Whew! Christmas and moving festivities galore!

I don't even know where to begin. My mind has been boggled for days. Moving can do that to a person.

Clark's parents came to AZ to celebrate the birth of our Savior with me (and to help us move--thank you again)! And we did it Catholic style. We attended a Christmas Eve Mass with my good friends/neighbors Loly and Missy (they fed us X Mas Eve dinner--the least I could do was take them to Mass). It was a first for everyone but me and I think everyone enjoyed the service. (Karl especially liked the music. Jan, the nativity and the homily.)

Christmas day we hiked Camelback Mountain with Loly and Missy and then went to the movies later in the evening--along with practically all of Gilbert. The theater was hopping! Invictus was such a feel good movie. I kind of hope to single-handedly change the world now.

The 26th Clark flew in from SLC and we had a post Christmas Christmas celebration with Clark that involved gift giving. Then it was on with the packing and loading up the truck! (This part sucked.)

We finally put a stop to the packing/loading madness around 8 pm and enjoyed our last dinner at Pita Jungle for a very long time. And we got to hold and cuddle a cute little baby, too!

The 27th we lost the cat. Literally. Gretchen is a skittish cat to begin with and when she saw an opportunity to escape the noises from packing/Karl playing guitar, she took it! I was pretty distraught for a while but Loly and Missy promised to keep an eye out for her. Sure enough, when we were an hour outside of Gilbert, Loly called me and told me they found the cat! Of course Gretchen decided to wait until we left to come out of her hiding spot. So instead of turning back, we are letting Loly and Missy keep her until the 9th when Jan and Karl will pick her up when they travel back to AZ for a wedding. It's probably for the better, though. If she ran off in the Avenues she would never be able to find her way back. At least she was familiar with our neighborhood in Gilbert. Uggghhhh, stupid cat that I love so much.

So now we are trying to get all situated in our new digs and man, I love it! Perfect location and pretty dang spacious! Aside from the apartment not having a washer/dryer/dishwasher and the bathroom being too cozy, Clark done good! Clark has refused to let me post pictures of the outside because he is scared of weirdos on the Internet. Fair enough. I'll later post pictures of the inside when it is in order.

Who wants to come visit!??

Also, anyone know of anyone who needs a house to rent in Gilbert? Ours is open and ready!


A picture is truly "candid" if you are pointing.

My lovely neighbors Loly and Missy.

Festive bush + Jan + Karl

I had to snag one picture with my friends.

And one picture with the parentals.

The loading truck

Practicing my motherly skills. Yes, I do have the skills to put babies to sleep. I learned from Kat. Thank you for the butt/back patting skills, Kat.

Clark practicing his fatherly skills.

Counterfeit family! Thanks, Kevin and Desirae for letting us borrow Natalie!

Just found out the news that Gretchen is alive and well and in good care.

So photos are allowed on the road.

The road to St. George.

Oh Utah and your snowy mountains. I have been running amid the snow and slush. I will persevere!

This is what happens when you push a Rubbermaid tub down the stairs. HA!

Our first "feast" amongst the boxes/madness.

That's all for now. I'll be posting again soon when we get internet. I am currently posting from the bachelor pad where Clark is jamming.

We didn't get our Christmas cards out in time this year, hence the blog post!

May your hearts be filled with joy and happiness this Christmas, and may we all remember the reason for the season! Hoping your New Year will be bright, sunny, and full of good cheer!

A brief recap of major happenins in the Clark Tobler family in 2009:

-We celebrated our one year anniversary March 8th and took a trip up to Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon.
-Clark graduated from ASU with a bachelor degree in nursing. YESSSS! We celebrated by going to Six Flags.
-We took a relaxing and much needed (much needed for me, at least) break from life and went on a cruise to Grand Turk and the Bahamas.
-Clark got a jobby in Salt Lake City and started work on the orthopedic floor at LDS Hospital on September 1st.
-Rachel became a self-diagnosed depressed wife with her husband in another state. This led to frequent trips up to Salt Lake and frequent interviews for nursing jobs in the Salt Lake area. After several months of being apart, Rachel has acquired a job at LDS hospital, too! Now if we could just move all our belongings with the snap of a finger...

We are so grateful for the many blessings that have been bestowed upon us this year. We are especially thankful for our wonderful families and friends. Love to you all, all the year long!

This is what I get when I'm a stressed out brat.

A beautiful bouquet of flowers from my husband! And he even remembered that lilies are my favorite. I love you, my loverbug.

Packing up the house has been more than stressful. The idea of moving and unpacking and starting a new job is so daunting I sometimes feel like I might be having an MI. It's probably just acid reflux from the Chinese take out I've been snacking on but it feels like a heart attack.

Yesterday I took a lot of my stress out on the Clarkman. I take a lot of things out on him when I shouldn't. (I apologize Clark, you know I still love you.) And then he goes and gets me flowers.

Sheesh. I don't deserve him.

And I had a good friend over helping me pack when the flowers arrived. She was quite impressed. Brownie points for Clark for shizzle.

Thank you, thank you, Clark! I love you and can't wait to see you on Saturday!

The Pre-Christmas Family Visit

Ok, so I have about a bazillion pictures from my when my parents and my sister's family came to visit. No time for Smilebox, last time I used it it took FOREVER, so I just posted everything. Well, not everything, but close to it.

My famdamily came to visit last week and it was so fun and busy and loud and hectic. Most of all: FUN. Family visits always make my heart ache to live closer to family. But I guess living far away and seeing family so infrequently makes me appreciate them more. Or at least that's what I like to think.

Anywhoo,

An awesome lunch at Costco. Chase manages to try to ruin every picture and he's only FIVE. He still looks so cute at this age though, He's lucky. Might not be as cute when he's ten.

On our way to the Superstition Mountains! See, what did I tell you. Chase with his finger in his mouth.

A cute chapel at the Lost Dutchman's Museum. Apparently this chapel has been in many films. Films including Elvis. Oh wait, you don't get the whole Elvis craze either??

Fun, fun, fun in a stagecoach.

Dad, Cole and Chase in JAIL.

Off center, as per usual. I adore her. I guess I shouldn't single my sister out. I adore my whole family.


Like a pro with a 5 MP camera. Touche. Well I thought it was cool.


Chase wanted to look in the outhouse. I guess even though he lives on a farm he doesn't see enough of them?

FAMILY PHOTO OP.


Apacheland splendor.

Cole is so suave. What a dang cutie.

Somehow I bribed Chase into not being a goof in this one. Ty was a good sport. He hates pictures.

Mom, Katie and Cole on the train that went literally 1 mph around the Goldfield Ghost Town. The "conductor" said it had a max speed of 80 mph. I wanted some fast paced action, got none.

I have no commentary for this one. Wait, yes I do. See the bag that Chase is swinging? Ty bought him a petrified shark tooth and Chase was SO excited. But after leaving the store, Chase got all sad and forlorn. When asked what was the matter, Chase said, "You bought me this shark tooth and now we don't have any more money." Hahaha, it took a while to convince him that the shark tooth didn't break the bank. So cute.
Yeah Katie, try a little harder to get Cole to look at the camera when you have the stroller facing sideways!


Mmmmm, prickly pear ice cream at Tortilla Flats.


I got to bathe the boys. That was my duty as an aunt. This is the most appropriate picture with both boys unintentionally covering their dingle dangles.


Hiding under the foosball table. I think Chase might have sharp teeth.


Eating cheese.


Foosball action! I hardly participated. I seriously suck at this game. And I don't like to participate in games where I suck. Like volleyball, softball, Scrabble....


This was taken when we went to the Kartchner Caverns which is just Southeast of Tucson. It was quite impressive. Click here to see what it's all about. No cameras allowed inside, hence a photo of a plant/tree outside.

Katie is taking a bite out of what looks to be a gigantic asparagus.


Mom and Katie photo op.

Old Tucson sucks. We drove into a parking lot and it felt like a scene straight out of Vacation where the Griswald's arrive at Wally World and park at the very back of the parking lot only to later find out the park is closed. Yep, we were the only car in the parking lot and the place was deserted minus two "cowboys" I spied riding horses inside the gates.

A cotton farm driving from Tucson to Phoenix. Enthralled.


I just love this one.

Being quiet and not running around for once.

Happy Birthday Mom! She forbid us from getting her a cake, so we got her a large cupcake. A cupcake is not a cake.

Chase...GUHHHH.


I can't wait to see them again. Thank you all for coming, you are welcome anytime! Even in SLC where space may be limited! Perhaps we can all get together in Utah in the Spring/Summer and meet up in Moab? Camping would be great fun with these two busy nephews of mine.

Las Vegas Marathon Weekend

Finishing up those 13.1 miles. Clark's not an ace at action photos. Hence the photo of my back.
All done! You can't tell, but it was FREEZING. This was my first and last time participating in the Las Vegas Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon.
Kyle and Kim nearing the finish line for the full marathon! Way to go!

And the only picture we captured with the nieces/nephew. A picture of Violet's crazy bed head. So cute!

It's Official...

I'm moving to the Beehive State! We load and go on December 27th.

This is both exciting and terrifying.

The bonus is I have already put in my two weeks and will have Christmas Eve and Christmas off! YEAH BABY

THE FURMINATOR!!

A coworker introduced me to this product the other night at work. After watching demonstrations of it here, I was sold. I went on ebay and bought not one but TWO Furminators as Christmas gifts. One will be gifted to me from me, and one will be wrapped up all nice and shiny for a specific someone in my family who loves a cat named Caesar, aka King of Fur, aka Precious.

Scott and Dagmara, do not let the cat out of the bag! No pun intended.

This is my favorite picture found on Amazon. The fact that someone actually took the time to form a cat shape out of shedded (is that a word??) fur bewilders me.

This product will be glorious, I can't wait to try it out on Gretchen and then make my own cat shape out of her fur.

This Made Me Cry...

from laughing so dang hard. My coworkers and I replayed this video at least 5 times last night at work. Even a doctor who was writing admission orders had to see what we were dying over. And she cracked up, too. Enjoy!


The last 20 seconds gets me every time. Maybe I shouldn't think this is funny but I just can't help myself!



(I think this goes to show that alcohol can be just as debilitating and dangerous as drugs...)

Dallop of Thanks

I am truly grateful that holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas bring together family and friends. I guess I am grateful to the government for declaring holidays so that people can get together and celebrate, too.

I fell asleep this morning with a huge smile on my face thinking about how many people would be surrounded by their loved ones today. Aside from being thankful for the obvious reasons : my spouse and family, friends, The Gospel, food, clothing, shelter, etc..., I found myself thinking about how thankful I am that millions of people can gather with their families and friends this week/weekend. Ahhhh, such a warm, happy thought. Seriously, it made me so happy to think about.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Does anyone else have difficulty extracting contact lenses from their eyeballs?

I'm trying to wear contact lenses again.

I haven't worn them for about three years and when I did wear them, it was sporadic and only lasted about three months.

Since I'm older and wiser now, I thought I would give them another shot.

I had an appointment with an optometrist and received a new glasses/contact lens prescription. Of course, she wanted to ascertain that I indeed had worn contacts in the past and made me demonstrate my ability to insert the contacts into/onto my eyes. It only took me about 5 minutes per eye-which was a little embarrassing-and I left wearing my trial pair.

About an hour ago I extracted the contact lenses from my eyes and it took about the same time as the insertion of the contacts.

And now my right eye is all red and irritated.

SOMEBODY, PLEASE, WHAT IS THE TRICK?? Is it really going to take me 20 minutes of my day to insert and extract contacts?

I had problems with this the first time around 3 years ago, hence the reason I stopped wearing them. What am I doing wrong?

Lesley, remember in middle school when you tried to put those colored contacts in my eyes and it became such a desperate situation that you had to pin me to the floor and you still couldn't get the contacts in my eyes? Maybe I should have taken that as a sign from God that I'm not destined to wear contacts...

But destined or not, I am determined. Glasses just make the backs of my ears and the bridge of my nose too sore after a 12 hour shift. I need this change!

Half Marathon Video

Awww, Kevo and Des are the best. They woke up at 7 am on a Saturday to come watch me run and they even took a little video on their phone. Cracks me up that he posted it on Youtube. Hope to have some pictures up soon that they took as well.

I ran the half in 1:25 so I was pretty pumped about that. If I can shed a minute or two off that time in Vegas in December I will be THRILLED. And the best part of the whole dang race???

I DIDN'T HAVE TO STOP TO POOH! NOT ONCE!

That was my major malfunction during last January's marathon. I stopped FOUR times. Killed my motivation to ever run another marathon. Now a half...well, now I know I can conquer the half without having the sensation to stop and pooh! Sorry, my elation is out of control. Just super stoked is all.

Too much info? Sorry again. Being a nurse, I could talk bowel movements and the like all day long. Wanna chat BM's with me? Holla at your girl. I'm a good listener.



I know, the video is not exciting at all. And I look like I am going sooooooo slow. Pick up the pace, Rach! I think my average mile time was a 6:31. Gotta get it down to 6:20...

Happy Birthday Me!!! :-)

Yes, I stole that title from your July birthday blog post, Dagmara ;)

(Somebody named Rachel didn't know that I would steal a picture of her birthday cake and use of for my own selfish purposes. MUWAHAHA)

What does a newly minted 26 year old female do on her birthday? Please, allow me to bore you with the mundane details of my birthday day.

-get home from work at 8:20 am. Go on a short run and try not to fall asleep or twist my ankle while doing so.

-wake up at 2:45 pm to an overcast sky. YES! The sky likes to taunt me. I know it won't rain but I hope for it anyway.

-check out the goods on www.6pm.com. Wail and fight back tears when the shoes I found on the website last night at work are no longer in stock. What the?? A mere 12 hours ago they were in stock.

-treat myself to a manicure. Subtle pink clear coat. Excellent choice.

-pick up my requested Anita Shreve books from the public library. I love her novels. They are so tragic and beautifully written. Oh, did I mention tragic? I've cried at the end of at least two of her novels. I can't get enough. Check her out at www.anitashreve.com.

-pick up my race number and goodie bag for the half marathon I am running at 7 am tomorrow morning.

-indulge myself in the free "pasta dinner" provided by the half marathon sponsors. 'Twas quite skimpy and I left with my belly unfulfilled. I had to come home and cook myself another dinner.

-spoke with the manager of a progressive care unit at a hospital in Utah. (eeehhhhhh!!) And this manager is ok with the fact that I wouldn't be able to start until January. Are the stars aligning? I sure hope so...

-let my friends Kevin and Desirae come keep me company for a while--and they even brought me a cake! Chocolaty chocolate yum yum. They are so good to me. Always trying to help me feel loved.

It's been hard not to be able to celebrate this birthday with my loverman Clark. Glad to say my fortune has been good today. Friday the 13th actually isn't an unlucky day after all. THANK YOU to all of you who remembered this day of my birth and for making me feel important :)

Dessert Choice

Dear Mom Tobler,

I have been thinking long and hard on the idea of getting to choose what dessert I would like for the combined November birthday celebration during the Marathon reunion. ( I'm excited to hear that three of us get to choose what we want--that means LOTS of treats!) I have narrowed it down:



or



You know I could eat the entire batch of your cinnamon rolls in one sitting and that everyone else would enjoy them, too (if there were any left over). It feels like forever since I've had a famous Mom Tobler cinnamon roll. But if you are feeling ambitious, you could make a Barbie doll cake. I haven't had one of those since I was four. Awwww, little Rachel was so excited!



As much as I hate to admit it, I would probably be the only one to appreciate the Barbie doll cake. Maybe the cinnamon rolls are the best idea since everyone would definitely enjoy those. And I promise to make sure everyone has their fair share.

Maybe you should make Clark one of these??



With more masculine colors of course. He's not really into pink. But Clark'll have the final say on what he wants his dessert to be.

Love, Rachel