New Snow!!

Last night we got out first substantial snowfall since Christmas. It is now 40 degrees out and sunny. The snow looked so beautiful I thought that I would share some pictures here.

Our deck that we have yet to get some furniture for. And of course the Smokey the Bear thermometer that Brian absolutely loves.

Our view of the Bridger mountains. I love looking at them from the kitchen window.

The backside of our neighborhood. While we really love our apartment, unfortunately our neighborhood is all duplexes, condos and apartment buildings, which means the street is full of college students. It can be very annoying at times.

I have caught a nasty cold. I took last night off work, I am not deathly ill or anything but since the other overnighter was also working, I decided to stay home sick. No need to be miserable at work if you don't really need to be there. On Sunday I am going to Helena for a week, for dispatcher training at the Law Enforcement academy. It should be interesting. It will be weird to be gone from Brian for a week. Usually he is the one that is leaving (for wildland fires and stuff) and I am the one staying. I know I will miss him!

Things I Love

Wallpaper! I used to always think that wallpaper was hideous, but everywhere I look I keep on seeing these gorgeous rooms done up in beautiful wallpaper. One of the reasons I think I like it so much is because I am drawn to...

Modern Florals! I just love em...

And finally....Before and afters! I especially like the home makeover or furniture makeovers like these here. I am determined to do a whole bunch of stuff like this in my garage this summer! I have a book shelf that I am thinking about doing in black with yellow and white florals, and I also want to do a set of bedside tables to match our bedroom!

Just in case you didn't notice...I HEART yellow, gray, and black together!

At Some Point

I will actually do another post. I started one last night at work but the computer didn't like that I had 15 internet windows up at a time and wigged out. I will try again tonight!

Riding Along

I finally got a new cord for my camera which is very exciting because now I can tell you all about the fire that I got to go on with Brian. He was command for the fire department a couple of weekends ago. When Brian is command sometimes I go with him on calls. It is nice for me because when I dispatch I don't ever get to see the scenes that we dispatch units to, when I go with him I kind of get to see the other side of things.

At about 11pm on a Sunday night Brian got a page for a structure fire in Big Sky and I decided to go with him. The fire was in a cabin in a ski resort development. Four different fire departments responded, there were two ladder trucks among other apparatus and about 20 firefighters. Here are some pictures from our long night in Big Sky.

The house from the road below right after we arrived.
The bright light is from the bucket on the ladder truck that was parked up above.

This is the Big Sky ladder truck, parked behind the house

Fire Fighters coming down the ladder.

The fire started in the chimney and then spread into the ceiling between the roof and the dry wall. Th ladder trucks where trying to get at the fire from the roof. There were also crews fighting the fire from inside.

The other trucks and a group of firefighter waiting to go into the building.

The firefighters emptying out their hoses at the end of the night.

I had a ton if fun tagging along with Brian on the Big Sky fire. After hearing so much about structural fires it was great to see one in action. I am always afraid that I will get in the way when I ride along but all the firefighters were so nice. Brian was fun to see in action, it was almost like seeing another side of him, which was cool.

Bittersweet

Why are most things in life bittersweet?

After weeks of stressing, worrying, fearing, crying and discussing a certain job opportunity for Brian, he didn't end up with the job. While I thought that I would feel relief, I really didn't. I felt sadness, I felt his disappointment. I knew that Brian really wanted the opportunity, I knew that he would be good at the job, and I knew that it was a good financial decision for us. While I was not sure how much I liked the idea of him working in this career field, I wanted the job for him.


It was probably our first real big struggle in our relationship. For me it really came down to trusting the man that I married and believing that his core character and the person that I am in love with is really solid and genuine. I have to say that I have never truly experienced having that pull inside of you that wonders how far you follow and support someone you love so that they can have what they feel is right and want, and when you step back and say, "no way, no how, we will have to figure something else out."


I am proud of us though. I think that I have always been afraid that conflict in a relationship (especially in a marriage) meant that there would have to be yelling and detachment from the other person. That was not the case for us at all, we always totally respected and listened to each other. While we both had strong feelings about the situation, we really stuck by and supported each other. It makes me love him even more, and makes me feel very lucky to have married such a great guy.

MARY KAY

You are looking at Gallatin Valley's newest Mary Kay consultant! I absolutely love Mary Kay I use all of the product in this picture: (well except like two things!)

Pretty much any make-up color I use is also Mary Kay...so I decided that I might as well become a consultant, since there are always other products that I really want to buy. I would love to make money off of selling the product and the potential is definitely there. I just don't like being the pushy sales woman. I was surprised how much the training brochures really seem to encourage that. Pushy sales people always make me nervous and I don't like it. I would love to buy the wholesale starter kit so that I have products on hand to give to people but I am just not sure that we have the money to do that right away, we will see though. For now I am just going to buy the products that I want, encourage my family and friends to buy from me and kinda put my feelers out to see if I know other people that are also interested. These are the kinds of things I want:

Oh man...I really need me some mineral powder!

I want this at every sink in the house! It makes your hands feel like silk and smells like a peach tree in the summer, what could be better than that?

And this...this is eyeliner...which I am completely out of...not a pretty situation. Okay, well I have green, but you can only wear so much green eyeliner before you look like you should be sitting in front of a slot machine...I am just saying...

Be still my heart. Who, you may ask needs eye revitalizer (for puffiness and dark circles of course), concealer (for when the revitalizer doesn't work, just kidding), and soothing eye gel? Who? That's what I thought, EVERYONE!

Anyway, I could really go all day, but I will stop, I think you get the point. If you also are crazy about Mary Kay or would like to try some stuff out, give me a hollar and we can play around and get you addicted...just like me! Cause everyone wants to be like me...right?

Falling Apart at the Seams

Our house is falling apart! Last week I started the dryer and it was kind of squeaking like a belt needed to be oiled. Tonight after a load and a half it quit! I heard it stop and when I went downstairs and checked the clothes they were still wet. I tried to turn it back on but it obviously didn't! When I yelled at Brian up the stairs to tell him I broke the dryer he just laughed (he thinks I am funny...not sure why!) His "handy man" skills crack me up. He came down to take a look at it and did the same thing I did, turn the timer button, open the door a couple of times, and then hit the start button...amazingly enough it still didn't work...I don't know why...I thought he had the magic touch :). Then he hit it and I kicked it, we were both laughing pretty hard by this point. It reminded me of the country song "Just Another Day In Paradise" by Phil Vassar when it goes:

Take a drink of milk but the milk's gone sour
My funny face makes you laugh
Twist the top on and I put it back
There goes the washing machine
Baby, don't kick it.
I promise I'll fix it
Long about a million other things

This is when I am glad for once that we rent. A broken dryer is not our problem and we can call someone to come fix it or replace it for free, which is great because we really couldn't even afford to fix a dryer right now. Also, on top of the dryer the lights in the bathroom were flickering when I was getting ready for bed, as I was taking my nightly pee, they went completely out...It wasn't very cool. When I flipped the switch on and then back off they came back on. That can't be good. When I crawled into bed I told Brian he had better let the rental company know about that. I know it is hard to believe but we actually live in a pretty nice place, all things considered.

We had a good weekend. Friday night we went out with one of my co-workers, her husband, and a couple of their friends. I think that a good time was had by all. We ran into a friend of Brian's that is on the fire department and ended up giving him a ride home...lets just say that he needed it! For Valentine's Day Brian took me out to Sushi which is one of my favorite places to go in town. Brian is more of a meat and potatoes guy, which means I don't get sushi very often so I was excited.

When I started this blog I meant to post more about cooking, being a firefighter's wife and our thoughts (for now) about starting a family. I do have an exciting story to tell but first I have to wait for a new cord for my camera to come so that I can post some pics along with it! Hopefully sometime this week!

I try not to but...

Sometimes it just happens! I really try not to search online for baby products. Or do things like plan a nursery and pick out bedding and strollers and high chairs...well you get the point. It is kind of like planning a wedding before you are in a serious relationship, or engaged for that matter. I can't wait to start baby shopping and finding products, but I do want to wait because there will be a time and place for that. Also, looking around now makes the baby urges even worse. However, sometimes I happened to stumble across things...I don't know how it happens....it just does...I found this neat little product today:

It is a baby hammock. I think that is seems like a great idea, and somewhere very comfortable for baby to sleep. You can also move it around the house and take it with you where ever you go. However, I wonder if SIDS is a problem. The website says it isn't but I can't imagine that the air circulation is really great in it. The company appears to be based out of Whitefish/Kalispell, MT area which is also kinda cool. Of course things like this come with a hefty price tag...lets just say that it is at least if not more than we would probably spend on a crib...oh well!

I am intrigued by...

This website: creaturecomforts.typepad.com

While I was on ApartmentTherapy.com this evening I came across the above design website. The author has a great eye for the unusual and unique. While on her site I also stumbled across swishandswanky.blogspot.com, also a very fine blog! I love it when I stumble across new and fun sites!

Oil Changes and NASCAR

When Brian and I first started dating seriously I explained to him my hate of vehicle maintenance and that if he was going to be with me it meant that he would have to be in charge of all vehicle maintenance. It isn't that I can't check tire pressure, oil or change an occasional tire, it is that I HATE doing it. So far he has been pretty good about it. Our new Toyota Corolla (which is that vehicle that I drive) was due for an oil change so we took it to the dealer today. While we were there I was reminded of why I hate vehicle maintenance and especially taking a car in for an oil change.
As a college age female away from home I would take the car that I owned then into get it regularly scheduled oil changes. I always felt that the mechanic would talk down at me like I didn't know anything (which is only sorta, kinda true) and that they would try to sell you things that you really didn't need done to your car. A $20 oil change always turned into a "well you really need to have this done and it is going to cost you a total of $200." Today we went in to the dealership service center and not only was the customer service bad (which is another pet peeve of mine) but they tried to sell us a bunch of other things to go along with our oil change. I told Brian that is why I refuse to deal with it on my own.
When we got home from the oil change and the grocery store Brian settled on the couch to watch a little NASCAR, before going to the fire station to get some stuff done. I actually don't mind a little football or NASCAR watching on the weekends. But this was the first hour of like a four hour preshow...I was not amused! I was teasing Brian about how they were going to run out of things to say, unfortunately, they didn't. Good thing Brian headed off to the fire station and I got to make cookies! I will post pictures and a recipe of that later.

So after spending FOREVER trying to design my blog and finding a background that I like, I thought that I would write my first post! I am not always a person with a lot of things to say, but I really like to read other blogs and thought that I would take a shot at it myself.

Brian and I were both excited for Friday. After a week of working completely opposite schedules, by Friday, we are always ready to just chill on the couch. It is also nice to be able to fall asleep and wake-up together! Weekend mornings are my favorite. I love being married and waking up beside my husband. I can also usually talk Brian into going out and getting the paper and coffee and then making me breakfast! I am so lucky!