Sick? Sick!!

Seeing Erin in Seattle.....great. Finally, witnessing Wicked.....priceless. Eating at Claim Jumpers.....heavenly. Going to the furniture store to see Erin's soon-to-be couches.....comical. Afraid of seriously losing my guts (whatever "guts" actually is) while having diarrhea and puking in the furniture store bathroom.....could have done without it. Seeing Josh and Erin's faces when they saw my blotchy skin, blood shot eyes, swelling ankles, pale face and detatched expression....hilarious (too bad I wasn't in any mood to laugh). Convulsing with uncontrollable shaking for two hours.....painful. Paying a lot of money to go to an emergency room out-of-state....could have done without that one too. Benedryl through an IV.....again, heavenly. Having an 8 month pregnant sister following ME into the emergency room.....now you may all start cracking up.
Thanks to Erin for taking care of me when I was supposed to be taking care of her. Thanks to Josh who very chivorously drove me where I needed to go and stayed at the hospital when I knew he wanted to just go and get those dang couches already!! I love family. I would say that I owe Erin one, but here's the great thing about this family.....we don't keep score. I will help any of them whenever they need it and they will help me when I need it. Thanks so much Erin and Josh! For taking care of me and being bright lights in our family. Congratulations on little Justin!

Cruisin'

Our best cruisin' buddies! Jeremy (Mike's brother) and his lovely wife (and my vacation Saver!) Robyn.

Istanbul, Turkey, in front of Hagia Sophia. Whoo hoo!

What a great pic......can't see anything. In the cistern. Read on for our other destinations!

Ephesus

Robyn and Jer were always trying to get us in the pictures. Robyn convinced me that you might as well get a postcard if your not going to be in the pics. Okay Robyn! From now on I'll be better.

A sidewalk mosaic. Throughout the whole trip I would ask myself, "How looooong did that take them?" Our tour guide told us that some of the full bodied sculptures were the only carving a sculptor would do in his whole career. Um.....no thank you, I'll take care of my crazy brood instead.

Potty break? Ancient bathrooms. There was a running stream underneath. I can only imagine the SMELL!

Jer and Mike in front of the library facade. Amazing!

Aweosme staium.....I don't know what else to say! They still hold events there.

And last, but surely not least, Mike paying a whopping $2 to sit on a camel they wouldn't let stand up......HILARIOUS.

Greece

That's right! Donkey's! We were certainly haulin' some ass! How could we pass up the chance to ride up the cliff on these beauties? That mean man was not very nice to those animals! This is Jeremy (Mike's bro) negotiating the turn.

Uh....yeah, I guess that's pretty.

I led the way with my ever faithful steed.

Goodbye Greece! You were exactly what I wanted you to be!

Pompei

Pompeii!! I studied about this place in College. It was amazing. So here is a little bit about our time there (and some history too, sorry!) This is a cast of a body preserved by the ash lava spewed (great word) by Mt. Visuvius. These are slaves. We know this because they all have belts, which categorized them as property. It is fascinating! They are shielding their faces from the oncoming waves of ash!

Fountain in a bath house with propaganda about the upcoming elections of the day. They had cold or warm water! Genius!
Another cast. You can see the teeth!
This is the original pier. The water is now about 3 miles away.

Grand entrance gates into Pompeii.


An ancient two-way road for chariots! They still had the wheel marks! This was a crosswalk for pedestrians. The streets were not only for travel, but also for sewage drains....yuk!
Some mosaics. I restrained from taking pictures in the brothel, where the mosaics above each "room" illustrated what exactly you should or could do in the room. Honestly people, will we ever be free from our hormones? These are some harmless ones.
A bakery! Those are some huge grain mills! Also an oven in the back. I have tons of pics of "pubs", houses, fountains and lead pipes running throughout the city. They were well advanced for their time. The lead pipes might have something to do with the low-age deaths!

I loved Pomeii! Thank you, you crazy, egotistical, power-craving ancient Romans!

I'm back

Here I am in Greece, one of the stops on our Meditteranean cruise, more to come on another post!




Family pics. A terrible headache afterward but worth every rub of the temples.
Beautiful Utah. Here are just some pics for you entertainment. What I really want to say is that macaroni and cheese from the box and TV babysitting are not beneath me, and........
IM BACK IN THE BLOGGING GAME!

Indecisive.....who ME?!

Many of you know now about my crazy obsession.....dogs. So scratch that last blog because we aren't getting an aussiedoodle anymore.....actually, we sold Bree and made a $250 profit (I know, I'm awsome!) Okay, here's the deal. I have been doing tons of research and talking to many, many breeders. I have picked out my favorite pure bred dogs and have decided to breed them instead of breeding for mixed breeds, ie goldendoodle, labradoodle, aussiedoodle. So here are the greatest two breeds of dogs, in my opinion. Without further ado, I give you (drumroll, please)......The Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier! Never heard of it? Neither had I. Here is the rundown...non-shedding coat, medium build (17-19 in at shoulder, 30-40 lbs)

As puppies they look like this little guy above. When they are full grown they have a lighter coat color like this gorgeous girl below. You have to clip them, but only have to comb them every other day.
I am really drawn to the medium size and also love the poodle, except for the fact that I think they are ugly. Well, after much thought and research I am getting a Klein Poodle. They are in between the standard and miniature in height and weight. Here is the sire (dad) of my soon to be pup.
Yes, ugly, but I have seen some okay looking poodles, it's all in how you cut them. I definitely will not give my dog a "top notch" or pom-poms for feet. Just one length all over for me, thank you. That style of cut is good looking and easier to maintain. Also the Klein has the temperament of a standard poodle, said to be the best pet, and most trainable breed (because it is only surpassed in intelligence by the boarder collie). Our Wheaten is coming July 22nd and our Klein is coming sometime in February. Here we goooooooo!!!!!!!