His/ Her August

If you ask me what I remember most about August, I would respond with a simple answer such as, "It was so unbearably hot," and leave it at that.  Now if you were to ask Chris the same question his answer might be a little more fun filled and detail oriented.  And the reason for that is simple......  His August consisted of a nice little 10 day vacation.  10 days that were made up of friends, camping, casinos (Jack Pot), and family time.

Every year, his friends and him, plan a camp out.  It's in the same location and really only has one rule that has to be abide by at all times.......  No Wives Allowed.  It is and will always strictly be a time for the guy's to get away from their ol' ball and chains, and do what boys do.  The location of this annual camp out is by Mesa Falls.  After you hike in about a mile or so off the trail you will come upon a beautiful, secluded location (Chris has taken me their a couple times) that sits on top of some cliffs, that overlook a blue river that leads to a series of falls.  Their activities there include (but are not limited to): fishing, cliff jumping, hiking, cooking dutch oven meals, shooting guns, and many more guyish things.  Chris loves it and looks forward to it every year.

The difference between girl trips and boy trips?......... Girls take pictures, boys don't.  The few pictures I have were sent to Chris from a friend that just happened to snap a couple with his phone.  So please excuse the pictures....... or lack there of.

Some of the beautiful falls.

Chris jumping off the cliff.

I'm assuming this is a guy thing, but Chris loves to throw things into water.  Rocks, logs, people.......... really nothing is safe.

Cannot tell you who this is jumping off the cliff.

Ryan "Rooster" Shuman and Chris

So it's not that Chris is an evil dictator who likes to hog all the fun.  He asked me multiple times to come back home with him and then seriously almost made it a requirement, but I kindly declined and told him that I was more than happy to stay back and rule the roost here.  I really don't mind being alone,  I am a very independent person and sometimes we really like giving each other space.  It really does help the heart grow fonder.   Plus, I have a hard time handing over the reigns when it comes to work.  I have ways I like things to be done, what can I say.  So while he was off having a blast, I added his responsibilities onto my own and may have almost had a nervous break down once or twice.  I'm talking 13 hour days sometimes not being able to eat until dinner.  I knew he did a lot, but I never knew it was to that extreme.  It made me appreciate him a lot more.  I think the first thing I said when I picked him up from the airport, while giving him a big hug was, "Thank you for all that you do."  And then I collapsed from exhaustion ;).

(Sorry, this one is really blurry)

Why am I putting these pictures on?  Because, when Chris was gone and I had gotten back from church I had decided to send him a picture to let him know I was thinking of him and missed him.  Chris is Twinkee's best friend and she misses him terribly when he is gone, so I decided to try and include her in the picture.  I just had to say his name and she went crazy.  I was getting licks all over my face and she was fighting to get out of my arms to go and find him.  I was laughing so hard.  I guess you would have had to been there to appreciate it.  It's just one of those memories I don't want to ever forget.

Exhausted But Elated in July

Well, technically this is still part of my July catch up post, but seeing as this is the reason we made this little move to the south I figured it was worthy of its own post.  It's that special.

Back in February, we were on a mission to find an office space that fit our needs but also fit our monthly budget.  It was a pretty frustrating experience.  Everything that we found was either too small, needed construction work, or was simply out of our price range.  Then one day out of pure curiosity, we stopped at a little vacant building and took a peak in the windows and immediately fell in love and knew that we had found the place.  It was a middle suite that had a newly built Little Caesar's on one side and a new restaurant nearing its completion on the other.  So in mid March, we contacted the leasing agent and signed on the dotted line.

It was a slow going process.  The office needed work.  Mostly just paint and displays, but everything cost money so we just continued to work hard and do everything on our own.  We were at the office a lot for long hours each day.  It was just great to have a place to go to work instead of running it out of our house.  So even though the doors weren't officially open we were still able to set up Chris' office and work out of it while painting or assembling in our free time.  Let me tell you...... The painting took forever!  Ugh.  You never realize how big 2,000 square feet is until you have to paint it.  We listened to a lot of Mumford and Sons during this time.  With the days ticking by we slowly completed the paint, ordered and assembled the furniture, set up the displays, and cleaned every inch of the place.  It was exhausting.  But so worth it!

And then, on July 6, 2011, we opened the doors to the very first AXIS office.  It is set up so customers can come in and play with the equipment, cameras, and home automation features to get an idea on what they would like to purchase and have installed in their homes.

The office space was a Citi Financial before.

Welcome to AXIS.  Please allow me to take you on a little tour.

The view walking in through the front doors.

The reception area is on your left.

Loving our color scheme.  Light gray walls with a bright sky blue accent wall on the left with big bold white letters.

And a darker gray accent wall on the right that allows the displays to pop.

This is our display wall.  Every piece is fully functioning allowing you to see what each piece is capable of doing.  Kind of weird when you are sitting at the receptionist desk and all of a sudden you see the camera moving on the wall.  Sales Reps are able to control it when they are out in the field, to show customers its features.

Office one is behind those windows.

Chris' office is the back one.  I love, love, love, the world map. 

This is the training room that also doubles as the conference room.

The tech area is in the back.  Gotta love the motivational posters on the wall.  Somebody found them and just slapped them up.  Not my favorite choice, but now I just don't have the heart to take them down.

And also the little kitchenette.  We since have added a fridge and microwave so Chris never really needs to leave the office.  I make him though.  Somebody is a work-a-holic (I won't name names ;)).  I'm really kidding.  Chris' work ethic is like none I've ever seen before.  He is so determined and he makes me proud each and everyday.

Well, that's it.  Our little pride and joy.  It's exciting to see our growth and progress in the short amount of time since we have been here.  It will be interesting to see what else we will be able to complete in the next year and a half.  

Joyous July

July started out with a bang (or a boom?) for Chris and I.  We faced quite the decision when thinking of how we would like to celebrate America's Birthday.  We could watch the fireworks over the USS Alabama Battleship, drive to the ocean and watch them be shot off over the water, or catch a small local show.  We decided on none of the above and simply opted for a BBQ at our house (it has a never ending back yard) with our friends and tried our darnedest at putting the "Biggest Show in Idaho" to shame.  So off to the fireworks superstore we went and loaded our carts full of the goods.  

 This huge warehouse is full of any kind of firework you could imagine.  

Love the expression on his face in this one.  He's just like a kid.  He's just walking down the isle thinking, "I'll take 4 of these and 6 of these.  5 for $10?  Don't mind if I do."  What you don't see in this picture is me following behind him and pulling out most of what he's putting in his basket and setting it back on the shelf ;).  

Ashley doesn't mess around.  No wussy stuff for her.  Look at Mya's face.......  Even she's impressed with her Mom's choice.

We decided to have dessert before our firework show and I took this opportunity to show off my master pieces.  My American Flag Cake, every time you cut a slice it was a flag.  And then the most American dessert I could think of, an apple pie with a little red, white, and blue action of it's own.

Then, after dessert it was time for the show.  Here is our lineup.  Chris was still convinced it wasn't enough.  I assured him it was.

Our friends, Casey and Kari

and Jake.

Look at that smile.  This guy was loving every minute of it.  He even found a second use for my creme brulee torch.  He's so smart.

10 points goes to you if you noticed Chris and I rockin' the red, white, and blue.  Corny or just awesomely patriotic?  You decide.  Seriously, what a great day!

Juggling Work and Play in June

June is where our fun started to begin.  We found ourselves in the home stretch of the completion of our store.  At this point it was just a waiting game.  Everything was ordered but it was taking it's sweet time getting to us, so we found distractions elsewhere.  We pushed hard during the work week and once the weekend came we were in relax mode.  By this time Summer was in full swing and the temperature just continued to climb.

June weekends were spent at the beach for the most part. I accompanied a group of girls from church for a beach bum day. And it was then, with the help of these body boarder girls, that they assisted uncoordinated me into catching my very first big wave with the body board.  It was thrilling.  Then the weekend after that we had our ward's Annual Beach Day.  Jellyfish were aplenty this day.  Their little tentacles were everywhere in the water and those things don't have to be attached to the body to sting you.  But, it didn't matter......  The sting was just a mild irritation, unless you happened to get stung by a jellyfish and not just a tentacle, then it was a little more painful.  I found out that vinegar helps take the sting away.  So as I would look around at other members of the ward you would see people with mustard and even toothpaste all over their legs, arms, and faces.  It was pretty comical to see.  A jellyfish got Chris around his calf and I stepped on one on the ocean floor.  It was so painful.  It's tentacles wrapped around my ankle and in between my toes.  I still have a small scar on my ankle from it.   Thankfully we were close to a life guard station and he had a spray bottle full of vinegar that he cleaned by foot off with.  Needless to say, I didn't get back in the water that day.

When we weren't at the beach with the members of our ward, we were there with family and friends.  Playing in the waves,  soaking up the sun's rays, playing Frisbee, and simply just appreciating the freedom and relaxation that the beach helps provide.   

Just relaxing while watching some of the men play Frisbee.

Cute.

    Mya building sand castles while her Dad takes a dip.

June also brought with it not one but two great visits.  I knew my sister was coming out to visit and I was so excited and grateful for that.  She works so hard for her money and to know that she was willing to spend some of her savings to pay us a visit meant so much.  But when we went to pick her up at the airport I wasn't only blessed to see her smiling face but also the face of my Mom smiling back at me.  I had no idea and was in complete shock.  It was such a great and much needed surprise.  The visit was short but so very sweet.  We celebrated Ms. Mya's 3rd birthday, went shopping, ate yummy food, went to the beach, saw some alligators, took a trip into New Orleans, played games, and simply just enjoyed being together.  

My Mom trying crawfish for the first time. 

The birthday princess telling us how old she is.

Mya couldn't take her eyes off of the new Tangled doll her parents got her.  It was her only birthday wish.  And of course Twinkee just had to check it out too.  She's such a helper ;).

Playing in the waves.  Vince is bobbing around in the background.

This time in New Orleans we decided to tour a cemetery.  

It seemed like the wrong place to take a smiling picture hence, the sad face picture.