MOVING AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel like writing this entire post in CAPS!! We are moving AGAIN, AND YES WE ALWAYS MOVE! The home we have been renting is falling apart. It sucks because 1) we are tired of living here wondering what will break next and getting blamed for trashing it 2) our landlord is crazy 3) did I mention our landlord is crazy? 4) I wouldn't be surprised if the home got sucked into a bottomless hole in the ground like the Poltergeist movies! Its "Charming" because its "historic," all the homes here are 300 years old. The location is amazing because its close to downtown. So because of that, it adds like $300 extra onto the rent, to account for the vintage charm factor and the location. Its not just this one, several of the homes here are falling apart. Students, hippies and yuppies live here. I love the area, just not a fan of the rental.
So we decided to move to Midvale. West side, scary I know, but we found a fabulous deal at a brand new apartment complex. Not excited about the whole apartment situation but so excited about the new part. We will be walking the dogs and getting our exercise for sure.
So I guess we're probably moving next weekend....ugh so this week we will be packing. I'm crossing my fingers to find a new tenant asap. I know no one wants to move in after they read my post here! So because we gave our notice, our crazy landlord asked us to find someone to take over the lease! I posted ads and interviewed potential renters. I finally found someone who was actually willing to pay what she is asking. But my landlord is so picky about a new tenant, I realize its her house but at the price she's asking, beggers can't be choosers! If they pay the rent, who cares? I have never broken a rental contract before, but this place is too expensive and so not worth it. A few months back the landlord said to me, "why don't you move out? it sounds like this place isn't working out for you." I didn't want to move at the time because I hate moving and I didn't have a place lined up to move into. I have that documented in an email. Grrrr!! And yet she is still asking us to find a renter to take over the lease!

Chris' Graduation

Chris graduated from UC Santa Barbara in June! I was glad to be able to go and hang with the fam. We stayed in the cute little Danish town called Solvang. Best pastries ever!! One morning me and my Mom went to a bakery and picked up a dozen pastries and tried them all! I wish Adam could come but he had work and school. We went to the beach, an ostrich farm (seriously why?!), Mission Santa Barbara and hung out in Solvang, eating & shopping......I rediscovered one of my favorite past times.......shopping! LOL. I took the Santa Barbara Air Bus on the way to the LAX Airport....it drove up Hwy 1, Pacific Coast Highway. I saw Santa Monica Pier, Malibu, etc, the homes on the beach were beautiful! I was sad to come back to Utah and trying to figure out how we could buy beach front property on our salaries!! I can always dream of living in So Cal!!

Meet Baby Ethan

In June I went home to see Brad & Lauri's baby! I am the proud Auntie of Ethan Edward Leidecker. He is adorable! He is the first grandbaby for my parents and they are super excited to spoil him, along with everyone else of course!!

Happy 4th Everyone!!

Hopefully everyone had a good holiday weekend!! It was nice to have 3 days off work! I forgot how much I love holidays!!

We had a good weekend. We hung out with our friends Melinda & Skylar. Friday we went up to Park City to see our friend Lisa's band the "Disco Drippers" play. Then they had Fireworks afterwards. There was so many people. It was at the Canyons Resort and we took the gondola up to the show. The best part was that it was free!!

Last night we saw a play up put on by the Salt Lake Acting Company called Saturday's Voyeur, its a parody of everything random & funny in Utah over the past year! I highly recommend it. And we got discount tickets!

Then Adam and Skylar lit off fireworks in the neighborhood.....of course the neighbor complained so we had to relocate. Something about men and fireworks, it brings out the testosterone or something!! Its the 4th of July! People were lighting off fireworks everywhere!

Happy Anniversary!!

We went away for the weekend up to Eden, UT and used our timeshare at Wolf Creek. It was only a one hour drive from SLC. I had no idea it was so beautiful in Ogden canyon.....I normally don't travel to Ogden (aka the armpit of Utah) but the canyon was gorgeous! It was even greener than Lake Tahoe....we were driving around thinking could we live here, even if means living close to Ogden I would make the sacrifice! Lol!! Hmm....a cabin, a boat, a 4 wheel drive vehicle.....(if its this green in the summer I can only imagine how harsh the winters are!) There are rivers for fishing and a reservoir for boating and trails for hiking! We certainly aren't tree huggers or "mountain fairies" but there is just something peaceful about the mountains! I would be okay living there and doing all my shopping online in the winter!! The only thing is where would we work?! Anyway its nice to dream!!! So glad we moved back to Utah because Nevada has never seen anything that green (unless you count the golf courses)! I would highly recommend anyone taking a day or weekend trip up there! It is so worth it!! The air is just clean and fresh (love mountain air) and the view is spectacular! And the nice thing is it doesn't get hot during the summer, a high of 70 degrees! We found a great little restaurant for breakfast called the Oaks....we are definately going back for dinner. It was nice for us to get away even if it was just 2 days! We have been married 4 years on May 28th! I gave Adam his anniversary gift early.....Depeche Mode tickets! Yes I am the best wife ever!! I am really bad with surprises so it has been hard to keep a secret because I purchased them a month ago! He seemed really surprised and excited because they are his favorite band ever! Here are a few pictures of the scenery in Ogden Canyon....

Lazy dog owners suck.......

One of my pet peeves is when dog owners let their dogs roam free. I walk my dog in my neighborhood and it seems no one knows how to use a leash around here! The other day me and Adam walked our dogs and there was a big dog sitting on the porch with no owner in sight! I saw a little box on his collar, not sure if it was a shock collar or something? (makes me wonder how nice of a dog he really is!) Anyway we walked by and the dog was sitting there watching us, blending into the porch and we didn't see it until it growled and almost came after us. Good thing Adam was there to tell the dog to back away and the owner yelled something from inside the house! Are people really that lazy?! Today again yet another dog on the porch, this time at least the owner was with him. The last place I lived the golden retriever walked itself. The owner would let him out front to roam the neighborhood in the mornings before he left for work and then when he came home. One morning I almost hit him because I was backing out of the garage and didn't see him standing next to my car! This dog was friendly, I wasnt' worried about him attacking someone, I was worried the dog might get hurt. Another time a giant dog ran after me while I was walking my dogs and I had to scoop up them up and carry them the rest of the way home! 20 plus pounds per arm gets heavy fast!! Normally if they see another dog, they get all excited and whine because they want to greet it....needless to say, they were super quiet and calm, which is weird for pugs! They knew that dog wasn't nice!!
I shouldn't have to feel nervous walking my dogs. where I live. I just don't trust big dogs. Baxter is terrified of them. Adam usually works most evenings so I walk my dogs by myself and its difficult if a dog approaches them and I have both dogs with me. They love the walk and its good for them to get exercise.
Lazy dog owners suck and should walk their dogs on a leash. They dont' walk themselves, that's why they have an owner!
So I will continue to walk my dogs ON A LEASH in my neighborhood...........

Missing Vegas

I am having one of those moments when I miss Vegas..... The restaurants, the shopping, the convenience, ooh Trader Joes, Black Bear Diner, Bahama Breeze!! I miss my old crew at UMC.....lunch in the cafe, gossiping and afternoon delight! My new crew at work is not the same, well I don't have a crew! I have made a few friends but its not the same! I realize it takes me longer than most to feel comfortable somewhere. Sometimes I drive around and I'm like, do I live here? Then I look at the beautiful mountains and I think, yes I do!! I do not miss the traffic in Vegas. My commute is 5 minutes, literally. I don't miss my old job, calling CPS everyday and having to deal with kids who had been shot, family drama and kids dying. I didn't realize that Vegas was stressful until I moved and I lost 10 pds from doing nothing. I'm not sure if it was grad school, aka the freshman 15, or my job, or just living in Vegas that made me get fat!! I am now taking steps to being healthy.....I joined a community ed yoga class and there's a yoga studio right around the corner from me, I could walk its only 2 blocks! I'm trying to walk more, my pugs love walking around the neighborhood. I do miss the small dog parks though. But its a small sacrifice. Yes there are trade offs with every place you live. But sometimes you just miss it, even if some of it sucked!