A busy few days

It has been a busy few days. Last Wednesday I actually got to see my husband. He came home from Az for 4 days. I am so lucky that I work from home and that I could take the days off that he was home.

Thursday I spent the morning at Farm Day Monterey volunteering and then Brandon and I went and picked out our new shower door. We enjoyed a nice quite evening at home that evening as well. Friday Brandon had to go into work, but I was able to get a lot done and then we had a great dinner with my parents that evening. Saturday was one of the best days ever! I went SHOPPING in SF with Adrienne and Lechelle! I am really getting a head start on my Christmas shopping and had so much fun going down to Pier 39 with the girls...thanks again girls! Oh and Brandon had dinner on the table when I got back to the house after a long day of shopping. I love my husband. Sunday was church and then The Baldwin's Halloween Party. Brandon and I took Maggie and Molly Roche to the party and enjoyed great snacks, pumpkin carving, bounce house, and so much more! Brandon was amazing helping Maggie and Tayler Baldwin carve there "Diamonds" in their pumpkins. He is going to make a great father some day! Monday was hard as Brandon had to leave for Az again, but I worked until about 2 pm in my spear bedroom....lots of wedding gifts to put away and stuff to try and find somewhere to store. I did make a big dent in it though...yippee! Tuesday was a busy day with fair committee meetings all morning and then puppy class on Tuesday night. We were almost done when a 5.6 earthquake hit. the dogs went nuts and my tummy was feeling a bit on the nervous side as well. It took 30 minutes extra for us to finish class. But all is well and Ralf is having fun in class...I really do want my dog to have manners! Wednesday was working meetings and the the shower door guy came to measure, man those things are so expensive! But, it was a big day for me...I made stew for the first time. I followed my moms directions and guess what, it was REALLY good if I do say so myself! Wes came over to enjoy dinner and hang out with me and hand out candy. I love our neighborhood. We have the greatest people around us and we had so much fun. I think Ralf had even more fun hanging out and trying to play with all the trick-or-treaters.

So that sums up my last week. I am sure there are a few things I have missed, a couple of break downs because I don't know when Brandon will be home, but it is for better or worse - so I guess this is a worse part, right??

Wedding Survey

Marriage Questionnaire

1.Who is your man? Brandon

2. How long have you been together? 2 years and one month

3. How long did you date? 1 year

4. How old is your man? 26; he is 341 days younger then me...I like to be the older woman

5. Who eats more? Hello!!! Brandon can eat an entire steer if he is hungry enough!

6. Who said "I love you" first? I am not totally sure who said it first, but I think it was Brandon at his house in Gilroy and he said he was falling in love with me.

7. Who is taller? Brandon

8. Who sings better? ME! There is a reason I am in the church choir....

9. Who is smarter? Degree wise, me but Brandon has an amazing amount of knowledge from life. Thank you United States Army!!

10. Whose temper is worse? Mine.

11. Who does the dishes? Brandon clears the table and I put them in the dish washer...I don't like how he loads it :-)

12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me

13. Who pays the bills? I do.

14. Who is better at the computer? Even I think....Brandon just doesn't like using them

15. Who mows the lawn? The lawn guys...thank goodness!

16. Who cooks dinner? Joint effort

17. Who drives when you are together? Mostly Brandon

18. Who pays when you go out? Brandon

19. Who is more stubborn? I don't think either on of us!

20. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Me after a fit occurs

21. Whose parents do you see most? Mom and Dad Leonard....we thank god for them daily!

22. Who kissed who first? Brandon kissed me in the San Jose Airport on the first date...don't ask!

23. Who asked who out? There was no asking out, I had to go to SJ Airport to pick up Wes and he went with me because I was afraid of getting lost.......

24. Who proposed? Brandon...."so you want to get married" while having a drink at the circle bar at the Paris in Vegas....I still love him since he let me pick out my rings!

25. Who is more sensitive? Hello, me.

26. Who has more friends? that is a hard one...we both know way to many people, but we have very few really close friends, we just cherish the ones we have!

27. Who has more siblings? Even, we both come from homes with two children, both one girl and one boy! I hope that means we get one of each since I have names for them already!!

Thanks A! That was fun!!

Hope you enjoyed, tagging everyone who wants to!

Getting Ready!

Yes, it is true Brandon is coming home! I am so excited. He should be home sometime tomorrow night, I can't wait!!! And for some reason it has motivated me to get my office clean so that I don't have to worry about that once he is home. I also finished writing all of the wedding gift thank you notes, I am in the process of putting pictures from the table camera's in a book and am having pictures from the honeymoon printed to put in a darling book my mom bought for me. Finally I am getting things accomplished!

It's Here....

I have been very excited everyday to get the mail hoping that my new social security card would arrive with my wonderful new name; Courtney Christine Boyles on it. I was really hoping that it would be here by Monday since I have an appoitment at the DMV to change my driver license and today it arrived. Yippee!!!

So I guest it is official......... I am Mrs. Courtney Christine Boyles!

I haven't signed the card yet becuase I just can't figure out how to sign Boyles....a B with a line or should I use nice handwriting and make it look pretty before I just scribble anyways!

I took a picture of the card, but for some reason there is an issue and it will not upload, erg!

Count down begins!

15 Thank You cards to go as of right now!What should I do to celebrate....

I would love to hear some ideas.......................

I just hope no more wedding presents show up for a week or two.

And he left again

He came and he went. Man I really don't care for this my husband is traveling thing. He arrived home on Thursday at about 5 pm and we enjoyed making breakfast for dinner and hanging out that evening. I took Friday and Monday off and we had to run a ton of errands! Poor guy, I put him to work as soon as he got home; the washing machine was leaking so we had to hit up The Home Depot!! And for the first time I made soup from scratch! I am so proud. Special thanks to Aunt Debbie for the recipe book!

Saturday was an awesome day! We slept in, drank coffee together and then took the dog on a long hike. We are really enjoying the trails we found off Reservation Road. Then we did more errands and got stuff done around the house. Mom treated us to a way yummy dinner too.

Sunday was church and then hanging out with the parents. Brandon put a new faucet and plumbing in for my mom in the kitchen. The old faucet sprung a leak last week! Brandon and I also decided that mom need a new garbage disposal so Brandon put that in as well.

Monday was a trip to the dump, a haircut for Brandon and lots of other errands. Thanks again to mom for another yummy meal. It was nice not having to cook for two nights in a row! And thanks to Brandon for AWESOME BBQ chicken breast and pork chops.

And then it was time for him to leave again. I hope that he comes home this next weekend, but all I can do is hope and pray!

5 Things......

I'M IT
I have been tagged so here it goes:

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. I was a Senior in High School with 12 or so hogs to take care of so needless to say...I was cleaning up after them!
2. Enjoying having little responsibility
3. Getting ready to head to Cal-Poly SLO!
4. Hanging out at the dairy....things kids do in Salinas
5. Spending every spear moment at the lake laying in the sun and wake boarding.

5 Things on my To-do List:

1. Go home...my husband should be home in about 20 minutes...haven't seen him in 10 days!
2. Purchase new running shoes.
3. Endless wedding thank you notes
4. Figure out what's for dinner tonight
5. Watch Grey's Anatomy...wish your were closer Tamara...we could have a Grey's night!

5 Things I would do if I had a million dollars

1. Give money to the church
2. Remodel our house
3. Buy Brandon the truck of his dreams
4. Purchase a travel trailer
5. Donate money to the fairgrounds

5 Things I will never wear again

1. Jeans so tight your tummy hurts...what was I thinking in HS??
2. Jelly shoes, talk about blisters! - Tamara, I hear you there!
3. Mid-drift shirts
4. French cuffed jeans...with the nice roll on the bottom!
5. Multiple pairs of alternating colored socks, you know white on pink on the left foot and pink on white on the right - who thought of that?...yes, but add the Reebok high top tennis shoes!

5 Favorite Toys
1. My laptop
2. Digital camera
3. New Video Camera
4. My shoes and handbags....they are girls toys, right!
5. All my new kitchen stuff!!

5 People I am tagging: Anyone who would like to think back and have a good laugh!

Half way there.....

On Sunday I decided that I was going to start tackling the daunting task of thank you cards for all the gifts Brandon and I received for the wedding and I just hit that half way mark. But I have realized, I will keep getting gifts over the next few months and will have to continue to write thank you notes. So if you have sent a gift and it take me a little while to get them out, sorry, but we are having a blast using everything that we have received.

But, a question for you...why is it that the woman has to do almost everything for these events. Granted, Brandon would have done anything I ask him to, but the woman has to change her name....write the thank yous, organize the gifts and where to keep all of the new found gadgets and such.......oh ya, I guess sit is because we really are the ones in charge no matter what the men think!

And then he has to leave again....

So I was so excited yesterday that Brandon is coming home, but I found out today athat he will have to leave again Tuesday. He will be home for about 4 days, leave Tuesday and hopes to come home on Friday. Atleast it is for only about four days if everything goes right. I can't wait for him to come home, it is just going to be so hard to see him leave again. Because of all of this I figured I deserved some good snacks after dinner and totally enjoyed my mom cupcakes! Thanks mom for taking such good care of me when Brandon is gone!!

The picture is of Brandon and his first Jack Reggie!

My husband is coming home!!!!!!

Brandon told me today that he will be heading home sometime on Thursday. I am so excited! I have missed him so much. I am not going to be the only one that is excited, Ralf is going to be oh so happy. This little dog is so spoiled. I think I go overboard when Daddy is away! Ralf has his "sofa" in my parents family room and that is where he sleeps until we go to bed at night. He is a really good dog! But there are times that all he wants is my lap and then when he gets hot he jumps off of me and is supposed to lay on the sofa....but tonight.....he liked the floor the most and I didn't want him to get cold so I covered him with his grammy-ana, i.e. the blanket that my mom made for the dog! I feel so bad for this little dog, he looks at the door and hopes that his daddy walks through door, it breaks my heart! What I am going to be like as a mother of a real child...............................................That will have to wait a few years!

Asleep on his mommy

Sleeping against his "sofa"

Feeling better today....

So after my feel sorry for me post on Saturday I decided to get off my soap box and do something about it. I have a dear friend, Wes....actually he is more like a brother, we have been the best of friends since 5th grade and I decided to give him a call and see if he wanted to join my sweet like dog and me for a hike. Ralf had never been out on a hike, but he is doing a ton better on the leash and interacting with others so we can give it a shot, right. Well we had the best time and found a great new place to hike. The US Bureau of Land Management http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib//blm/ca/pdf/pdfs/hollister_pdfs.Par.9e89a0fe.File.pdf/Trail_Brochure_Cover.pdf

has a great parking lot with trails for hiking, biking, walking, and horseback riding. It was wonderful. We only got to go on a 15 hike there...we figured we didn't need to carry a 12 pound dog at the end of hike since we didn't know the trails. From there we decided to go to Toro Park and take a walk there. We both are familiar with the roads and trails there and figured it would be better for Ralf's first hike. http://www.mtycounty.com/pgs-parks/parks-cnty/toro.html. One of the greats parts of both of these is they are FREE! At Toro, there is a small parking area just outside the gates so you can park there and you don't have to pay to enter. I usually fell bad about not paying since these parks don't take care of themselves, but if I am not using any of the facilities, then why do I have to pay.....

On Sunday I had another great day! Ralf is sleeping better and I don't have to let him out during the night so I am a much happier person. We got up and got ready for him to head to the Boyles house to stay in the yard and for me to head to church. It was a great day at church, choir has started again after summer break so today was our first Sunday back in our robes and singing. It always feels so good to get back to the normal life! Our vacancy Pastor gave a wonderful sermon on the woman in the bible and their roll in the life of Jesus. His sermon was inspired by the Lutheran Woman Missionary League and it was LWML Sunday to celebrate all that they do, take a look http://www.lwml.org/. It was really empowering since I have been on a low the last few days! And then the best part of Sunday.....a great BBQ at one of our Elders homes with a Pumpkin Weigh-In. He grows these amazing 400+ lbs pumpkins and then all the guests get to go and pick the normal little carving pumpkins. I will have to take a picture of my porch, the pumpkins I got are awesome! Oh and thanks Wes for coming down to King City for the BBQ and Pumpkin picking with me!


So after my low on Saturday morning the rest of the weekend came out awesome! Oh and I was able to have dinner both evenings with my parents. I really can't wait for Brandon to get home so I can cook for him.

Feeling sad....

So today is turning out to be a hard day. Brandon is in Yuma, AZ working his tail off so that he can get home and I am having a poor me day. Today is our 3 week anniversary, if there is such a thing and he really should be here. Being married for 3 weeks should really be a reson to celebrate with a fun breakfast or dinner or something, but no he is stuck in AZ. But the good news is that I think he is going to finish up the job early and get to come home for a little while before he has to go back down. But then he should be done for a while. Anyways, thanks for listening to my sadness......

Our first day in Maui....can't we just go back!

And Ralf turns into a true doggy!!

Yesterday was my first day back to my office and my desk that was piled high since we returned from our honeymoon. I worked from home until about 10:30 to spend a little time with Ralf since Brandon left for Yuma. Ralf gets depressed when his daddy leaves. It is amazing how much a puppy is like a child. I figured that I would be in the office from 10:30 - 4:30 yesterday and then head back to the house to gather a few things since Ralf and I are staying with my mom while Brandon is in Yuma and my Dad is in Florida...lets make it a girls week!! Ralf has been such a good boy since he came home from the kennel when we got home from Maui that I figured I could leave the doggy door open and he could hand in the house yesterday if he wanted to...well bad idea on my part! When I walked into our house which was clean when I left I found this! Two People magazines and a Budweiser catalog in shreds....plus he had gotten a hold of some of my clothes and dragged them all over the house as well. I guess I was asking too much of him to be a good boy while I was at work and he was home alone.




So on Tuesday I took Ralf to doggy daycare. He loves going to daycare and has so much fun. It is well worth the money to have a full day to devote to cleaning up the desk and the office and not have to worry about my house!! He was so tired when he came home that he has been the best dog. He has been playing with his favorite toy, Squirrel all by himself most of the night. When he looks this cute, I seem to forget about my beloved People Mags!!






I hope you have enjoyed the pictures of our little Ralf. He really does help to keep a smile on my face when Brandon is away on business.

A busy few days.....

So it has been a been a busy few days since we got back from Maui. We arrived home late Tuesday the 25th and Brandon had a touch of the flu Wednesday so we got nothing done. Thursday was more productive and we started to move me into the house and out of my parents house. Friday was a Costco shopping day and we wanted to buy a new bed while we were at Costco. That failed and we ended up at Mattress Discounters and got a wonderful deal. I am very proud to say we are the new owners of a Cal King. Ralf takes up most of the bed so we needed the extra room! The only bad part of the new bed (all the bedding is on it now thanks to VERY generous wedding gifts) was that they delivered it at 7:35 am on a Saturday, but everything always works out! Being up and at am so early I got a ton done before Adrienne and Adam came over for a BBQ! It was great to have our first guests over since we are husband and wife. Adrienne made an AWESOME dessert. Link to her blog to find the recipe. Sunday it was off to church and last minute stuff before Brandon had to head back to Yuma for work. He left Monday and will be back on the 11th. The following pictures are of our totally awesome doorknocker that Aunt Jinny and Uncle Steve gave us. We have had it for a couple of months, but we wanted to wait until we were the "The Boyles" before we hung it up. Thanks again Aunt Jinny and Uncle Steve. I think that is one of the neatest things I have I received. I will try to keep more post coming, there is just so much to take care of when Brandon is gone. I am going to need another vacation when he gets back!!

Wedding Pictures for you to enjoy......

The Ceremony and our Bridal Party

Our Vows

The blessing and our First Kiss as Mr. and Mrs. Brandon Boyles

A View From the Back

Our Sweetheart Table with my flowers