on to cuteness! :) (a.k.a. Sam)

We had a GREAT ward activity at the park last week. Sam got to swing. He loved it! :) He mostly loved it when I was standing in front of him with the camera. That little boy LOVES when I pull the camera out. He starts smiling, and flirting. What a cute boy. :) Sorry it's not the best picture of Jake. Poor dad. He's a hottie though. :)

Next picture - Is it bad if I have already chosen a few select girls Sam can marry? This is one of them. Meet Jennifer. She's a little less than one month younger than Sam but she is a whole lot skinnier. She is one of my best friend's daughter. Jill and I go out almost every Thursday night together. Our husband's are amazing - they realize we need some girl time and take care of the kiddos so we can shop. But Sam can definitely marry Jenny.

One of Sam's newest fascinations: a cup! He really likes drinking from a cup. Every time he sees me drinking from my own cup (I don't share... he's a back-washer BIG TIME!) he gets all excited and starts waving his arms and screeching.

He has also found his toes. I love it. He sucks his toes. He talks to them. I love babies. Mostly mine!

This is one of Sam's favorite new wrestling partners. Sister Wilson in the ward gave Sam this oversized sock monkey. Sister Wilson is so sweet. Anyways, Sam loves to wrestle the monkey. It's hilarious.

These last couple of months have been busy! I have become addicted to sewing. I don't have any pictures of what I have made, but I'll post some sometime. I've been sewing bibs for Sam, baby booties, quilt blocks for a Keller family quilt, a bag, a little girl's dress, and pillow shams. Sounds like I've become obsessed, huh? I get most of my ideas from www.homemadebyjill.blogpost.com She is amazing.

I've been trying to finish up my research project so I can be done with some credits for school, but I've put it off a little. I guess sometimes I allow myself a break... and I really take a break! But my supervising professor is really nice and doesn't mind my slowness.

On a little sad note, this past Friday was graduation! I wasn't there, and I wasn't graduating with my class. It made me a little sad, but it will be okay. I will finish law school - even if it's not with everyone else. I bet it was awesome though... :)

Earlier this month for my birthday, we were down in Houston. Jake had a conference for work he needed to be at during the week, so Sam and I went down with him instead of being alone here on my birthday. Sam and I relaxed, slept, shopped, and watched good shows on Hulu. It was a nice break! I ate yummy Texas shaped Belgium waffles with peanut butter and syrup every morning... It was heavenly. :)

For Mother's day, Jake gave me some beautiful flowers, pampered me, and made me a yummy dinner. He's such a sweet husband. :)

Well, I'll end with a cute picture of the Sammers. He's a chubby boy.

Sam's new loves are: opening and closing drawers, pulling diapers out of the changing box and chewing on them, rolling everywhere, and spitting! He likes to make that noise with his lips and spit. It entertained him this morning for about 10 minutes when he figured out he could do it. At least it let me get ready for church! :)

And - hopefully we have some exciting news this week - I'll post more later...

Biased?

2010-05-03T14:46:00.002-06:00

Is it biased if I say I have the cutest baby in the world? I swear he is. :)

He makes me laugh everyday. I have to post pictures. He is amazing.

To update - we are doing great! We are in Houston for a couple of days with a trade show Jake has to attend. Sam and I (ME really) decided to come along so we didn't have to be alone for a couple of days... mostly during my BIRTHDAY! :) YEAH! Happy B-Day to Me!

I will post pictures soon - He's adorable! And he's beginning the crawling stages. Today was the first day he got his big belly off the ground... now he just has to move his hands and knees at the same time, and he's officially MOBILE!

2010-03-06T09:13:00.001-07:00

Sam is a blanket licker.

We got this awesome thing for him to look at. Babies like that stuff...

And my favorite: the new hat!

Food

2010-03-04T16:07:00.002-07:00

Sam likes MILK. He's addicted to it actually. He doesn't really like rice cereal.

We've tried to feed him some cereal at night before he goes to bed so he will keep with his 11 hour sleeping schedule! :) Yeah for a good night sleep!

But he hasn't really figured out the whole swallowing thing with his tongue. I guess babies have a problem with that. We will work on it. But for now it just gets to be a big mess.
Then he gets all cleaned up and cute. :)
What a cute chunky kid, eh?
He's the sweetest ever... But he's getting to be more "toddler" than baby... I think anyways. He's not my newborn anymore!

Snow!

2010-03-04T15:59:00.002-07:00

I don't remember which days, but it snowed in east Texas! It's very rare...

Here's the view from our apartment!

Sam-bo's getting ready to brave the snow.... I love this little hat!

More snow on the cars!

He's such a cutie!

Bad Bumbo!

2010-03-04T15:39:00.006-07:00

Dear Mom and Dad:

I hate my Bumbo seat. Please never make me sit in it again! It makes boogers come out my nose because I get so mad!

It makes me really depressed just thinking about it...

And if you don't stop with this seat I'll scoot out the side!

And probably never talk or smile...

And cry until you finally get me out.

I mean it! I hate the Bumbo!

Explanations ...

2010-01-24T16:13:00.007-07:00

So - I'm not the best blogger. It takes time. and Effort. And I'm not good at it. My blogs are not CUTE.

But I've been meaning to explain the reason behind the name of our blog: Something will always build character? Sounds weird right? Well - since I met Jake, I've heard him and his family talking about building character. For example: "I chopped my hair off and now I look like a boy!" The best response is: "It's good for you - it will build character!" So I thought it would be good for us to have that as our blog name - because we are building character.

And I did chop my hair off. I feel like a boy sometimes. I'll probably grow it out - but it's a nice change.

Anyways - We went to Utah FOREVER. Sorry if we didn't see you guys - We wanted to and we meant to, but our families really liked us. It was hard to get away. And we missed them. So we wish we could have seen everyone - or even half of the people we wanted to. But we just spent time with our families mainly....

And here are a million pictures of Sam. Who else would we show pictures of? :)

I GUESS US - This is Jake and I at the "Lighted Christmas Parade" in Nac. It was freezing. We took Sam. He was warm in his incubator stroller. My hair is normal length in this pic. You won't see it short in this post!

Mom and Dad Ranall with Sam and Logyn, my new neice born Dec. 11th. We stopped by and saw Brad and Kristen on their way to the hospital to be induced :)

Sam and Logyn. This is what 3 months of milk will do to a baby. And Sam was smaller than she was when he was born. Our little chunky monkey. And don't you love her hair? She's awesome.

Sam sleeping on Uncle Todd. Todd said he was really good at putting Sam to sleep. I told Todd the only way Sam could stand to be around him (Todd) was if he was asleep. :)

The binky got out - and Sam was trying to put it back in... I AM SO BIASED, but this kid is SO CUTE! :)

Grandpa Dalton and Sam.

Jake's brother Kaleb was really good at making Sam smile. So here he is, smiling...

The SUPER DUPER POOPER...

Jake's reaction. :)

Sam started standing up really well by himself when we got back from Utah. I'm so proud! He's about 3 months old in this pic.

Sam's sitting in his Bumbo seat. He's LEANING...

Sam and Jaime. One of Jake's friend's daughter. She's a real cutie. She's 5 months and Sam's about 3. She was totally putting the moves on him. Can't blame her. :)

Jake's sister Eva Anne. We went to her wedding on Dec. 12th. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. And it snowed! YEAH I LOVE SNOW!

LOL - This is one of my favorites~ One morning I woke up and fed him and I was about to change his diaper, but noticed that it was hanging pretty low. He's got some sagging talent. So I thought I would take a cute little picture of my son sagging his diaper. Do you think he will ever be a plumber? And look at that face - He's thinking: Why are you posting my little bum crack on the family blog?

My little man and his little monkey

Standing again. We like to have him stand as much as possible. It wears him out. Makes him sleep. We like when he sleeps. :)

I love the sunglasses! Thanks Michelle!

Here is my sweet little boy - I love him so much!

Just a couple of things to note:

~ Sam just found his mouth

~ He likes putting fingers in his mouth... licking anything remotely close to his tongue, etc.

~ He lets us know when we are boring. He wants to stand up or look around if we aren't entertaining enough!

~ Sleeps SO well - usually 11 hours a night.

~ Looks dang cute in a tigger outfit my aunt Vicki gave him (super cute in all his clothes!)

~ Doesn't realize what he's missing out in not rolling over. He's strong enough, he just doesn't see what the point is yet...

Updates

2009-11-29T11:37:00.006-07:00

Sam is growing!!!! Some of these pictures are a month or so old... better late than never, huh?

This is Sam at Halloween! The picture is turned sideways, but he's my litttle monkey :)

I sang him a song:

Sock monkey, monkey so funky

Sam is so chunky...... etc.. you get the idea...

He HATED the little hat....
He's a cute sleeper - Jake's Mom made Sam the fluffy blanket he's sleeping on...

I love this pose - It looks like he's dancing!

Here's a moment of happiness during tummy time - He's so fun to hang out with!

LOL! Here's a crusty look! He gives me these a lot.... he he he...

Cute little boy on a monkey blanket!

This is so my mom can see how much Sam has grown!

Sam and Grandma Keller

We have been doing great! Sam's a good sleeper so we are all happy!

Thanksgiving was great. We spent it with a family from the ward who already had a lot of their family in town for a baby blessing. We were just a couple of people out of many and hopefully fit right in! It's beautiful weather (in the 60s and 70s) and Jake went golfing with all the guys in the morning. Our friends from the ward own the public golf course in town. Jake loves it. :) We had a great time.

Lately we have been getting things done so we can come back to Utah for Jake's sister's wedding (Congrats Eva Anne and Nate!). We can't wait to meet Nate! Oh - and we will be back for Christmas too - so we will get lots of family time :) We get to drive back - about a 24 hour drive to Honeyville. Hopefully Sam can stand being in his car seat for that long~ He loves his car seat, but that's a long time. Hopefully Jake and I can stand being in a car that long too... :)

Well - I better go help Jake with lunch - we are doing great - Sam is awesome and we love him!

Sammy this morning....

2009-11-14T06:14:00.003-07:00

Here's our cute little boy this morning!

Isn't he great!!!!!!

Just to pass the time....

2009-10-27T00:06:00.004-06:00

So I'm sitting here in the middle of the night typing with only my left hand and feeding the hungriest three week old known to man! Do babies really eat this much?

Anyways I will just post more pictures and lave the updates to a time when I can use both hands....

Here Sam is sleeping like Jake with his arms above his head... :) (Burp rag under his head because you never know when he's going to lose it!)

I guess I take a million pictures of Sammy while he's sleeping. He's just really cute to me. I'm totally biased, but I think he is the most handsome baby ever. :)

I don't know of any good photographers in the area, so I'm relying on my own limited ability to get good pictures of Sam while he's a baby. And then try and use my editing software to make the picture look somewhat good.... Here's a try... :)

Another cute sleeping pic.

And this is my favorite. :) He's an amazing little package - We love him a lot. :)

More Samuel Pictures

2009-10-18T11:46:00.003-06:00

Sammy's first bath. Not a very happy baby right now!

2009-10-07T09:07:00.004-06:00

Well Samuel Keller finally made it here. Steph was in Labor for about 12 hours, which included about 1-1/2 hours of pushing. It was a bitter/sweet experience for. On one hand it was so hard to see someone you love go through so much pain, but when Sammy finally got here it was so good. Steph and Samuel are both doing well. Here are some pictures of Samuel saying hello to the world.

BINGO

2009-09-24T14:27:00.002-06:00

I'll try and supplement this post with a picture later on....

I learned a new East-Texan vocabulary word today: BINGO.

Yes - my dentist asked me if I was ready to BINGO! I'm pretty sure he was referring to my 8 1/2 month pregnant state. LOL.... He kept on talking about other women that "Bingoed" (or came close) while he was cleaning their teeth or doing a root canal.

So yes - I AM READY TO BINGO!

2 1/2 weeks left - Sam's lungs are developed and I think he can come outside now....

Any wagers on when?

I say today. Jake says Monday..... Dr. says probably the beginning of October. So in one week?

BABYMOON!

2009-08-30T18:08:00.008-06:00

So Jake and I went on a "BABYMOON!" Our last vacation together before Sammy comes. :)

I planned it and dragged Jake along. I also realized that a lot of places hate pregnant women. Amusement Parks aren't really "down" with pregnant women on their rides. We can't float down a river because I'm pregnant. etc. So.... we had to resort to other entertainment....

FIRST, we went down to Galveston. It was hammered with hurricane Ike, and it looks like it's still trying to recover. We were only at the beach for about 2 hours, but we both got BURNED to a crisp!

I couldn't believe it! I'll have a tan line from that day for years to

come! Seriously!

7 month pregnant women

bad sunburn

VERY UNCOMFORTABLE PERSON!

But look at our cute feet. :) It was fun, despite being burned so bad....

After Galveston, we headed over to San Antonio. We walked along the "riverwalk" and had some great Mexican food. The next day we went to "SEA WORLD SAN ANTONIO" (say it with a Hispanic accent)

It was amazing! I thought it was just going to be an expensive zoo, but it was so cool! I can't wait to take Sammy back where he can see what's going on - not just experience it from the inside! :)

The killer whale show (a.k.a. Shamoo) was awesome. The whales did a complete back flip in the air. Wow! It was awesome. Obviously, they got us SOAKING wet, which was really nice because it was hot there....

And Sea World had some really cool rides - again, they hate pregnant women, so I just watched Jake go on them... This one was awesome. I tried to make him go on it three times. Once for himself, once for me, and once for Sammy. He could only do it twice. It made him sick... So I guess Sammy will have to go himself one day.

And this was a show with some seals and a walrus. It was really cute. Everyone should really visit Sea World. It's so much fun..

But we left Sea World and drove to Austin then. We were both SO TIRED! We barely even enjoyed Austin before we were ready to come back home and sleep! Austin was very pretty, and I told Jake he should think about going to the University of Texas for some type of master's program. But we drove back home - both very tired and ready to go to sleep... but it was a great Babymoon! :)

Preparing for SAMMY!

2009-08-30T17:48:00.005-06:00

So I have been a super lazy blogger lately. Sorry! I'll blame it on being pregnant, tired, and busy.

But we have been preparing for our little Sammy to come. :)

Here was our first purchase. :)

Yeah! We are officially SUV owners. :) It's a 97 4-Runner. It's old, but it runs well, and we will definitely have enough room for Sammy and all his stuff.... AND my stuff.

Whenever we would drive around in it, he would show me ALL of the trailers that we could pull with our new purchase. He's really excited. I'm not sure when we are going to ge

t a trailer, but I'm sure it will be as soon as we have a place to put it (a.k.a. buy a house).

Well, the first thing we were able to USE our new 4-Runner for was this!

It's a super ugly dresser we got for $25 at a yard sale.... Sammy needs a place to keep his clothes! So we cleaned it up, Jake got new tools (he was so excited) and we refinished it. :) And here it what it looks like!

Oops - never mind. I guess I didn't take an after picture. But it's much much mo

re beautiful! We refinished it with maple or something - it's beautiful and nice.

We also got a pack and play for Sammy to sleep in. I hope he loves it. :) The thing on the left is a "newborn napper" so Sammy can sleep in it when he's all little. Then the thing on the left is the changing station. Then underneath there is a mattress pad which can raise and lower, so he can sleep on it. When he's all little we can have it high because he won't be trying to climb out, then lower it when he's bigger so he can't climb out... So I hope he likes it. :)

And finally - here's an old picture of me pregnant. I think I was about 4 months along here. I'll try and update the blog with a new picture, but we will see... :)

ARKANSAS!

2009-08-30T17:16:00.006-06:00

For the 4th of July weekend, Jake and I went to Arkansas to visit my brother Todd. What a trip!

Jake actually loves Arkansas. They have so much farm ground there compared to where we live in Texas. He was in heaven looking at all the tractors. I thought we were going to go off the road....

I can't believe we went all that way, and I don't even have a

picture with Todd. What a slacker. But we had a great time - we ate catfish and BBQ and relaxed. It was wonderful. :)

On the way down, we stopped at a NAPA store to get a few bolts.......

Then put this on our car.... :) YEAH! GO AGGIES!

We (Jake and Todd) actually changed the brakes and rotors (sp?) on our car while we were up in Arkansas. It was interesting.... It made us realize we needed two cars.

So this is Jake changing the rotors... He's such a hottie. :)

And on the way back, we stopped in HOPE ARKANSAS... guess why that's an amazing place on earth? Birth place of Bill Clinton. :) YEAH! (sarcasm!). Anyways, this is a picture of his "boyhood home." : )

New Purchase!

2009-06-18T18:41:00.002-06:00

Wow.... I'm feeling like I'm going to be a mom. We got Sammy the coolest car seat ever today! :)

HERE IT IS!

So hopefully he/she likes it and feels very comfortable in it.... And... the best part. We got it for about 80% off. I feel like such a good coupon person. We had a coupon from Bed, Bath, and Beyond for 20% off, then we cached in all our Discover Card money for BBB, and we ended up paying $46.00 for a $180.00 car seat. Wow. And it has good safety ratings. Since I don't know a thing about car seats, I hope Sammy likes it. We will see. And we can take it back if it doesn't work out.

Well - now I'm excited to get a crib/pack and play. I think I'll get a pack and play instead of a crib.... any suggestions?

It's Been A While...

2009-05-31T17:41:00.006-06:00

So it's been a LONG while since I last posted.... Here are some things that have happened!

* Jake and I were apart from each other for a long time. :( He would go to Nacogdoches for two weeks then come home for one week. So we saw each other for 2 weeks in between 6 weeks of being apart. It was totally stinky :( I recommend living with your spouse. Always. This is us after I got to Texas. We are happy!

* I finished my second year of law school. Despite throwing up WAY past my three months of being pregnant, I was somehow able to study just enough to be able to take my final exams and have a mock trial. And - my grades weren't as bad as I expected. I kept my mediocre class standing.... and didn't get any C's. (p.s. I haven't thrown up in a couple of weeks.... though it is still drug induced non-vomiting....) :)

* My family and ward each threw me an awesome baby shower. I'm usually not a huge fan of baby showers, but they are so helpful! I can't believe how generous people are. We have some awesome stuff for our little offspring! I now call he/she "Sam the Parasite." Sam works because it could be short for Samuel or Samantha. And I like the name Sam. And it is definitely a parasite. It makes me sick. It makes me hungry.... But I love it anyways. So don't think I'm not excited about my little parasite. I am. I promise. :)

* I turned 26! Yeah!

* The movers came (on my birthday) and packed up our whole apartment and moved our stuff down to Nacogdoches for us! It was so great they took care of almost everything (except for cleaning) and I didn't have to pack a box. :)

* My grandma Randall died on Mother's Day. She was really ready to go, but I still can't believe she's gone! She was a cool lady. I didn't get to go to the funeral though :(

* After a week of being out of school - I went back. I did a one week class, and now I'm paying to work at Lone Star Legal Aid. I get a bunch of credit, so that is good... but still. I'm paying through the.. anyways. :) This last week we went to prison. I almost met my first client - but they only allowed one person to talk to the prisoner at a time. :( So I stayed outside.

* I had an ultrasound and I could see my baby! I saw his/her face, arms, legs, four chambers of his/her heart, toes, etc! So the parasite lives on! I still can't really feel Sammy move yet, but since I feel nauseas then I'm sure he/she is still alive. :)

* We went to Nacogdoches Blueberry Days! It was a blast. :) Huge downtown stuff - you know, booths, large turkey legs on a stick, funnel cakes, a petting zoo, the works. We went a picked blueberries for $1.25 per pound. I thought we would get more, but I guess the bulk of them weren't ripe. So we have enough for some good stuff in the mean time. I made fresh blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Wow. Yummers! I think I'm going to start liking blueberries.

This is a picture of the blueberry patch. We are going back in two weeks when more are ripe and we are going to pick a million berries. A million.

* I'm 5 months now. 5 months having something alien living inside me. Isn't that so weird. Hopefully Sammy rocks - then I'll have more kids. Because this "bearing a child" is super weird. I'm sure it's all worth it in the end. People do it all the time. Multiple times. There's got to be something to it.

2009-03-22T18:44:00.009-06:00

We went to Nacogdoches! What a trip!

We flew out last Sunday and came back on Friday. We were SO READY to sleep in our own bed. Holiday Inn's pillows are super weird.

So..... we'll start out with last Sunday morning. (Somewhat) Lucky me, I hadn't thrown up at all with this pregnancy. (Sometimes I wish I would just throw up if it would make me feel better). But just hours before we catch our plane, I have my first experience throwing up because of the pregnancy. I somehow knew this would happen because it would be just my luck to be in an enclosed space (airplane) with LOTS of people and lose it.... But I was okay... and we caught our plane...

But - as we were waiting to take off, they guy sitting right across the isle from me... BRINGS IN A BURRITO. I'm sure almost everyone would say: "Yum"! No. Not to a pregnant woman that thinks everything STINKS. I thought I was going to lose it before we even got off the ground. But - a lot of deep breathing (from my mouth, not my nose) helped me get through until the guy ate it all.... And I was pretty good the rest of the flight.

Then we get to the airport.... and guess what the car rental place has for us?

Yep. We got a PT Cruiser. Jake HATES PT Cruisers. I tell him it's okay and it will be a "good experience" for us. he he he... :)

So we drive 2 1/2 hours to Nacogdoches and check into the Holiday Inn with the weird pillows.

Monday Jake went into work for some training (fire ant training....) and that night we went out to the "Cotton Patch" for dinner with his boss and his boss's wife.

Let's just say I was up most of the night throwing up dinner. Then most of Tuesday getting rid of anything else in my stomach. Do people really choose to be pregnant AFTER they have already done it once? I can't believe people choose to go through this. Somehow, it must be worth it... I'm just not seeing it right now.

So I sleep ALL Tuesday. No homework. None. Fail family and con law II? Maybe.

Wednesday I get a prescription from my doctor that is supposed to help me. I take it while we drive ALL around Nac-Town to find an apartment. We visit everything that doesn't look like it will be infested with college kids (and some that are). Hopefully we have found something we can live with. But after taking the medicine, I am out. I slept for about 14 hours.

My poor husband. He just hangs out while I sleep. :(

Again, no homework.

Thursday we do some of the Touristy Stuff. We go downtown Nacogdoches. Do you know it's the OLDEST TOWN IN TEXAS. But no one could answer Jake and tell him HOW old it is. Here's a picture of the town - with heavy equipment in the road. Gotta love it!

We also went by "Lone Star Legal Aid." I'm hoping I can put in a LOT of hours with them and get some credit for school. Hopefully everything works out. It's a cute little building downtown.

We also went to the "Azalea" gardens. I guess they are famous for them. It was pretty. The azalea's don't come out fully until March 21st or something. So we got the preview.

We also went out to Lake Nacogdoches. He heard there are NO alligators in Lake Nacogdoches. But I will didn't want to get too close. This is crazy. Alligators belong in the zoo. Not in an open lake. But while we were there, Jake asked some guy in a truck where the best fishing was. The guy just kind of looked around... "In the water." he he he.... I loved it.

And before we headed to Livingston Texas to a new Holiday Inn (with equally weird and uncomfortable pillows) we had to stop by John Deere. We got a free poster and Jake got to sit in the tractors. It made the visit complete.... :)

He's such a cutie! ;)

So the flight home was better - and I've been feeling a little better. Still can't imagine why people decide to go through this pregnancy thing more than once, but I'm sure I'll figure it out in October.

Oh - and I totally chopped my hair. I was really sick of it. So the picture is weird because I probably slept on half my hair AFTER I flipped it out... but.. you get the idea.

So hopefully I can keep from sleeping on it too much so it will look nice.

Other random facts about Texas:

1. People actually go the speed limit. Jake got pulled over going 60 in a 55. The cop told him he was "runnin'." Interesting. Not like on I-15 where you go 80 in a 65 and people are still passing you and treating you like your slowing them down....

2. I ventured out of my "white bread and cereal" diet and tried a Subway sandwich. The guy at the counter couldn't believe that someone would get a veggie. (I'm 100% against meat at the moment). I wonder in vegetarians exist in Texas.

3. Jake couldn't find a BBQ place open for dinner. I guess in Nacogdoches they are only open for lunch. Weird.

4. Street signs and directions actually tell you to make a U-turn to get to a destination. Like, get off the highway, make a U turn, then you can get to the Holiday Inn with uncomfortable pillows.

That's all the fun facts I can think of right now. :)

But we will definitely miss Utah, but we are excited about going someplace new!

If you have any morning sickness suggestions, please let me know. :)

Bad and Good Good News

2009-03-03T20:22:00.003-07:00

So - We have NEWS!

The bad news: Jake is another victim of the bad economy. He got laid off yesterday. :(

The good news: His employer offered him another similar job in Nacognoches Texas.

You are thinking: WHERE IS THAT? We thought the same thing.

Here it is: You can see Nacogdoches in the Center. Shereveport, Louisiana is close by (about an hour) and Dallas is northwest and Houston is southwest.

Interesting huh? So we will be moving soon. I will finish school (the year, not the law degree) in May and move down. Jake will be back and forth after the end of March. It's going to be fun. His company will pay for us to move down there, and pay for us to go look for a place to live. It's going to be great.

So law school - I'm going to apply as a visiting student at some universities down there and transfer the classes up to the U, so I will still be a graduate of the University of Utah! :) YEAH! The closest schools are pretty far away (about a 1 1/2 - 2 hours). So hopefully I can work out a schedule to only have to go two or three times a week.

MORE GOOD NEWS!

We are going to have a baby. Or babies. :) I'm due in October. I keep on telling everyone that I don't mind if I have twins, because that means I have to go through this morning sickness one less time. But I'm sure it's a pretty short-sighted comment. Twins would be much more difficult. So that will throw some interesting stuff in the mix with moving to eastern texas, trying to finish school, and have a baby. Good luck us!

Talk to you all later!

Steph

The Funniest Joke Ever!

2009-02-09T12:36:00.004-07:00

So Jake and I have different senses of humor. I like sarcasm, and he likes "puns" or whatever. A lot of times, I just don't laugh because I think he's weird. But I think we are trying to make up for the difference and jump over to the other persons' side...

Anyways - Here is a great joke that I made up. :)

ENJOY!

Jake: Do you think farmer's drank their cow's milk while they were milking the cow.

Me; Probably - I would if I mixed chocolate in with it... (this isn't exactly me because I don't like chocolate that much - I would much rather each peanut butter)

Then I started laughing....

Imagine! A farmer is bringing a can of "Ghirardelli's" hot chocolate mix under his arm and yells "get the hot stuff ready Betsy!" Then he puts the hottest milk Betsy can make into his cup and stirs it up with the chocolate, and enjoys milking the rest of the morning with his steaming cup of chocolate milk....

I laughed forever... I thought it was awesome. I love my jokes...

But it gets better.....

Jake has been drafting things at work (Mechanical Engineer stuff) and I always tease him he's drawing stick figures for work... Well, this is what he drew, in honor of my funny joke. :)

2009-01-25T22:53:00.004-07:00

This picture is a bit old. It was on our honeymoon over a year ago. We went to Daytona Beach. So here is "US" even though my hair is super wind blown. Maybe next post I will post something where I look a bit better.

updates:

1. I never thought it would happen. But it did. Someone stole our 72-hour kit. And my black and orange buckaroo blanket with my name on it. Who would steal that? I guess It's dumb for us to leave our Honda Civic (aren't Honda's the #1 cars that are stolen in the US) unlocked at night. Well, I hope someone is enjoying our (frozen) bottled water, raisins, and first aid kit. :)

2. School started!!!! I'm back to fitting in studying time whenever I can and trying to not act stressed around Jake. Wow... I keep telling myself it will let up in a year and a half. Wait - then I get to take the bar. :(

3. I'm getting better at racquetball and am actually getting competitive with Jake. He's getting scared and sweating a lot more now...

4. I found out the dogs we wanted (short hair and wired hair german pointers) aren't hypo-allergenic. It makes me sad. I guess only poodles are TRULY hypo-allergenic and Jake refuses to get a poodle.

First Time!

2009-01-03T22:53:00.003-07:00

After seeing other blogs (and feeling like a mighty stalker) I decided we needed to jump in head first! A little about us! Jake and I were married a little over a year ago. We both graduated from Utah State although we never met while we were there. Jake is a mechanical engineer, and I am in my second year of law school. Life is crazy. :) Jake and I have recently discovered how much we love racquetball.... and I totally beat him today! (SSShhh... He's not going to like it that I tell people that!). We also love camping, running, backpacking, etc. We just like to get off our little bums (from school and work) and get outside! We are also obsessed with buying a house/condo/anything, but we probably aren't really in the market for it at the moment... but we still dream. And we want a dog. Or two dogs. The top one is a German Pointer (short hair) which is a beautiful dog. It's a good hunting dog, but we aren't really choosing it for it's mad hunting skills. I told Jake the short haired dog will be his, and we will call her Jill. The second picture of the CUTE puppies are German Wirehaired Pointers. These dogs are supposedly "Hypoallergenic" so I can touch them. (I'm really allergic to dogs, but most hypoallergenic dogs are yappers, which Jake HATES). So we want the wirehaired to be Jack. Jake and Jill. Cute dogs.... We'll have a wait for a house... with a lot of lawn... :)