Life of a Correctional Officer

This post is for the big bad Bossman!
Congrats to him, he made the Special Operations Response Team (S.O.R.T) at the prison. He will be flying to Oklahoma in a couple of weeks for training. He is very excited and I think he's kind of nervous for training (although he wont admit it). They pretty much spray you with OC (100x or so stronger then pepper spray) the whole time and make you run, do sit ups, etc, whilst your eyes are burning like hell itself. So congrats to Michael!

Also, the other day he had to take a "shank" off the prison premises because the "hot" trash (which no inmate EVER has contact with) had already been emptied for the night. Well he showed it to me and I insisted on taking a picture of it so I could blog about it. He didn't want me to, I don't know why, maybe because he thought I was being retarded, or silly (which I probably am) but frankly, I don't care. So here is the shank he brought home.

It's amazing what they think to do with everyday objects. I mean seriously, when was the last time you tweezed your eyebrows, looked at your tweezers and thought, ya know what, if I bend the sides out and sharpen it edges, I could really hurt someone with this. It's no wonder they're in prison.

Well off to try and clean my house. It is a wreck, as we all have been feeling like garbage lately. I cursed us the other day by saying, everyone I know is sick, I can't believe none of us have gotten anything. 2 days later... cough, cold, sore throat, fever, and everything else. Dang it you stinkin airborne illnesses!

Happy Birthday Michael!

Yes, his birthday was yesterday, but I was too busy, baking, cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, forcing my daughter to nap, and doing everything else a mom of 2 does!

As a Birthday tribute to him, I just wanted to post a few of the many reasons I love him!

He's one good looking guy!
The way he interacts with the girls is amazing. I love him even more when I see how much they love and adore him.
He does an amazing job at work and is praised by many.
He is a hard working which in turn, gives me the opportunity to stay home with the girls.
Because I can talk to him about anything, he is my best friend.
When he smiles you can't see his eyes, and I think it'd adorable. I swear he is an Asian man stuck in a white mans body.
Supports me in ALL of my endeavors.
Helps with chores.
Makes me laugh when I need it most.
Forgives me for my lack of patience and my many other downfalls.
Makes me feel beautiful.
He always calls on his way home from work and asks me how my day was.
Hardy ever complains!

There are SO many more reasons I love him, I could go on and on, but I wont (because Aubrie just woke up from her, WAY to short nap).

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Yay for Holly!

So Holly showed me where I could change my blog URL so I can keep all my posts. Now I just have to change the header and all that fun stuff. Hopefully I can get to that when my girls go down for a nap.

Thanks Holly!!

Just some cute pictures

Hailey loves to eat. So where better to shove herself into then the fridge. Weeeeirdo! I like this other one too, even though it is over exposed. I just think she looks so grown up in these.
And for the record Hayden, I do get Hailey dressed and out of those stinkin monkey jammies EVERYDAY! But she insists on putting them back on every nap time. ugh! Sorry about the the drool on Aubs chin, she's teething.
This last picture of Aubrie is one of my favorite yet! I just think she looks like a doll! But of course, I'm a bit biased.

A few snow days!

This first day she just went outside by herself for a half an hour. AubrieIt got really snowy for about a week. More snow then there has been since I lived here. Hailey LOVED playing in in. and I watched from the window.









If you make these next two pictures bigger you can see it snowing. The flakes were HUGE. And they were blowing completely horizontal. We had the biggest snow drifts everywhere.

A few days later I went outside with her and made snow balls and snow men. She loved throwing the snowballs and kicking them over. She even laid down in the snow and made snow angels. We too Aubs out with us for a while too but she wanted NOTHING to do with it. So instead, she sat inside and ate a rice cake while she watched us play. Silly girl!












While we enjoyed the snow while it lasted, I am glad to say that snow days are fewer and farther in between. I can't WAIT until spring! It actually hit the 50s the other day so we took the girls to the park and let them play. So nice to get out of the house! And yes you Arizonans, 50 was nice park weather for now! lol!

Tubby Time

Hailey got these music bath toys for Christmas, and Aubrie *LOVES* them. She just blows the whistle the whole time she's in the tub. I love the second picture because you can see her cheeks all puffed up from blowing. You can hear her playing it in the video. And I also thought it was funny when she fell over, who cares about videoing anymore! Hailey always pushes her down in the tub or tries to wash her hair. I have to keep a constant eye on them! {please excuse the fact that I so rudely told Hailey to not splash, I understand that is what a bath is for, but I am stingy about my camera!}

Finally, Pictures!

I finally uploaded all my 364 pictures onto my computer. Woohoo! So I'll do a separate thread for each set...

These first few are from when we went to California and visited with my other family, the Knees.

So, I really am NOT a paranoid person. I could careless if the world knows my name and the city I live in. But I've come to the realization that my husband works in a field that has evil evil people in it. He could say one wrong word, or gesture or face, and an inmate can have it out for him. And I'll admit it, it wouldn't be hard to find us. You just type my last name into google and it pops my blog up. I guess that's what I get for marrying someone with such a lame last name.
So because of all the murderers, child molesters, sex offenders in general, and assaulter's (what a weird word) that my husband will inevitably tick off (yes, my husband can be a jerk) I am changing my blog name.
This is where I need you. Yes, you. Please, help me come up with something to title my blog. My friends all have cute titles!! The Fab Five, Team Awesome, The Ing-Family, Our Bloggity-Blog, Adventures in the Land of LouLou (which by the way, has a CUTE new header, courtesy of yours truly). And I have Bollenberg. Blah Blah Blah. I mean, it's not even a cute last name. It's a Jewish last name! Not that there is anything wrong with being Jewish, but let's face it, I'm obviously not. My nose is completely normal sized. Lol, that was kind of mean. I dated a Jewish guy in high school, he was a cute guy, albeit his big nose.
Sooooo... creative people, HELP ME OUT PLEEEEEEASE.

Oh and for the record, I know that if wanted, the ex-convicts would find us, no matter. But I am just trying to make it a little harder for them. Come on, living a life of crime is just too easy, why not make them work a little?

Tag I'm it...

My friend Kara tagged me- thanks for the comment to tell me Kara :)

Quick Rules:
A: Each player answers the questions about themselves.
B: At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 Years Ago:
Ten years ago ... I was in 8th grade... weird. My "boyfriend" was Aaron Rucker, whom I hardly saw except at school, and would hide so I didn't have to talk to him. My best friend were Amanda Stanger and KC Port. I spent my weekends babysitting for my neighbor Joan. I really don't remember much about that year... I could tell you 9 years ago.

5 Things on My "To-Do" list for today:
1. Get off the computer
2. Make dinner
3. Throw another load of laundry in and fold the one on the floor
4. Go to sports authority with Michael and girls
5. Do some strength training


3 Of My Bad Habits

1.) Not getting out of bed until the absolute LAST minute, which likely results in a messy house from a roaming 2 year old.
2.) Not making my bed. Although I admit I have gotten MUCH better since we moved. I think I've made it more here in the 3 weeks we've been here, then I did for the 2 years in our old house.
3.) I get on the computer too much out of habit.

I Enjoy:
I enjoy just getting out of the house. No matter what I'm doing OUT of the house, as long as I'm not it in. Having one car makes you loathe your house. So any chance we get, I'm gone!

Snacks I Enjoy:

1.) 100 calorie recees snack pack from costco, yum!
2.) Churros... oh I miss them
3.) Dry sugary cereal


If I Were a Billionarie:
I'd be dreaming.

5 Places I've Lived:

1.) Indian Wells, CA
2.) Rexburg, ID
3.) Las Vegas, NV
4.) Mesa, AZ
5.) Kuna, ID


5 Jobs that I Have Had:

1. Employee at Gap
2. Nanny
3. Teacher at My Gym
4. Call Center
5. Day Care Worker


5 Things People Don't Know About Me:

1. I get embarrassed easily.
2. I get anxiety when talking to people about serious things.
3. I LOVE to check the mail. Even though its normally only bills
4. If I had finished college it would have been with an accounting degree
5. I don't care for the beach, I hate the sand!

5 People I Tag:
1. Alisa
2. Kate
3. Holly
4. Amanda
5. Heidi

More snow....

Ugh. We woke up to another 2 or so inches. Yuck. I'm so ready for spring. It's cold, ugly, and depressing. Being cooped up in this house is so not fun. I think we've gotten over 10 inches in the past 2 weeks. Hailey loves it though. She tells me its raining snowmen. Lol. I have pictures of her playing in it, but I'm not sure where my camera cord is... I'll look today. I have TONS of pictures to post.

Michael started weapons training today. He has class today, then tomorrow is practice shooting, then Friday he has to hit the target to get certified. He is trying out for S.O.R.T., Special Operations Response Team, at the prison. So when there is riots and such he gets called. It's a pretty tedious process, first he had to get his application approved by the warden (done) then get weapons certified (in process). Then is the physical test. 20 push ups in an allotted time, 35 sit ups in 2 minutes, 1.5 mile in hills in 15 minutes. After he passes that he will have a bunch of interviews and see if he is mentally able (eek, thats the step I'm worried about ;)). Then if he get gets accepted they send him to Oklahoma for a week for training. They are only accepting 6 applicants, so wish him luck!

Oh, I almost forgot to update on my weight loss. I lost 2 lbs this week. I only worked out once last week, so I was pleased. This week I have already worked out twice so hoping for a good week!! I'm hoping I'll be in the 130s by the end of this week!

Whoops

It was brought to my attention that my comments were turned off, so no one could comment on my blog. Sorry!!!
Thanks Joey, I look forward to that quote!