And Baby (puppy) Makes Three!!

*apparently some people have taken the original title the wrong way...so I had to modify it...*

It's official! Brandon and I are the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl. Her name is Lucy Marie Harvill, and she was born on July 14th, 2008-she is now just over 3 months old. The day we brought her home was the happiest day ever! Thats right, baby girl "Puggle" (at least that is what they told us that our gorgeous little mut is called.) We did a little research and found out that it is a Pug/Beagle mix-but whatever she is, she is ADORABLE! (I will post pictures at the end.) Lucy is very energetic, and loves to run and play and snuggle!! (which mommy loves) She loves to spend her days running around and chewing on her nylabone, and playing tug-o-war with Daddy and her Piggy, she loves to give kisses, and lots of them! Licking toes and ankles are among her hobbies-she purrs when she wants attention, and cries when she breaks her leg(s). Thats right! She BROKE her leg. Shortly after we brought the cute little furball home, she decided she wanted to learn to fly, and jumped from Daddy's arms. The vet confirmed the somber truth, she had broken her elbow. She came home with a bright pink cast, and hopped around on her remaining three legs. The little Gimpy got quite good at it, and was back to following us around just a few days later. Around this same time, Mommy was getting her ready for her surgery, and she decided to take a second flight. Thats right, she broke her OTHER leg! With plans already in order for a first surgery, she easily got a two-in-one to fix both of her broken elbows. She stayed the night at the puppy hospital, and is now safely home with her Mommy and Daddy, boy did we miss her nibbling on our toes! Now that she is recovering, we decided it would be a great time to share the news! (Yes Megan, remember when we dog-sat for our neighbor? Totally the inspiration, we loved that dog! But not as much as we love our Lucy!)

She is so excited to be home, and can't wait to meet her grandparents at Thanksgiving. We hope you enjoy her as much as we have, do and will for many years to come :D

Tagged by Ashley :)

Uh-Oh! Ashley tagged me...is there some unwritten rule that you have to fill it out?? Lol, but I will anyways- Love you Ash!
On this one, you have to give five answers to each of the questions and pass it on. To pass it on, you name them on your blog and you leave a comment notifying them on their blog.

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. I got baptized (almost 11 years ago)
2. Living in Utah
3. Throwing rocks at cars from the playground
4. Breaking little boys hearts. :P
5. Sharing a room with my sister!

5 things on my to-do list today:

1. Visiting Teaching
2. Work on next week's talk
3. Make Broccoli Cheese Soup
4. Change my sheets
5. Do the dishes :/ I hate doing the dishes.

5 snacks I enjoy:

1. Popcorn (even though I'm slightly allergic)
2. Chocolate, most any kind
3. Pumpkin Cookies
4. Twix
5. Chex mix at Christmas time

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:

1. Pay off debt, school and otherwise
2. Go to Paris
3. Invest half of it and let it grow
4. Pay off our parents debts
5. Build a dream house

5 places I have lived:

1. Logan, Utah
2. West Jordan, Utah
3. Preston, Idaho
4. Othello, Washington
5. Phoenix, Arizona

5 jobs I have had:

1. Ashton Financial Group, if you can call it a job...
2. Othello City Pool..the second most boring job of my life
3. Time Out Pizza- I really loved this job
4. Adams County Mosquito Control...interesting experience
5. iLearningGlobal...#1 most boring job ever.

5 people I tag:

1. Michelle
2. Danielle
3. Megan
4. Jenny
5. Monica

Ward Campout

Last weekend, (10th-11th) our ward had a campout at Canyon Lake, AZ about 45minutes from where we live. We weren't feeling the most adventureous, so we decided to just go up for the night and hang out and have some fun. The drive was a gorgeous one, though the ride itself was pretty rough. Tight turns up a steep mountain path, that quickly made Calley want to barf, charming, I know. Anyways, we drove through Saguaro dominated desert, and also passed a cool looking ghost-mining town. Also along the way, we discovered an interesting cactus that we had previously heard about-the Jumping Cholla- it was crazy to see it in real life, apparently if you get to close to the cactus, it will release it's prickly spines, with the appearance of having thrown them at you-(it also apparently hurts a bit)

-Jumping Cholla (pronounced CHOYA)

Other than the winding road, it was gorgeous-great views of the Superstition Mountains and Valley. We finally got there a little after 5pm, and the sun was starting to set, when Bro Kennedy, aka Chuck came by in his boat and persuaded us to go on a sunset cruise. We hopped in, not heeding the warnings of other ward members, who fully knew Chuck's boating reputation...haha luckily it was very nice, I think mostly because it was getting dark and was hard to see. After we got back to the campsite we helped our friends Terry and Michelle set up their camp, and their "Taj Mahal of tents" (according to Terry) It was pretty funny to see many of the men from the ward wander by and be amazed at the sheer size of the tent. We laughed, and suggested they start charging for tours. Anyhoo, we sat around and chatted and made smores until about 10pm, and decided that it was time to come home..so that was about as exciting as it got, UNTIL we were on our way home, and saw some pretty creepy creatures...
-Blonde and Desert Tarantulas

Brandon's Not So New Toy

So the week after we got here, we realized that we would not both be able to use the car, as a result, we bought a scooter for Brandon to ride back and forth to school. (Multiple times without sunscreen....see below) It works pretty well, only costs $4 bucks every week or so for him to drive, but now he thinks he wants a real motorcycle, so the kids on the street will stop laughing at him. Also once or twice right after we got it, Brandon got stuck in monsoon rains and showed up at the front door soaked to the bone...it was so hard not to just laugh at him... :)

Pictures

Here are a few pictures of our apartment, now that we are mostly settled in.

Chocolate-Ginger Cookies

Ok, So I know it's been almost a month since my last pathetic message, it can't even be catagorized as a blog. Anyways, I have a few things to share, and I'm starting with my favorite! :) This past weekend I made some cookies that I found on marthastewart.com they were amazing, and I ate most of them myself, but the ones I did leave for Brandon were eaten pretty quickly. If any of you want to try the recipe, here is the link: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/chocolate-ginger-cookies?lnc=5a79cf380e1dd010VgnVCM1000005b09a00aRCRD&rsc=cf_link I left out the fresh ginger, and substituted Maple Syrup for the molasses, since I didn't have either of them, and wasn't going to go get any! :) Here is how mine turned out!

Happy One-Month Anniversary!

Can you believe that it's been a month already?! Neither can we, but we are so excited and so loving life together!

Today, is a happy day!

Today I started my new job at iLearningGlobal! My official title is Customer Service Sales Manager. The Company is great, it is a start-up, so I get to grow with the business! It's actually located in Mesa, which is about a twenty-minute drive from here on a good day, so not too bad. Brandon took me at about 7:15 this morning, and picked me up around 5...since unfortunately we only have one car...but thats ok! We'll figure it out somehow ;) The real reason I am writing this post, is because I am sitting at our little make-shift desk in the bedroom next to the window, watching/listening to the rain and thunder and lighting. Oh how I love the monsoon rains. Sadly they seem only to occur after 8pm, but last well into the night :) The lightning is amazing, Brandon describes it as a lightbulb in the sky that is on, but flickering. It's constant, and lights up the entire sky! Every once in a while we will actually see a bolt, and they take up the entire sky! According the National Weather Service, our lovely rain is caused by the hurricanes that are causing grief in other parts of the country...but I love it. It is a chilly 64 degrees...really, we aren't even expecting mid-60's in November...and we have yet another flash-flood warning in effect. I could have told you that...by the ever growing puddles advancing on our patio...but that wont stop me from loving it! I will be sad when Monsoon season is over. I wish that you could experience what I am experiencing now. It's a great feeling :)
This is a satellite picture of the Phoenix Metro area...right now...we are in the lovely dark red blob on the left. :)

Pictures of our trip :)

Brandon and I Stopped in Salt Lake on the way, and spent a little time on Temple Square!



This was a full rainbow that we encountered in Southern Utah, it was one of two and beautiful!


This is Glen Canyon on the Utah-Arizona border, I love the colors!


This is one of my favorite palm trees, we found this one at the Mesa Temple :)


This is me and my new favorite, Prickly-Pear Cactus! :)

Together at last!

Brandon and I were married August 16th, in the Columbia River Temple in Richland, Washington. Today is our one week anniversary! :) We are finally getting settled into our new apartment, here in Phoenix. We live in a neighborhood called Ahwatukee, that seems to be relatively wealthy, we love our choice in apartments, and are even scoping out the housing just down the street! :) We are loving it to death! I am particularly fond of the Cactus, which we find everywhere we go! I also love the huge Palm Trees, and newly discovered giant limes at the Mesa Temple! Brandon says his favorite thing about Arizona is the fact that you can find a Taco Bell on nearly every block....of course! :) We also love the heat. Everyone thought we were crazy when we told them that we were coming to Arizona...but the climate is definitely growing on us..fast! We have had a fun few days running errands and exploring the Phoenix Metro area. Today we went to the temple, and then went to explore the ASU campus. Boy is it huge! Everything seems to be bigger here in Arizona...That is another thing that entertains Brandon..The "Huge Walmart" and "Huge McDonalds" and as I mentioned earlier the "Huge Limes!" lol You can tell that both of us are waay to used to the small-town way of living. We are excited to finally get to go to church tomorrow and meet new people. As of now our only "friends" are Amy, here at the apartments, and Mary, our insurance agent :P We are working on getting pictures of our apartment, so stay tuned!