Quick Update

Nothing super new to post lately...except...we finally set up my computer! Yay! I've been fighting with Clint for the last, oh four months (since we got married lol) to get it set up. It's been sitting in our living room for that long. We finally got a desk at WalMart about 2 or so months ago, and that sat as well in our living room up until last Sunday, when my wonderful husband surprised me when I got home from work. Then it took me another two days to move it into the bedroom and get it set up enough for him to get the Internet into the room. We are lazy people...just kidding! We've been SO busy with so much these last four months, I'm surprised we have time to be together sometimes, let alone set up a computer! But I am so excited because now I can go onto and do my thing while he is doing his homework and hogging the laptop out in the living room. It gives me more of an excuse now to leave him alone while he's doing his homework as well. I used to sit out in the living room and watch TV or read or something, but now that I have this, I feel free! Hahah :)
Things are still going very well for us. Clint has started his 3rd term of school and is liking it so far. He started with four classes and realized it was going to be wayyyy too much work, so he dropped one and is enjoying it so far (it's only been a week, so we'll see!). Work is still going good as well for him...I am so grateful that even in this recession, his company is still able to find work. As for me...well, my job is still there. I am quickly approaching a milestone there. On Tuesday, June 2 it will be 5 years since I started. Appparently I got a pin to wear on my name tag that says "5 Years." We'll see if I actually wear that... :) I am eagerly awaiting the Paso Robles store opening in hopes I can transfer up there. That would be an incredibly exciting possibility for me! AND there's a really good chance that I won't have to be involved in this year's Back to College mayhem because the store is opening right around the same time. HOPEFULLY!!!! :)
Thats all the news from the Erdman front. We hope everyone is having wonderfully magical days! :)

Ugh!

I'm so done with all the stuff going on with my work...SO done! I can't wait for the Paso store to open, I want to go there! I know, I know, Bed Bath and Beyond is the same everywhere...but geez. How much more can I take of that store?! All the dumb politics and jumping through hoops just to get nowhere! So frustrating! I've been having a really hard last couple of days, all dealing with work. Clint doesn't quite get why I get so upset...mostly its because I put so much of myself into that job and get VERY little out of it, and that's very frustrating and upsetting to me. I have to remind myself all the time to just breathe, the day is almost over, it's not THAT big of a deal. Am I just acting too crazy? Sometimes I really think I am...that place drives me bonkers!

Our Weekend

We had the best weekend ever! And I call it a weekend because it was continuous days off, which I NEVER get off from work, so thats a weekend for me. Clint has this whole week off from school, so we decided to get some days off of both of our works and go to Disneyland for a couple days!! Oh it was amazing...well, for the most part!

We left on Sunday after church and drove down to Ventura. My best friends live down there, so we stayed the night with them. Elvin barbequed up some tri-tip, made corn on the cob, salad, potatoes, the whole nine yards for dinner. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! Then, we spent the rest of the night watching movies and playing Wii. SO MUCH FUN! I have heard from just about EVERYONE that playing Wii makes your muscles and arms and legs and everything so sore and tired, and all I would think is, "Yeah, right! You guys are just out of shape, this would never happen me." Boy, was I wrong. I'm still hurting, and its 2 solid days later!

Anyway, we wake up early the next morning and leave their house by about 8 to make the rest of the drive down to Anaheim. We get to about Camarillo, right before the grade up to Thousand Oaks, when it hits me. And I mean it HITS me hard! Yes, ladies, I got that wonderful thing that Mother Nature likes to torture us with. HOWEVER, I didn't start THAT quite yet. Nope, I got the cramps. Now if anyone REALLY knows me, you'll know just how bad they are. On a good month, I will be knocked out for a couple hours, just curled up in a ball wishing I could die. Yes, I did say a GOOD month. This was an okay month. I think the vibrations of the car and my sweet husband holding my hand and rubbing what he could of my shoulders helped me to deal as best as I could.

So we arrive in Anaheim and get off at whatever exit you take that basically puts you at Disneyland's front door. To our right is a gas station. We are in the far left lane that you can only turn left in. Clint is furiously trying to figure out a way to get over to that gas station because my face is rapidly turning green and there is no where to throw up! Except...in the Jack In The Box bag from our "breakfast" that morning. Which I did...over and over again while that BLASTED light never changed. We are finally able to make it to the gas station a few minutes later (gross part: bag is completely soaked through, seeping down my hands onto my pants...yuck!), go to the outside bathroom, wait for what seemed like an eternity while lame people were in front of me taking their sweet time, during which I threw up again in the bushes. Nice. We leave there and drive around trying to find a store to buy Midol and tampons (yes, forgot both. I am a genius). While I am changing my pants in the store, Clint is calling our hotel for directions and the possibility of checking in early, which they did let us do.

We get to the hotel and Clint goes in to check in, while I am still in the car crying from the pain. He comes out and helps me inside the lobby to the elevator, which of course, takes about 5 million hours to open up, and I have to throw up again in the lobby trash can. I am a mess at this point and don't care who sees me. (The only other person was the receptionist guy, who tells me he'll send up some trash cans to my room. Thanks.)

Anyway, long story short, I start to feel better (few more rounds of hugging the porcelain god, a relaxing - somewhat - bath, and a nap) around 4. I literally jump up and say to my wonderful husband, "Can we go to Disneyland now?" My only thoughts the entire day (besides, "Oh crap, where's the toilet?!") were that I couldn't believe I was ruining this for us! We had planned on spending two solid days at Disneyland/CA Adventure, and look what I was doing? So we get ready to go and get over to Disneyland (about a 10 minute walk from our hotel) at aobut 430. We started out with The Haunted Mansion (my favorite!), then Tom Sawyer's Island, and Pirates. We did a couple more little rides, wandered around a bit, and basically just had a good day. Our friends, the Hickman's, were there too, so we met up with them and hung out for a few minutes. We called it a day at around 830, and just went back to the hotel.

The next morning we were up and ready to go super early. We got to the park at about 830 and waited in line for them to open up. As soon as we got in, we booked it to Finding Nemo's Submarine thing. That was so much fun! I'd been on the old Submarine ride years ago, but this one exceeded both our expectations! It was a total blast! After Space Mountain (by myself, Clint's not big on rollercoasters), we decided to head over to CA Adventure. I'd been there once myself a couple years ago, but Clint has never been. I had forgotten how cool it was! We hit Soarin' Over California first, which Clint LOVED! And then we went on the River Rafting ride. It was about 11 or so at this point, so it was nice and hot. We got soaked on this ride, which was awesome because it was cold water, and it felt GREAT!

We only stayed until about 230 this afternoon, then headed for home. We wanted to miss the traffic and since both of us have to work tomorrow, we wanted to be well rested and back in our own bed. Pictures will be coming soon; we didn't take many but we got some cool ones! All in all, it was a successful and super fun weekend for us! And Clint even wants to go back for more! Who can blame him, its the Happiest Place On Earth!!!

Can anyone tell me...

This is when he was littler...he's probably double in size now, and doesn't fit in the sink anymore!

...why when after a bath, the dog must run around at lightening speed, then rub his face all over the carpet, the couch, basically anything around? It's so weird, but every time I give Chase a bath, this is what happens. First of all, he hates bath time. Absolutely hates it with a passion. It's completely an uphill battle that I regret doing as soon as I start it. He is so ornery about it that I have to actually get INTO the tub with him so that he will feel a bit more comfortable. If I am outside the tub, he will run to the opposite side of the faucet and growl at me if I try to get near. But if I'm IN the tub, it's a little better. He still thrashes around (today he was trying so hard to get away that the poor little guy slipped and went sliding around...I laughed...good mom, I know.) but I finally get him all cleaned up and rinsed off and partially dry, and he just takes off out of the bathroom and whips around the apartment like a madman. Its so funny!

On a lighter note, Clint and I let him attack his next challenge...a giant rawhide. This thing is MASSIVE. Thanks to Megan and Drew for that Christmas present. The funny thing about that is Megan and Drew bought rawhides for all of the dogs in the family (Chase, Buddy - Mom's dog, and Kelsey - Ben and Caitlin's dog), and Chase ended up with all of them. Both Buddy and Kelsey get a real mean streak in them when they get rawhides, and Chase doesn't, so he got all of them. So we are slowly making out way through the teeny ones from Buddy, the regular size ones that were his, and finally the ginormous one from Kelsey.

Its almost as long as his whole body. He'll just sit on his bed at night while we're watching TV and chew. It's so funny...it's been about 2 weeks or so since we gave it to him (this picture was a day or so after we gave it to him) and he still has sooo much left. Dogs are so silly.

Just one more picture...how can you not love this little bug???

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day today! I had a good day! I spent the morning with my mom at church, which is always the funnest time for me. It's just us that go to our ward, so we get to spend some good quality time together. We team teach one of the Primary classes together - the 6 and 7 year old kids. And let me tell you, if it wasn't for that wonderful woman I am so lucky to call my momma, I would be such a mess in that class! :) We get to spend all three hours together at church, and I am so happy every Sunday to be able to do that! If you don't know my mom, you are totally missing out! That woman is the most incredible person I have met in my entire life. She raised her five kids all alone from the time the youngest was 3, and Becca just turned 19! We all graduated high school, Hannah has graduated college with a nursing degree, Ben will be graduating from the Police Academy in a few weeks, I am married, and three others are in serious relationships, all of whom my mom loves and they all absolutely adore her too. Who wouldn't though, honestly?! She is amazing. The best part about her is that she doesn't know it. She is so incredibly humble and completely loving, I can't believe that I am so lucky to have her as my mom. Here's to you Mommy! I love you so much!

My mom and I on my wedding day

All my sisters and brothers...we're all happy and healthy and successful because of our beautiful and wonderful mother!

Epic Fail

Yes Becca, I am copying your title...because I had an epic fail the other day. And now that I have gotten over the whole embarrassment thing, I am able to tell the world...I failed.

I was going to my car on Tuesday evening around 6 pm (at work). It was nearing the end of my lunch break. I am minding my own business (okay, no one else was around, but still!) walking down the stairs with my keys, phone, and a soda in my hands. Well, here comes the epic fail part: I totally fell. I am usually incredibly amazing at NOT falling. I am an artist at stumbling and catching myself, and I almost never fall. Except for then. And fall did I! If I remember correctly (which, I don't really...but we'll try!) I stumbled, over myself of course, and missed the last 3 or 4 steps. I go crashing head first toward the wall and the shopping cart that was right there and hit the cart with my head and right arm. I landed hard on my knees, which is where I sustained the majority of my injuries. I had my keys and phone in one hand and the soda in another...Next thing I know, keys and phone are across the hallway, soda can in crumbled in my hand and soda is EVERYWHERE: in my hair, on the ground, everywhere. And whats my first reaction? "Oh good, no one saw! If I can clean this up quickly, no one will ever know!"

SO I hurry and clean everything up as best as I could (literally had no idea if I was hurt or not, my adrenaline was SO high!) and went out to my car...I sit down...and feel the full weight of my injuries. I slowly pull up my pant legs and what do I see? An incredibly large bruise ALREADY forming on my right knee, and my left knee has swollen to almost twice its normal size.

Crap...what do I do now? I get out of my car and realize that I can't walk normally now. There is no hiding that I am hurt. It takes probably 20 or so minutes to actually admit to myself that I need to tell someone, at which point I completely lose it. I am bawling as I'm trying to tell my store manager what happened, partly because it hurts so much and mostly because I feel so dumb. I was closing the front end, which means I am up and down the stairs all night long counting the registers out and getting all that paperwork done. Does this sound like something I can really do? Yeah, I didn't think so. So instead of sending me home (I didn't want to go to the doctor), I was banished to "my office" (or my hole, as I so affectionately call it. Its a room thats like 6'x6' MAYBE, with no windows and its always locked...it's a hole) while my manager brings up the drawers a few at a time so I can count them. For 2 straight hours, there I sat. When I did try to get up, I opened the door, which looks in our break room, and was promptly yelled at by an employee to get off my feet! How rude!! :)

I do manage to venture out and grab my cell phone, on which I played Tetris for about a half hour (there was nothing more I could do at this point, and we still weren't closed!) I was so bored. I called Clint, who freaked out a little bit, and he promised me a bowl of ice cream when I got home, so that was awesome! Needless to say, I am swollen, bruised, and mostly embarrassed. And no, I did NOT take any pictures; I definitely didn't want to document my epic fail!

So three days later, I am walking more uprightly (which is a total plus!). Thats about all I can say. My lower back and my tail bone are in a lot of pain because of the way I've been standing (leaning most of my weight primarily on my right side). Which ALSO means that my hips and alignment are completely whacked out. I will be needing a good chiropractor in the near future to fix this problem.

I am okay though, I will live. Life is interesting sometimes...if it wasn't for my husband's constant nagging to eat healthier foods and drink more milk, I probably could have SERIOUSLY hurt myself. I definitely fell hard enough to warrant something like that, but I was extremely lucky. I guess I can't call it nagging anymore; its helpful advice that I will continue to follow!!! :)

I need a "pick-me-up"

I am grateful for *these things* even though *these things* happen:

1. Even though I fell the other day (more on that later), I didn't have to go to the doctor for it!
2. Even though I have to pay for insurance, we are stable enough that we can afford insurance.
3. Even though I could barely manage to hobble my way up the walk way to the mailbox today I got the cutest Mother's Day card from Chase (courtesy of my mom...love you!!)
4. Even though its after midnight right now and its still boiling hot, at least I'm not somewhere where its snowing!
5. Even though I am so tired of working and stressed out from it too, I am grateful that I have a job.

5 things that I am just plain grateful for:

1. My husband and family.
2. That my car is still working!
3. Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.
4. Chase still sneaks over to me and snuggles, even just for a minute.
5. My health.

5 things to look forward to:

1. Waking up in the morning next to my favorite person, with my favorite dog laying nearby.
2. Disneyland in about 2 weeks!
3. Going to work and showing up my manager (thats so fun!).
4. Getting my mom's Mother's day present situated.
5. Knowing that tomorrow can only big forth good things IF I let them - and that's what I'm going to do!

Yay, I have insurance again!!!! Just thought I'd share with everyone...I'm legally safe to drive (again). I know, I'm bad - I should have gotten it ages ago. But now its done, another to check off of my list. I like checking things off of lists! :)