Happy New Year!

Phew. My last blog post was right before the fall semester started and it shouldn't be a surprise that I didn't post again until the semester ended. This past fall semester was incredibly busy for me and Henry. It was my first semester of grad school and Henry had his usual heavy load of classes and work. I loved my classes but they kept me very busy. There was LOTS of reading and writing, but that's to be expected in an English program. Each class met one night a week and met for three hours. So on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I worked from 8-5 and then had class from 6-9. It made for some very long days and it was tough essentially being away from home 2 days a week. It also made me pretty tired afterwards and made homework time limited. Hence the no blog posts. Henry takes 2 classes at a time and they last for 8 weeks. That's how he gets 12 credits a semester. So his last term consisted of 2 really hard classes and kept him very busy. Knowing he would have a 3 week break at the end of it is one of the reasons we planned it that way. He is know officially a senior and should be graduated by this coming Christmas! So he'll be going to school straight through the year with only a week break in May which is one of the reasons he tried to plan out some hard classes before a break.

So here is a quick recap of the last 4 months. September and October were pretty "quiet" and just consisted of us going to work and getting back in the groove of school. (We both took the summer off, as I'm sure you all remember.) Once November hit things got crazy! I decided I wanted a birthday party this year so we threw a really fun party and had about 30 people over! It was a lot of fun and we had a Mexican theme with tacos and margaritas. A bunch of my new friends from school came (how elementary school does that sound!) as well as a bunch of our other friends. A few days later was Thanksgiving, which was the same day as Henry's birthday this year, and I hosted it! I took the Wednesday off to spend the day cooking and prepping. I had a great moment when I sat down at the table on Thursday and realized that every single food item had been made from scratch! I was very proud of myself. Henry's parents came and stayed with us for dinner and the weekend. We had some other local Bitzes and a few friends who didn't have family around and it was a lot of fun. I also made my first successful pie - Henry loves apple pie and since it was his birthday, I made him an apple pie with a cheddar cheese crust. It turned out wonderfully and I'm looking forward to making it again sometime and doing an even better job!

A picture of my beautiful table:


Thanksgiving derailed us a bit and we really struggled getting back on track with school after that. Then Henry got really sick and was home from work for about 3 days. I had 2 fifteen page research papers to write so we were both pretty stressed and busy. Not only that, but work was very busy for both of us at the time. So we were both very stressed and exhausted. We also weren't really able to prepare for Christmas until school was out so we didn't do too much this year. Henry's parents come down and stayed with us for Christmas weekend. We had Christmas dinner with some family here in town. As much as I LOVE cooking the holiday meals, it was REALLY nice having someone do it for me this year!

Henry and I both took the week between Christmas and New Year off so we could have a true vacation! The day after Christmas we drove over to Spokane to go pick up our car. Our car had to have some warranty work done and the closest dealership was in Spokane. So they were INCREDIBLY nice and paid to tow our car to Spokane and gave us a brand new loaner car for free! It was really fun and we had it for about 3 weeks until we had time to go pick up our car. So we packed up and drove over to Spokane and spent the night. We went to dinner at The Melting Pot and had a great time. It was so delicious! The next day we drove to Coeur d'Alene to go to a breakfast spot we saw in Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. We went for the pecan rolls, literally as big as your head, but they were out! Their next batch wasn't going to be ready for awhile and we debated hanging out and waiting but decided we just wanted to get home. So we'll have to plan another trip that takes us through there so we can get one. We made it home and have spent our vacation relaxing and hanging out at home. It's been so wonderful! We had a couple days of pajama wearing before we were ready to emerge into the world again. For New Year's Eve, we had a party with some friends. We had a bacon themed party and called it Bacon Bitz! It was great. Everybody was very creative with their bacon dishes.

Here is a picture of the baked brie I made. It had bacon and caramelized onions under the crust.


We still have one more day off before we go back to work and about a week or so before we go back to school. I'm glad I have another 10 days before school starts; I'm not quite ready yet! I still feel like I'm recovering so hopefully I'll be able to turn it around by the time school starts again!

2011 was a great year for us full of changes and adventures and 2012 should be another great year! It should bring Henry's degree to our family and I'm sure there will be many more fun adventures!

Happy New Year from the Bitzes!

Summer Catch Up

It seems like I am always playing catch up on this blog!

Henry and I both had the summer off from school. We thought it was going to be a nice relaxing summer where we could work on a lot of house projects and just enjoy a summer in Bozeman...we were wrong. :)

After we finished our landscaping project described in the previous post, we embarked on a series of travels and adventures! The next weekend we went up to Henry's parents. His sister had recently gotten engaged and her fiance is from Germany and she decided to move to Germany! So we went up there to spend some time with the family before she took off. His parents had a BBQ so a bunch of family members could visit with Kat before she left. It was a lot of fun and we got to see people we hadn't seen since our wedding and some Bitzes that I had never met before! It was great to spend time together and we had a wonderful time. Siri ran around on the farm from 7 am until midnight (not exaggerating) and he slept for about three days after that!

The next weekend was Fourth of July weekend and we decided to make it a four day weekend and drive to Boise to visit my mom. We left on Thursday after work and after a later than expected start and an idiotic move on our part (that involved us going one way, realizing we had gone the wrong way, turning around and going a different way, and then realizing the first way would have taken us to the same place and saved time) we made it to Boise at about 2 am! We had a great three day visit with my mom and we got to go to the Basque museum in Boise and had a late lunch at a Basque restaurant. I didn't think I was that hungry but when Henry's lamb french dip arrived, I managed to work up an appetite and commandeer half his sandwich. :) I have such a generous husband. We drove back to Bozeman on the Fourth and made it home in time for Siri to freak out about the fireworks. I remembered that I had a bottle of children's Benadryl and gave him a dose of that. I can't believe I didn't think of that before! Within about 15 minutes, he was asleep and not bothered by the fireworks at all! I will definitely be remembering that for next year, and every year to come!

Mom and I at the Basque restaurant - Leku Ona


The following Saturday, (so...four days later!) we left on a jet plane to go visit my Dad and Karen in Sacramento for a week. We had a wonderful trip that was full of adventure! On Sunday, we got to go on a sailplane ride that Henry and I had gotten as a gift for our birthdays from Dad and Karen. It was so amazing! We had a great time. Henry was a little nervous about it (I was not) but he ended up having a wonderful time. His favorite story about it was me asking the pilot what kind of maneuvers the glider could do. Henry shot me a pretty dirty look but he liked it. The pilot took us through a few dives - some straight down and one on each side of the plane. It was AWESOME! Then we had a little family gathering so we could spend some extra time together. On Monday we relaxed and Karen and I got pedicures, Tuesday consisted of going to the water park with my three nieces and nephew (so fun!), on Wednesday night we got to go to "The Producers" (laughed so hard I cried), Thursday was the California State Fair, on Friday we saw the last Harry Potter movie and Saturday consisted of a family BBQ with a lot of people! My aunt, uncle and cousin from Reno came down as well as another aunt and cousin who I hadn't seen in a really long time! It was so fun catching up with everyone and getting to spend the day together. The next day we went home to Bozeman, where it was hotter than it had been in Sacramento! It was in the 80s all week and when we got back to Bozeman, it was in the high 90s. I was not a happy camper.

Henry, me, Karen and Dad at the sailplane place.


The sailplane we rode in!


While we were in Sacramento, I was notified that I was accepted into the MSU M.A. English program for this fall. I had also been offered a Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) which was incredibly flattering since typically you have to apply for those by a March 1st deadline. I had applied for the July 1st admission deadline and had not requested a GTA since I was applying far past that deadline. Well, they offered me one anyway! I was incredibly excited since a GTA consists of teaching a freshman writing class, free tuition and a healthy stipend. Unfortunately, they don't allow you to work full time and do a GTA so I was not allowed to accept it. The stipend was not enough to replace my job income so we decided to not go bankrupt and turn down the GTA. I was incredibly disappointed (much more than I thought I would be) but I'm sure I'll have other opportunities like this (hopefully!).

After four weekends of travel in a row, we were hoping to have a nice relaxing weekend at home but it was not to be. It was Crazy Days in Bozeman (one of my favorite weekends of the year) and all the stores downtown put a bunch of stuff out on the sidewalk and have Crazy deals and sales! I was so excited for us to go down there but Henry got called out to work and had to go out to Big Sky (about an hour away, one way). So Siri and I headed down town and got some great deals. Siri was incredibly well behaved and my shopping wore him out! Poor Henry was exhausted so our weekend wasn't as relaxing as we hoped it would be but I'm glad I got to go down to Crazy Days even though Henry couldn't go with me.

The next weekend, Henry's parents came down to visit us! We had a lot of fun and it was great spending time with them. We went out to a local "You Pick" farm and picked strawberries and then we headed off to the farmer's market. Henry and I had never been to this one before. We were so pleasantly surprised! We bought a few things and vowed to come back the next weekend. We have gone back every Saturday since! I'm actually able to do most of my grocery shopping there and I LOVE it! Everything is local and most of it is spray free! The prices are great, especially for (non-certified) organic food. I am going to be incredibly sad when it ends - we only have three more weekends left! I found a beef vendor (he wasn't hard to find, it's the first stall when you walk in) who sells grass fed, no hormone, no antibiotic beef and his prices are ridiculous (in a good way). Also, the meat is incredibly tasty.

The last couple weekends we have been able to spend at home doing our own thing which is pretty nice. We've been hitting the farmer's market, hanging out at home, working on a few house projects and basically just enjoying the free time we have before school starts up again for both of us on August 29th. My work has been picking up in busyness and we're getting ready for all the students to arrive this Wednesday! It's been a great summer! It was different than we had originally thought it would be but it has been SO MUCH FUN! We've loved having the opportunity to visit so much family and it's been an incredible summer.

I really will try to update this more often - I know I say that all the time but I really want to keep up with it! Maybe I should set reminders on my phone or something....

Adventures in Landscaping....part 2

Today we redid some of the landscaping in our front yard. This post is called "Part 2" because in 2009, we did the landscaping in our front yard for the first time. However, we didn't have the best idea of what we liked and what to do so what we had done in 2009 had not aged well. Instead of using stones or mulch, we used soil pep. Which is just another way of saying soil. Which means that even with weed cloth underneath it, it really is still just chunky soil so when seeds land on top of it, they grow. Also, our grass was encroaching on our flower beds, helped by the soil pep.

So we decided to take up the soil pep and old weed cloth (which we hadn't done the best job with) and re-line the beds with brick instead of that black plastic tubing. We also had a big gap between our deck and the ground that looked scary and liked to grow weeds so we closed that off as well.

I forgot to take before pictures so I just have during and after but I'll try to explain it as best as I can.

This picture is during. We had taken up the soil pep and weed cloth. So for a before picture, imagine more dirt and weeds.


Here is my handsome husband building the brick wall for under the deck.


Also during. The brick border and wall being put in place.


I had to make a quick run to the store when we pulled up some weed cloth and found an ant's nest. It was icky. I was very excited that I found this all natural bug killer though. It actually worked really well! And it was made from lemon seed oil so it smelled really good after we sprayed it. And it is totally safe to use around animals. Unless they are bugs. Ha!



We are dog sitting Rowdy this weekend and he was exhausted by all the yard work!


Siri was also quite helpful.


We had to make a quick run back to the store because we needed more rocks.


And done! Here is the left side.


Here is the right side!


The whole project.


And from the other side so you can see the wall better.


Then we celebrated the completion of our hard work!


And then we took those two adorable dogs to the park! They swam for well over an hour and we tuckered them right out. It was their reward for being so patient and well behaved while we worked all day. And it was our reward to have two exhausted dogs that wouldn't cause us any trouble after a long day's work!


It was a hard day but a good day and we are so happy to have this big project behind us!

3rd Anniversary

Today Henry and I celebrated our third anniversary! I can't believe it has been three years since this:



In those three years we've honeymooned here:



Bought this:



Vacationed here:



And survived this:



Henry has been studying here:



and I started working and studying here:



We've enjoyed countless, precious moments with him:



and been woken up many times by him:



All that brings us to this:



A day to remember where we began, and look forward to where we're going.

Happy Anniversary to the best husband a girl could ever ask for!

Playing catch up...again.

I can't believe it's been 3.5 months since I've posted! Time has just been flying by. Henry and I finished busy semesters at school and we both have the summer off! Henry has been going to school for almost 2 years straight without a break so he is getting a much deserved long break from school. The plan for him is to go straight through until graduation after this summer so hopefully this break rejuvenates him and provides a much needed rest!

My school plans have taken a bit of a change. The closer I got to student teaching, the less I felt like teaching! It's not that I don't want to teach, it's just that I don't want to quit my job! I love my job and have such a great time doing it. I work with wonderful people, have great benefits and like what I do. In addition, I get free tuition....sooo...I decided to switch gears and get a Masters. I was back in an English class this last semester and I loved it SOOO much! It was my first time back in one since I graduated in 2004 (how has it already been 7 years!!!) and from the first week of the class, I started thinking about a Master's in English. A Master's would help me progress in my current job, and would allow me to teach at the college level if I wanted to do that. Did I mention free tuition? I have a really hard time passing up free tuition. I might just stay there and keep getting Master's and just rack up the degrees. :)

So after school ended in early May, I spent a few weeks preparing for the GRE which I took right before Memorial Day. I haven't received the written scores back yet but I got a 630 each on Math and Verbal. I have to say I was REALLY surprised. From my test preparation, I was not feeling very confident. Maybe the make the practice tests really hard on purpose. Although, I would love to see the video of me taking the test because there were definitely times where I had no idea what they were asking and was making faces and dramatic gestures. So I was truly surprised and happy when that 1260 popped up. I should know the written scores by this Friday and I'm hoping they're good too. I'm actually feeling a little more confident in those. Now I just need to finish the application process! I need to write my entrance essay and scrounge up a writing sample. My motivation to write an essay write now is non existent after being out of school for a month. Hopefully it shows up soon because the deadline is July 1!

Henry and I have lots of big projects and fun plans for the summer! We will be redoing some landscaping, drywalling our garage, and doing some organization projects inside the house. When we moved in and unpacked we kind of just put things anywhere and now things are getting a little chaotic. We went shopping today to plan out and pick out our new landscaping stuff and I am so excited to get it started!

We also have a very busy travel time coming up! We have a trip to the farm at the end of June, a trip to Boise over 4th of July and a trip to California in the middle of July. We have 4 weekends of travel in a row! That's big for us...we're homebodies. :)

So that's about it for now. I'll try to stay more current and take pictures of our fun adventures and projects this summer. In the meantime, here are some picture of a hike to the M that Siri and I took a couple weeks ago.

One of the views on the way down:


I had to climb over that rock formation.

Siri acting more like a happy mountain goat than a Labrador:

Frogs and Food!

This weekend, the local museum got a new exhibit called: Frogs! It's pretty cool. They have all kinds of information about frogs, how they breathe, what they eat, where they live, the challenges they are facing, etc. They also have all kinds of live frogs! It was really fun to go look at all the different kinds and get a few pictures.

This is an African Bullfrog. It's quite large and would startle me very much if I ever ran across one in the wild.

I can't remember what these are called but I thought they were cool.

I really liked the poisonous frogs – they were such cool colors and hopped around a lot. There were also some really cool frogs whose heads were shaped like leaves and their camouflage was amazing!

After the frog exhibit, we went to a planetarium show where we may have dozed off for a couple minutes. Not because it was boring, but we were reclined in a dark room looking at the stars. I like to tease Henry about it because he snored for a minute, but I can't give him too much grief because his snoring woke me up. (It was pretty quiet snoring – I don't think anyone else could have heard it over the noise of the show.)
After that, we went to an International Food Fair at MSU that was put on by the international students. It was very cool. It was set up in the style of a street bazaar. It did get pretty crowded and difficult to maneuver but the food was really good and we had fun. My favorite was Turkey who had baklava and Spain who had Tortilla de Patata and something else whose name I can't remember. It was like a Spanish bruschetta and it was delicious.

Walking into the Food Fair:

It was a great President's Day weekend!

New Car!

In January, Henry and I found a car to buy! We had been a one car family (not counting Henry's company truck that he drives to and from work) since we sold our truck last January. The alternator had gone out and so the truck sat in our driveway for four months without moving. We had contemplated selling it before but could never get up the guts to do it. We thought we would need it too much. Anyway, after four months of not using it we fixed the alternator and sold it so we wouldn't have the large payment any more. We have been pretty happy with the decision. We have only needed a truck one time in the course of that year and we were able to rent one from Uhaul for $20. Much less expensive than insuring and registering and paying for the truck all year! We had always had the idea that within a couple years we would buy a car that was more conducive to carrying Sirius and multiple people (more family friendly, if you will). Our other car is the Toyota Corolla which we love, but doesn't do well with carrying a wet, dirty, hairy Labrador.

Anyway, we had spent a lot of time looking at cars and deciding what we needed in a new vehicle. We decided on this:

It's a 2006 Lexus Rx330 and we are very happy with it. It is roomy and comfortable, has a large cargo area for Sirius and will be a great family car for the future. It also has AWD which makes my snowy commutes much easier (as do the heated seats).

We're very thankful for the circumstances that allowed us to buy this car and we're sure it will be a great car for our family for many years.