Busy, Busy

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog. I started school again 3 weeks ago and have been really busy trying to keep up with it and work. I am taking Educational Psychology, Adolescent and Emerging Adulthood Psychology and Music Appreciation. Three weeks in and I am already a big nerd because both of my short essays have been posted as the best essays of the respective week. Hey, what else would you expect from a perfectionist?

Good day

I got my new phone today! It is really neat & I can do all sorts of awesome stuff with it. In fact, I am blogging from it right now.

I also found out that Joe's brother Mark & his family might be coming out for a few weeks sometime this year. I really hope they are able to because I miss them a lot and none of us have seen the new baby yet. I know it is a big undertaking with a family his size, but it will be so great to see them again.

Weekend Plans

Joe and I went to see The Dark Knight last night. It was a great movie! The funny thing is, I was more excited to see it that he was. He was shocked I didn't want to go see Mamma Mia! this weekend. Anyway, the previews were not exciting, the movie was long, but it was awesome. I liked it better than the last one, but I found the whole psychotropic drug thing a little disturbing. Heath Ledger's Joker was definitely on the "mad" side, but I enjoyed it. Only a couple times did I find myself thinking about the fact that he was dead. it is sad that he will never be able to reprise the role as it made the movie. I really do hope that they make more. I would recommend seeing it, but it is violent (no blood and guts though) so I would caution against taking young kids.

We are going to have Laura, Brayden, and the kids over to swim. Laney is super excited. She loves to come over and play with my girly toys and the doll house I borrowed from my mom. :) Timmy and Ryan like to play Joe's video games and Legos, but they also like to play with my Cars toys and Superhero/Adventure Hero toys. (I call them squishy dudes). I don't think Cady will come since she is in that teenage phase where it's not so cool to hang out at your aunt and uncle's house.

We have to have them over to swim a lot in the next couple of weeks because our stupid Home Owner's Association passed this dumb bylaw that says you can only have 2 guests at the pool. Hello! Two guests? Who ever only has two guests? The thing that makes me mad is that it's because we have inconsiderate jerks that live here and can't see to take care of the community property. I know it's mostly the renters that do it. I really can't wait until we can afford to buy a house. Then we won't have to deal with this kind of crap. Anyway, the new bylaw doesn't come into effect for another 3 weeks or so, so until then we can still have 4 guests at the pool. I still say forget them and I will have as many people as I want there. The pool is usually empty when we go anyway, so if a bunch of people come down and want to swim when I have more than 2 guests, we will leave. Sorry for my rant, but it really makes me mad when a few people ruin it for the ones that keep the rules.

Sunday and Saturday Baby Shower

We have a Sunday tradition of going to our parents' house for dinner. We go to mine one week and his the next. This week it was my parents. Unfortunately, Joe has the flu that I had earlier in the week so he stayed home. I took Little Bit with me so she can play with my mom & dad's 4 dogs. My dog is the one on the left and Poquita is on the right.

Here are Roo and Mouse:

Their other dog is Snowflake and she LOVES bread. Here she is begging for some:

My mom broke the L2 vertebra 4 weeks ago and has had to wear a brace ever since. She is doing pretty well, but still has a month to go. It is getting really old for her to stay home all the time. She spends most of that time in her bed or the recliner in the living room. She was able to go to Walmart yesterday and even went to the first hour of church today. YAY!! Hopefully the last month will fly by for her.

Yesterday I went to a baby shower for my friend Jamie. We have been friends since Kindergarten. It's the first time I've seen her in 4 years or so. It was great to catch up and see her family. In October I am going to Arizona to visit and go to a New Kids on the Block concert and act like 30 year-old idiots. :)

Oh, how things change.

History and Family

Since this is my first blog I thought I would start by introducing myself and my family. Here is a picture of me from about 8 months ago when my haircut was brand new:

I've let it grow out, so it's not quite so cute anymore. Anyway, I was born in Las Vegas, NV and moved to Henderson before my first birthday. Besides my mission, I've only lived four different places. One I can't remember, and two have been since I got married. My mom and dad are Sandy and Ellis and I have one younger (but not little) brother named Eric. My mom works at a preschool, my dad for a masonry company, and my brother for Rebel Oil. So I was going to post a current picture of my family, but the most current one is from 1999 and I would have to scan it so it will have to wait.

I have been married to Joe Tomola for 5 1/2 years. Here is a picture of the two of us from 2 years ago:

His family is much bigger than mine. His mom and dad are Sheila and John. The older siblings are Laura and John and the younger ones are Mark and Daniel. Everyone but Daniel is married, but he's only 16, so we'll give him some time. Here are some family pics from the same day as the one of us.

This is Laney, Brayden, Cady, Laura, Ryan, and Timmy. Laura and Brayden have been married for 16 years. They live here in Henderson.

This is John and Ida. They got married three months afer we did. They live in North Dakota.

This is Michael, Christina, Mark, Amanda, Sabrina, and Brianna. Michael and Brianna are twins. They've had two little girls since then. I only have pictures of Eva though.

I took this picture when we visited them in North Carolina last Thanksgiving. Their youngest, Maria, was born in January.

Here are John, Daniel, and Sheila. That rounds out the family. They live 5 minutes from us. Sheila works at the Clark County Museum and John works at UNLV, though I can't remember at the moment what he does there.

I work as a Chiropractic Assistant for a Vegas Chiropractor. A CA isn't as fancy as it sounds. I got on the job training and passed the state test. I do the history for exams, take x-rays, and apply therapy treatments. I have been at this office for almost 4 years. I worked at the last one for just under 4 years as the receptionist/billing person/office manager. It was myself, the doc, and various massage therapists so I had a lot of responsiblities. I loved it there, but it all became a little too stressful. My first chiropractic job was about a year out of high school. I worked there for two years until I went on a mission to San Antonio Texas.

Right now I am on summer break from school. I am studying to be a high school math teacher. I should be done in about four years as long as I keep going 3/4 time. I have all of my current credits from the College of Southern Nevada but I am transferring in the fall to Nevada State College.

Joe is a first year plumbers and pipefitters apprentice. He works on various commercial and government projects around the valley. Right now he is bouncing between a couple of different schools.

So that's about all I can think of right now. I'll try to be diligent about posting but I can't promise anything since I don't claim to live a very interesting life.