Help!!!

Ok, you all see the picture that I posted on the blog. I would like to have that picture in our profile, but I can't figure out how to do it. If anyone has any knowledge in this area, I would love some help!!

Thanks!

Lesli

Ryan and Lesli in Vail 2004 

Cleaning House

As I mentioned the other day, my parents are coming to town this weekend. I was talking to my mom on the phone yesterday. She told me that they will actually be coming in a day early because they are driving straight through instead of spending the night on the way. Whoohoo! She asked if that was ok with us. Did we have any plans? I told her we would most likely be cleaning! ;) She told me not to worry about it. That we don't have to clean just because they are coming. Now, this is all coming from a lady who cleans no matter who is coming over (sorry Mom). That made me ponder a question. Why do we tell people not to worry about cleaning yet we would be cleaning our house if they were coming over? Do we really mean it when we tell them not to worry about it? Or do we just say that to be nice? I started thinking about the different times that I've said it & I really honestly think I meant it when I said "Don't worry about cleaning your house. We don't mind." So, why do I slave so hard over my own house when those same people come over? Maybe it's because I'm a people pleaser and don't want people to be disappointed in me. Maybe it's because most people haven't seen my house and I want the first impression to be a good one. Who knows! Maybe it's neither of those and I'm just nuts! Anyway, we have the apartment in decent order, so hopefully after tonight it will be as close to perfect as we can get it. Either way, they're coming & I will be ready to see them. If any of you have any idea why we act this way, I would love to hear your theories. Honestly, I just think we're crazy to stress over having people over! But, I'll probably still do it!

Until next time...

Lesli

Keeping Micah

Yesterday morning at work, Bret said that Anna had been sick the night before and Summer would be taking her to the doctor that afternoon. I had already talked to Ryan and knew he was off for the day, and I was getting ready to get off at noon. So, I called Summer to ask if we could keep Micah for the afternoon. I had a few errands to run. One of them was in the Galleria. So, Ryan and Micah headed with me. We had such a blast! Everytime Micah saw an escalator he asked, "Can I ride the escavator?" It was so cute. So, of course we rode everyone in the mall!! Seeing his face when he got on and off was worth every minute. After I ran into the store that I needed to, we continued riding "escavators" and headed down to the ice cream shop. Ryan can barely pass one on his own, much less when he has a kid with him! No, I'm just kidding. I actually offered to take them. So, we got ice cream, coke, & rode "escavators". It was so much fun acting like a kid again! Summer kept thanking us for keeping him, but what I don't think she realized was that we had one of the best afternoons & were happy that we got to play with Micah!! So, thanks Summer for letting us play!

Lesli

5 days!!!

My parents are coming to town in 5 days! I am so excited! We saw them not tooo long ago, but living 10 hours away it seems we never get to see family enough. I have some ideas for what we can do when they are here. Grapevine Mills Mall has an indoor blacklight putt-putt place. I think that would be a lot of fun! For some reason, I've been dying to go play putt-putt. I never have to talk Ryan into it. He loves to play! And, since this one is indoors, we will be able to play without getting all hot and sweaty! I've also thought about us seeing the Batman movie. I've heard it's a good movie & it would be right up Ryan & Dad's alley. Mom & I are getting our hair done on Saturday. So, this weekend should be a fun weekend! I can't wait. Can you tell?

I hope everyone has a great & speedy week! If I don't see some of you before the 4th, have a GREAT 4th of July!

Love to you all!
Lesli

It is confirmed

The doctor confirmed today that I definitely did not do myself any favors by moving Ryan and I to Dallas! She believes the heavy lifting is what started all of my back problems. She believes I have a strained muscle and has prescribed physical therapy for me. Fun, fun! Well, that's actually better than it could be. I'm thankful. Now I have to find a physical therapist who will take my insurance. Anyway, I said I would report back to let you know what the doctor said. It is a good verdict, I think. The x-ray showed very little curvature of my spine (that I was told of when I was younger). She said I should not see many problems because it is so slight. That I'm thankful for!

So, I guess I'll be off to physical therapy. I'm not really excited about it because most people that I've talked to who have gone say it's painful. The doctor did tell me that we would watch for a gradual change. I'm not suppose to start judging how it's going until it's been about 3 or 4 weeks. Too bad there's no quick fix! Oh well. I'm thankful that it's not worse.

I plan to just take it easy this weekend. It should be a relaxing one. Hopefully I will be able to just enjoy the time with Ryan. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Until next time...

Lesli

Weekends

Why is it that the week takes it's normal time to pass, but the weekends go by so fast? As I get older, it seems that the weekends just go faster and faster. I really don't understand it. It seems that as I approach exciting weekends, like July 4th with my parents coming, I am excited and frusterated. Isn't that odd?! I should just be excited that they are coming and I am getting the chance to spend some time with them. Instead, the other side of me says, "You know it is going to go by so fast. Before you know it, it will be here and gone!" That is such a pessimistic way to look at it. My father has pointed out that I have a tendancy to do that. I'm actually very thankful that he's pointed it out. And...he did it in a VERY tactful way. I'm glad I know because I am able to stop and see that in myself and try to change it. I'm only 26, so hopefully I can get this habit changed before I'm old!

Anyway! I'm looking forward to this weekend because we have NO plans for Friday night and Saturday. No matter what we do, I plan on relaxing! I don't know why, but I feel like I've been running a rat race. I haven't really been that busy, but I feel like I've been swamped. Who knows! I'm probably just nuts! I'm sure there are several in my life that would second that.

That's about all I know for today. It was mostly just be blabbering today. Sorry. I hope you all are having a good week!! Take care.

Love,
Lesli

Getting older

I now understand why my mom use to say, "Don't do that. You'll hurt your back." I use to think, "Yeah right. I'm too young to hurt my back." Well, let me tell you...I am wrong on that one! Yeah Mom, you can mark that one in your corner! And, I'll say it just for you. "You were right. I was wrong." So, why am I saying this? Mostly because for the past 6 months I have been struggling with some sort of back pain. I'm not sure where it stems. I know that I was dumb and tried to do too much when I moved Ryan and I to Dallas. But, who else was going to do it?! If that is the cause, I would have much rather paid someone to come in, pack it, and move me! It would have been worth the money. But, at the time it didn't seem worth it. I'm not sure if it is that or sitting at a desk all day that's the cause. I have a doctor appointment on Friday. Hopefully she will get to the bottom of it and figure out a cure. Anyway, I'm mostly writing this to say..."You aren't to young to hurt your back!!! So, don't do more than you know you should."

My husband is AWESOME! He has heard me complain for the last 6 months. Granted, he wasn't here to hear it face to face, but he heard me complain enough over the phone for the first 3! He has not once rolled his eyes, or seemed like he is frusterated with me at all. He has been so loving and supportive. So, thanks Ryan! I love you!

I will let you know how the appointment goes. Keep us in your prayers.

Love you all,
Lesli

Jealous, jealous, jealous!

Well, my parents have been texting me today (I started it with a quick "I hope you're having fun") telling me how much fun they're having in San Francisco! They have now ridden the cable car, seen seals on pier 39, and been to a 4 story Ross!! Not fair! Well, I guess it is fair. They deserve it. I just wish that Ryan and I were with them! How beautiful would San Francisco be at this time of year? Well, I don't really know! I haven't been there! ;) I am happy that they are getting this time together. It seems they are having a lot of fun!

Well, Ryan and I think we've solved our company delima. When people come to visit, we have to get Bret and Summer's blow up mattress. It's a really great mattress. It's getting the mattress back to it's owners that's usually the problem. So we saw a futon at the base last weekend when Ryan was drilling. It is cheaper by far than most & since it's on the base we won't have to pay tax (because there's no tax on bases). It folds out to a full size mattress & the mattress is an 8" spring mattress. It sat really well, better than most actually. So, if we can get a way to get it from the base to our house, we will probably go that route. Then whenever we have company, we can sleep on it and our company can sleep on our bed. What do you think? Good idea or not?

Anyway, since we've been thinking about that we've realized that we will need to rearrange our apartment to get it in. Our computer room (where it will go) will only allow it to fit one way. We will have to take somethings out of that room to get it in. So, we have to figure out where that stuff will go. On my lunch today, I decided to rearrange our bedroom to see if we could get Ryan's grandmother's rocker in there. Yes, I rearranged it myself. How stupid was that?! The person with the back that is giving her tons of trouble decides it's a good idea to rearrange heavy furniture! I never claimed to be smart! Stubborn, yes. Smart, not always. SO, the rocker will fit in the bedroom, but I don't really like the layout. We'll see. Maybe Ryan will have a better idea. He usually does!

I hope you all have had a great day!

Love you all,
Lesli

Our love 

Almost had a new addition to the family!

On Saturday, Ryan and I decided to take a trip to Canton, TX. On the first weekend before the first Monday of the month, the city has a big flea market...and I mean BIG! We've lived here for over 2 years now and we've never been. So, Saturday (when the high is in the low-mid 90s) we decided to head out. Now, knowing me we slept in and didn't get there until 1pm. Naturally, we were there during the hottest part of the day. We had fun, though! We were sweating like crazy, but it was still fun. Now, at this flea market they have junk, crafts, furniture, and animals. Can you guess what section we stayed in the most? Of course, we were in the animal section for nearly an hour and a half! They had puppies galore! We saw the most adorable dachshunds and shih tzus!! There was one dachshund that I really thought was cute. She was a piebald mini dachshund. Man, was she cute?! Ryan fell in love with a little shih tzu! As soon as he started petting him, he rolled over and wanted his belly rubbed. I think it was love at first sight for Ryan. If I really wanted a puppy that day, I don't think it would have been hard to talk him into buying one. But with a puppy comes training, more food (different than our adult dog), vet visits, and then trying to put a spoiled adult dog with the new puppy. That's a lot more work than we currently have! Right now we have one 6 year old dashchund, Sam. He is fairly trained & loves every ounce of attention he can get. He travels well, so the trips to Paducah aren't any harder with him than without. So, I really can't believe that I'm the one saying that we don't really need another dog. I really would have thought it would be the other way around.

I think Ryan just really misses our other (adopted) dog. His name is Einstein, & he's a shih tzu. Now you understand why Ryan fell in love with the shih tzu puppy. Anyway, Einstein was my mom's dog when I was in high school. I got Sam in college and the two really became close, or so we thought. So, when I moved out, I took Sam & Einstein. When we moved to Texas, Einstein came with us. But, while Ryan was gone, Einstein really became a different dog. He was not as happy. It really was hard for me to take care of both of them by myself, so my mom suggested that I leave him in Paducah when I went home for Christmas. So, tearfully, I did. It was hard leaving him, but hearing he was doing so much better made it worth the hurt. Well, all of that happened while Ryan was in Kuwait. He left with 2 dogs and came home to 1. I could tell he really missed him when he came home, but it was so obvious on Saturday. Who knows, one day we may end up with a little Einstein to fill his heart!

Love you all,
Lesli

Drum roll please...

We have put it off far too long! We keep saying that we are going to start working out at gym in the afternoons, but each afternoon when we said we would go and get Ryan a membership (because I already have one that I'm not using!), we end up doing something different. Usually, it's me making the excuses. So, today we're going. I hope. We both would really like to get in shape. We're in our 20s, so we should be in shape. Well...Ryan only has a few more months in his 20s. ;) But he's not old by any means. He seems to think he is, but we all know better. So, stay tuned to hear if we have enough self-discipline to actually get us to the gym on a Friday afternoon. Man, we picked the wrong day to put it off til! Friday afternoons are never fun for doing anything more than watching a movie and vegging out! So...we'll see!!

I got a call from my mom the other night saying that my brother had safely made it to Minnesota. He is doing an internship there for the summer. It's really weird having him that far away. We don't get to see him as much as we would like, but he's always been just a few hours away since we've been here in the DFW metroplex. Knowing that the is hundreds of miles away is just weird! The past two years on July 4th my parents have joined us for the long weekend. When they are here, Nathan normally comes over and we make it a big fun weekend. This year he won't be here for the excitement, so it will be a little odd. It will be GREAT to get to spend time with my parents, but it will be different not having him around. Oh well, at least it's just for the summer. Who knows what will happen when he graduates! Well, we might have a few years before we have to worry about that...just kidding, Nathan! Love ya!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We are looking forward to a weekend with no plans. It will be nice to just get to hang out together.

Love to you all,
Lesli

To call or not to call....that is the question!

I think today makes 4 weeks and 2 days since my back has started hurting. It's in a weird spot. The pain comes from right in between my spine and right shoulder blade. If you poke my back, I can't feel it. BUT I can feel it with a deep breathe. So, a couple of Mondays ago I went to the doctor. I didn't want to go, but Ryan insisted. We found a doctor that was relatively close and I made an appointment. This doctor was not my kind of doctor, but I didn't find that out until after my appointment!! He decided that the pain was caused by my 4th vertebrae being out of alignment, so he popped my back and neck!!! I had not signed up for that! Well...I didn't think I had! So...was he right? Who knows! It still hurts. Some nights it hurts worse than others. Ryan has said that I need to go back, but I am much more hesitant this time than the first. Hesitant or stubborn? Well, that I don't really know. Probably a little bit of both to tell you the truth! Yes, I admit to it. I am a tad stubborn. So, will I go? I'll let ya know, but don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a while! ;)

Love you all,
Lesli