Stick it to me!

I paid someone to stick 17 needles in me yesterday. So I've been having this horrible tailbone pain since about March I think. It won't go away and I think it's getting worse. I've had 4 different doctors tell me they don't know how to help me, so I decided to try acupuncture. Acupuncture is pretty expensive, so I decided to go to a clinic that had students that were supervised by doctors do the sticking, which was much cheaper. The student thing wasn't too bad. I did get to actually meet with the doctor, and the student didn't seem terribly incompetent.

I had acupuncture once before, but it was in China. I was sitting at a conference table in a meeting when one of my Chinese co-workers came up behind me and started sticking needles in my neck and head. I don't remember it hurting at all and it made me feel better. (I had been really sick for a few days.)

Yesterday, however, it kind of hurt. The guy put 17 needles in me - 3 on top of my head, 3 in each hand, and 4 in each leg and foot. Some of them were completely painless, but I have to admit, some of them hurt a little bit. Then they attached some electricity to a few of them. It was kind of bizarre. After it was over, they sent me on my way with some herbs and a follow-up appointment in a week. I have no idea if it will work or not, but I'm kind of out of options. Does anyone have any experience with acupuncture? Your comments would be great!

Birthday Celebrations!

It's true. I turned 30 a couple weeks ago. It was good times! As usual, I like to stretch my birthdays out as long as possible. It all started with Tara's Eve. I got my first bouquet of flowers from my good friend, Stacy. My second bouquet was from my brother, Josh. They were sitting on my kitchen island when I got home from work. For my birthday, he had broke into my house and cleaned it while I was at work. How fantastic was that???? Thanks Josh!!!

Our friend Owens came over later on Tara's Eve bearing a gift of a toy shot gun that made shooting sounds and emitted smoke. It was so fun!

Then Owens, Brandon and I went and bought ice cream and ate it out of the cartons down by the river. I know that sounds bizarre, but we did the same thing 3 Tara's Eves ago so I wanted to keep up the tradition. It was kind of lame though so we didn't stay at the river very long. I think Brandon and Owens were glad I got it out of my system.

The women at work do birthdays up really good. They decorated my office like a crazy child's birthday party. Everyone in our office dressed up as a character from one of the top 5 movies from the year of my birth - 1978. They were Halloween, Superman, Jaws, Grease, and Animal House. We had a couple of toga wearers from Animal House, a few Grease girls, and I was Superman. They also got me flowers (bouquet #3) and a fantastic gift card to Home Depot. They contributed greatly to the dog house I just built and the slate planter box I'm about to build along my back fence. We went to lunch at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant and then had cupcakes at Sprinkles. As a side note, I was terribly disappointed with Sprinkles, but I'll write about that later.

When I got home from work, there were 2 more bouquets of flowers from my husband. That makes FIVE bouquets of flowers total!!!! I also found 3 or 4 cards sprinkled throughout the house from hubby. How sweet is he? He also knows how much I like presents and he did good this year! He bought me 3 chick flick DVD's and said he'd watch them with me one time each. This is a big step for him since he HATES chick flicks. He also gave me a thing to let me listen to my iPod in my car. It didn't really work, but I loved the thought of it and he promised to return it for a working one. My favorite gift by far was two software programs for home design and landscape design. They are so much fun and now I don't have to sketch my home improvement plans on spare envelopes. I can create them in 3-D. Loved it all! We finished off my birthday at Oregano's for dinner. I could only eat there and be happy!

The day after my birthday, Brandon invited a few of my friends over for a barbecue. It ended up being 10 kids and 11 adults in my little house. It was complete madness, but so much fun.

It was so good to see everyone and spend time with my friends. The kids were adorable too! The girls spent most of the evening making up dance routines. Oh, to be a kid again...

One of the best parts about the barbecue is that my mom brought a birthday cake over. It was amazing. I think at first she thought I didn't like it, but I was just speechless. She designed this thing on her computer and sent it to this company that makes sugar pictures for cakes. She is so incredible and it meant a lot to me that she worked so hard on it. Take a look.

Sunday, was family dinner at my parents house. I got to pick out everything we ate. It was so yummy. I just love spreading birthdays out as far as I can. I wish I was a princess! :)

Thank you to everyone, especially Brandon, who made my 30th birthday perfect!

Trip to Idaho/Utah

I had some extra vacation days to use, so I headed up to Idaho to hang out with my sister and her family. Lorelai is seriously the cutest thing you've ever seen and smiles at least 90% of the time she's awake. We were fast friends and had such a good time. Preston and Emily were incredible hosts and fed me very well. My favorite was the spaghetti with pasta made from scratch. MMMMMM!

Here's Lorelai coming up the stairs to play with Aunt Tara.

See, she's even smiling when Mommy has to pin her down to put a pony tail in her hair.

While I was there, I convinced Emily that we should paint the wall above her fireplace red and make some red curtains for her window. Her whole room was tan- what was I supposed to do? I think I have a home decor illness. Anyway, we had a fun time doing it together and I think it looks great!

After hanging out in Idaho for a few days, we all got in the car and drove down to Utah for my cousin, Jenny's, wedding. We helped my mom with the cake. Jenny wanted it square, pink & black, with stars. Everything that could have possibly gone wrong with the cake did, but here's what we ended up with:

Jenny and I. When did she grow up? Isn't she supposed to still be 10? Geez- must mean I'm getting old!

It was a great trip. The only down side was that Brandon had to stay home and work. :(

Happy Anniversary to us!

Okay, so maybe this post is about 3 months late, but better late than never right? The important part is that we made it a year!!!! To celebrate we took a weekend trip to Sedona. I found the cutest little place to stay in Oak Creek Canyon. The property is made up of a few hotel type rooms and then also some free standing cabins. The property is beautiful and backs right up to the creek. The staff was fantastic! The rooms could use some updating, but the rooms all have a jacuzzi and fireplace in the room. Overall, we would highly recommend it!

We had such a good time. We slept in, explored Sedona and Oak Creek, played at the trout farm, went on a hike, and took a Jeep tour. It couldn't have been nicer. I didn't want to come back to real life! What a perfect way to celebrate our first year of wedded bliss and to look forward to many more to come!

Latest Creation

A couple weeks ago, I got it into my head to build the dogs a dog house. We don't have a patio covering, so I was sad if they were ever left out in the rain if we're not home. Also, with winter coming, they need a place to stay warm. After a lot of designing on spare envelopes, this is what I came up with. It matches our house with the same color, trim and shingles. A special thanks to my fantastic husband for assisting me!