Happy Birthday Shawn!

Today is Shawn's 29Th birthday! I keep giving him a hard time for being an old man.
So I thought I would post a few things in honor of him.

~He is always so willing to help people out, even if he doesn't have time.

~He is a good family, and will make a GREAT Father someday.

~He can make me laugh when I'm having a bad day.

~I love that he is still involved with the Scouts (Order of the Arrow) after so long.

~I love that he has a fascination/determination to learn everything that he can.

~I love that he is so willing to listen to me vent when I've had a bad day at work.

~I love that he isn't afraid to try new things. He has become very handy around the house this way.

~I love that he loves me the way I am, no matter how imperfect I may be.

~I love that he puts up with my scary cooking.

~I love that he is my best friend, and can talk to him about anything.

~I love that he chose me to spend the rest of his life with.

~I love his love for the Church, and can't wait til we make it to the Temple.

~The list could go on and on, but I will spare you. I just want to let Shawn know that he is an amazing person, and my best friend. And I look forward to spending many more birthdays with the man I love :)

Annual Trip To Salt Lake City

Wow, I can't believe that it's that time again. Every December we take a weekend trip to Salt Lake for Shawn's Birthday/our Christmas to each other. We have been doing this since we were married, and it has become a fun little tradition for us. It's nice to get away and see the friends that live there.

This year weather wise was a little scary. We were dumb and didn't think to check the weather for Utah before we left. From about the Malad pass to just past Layton was horrible. We were only able to go about 45-55mph. Utah got pounded with snow. At last, we made it safe, and were ready to meet up with some old friends.

After awhile, we all decided that since the weather was nice, we would head down to Wendover, NV. It's about 90 minutes outside of Salt Lake. It was a beautiful drive there. So we decided to play some black jack for awhile, and we were having a great time. Our friend borrowed a $5 chip from us and turned it into $450! I have never seen anything like that. But in the end, he lost it all.

By the time we were ready to go, it was snowing. There had to be a good 2 inches on the ground. So we decided to take out chances to see if the storm lasted the whole way home....It did. It was a total white out storm. I swear in some parts there had to have been at lease 6 inches of snow on the ground. The only way we knew that we were on the road was by the road markers. For about the first hour or so, every 15 minutes we had to pull over to get the ice off the wipers so we could see. It turned the 90 minute drive into a 3 hour drive. I have never been in a storm that bad in my life. We finally made it back and were so releaved. Its amazing what saying a little prayer can do!

we finally made it to our Hotel around 3am, and we were so tired. When we got all settled in about about to fall asleep, but we could hear the guy in the next room snoring! it was so bad.

When we woke up on Sunday morning we checked the weather, and they was a warning for a bad storm, so we decided not the press our luck again and would leave Monday morning. The only problem with that....we didn't extra clothes. I alwaya knew there was a reason that my parents taught us to pack extra clothes. From now on that what I'm going to do.

We did make it back safely, and have decided that we are going to move this trip into September or October so we don't have to deal that this crazy weather.

Alittle Update

WOW, I can't believe that Ocotber is already gone. That means that the holiday season is just around the corner. Nothing to exciting is happening in our little family. Shawn is still pluggin' away at school and can't wait Christmas break to be here. I seriously don't know how he manages full time work/school/me. He is amazing. As for me, I'm getting one step closer to being able to go to school, which is pretty exciting! The house is coming along SLOW!!! we installed a new front door over the past weekend and I love it.
Shawn left last night for a week long training in Sandpoint, Idaho. From what I know, its pretty much almost to the Idaho/Canada border. He left last night(sunday 11/1 and should be home some time between friday-saturday 11/6-11/7). I hate it. It reminds me so much of when he was at P.O.S.T. Hopefully this week goes by really fast!

Well, thats it for now, or until something really exciting happens!

Glad I found out now, than later!

I have been seriously looking into going to school starting in January. I decided that its finally time to do something with my life, I can't work for my dad for forever. Well, my older sister has decided to do the same, so its been kinda nice to have someone to do all this work with. Yesturday we found out that being home schooled and going to a private school, nothing has been registered with the state. So, basicly, we have to get our GED's before we move on to the next step of growing up. So we are going to take some GED prep classes, so we can hopefully pass on our first try. Kinda in a way, its better to find out now than when we go to start classes. I'm just kinda bummed, I worked hard all through school for what, NOTHING! I guess its just a lesson learned.

Happy 3 Years To Us!

I can't believe that we have been married for 3 years! it has gone by way to fast. For our Anniversay, we both had the day off, so we decided to spend the day in Idaho Falls. It was nice to get away for the day and spend time together. I don't remeber the last time that we got to spend a WHOLE together. We went shopping, and then to dinner. It was a pretty relaxing day! and it ended with Iron Man, we are such nerds! :) I'm looking forward to many more and fun anniversaries!

What's Been Going On In The Land Of The Hunter's

Well nothing really to exciting has been going, hence the lack of blogging. We made it through Fair week, and let me tell you, I'm so happy that its over. Shawn had to work 12 hour days instead on 10 hour days. The whole we saw each other very little. Shawn also had the year anniversary to his motorcycle wreck. I can't believe it has already been a year. I still think about it everyday, and I'm so greatful that he made it out alive.

Here is alittle update on us both:

Shawn- Has started school again, but he never really had a break since he did summer school. He is taking 2 classes and one of them has the awesome Professor that is going to enter his paper for an award. So far, everything seems to be going smoothly, just ALOT of reading. I think he said for one class he has to read 8 books and for the other its like 3. I admire him so much, Working full time, going to school full time, remodeling the house, and spending time with me. He NEVER complains about what he has on his plate. I don't think that I could handle all that!

Jess- I have still been fighting with the Insurance companies over my accident. I can't believe that it's been 3 months and we still don't have anything resolved. I have been going to a Chiropractic twice a week, and the end of August we decided to get an MRI. We found out that I have 4 buldged discs in my neck, so now I'm going to a massage therapist too. I just hope that I get better soon. Soccer also started last week. Sometimes I wonder what I get myself into playing that sport, but I have alot of fun and love the people on my team. And I think I have decided to go back to school. Indiana State University (the school Shawn attends) has some online classes on the some different fields that I'm thinking about. So I could possibly start in the spring.

Thats about everything that going on here.

The Newest Member Of The Family

Well to make a long story short, the insurance company didn't total out my car. They fixed it. I was very happy about it, but what do you about it. A week after I got my car back my little sister's car was totalled by someone that ran a stop sign. My mom didn't want to take out another loan on a car, so I offered her to pay off my Mazda loan. She did, so it all worked out in the end!

This is our new baby! Hes a 2008 Toyota RAV4. It has everything that we would ever want or need. I love him so much!!! :)

Finally! Its over for the most part!

I'm so happy that I can finally talk about this:

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (AP) - The Bingham County Sheriff's Office says more than 6,700 marijuana plants have been seized from a farm near a Girl Scout Camp in eastern Idaho.
Bingham County Sheriff Dave Johnson said Thursday the plants had were worth about $20million and the raid is believed to be the largest bust on an outside pot farm in Idaho history.
Police say the plants were growing about 13 miles east of Blackfoot, in the Wolverine Canyon area.
Johnson says the investigation started last month after a hiker found the plants and authorities have since monitored the site with hidden surveillance cameras.

The Police Say the suspects are still on the loose.

I knew all about this, and I couldn't tell anyone. The night before he left to do this, he was telling me that the people that have been managing the farms have military issued style guns. That was the last thing that I needed to hear about.

Shawn considers himself so lucky to be a part of this. We were talking about it last night, and he was so pumped. I'm just happy that everyone/everything made it out okay :)

Hello, July, Where are you???

I can not believe that July is almost gone. I have no idea where the time went. Nothing to exciting is happening in our neck of the woods. I still don't have my car back! They said it could be as late as the second week of August before its mine again. Then its time to decide on what to do with it. We might sell/trade it in on something different. I'm still fighting with the guys insurance company, they are trying to tell me that I have 30 days to get all my medical taken care of, and after that its up to me. So hopefully something good comes out of it. I have been going to the doctor twice a week for the past 4 weeks to work on my whip lash, I really hope it goes away soon!

Shawn has been in summer school for the past 6 weeks. I can't believe how easy his class is. He just has to read a book and take 2 test on what he read. That's my kind of summer school. In June he was moved to the weekend team, so he will be working EVERY weekend until June 2010 :(

We are still working on our kitchen. I painted a couple of weeks ago, so all we really have to do is the back splash. Hopefully that gets done before Shawn goes back to school in the fall :)

Other than that, everything in our world is going great!

Car Accident 6/30/2009 :(

The other day, I was on my way home from work when I was hit by a truck. It all started when the guy was in the parking lot across the street from me. When he looked my direction, I wasn't in the road yet, then he checked the other way, well I had pulled out and was heading my merry little way. He pulled right out and nailed me! If I didn't slam on the gas, I think I would have been T-Boned. The biggest thing that ticks me off is, he was MAD AT ME! It didn't do a dang thing to his nice big truck! Here are some pictures, I'm hopping that the thing is just going to be totalled, 4 accidents, in 4 years is a little much for me!



If you look really close, you can see that the tire is turned out, we think that he ruined the tire axle.

As for Me, I'm doing okay. Just alittle banged up. My neck and back are pretty sore and stiff, but it could have been worse. I'm just not looking forward to finding a new car. I was excited that the Mazda was going to be paid off in 14 months!

Strongly Dis-liking Dis-respectful People

These past 8 months have been so hard on my Dad's business. You wouldn't believe how many times that we've had to almost close the doors for good. I hate to see the stress that it puts on my dad. He is the hardest working person I know. He shows up ready to work at 600:am and doesn't leave until 8-9:00pm.
There are a few people here that just tear him to shreds behind his back. They tell me what an idiot he is, and how much they hate him. He is the most generous boss I know. He goes beyond what any other person would do in this trade. They don't see the other side of things, like wondering how we are going to be able to pay our bills, pay their payroll. There has been times that we have to sit and scrape the bottom of the barrel to be able to provide for them.
I have one simple solution for them, if you hate my Dad (your boss) so much, quit! Go find another job. You know, everyone is replaceable!! I hope that they don't ask me for any favors, because they aren't getting anything from me.

Kitchen Before & After

Here are some pictures of our kitchen. we still need to paint and put up the black splash, so I will post pictures of that when we finish, hopefully sooner than later!

BEFORE:



AFTER:




I guess I haven't taken any pictures with the countertop and sink installed yet. I will post those soon!

New Kitchen Update

Well it's been about a week since we have had a fully working new kitchen! I have to say that I love it!!!! It was worth all the hard work, but I would if I did it again, I would plan out better, so we wouldn't have to have everything done in 2 weeks. I really want to post pictures, but we still haven't put up the backsplash or painted, but maybe I will do it anyway.

Depressed :(

I don't know about anyone else, but this rain is really starting to take it's toll on me. It's been 11 straight day of nothing but rain here, and I'm so sick of it. I really hope that summer will finally decide to show up sooner than later!

Remembering a Soldier, but more importantly a Friend

This past week has been a hard one for me. On May 27, 2009, Jonathan 'Bryce' Millward, a good friend of mine was killed in a helicopter crash in Hawaii. He was stationed there waiting for deployement to Iraq this fall. I have spent hours and hours trying to figure out why it had to happen to him. And the only thing that I can come up with is that God needs him for something greater on the other side. I only knew Bryce for 6 short years, but he will never know what a difference he made in my life. He was a great example of how we all should live our lives. When I first joined the Church he was in my home ward. He never once questioned or thought different of me and welcomed me into his group of friends with open arms.


We had a lot of good times, like driving around town late at night with the windows rolled down blasting The Cure and singing at the top of our lungs. Whenever we'd play night games, it always ended up involving the cops. Many night swimming trips with little kids floaties. Always playing like we were Harry Carry from SNL. "Hey if the Moon was made out of cheese, would you eat it"? "I know I would". Or all the countless hours listening to him play music around the bon fire. I would try and make to every concert his band had, cause it was always a good time. I still listen to their CD for hours. He was an amazing artist. The last time that I saw him, was right before my wedding, I will never forget the conversation that we had that night. My biggest regret is, I found him on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, and I never wrote to see how he was doing. I didn't want to bother him, and was planning on doing it this week. I should have never taken our friendship for granted.


He will truly be missed, and I know that I will see him again someday. The world has lost a Hero, and Heaven has gained an Angel.

Here is a link to the news story in Hawaii
http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/17917/40/

Here is a link to youtube, some friends put this together
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIG9D4ZXio8

HELP!!!

I really want to be able to see when people update their blogs! I can't figure out how to do it! If anyone knows how, I would be very greatful to know how!!! :)


Thanks Ladies,
Jess

The Attack Of The 3 Barrel

So today is a beautiful day, and I decided to get all "Dolled Up" So I was getting ready and had an idea to use my 3 barrel curling iron that I haven't used forever. Everything was fine and dandy until I saw a section that I didn't like the way that it turned out, so I tried to re-do it, and you'll never guess what happened! It burnt my hair completely off! and the bad thing about it is, its right in front of my face. All day I have smelt burnt hair. I have no idea how/why it happened. I guess that the 3 barrel will be locked up for a long time.

The End Of The Semester...And We Made It Out Alive!!!

Shawn just finished he first semester of school, and was at the top of his classes!!! :) it will be so nice to finally had my husband back. He has this whole month off, and then starts summer school sometime in June. I still don't understand why people would want to take classes in the summer. If everything goes as planned he will graduate in the winter of 2010.

Since he has this whole month off, we decided that instead of taking a vacation this year, we're going to remodel our kitchen over Memorial Day Week (May 22-31). We are hoping to get everything done in about a 2 week time frame. We both took 10 days off of work, and we hope that is enough. It should be pretty easy, we pretty much already have everything ready to go. I will make sure to post before/after pictures!

Bursting at the Seams!!!!

I have some very exciting news.....No we haven't jumped on the baby wagon yet, that will probably have to wait atlease 2-5 years. Hopefully sooner than later though. This post is to brag about Shawn. First off, I just want to say that he is VERY TALENTED and can do anything that he puts his mind to. He is just finishing his first semester of Grad school and was stressing out about a lit review that he turned in this week. Well he got an email from the class professor, and it was ALL GOOD NEWS! He was congatulating him on the paper, and went on the say that he would be honored to use Shawn's paper for reference for future students! and the good news doesn't stop there! He wanted to know if he (The Professor) could submit it in a writting award thing that the college does every year. Shawn could end up winning 1,000-1,500 for his work! We are both very excited and know that all his hard work is paying off! We won't find anything out for awhile, the awards aren't held until next February 2010! but I will keep everyone posted!

Thanks for letting me brag for a bit. Thats the most exciting news we have had for awile! :)

Problem Wall

I have a problem. We built this wall a few months ago, and I have no idea what to do with it. Do I just leave it the way it is (BORING) or do I hang pictures? and if so, what kind of pictures? I'm not very good in the decorating department, so I'm open for any suggestions! Thanks guys!

Very Frustrating....

The past few weeks have been VERY FRUSTRATING for me. First off, back in the end of December we started working on re-financing our home, we got everything ready and should have been done with the whole thing in 2-3 weeks tops. Well fast forward 3 1/2 month, never received a phone call or anything from the lady that was in charge of it. I just thought that there was a ton of people in front of us. we finally got ahold of her, and she told us "Oh, I put that on the back burner, sorry about that, I will get it taken care of right away." Well we went in on the 18th of March with every kind of paper that she needed. She told us that everything looked great and you shouldn't have a problem closing on the 31st of March, so don't pay April's house payment. Well, the 31st came and went, she wouldn't call us back, or she was ALWAYS out of the office. I talked to her on monday (4/6/09) and she said that "Everything looks awesome and we should close on Tuesday or Wednesday". I would like to know, Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, next month, or sometime next year. Our payment is going to late on the 15th. I don't know if I should send the payment off or wait to see what happens. I would go to someone else, but I really dont want our credit pulled again. I heard its bad to have you credit ran twice in 6 months. I just wonder how many other people she has been doing this too.

Then a couple of weeks ago, Shawn & I decided to upgrade our cell phones. we went in and it seriously took us like 2 hours to decide on the ones that we wanted. We decided to drop half our minutes because everyone we know has verizon so we talk for free. Well, I just got our statement in the mail and they are charging us 50 dollars for looking (not buying) ringtones. I guess with our old plan it would just take away minutes instead of charaging money. Well the people at the Verizon store failed to tell us that. So now we have to deal with that.

I swear, its one thing after another, thanks for letting me vent. I feel much better :)

Soccer Season Again

I can't believe that it's that time again. Soccer is in full motion! We had our first game tonight, and man I gotta tell ya, I can already fell it. my whole body hurts! I had a blast, I love the team that I play on, we always have a good time win or lose. I had a goal that after the fall season last year that I was going to go to the gym, and stay in shape, I was in good shape after playing sports non-stop for 7 months. But the laziness set in and I NEVER made it to the gym :( I need to start going at 6 a.m. Its to hard to try and go after working a long day. Well, wish us luck for the season! I can't wait to get out there and kick some butt, hopefully I don't kick myself in the face with the ball again!!!! LOL

An Other Month Gone By....

I can't believe that an other month is almost gone. Nothing to exciting has been going on here. we've just been busy getting our taxes done, and about the most exciting thing is we are re-financing our home. We went from 6.25% to 4.875% interest rate. We will save about $150.00 month on a house payment and even pulled money out so we could re-do the kitchen! So hopefully that will be ou big project over the summer.
Soccer starts in about 1 1/2 weeks, so I'm sure I will have some stories to tell about that. I just hope that the weather will warm up in time. Who am I kidding, we ALWAYS play soccer when its freezing!

25....And Half Way Over The Hill

Well, I'm 25 now, and man, I have to tell you that I'm so OLD! This is the first Birthday that I have actually been freaking out about. I don't know why, age is just a number, but I'm just having a hard time with it. Maybe because when my mom was 25 she had 4 kids, and had been married for 7 years. I just feel like that I haven't done anything with my life yet. Shawn says that I'm crazy, that I have a whole life a head of me. Maybe hes right, I decided that after he finishes school (if he ever decides he can only learn so much j/k), its my turn. I haven't decided what I want to go into yet, but I still have a year and a half to make up my mind. Maybe I am crazy, age is just a number and you are only as old as you feel!!! thats good for me cause I still feel like I'm 18!! :)

Some Home Projects!

I know, I know, I have been slow on the posting! I can't believe how fast these months fly by! This post is going to be mostly pictures of what we have been up to since the first of the year....I can't wait until it starts to warm up so we can work on the outside of the house! I will try my best to explain the pictures as they go....I hope that you all enjoy!!! :)

We decided that we didn't want to put up the iron railing that was there when we moved in, so Shawn built a half wall.

Here is the wall all sheetrocked and ready to be textured

And the texturing begans......Shawn did it ALL by hand, as I sat back and watched with amazement to whole time!


And here is the new paint color, I'm still alittle iffy about it, but I think that it will all turn out when we get the trim and new carpet in.





And than, we wanted to replace a couple of light fixtures in our bedroom. The one's that were there only worked half the time, so my brother Mark was nice enough and made the new ones for us! I love them!



Thats whats new so far, I'll keep you all updated if anything exciting happens here in the Hunter Household :)

February 1st

February 1st is a very special day for me, and will be for the rest of my life. It was on this day, 6 years ago (2003) that I became a member of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. That day has forever changed my life. I feel so blessed to have the gospel in my life. And one day make it through the Temple. My only regret is not having the support from my family when I was going through the whole process, from the time of taking the discussions to the baptism they were always making fun, and never taking it serious. One of the hardest things was getting batized without any of them knowing. But I'm a strong enought person to know what I did was right, and will be very blessed for it.

January Blogging

Wow! I can't believe that January is pretty much over with! I have no idea where time goes. But thats okay, I'm not a big fan of January and the cold weather. We have been very busy this month, Shawn started school on the 12th, and so far he loves it. We finished the half wall that we built in the entry way/living room. Than sanded all the exsisting walls in the living room, textured, primed, and painted. I promise that I will get back to the swing of blogging and post pics soon!

I hope that this new year is treating everyone great so far!

2008 A Year In Review

I can't believe that 2008 is already done and over with. It went by so fast! Here is alittle bit of what we were up to in 2008:

January: We really didn't do anything to exciting. We finished the guest bathroom, and it turned out better than I hoped for.

February: I turned a year older, and nothing to exciting to report.

March: I ventured out on my own, and played Soccer without Shawn with all his friends (I guess that they are my friends too now that we are married). Let me tell you, soccer is more enjoyable when Shawn isn't there stressing me out.

April: We planned out what we were going to do to our backyard. We decided to build a re-taining wall, and lay sod. After hours & hours of moving dirt we finally had everything the way we wanted it.

May: We built the wall and laid the sod, if we could do it over again, we'd pay someone else to do it. I'd be happy if I NEVER have to pick up a Landscaping brick again!

June: Softball was in full swing, and I was going strong. I love summertime! I had such a blast playing ball and look forward to it every year! Shawn also finished school, and was very excited to have a great summer break.

July: Blew by with a blink of an eye. we were both very busy with work, and everything that was going on in our life. Not really much happened that I can remember.

August: The end of Softball, and the start of the fall soccer league. Shawn didn't get to play cause it didn't work out with his work shedule, so I was on my own again! Labour Day weekend (the end of august) is always a good time with the Blackfoot State Fair. Shawn was hit by a dunk driver while he was on his motorcycle on the way to work. he was so lucky he walked away with a few bumps and bruises. That day has FOREVER changed our lives.

September: After a hectic summer we decided that we needed a vacation. So we went to Portland/Seattle. It was just what we needed! Portland is an awesome city, I wouldn't mind living there. While in Seattle we were able to go to an Seattle Mariners game. We had such blast, I was just excited because it was Shawn's first MLB game, and I got to share that with him.

October: Soccer finally ended for the year, and let me tell you, that is the BEST workout ever! Other than that nothing really speaical happened that I can remember.

November: Nothing too much to report. After months & months of waiting, we finally found out that Shawn was accepted to Indiana State Unversity's Graduate program. We are both very excited to see what the new school year brings!

December: Shawn turned 28 this month! I keep telling him that he is turning into an old man. It's been so cold outside that we have decided to work on the inside of our house. We built a half wall in the living room, sanded, texured, and primed all the walls. so that is what we are working on now. I will post pics when we are done.

I hope that everyone's year treated them as good as it treated us! Have a happy and safe new year!!