This has been a different birthday for me. I think maybe I am going through a getting older slump. This is my 2nd year being married and I am getting closer to being 30. Not that being 30 or getting older means too much to me, because I don't feel like I'm getting older, it just means that the older I get the further away it seems like I will be able to accomplish some of my dreams/desires.
I think my #1 right now is the desire to go and travel. I know that now is the best time to do it, without kids, but my desire before that is to become and stay debt free. Going to some of the places that I want to go would not help me to become debt free.
Some of my dreams are:
Travel to Peru, Thailand, Greece, New Zealand and many other places
Sing with/for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Write and publish a book
okay I think my amnesia with getting older is beginning to creep in because I can't remember anymore of my dreams. Wah!!!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Decorating our home
So we have been trying to do some things to our house so it wouldn't just be such a blank slate and empty. Part of it started with just the fact that Kelly was going to be staying with us for the summer and figured it would be good to get an actual guest bed so she wouldn't have to sleep on an air mattress.
I had a friend that I met through Big Brothers that sells mattresses and was able to get us a good deal. We used Omar's old bedding that he had when he was a bachelor but are in the process of getting some new bedding to make that room a little more bright and airy. Now that Kelly's last day was this past Friday we will start to work on that room by picking out paint and doing some work to the furniture that we have there.
We finally bought a sofa. We found one on discount at Ashley Furniture. It took about a month for delivery, but now we have a sectional so we can have more people over and have a place for everyone to sit.
We painted the living room, kitchen, and my office. We made one of our 3 other bedrooms into an office for Omar.
All we have left is to purchase a chair, side table and a set of bookshelves for my office.
We are discussing putting a day bed into one of the other 3 bedrooms so it could be used for someone to sleep on, or whenever we decide to have kids we can also use it for a nursery.
Omar worked on cleaning and organizing the garage and put in some shelves there.
We have been getting some art work. We did a canvas copy of one of our favorite wedding pictures for our family room, and placed out the Turkish rug we bought in Mexico. Kelly created the idea for my office of turning a picture of the St. Augustine lighthouse into art for my office. I still need to finish it.
Slowly but surely we are making our way to having a completed home.
I had a friend that I met through Big Brothers that sells mattresses and was able to get us a good deal. We used Omar's old bedding that he had when he was a bachelor but are in the process of getting some new bedding to make that room a little more bright and airy. Now that Kelly's last day was this past Friday we will start to work on that room by picking out paint and doing some work to the furniture that we have there.
We finally bought a sofa. We found one on discount at Ashley Furniture. It took about a month for delivery, but now we have a sectional so we can have more people over and have a place for everyone to sit.
We painted the living room, kitchen, and my office. We made one of our 3 other bedrooms into an office for Omar.
All we have left is to purchase a chair, side table and a set of bookshelves for my office.
We are discussing putting a day bed into one of the other 3 bedrooms so it could be used for someone to sleep on, or whenever we decide to have kids we can also use it for a nursery.
Omar worked on cleaning and organizing the garage and put in some shelves there.
We have been getting some art work. We did a canvas copy of one of our favorite wedding pictures for our family room, and placed out the Turkish rug we bought in Mexico. Kelly created the idea for my office of turning a picture of the St. Augustine lighthouse into art for my office. I still need to finish it.
Slowly but surely we are making our way to having a completed home.
Blue Crab Festival Memorial Day 2010
For Memorial Day I thought we could go to the Blue Crab Festival. It was down in Palatka which is basically this small po-dunk town where everyone is related to each other (seriously). I had never been there before.
Kelly stayed with us for the summer and so she came. Casey and Victor were supposed to come with us to the festival along with their baby and Victor's brother Manuel. However, they both were not feeling well so Manuel was the only one who came with us.
Palatka
Omar was so excited to park on the bridge. Here is Kelly with Manuel.
The Bridge was a neat view, however, we got drenched walking back to the car at the end of the day.
There of course were tons of booths with food and other random things to buy!
Omar and I both went on our first helicopter and camel ride! It was fun and only cost us $30 for both - can't beat that.
The Camel was actually not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be.
Kelly took pictures from inside the chopper.
It was neat to go to a different area in Florida.
Kelly stayed with us for the summer and so she came. Casey and Victor were supposed to come with us to the festival along with their baby and Victor's brother Manuel. However, they both were not feeling well so Manuel was the only one who came with us.
Palatka
Omar was so excited to park on the bridge. Here is Kelly with Manuel.
The Bridge was a neat view, however, we got drenched walking back to the car at the end of the day.
There of course were tons of booths with food and other random things to buy!
Omar and I both went on our first helicopter and camel ride! It was fun and only cost us $30 for both - can't beat that.
The Camel was actually not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be.
Kelly took pictures from inside the chopper.
It was neat to go to a different area in Florida.
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Tomato Plant Tragedy
Once there was this girl and all she wanted was to have a green thumb. So she thought she would try to do a tomato plant in a topsy turvy. It was not as easy as she thought it would be to get the plant inside there. She watered and fertilized the plant often, but no tomatoes came. One day the plant started flowering and suddenly there wer 13 baby tomatoes on her plant. She was so excited and couldn't wait for the day to no longer buy tomatoes, but to eat her own.
One night a tragedy struck. During the middle of Spring, she awoke to find ice all on her car and immediately ran to her plant. This is what she found.
She didn't know what to do and so she told her husband. When she went to work he decided that he would move the plant to the garage for a few days. Later that morning she got a call from her husband. He told her that she could no longer water her plant because he climbed up to move the plant and found mean eyes staring at him ready to bite him! There was a bird inside the top of that plant. Not only was there a bird, but there was a nest with eggs!!!
That morning with the cold she had just put 1 liter of water in the plant, but yet the bird still stayed with its nest. She didn't want to give up her plant, her first chance at a green thumb. Alas, because of the birds nest the bird had been pushing the plant down further breaking most of the trunk of the plant...it was inevitable that the plant would die.
So ends the tragedy of the tomato plant. Hopefully it will bring life to a different part of nature.
One night a tragedy struck. During the middle of Spring, she awoke to find ice all on her car and immediately ran to her plant. This is what she found.
She didn't know what to do and so she told her husband. When she went to work he decided that he would move the plant to the garage for a few days. Later that morning she got a call from her husband. He told her that she could no longer water her plant because he climbed up to move the plant and found mean eyes staring at him ready to bite him! There was a bird inside the top of that plant. Not only was there a bird, but there was a nest with eggs!!!
That morning with the cold she had just put 1 liter of water in the plant, but yet the bird still stayed with its nest. She didn't want to give up her plant, her first chance at a green thumb. Alas, because of the birds nest the bird had been pushing the plant down further breaking most of the trunk of the plant...it was inevitable that the plant would die.
So ends the tragedy of the tomato plant. Hopefully it will bring life to a different part of nature.
Casey's Birthday
This past Monday was one of my good friends, Casey's birthday, so we had a little bbq with her and her husband and brother-in-law this past weekend. It was so yummy. Hamburger, hot dogs, broccoli salad, my mom's famous baked beans, Jamaica, and of course cake. My sister Kelly made this coconut sort of cake that in a way is similar to tres leches. After gorging ourselves we played rock band. So fun!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Utah Vacation 2010
So I had no idea if I would be making our vacation trip that we had planned to see Omar's family this year since I had just started my job. I was so grateful that Blue Cross let me work extra hard so I could still make the trip. We drove down to Orlando for our flight and after 2 flights we finally made into Salt Lake where it was snowing!!! We picked a horrible weekend for anything but skiing to go to Utah. I feel bad that I really didn't take any pictures of our trip, I guess I decided to give up something this time on the trip.
Thursday:
Grace, Omar's mom, made me some Honduran enchilidas (totally different then mexican enchilidas) which are more like tostadas, sort of. They are wonderful.
One of my best friends, Sarah, just got home from her mission in Poland and I was super excited to see her. We decided that we would go camping together the day that we flew in. It was a blast catching up. We went to this restaraunt Bajio's that I had never been to. It was pretty good and was similar to Cafe Rio. We had this guy name Pedro who made our food and we spoke in Spanish, he thought I told him that my husband and I broke up and he gave us free horchata. When I fixed the confusion he offered us free food if I brought in Omar. Nice guy.
We drove around like crazy trying to find a place to camp and everything said "no camping." So we decided to drive up pleasant grove canyon to camp and as we were driving it was pitch black and the snow was becoming so thick and heavy. I just sort of looked at her and said "Uh you think this is a good idea?" I totally didn't want to get sick. We decided to go camping in her parent's garage. So fun and her mom even made whole wheat waffles for breakfast. It was great to see her family again. I forgot how involved they are with politics - it was really funny talking with them - you have to be very careful about what you say.
Friday:
Sarah dropped me off back home where Omar's brother and our sister-in-law, Megan, and nephew, Jayden, along with Megan's sister, Ashley, had driven in from Arizona while I was camping. We all went to downtown SLC and drove Trax (which oddly enough I had never done before). We didn't go on Temple Square this time as it was freezing outside. We took Trax over to the Gateway Mall which I had never been to before. We shopped around and had hot chocolate.
Later we went over and met 2 of my old mission companions and their significant others and had dinner at Cafe Rio.
Saturday:
Omar's dad drove us all down to Provo where we made a quick DI trip and then went and met 2 of my old roommates for lunch at Noodles & Co. which I had never been to before. It was so great to see Julie and Kelly again and meet Kelly's 2 adorable little girls.
After lunch we went over to the BYU Bookstore where I FINALLY purchased a BYU Alumni license plate holder for the car. Omar even bought a BYU hat.
When we returned that day Omar worked on surround sound he installed for his parents. Later that evening Omar and I had dinner and played games with my cousin Corey, his wife Liz and their adorable new daughter Camrie, as well as my Aunt Pam and Uncle Jerry. It was a ton of fun playing games and of course good food as always. We love getting together with them and will miss them and the rest of the family at the family reunion this summer since we won't be able to make it with our work schedules.
Sunday:
Was a great relaxing day just hanging out at the house with Omar's family.
Monday:
Was our last day. While Omar's parents and Eddie and all of them went to the aquarium, Omar and I went and visited my friend Nikki and her husband and 2 baby girls. We went and ate at Omar's little fav place the Pie Pizzeria and then went over to a frozen yogurt place. It was a great time.
Later that day Omar started going through all of his stuff that is boxed up at his parent's house and somehow I had to find room in our luggage for at least 50 movies, and some of his mission stuff! My husband is crazy - he had a pile of 30 comic books he wanted to add to it to, thank goodness he decided that he was afraid they would get bent during flight and to leave them with his parents still.
In the evening Omar and I as well as Megan and Eddie went on a date night to the movies to see Bounty Hunter.
Tuesday:
We flew out early in the morning to Orlando and got home late that night. All in all it was a nice trip and I am glad that we went.
Thursday:
Grace, Omar's mom, made me some Honduran enchilidas (totally different then mexican enchilidas) which are more like tostadas, sort of. They are wonderful.
One of my best friends, Sarah, just got home from her mission in Poland and I was super excited to see her. We decided that we would go camping together the day that we flew in. It was a blast catching up. We went to this restaraunt Bajio's that I had never been to. It was pretty good and was similar to Cafe Rio. We had this guy name Pedro who made our food and we spoke in Spanish, he thought I told him that my husband and I broke up and he gave us free horchata. When I fixed the confusion he offered us free food if I brought in Omar. Nice guy.
We drove around like crazy trying to find a place to camp and everything said "no camping." So we decided to drive up pleasant grove canyon to camp and as we were driving it was pitch black and the snow was becoming so thick and heavy. I just sort of looked at her and said "Uh you think this is a good idea?" I totally didn't want to get sick. We decided to go camping in her parent's garage. So fun and her mom even made whole wheat waffles for breakfast. It was great to see her family again. I forgot how involved they are with politics - it was really funny talking with them - you have to be very careful about what you say.
Friday:
Sarah dropped me off back home where Omar's brother and our sister-in-law, Megan, and nephew, Jayden, along with Megan's sister, Ashley, had driven in from Arizona while I was camping. We all went to downtown SLC and drove Trax (which oddly enough I had never done before). We didn't go on Temple Square this time as it was freezing outside. We took Trax over to the Gateway Mall which I had never been to before. We shopped around and had hot chocolate.
Later we went over and met 2 of my old mission companions and their significant others and had dinner at Cafe Rio.
Saturday:
Omar's dad drove us all down to Provo where we made a quick DI trip and then went and met 2 of my old roommates for lunch at Noodles & Co. which I had never been to before. It was so great to see Julie and Kelly again and meet Kelly's 2 adorable little girls.
After lunch we went over to the BYU Bookstore where I FINALLY purchased a BYU Alumni license plate holder for the car. Omar even bought a BYU hat.
When we returned that day Omar worked on surround sound he installed for his parents. Later that evening Omar and I had dinner and played games with my cousin Corey, his wife Liz and their adorable new daughter Camrie, as well as my Aunt Pam and Uncle Jerry. It was a ton of fun playing games and of course good food as always. We love getting together with them and will miss them and the rest of the family at the family reunion this summer since we won't be able to make it with our work schedules.
Sunday:
Was a great relaxing day just hanging out at the house with Omar's family.
Monday:
Was our last day. While Omar's parents and Eddie and all of them went to the aquarium, Omar and I went and visited my friend Nikki and her husband and 2 baby girls. We went and ate at Omar's little fav place the Pie Pizzeria and then went over to a frozen yogurt place. It was a great time.
Later that day Omar started going through all of his stuff that is boxed up at his parent's house and somehow I had to find room in our luggage for at least 50 movies, and some of his mission stuff! My husband is crazy - he had a pile of 30 comic books he wanted to add to it to, thank goodness he decided that he was afraid they would get bent during flight and to leave them with his parents still.
In the evening Omar and I as well as Megan and Eddie went on a date night to the movies to see Bounty Hunter.
Tuesday:
We flew out early in the morning to Orlando and got home late that night. All in all it was a nice trip and I am glad that we went.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Goodbye Big Brothers, Hello Blue Cross
So I just finished my first day with the new company that I will be working for...Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida. I will be their sales representative at the their new Blue center in Jacksonville. I am excited for this change and a new start.
It was really hard for me to completely make this choice as I felt as though I would be abandoning all the hard work that I put into builidng up Clay County and the matches that I have served for the last 2 years at Big Brothers Big Sisters. But this is a wonderful opporunity that I have and I could not pass it up.
I won't be leaving the non-profit sector exactly since Blue Cross Blue Shield is a non-profit. However, I am going back to my roots with working in a retail environment, but will be able to use the insurance license that I have.
One of the hardest things will be just remembering to not answer the phone by saying, "Kate Spilsbury, Big Brothers Big Sisters, how may I help you?" So if you are ever at the St. Johns Town Center, be sure to stop by and say hello. Wish me luck on me new venture...
I was able to attend my last advisory board meeting during my last week at Big Brothers. I loved working with these incredible people! (Janice, Steve, Mindy, Rick, Lee, and Rachel)
There was a little goodbye party for me and 2 other girls (Ansley & Amy) that will be leaving this summer.
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