T-Man makes 3

The new man in my life.

September 1, 2011

Travis Mark.

I love him. ;)

Cleanin' out the cobwebs

Wow!!

I have got to be the most slowest person to get this blog thing going. It's been well over a year since I last blogged...that's bad.

So, what's new in the Thompson household, you say?! Well......absolutely nothing!!!

Since a year has past I'll give a short recap:

• I finally learned how to actually stand up on a snowboard, and yes, get down the hill in one piece as well as perform a 180...with my feet still planted on the ground ;)
• We spend an extended weekend in Santa Barbara to celebrate Nate's youngest brothers wedding, that was a blast and a half!
• We went camping in Hume Lake again, this time along with my parents my sisters and their boyfriends came and we had a great time. Kelly and her BF were able to stay a bit longer than the rest and we got to really spend quality time which was awesome!
• We remodeled our kitchen...finally!! We got inspired to do so after seeing my parents go through the remodel process (which my mother had been waiting to do for well over 20 years!) and I must say our kitchen looks way better than it's old former 80's self.
• I took a Plienair watercolor class over the summer with my mom, and am continuing to take a watercolor class through the fall/winter. Watercolor has never been my forte with art, but I'm learning alot and have definitely seen an improvement in my watercolor.
• I started taking online classes through a University to become a Certified Forensic Nurse. Yes, I've decided I'd really like to learn more about the Dr. G, CSI and Bones aspect of nursing. So far I'm having a great time learning all there is to know about forensics and I can't wait to see what kind of stuff I can get into once I'm finished!
• We celebrated by grandmother's 80th birthday. All the family got together and took her out on a brunch bruise in the SF bay. It couldn't have been a more lovely day, the weather was perfect, the ocean was calm and the food was fantastic!
• And finally, Nate and I took a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean for our 3rd year anniversary. We made stops in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Marteen. We went all out this time and got a veranda suite room, and boy was it grand! We decided if you're going to go on a cruise the veranda is the way to go! We spend most of our time on the ship on that deck, it was so quiet and peaceful and didn't have a million people all around you hunting for the next available lounge chair :) Not to mention the weather was perfect the whole time we were there, a few days of rain, but not enough to let you down.

So, there's a small recap of our year. Hopefully in 2011 I'll be able to keep up with the blogging.....I hope!

Here's some photos of the past year, enjoy!

can't forget a picture of my "twin" :)

family photo 2010

thompson boys and the wives

new kitchen!
one of the places we went this summer to pleinair watercolor
my grandmother (ain't she pretty? i think so)

relaxin' :)

Fall Time

this blog seems to becoming a tri-yearly blog (is that even a word? i don't care)

so for the fall, september, nate and i started off visiting our super cute new nephew, james. apparently he looks exactly like a "thompson boy"....he really just looks like a boy to me :)

october, we then went to disneyland for our 2nd year anniversary and had a blast!!! the weather was fantastic, a little on the warm side, but not too bad. and we had breakfast with the characters TWO days in a row!! i know, we're special :) since it was october, disneyland was set up in halloween attire. there were 3 rides that they made "halloween-ish", the haunted mansion, space mountain and tower of terror. the haunted mansion was cute, they decked it out in nightmare before christmas props, but of course nothing like the original ride :) space mountain was kind of a downer, they changed the soundtrack, slowed the ride down and projected some kind of ghoul resembling a mix between "the mummy" and the balrog from lord of the rings. and to top that off we waited in line for over and hour to ride space mountain. oh well, it's all part of the fun. to end, tower of terror was pretty much the same ride, no real changes that we could see, i think they were just advertising it as a special halloween ride because it's twlight zone-ish.

on the ride back from LA we had a chance to stop and have lunch with nate's brother and his girlfriend, that was a lot of fun! we had some good laughs, mediocre food, and a great time of fellowship. we're all hoping that the girlfriend becomes a thompson soon! she's fantastic!

then at the end of the month my sister and i hosted a halloween party where the attendants had to dress up as a holiday of the year. we had some wild costumes! it was also fun, because it was where our youngest sister stepped out with her boyfriend for the first time! he's a great guy, real sweet.

now into november, we started off by celebrating my grandfather's 80th birthday. it took a long time to plan, and with lots of the usual family bickering(probably more than should have been), the party went off fairly well. we all had fun, and was a really neat thing to celebrate the life of a man who joined the US Navy, married my grandmother, who persisted even though she said no 3 times, live through WWII, Korean War, Vietnam, has 6 children, 9 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchilden. and to this day is walking every morning and drinking his one glass of wine every day, and still has a mind as sharp as a tack! all in all we had a great time.

now approaches the holiday season and boy do we have plenty of holiday things to do. and of course with my job i get to juggle both working holidays and spending time with family, oh the joys of life! :) so far though it's actually working out ok. i get to spend thanksgiving with both families, and i get christmas eve and day off. so far so good! i can't complain.

so thats what we've been up to in a nutshell, kind of a large nutshell, oh well...

Summertime!

after such a long absence...We're all doing well here, my back is doing excellent after the surgery, the pain that i had before is completely gone, praise God! i only have risidual pain from the surgery, ie numbness to my right leg and intermittent slight lower back pain, which the doc says is normal and should decrease in about a year. i'm taking a yoga class this summer to help keep my muscles stretched, so far it's really helped. i am soo glad i had it done, its amazing!

nate and i are enjoying our summer just working and trying to fit in play time. not too many get-aways this summer but it should be enough. we're going camping at the end of august and going to LA in october. maybe a few weekends away here and there...

this last weekend we both walked the "Wharf to Wharf" race, i knew i couldn't run it because of my back but i thought i could walk it. it was a blast!!! it only took 1:52:35 to complete the 6 miles....that's not too bad for walking, right? maybe next year we'll be able to run it, or at least jog.

Healing Well

Hey there folks,
just a note to tell all that i'm doing well and recovering well. the pain that i used to have in my back is gone! although it's replaced by aches that are related to the healing process. so let's hope that this will be the end! i've been doing good, hanging out at the house, trying not to do too much in one day, which concesquences into back pain at the end of the day. But thankfully i've had alot of friends/family come and visit and help out, which has been soo nice. i started physical therapy last week, just doing stretching and strengthening exercises, i was hoping to take advantage of prescription that my doc ordered for deep muscle massage....but that hasn't happened yet, darn it.
before i return to work in the middle of april, nate and i will be taking a week long vacation to cabo san lucas, i can't wait!! what perfect time to take a vacation than when i'm recovering from surgery, i love it.
hope you are all doing well and loving the wonderful sunshine that God's given us!
Thank you everyone for the help and prayers!

I'm at home

Hello all,
Just letting you know I'm at home now from the hospital. I'm walking around now with assistance from a walker, yes, it's kinda funny I'm hobbling around with a walker. My pain is actually tolerable for the moment, the hard part is not being as limber as I want to be. I can't bend down and really can't reach for things, So I'm relying alot on family members to get things for me. I am soooo thankful for them! Total Godsent.And they're all doing a wonderful job.
Right now I'm staying at my parents house, because they have a single level house and its easy for me to manuver around. I hope to be at home by Monday, when Nate is done putting in the banisters in the stairs.
I'd love to have any visitors stop by, just give me a call to make sure my super busy (not) schedule is open.
More later

A Little Update

Hello all,

Just a quick update, I'll be going in to the hospital this friday for a lumbar fusion/back surgery. I should be in the hospital for about 5 days and then at home for about 3 months. I'm really hoping to keep myself occupied for 3 months at home, since I won't be able to drive or do alot of moving.
I'll let you know how the surgery goes when I'm out. I'd also love to see any of you who can come visit :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family. hope you all have a wonderful day full of laughs, cheer and of course....turkey!!! Many blessings to you all!!

To the Vets

in honor of veterans day:

i just want to say thank you to all the veterans out there for your service to our country.

specifically i'd like to thank my grandpa stovall, uncle kurt, will, darold, tony the tiger, nick and daniel. Thank you for all you do for us and our country.

may God bless.

semper fidelis.

non sibi sed patriae!

this we'll defend.

Our house!!

there is our house!! it's been awesome to be able to set up a living space the way I want to. we've done alot of work on the inside so far...placed pergo, had carpet installed, repainted the entire interior, replaced alot of electrical things....and that's all what we did before we moved in! there's more left to do but at least now it's livable, i'll post pictures when i get around to taking them :)

not much more is going on in our lives. we celebrated our 1st year anniversary the third week of october. it was fun, we went on a 4 day mexican cruise. it's actually the same one i took my sisters and mom on back in july. (see previous post for same pictures) instead of taking off on exhersions we just walked around ensenada and cabo, it was quite relaxing, we read alot of books and i did alot of sitting in the sun, and didn't get burned, go me! it was a nice vacation for both of us.

now that we're back it's no more frivilous spending, we're both trying real hard not to spend extra money, being that we have a large mortgage to pay and the holidays are coming up and we still would like to have somewhat of a savings account when all's said and done. i'm sure anyone who lives in california knows what i'm talking about ;)

New Digs!

as of august 29 nate and i offically own a house!!! it's super exciting to actually reach the point you've been hoping for since you get a job, (i'm gonna buy a house, buy a new car, etc ;) )
we bought a townhouse in the condo complex just down the road from where we live now. it's a 2 story, 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 1200 sq. ft townhouse. i love it!! we spent labor day weekend painting and this weekend will be putting the pergo and tile in the downstairs and waiting for the carpet guys to put the carpet in upstairs in the next few weeks.
so, that's the new news going on with us thompsons, also if any of you homeowners out there have any tips on "new" home owning that would be great!
i'll post pictures soon!

A scrub top

i've always wanted to try and sew a scrub top, just to see if i could do it...i mean i wear them all the time at work and they look simple enough to sew, so i thought i would try and bust one out, and i did! so here's the finished result...it's not bad but not the best either, i got fabric for 2 more tops so we'll see if they get better as it goes along.

From Camping to Cruising and beyond

this is the original "black pearl" ship that was used in the pirates of the carribean movies

well, our camping trip was a blast and a nice relaxing weekend too. we went to hume lake with a couple of our friends, we either were relaxing at the site, on a raft in the lake or out on a lil fishing boat attempting to fish. the only one who caught a fish was nate, it was too small to eat but we had fun anyways.

i took my mom and sisters on a super fun cruise to mexico. they have never been on one beofre and they all had a grand ol' time! we went to cabo san lucas and took a kayak/snorkel trip and then up to ensenada and took a cooking class, we learned how to cook some basic mexican dishes, ie salsa, tostadas, tamales. it was hard coming back from the luxuriousness(?) of not having to cook or clean for a whole week!! not to mention it was a relaxing trip to boot.

what else....we're still looking at houses, we've found a couple we like and have put an offer on one, but haven't heard yet. we're learning to be patient and wait for what God has for us. He'll give us something we're sure of it!

(sorry about the pictures, they're all kinda mixed up, but hopefully you can figure them out.)

Alive and Well

We're here, we're alive, we're well....here's the news,

let's see our apartment was sold back in april, to a great single gal who just now is moving in...it's awesome she works at a SJ hospital and is a Christian to boot! It's great to see God working in awesome ways. what else...
the cool news, we went to a silent auction a few weekends ago at baymonte and bit on a few things and actually won a couple, ie digital memory card, ski lift tickets....but the neatest thing we actually won was a 7 day condo in cabo san lucas for 4 people!!!! we thought for sure we would be outbit for the trip, but turns out we won!!! :) so now we're figuring out when we can go...and who we wanna take...any takers????? lol

upcoming events: we're going camping at the end of june with some friends, can't wait, i haven't been camping in several years, it'll be fun. i'm also taking my mom and sisters on a 5 day mexico cruise to baha at the beginning of july. THAT i can't wait for!!! i'm sooo excited. i decided to take my sisters and mom on a cruise about 3 years ago and have been saving since....being that my youngest sister is graduating high school, my middle sister just 'cuz ;) and my mom because of all the work she does for me and has done for my wedding....oh yea, and 'cuz i love them all!!

we've recently been looking at houses for sale...we're getting closer to when we want to seriously consider buying. we're both kinda scared and excited at the same time because it's a new leaf of our life. please pray for patience and strength for this new leg...and that we'll find a steal of a place.

We are here! We are here!!

Yes, i'm still here...just got busy with work and life....i'll post more later, just wanted to let ya'll know we're here! we had a fun trip to sacramento and new house stuff...i'll tell all in a bit...
until then....

Viva la Tahoe

well let's see....the new news our apartment 80% likely has a buyer, which thank the Lord wants to keep us as tenants, so for now we'll still be in our apartment for a little while longer. we've also been thinking if the rent goes up how much more it would be if we just bought a condo down the street or possibly a manufactured home, aka mobile home, aka high-end trailer trash...HA! anyways, that the new house plans....

we just got back from South lake tahoe, we went on an extended weekend and spent some time in the snow. we went snowmobiling, to the casinos at night, and did absolutely NOTHING in the cabin....it was great!!! nate took me snowmobiling, i've never been, it was kinda scary at first, but in the end was a blast. we also went to the casinos at night and i won a total of about $500, nate's not a big gambler so we spend most of the evenings playing the 5cent machines, those were fun!!! makes you feel like you've won alot when in reality it's only a few bucks. :) the last day we were going to go on the slopes but turns out a storm hit and it was snowing so much we would have gotten lost of the hills, so instead we stayed in the cabin and read and i attempted to take some artsy pictures of icicles, not sure if i qualify for an award, but i had fun.

and now it's back to the daily grind of work and no play, i mean, some play :)

Long time, no talk

yes, we're still alive, i know all of you were holding your breath to see if i would return on the blog....
well we survived our first holiday season together, and i might say it was pretty fun. we spent christmas at my family's house and nate's family came over for dinner, played games, opened gifts, it was pretty relaxed. for new year's we went to dinner at some friends' house and then went black-light bowling at the alley, which was super fun! i didn't think i would make it to midnight being that i had to be up the next morning to work, but i did and the next day wasn't too bad. thank you Jesus!
now we're settling back into "normal" life, whatever that means...working, eating, sleeping, having fun. i think our biggest challenge at the moment is the fact that the house we're renting has been on the market for the last 3 months and we've been what feels like sharing a house with a realtor! we have a realtor showing the house at least once a week which means the house should be some-what clean. i also don't really like having to leave the house for 15 minutes when in reality they never know when the prospective owner will show up so..the 15 minutes always turns into 1 and 1/2 hours! and of course i always seem to do the grocery shopping the day before so i don't have anything to do, and it's on my day off....anyway, we're praying that God will bring a buyer soon so that we can really settle into life and not share a house with realtors!
but enough complaining, i digress...
God is good!!!

Christmas Time!

yes it's christmas already, i can't believe it....i just now finished christmas shopping, it gets harder and harder each year, i think eventually i'll be finishing my shopping on christmas day at this point!
we had fun going to a christmas tree farm with some friends of mine. we had a blast, we ended up running into several people that each of us knew from other things so there ended up being at least 10 people standing in a circle where one person knew someone else who knew another person in the group. very small world! we found a cute little tree that fit our house perfectly. we came home and decorated it with our ortaments and of course LED light strands :)
this year we'll be spending time with my family, although it does stink because unfortunately i have to work christmas eve. oh well, ya can't win them all...
i just have to say i love that feeling of waking up christmas morning, knowing that the day is going to be filled with warmth,presents, coffee, laughs and plenty of paticia (luthuainian coffee cake), of course it used to be who would wake up the earliest, now it's who can sleep in the longest!
plenty of fun!! i'll soon have pictures of our tree....