My condolences to their families. I cannot imagine what they are going through. I did not feel like working all day because of the helicopter crashes. It brings tears to my eyes to hear people tell their stories about the crashes. I was at Steele Indian School Park today eating my lunch since I work so close to downtown phoenix. If I would have just stayed 15 minutes longer I would have witnessed the crash. There was a small airplane dragging a geico advertisement while we were eating our lunch. We noticed that it was flying unusually low. I thought one of the helicopters might have crashed into that airplane when I first heard the news, but found out several mintues later that it was two helicopters. I am still traumatized.....probably because I wake up and sleep to 3 tv. My prayers are with the family and friends of SCOTT BOWERBANK & JIM COX of 3 tv and also to CRAIG SMITH & RICK KROLAK of channel 15. You will be missed............

I spent my 4th of July week in Telluride, Colorado camping. It's a very beautiful place. There was so many things to do and so many things to see. We went hiking to a water fall, fishing and we even got to jump in the cold stream. It was really nice. I think somebody actually lives in that house that is on the cliff. It is sitting on a ledge and it is a very long way down. That is crazy to be living like that. It was an adventurous week. We will be doing this again in the near future. The only bad thing I got out of it was a very bad sun burn!

It is unusual for us to still be here in gdale/phx. We would probably still be on your way back home to the rez if we did go back. I wanted to go back to kayenta to see my cousin and brian's cousin graduate from MV. My cousin was a cheerleader for MV and Brian's cousin was in the student council. The reason why I didn't go back was because I promised a good friend/coworker of mine that I would help her with her son's graduation reception on June 2nd. She asked me 2 months ago and I agreed. If I would have known this earlier I would have declined her request. Driving back two weekends in a row is ridiculous! If gas was a little cheaper it might have been a possibility, but right now it is out of the question. I cannot afford to go back two weekends in a row. Besides that, we spend too much when we go back.

Plans are on the way for the renovation of our two bathrooms. So far, brian tore out everything in the bathroom downstairs. We bought so many new things for the bathrooms: 2 bathroom sinks and countertops from IKEA, storage cabinets from IKEA for both bathrooms, a tub, tiles for the floor and tiles for the bathroom wall, a beautiful glass bath/shower door, restroom fans and 2 toilets. We have a lot of work ahead for us and we have memorial day weekend to get started.

cell phone pics of my dog 'coco' aka coco nuts, nuhnuts, coco bean, nuhnuh:

I decided to sit at the computer tonight. It seems so strange to actually sit at home and sit in front of the computer. It's different when I am at work. I need a vacation. I think in August Brian and I are going to plan our vacation. I'm thinking we could go see my mom in Killeen, TX. I haven't seen her in about 3 years and before that was like 15 or 16 years. I know, we are not that close, but it sure is nice to see her when I do.

I took that picture of window rock when I went home to see my dad and also I had a wedding I had to go to in Kayenta.

I'm so full. I just got back from a birthday party. I certainly stuffed my face when I shouldn't have. I shouldn't have had that extra hot dog. I'm obcessed with hot dogs. I can eat them grilled, steamed, fried in a frying pan, you name it. I eat them any way I can get them, just so that it's a hot dog. When I was growing up my grand mother would have left over fry bread and i'd wrap them dogs in them. Very good stuff, but these days I have to rethink what I stuff in my mouth because that piece of fry bread can be two extra inches of fat added onto my body.

Today we were supposed to be renovating our closet downstairs. A long time ago, before we bought this house, I guess there was a handicap person that used to own this house. Our house is two story, so since he was in a wheel chair he couldn't make it to the restroom upstairs to take a shower. There is a bathroom downstairs, but that doesn't have a shower or bath tub in it so what this person did was turn one of the closets in the living room into a shower. Yes, a shower! It was a nice looking shower, but it is really odd for it to be in the living room. We have lived here for a little over 2 years and never did a thing to that shower. We never used it either because it just gave Brian and I the creeps. I don't know, it was just weird. Last weekend, we tore out all the tiles. That was a lot of work! I don't think I want to ever tear out tiles again! Then we poured cement to make the flooor level again and now we are in the process of buying some sheet rock to make some walls. Next, we will be putting down tile in the both bathrooms, laundry area and the closet. Lastly, we are going to refinish our wood flooring in the kitchen and in the living room. Right now the floor is pretty beat up. I hate looking at it. I can't wait until we can make it beautiful again!

So far so good..... We finally made the decision of purchasing another vehicle. My poor 1999 plymouth neon was traded for a brand new 2007 Toyota Rav4. I absolutely love it! The neon was giving us problems. The last mechanical work that we done on it costed us $2500 buckaroos. It was a stupid waste of money, but we learned our lesson. It felt weird not having the neon around at first. The neon was the very first vehicle I purchased.

Brian, the dog, the cat and I are swell. We decided to hold off on selling the house. It was going to be too much of a financial burden so we are deciding to remodel the bathrooms and redo the wood flooring in the kitchen and the living room. I think this will be home sweet home for a while. So far, we have been living here for almost 2 years. I like it, it's just one neighbor in particular i do not like. The neighbor has two mean loud barking pit bulls that are so annoying. I actually called the HOA on this person already about the dog situation. The house next door is a rental and so a lot of ghetto people move in and out. I don't like that. I really despise the fact that the house is a rental. These people don't give a shit about the place that they are living in. They know that they don't own it so they can be trashy and ghetto all they want. That really annoys me. Some people actually own these houses and like to keep their shit nice and clean like me!!!

We are going to go down to the rez for Thanksgiving. First, we are going to Kayenta and then we will be in Fort Defiance. I took Wednesday off. My job gives us Thanksgiving day off and the day after. It's a nice little vacation for both Brian and I. We bought this cute winter coat for my dog. We also found some cute matching boots to go with the jacket. She is practically almost hairless so she would definitely be needing a jacket on the rez. Burrr!!!! Well, better get going. I've been wanting to catch up on my shows I have recorded on my DVR. Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble! Gobbble!

my cat died, shit......

I'm still here. I just don't have the time to sit down in front of a computer and enjoy anymore. I mainly use it for work purposes. I did start a new career and at first I thought it was the biggest mistake of my life. I mean for a minute there I was actually coming home and sobbing, wondering if I made the right decision and also wondering if people these days can actually be so rude and so damn shallow, but so far, I've made it. People keep telling me that if it's going to be like that that I shouldn't be there to make friends, but to work. Yeah, that is easier than said, because we all know that we still have to work with these people. Anyway, I think they got used to the fact that I'm there. At first, it was like I was all up in their space. You can tell that they absolutely didn't want me there. I don't know if it was because I took up their space, I came in with a title higher that most working there, or if it was just me that they didn't like. It was crazy in the beginning. I was truely depressed. I miss my old coworker from my past job. We are so close. We worked together for the past 3 jobs that we had and to have her not there is very different. I think we worked a total of 10 years together. I'm going to try and get her in where i'm currently working now, but the way things are going, I don't know if she would like to go through what I went through. Anyway, I'm staying because of the pay. The boss would have to actually fire me in order for me to leave. Those people there can do all that they can to get me to want to leave, but I won't. I won't let them get to me like they did before. I'm better than them.

We are looking into selling the house. We need more space and I want a big back yard. We have a dog now and I want her to roam freely without having to be indoors all the time. I'm not sure when we are going to. We've been talking about it and we're thinking about early next year. We will just have to see.

I may be starting a new career soon. At first, I go to this interview and as I was sitting I was thinking that these two women are actually going to hire me. I knew they liked all my answers to their interview questions. You can just tell by their expressions. The interviewers had even mentioned that they wanted me to see human resources to negotiate my pay, but then one of those ladies abruptly taps me on the shoulder and hands me this two page questionnaire regarding the position I applied for. Shit, I nearly shit my pants. I felt my heart sink when I read the first few questions. I knew right then that I probably bombed that interview. I left that organization with my tail between my legs basically whimpering. I felt like shit that whole day. I almost could just taste it. I almost felt victory, but yet I already knew that deep down I had failed.

So, after a day or two of moping around I decided to write a thank you letter. I attempted several times that day to write that damn letter, but eventually I got through it and sent that sucker off. I basically sold my self again. Some things I mentioned was that I knew I was qualified and that I was a hard worker fast learner blah blah blah. I also mentioned that the test scores might not have been to their expectations, but that I could make up for that if they could just give me an opportunity to show them. Well, anyway, I guess that shit worked because I got a call back from the Director of the department herself and had an interview with her. She loved me and I passed that interview with flying colors. Right now all i'm waiting for is a call from human resources to negotiate my pay. The best thing about this job is that benefits start the day that I am hired. I love it!

The reason why I was looking for another job was because a situation happened at work and it involved a close coworker/friend. She got offered another position at another company. She would have gotten paid WAY more than she is now, but things happened and basically she got fucked over. Our boss didn't want her to leave, so she tells her that she would match the pay that the other company was offering her and so she stayed. And to make it worse she called the other company that wanted to hire her and told them that she wanted to stay, so they offered her a dollar more to their offer and she still said no. The next day our boss calls her into the office and tells her that she can't have the pay that our boss said she was going to match. Her reasoning was because she didn't go through the proper channels for approval so the request was denied. Boo hoo, BULLSHIT! Anyway, in the end she called the other company back to see if the position was still available and she finds out that it was filled. Totally fucked up situation. I was sort of in the middle of it. I feel so bad and so mad at the same time that I no longer can stand coming to work at the so-called organization that I'm working for. I have no opportunities there so I'm getting the fuck out.

So, like I have another interview scheduled this Thursday again. I know I'm hired at this other organizaton right now, but I'm just curious to see how much this other company wants to pay me if I were to get hired. I'm keeping my options open right now. I'm not getting any younger so i'm looking for a company I can grow old and retire with.

hello? Anybody out there? haha...It's been a long, long time. I've gone through some changes in the past few months. I've had several accomplishments and one set back. my first accomplishment is that i completely quit smoking back in october. second, i've changed my eating habits and thirdly i've been exercising daily or almost daily since october. I've accomplished so many things since october and so many people are very proud of me! Now for the set back, i haven't been running for 2 weeks. i have a problem with my left foot. i've been going to see a podiatrist and they tell me that i have plantar fasciaitis (sp?). if you have ever experienced the pain then you know what i am going through. it hurts like a bitch to even walk on it let alone run. i feel lost if i don't run. the podiatrist that i've been seeing has been injecting me with cortisone to try and ease the inflammation. the first injection worked. it was a miracle. it was as if nothing had ever happened to my foot, but then 3 weeks later it started to hurt again. so i go back to the podiatrist and they inject me with some more cortisone and now MORE pain. i'm so upset. i currently walk with a limp and with each step i take it's like a stretching, piercing, and tearing pain. i don't know what to do anymore. there's no way i can stay off of my foot unless i walk around with crutches. i don't think i need to go to that extreme but something has to be done. i just pray that my other foot doesn't start acting up like that because getting a needle shoved into your heel isn't a wonderful feeling. so with that said...i think the only thing that will cure my ailment is that i go through surgery and have that sucker cut in half (plantar fascia). i've heard that is another option i can think about.

Here's the new addition to our home. we've had her since november of last year.

CoCo

AKA CoCoNuts

AKA CoCo Beans