I Live. I Ride. I Am. Jeep (untill someone takes it)

*Scene- It's 6:00am. Shalee is asleep in bed, Kevin has just left the apartment on his way to work on a cold January morning. The door opens and Kevin walks back into the bedroom. 

Kevin: Uh.....Shalee? The Jeep's gone...

Shalee: mmmm what?...

Kevin: Uh... Where did you park it?

Shalee: (rolling over) On the side by the garbage can.

Kevin: Well. It's gone. Should I call the cops...?

This may sound like a scence from a really bad B movie, but sadly it is a scene from my life. Early January of 2010 we awoke one morning to find the Jeep we had recently purchased had been stolen, pinched, niped, filched, taken without permission, any way you say it you feel royally violated! This is the Jeep we purchased:

We bought it and it became Kevins baby. Kevin took it upon himself to report his baby missing and went to the police station first thing. From what Kevin told me the officer was very nice, but told him the Jeep was most likely stolen by a bunch of drunks, was taken off roading, and ditched in the desert. With broken hearts we mourned the loss of our Jeep and waited for the phone call that it had been found and totaled...

In desperation we would just drive around looking for old white Jeeps. Kevin would yell "Ders mah Jeep" and we would hurry and drive over, always being disappointed.

In the meantime we were a vehicle short so we started looking again. Long story short, we ended up buying another Jeep (our Overland, yes that is the best of the best, impressed?).  Here's a photo:



*Scene- It's 9:30pm, mid-February. Kevin is getting ready for bed when the phone rings. He sts on the bed.

Kevin: This is he..... Oh....... Uh huh....... Ok......... White, a broken headlight, broken center consoul, crooked rear bumper....... Yeah........ Right Now....... Ok. Shalee, we have to go to the Kennewick Police Station. They may have found our Jeep.

It's creepy going to a police station in the middle of the night. We spent  an hour going over our story and photos. Finally we were going to get our Jeep back!!!

This is where the fun of this story starts! The police officer said that when they impounded our Jeep they did not even know it was stolen. Apparently a police officer saw a couple who looked suspicious get into a vehicle so he followed it. He picked them up (we don't know why) but they imponded the Jeep, and then get this. They LET THE GUY GO! It was after that they found out the Jeep was stolen and then had to find out how to get the guy again! As it turns out the dude had been using Kevins baby as a work Jeep. It was full of tools and he had welded a metal slab to the top.

So we had to go to the impound to get it back. The guy had left us some cologne, a nice assortment of Mexican CD's (fyi all of Kevins CD's were in te Jeep and are gone now), and smell. Time to get it home right? Wrong! The dang guy had switched out the ignition so our key did not work, $80 later a locksmith let us go home. t was in bad shape. Besides the smell the center consoul was broken, the speakers were blown, he cracked the plastic in the doors, an ripped out the air conditioning.

A trip to the Junk Yard and Kevin worked some magic turning it from old to new:

This is when the fun starts. We parked it at my parents since the guy was still on the loose and the next day my dad went out to inspect it. Guess what he found:

Drugs! We don't know what it was and when we gave it to the police they said to bad, it was out of the chain of custody. Oh well...

By the way, they evantually arrested the guy. A guy named Jaimes Ramon. Drity Jerk! I looked him up today. There is no record for him in any Jail in Washington for GRAND THEFT AUTO! Are you SERIOUS! It hasen't even been A YEAR!

Well last weekend we had some more fun in our Jeep. Driving home from Kristi's we noticed something strange in the air duct when the light hit it just right. Kevin finally ripped it off and his is what we found:

Sooooooooo Groseeeeee! Ewwwweeeee! I felt dirty just having it next to me.

Dirty Dirty Jerk!

Hopefully this is the end of fun for us and the Old Jeep. Here are our two babies now:



Why visit Oregon? That's why....

We are getting pretty good at road trips this summer! This last weekend we went to visit Kevin's sister Kristi and her family, an 8 hour drive away in Grants Pass Oregon. I have to say, our drive there was one of the most eventful this year. It started with being super windy between Richland and The Dalls, then trying to navigate through Portland, Oregon gas stations where thye pump the gas for you, miles of construction and traffic jams in Salem, more construction, and more construction, toped off with windey freeways at 70mph in total blackness (aaahhhhh!).

But we made it!

Kristi gave us a tour of the house (FABULOUS!) and the town (FUN!). One of our favorite things to do during the visit was play tennis. Kevin and Dave (Kristi's husband) got Lucy (daughter) to be the ball girl. She loved it and was great at it! It was a luxury we never have when we play at home :)

This is Lucy sprinting after a stray ball

Bryn (other daughter) handed these to me through the fence

On Saturday we got to spend some quality Aunt/Uncle/Niece time while the parents went to Rock Out at a concert

Bryn entertaining Uncle Kevin

Kevin taught Bryn to "Pound"

It is the cutest and funnest thing EVER

This is when Bryn decided to like me.

I don't know why, I look scary here!

The girls just wanted to help Uncle Kevin put their new chairs together

Sunday we watched football. It was great to see the Seahawks win for once! I give credit to my team spirit, even Bryn joind in the occasion

Goooooooooooo Seahawks!!!

The end here is a photo collage of our trip I made courtesy of Lucy's photography (my favorite is the one of Kevin on the Tennis court doing the "superman")

I love Baseball?

Seattle makes me want to dress better *sigh*…. For some reason I’m always surprised when I end up there even though it’s only 4 hours away. When we first decided to go I made Kevin promise me I could do a little shopping, mostly at H&M (LOVE IT!). So, Saturday, we headed out early and got to Seattle about 2 hours before we were to be at Safeco. When it comes to Seattle I have one policy, park as soon as you can! I HATE parking in Seattle, so we found a spot near the ballpark and walked around.

First stop- Pioneer Square:

I'm not brave enough to be a real Firefighter

This is Kevins DREAM, the kids were on a tarp filled with Legos

I've never played on a regulation Boccee course, and apparently it's not as fun since this kids dad was acusing him of cheating.

I just like all the pidgins on the ledge

This is the Seattle Library! I LOVE Libraries!


Then we get to the whole reason for the trip. Kevin reads a Baseball blog called U.S.S.Mariner and they had a $20 ticket deal where you get in early and get to speak to/hear the General Manager of the Mariners. Kevin loved it! I sat through it. Did I mention we had to be there at 3:20 for a 7:00 game!

The GM is the one with the microphone

I'm so artsy

Did I mention we got free t-shirts and fleece blankets (thats why I came)

I took this and realized later that that guy was sitting right there :)

Then I spent the next 2 hours and 6 innings reading The Hunger Games. I'm the worst fan ever! Only one guy called me out on it. And yes, I typed 6 innings because Kevin decided they were to aweful to watch and then I MISSED BRANYON HIT A HOME RUN!!! Branyon is my #1!

Here is us watching the rest of the game from our hotel room :)

The next day I got to go shopping. This is the only pic (a customary pic), but trust me, shopping was a blast!

Improving My Habitat

Yesterday morning Kevin and I were out running some errends and killing time when he decided to go to Harbor Freight and pick up some tool something-or-other. On our way out of the store, after we had gotten into the car actually, we saw that the Habitat for Humanity ReStore was open. I knew it was there, but I'd never seen it open, and there were people going in so we decided to pop in and take a peek. What I expected was some old appliances on a wall and some random fixtures. What I found was a treasure chest of the SUPER inexpensive and variety.

We walked in and the employee at the door explained that everything inside had been donated and 100% of the procedes go to Habitat For Humanity. That was the point I felt that slight twinge of guilt that says "you must buy something, it's for a good cause."

Well, that twinge of guilt turned to wonder and longing as I found things like $1 cuppboard doors, a super nice leather livingroom set (already sold), a huge lightfixture $15, and a couch for $150 that I SO would have bought if it had not been green and blue plaid. Our real treasure was found at the end, a huge slab of granite 1.5' x 3' x 1.25". And get this - for $5.00! Here is my proof:

Since it is all stuff donated it probably came from a carpenter so I had a little work to do. It had some glue and wood still stuck to the bottom (and don't let the photo fool you) I chiseled and chiseled it off while wearing my swim goggles, which I'm finding more and more uses for in the kitchen.

Then I added some pads to the bottom and TA-DA:

I love this new cutting board for only $5! I recommend the Habitat For Humanity ReStore to anyone now, what a great deal! Find yours:
http://www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx

My Top 5 (Reasons NOT to visit Jackson, WY)

In an old western town there was once a girl. She was a beautiful girl who was excited to show this magical place of her childhood to the man she had just married. "Oh what fun we will have" she thought. But, after an arduous trek across the country, full of construction delays, RVs, transmission problems, and unscheduled potty stops(*cough* Tahnia) she was begining to have some doubts. What if her new man did not feel the magic, what if he was disappointed in what she was offering, what if~

(1) He hates animals!

This place was known throughout the land for it's abundance of wildlife. It was not uncommon to see an Eagle soaring through the air as you are parked in the road waiting for a lazy heard of bison to decide for themselves to get out of the way. What if a moose was spotted on the side of the road or in a grove of trees you happen to be paddling past? Would her man be excited to have such a close encounter with such a majestic animal, or would he be bored by its giant rack and foaming nostrils? On one of the first days of their great adventure the girl noticed the rump of a moose off the side of the road. It was the strangest looking moose butt she'd ever seen. Now you should not judge the girl, from afar the colors of a moose and a Grizzley Bear are the same! Plus, this was the first bear she had ever seen in the wild outside of a garbage can.

(2) He hates National Parks

In this land there was a special magical place called Yellowstone that she was told you had to wake up at 5:00am to experiance. They all did a little exploring around some colorfuland steamy places before arriving at the main attraction. They were there just in the nick of time. After the amazing experiance of watching boiling water shoot into the air, not to mention listening to all the little kids oooohhhhh and aaahhhhh they did some more exploring. The Hot Pots were an amazing array of colors and smells, but the real adventure started when the girl walked past an innocent looking geyser when it exploded!!! With no warning!! And she screamed and ran away! The adventure then continued down 310 horrible cliff side metal stairs, and then back up (5 breathless stairs at a time), and ended with being chased off the viewing platform of thier last stop by 2 fighting Bison and rangers with industrial sized cans of Bear Mace strapped to thier hips. (3) He hates Adventure

The girl had one thing on her list to try, White Water Rafting! She had watched for years those brave enought to take on "Lunch Counter" or "Big Kahuna." This year was her turn! She was cold and wet with bruses on her legs, but she felt, well... still cold and wet but full of pride. Her man says his mouth was open because he got a bunch of water in his face and NOT because he was shreaking in fear. He was brave, strong, and a great sheild for his lady sitting up there in the front.

(4) He hates Kayaking

Since before she can even remember the girls family have been AVID Kayakers. If he can't hack getting up at 5:00am to get on the river and see some wildlife he will not be able to hack it with her family. They will think him a weenie!

(5) He hates nature

It is the boys own fault that while pretending to fall in the water on his longboard he actually looses it to the great blue. When his beautiful young wife and her whitty Uncle immediatly jump into the freezing lake water to retrieve it the boy can do nothing but laugh, lucky boy.

Or, lets say the boy is standing on a rock on the edge of a canyoun when a 4.8 earthruake rocks his world and he and the rest of the family watch rockslides fall and a dustploom envelops them. Will he hate nature when he sees the fissures in the ground?

The girl worried for a long time what her husband would think or was thinking. But, after all was said and done the boy seemed to like seeing a bear, and he was excited by the earthquake. She no longer worries about pleasing him since she now knows he can live with her family for a week and that in itself is the greatest adventure!

*photo credits to Tod Peterson (the whitty uncle) and Tahnia Jensen (the one who HAD to pee)