Busy Busy Busy

Did I mention that life is crazy? Things are still hectic around here for us. Work has been busier this month than the past few which puts stress in every other aspect of life. But here is a recap of what has been going on lately...

• January and February went by so fast that I don't remember much about them which is fine. They happen to be my least favorite months, I hate winter.
  
• Speaking of the winter season, Cosmo has a bit of cabin fever. I suggested getting him one of those lamps that simulates real sunlight, you know, the ones for seasonal depression. Scott laughed... I was serious.
  
• We had to go through everything in our basement and compile/pack it and move it up 2 flights of stairs (equaling about 30 steps). This included ALL of our food storage. We have SO much stuff down there and it took a couple weeks to get it all moved and cleaned out. Our landlords/friends are redoing the rotted floor in the basement that had some termites. The good thing about all of this is that our food storage is now all in order so we are rotating better. And a lot of our stuff is organized.
  
• Scott is probably going to book a ticket to Missouri for the first part of May for a couple family events. I'm excited for him to get to go home but a little jealous. Unfortunately we can't afford for both of us to go this time.
  
• We are moving. We don't know when but probably July or August. If all goes right according to our plans we'll be moving to the Phoenix area. If not, we are still moving because our landlords are putting our house on the market in April, and Scott can't do the schooling that he would like here in Price. I have mixed feelings about this. I'm ready to move on and go somewhere I've never been but I'm sad to be moving from my friends and our awesome ward. I'm also worried about the timing working out. I'm hoping our current home doesn't sell before we have arrangements made elsewhere.
  
• Cosmo has been a little under the weather the last few days. I'm surprised it didn't come sooner with all of the power tools that were being used in our basement. They make him nervous and he gets a sick tummy. But I do love that he wants to be held all the time. He snuggles on my shoulder like a baby and when I try to put him down he grips onto me and snuggles his head in my neck. Sometimes I think that Heavenly Father new 6 years ago when I went to look at a litter of puppies that one day I'd need that feeling of being needed. Yeah, so he's a dog, I get that, but it's better than having empty arms.
• It turned from winter to spring so quickly. We only had about 2 real snow storms this year. It was awesome! But it has still been very cold and windy. The other day as I went outside to let Cosmo out, it was so beautiful and I remembered how much I enjoy the feel of the sun on my face. I am looking forward to summer immensely.

Well there's the update, hopefully next time I'll have something better to post about, with pictures, because really everyone loves a post with pictures.

We are pet parents

Scott came home from work the other day and handed me a piece of paper that said the following. Being a doggy mommy I thought it was hilarious.

Rules for Non-Pet Owners Who Visit and then Complain About Our Pets
1. The pets live here. You don’t.
2. If you don’t want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture.
(That’s why it’s called “fur”niture.)
3. To you, our pets are just animals. To us, they are an adopted
son/daughter who happens to be hairy, walks on all fours and doesn’t speak
clearly.
4. Dogs and cats are better than kids because:
- they don’t ask for money all the time
- they are easier to train
- they usually come when called
- they don’t hang out with drug-using friends
- they don’t need a gazillion dollars for a college education, and
- if they get pregnant, you can sell the children.

I am not sure who to give credit to for this brilliance but I thought it was funny. Now don't be offended if you have kids. We love kids and would give just about anything for one of our own, but for now you'll have to get used to the fact that I talk about my dog A LOT, because to us he is our hairy child. :) Seriously, who wouldn't love this face?
(This was Christmas morning, and he got a lot of Christmas presents, you know from us, and both grandparents, and our next door neighbors so with every present we unwrapped, he thought it was for him, thus the anticipating look. See, he's just like a kid.)

St. George

To say that I'm exhausted is an understatement. Sunday I arrived home from spending almost 2 weeks in St. George. The company that I work for opened a center there and sent me and one of my other Price co-workers to help train the first group. There is something to be said about not having to cook or clean for 12 days but living in a hotel for more than a couple days, without family gets old and lonely. It was a good experience and I'm glad that I went but I was working evenings there and now that I don't have the option to sleep in anymore I'm tired all day long.

One of the highlights of the trip was meeting SO many great people. We went to karaoke and sushi with our trainees and it made me realize once again how many awesome people there are in this world. I have felt a bit of sadness as I think of the possibility of moving away soon and leaving so many incredible friends but then I realize there are so many people I have yet to meet and become friends with. Anyway, that was a totally sidetracked thought... back to St. George.

The weekend that we were supposed to come home, Scott drove down with my co-workers family and we made a mini vacation out of it. I really haven't spent a whole lot of time in St. George through my years except for a night here or there on our way to California. So Scott and I decided to see the "sites" around town. We started out at Brigham Young's summer home, then to the St. George Tabernacle and then to the St. George Temple visitors center. We learned so much that day! Like for instance, did you know that the Temple was built on the outskirts of the original town because Brigham Young wanted it in the center of the valley and knew that eventually the valley would be full? And did you know that TONS of tour busses stop each year when they are traveling from Las Vegas to Zion's National Park because they can see the Temple off the freeway and so many people have asked to stop so now it is a regular stop for a lot of tours? And did you know that they send French speaking missionaries to St. George for that purpose of talking to tourists? And did you know that more French people are converted to the LDS faith because of visiting that visitor's center than in all of the proselytizing in France? Who knew? I sure didn't!

Anyway, it was so good to have that time with Scott and have no schedule or plans. It was also nice to see our dog again. Cosmo had visitation with my parents while I was gone. Scott was very very lonely and missed Cosmo a lot. Cosmo made it very clear how upset he was when we picked him up. Luckily he wasn't mad at me and he cuddled right into my neck. As for Scott, Cosmo wouldn't even look at him which means he's really mad because according to Cosmo, Scott has the tastiest most delectable face and Cosmo would lick it all day long if Scott would let him but Scott didn't even get one lick. Scott explained it well when one of his customers asked if we had kids, Scott said "No, but we have a dog that thinks he's human." So true, and that's why we love him!

Well, that's all for now, maybe I'll get caught up on posts and eventually tell you about our fun Christmas guests.

Recipe etiquette

For all my blogging friends, here is a question for you... What is the rule about recipe etiquette in blogs? I know generally you acknowledge who you got the recipe from if you can remember. But I was thinking about starting a recipe blog for my sister and mom who are always asking me for recipes that I've tried and like but I don't want to get in trouble if it's from a recipe book. So does anyone know the etiquette/unwritten rule is there? Thanks in advance!

The happenings

I think busy is not a strong enough word to describe our lives lately. This last month has been pure chaos. We were able to celebrate our 4 year anniversary and the majority of the rest of our lives have been consumed in work. Scott has been really busy at work, and I have been REALLY busy at work. I started a new position with the company I work for. I'm still a trainer but I'm over a new department here in Price called CaptionCall. The product came out about a year ago and they've had a department in the Salt Lake office but they just brought it to Price. It's potentially a huge step for my company and they are looking to open some new offices in the coming 6 months, so it's been fun to be a part of the beginning of something that is going to be huge for the company. The busy-ness hasn't come without it's hardships. I think I've had a break down at least once a week since starting this position and I've been so grateful that Scott has been so understanding. One particular week was really rough. I was working enormous amounts of overtime so the exhaustion was overwhelming and I was having some days where the words kept running through my head "life's not fair." But I have a great husband who let me cry for a very long time on his shoulder and the next day when I got in my car to go home from work I found these...
You can't look at Gerbera daisies and not smile, right? This did make my day and seriously aren't flowers the best? I received 3 sets of flowers in a 3 week period, one set for our anniversary, an arrangement from the VP of the company I work for thanking me for working so hard, and these. Of course the ones from Scott were my favorite, but I just love how flowers can lighten a rough day.

In other news we paid off our Honda, yay! We now have 2 cars bought and paid for. If all goes well we're hoping to be out of debt by May or June (Thanks Dave Ramsey!). Scott got me a gift certificate to get the car detailed so it's all pretty. I'm just hoping the car will last us a long time.
Other than that we are doing pretty good. We're to the point of trying to decide what is next for us and we have a list of options in front of us and the hard part is deciding which is the best. We'll probably be moving from Price in the next year which will be weird. I have grown to love the city and the people but we both know that this isn't our permanent home. This is the part of being an adult I hate, making life altering decisions. But I'm so glad I have Scott by my side through it all.

Family pictures

This is a first for the Westwood family. After four years we made the effort to get some family pictures done (yes the dog is a part of our family). Maybe a little part of me was waiting for an addition to complete the photo, but alas it is not so. We had a great time with these photos and our photographer was great. Cosmo even behaved quite well. Here are some of our favorites...

4 years

Has it really been that long? As I look back it seems so long ago yet it seems that the time has flown by so fast. Does that even make sense? We've had our ups and downs like any married couple has but I feel now that we are closer and stronger than ever. Fortunately bumps in the road and unforeseen obstacles can make you stronger if you let them. We haven't always grown from our trials but I feel that this year we have. Life doesn't always go according to plan but it's a lot easier if you use it to benefit and strengthen the relationships that you have. I was so lucky to find a guy that I could lean on during tough times. That would be the strength I needed when life is hard.

I.AM.LUCKY.

Here's to another year that will hopefully be the best one yet!