Thursday, May 21, 2009

New home and Eric's graduation!

This is going to be short. We don't have the internet yet and I don't have much time to be on the internet. I will give you more updates later.



It has been a very exciting month. We are officially first time homeowners. Woo Hoo! We closed a month ago today. We are unpacked for the most part. I still am working on organizing, and decorating. My mom came out to help us move in, unpack, decorate, be my friend, keep me company.... She was absolutely wonderful! She made moving so much fun and a lot less stressful. Mommy you are the best!



Carrying me across the threshold

A nice surprise gift from our amazing realator, Rhonda.







Look at Arnold!



Day before Graduation






Real quick, I have to brag about Eric. He just graduated from ASU's W.P. Carey business school, which is in the top 25 business schools in the nation. I am so extremely proud of him. He had a full time job, went to school full time, and still managed to be on the dean's list each year and graduate Magna Cum Laude. He's incredible. Way to go love! You're amazing and I am proud to be your wife!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

ONE WILD & CRAZY NIGHT

Kris and I had a GIRL’S NIGHT OUT on Friday. We got invited to a V.I.P. party and had a blast with some of our new closest friends!

We arrived to the party and Oprah ran up to me and wanted to interview me. I really wasn’t in the mood to give another interview, but again “When in Rome”. I probably gave her the best interview of her lifetime.

Hugh Hefner was there. We didn’t get off to a good start. He didn’t like it when I called him a Pervert and smashed a champagne bottle into his head.

Daniel Craig, a.k.a. James Bond, came up to Kris and I and begged us to take a picture with him. How could we say no to James Bond?

George Clooney got jealous when he saw us with Daniel, and asked Kris and I to marry him. I told him I was already happily married but I would humor him and put the dress on and we can “pretend” to get married.
Kris and George got married...
...then had it annulled 20 minutes later.
George wishes

Kris soon saw her one true love Johnny Depp. He fell head over heals for her, of course. They are taking things slow, but so far so good.
I had to sit down with my boy Johnny and talk to him about if he wants to date my sister he needs to treat her like the queen she is. She doesn't need another dirt bag.
They had a karaoke at the party and Simon was there to judge the singers. He didn't give me a good review. He was kind enough to let me cry on his shoulder. Even though he has a hard shell on the outside, he is a soft gooey marshmallow on the inside. The big teddy bear.
Later Ryan Seacrest interviewed Kris and I. He wanted to know who we were wearing, and when I told him that I got my “designer” shirt at TJ MAXX he gave me a really confused face. As you can see from the crossed eyes he has in the picture. He had never heard of TJ MAXX before.
And I used to think he was hip.


Michael and I had a dance off. I won.

The Rock, or Duane and I had many good laughs that night.
Good guy.

Of course Brand and Angie were there. The entire night they kept asking if they could adopt me. Kinda creepy. I tried to steer clear from them.
Our long time friend Nicholas Cage.
Me and my main man, George!

Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you are a racist, I will attack you with the North." Those are the principles that I like to live by. - Michael Scott from the Office

We had to take a picture with our favorite cowboy, John Wayne.

I'm telling the GodFather a HILARIOUS joke. You can't tell, but he really did think it was funny. He was rolling on the floor laughing.

Prince and I striking a pose.

2pac is alive and well. He's a very serious man. Doesn't like to mess around.
It's all business with him.

James Brown and I rockin' out

Kris playing Shaq one on one.

Me and Cam shooting the breeze

My old pal Larry and I goofing around.

Siegfried and Roy brought their tiger to the party.
He hasn't stopped attacking people.

Luckily Siegfried and Roy are magicians so they magically put my arm back on.
This is Siegfried and I joking around. I’m tickling him with my new and
improved magically attached arm.

I forgot that I was a tiger whisperer so I was able to communicate with ‘Kitty’ (that’s what the tiger wanted to be called). We spent some time together and worked through many years of built up resentment and anger towards Siegfried and Roy. He’s doing much better now.

It looks like he is angry but he is smiling.

It was a fun typical night for the Pico Sisters.
Ain’t no party like a sista’s party, cuz a sista’s party don’t stop! Hoo Ha
ANOTHER FUN ADVENTURE...
ADVENTURES AT PUBLIC STORAGE
My beautiful sister flew in a week ago on Saturday. It all started out a mess that day. Kris flew in and had to get a cab to our place because Eric forgot that the only day to move the rest of our things was the day that Kris flew in. We are working on communicating. Poor Kris had to hang out at our apartment for seven fun hours.

By the time we arrived home it was close to 7:30. We picked up Kris and had her come help us unload the truck at the storage unit. This is where the real fun begins…

Public Storage is where we are renting our storage unit. At 9:00 p.m. the gates lock from the inside and out so you can’t get in or out. We weren’t aware of this and there are NO signs that say if you don’t exit by 9:00 p.m. you’re locked in until they open in the morning. We finish unloading everything around 10:15. We are exhausted and excited to get home to relax and eat. We hopped in the truck, pumch in our code on the key pad so we can get out and nothing happens. We punch in the code over and over and still nothing happens. We look around to see if there is a phone number to call and of course there isn’t. We saw a man walking around the storage units earlier so we went inside to find him hoping he could help us. We found him on the second floor and sad to say it looked like he was living inside his unit. He was very kind and gave us two numbers we could try and call. Both numbers we called we heard, “I’m sorry our office is closed. Please call during regular business hours.”
Eric finds a gate door that’s open. It’s big enough for a person to escape so we left the truck and call a cab to come pick us up. To make a long story short, we didn't get a cab, and ended up walking to the airport where Eric’s truck was parked from the previous day. Luckily the airport was only a few miles away. Keep in mind though it’s very late, poor Kris never complained and had nasty blisters on her feet, we look homeless because we have a duffle bag and grocery sacks. The streets are busy and we got honked and yelled at, then we saw a little accident on our way to the airport.
It was a very adventurous night. We got home around 12:30 a.m. We ended the night with cheese crisps and frozen pizza. It will be a night we will never forget. Welcome to Vegas Kris! Who would like to visit us next?
I am so glad that my sis was able to come out. I miss being with her so much. I am very grateful for the friendship we have. She’s my best friend. Thank you sis for everything! I love you and can’t wait for our next adventure!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Moving On Up

We are officially Las Vegans! Woo Hoo! We have lived here for a week and 2 days. We left Mesa on Saturday, March 28th. My bff, Bethany drove down with us and flew back last Thursday. Having her here was such a blessing. I wish that she didn’t have to leave. But she has a family she has to “take care of”. :)
Some highlights and interesting moments during our first week in Vegas.
CAR RIDE WITH THE GIRLS (the kitties, Chauchy and Nermal)
Chauchy is on sedatives that were not strong enough. She cried almost the entire 6 hour drive. The ten minutes where she was quiet she was clawing and ramming her head into the front of the carrier. Fun, fun!
Nermal on the other hand was quiet besides the occasional threatening hisses, snorts, and growls. If you touched her carrier or came close to her carrier she would go ballistic and try to attack you. She’s precious.
MOVING IN
We are staying at the Meridian in room 228. Eric's company was kind enough to pay the rent, which I am so grateful for. Our studio apartment is fully furnished. It's very nice. I like how it's decorated. It has granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, and a nice size balcony for relaxing. They have fun amenities to keep me busy during the day. I really like it here.
Some pictures of our apartment.



CHAUCHY & NERMAL MOVING IN
When we first arrive Nermal runs and jumps into the bathtub while growling. Her eyes are huge and they are peering over the edge of the bathtub. Bethany tries to go calm her down and steps towards the bathtub; Nermal lunges out of the tub trying to attack her. Bethany is scared of Nermal for the rest of the night. Nermal chased Eric twice and tried to attack me once. No one is allowed near her for the rest of the night because she'll kill you.

Can you imagine this sweet kitty wanting to rip you apart?
Chauchy on the other hand is hiding in the corner of the closet. Her nose is pressed up against the wall like she is in time out. The closet corner is her favorite place for the next couple days. Chauchy liked to cry very loud in the mornings till I would pick her up and bring her into bed with me. That went on for a few days. She was also very clingy and would follow me EVERYWHERE.

When she's asleep that's when I can accomplish things in peace. She isn't following me around crying wanting to be held or walking underneath my feet.

The girls didn't get along for a few days. I don't know why.
Each time they saw one another they would hiss. Thankfully they are doing fine now. They are the best little buddies again.
Nermal is pleasant and Chauchy isn't so needy. Yeah!

THE SAN FRANSICO WARD (a.k.a. INSANE fransico ward)
It was fast and testimony meeting which for them that means “lets talk about myself” time. Keep in mind that each testimony was 10-15 minutes long. . The first lady got up and says “ALOHA!” And the congregation shouts “ALOHA!” back. She says she is here to REPORT about how she is doing, health wise. The next lady told us about her health history. From her diabetic coma to her glaucoma., and how she needs to eat better, and she likes to eat. Another lady talked about how she likes to think about astronauts. None of the “testimonies” born were related to something spiritual or directed back to a testimony. They simply were long, boring, pointless stories. The last guy was my favorite. He walked up with papers in his hands and starts to preach like the pastors and ministers on T.V. He was the “Holy, Hallelujah, can I get an Amen?” preacher. The thing is, what he was saying wasn’t making any sense; it led nowhere. The bishop had to finally interrupt his “sermon” and tell him that it’s way past time and he needs to close. Talk about awkward. Everyone was uncomfortable. Needless to say we only stayed for sacrament. We will now ward hop.

WALKING TO THE STRIP AND EXPLORING THE HOTELS
We went to the high-end fashion designer stores. No one ever approached us and asked if they could help us. Is it that obvious that we can’t afford a pair of socks from their stores? Well, we were sweaty and in our exercise clothes. I thought we were rockin' it.


BETHANY CONQUERS FEAR OF NERMAL, & BECOME BUDDIES.
Well, when Nermal wanted to be friends.

Nermal making herself comfortable on Bethany's luggage. I tried kicking her off but since Bethany and Nermal are tight, Bethany let her stay.
BABY STEPPING TO DRIVING
SCARY! I don’t like driving in places I don’t know, especially busy areas. I was just glad to have my buddy with me. Especially when we thought we were getting on the highway.

WEIRDO AT WAL-MART
Some random guy who is about our age comes up to us and says, “I don’t eat meat because I’m a vegetarian. I go to KFC and say, ‘Just because you work here doesn’t mean you have to eat the meat.’ I don’t want to get into it.” I smile politely and respond, “I don’t eat at KFC either.” (my reasons being different)
He then goes on saying something about babies.
We hurry and walk away and he is yelling, “LADY! LADY! LADY! LADY!”
I turn around, and he shouts, “Good for you!”

WATCHING NERMAL DRINK FROM THE TOILET
She is doing this on a daily basis.
I don't even think she drinks from her water bowl.
Our little lady. Who doesn't love pee pee water?

BETHANY'S ALLERGIES
She was a trooper! Never complained once. Poor thing couldn’t breath and was continuously sneezing because of her allergies to the kitties. She still wanted to love on the girls regardless. Again, thank you dear friend!


More fun activities:

HOUSE HUNTING

GETTING LOCKED OUT OF APARTMENT...TWICE IN THE SAME DAY

SHOPPING. LOTS OF SHOPPING

RELAXING IN THE SAUNA


I am very very relaxed. Can you tell?


Cookies were usually our healthy and nutritious breakfast

I was very sad when Bethany had to leave. Now that she has left I have to make an effort to get out and find things to keep me busy. If not I’ll watch t.v. all day and get depressed. It gets lonely. So if anyone wants to visit me please do!

Bethany, thank you again from the bottom of my heart, for everything.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Perfect Goodbye

On my last day of work (which was almost 2 weeks ago) I go downstairs to David’s room to say goodbye. As I walk into the room I find David sitting on his bed naked. Luckily the covers are covering him from the waist down. He looks at me and says, “What you doing here?”
“I’m here to say goodbye. Remember I’m moving to Vegas and today is my last day?”
“Vegas boys trip! No girls allowed!” (He has been wanting to take a boys trip to Vegas and girls are not allowed. He’s already planned one with Eric when he comes to visit. I still am not invited.)
I give him a hug and tell him how much I love. I start to feel a lump in my throat and my nose tingle. As I'm hugging him he his rubbing the back of my head like you would when you are comforting a baby. I look at him and say, "I am going to mi...." Right in the middle of me saying miss, he puts his finger to my lips and says, "Shhh...Just go." (Like off of Dumb and Dumber) Of course I burst out laughing and give him another big hug.
That was the perfect goodbye.

David has taught me so many things. Like how to forgive quickly, and how to love everyone no matter how odd or annoying they are. We are all God’s children and deserved to be treated with love and kindness. He has taught me to be excited about life over the little things. I love how his eyes would light up when I bought him a Coke. He would always say, “Oh! Thanks my love!” We are truly blessed and take so many things for granted. I should be thanking Heavenly Father for every little blessing in my life. It has been a blessing to know David.
I can honestly say he has made me a better person. I have worked with him for over 4 years, and have grown to love him and his amazing family. I will treasure the Johnson family forever, for they have blessed my life in so many ways.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

SO LONG, FAREWELL...

I have some exciting but sad news...We are moving.
Eric got a promotion to be the General Manager at the plant in Las Vegas. This all came very sudden. Two weeks ago his company told him that they were considering him and others to be the GM at the plant. The next day they offered Eric the job. Now they would like us
there in a week. A little stressful and overwhelming? Yes.
Last weekend we went to Vegas to check out the plant, look at homes, and check out the area. There are nice areas in Vegas once you are far from the strip. Many areas look like Mesa. It's scary and exciting all at once. I am excited to start a new chapter in life with Eric, own a home, have money (hooray!), then I am so sad to be leaving my family and friends. I am grateful that it is only Vegas and not Florida or Maine. Plane tickets are very cheap and it's not a
long drive. (hint, hint) One more thing, I want to say that I am very proud of Eric. He has worked extremely hard and has shown that he is more than qualified for this position. I have complete faith in him that he will manage the plant successfully and be a phenomanl GM.
I need to get back to packing. You should see our apt.; I have destroyed it.
I am incapable of keeping the place tidy while packing. I will be home packing all week so please stop by to say hi...and bye.:(

Friday, January 2, 2009

Hello again!

I know, I know... I am horrible at updating my blog. I have been extremely busy the past few months and when I had down time working on the blog was the last thing on my mind. Truthfully, I am just lazy when it comes to blogging. My attention span is so short that after 30 min. I get bored and quit what I am working on, and I never finish. This year I am going to try better at updating the blog. Eric is always asking when I am going to update it. I told him he is more than welcome to do it himself. He's response was, "Uh, that's a little too girly for me."

We have had some fun events during the past couple months. I went to Minnesota to visit
my family in Oct., then the first week of Nov. Eric competed in another triathlon. He's a stud ladies. The week before Thanksgiving I went on a cruise to the Caribbean with the family I work for, (Rough life, huh?) and we just got home from spending Christmas with my family in Minnesota. I am going to fill you in on each occasion as if I was posting them separately.
I am going to start from the most recent event.


CHRISTMAS VACATION
Welcome to the Pico household!
We went to Minnesota to visit my family for Christmas. It’s so stinkin’ cold there. Right as I stepped outside from the airport I could instantly feel my boogers freeze. Gross, but true. Despite the fact that it is terribly cold there, we had a blast. I absolutely love being with my family. We sat around talking and laughing about our childhood days and how we were all crazy and need to be medicated. We played games, watched movies, went shopping to the Mall of America. We had snowball fights. It was more like shove the person in the snow fights.
Max, my parents dog didn't like when Eric would hold me tight and taunt him saying,"I've got Kami". Max would jump on Eric and try to get him off of me.


Max is giving me kisses because he is happy that Eric isn't "attacking" me anymore. Eric is being so kind and not letting me escape Max's wonderful kisses.


Max loves the ladies


My dad has taught Max to balance a piece of food on his nose and when you say "bird dog"
he'll throw it up and catch it in his mouth.
He is showing off with a piece of hot dog on his nose.

My dad took us ice fishing and we all really enjoyed it. It was a little scary driving over the ice. It was warmer that day so there was slush and water on the lake from the ice melting. You could hear the ice cracking below you which would freak you out. I found out that it is good when you hear the ice cracking because that means it is making new ice beneath. You fish in these little huts that are surprisingly warm. People have t.v.'s, heaters, beds in their hut; very cozy.

This is my handsome father showing his prize fish. He threw it back in.


At first we really weren't catching anything so my mom decided to feed the fish a Cheez-It. What fish wouldn't love that?



This is the only fish I caught. It was the biggest fish out of all the others.
You can imagine how proud I was.

My sister, who is an unofficial PETA activist caught the most fish. It was quite amusing. She kept catching fish after fish. Finally we would have her switch us fishing hole's hoping that that was the problem, but nope...we still wouldn't catch anything and right when she would switch holes she'd immediately catch another fish.


Eric is pouting because Kris just caught a fish after they switched holes. They switched holes since Kris had been very successful at her hole hoping that he would finally catch one.

After Kris switched him holes she caught one within 5 min.




Hooray! He caught a fish!

My mom and dad waiting to get a bite.


My dad took Eric quail hunting. Max the dog has been trained to hunt and he LOVES it. Anytime you say in a quiet voice, "Max, where's the bird?" He goes insane and runs around like a lunatic trying to find the bird. My dad works for the NFL team the Vikings and he takes the players out hunting with him all the time. Jared Allen, he plays the defensive end went with them. He is a really cool, down to earth guy.

This is Eric and Jared Allen. Keep in mind that Eric is 6'1. Jared is huge!

Everyone but me went to the Vikings game. I was sick. :( They got to go on the sidelines before the game. I picked a great day to get sick!)


My sister, Mom, Dad, and Eric on the sidelines.

Eric and I goofing around on the piano.



So the night before we left we were at the mall and stopped at a Kiosk that sells clip on hair extensions. Just for fun we had them put them in our hair to see what it looked like, and we ended up buying them. It's nice being able to have long hair since my hair can only grow a little past my shoulders, and when I am sick of it I just take it out.

Oo la la! Aren't we sassy?

We are all fighting to be the focal point in the picture.Max loved to play in the snow. We would throw snowballs and he would catch them. Each time he caught one it made my teeth hurt.
It looks like he dipped his head in a bag of cocaine.


Scary I know. We just woke up and I looked scary so I decided to make myself look even scarier for our walk. The orange hat and red lipstick was a nice touch. I was laughing coming down the stairs thinking that I am hilarious for dressing like this, and everyone else will think so too. Eric looked at me without cracking a smile, shook his head and walked away. I thought it was funny. I still went out on our walk looking like a crazy person.


Eric built this snowman. The sign says 'Please Help I'm Dying! I need fresh snow. God Bless.'


Our trip to Minnesota went by way too fast. I was so sad when we had to leave. I always go in a deep depression when I leave my family. I am grateful for my family and that we all get along. I can't imagine life without them.



CRUISE TO THE CARIBBEAN

As many of you know I work with a young man, David, who has down syndrome. I have worked with him for over 4 years now. I have grown to love him and his family dearly. In Nov. I went took me on a cruise with them. What a horrible job I have!:) I was David's "buddy" so to speak. We had lots of fun. David was known as the party guy to all the stateroom attendants on our floor. There definitely wasn't a dull moment with David. We went to Key West where we went on a boat ride call the White Knuckle Boat Ride. It was a blast! It's a speed boat that fits maybe 12 people and they do crazy tricks in the water. We were soaked at the end of the ride. David and I went dancing. He stole the show. A circle formed around him and he started break dancing and showing off his famous dance moves. We also went to Cozumel. That was lots of fun walking around and visiting the fun shops.

David and I on the shuttle bus to the airport terminal. He is Mr. Smooth when it comes to the ladies. He is always kissing my hand saying, "My Love".


This is our first night on the cruise in the dining room. To the right is David's parents Curt and Gina. They are also known as Ray and Tamara. That is what David calls them.





We are tired and ready for bed.
Me and my love. (He's the only other man that I am allowed to call my love.)

This is David and I dancing at the club. Funny story...He was breaking dancing in the middle of the dance floor and he went down to do the worm and his shoe went flying in the air and his some lady in the stomach. He looked at her and said, "Oops, my bad."


This was taken in Cozumel. The water was crystal blue. It was beautiful.



My two new best friends!

David and Gina. I love this picture! David was mad and a bit crabby because he was tired and hungry so he wasn't about to smile for anybody.





One more funny story. David and I shared a cabin and at night as we were getting ready for bed he was writing in his journal. He was talking out loud to himself as he's writing. He gets this smile on his face and he says, "Who him? Why not?", and he starts busting up laughing like this is the funniest thing has ever heard. It was the funniest thing. I wonder what was going on in his head.



CASA GRAND TRIATHLON

Eric competed in another triathlon Nov. 1st. He did incredible, and I'm not just saying that because he's my husband. He got 92nd out of 405 and came in 8th in his age division. I have to brag and say that he was insanely busy with school and work that he didn't have time to train, and he rocked that race! Way to go sugar!

On a side note. I wore flip flops to the triathlon and one of them broke. The thing that separates your big toe from the other toes broke. I look like an idiot walking around trying to hold the strap between my big toe and second toe. I got a safety pin to somewhat secure it down.

So now I have this huge safety pin sticking out of my flip flop and it's not hard to miss.
Talk about white trash.

This is after the race. He doesn't even look tired.


Eric is about to cross the finish line!


Getting ready to transition from biking to running


Waiting in line for the swimming




MINNESOTA TRIP

This had to be my favorite trip ever! I went to Minnesota in Oct. to visit my family for two weeks. It's absolutely gorgeous there! My parents treated my like royalty! When I arrived there was a sign on the door saying 'Welcome Home Princess'. They take my bags to my room where there is another sign reading 'Princess' Room'. There's a chair in my room with a gift basket full of toiletries and goodies. My mom and dad spoiled me while I was there, and I loved every moment of it.

This is a nature trail down the street from my parent's home.

Everyday we would take Max on a walk. We decided to mix it up and go rollerblading, which we haven't done in like a decade. I wiped out twice the first day. Once, thanks to Max, and the other I was trying to be cool and jump over a curb. Of course it had to be in front of a Club House where everyone could see me. On a Saturday we went and skated in an elementary parking lot and tried to do some tricks and synchronized roller blading. It was lots of fun!


I am trying to keep my balance and not run over Max with my skates.

We liked to walk down the hills on the grass so we wouldn't fall. We are big chickens.

My brothers, Joe and Tanner, took me out to a Comedy Impov club. It was hilarious! Tanner, got to actually go up on stage and be in one of the acts. He did awesom! He was witty and funny. If it were me up there I would probably wet my pants and pass out.



Tanner, Me, and Joe


Having dinner at Biaggi's

My dad and mom took me to an orchird to do some apple picking. They took us on a hay ride to the apple orchird. We had so much fun. We took home 5 10lb. bags of apples. The apples were delicious. They were nice and crisp with a bit of tartness.

I was trying to pose like I was struggling picking an apple off from the branch. It snapped right off and I almost fell over. I am smooth.






These were both taken on our hayride over.


My folks and I took a 4 mile walk on a beautiful nature trail. It was absolutely gorgeous and I am sad that the pictures did not do it justice.

This is at the beginning of the trail. Max thinks he hears birds in the bushes so he is doing his hunting stance. I thought I' d join him.





The entire trail was like this. I wish the camera would have shown the leaves falling. Isn't is beautiful?

Since we had a crap load of apples we decided to can most of them. This was my first time canning, and I really enjoyed it. My dad and I canned apple pie filling all Sunday afternoon. We had a system down and everything. We made a good team.





My last night there my parents took everyone to Osaka, a Japenese steak house, for my birthday. My brother Tanner works there as a waitor so we got extra special treatment. They told the waitor that it was my birthday when we first sat down. I didn't think much of it; I figured I'd get sang to and get some ice cream. Towards the end of our meal someone comes up behind me and puts something over my head. It caught me off gaurd. I can see through two tiny wholes and I see a disco ball turning and I hear music playing to a pop rock kinda beat, "It's your birthday, It's your birthday..."


This is the beautiful mask they put on me.




I was so sad when my trip had to end. It was wonderful being with my family.

I had the best time being with them.