You Have Arrived At Your Destination

Justin and I went to deliver trailers again for his work last week and this time it was to a base out in Fallon, Nevada. (We didn't actually deliver to that base, it's highly secured, so we delivered to a small group from the base about 40 miles before you get to Fallon.)
To get there, we ended up driving to Wendover, down to Ely, through Eureka and Austin and over to Fallon. We left Thursday morning at 2 am and got home Friday afternoon around 3:30. It was sort of last minute notice so it was really nice that my parents were so willing to keep Mya for us. Every trip we've gone on to deliver these trailers we've had something happen to make it memorable...whether it took us 18 hours just to get out of Utah due to a snow storm or picking up a hitch-hiker (he wasn't really a hitch-hiker but was a guy who Justin met at a gas station and needed to get home quick). This trip definitely had it's moments, too, that made it "interesting" and memorable.

The Gas Light - We almost ran out of gas 3 times! 1 - Before Wendover 2- Before Ely and 3 - Before Fallon. When we drove through Tooele, we still had half a tank and figured that should be plenty to get to Wendover. But that last half dropped so fast and pretty soon we could see the Wendover lights in the distance and the gast light was on. It seemed to take forever to get to Wendover. You could see the lights from so far away that we'd drive 5 or 10 minutes and it still seemed just as far away. We made it though with the needle below E. After Wendover there were NO towns or gas stations between there and Ely. Again, the gas light came on and we had no idea how far away Ely was. We were lucky again and didn't have to walk in the middle of the night and were able to make it to the next town. At Ely, we decided to buy a gas can and had to try 2 different gas stations before we found one and filled that up. The third time wasn't as big of a deal to me. We had the 5 trailers delivered by then and were just pulling an empty trailer and had the small gas can with us. But still, towns were so far apart from each other that it seemed a little ridiculous that we were almost running out between towns.

The Chosen Route - There were a few ways we could have gone to get there. Since we couldn't go faster than 60 mph, Justin decided it would be better to go the shortest distance. We had no idea until this trip that there were so many mountains in Nevada! I thought it was all flat and dessert, but if you go right through the middle, it is mountain after mountain...plus a lot of fog to add to that and curvy roads. Normally fog doesn't bother me, but it does when you're pulling a trailer that has 5 other trailers on top of it. When we got to Eureka, the lady at the gas station (she's from Salt Lake but moved out there) asked Justin where we were from and where we were going then asked "Why did you come THIS way?" We ended up going home the way she told us to and it was so much better! Hardly any hills and the roads were straight!

Check Engine Light - Right after we left Eureka, the check engine light came on. The next town (Austin) was so far away and so we just kept driving hoping everything would be okay. To top it off, we had no signal with our phones, so if we did break down, we wouldn't be able to call anyone and there were no cars on the road. We'd go so far in between passing a car on this road! So I was way nervous and read about the check engine light and we were hoping it just came on because of emission problems...but it made us feel better when it said that you're usually okay to keep driving the truck around, but to just get it to the dealer as soon as possible to get it checked out. We were way relieved when the light went off after we filled up with gas at the next town...so we're thinking it had to do with the emissions...like bad gas or something.

The Brakes - There was one really steep mountain we drove down and at the bottom of the mountain was Austin. The way they set up the town was weird - the town was still on the mountain and not at the bottom where it's flat. But after that mountain, the brakes were so wet and hot that when Justin went to stop, we drove right past the gas station and had to turn around. It was only bad for a little bit, but not scary bad, it just took us a lot longer to stop. That town also plowed their snow to the middle of the road instead of off of the road, so we actually had to pass the first gas station since there was so much snow piled up in the middle of the road and we wouldn't have been able to cross without having problems.

You Have Arrived At Your Destination - This was the funniest part of the trip. After Austin, our next stop would be where we needed to drop off the trailers. The lady at the Austin gas station told us that the base would be on the left side of the road right before we got into Fallon. So that's what we watched for. We were seriously driving through this valley and it was just lots of sage brush and just flat, so you could see out really far. Then out a ways there were mountains but they were pretty far out there. Well we were probably about half-way through the valley part (where we see nothing but sage brush) and the GPS said, "In point nine miles, you will have arrived at your destination." We started wondering if she said another number before the point nine because there was nothing within a mile of us. Pretty soon, the GPS said, "You have arrived at your destination." So we stopped and started looking around. On the right side of the road there was a mail box and a dirt road that went out a ways. But we were pretty confused since the lady at the gas station said it would be on the left side of the road. Luckily, we had a signal again (which we hadn't had one for very long) and Justin was able to call the place to see if we were there. We were. We just drove down that dirt road for a little while until we got to the gate to get on that small secured area to deliver the trailers. (The actual main base in Fallon is on the left side of the road - so that lady did know what she was talking about.)

After that, the trip went really well. We were both sick with colds and Justin did lose his voice before we got to Wendover, so most of the time I was carrying on a conversation with myself and had to answer or make most of the phone calls for Justin. He did have enough of a voice for delivering the trailers though. We ended up continuing driving to Fallon, then up to I-80, then straight home from there. We stopped at Winnemucca and stayed the night. After Justin checked us in at the hotel, we grabbed our bags and went to the room. As we were opening the door, someone from the inside of the room started opening the door and it was the guy in front of Justin in line to get a room. They had assigned us both the same room. So we got that taken care of then went and took a couple hour nap. We were going to go to dinner, but were so tired we just ordered pizza to get delivered to our room then went back to bed for the rest of the night. The next morning, Justin had a text on his phone from a guy he works with that said "You're double parked." So Justin text him to see where he was at and he had driven through Winnemucca to get gas on his way to California and noticed our truck and trailer. It was really funny.

It was actually really nice to get away and spend a lot of time together. Most of the trip went really good, but we just had those few moments that made it something to laugh at and remember!

My Poor Little Girl!

Mya's been sick this past week and at first I thought it was her allergies. But each day it was getting so much worse, so last night we took her to the doctor's. She kept putting her fingers in her ears the last two days and I wanted them to check it out along with all of her other symptoms (runny nose, cough, watery eyes - sometimes swollen, not eating...) and we found out that she has a viral infection that's been going around but that caused fluid build up in her ear and so she has a small ear infection in her left ear! I feel so bad for her. We got her some amoxicillin so her ear should stop bugging her by tomorrow and she seems to have so much energy back already! She's never had an ear infection before. But we'll just keep her humidifier going and hope she gets over it soon!

Plumbing...Who Knew?

So I came across this blog today called Or So She Says and after reading down a couple of posts, found this post on plumbing. Now, I'm one of those girls that I rely on my husband a lot to do all of the guy stuff around the house. Some women are do-it-themselves kind of girls, but I am really good at just asking Justin to do it. A while ago (I don't want to put him on the spot, but it was probably almost a year ago), I told Justin that I noticed our bathroom sink was getting backed up and asked him if he would clean the drain out. The reason he hasn't done it up to this point is because (and I don't blame him) it's disgusting! There's a weird smell from everything rotting in there and all of the hair looks like a dead rat. So when I saw this girl's post about unclogging your sink, I decided that I could do that. It didn't even require any tools! So I did what she explained and it ended up being way easy and we now have a hair-free drain! I'm pretty proud of myself!

Valentine's Day

We had so much fun on Valentine's Day! It seriously was just a relaxing, family day. Before church, we just had our gifts for each other sitting out. This was Mya's immediate reaction when she looked in her bag then looked at me.
She was so excited! We had gotten her play dough and a belt (and a little chocolate, of course). She was so excited to play with her play dough and wear her belt that day...but she just had to wait until after church.

Justin got me some roses and a box of chocolates. I am a sucker for flowers! I love them and I love getting traditional red roses for Valentine's Day! They're so gorgeous! At first when I saw the chocolates, I thought...That's a nice thought, but haven't we been married for over 3 years...you'd think he'd know by now that I really don't like chocolates...Oh, but he knows and he did good. They weren't chocolates, just Hershey's Kisses and Hugs in a box. Thanks Love!

For Justin this year I decided to go cheesy. I had seen some ideas on other blogs and did some of those and combined them with some of my own. I got some treats that Justin likes and did cheesy sayings along with going back to Elementary and doing the Be Mine stuff. It was fun and I think Justin secretly likes the cheesy stuff, too.

That day we played as a family (play dough, went on a walk) and watched a couple of movies. Then I made a nice dinner that night. We had Las Vegas Steaks (you get them at Don's Meats) and they're wrapped in Bacon and pre-seasoned - so good, but they're huge so we split one and had plenty! We had garlic mashed potatoes, garlic bread, caramelized carrots, chocolate covered strawberries and raspberry slush (just blend raspberry sherbet and sprite together). It was so good and such a great Valentine's Day!

Snow!

There hasn't been much snow lately and I sort of feel guilty for not taking Mya out to play in it much this year. It snowed yesterday and I felt really bad that I couldn't take her out to play in it since we had to go to work. It was melted by noon so there was no playing in it that night. So when we woke up this morning to a little snow again, Mya talked about going out in it. I dropped what I was doing to get her bundled up. We were probably out there for about an hour and it was mostly melted by the time we were done...but it was still fun!

Good Night!

Oh the joys of pregnancy! For the most part, I like being pregnant. I like feeling the baby move, and it's fun once you get past the "is she fat or pregnant" stage. But pregnancy and I have not been getting along the last few nights! I'm a stomach sleeper...and with only 3 months left, it's definitely not comfortable to sleep on my stomach. My second choice would be my back-but you can't sleep on your back when you're pregnant. So I'm left to either of my sides, but that's not the most comfortable with a huge belly weighing you down in front. Last night, I kept tossing and turning trying to get comfortable, and finally when I figured it has to be 5 or 6, I got up to go to the bathroom, only to realize it wasn't even 3 yet! So I get a pillow to put between my legs and try to fall back to sleep. But no, how fun, I start getting heartburn, then the baby starts moving, like a twitching eye. Just enough to remind you it's there and consistant enough to bug you and keep your mind from falling asleep. Then Justin...poor Justin has to deal with me as I do this throughout the night. Two nights ago I mauled him trying to get comfortable. I'd wake up and my leg would be across him or my head would be on his shoulder. Once I'd wake up, I'd move over, but wake up an hour or two later doing the same thing. Two nights ago, he dealt with it, but I don't blame him for not wanting me to even touch him last night. At one point, I saw him run his hand down the middle of the bed to make sure I wasn't "crossing the line." Another point, my knee was touching him so he pushed it away. It doesn't even bother me...actually I'm laughing right now...it's like we're little kids who need to stay on their side of the couch and if your toe passes the line, then "I'm getting Mom." But holy cow, it will be nice when I can get my body used to sleeping on it's side so the only thing I have to deal with again is waking up to pee.

Out With The Old...Period

Our afternoons are pretty quiet lately. Now where I only work a day and a half each week, it's just me and Mya at home doing whatever a lot. So at 3:30 in the afternoon, I'm kind of surprised when I hear a loud banging on our door and no cars are in our driveway. I tell Mya to be quiet as I check the peep hole. Just in case it's someone I don't know, I'm not obligated to open the door if they don't know we're home. As I look out, I see a guy all dressed in black, including a black hat, standing not only at the bottom of our stairs, but kind of half way hid behind our garage, so I couldn't see him very well. My heart starts racing. Who is this guy snooping around our house dressed in kind of scary clothes? As I stare at him a little longer, I realize, it sort of looks like a cop uniform. So I think, well, if it's someone bad, I have time to hurry and close my door where he's at the bottom of the stairs. So, I unlock the door, and open it, to find a cop. What are the cops doing at our house???? He then explains to me they received a 911 phone call from our house and wanted to make sure everything was okay. I explain to him that we don't have a home line. He said the call was from a cell phone. Okay....I start thinking...Mya hasn't been near my phone. She just woke up from a nap and my phone was out of her reach. BUT, she was playing with our old phones that no longer have service. I explained that to him that she has one of our old phones that maybe she could have called? He told me that they heard a little kid talking on the other end and newer cell phones will dial 911 even if out of service. I apologized, assured him that we were okay and he left. Not our typical afternoon...but we are definitely done letting Mya play with our old phones.

Really?...24 Already?

I had a great birthday this year! Since it was on Sunday, we did a lot for it on Saturday...so it was like 2 days for my birthday. Saturday morning I made cinnamon rolls...Did I ever make cinnamon rolls. I endend up with 44! I decided that's what I wanted this year for my birthday treat and we were supposed to have my family's family night on my birthday so I would just bring the dessert. My sister called me Saturday morning just when I was about to roll out the dough to tell me they were cancelling it because pretty much everyone in her house was sick. I ended up just baking almost all up and I have just one pan left I just put in the fridge that I didn't bake up. Let's just say we've been giving out a lot of cinammon rolls!

That night we took Mya to my parent's house and went out on a date! We went to Corbin's Grille (delicious!) for dinner then went shopping for a coat after. We ended up finding 2 on great deals and it actually cost us the same as it would have to get one! The rest of the night we went and visited Derek and Heidi's new baby, stopped and got a Papa Murphy's pizza for the next night and rented movies for Sunday, too!

Sunday was great! Justin and Mya made us all pancakes for breakfast and the rest of the day was so relaxing. We played games, watched movies and had pizza! My parents and Bridgette and Jess came over to visit (and yes, I was still handing out cinnamon rolls!). It was just such a fun laid back day!
These are probably the cutest balloons I've ever gotten! On Saturday, Justin and Mya went shopping and got balloons and flowers. Mya picked out the balloons-well, actually the balloons and flowers-and she was so excited to show me when they got home. She came running upstairs to show me. Here's our conversation:
Mya: Mom, Watch!
Me: Thanks Mya! I'm so glad you got those...Princesses are my favorite!
Mya: I know, Mom

She just makes me laugh!

Baby Abby!

Derek and Heidi had their baby on Friday! She seriously looks like a little eskimo! She's so cute! Everything went really well and she's coming home today! Congrats!

Day at the Zoo

Last Wednesday was both mine and Justin's day off and Trichelle told us about Hogle Zoo's free day that day. So we headed down in the cold to check out the animals. Mya had never been and I was really excited to take her and see her reaction with the animals. We seriously had so much fun!
Mya loved the monkeys...but hated the gorillas! She loved one monkey that had a little baby on it's back and she still talks about it. But the gorillas and orangutans were sleeping right by on the other side of the glass at eye level to Mya and they freaked her out. They actually were kind of freaky laying there...just looked like a huge ball of hair...kind of like big foot. She loved the giraffes-probably because there was a baby giraffe there. But if you ask her, she'll tell you that they stunk! The entire day was fun and she loved most of the animals. There were a few, especially by the end, where she would just turn her head so she couldn't see them (the ones that were eye level to her and just on the other side of the glass).

After we were done, we stopped at the shop and let her pick out a couple of things. She picked out this really cute purple giraffe and a water bottle.

When we were all done, I asked Mya if she liked the animals and she said no. Then she looked at Trichelle and pulled this face, waved her hand in front of her face and said it's stinks! She was right, it did stink a lot, but I think she still had fun!

Oh, and if you're wanting to go, they'll still have one more free day for the winter. It's February 24th.