Sista Sistaaaa!!!

Work, work, work.....

2009-04-11T07:57:00.002-06:00

I know I haven't updated for a long time. I am really bad at that. My post is going to be all over the place today. Well, I have been at my NPS job for 6 weeks now. I still love it. I am now doing clothing. I am doing it by myself, but I am still in the Amazon room with everyone else. They are all kind of mad that they are doing industrial and crappy stuff, and I get to do clothing and shoes. The fun things! They didn't know that, that was what I was hired for. We sell really good things with really high quality brands for super cheap. Anyone that wants to look, go to your address bar and type in npsstore.com and click ebay store. You can find anything! It's great. Well, anyways, I have been doing that and selling for Alan from him warehouse items. I never have time to even think. It is so nice, because I would rather have too much work than not enough in these hard economic times. I am just so grateful that I have something to help me take care of the debt. Shawn's books finally arrived. All 5,000 copies of them. We haven't really been doing anything about it quite yet, because all of the things that he is scheduled for, is in the upcoming months. We are still really excited about it. I am so proud of him. I got a new calling in our ward. Assistant Camp Director. That is what I was in my last ward, and it was a blast!!! It was Stake Camp last year, so I didn't have to do much. I am kind of excited to plan the whole thing. Shawn is coming this year to be one of the Priesthood Leaders. He is going to do a cooking lesson for the girls up there. It will be so awesome. Shawn's Brother came home last wednesday. I was able to take him shopping this week, and it was a blast!!! He let me have him try on anything I wanted. No one has ever let me do that before. Things are going well. Shawn and I tend to get the short end of the stick on everything, but I feel that things are starting to go the way we would like them to go.

New Job!!!!

2009-03-14T17:20:00.004-06:00

So, I have been working at NPS for 2 weeks, and I love it! It is totally up my alley. I am able to go in, do what I love, and leave. No strings attached. My supervisor is so cool and we are already instant friends. Eddie (My supervisor) sat me down on Friday, and said that they are opening up a clothing division (which has only been tried a long time ago and it flopped) and they want me to do it. I will be the only one authorized to be able to do it. He said I will be the pioneer of it, and I am so excited and scared at the same time, because I have really high expectations placed on me. Everyone is counting on me to make it work. I am excited, and scared. I will do the best I possibly can. I also have something on the side. I literally have no time for anything at all! I have to be to work at 6:00 am to 2:30, and right after that, Shawn and I go to this warehouse to sort out clothing, shoes, accessories, cd's and books. This guy that owns Closet Creations in Centerville inherited a condo-full of all of that stuff. There is around $100,000 worth of stuff that he received as payment. This 58 year old guy died, and his brother called Allen (Closet Creations) to come clean it out, and said he would just give him all that stuff for payment. Allen didn't know what to do with it, so he was asking around for help if anyone knew a pro at ebay to sell it. Well, to make a long story short, I am it. It is really overwhelming with how much stuff there is. There is a lot of really nice and high-end designer stuff (None of it fits me) and it has been a pleasure trying to sell it. It is going to take me a year! I am so grateful that I was given an opportunity to get out of debt though. That is why I never answer my phone, or texts. I am so busy all the time, but I am happy. Shawn and I just had our 4 year anniversary on the 12. It's amazing it has been that long already! It seems like yesterday. We went to the delicious Cheesecake Factory. Yum!

Annual St. George trip 2009!!!!

2009-02-25T12:37:00.008-07:00

The Wave in Coyotte Buttes North Paria Canyon

Moqui Cave entrance

There is a store, artifacts section, bar, showroom, etc...... inside

dinosaur tracks

flourescent rocks as they are in nature

these are real. the rocks at bryce canyon are also flourescent and can be seen at night overlooking the canyon

The old bar (out of commission) with the bar made out of real geodes

Shawn got "perks" wearing his chef gear, and got to drive the carts around. All the parade hosts and people thought he was VIP

view from backyard

Shawn loved this outdoor kitchen. There were barstools in the pool

Mom kept trying to work her way into all my pictures

Grandiosa pool with lair inside rock.

climbing wall with 3 ft of padding mother is demonstrating if you fell

view from backyard. lots start from the $200 thousands!

Just an example of a cool bathroom in the show

Fun plaything in the house for kids

awwwww!!!!

Shawn says this is his dream kitchen. Anyone got 4.5 mil to buy this house?

This is what would happen if my mom had one of these in their room.

who is that tall man in that funny little box?

Shawn attempting the hammock. The branch was bent and we thought he was going down for sure

After the little "spill"

Dad walked away not caring about Kara's stuff, but about his prized possession. His sweatshirt.

Sorry if this post will bore the tears out of ya'll, but it is mostly for my family that couldn't attend this year, and in detail what we did.

We decide to start an annual thing 3 years ago, that we are going to go to the St. George Parade Of Homes every year. We have every year since then. Usually, it is my parents and Shawn and I that go, and that was the case this year. We always have an outdoor activity every year along with that too. Our activity was decided that we were going to see The Wave in Paria Canyon down in Southern Utah. If you have not heard of it, well, let's just say, that everyone wants to see it and photograph it. The permits are next to impossible to get and only 20 people a day are allowed because it is delicate. There are 3 ways to score permits. 5 can be obtained pre-purchasing 4 months in advance, 5 can be obtained on the online lottery, and 10 are obtained as walk-ins. No more than a group of 6 in one party can go. The pre-purchasing method has to be obtained online on the 1st of each month, and they are gone before you can even begin to fill out the application, next, you can enter the lottery, and choose 2 possible days to go, and pre-pay for everyone for those, and if your days don't get chosen, you lost that money, and the 3rd method is the walk-in passes. You have to show up at the Kanab office (off-season) at 9:00 am on Friday (only day to obtain walk-in passes) for sat, sun, and mon. and if there are more than 10 people trying out for that day, they will do a lottery. I have tried for 4 years to get passes.

I just needed to give a little background on how to obtain these tickets. Well, we decided we were going to have to get up by 2:30 am and leave for the Kanab office at 3:00 am to make it by 8:30 and fill out the necessary paperwork application to score tickets for the wave. All of us were tired, and couldn't just suddenly go to bed at 7:00 pm and sleep right away. I kept laying there and when I would fall asleep, I would wake up. We left and drove down there, and none of us could sleep in the car. Shawn and my dad certainly kept us entertained. We got the the kanab office, and filled out the app. More and more people showed up until the office was chuck full of people. They announced that this was the first week since New Year's they had to do the lottery, because it had been a slow time. Lucky us, it was only on our day that the lottery needed to be in place. There were 15 people and only 10 passes. One person from the group gets assigned a number and they take balls and roll it around in this thing and draw balls. Well, let's just say, that our ball was the only one left in the thing, and we were the only group that left without a pass. It sucked, and I was so mad. We went for a little breakfast and decided that we didn't know what else to do, so we just drove, and found a cave called Moqui Cave that had the only collection of real flourescent rocks, plus dinosour tracks, and cool Indian artifacts. The man we met there was so cool and so knowledgeable. He was LDS and told us some cool stuff that they have found down in Southern Utah, helping to prove the facts that the people in the Book Of Mormon did, in fact, live in the USA. Supposedly, Montezuma's gold is believed to be hidden under a lake right up the street from the cave. You can look it up and read about it. We went and checked in our hotel, and decided to see some of the homes. We went to the hotel and crashed early. We got up the next day and had a home spree. There was this ridiculously excessive home that had a pool with fake rock behind it with waterslides, and a lair inside with a jacuzzi. It had a 2 story gym in the basement with a raquetball court, half-size basketball court, climbing wall, putting green, and a Guitar Hero Harry Potter room upstairs. Incredible homes. I get a lot of decorating, and designing ideas from the show.

We went and visited Momma A (one of the missionary host families from Shawn's mission) and her husband Paul. They are fantastic people. We went to a random Sacrament Meeting with old guy's coughing up all their phlegm everywhere, and saw a couple more houses, and went to pick Kara up from Dave's modular home.

Some things that mom has been laughing about all weekend is when we went to a gas station for a pit stop, and noticed dad was walking out of the women's bathroom looking all sheepish. He had not noticed the sign, went in, and went into a stall, noticing that there were no urinals to be had. He then realized that something was not right, and knew he was in the women's restroom. Mom couldn't stop laughing all weekend. Another thing, is when we went to pick Kara up, we pulled out onto the road, and heard Kara scream, and looked back. The back had come up and all of her stuff tumbled out and was strewn on the road. Shawn came to the rescue and picked it up. Dad was just mostly concerned about his sweatshirt. Overall, it was a super good time.

So, an update on the job situation. I HAVE A JOB!!!!! The people from NPS called me today (the ebay/amazon sales job) and said that they were sorry it took so long to get back to me, but I have the job! It is mon-fri 6 am to 2:30 pm. ooh, the 6 is going to kill me, but I have a job! Whoo hoo!!!

If you want to see the complete St. George trip in all it's glory, go to www.picasaweb.google.com/karleebucher and click on the St. George Trip 2009 link

Snow Day!!!

2009-02-17T18:16:00.004-07:00

Another fabulous winter sunset

The 3 most amazing things: My husband, the sunset and tons of snow

My 6'6" hubby demonstrating the size of the piles we created from shoveling the driveway

Yay for snow!

Wow!!! It makes such a difference where you live, how much snow you can get. We got a foot of snow dumped on us today, whereas, Bountiful and Salt Lake just got a skiff. It is literally a white winterland for us in Ogden out there. It is quite fun at times. Almost every night the animals make their trek up the hill to come eat our well-tended plants and bushes. ha ha. We will look out our window and see deer just a few feet away, and the last couple of nights, it has been the little fox that lives in the bushes behind our house that will come up and eat the pieces of scraps that we throw off the back deck for the animals. I spent my fabulous afternoon battling the elements and shoveling snow into a monstrous pile. Shoveled just in time to witness yet another fantastic winter sunset. I love tons of snow, so i guess i got what i wanted. Now, if i could only convince my hubby to go sledding, make a snowman and snow caves, that would complete the whole thing..........

Happy Valentines Day to the love of my life

2009-02-14T13:34:00.008-07:00

My adorable hubby

In his chef's coat

chasing after me, making me laugh

Shawn and I have been through so much through our marriage, and I feel so grateful for him. He is a top notch husband that gives our lives a bowful of laughs everyday. He does so many little things and also big things for me all the time, and never ceases to quit doing those things. Even after 4 years of marriage, he still opens my door, shovels the snow off my car after it snows, scratches my back every night, lets me pick ALL the movies we watch, takes me on dates and plans them, cooks for me, turns his friends down to be with me, plans amazing birthdays for me, still leaves me love notes, and most importantly.... still makes me laugh daily. He is constantly putting me first and thinking of me before he does anything. He even does laundry and cleans the bathrooms :)We don't have a lot of money to spend (if any at all) and when I woke up this morning, I saw a stuffed dog sitting on top of some gum, and a Hershey's Pot Of Gold box of chocolates (my favorite). His presents are always well thought out and always has meaning to them. The amazing spirit he has about him all the time is magical. His personality and devotion draws people in. In fact, the first time I ever met Shawn's friends, we went out to dinner, and when Shawn was up trying to get us a table, his friend leaned over and told me that he is everyone's favorite friend. He picked up their tab at the end of the night. He is the least selfish person I know. The loyalty he has for people, and the trust people have in him is amazing. He is an example to me in every way.

Shawn, you truly are the love of my life

Happy Valentine's Day Sweetheart

Great Birthday so far!

2009-02-04T09:50:00.006-07:00

So, we don't have a lot of money to just frivilously spend. But for my Birthday, Shawn got me 2 books that I have really wanted! I wanted the new Stephanie Meyer book THE HOST and he got me a Ripley's Believe It Or Not Book. I love to read about and look at really funky and weird things like that. I also get to have my hair done and some nails. I am excited. Getting stuff like that done always boosts my self-esteem :) Shawn's parents are taking us out to dinner tonight at the Cheesecake Factory (Only the best restaurant ever!)
Some people hate their birthdays, but I have always loved mine. It's a day that I truly feel like I can do what I want! Another great thing is that I think I have this job that I applied for in the bag. I would be working for NPS Market Square in their corporate office selling their items on ebay. I would sit in a warehouse type atmosphere, and manage the ebay side of things with about 5 or 6 others. They said that is their most coveted position, and everyone wants that position, but they are REALLY picky who they choose. You have to match all of this criteria specifically, because they want to know if I am going to make them money, but they really liked me, and said that I am the only impressive application they have. I would get to wear jeans to work too. SWEET! I would research trends all day, list items on ebay, and pack and ship items. That is like my dream come true. I am also super excited to go to the St. George Parade Of Homes. If you guys haven't been, you should go. It is incredible!
So, other important news: My favorite show The Biggest Loser. I am so happy that Joelle got voted off, but sad that Carla did too. Joelle is really oblivious to her actions. All-in-all, it was a great show! Also, I loved that when Aubrey said that she just gained muscle (when she only lost 2 lbs. in 30 days at home) that Bob told her to quit making excuses. She lost 2 lbs! Obviously, she was not doing what she was supposed to be doing. The scale never lies, but people lie to themselves about it all the time. I was thinking that when she said all that crap, and good for Bob for telling it like it is!

DEER!!!!

2009-01-29T09:26:00.002-07:00

So, last night, I woke up at about 2:30 to go to the restroom, and saw Shawn standing there, looking out the window. Our bedroom window looks out over the ridge right across from Hill Air Force Base. There is always a lot of wildlife back there. Well, last night, we saw a big buck all by itself. It came right by the house, and we ran over to the office, and the buck literally walked 5 ft. away from us (obviously there was a wall) but still!!!! It would stop and get something to eat every few steps. It was amazing seeing something wild so close, and it not knowing it. It had a rack on its head with 2 points and the other side 3 points. I wished I could have gotten video of it, but I just wanted to enjoy nature without having to worry if I got it well enough, and purely just to show someone. It was so cool, and I love sharing moments like that with my husband

Nibbins

2009-01-22T12:18:00.010-07:00

Nibbins, after he climbed up my pant leg, up to the arm rest of the couch

staring at himself in the little mirror he has on the floor

His "nest" in the drawer in the bathroom

He happened to get to some of my papers briefly before I shooed him away.

All the papers on the fridge look like this

By biggest pet peeve (ha ha. pet peeve, get it?) is the Bucher's bird "Nibbins" Since we live here, I have to live with him and he gets super annoying. It starts in the morning, when he begs for food like a dog. He will fly closer and walk around and eventually fly on my shoulder, climb down onto the table and start dipping his head into my bowl. I will shoo him away and he will fly onto the top of the cabinets and start shrieking his brains out! He likes ALOT of attention and will shriek until he gets it. If you walk into another room, he will shriek. If you are in the same room, and want to watch t.v., then he will climb down his ladder onto the floor and walk over to where you are and climb up your pantleg and perch himself by your arm or head and sit and happily poop all over you. If you are reading a book, he will come over and start nibbling on it (hence, the name nibbins) and if you leave paper, books or cords lying around, he will very much chew those up too (that was the demise of my old earphones) If you put any kind of paper on the fridge, the edges will be chewed up. He doesn't want bird food either. He insists on people food. When we have our sunday omelet in the morning, he has to have one too. When we have dinner, he must have whatever we are having. He even eats meat. Cannibal bird..... He likes to be scratched under the neck. If you go near his nest (a drawer in Frank and Lesli's bathroom) he will hiss at you and try to bite. If you close the drawer to his nest, he will sit and make weird annoying sounds on purpose until you open the drawer back up. About an hour ago, I could hear him happily chirping and pushing whatever is on the counter, off. He loves to take the fortune cookies in a tin on the table, out and push them off, he also loves to push mail, measuring cups, keys, etc... He also loves to chew through the breadbags on the table to get to the bread to enjoy. I have to set the butter up higher because he likes to dip his beak in it. One thing that he really loves is.... his reflection. He is a narcissist. He will sit and stare for hours. He will eventually start pounding his beak in it and make a little squeak to the rythm that he is creating. He also chews through his little perches in his cage, and they have to be replaced often. All in all, I feel like I am watching a child sometimes, and have to attend to the bird often. I hope you enjoyed my stories of the bird today.

***Video of how the bird sounded all day long!***

Things I have to do for my job

2009-01-20T11:14:00.003-07:00

Original

I didn't have a heck of a lot of time to do this one, or it would look better, but I am getting better at it.

Okay, so I have a stupid mannequin. The arms go straight up. I didn't think about that when I got it, so I just have to deal for now. If I could, I would just get a different one, but money is tight, so I just have to improvise.

My work in paint

2009-01-19T16:57:00.006-07:00

original

retouched

original

retouched

I just wanted to share something that I do quite often. I like to perfect my skills in regular old paint. I like to do it so that I can enhance the background, or showcase the item i am selling on ebay. I took a couple of pictures that I had a little fun with. It is my sister's boyfriend and I just HAD to. I will post some pictures of an actual listing that I did on ebay that looked really good. I don't have Photoshop (I wish that I did so bad) So I figured I would just get good at paint. It is super hard and takes me hours to do, but it is really fun, and definitely gets some good laughs.

2009 is starting to look up for us

2009-01-18T15:53:00.002-07:00

We lead the craziest lives for real. Nothing ever turns out quite like we had hoped or planned. Shawn was going to do a really formal dinner for a charity event that Paris Hilton is hosting up in Sundance this weekend, but all of it kept changing, and so we decided to not do it. The job that I applied for sounded awesome at first, but ended up being not quite like I had planned. Shawn's job didn't end up being the same thing that was told to him. But......... even though all of the things we ever engage in are not as good as we hoped, other good things shine through. When one door closes, a window opens. Shawn is one of the culinary adjunct professors at the Art Institute of Utah. I believe this is a door that will open up to great things for him and for us. Even though I am still unemployed now, will probably mean that something better is waiting in the wings for me. I am really grateful, even if it means for the bad things that happen. I am grateful that my life is the way it is. I would not want to trade it for someone else's. Just thought I would share that tidbit

My Holiday week

2008-12-26T20:01:00.007-07:00

My adorably cute new little niece, Kinder Morgan Moss

II got Kara this lip gloss from Smashbox cosmetics called O-gloss that goes on clear, and gives you your own custom shade of pink that matches you. Here we are demonstrating it

My mom made Shawn the exact apron that she made my dad 30 years ago. The pattern is for women I am sure, because they are short:)

My cousins that came to stay with us on Christmas. My mom's brother's kids. Katrina, Dan, Jon and Sam

We were all in the elevator at the hospital and turned around and saw Shawn in my fedora talking in an Irish accent. Looks so real! We all got a good laugh!

My mother modeling my new hat

There is a joke in my family that my sisters will never get married, and will wear moo moos all the time and have a ton of cats. Well, Kalina is engaged, but decided to still make Kara a "modern" moo moo as a gag gift

The girls on Christmas day

It has been a busy week. My old ward had a little get together the other evening. It was fun. We went to Robintino's and had some delicious food. We went back to our old YW leader's house to play games and have fun. We had so much fun and everyone was always laughing. It was good to see people I have not seen for a long while. I was able to bond with old friends.

Christmas Eve was good. We always spend that day with Shawn's family. We have a candlelight dinner with games and presents. We even had some Christmas deer right in the backyard. We are so grateful for Lesli and Frank and all the wonderful things they do for us. It was enough that they let us stay there, but they got us some fun things this year.

On Christmas Day, Shawn and I were worried about getting to Bountiful safely. There was a blizzard early in the morning and so much snow on the road and everywhere already. We hit about Layton, and there was nothing! My dad always makes scones for breakfast and then we open gifts. I got a really cute fedora hat, amakeup bag, ring holder, slips, lotion, body spray and some other fun things. It was a good Christmas. Our cousins came to eat dinner with us, and ended staying, because they could not leave because of the terrible (in my opinion, wonderful) weather. We also went to visit my Grandma at Heritage Place.

Today, my mom and my sister Kalina and I decided to go shopping all day. None of us had any money to spend. We shopped and shopped all day without getting a darn thing. Our last stop was to David's Bridal for Kalina to try on wedding dresses since she is getting married in March. We were about 900 south where I-15 meets with 900 south, and we were trying to get into the left lane to join with I-15, when we hit a really slushy part of the road (since it had just snowed) and we started to switch lanes. I just remember it going in slow-motion. I saw us moving toward the wall, and we were not going away from it, than the spinning began. We kept spinning in half circles in different directions each time. I was bracing to hit the wall, then we would spin away from it all while going forward at the same time. We missed the wall, and we were entering the onramp. We were still spinning really fierce. We kept spinning in almost in a circle, and then start spinning the opposite way. I remember seeing oncoming traffic on the freeway as we started spinning onto the freeway past the slow lane and still not gaining control. My mom had the steering wheel gripped so white knuckle tight trying to gain control. I remember thinking that I did not want my mom and sister hurt. I started saying "Mom? Mom?" and then started screaming. I just knew we were going to get hit by oncoming cars. I braced myself and kept thinking that, that was not the way I wanted to die and I could not believe that it was happening. It was all in slow-motion. All of a sudden, it was like someone was pushing us back into the median inbetween the onramp and the slow lane safely, where there were no cars. We finally stopped, and we were facing the car in the slow lane. We were very grateful that drivers were very cautious and defensive enough to notice us spinning, and stop before we slid into the freeway. If they had not been paying attention, even if they slammed on their brakes, they would have slid right into us because there was so much snow and ice on the freeway. The whole ordeal lasted about 15-20 seconds. It seemed like forever. I have literally never felt so close to thinking I am going to seriously die or get very seriously injured before. I was surprisingly calm at the same time almost like I accepted it. I was in total shock afterwards. My mom and Kalina started to laugh because we WERE okay after all. I just sat in the back seat trying not to cry after being more scared in my life then I had ever been. I was just so worried about my mom and sister getting hurt. There is no way in normal circumstances that we would have gotten out without hitting anything, or getting hit, but I just know that we had help today from up above, also that the drivers could see a potential accident, and they slowed down and stopped even before we spun out into the freeway. So grateful. I am so grateful for life, and that everyone was safe including the other drivers. I hope that everyone will take it slow, be super cautious especially when switching lanes in the snow, and be aware of what is going on around you especially in bad weather.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

Please enjoy our tradional Scherbel Christmas! We are a little eccentric around here

I love my new hobby!!!

2008-11-26T18:24:00.005-07:00

Ever since I moved back to Utah, I have tried and done so many fun things!!! Shawn had to stay down in New Mexico for another week and a half after me. He is home now. I decided to try my hand at refinishing furniture. I found an already pretty cute piece and refinished it to look like something different. It was an oak carved piece, and I am not so fond of oak, so my dad and I decided to turn it into a cherry wood looking piece. We made it look a little antique and vintage too. It was really fun. My dad would tell me what to do and start showing me, and I would do it and complete a step, until he had to show me the next step. I loved it! We did it in a few hours. I would love to refinish furniture to look like Habersham furniture. If you don't know what that is, look it up.

Well, enough about that. Shawn and I are now living in Ogden for now, just kind of doing our thing. I have started an online ebay business, and Shawn will be helping to cater a reception center, and pursuing sales of his book early in 2009. We are happy and just going with the flow right now. I would love to refinish furniture and paint, but we will see what will happen

my original piece

just finished putting the hardware and doors back on

My finished piece!!!!!!!!!

Something I find myself being passionate about

2008-11-09T18:49:00.009-07:00

stacked flat rock pile technique.

The project I finished on Saturday. I took a continuum course. It is one of those community classes. A lady taught me and 3 other people how to do faux painting on example boards. I could do it on a wall. I was in class from 9:30-3:30. We went over a bunch of different aspects, techniques, basics, advanced things. We learned how to make our own wallpaper, and how to do faux brick/rock. It would actually be done on the wall, but we used cardboard as a sample. We also learned to do mottling, ragging, sponging, tiling, marbleing, double-rolling, distressing, etc....... I am really excited I took this class. This is something I am passionate about. I would like to start doing furniture. I have always wanted to do furniture and walls, but never knew where to start, so I gave up. Now I have the little bit of knowledge to be able to start, and improvise, and learn. I now have the basics, I could follow the steps out of a book on a sample board, and perfect my techniques. Here are some things that I learned and took pictures of:

The weathered rock brick sample I made

closeup. You can see the cardboard as my "grout"

top left: regular double-rolling, top right: marble tile, bottom: raised cracked marble

I just showed this as an example, that the "brick" could be used as a backsplash behind the counter. Of course, it would definitely have to be sealed very well.

close-ups of the self-made wallpaper

I loved doing all this!

This is mine and the other woman's pieces. Mine is on the bottom. I am a perfectionist. Can you tell? :)

Something you don't see everyday!!!

2008-11-09T18:12:00.004-07:00

Shawn and I were driving to church today, and there were a bunch of multi-colored signs and flags placed on both corners of the church lot. Our church is on a main road, right across from the college. There was 2 men sitting on the corner protesting. They were not verbally protesting, but they were with their signs. They said to "honk if you are for civil rights and equality." There were people honking everywhere. Basically, it was because of proposition 8 (legalized gay marriage) did not pass, and they felt that their civil rights were being witheld. A lot of people are scrutinizing the church because of our views on what the family is to us. The bishopric talked about it today in sacrament. The guys out on the corner were guys that left the church and became homosexual. The bishopric made sure to get across that they are nice guys, and there is no need to start a conflict. The guys waved at us as we were going home, and were very nice. I just think they were trying to get their point across. We do have our free speech. I just thought it was interesting, and something I would never see.

Our week in Utah with my mega post/pictures!!!!

2008-11-05T10:48:00.011-07:00

I know this is a super long post, but I hardly ever write, so when I do, it is fantastically long! Well, we had our little trip on the last week of October. We started out in Moab with our friends. We rented a little cottage on main street, and we also rented Rubicon jeeps. We had 3 total. First course we did, was Fins and Things. It was very long, but fun. Second course, and last, we did Hell's Revenge. I have been on Hell's Revenge before. We had 2 girls that drove a jeep that had never been to Moab, let alone jeeping before. We thought that they were going to roll over the first hill. The jeep was teetering, and the back wheels were lifted. We thought for sure they would roll forward. All of the guys had to go push the back of the jeep down, so the girls could safely get down. I thought the other jeep was going to roll for sure, but they didn't. I had some really cool footage of it, but my memory card said it was full right before all of the action. I was so mad! It was a really fun and exhausting day. I am just glad we didn't pop a tire like we did last year. That night, we went to a place we go every year, right behind the Burger King. It is a fun center with go-karts, arcade games, laser-tag, and mini golf. No one is ever there when we go. The guy's almost had too much fun racing on the track. I rocked at the laser tag. I was getting everyone good, and everyone tried to avoid me. All in all, a great Moab trip this year, and warm!

We drove up to Utah and stayed between my parents, and Shawn's parents. I did a ton of shopping with my sister. We went everywhere you could possibly think of. We even got to the voting booths early, and voted (since I am registered in Utah and not NM) I got to hang out with Marissa and Kaylee. Kaylee is adorable and I love Marissa to death! We had a good time. I also went to the doctor when I came up, because I have been having weird issues, and I was officially diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) which pretty much means a whole load of things. One major thing is a hormonal imbalance, high risk of hypoglycemia (which I have) and type II diabetes (which I am also pre-diabetic) and if I want to have children, I will have to automatically be on 3 different types of medication and fertility drugs. Yay for me!

For Halloween, I carved pumpkins with my 2 good friends, and Shawn and I went down to American Fork to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. Caden was Nemo for Halloween, and it was so adorable. It even had fins that stick out and everything. He is learning how to walk, and likes to walk with his "walker." He walks around with a little scooter toy everywhere. When my brother would take him to a house to trick-or-treat, he would actually mix the bowl around, carefully choosing what type of candy he would pick. He is only 1 and he is acting like an adult. That was really fun

The last day we were in Utah, Shawn, Shawn's parents and I, decided we were going to walk down to the river behind his parent's house. They live right on the ridge of South Ogden, right across the way from Hill Air Force Base. There is a river, and a golf-course on the other side of the river. It is a beautiful valley they overlook. We had to walk through thistles, weeds, tumbleweed bushes, barbed-wire fences, and train tracks to get down there. By the time we were halfway down, we thought that maybe it was not a great idea, but we did it anyways and it was fun. It was beautiful down there, almost like we were in a wonderland of trees and leaf-laden grounds. The river was so shallow and calm. It was breathtaking.

On another note, the only reason that Shawn and I came up, was because his book came out. He only ordered 200 copies to begin with, wondering how well they would sell, he had 2 conventions to partake in, and sold every last copy extremely quick. They sold out like hotcakes. Shawn is very excited in the prospect of getting more for Christmas, and doing well with it. It is called the First Timer's Cookbook. To sum it all up, it is a book for people that have never cooked, to people that cook all the time. It is not a book full of recipes and what to cook, it is a book on HOW to cook. Principles and techniques. The really cool thing about it, is that you never know how things are supposed to look when you are cooking. It has more pictures than anything on the steps, and how things should look in each step. I call it the big picture cooking book for adults. He also shows techniques on how to cut properly, prepare meat and different cooking styles, cutting fruit the best way, etc..... I am so proud of Shawn. His passion is writing and teaching. He eventually wants to become an adjunct professor one day, and he is living out his dream in baby steps.

We have decided that we are going to move back to Utah. We learned a lot by living down here, but feel it is best to move home. We feel like we have learned what we needed to learn here, and everything points to us moving home. We are grateful for the jobs that we have down here, and for learning things about us, and the rest of the world. We are not sure exactly what we would like to do when we get back, but Shawn would like to follow his dream, and pursue his book. As for me, I now have a skill that I can use for the rest of my life, being able to dental assist. Life is wonderful..............

Gee, I love funny signs. Meth is huge in Farmington, and this just proves it. Down here, it seems like there are funny signs everywhere
Beginning of Hell's Revenge down in Moab. This part is kind of scary

All of us friends that went down

super sweet jeepin hair

Our lady friends kind of got themselves into a bind. Their back tires were completely off the ground and they were teetering. We thought they would roll forward for sure

Our little brigade of Rubicons

A little bit of a tricky part. notice the tire skids down. There is a shallow ravine on both sides

It was steeper than it looks. Our bumper was laying on the ground

Intertwining with the biker's "Slick Rock Trail"

We had just gone up the hill, and the other jeeps were still at the bottom. That is how steep and high it was

Oh, the grandiosa Delicate Arch we hiked up to

Boys in action!

Jocelyn, Heather, Joni, Natalie and me got dressed up to go eat at Pasta Jay's (mmm... our favorite restaurant in Moab)

Beautiful Moab

The "hot tub" All of the guys went through it.

I miss the gorgeous mnts. in Utah

(cough....) gee, the rock on the left makes me uncomfortable, but I can't put my finger on why....

Shawn was imitating the ravens we saw on the trail up to delicate arch

Shawn and I

The people underneath shows you just how large it is

Caden was crying because he wanted his "daddy"

gorgeous sunrise out my parents window

What a little cutie pie Kaylee is

Marissa and I ate some yummy lunch at Paradise Cafe'

Beautiful sunset

Our little wonderland behind the inlaws house in the valley

checkin out the scene. The water was freezing, but I wanted to go tubing!

What a good mom!!! I wouldn't touch those things with a 10ft. pole if I had to. She volunteered even!

Little "Nemo" with his walker

Halloween fun. Shawn dressed up as a coach. Well, not really, but that is what he kept saying to everyone

This week has been a time of reflection

2008-10-19T17:20:00.002-06:00

This week has been a crazy whirlwind for us. I got over those sick hives I had. It only took 4 days total to get rid of all of them. I had some residual for the next 2 days, than they went away for good, and I was so thankful. Still no cause or reason for them, but I just have a feeling it was a one time deal, and I will never find out.........
We had our annual 2 times a year garage sale. We live in townhomes with very strict codes. They will allow us to have a garage sale 2 times a year, and all on the same day. It's like a flea market. You just walk down the row in people's garages, looking at all their crap, then moving on to the next house. It was amazing. All of the crap you would not normally be able to sell, went like hotcakes here. People I guess like junk and lots of it to store in their houses, cause they bought all of ours.
We went to Durango later that day to have my hair done. I have a story about that in itself. Well... I wanted to get my hair done because it was getting stringy at the end, and the color was just awful with half the orange in my hair growing out. I didn't like the cut either. Shawn had his hair cut from a guy named Jay here. He is a native, probably 300lbs. and very very gay. I decided to give it a shot. It is right across from Costa Vida, and I figured that they couldn't be that bad since they eat Costa everyday, and would have to face Shawn everyday. Well, to get your hair cut and colored (one color) down here is around $200 anywhere you go. I told Jay that I could not spend that much, so we agreed that I would pay $75. Well, he called me after I made an appointment to inform me he was too drunk from the night before, and could not do my hair, and we needed to reschedule. I should have taken that as a warning sign. Well, we rescheduled for later that day, so he will be sober. I went in, and he said it would be after-hours, which it was, but then I had to wait for an hour, even then. He got me in the chair, and started putting stuff on my hair right away to see what it would do. All I told him, is that I wanted the orange in my hair gone, and I wanted blonder hair (since it was darker, all sorts of colors, and sort of yellow) I basically wanted to go back to my natural hair color. I brought in pictures of the color I wanted and the cut and just said do that. He told me that I needed 2 tubes of color for my hair, but he only had one, but he would have to use it conservatively to go over my whole head. I was thinking to myself "Well, that should cut the cost down even further, since he is using hardly any hair color at all!" Well, I trusted him anyways. Going back on my story. LaDonna is the owner, and she is African American. The only African Americans in the town seem to be there all the time. There is probably only a few. Our town is mainly white and natives. They mainly do African American hair, and that should have been another warning sign. LaDonna said that her salon is very classy. Personally, when I walked in the door, it was one of the trashiest salons I have ever been in, and a complete mess. They prided themselves on being classy and professional?!? IS THAT WHY MY HAIRDRESSER CALLS ME TO INFORM ME HE IS TOO DRUNK TO DO MY HAIR!?! Ugh...... you could tell I was definitely perterbed about the situation. Well, anyways, I told Jay what I wanted, and he did about the most opposite thing you could do, and did not listen to me at all. He colored it, and it was not more blonde. In fact, IT WAS DARKER!!! He had colored my hair this silver-grey, kind of like the color you see on a woman in her 70's or 80's. He told me that my hair will not go blonder, and that it was extremely blonde, and he was so proud of himself. Not wanting to be rude, I told him that it was darker, and it still had all of the orange in it, but it had turned pink by this time. He then informed me (because his friend was sitting by us watching the entire time) that "Would it be okay if I finished your hair some other time? We will do a lot of foils with a ton of highlights and lowlights, and a cute cut. But I want to go out with my friends tonight." I told him I guess I didn't have any other choice. He said at least it was all one color (which was not true) I was totally flabbergasted! I told him I would pay him the next time when the work was done. He was really hesitant, and said I had to pay him that night. He would not let me go unless I paid him. I did not want to, but could not really fight with a 300 lb. dude with a 200 lb. friend. Well, needless to say, he would not answer his phone for almost a whole week, then called me to schedule me. He said it would be extra cost for the highlights and lowlights. I asked him how much extra. It would be $120 extra on top of the $100 I paid him the night before. $220 to do a crappy job!?! I told him no, and that he never told me that before, and he was just trying to scam me out of more money, and he never even did the cut that was included in the price, and I did not get anything I wanted, and my hair was darker. He told me tough beans basically. It sucks. I lost $100, but the worst thing I could have done was to go back there. He called Shawn with a completely different story whining to him, and Shawn, of course was on my side. I have not seen or talked to Jay since though. I learned my lesson to take warning signs beforehand.
Going back to my Durango story. I made an appt. immediately after that whole ordeal with a gorgeous salon there. My hair was done beautifully, and they took great care of me. That whole day at Durango was a fantasy. It was like, the best date day I could have ever asked for. We visited a bunch of little shops on main street, and went to my favorite Honeyville Farms. We ate at the most delicious restaurant. All around it was a great day.
Well, at this moment, Shawn and I are babysitting my bosse's children. He went out of town for a week, and we are new parents of an 11 yr old, 9 yr old, 6 yr old and 4 yr old. They are really good kids, and very smart. It is very tiring, and even though Shawn is in the same room as me, it feels like I have not seen him all day, because our attention and time are with the kids and making them happy. Is that how it always is when you have a ton of kids? We are going to be happy when it is over though. We are very excited to go to Moab at the end of this week with Gary and Nat and Kip. That is the light in the tunnel for us.

Worst allergic reaction I have ever had!

2008-10-10T19:22:00.006-06:00

This is what my whole body looked like

I had hives so bad from some unknown reaction that my hand swelled up so bad, that I could not move my fingers
This is what my back looked like
This was on the other side of my back
back of my legs
My upper arm
My leg. It was so itchy. I can't even begin to tell you
My lefs when they were getting better
I know. horrible awful picture, but they were all over my face
My leg after I had taken medication. Much better than before

Okay. I know this is kind of a weird post, but I just want to show you guys how bad I reacted to something unknown, that I still have not figured out. My foot and elbow started itching, and it wouldn't stop on monday night. I didn't think anything of it. I went to bed. I kept scratching all night not knowing it. I woke up the next morning, and had those gash welts all over my body. I had welt hives over my entire body. It was so extremely itchy, than after I would scratch them (I tried not to, but sometimes it got too intense to not) it would feel great, than get really big, and burn and sting! It progressed to a burning rash after awhile. It felt like a severe sunburn and just burned and itched like crazy. The Urgent Care doctor said that I was reacting to something. My pictures seriously do not do justice to how bad it was. My camera almost made the pictures tame. Well, the doctor prescribed me a really strong form of Benadryl. I had to wait at Wal-Mart for 45 minutes for my prescription to get filled. I sat there, not wanting to walk around, or do anything, because I felt like such a freak. People kept staring at me, and I could not hide it. I know how it feels to have a condition, and have people stare at me. A lady behind me in line starting freaking out and talking to the Pharm. tech like I wasn't there, and kept saying "Look at her arms, her face, everywhere!!!! It's everywhere!" I just kind of hung my head and left. The door greeters at Wal-Mart stared at me and just hung their jaws. After I took the medicine, it took a lot of it away, but I still had alot. The next day was a little better, but the same thing. I went back in to Urgent Care, and they said I have such a severe reaction, that they gave me a hydrocortizone shot in my hip. It finally worked. I woke up this morning with no hives. Throughout the day, I had little breakouts of them, but they disappeared pretty quickly. Still doing good. Hopefully it will never come back. The weird thing is, that even though the hives are gone, my body is acting like they are still there, because I am still itchy the same. The itch has not gone away. I am still slathering anti-itch cream on everywhere. Hm.......

Good to see my family

2008-10-10T18:41:00.004-06:00

This log is original when Chaco Canyon was built. Most of the wood is. It is so cool!

Pottery shard I found in the ruins hidden in some dirt and leaves. I left it where I found it
I have never seen a bug like this
my mom and sister in some ruins at Chaco Canyon
If you look close, it looks like an Indian. Eyes, nose, mouth, chin, plus, the feather headress behind him
My sweetheart and my nephew in their "Chief chair"

Pinkerton hot springs
runaway goats at the Honeyville Honey store. Their owners were found
Us girls with our hot turquoise jewelry we got at the flea market
Chaco canyon ruins

Chaco canyon ruins

I was so excited to see my family. They came down on Sept. 18. It took them a whole day to get here, and they were too tired to do anything the first day, so we all just chilled. The second day they were here, we went to Chaco Canyon. We drove 13 miles on dirt, bumpy roads to get there, but it was really cool. Chaco Canyon is where the Aztec Indians went after they left Mesa Verde. It was so interesting. There are a bunch of ruins all in a row down the road. Not just one. I really wanted to find something cool, so I would dig in the little cubby holes in the ruins, and I found a shard of pottery. I thought it was so cool, but I didn't take it, because you can't take artifacts if you find them. It was so huge, and we got to go inside most of the rooms and climb all over the ruins.
The next day, we went to Durango, and went to HOneyville farms, and just played around up there. We arrived and saw some runaway goats that Shawn corraled. It was a mom goat, and her 2 babies. They were so cute. The owners were finally found about an hour later. Good thing. We had a really good time.

Excited to see my family tomorrow!!!

2008-09-17T14:32:00.002-06:00

Things are a lot better so far. Getting my wisdom teeth out was the worst thing ever! It was not that bad the 1st and 2nd days. The 3rd and 4th were the worst. I was so sick to my stomach, lightheaded and naseous. I was getting serious heartburn too. It was really tough to get through those days. It's been a lot better. I have been able to work, and forget about my pain. We have been busily preparing for my family to come down and see us. We are excited to take them to the sites and sounds of Farmington, NM. We are really liking it down here. We feel like we are planting some roots, and able to be involved in the activities here. There is such a different beauty of the desert here. We are lacking some things, but make up for it in things such as the never-ending skies, natural landscaping, beautiful nightly sunsets, thunderstorms constantly, etc...... yeah. We like it here........

Surgery is fun!

2008-09-13T15:36:00.005-06:00

After my surgery. I managed to have a smile. my cheeks are huge! The towel around my head had ice in it. It was a beard of ice!

Shawn swinging at the ball on our league
picture of our team doing awesome
my boss (Dr. Tornow)
I really didn't want this picture, but I didn't know how to erase it. Shawn took this picture when I was totally out of it and still under the effects of the anethesia and meds.

This week was certainly a joy! The doctor I work with kept reminding me why I should get my wisdom teeth taken out (every day pretty much) I kept putting it off and putting it off. I vowed never to get them out. Until they started hurting me periodically, until I could not deny it anymore. I made a slight mention that they were bothering me to Dr. Tornow, and he scheduled me right then and there to get them taken out. They were taken out yesterday. Wow, I was scared! I work in surgery, but when it is being done to you, it is not the most favorite thought in the world. It actually went pretty smoothly. The IV didn't hurt, and I drifted off to sleep so quick. I don't remember anything after that, except for waking up in bed. Shawn took a few pictures of me. I guess I was trying to hug everyone, and was making sure to wave to everyone. I am in a lot of pain still, but oh well. At least they are out and never to have to worry about that ever again. I just need a root canal possibly. I am pretty upset about that. I didn't even have a cavity until 2 years ago!

On another note: Shawn and I are on a softball league here. Softball and soccer here, is like football to Texas. It is ridiculous. Everyone plays here! My work is on a league, so we signed up thinking it was going to be just for fun. It is serious stuff. Our team is not that great, but we have fun anyways.

Our lives from the last month!

2008-09-03T13:17:00.007-06:00

Sun spiders or camel spiders look like this, and one was in our house. look camel spiders up on google images. you would be shocked how big they can be in Africa. They can get up to the size of a man
This is the sandy mountain we climed to the top of
Trudging up the sandy hill. There was very steep canyone in the ridges
made it to the top
These trees are my favorite (aspens) and they are everwhere in Durango
Hidden lake we found. It was fairly large, lots of fish jumping, and very clear, you could see to the bottom on the shore

Pierce loving the fact that Caden was getting so mad that he was on my dad's lap too.
Shawn's yearly fruit creation extravaganza. He makes a different one every year. It is starting to be a tradition
On our hike, we smelled rotting fruit, and our noses lead us to this tree. It was a wild apricot tree. There were a ton of them
This centipede was in our house. I put a tupperware over it and waited until Shawn came home to take it out. They sting you like a scorpion, but they are not poisonous
Huge caterpillar we found on the trail. I took a picture of my hand next to it to show you how massive it was

We have been so busy this month! I am still going strong trying so hard to learn assisting. I know pretty much most everything about actual assisting. When it comes to the computer, I am pretty confused. Anyone that has ever learned Dentrix knows. I am on a softball league with my work, and we pretty much stink half and half. We have lost 2 games and won 1 so far. Shawn and I went to Utah for his brother's wedding 2 weeks ago, for a week. I hope none of our friends feel neglected. We did not have any time to hang with any of them. Between the wedding, and family functions, it was crazy. We had a mini reunion at my parents house, and my mother's side of the family came. It was cool. We played with a giant human rubber band at the park and it was good. On Labor Day, Shawn and I were tired of sitting around the house. We had plans to go camping, but realized that we do not have the gear (like a tent for starters) and were pretty bummed. We decided to spend the day in our favorite town Durango, CO. It is only like 35 minutes away, and we love it alot! We didn't really know what we would do when we got there, but we would just find whatever we could. We drove behind all the hotels, behind the river, into a new subdivision they are building. Behind that, was a dirt road we decided to follow and have it take us somewhere. We found a bike/hiking trail, so we followed it. well, it led us all the way up a dirt mountain. It was sooooooooooo hard, I cannot even begin to tell you. I am so out of shape, and it was literally like crawling up it, it was so steep. I thought my heart would beat right out of my chest. It was so cool at the top though.

When we got back down, we drove around and just found cool things. We drove up to Purgatory Ski Resort. It is so beautiful. I don't know why, I didn't take any pictures of it. It looks exactly like Park City or Snowbird, just a little more compact. Pretty nonetheless. We found a few hidden lakes, and just took roads for fun. We found some springs called Pinkerton Springs coming right out of the mountain. We stopped at Honeyville as usual to get honey treats, and went and saw our future house (we wish) that is worth $1,500,000. We stopped and ate at a place (second time now) called Serious Texas BBQ right on the river. It is a truly authentic BBQ place, and it is very inexpensive. We are taking you guys (mom and dad) there when we go to Durango. There are these really cool condos across the river we went and saw. They are fairly inexpensive for the area. They overlook the river. We also saw a BMX/Dirtbike track right off the trail next to the river we went and checked out. The picture of the people in the river is funny, because after I took that picture, they went on shore to eat lunch and rest for a little bit, and one of them forgot about his kayak, and it started going down the river. They didn't know what to do, and we just laughed and told them we saw it in the bushes. They were panicking. Well, duh! Don't forget about your kayak! We also saw the biggest caterpillar and fattest one I have ever seen! Shawn says it is a monarch butterfly caterpillar. It got mad at us rolling it around to try to get it off the path, and orange antlers popped out of his head, and he stood up and starting rocking around. It was pretty hilarious. He was the size of Shawn's finger!

Well, this morning, I discovered a new pet in the house. It scared me to death, and it was humongous!!!! Centipedes are really common around here. They have stingers like scorpions, and they are about 3x the size of the ones in my parents basement. It was chillin at the bottom of the stairs. We also saw a sun spider in our house not long ago. I don't like all these creepy things.

To see a ton of pictures recently, go to www.picasaweb.google.com/karleebucher

FINALLY GOT OUR STUFF!!!!

2008-08-11T18:23:00.003-06:00

Hello! Well, Shawn and I are just livin it up down here in Farmington. We are actually starting to enjoy living here quite a bit, except for all the creepy bugs down here. We found our first spider in the house. It had a bee bumb, long thick spider legs, and a fly face with fangs. It was very large. It was strange. Other than that, things are well. We finally got our things from the moving company. We decided to use the "attorney" word, which got the ball rolling pretty quickly. Funny how that works. It was like Christmas morning for us. We loved having our bed. Everything about it is so wonderful. I actually think not having our things for a while was a blessing in disguise. It definitely made us appreciate the things we do have, and allowed us to still be happy and fine just living with the basics, and each other. It also made us realize that we need to clean house! We have kept so many things that we don't even think twice about, and never use, thinking that we might someday. Well, we can do without all the excess baggage. We are also going to decorate the house to make it a place of serenity and peace, instead of coming home to chaos, clutter, and things we don't even like. We have been finding huge bargains at the Hobby Lobby, and Lowe's. Hobby Lobby is always having a huge blowout sale, and we went to Lowe's the other night, and saw amongst the 30-50 dollar lamps, that there were 2 and 3 dollar lamps. They weren't the crappy ones that nobody wants. All my favorite ones were the cheap ones, and the lampshades too. We got a total steal! It's amazing the kind of deals out there. We have been working a whole lot lately. I even got overtime this week! I love my job, because it challenges me, and throws me out of my comfort zone every single day, but it is actually starting to get exhilerating in a sense to be uncomfortable. I have officially become a morning person also. sleeping in late to me, is about 8 or 8:30. For my job, I have to get up and be to work by 6:30, but I enjoy it. What is wrong with me? :) We also really like our ward. We feel at home, and really comfortable there. It is the first time in a long time I have felt like that. I have women standing in line after Relief Society to talk to me. That has never happened before. I guess that is how it is out-of-state. We are starting to make friends also. It has been really comfortable here. We can't wait to be back in Utah next week though to visit. I miss my friends and family, and it will be exciting to see them again. Especially my little nephew Caden. He is grown.

Up in Durango, Colorado. So beautiful

2008-08-02T10:59:00.006-06:00

Durango has incredible townhomes and condos here
very luxurious. They are all marble inside
J Bo's Pizza
These ribs are the most incredible I have ever had
The countryside is just beautiful
Air Gliders. We saw a few in the air on the way in
Here is the train that is famous in Durango

I am by the bees making honey behind the glass

The store is incredibly cute
These mountains are so pretty
This ranch had a waterfall. It was private property, so we couldn't get closer, but I would love to have a waterfall at my ranch!
We stopped off at a cookoff
Here is the dirt road we were driving on in the car trying to find our way back

We went up to Durango last week. It is about 35-45 minutes away from Farmington, and it is so beautiful. We decided to spend half a day there. We started out just kind of driving around. We drove around the college campus up there, and around the nice homes. Durango reminds me of a mix between Park City and Sun Valley. We both really like it. We were hungry, and decided to stop and eat at a restaurant by the college called J Bo's Pizza and Ribs. They have the most delicious ribs and sauce I have ever had! Their pizza is incredible. It tastes like Litza's Pizza, but better! After our stomachs were full, we went up to Honeyville, and went to the HOneyville honey store. They have a live hive in there behind glass. They have a lot of honey products, it's incredible, and their honey is all different flavors and so delicious. It is a cute little shop in such a beautiful area! We would love to live there! It's so green, and different colors of red rock peek through the green on the mountains, and it is so incredibly beautiful. There are so many things to do there. River rafting is really big here, and floating down the river. The Animas river is a major part of Durango. The restaurants here, are compared to the ones in San Francisco, and have been said to be better. They are expensive though. They have plane glider rides, the train ride, pretty hikes, little shops, golf course, etc,... On the way home, we were driving through Aztec, and there was a turn-off for Navajo Lake. Shawn wanted to see it, but didn't realize it's about 21 miles away. We went about 5 miles and decided to turn around, but we used my GPS to get back the fastest way, well, it had us get onto a dirt road. We were driving past oil fields, and kept going. The road was getting rougher and rougher, but we kept going. Mind you, we were in Shawn's Mazda Protege. Not the best four-wheeling vehicle. I thought we were going to high center the vehicle a few times, but eventually found the paved road. It was a great time while it lasted.

Day trip to Albuquerque

2008-07-30T11:59:00.010-06:00

view from tram
it was so far down
going up up up!
the ladybug bush
we are on top of the world!
view from other side of mnt. looking into santa fe
gorgeous view
city down below

these little guys were running everywhere
I like this perspective shot

the little mole

really pretty terrain up here

rainstorm up ahead. It almost looked like a tornado at first because it was only raining in a funnel shape
random church we found in the middle of nowhere
gorgeous red rock on way back from alb.
ha ha. my pictures are out of order. coming back down from tram ride
this ride was so fun.

So my leg is still bothering me. I kept thinking it was the vein since it was getting so dark by the day, and spreading. I made an appointment at the vein center in Albuqueque to get it all checked out. Turns out, it is a pinched sciatic nerve. Well, anyways, since it takes 2.5 hours to get there, we decided to make a day out of it. The drive from Farmington to Albuquerque is really quite pretty and interesting. The rocks change so quickly from browns and greys, to vivid purples and reds back and forth the whole way. There are different formations. I quite like it, except my leg doesn't so much. We decided we were going to ride the tram, since Shawn has wanted to ever since we went to Alb. the first time. It is amazing. The tram is the longest one I have ever ridden and it is so high up. You cross big tall rock, and sheer cliffs on the way up. Pretty mountainsides, and if you look hard enough, you could see deer. It gets to these towers every now and then that swing you forward, and I am going to admit, that was really scary. About 15 minutes later, you are up to the top. You look out over a ridge at the top of the mountain. We walked around awhile. We missed 2 rides down and had to wait forever until the next time the tram came and picked us up. We saw a lot of chipmunks, and a cute little mole that was just digging out his hole some more. We also saw a whole bush of ladybugs. The bush was absolutely covered in them. They were swarming. I normally like ladybugs, but it was kind of gross how many there were. It was really fun until a storm hit at the top. Lightning started going and it was scary, since we were the highest thing, and it could easily strike. We always run into storms on the way home every time from alb. The rain was pouring hard, but not nearly as hard as the last time we came back from Alb. It was pouring quite a bit. Enough to cause the highway to flood and become a large lake. We also saw a dirt road off the side of the highway, and decided to investigate, since an LDS sign was at the entrance. We drove about a mile, on a very remote dirt road, to discover an LDS church in the middle of nowhere. It was for a small branch in the area. Another cool story coming home, is when we were driving, we decided to go a different way through Aztec, and I was just staring out of the window. Lightning was everywhere in the sky (typical here) and I was just noticing some small barns off the side of the highway. Then all of a sudden, I saw a lightning bolt strike the ground right next to one of the barns. It was only about 25 yards away! As soon as it struck, you could feel the sheer power of it go through your body, and the heat from it. It cracked as soon as it hit too. It scared Shawn and I to death. I have never been that close to lightning. It was so cool!

The first video is some of our tram ride, and the second is the crazy rain we get here.

The Tornow's house. Our second home

2008-07-30T10:38:00.007-06:00

Just chilling at "home"
he decided he was going to open his eyes

front yard. They all have to be fenced in because of coyotes and other animals up here
The skies look like this every night. Very stormy
gorgeous cumulonimbis out in the distance. sunsets make the clouds gorgeous here

Their bathroom with our swimming stuff strewn about
stairway
this is the view from the front door
back porch
pool and hot tub

living room
dining room
tv area
Shawn in the kitchen cooking up something yummy
bedroom

We have been staying at the Tornow's home, since we still do not have our things from the moving company, and we have nothing. My pictures of their house are totally random. They wanted us to water the plants and stay there and housesit while they went on vacation. We will be staying there again all week next week while they go to Disneyland. It has been really nice. We actually have places to sit, and a tv to watch. They have a really nice home up in the foothills of Farmington. They have water features in the yard, and they sit on 2 acres. They have a pool, and a really nice jacuzzi hot tub (where we watch lightning in the distance every night) They have four-wheelers, and all sorts of outdoor toys, that they let us utilize. There was a coyote just yards away from us in the backyard, and I almost run over bunnies every night when I come back. The lightning here is incredible, and July and August are considered the monsoon months down here. During the monsoon season, there are thunderstorms that roll in every day, and completely surround us. The lightning here is unlike any other lightning I have ever seen. It is crazy, and flashes right above and around us every 5 seconds all night. The loud clapping thunder scares me sometimes though. The rain down here pours down so hard, that you think your windows are going to shatter. We found the black widow in the house though, and I don't like that. There is so much sky up in the foothills, because there are no tall mountains covering the sky, and I have never been in a place with so much sky.

Creeping things down here

2008-07-30T10:07:00.005-06:00

the belly of the beast. Shawn caught a lizard
he is hoping that if he kiss it, it will turn into a beautiful woman heehee
a close-up of the critter

I saw a beetle just like this one right outside of work
we have tons of these suckers running around in our backyard
The gumby spider is what I call it. It looks like it has arms, legs and antennae. Weird spider
We scooped a bunch of these little guys out of the pool
here is the black widow we caught. Not a great focus because he kept moving

OkAY, i HAve so many things to write about since I have been a total slacker on here. I got a job. I interviewed for the front desk at Country Club Dental, and they called me back, and asked if I would be a dental assistant. Well, I got in there, and they informed me, I would be the Oral Surgeon's assistant. It's crazy. I have learned so much in a week so far, and I assisted on my first surgery yesterday. I had been assisting on fillings, root canals, and extractions all week, but surgery is crazy! Meth is a big problem in this area, so we get a lot of patients in here that are in their early 20's or 30's and already need to be fitted for dentures. It's sad. Well, back to my subject of bugs. It is really weird, we do not get a lot of spiders around here. Mainly huge crawling things, or annoying flying things. I saw a beetle the size of the palm of my hand crawling on the ground the other day. We were staying at the Tornow's house all last week, and noticed a really large male black widow in the corner. We didn't get him in time before he ran away, and that scared me. We finally got him the next day. I got a picture, but he kept moving, so it was not very good. You can see a little smidge of the red hourglass on his back. Yucky. We also went swimming in the pool, and I almost stepped on a scorpion. I have not gone swimming since.....

Party time last night

2008-07-15T10:01:00.003-06:00

pool party. We didn't get in though
backyard looking out
a storm was rolling in so quickly last night
the sunsets here are gorgeous
Shawn and I just hanging out with everyone. You can tell I don't like to take pictures of people much

So a quick update. We used movers to get our stuff here, and almost had them take my car, and tow it here also. Good thing we didn't. We had it taken away on the 1st, and we still have not seen or heard anything about it. we are still living in an empty townhome, a few camp chairs, a blow up mattress bed, and a few things here and there. That is it. Shawn's back is really starting to bother him from sleeping on the ground (he doesn't like his mattress blown up very much, so he practically sleeps right on the floor) and I have something weird going on with a vein in the back of my knee that is crippling my left leg and knee. the pain spreads up through my thigh and down to my mid-calf, and causes my foot to be numb quite a bit. The vein is dark blue and purple. I have been laying around all day every day because of it. Not fun. I may have a job. I interviewed yesterday with Country Club Dental as a receptionist. They make pretty good money, and would be awesome. Only 4 days a week! 7-3:30 which is fantastic. Wish me luck on that one. Shawn is doing really well, and the restaurant is really starting to turn around. Slowly, but surely. Next week, the rodeo starts, so it will be incredibly busy, and I probably won't see Shawn all that much, but there is always the Hobby Lobby :)

Bisti Wilderness area

2008-07-15T09:50:00.003-06:00

I forgot to mention in one of the sights of NM, (really near us) the Bisti Wilderness area. It kind of reminds me of Goblin Valley a little bit, but it's a petrified log forest, and hoodoo area. It would only take like 45 minutes to get there. I know Dad would enjoy this one.

Other pictures of ours

2008-07-14T13:36:00.001-06:00

If you would like to see all of our exciting and fun pictures, please go to www.picasaweb.google.com/karleebucher and check them all out. It shows our house, and fun trips we have gone on

Sites to see in New Mexico. This place isn't so bad after all

2008-07-14T13:16:00.006-06:00

Well, after spending some time here, and seeing a few things, it is not so bad after all. There are tons of things to see here, and very beautiful. There are a lot of Indian ruins to see and amaze you. I have pictures of Mesa Verde Ntl. Park, Salmon Ruins, Carlsbad Caverns, Petroglyph National Monument Park, Newspaper Rock, Aztec Ruins, Chaco Canyon, Canyon De Chelly, and the Railroad in Durango. Most of these sights are near us, and don't take very long to get to. This is the beautiful state we live in.

Our life in Farmington so far

2008-07-13T18:31:00.009-06:00

Life has certainly been interesting. We still do not have our things from the moving truck, and we have not heard from them. We are hoping that it gets here soon. We have just been getting to know the area. There are a ton of trails around here. The Animas river is really pretty, and there are tons of spots to go across the bridges, and hang out by the river. I have really extensive plans for our townhouse. I am going to do a tuscany theme and I am excited to get started. The Hobby Lobby down here is amazing and has the best things and sales I have ever seen! Enough about that... We went into Albuquerque yesterday (3.5 hours away) to go to the temple. They do things completely different than Utah temples. Little things. They do the endowment and everything the same. Just little things like the dressing room, and things. I so wish I had my camera on the way back. The clouds were so dark and black, and lightning everywhere ahead lighting the land and sky brighter than day, and torrents of rain so hard and fast, we had to shout to talk, and I thought it was going to bust the windshield. It also came down so fast, that we could not see
(and we were on a highway) there were rivers rushing down the street and the wipers could not wipe it off fast enough. I have never seen anything like it. I will catch it with my camera the next time it happens. It was amazing.

Well, other fun things that has happened. When we moved in, there is a spot on the ceiling that clearly shows water damage. They got it fixed a year ago. A few days ago, Shawn had taken a shower, and downstairs, the carpet was soaked. I had to put a bowl under it and it just leaked and leaked through 2 small holes in the ceiling. Well, there was a hole in our shower. We caulked it, and it's as good as new. We still have that ugly, unsightly water damage on our ceiling though.

On another note, I took a picture of all the things at the hobby lobby that I got on sale for about 50 bucks total. Awesome sale!

The last thing I wanted to mention, is that the sunsets here are spectacular. There has been really pretty ones every day we have been here.

picture 1: hobby lobby goods

picture 2: Albuquerque temple

picture 3: sunset above townhouse

picture 4: another sunset picture

picture 5: 2 small holes water came out of

picture 6: water damage

Fourth of July fun!

2008-07-09T10:45:00.003-06:00

I know I tend to do my posts backwards sometimes. Well, for the 4th, we went up to our annual Blackfoot reservoir trip at the lake. We had no boat this year, so I got bored very easily, and quickly, but I enjoyed the boys blowing up sparklers, and the hike we went on to a hidden lake, trying to find a pioneer graveyard. We never found the graveyard, but it was very pretty. Lots of huge bugs though. We had a few babies there too, and that was fun.

Okay, well, the first picture is the lake

Second picture is of the babies playing. I thought it was adorable

Third picture is the hidden lake we saw. It was gorgeous and had beavers swimming everywhere

Fourth picture is the fireworks display the boys did. That is my husband in the shadows. It reminded me of an Indian documentary film

Last picture is how Shawn looked the entire time. I don't normally get allergies, and he usually has them terrible, but I had them up there. That just tells you how bad they were for him. He was so miserable.

All-in-all, it was a good trip.

The big move to Farmington NM!

2008-07-09T10:26:00.004-06:00

Well, we moved on monday, and it was an incredibly long drive. Shawn and I both had to drive ourselves, and it got super boring. Luckily my car made it. I was worried about it for awhile. We got in at about 7 pm. Our townhouse is really nice. I really like it. I was not so sure at first, and for some reason, kept crying all day. A lot of neighbors came up to us and talked. They scared me telling me all of these horror stories. In reality, it is really not that bad. I have enjoyed it more and more. The best part, is that no one really shops here, so all the cutest clothes at the mall are left for me, and they are all my size! Whoever says that there is not good shopping here, is lying:) Still trying to get to know the area. I am actually excited now. We live in an adobe townhouse. I really like the style. We have a xerscaped backyard with gravel and rocks. The weather is always sunny and cooler than Utah. While it is 98 there, it is 90 here. So, funny thing happened. We bought an air mattress and set it up. The next morning, Shawn was leaning in the crack of our mattress, and kept saying how he felt something sharp in his elbow, but would not move it. He finally moved it, and discovered a needle stuck in his elbow. He bled on the mattress too a little. Silly boy. I included a picture of him and the needle. He does not sleep too well lately. One of the pictures explains that.

Sorry about not adding pictures to my last post about Portland. I kept trying, and it would not work last time I tried, so I included a few at the top of my post.

Fun times in Portland Oregon

2008-06-30T10:41:00.002-06:00

Shawn and I decided to go to Portland last week, and we had a total blast! I loved Portland. It is built on the ocean, and it is beautiful. It is like being in a jungle. They have the most charming homes, and beautiful gardens there. It was totally fun. We went to a great seafood restaurant there. We went to the coast, drove through all the gorgeous moss covered forests, went Dungeness crab fishing without any formal experience, went to the Tillamook cheese factory, the rose test gardens and the Japanese Gardens. So pretty!

Old friends

2008-06-12T13:11:00.000-06:00

So, I think it is kind of good that we are moving. All of my old friends are coming together, and we all get to hang out, and catch up. Marissa, Cherie and I got together a couple of days ago, and it was so fun to see Cherie, since I have not seen her in awhile. It is always good to see Marissa. I changed Marissa's baby Kaylee's diaper even! I am getting to be so grown up :) Ha ha. I will have plenty of opportunity when I have my own child.

The other great thing about us moving, is that Shawn will not have to travel like he is now. He has been going on a lot of daytrips inspecting restaurants around the USA. He will be gone when I wake up, and come home just in time to go to bed. I am really excited that will stop (maybe not entirely) but at least slow down. I am sure I will have much more exciting posts in the future. Toodles!

I decided to start a blog since we are moving

2008-06-07T21:13:00.000-06:00

Hello! I guess this is the new in-thing to do, so I will join the crowd on this one. Not a lot of people know that we are moving to New Mexico, so here it is.... we are moving to New Mexico :) I am super excited to be able to move away from the area I grew up in, so that when I feel like not getting dressed up, I won't run into anyone I know (like I do so often) Shawn is going to be a part owner of the New Mexico Costa Vida franchise. Fabulous! Okay, okay, I bet you are wondering about the picture..... well, in case you have never been to NM, this is just a small taste of what it is like down there. The building in the right corner, is yes.... a 24 hour adult porn shop, and the Roman Catholic church decided to add their 2 cents which made for a hilarious photo-op. I could not get the picture of the other billboard, but it said in humungous letters "GOT METH? We make house calls" yeah. I know it is great.

Well, I guess I should tell about what we are up to. I am in the process of creating my own business. I am going to just start selling on ebay from my own store, and I want to branch out and eventually open up my own online store. Shawn just wrote a book. If you are interested in looking at his website, it is www.firsttimerscookbook.com Make sure to click on "buy the book" and just sign up in the email section. It is not available for sale yet, but you will get an email when it is available. It is for people that have never picked up a pan to cook, to the expert. You will be able to create your own meals from it, know what ingredients go best with each other, learn the cooking terms and know exactly what method to use, and be able to look at menus and know what is in restaurant items. Its like a children's picture book for adults. tons of pictures, step-by-step so you know what color, texture, and look your food is supposed to have, so you know you are doing it right. Well, I am going to enjoy my delicious fresh fruit smoothie my mother prepared for me. Chao!