The Macies' Story

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

2010-10-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

After over 8 months of planning, the day had finally arrived. It was October and it was time for us to leave the U.S. and fly to Rome! The night before we were set to fly out from Reno, Mom and Pop took us to Reno. We had a nice diner at Outback steakhouse and then they took us to our hotel.

We had an early shuttle to catch from the hotel to the airport. It was going to be a long day of flying. We were flying from Reno to Dallas, Dallas to Chicago and finally Chicago to Rome, Italy.

Our first few flights were on smaller planes. We were already tired from not sleeping the night before and being awake nice and early to catch our first flight.

I enjoyed my window seat while I could. I only had it for the short flights. The long one would be spent in the middle of the plane.

Here's a shot of our plane for the long ride out the window at our terminal.

A shot of me waiting to board the plane. By the way, I am super nervous here. I was a nervous wreck the whole week leading up to this trip. I was so afraid of getting on the plane and flying over all that ocean, all that land and then arriving in a foreign country. I was worried about crashing, bombings, terrorist attacks, getting mugged, getting lost, etc., you name it, I was afraid of it.

Dwayne on the other hand was super calm. He kept me reasonable and rational. He didn't let my fears stand in the way of one of life's greatest adventures.

Finally we had found our seats, were loaded up, buckled in and set for our trip overseas. I knew it was going to be a long flight. Our goal was to get as much sleep as possible before we landed since we were leaving Chicago in the evening and arriving in Rome in the morning the next day.

The map showed us where we were and what part of the world was night what part was daytime. It was a strange feeling to watch the plane on the map slowly move across the world leaving behind the only country I had ever been in. It was strange to know that as we flew over the ocean, and as the plane moved across the map, our families and friends were asleep back at home.

As we got closer to our destination, the map became more detailed. We could see the different cities and towns around Rome. I was starting to feel excited as I viewed our plane getting closer and closer to Rome. We were almost there and that meant we would be landing and I could stand up soon!

The screens would also show us the temperature, the speed of the plane, what our temperature was, how long until we arrived in Rome, what the local time in Rome was and what our altitude was.

Somewhere over the ocean (or over the land) it became the next day, which was October 6, Dwayne's birthday! So, when they served breakfast the next day, we toasted to Dwayne's 29th birthday, our 5 year wedding anniversary and a wonderful long vacation together over two cups of hot coffee. We were super tired as I am sure you can see in our picture!

We had arrived in Italy! Our first adventure was finding our way through the airport to customs for a stamp on our passport. A stamp on my passport! I couldn't believe it, I had a passport and was going to get a stamp on it too! I was so giddy! We were so thankful for pictures! We just followed the pictures to find our way around when we couldn't read what the signs said.

After finding customs, then our baggage, it was time for our vacation to commence!

Welcome to Italy Dwayne and Tiffany Macie!

Happy Birthday Dwayne!

2010-10-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

Dwayne's birthday is on October 6 but, this year, that day will be spent in Rome. So, to celebrate, we went bowling the weekend the before the big trip!

We celebrate Dwayne's 29th birthday in one of his favorite ways: Bowling!

I made his favorite cake and we ordered pizza. Friends and family came and bowled.

It was a nice afternoon. We all had a good time. Next year is the big 3-0!

Happy Birthday honey!

Playing Catch-Up

2010-09-25T01:26:00.000-07:00

September in Review:

As many of you have gotten used to, our blogs tend to fall behind when we get busy. Or should I say, when school is back in session. I know many of you thought school was over for me since I just graduated from the nursing program but I was accepted into UNR's RN to BSN program and am continuing on for 3 more semesters to advance my degree. I have decided that once this program is completed, I am definitely taking a break from classes! After having been in school for 21 years, I think I can take a year off!

This blog will server to catch us up on the happenings of September. Above is a picture of an announcement from work. Our managers round on our patients each week. When a patient mentions you specifically by name they place it on the employee wall for all of us to see. It made me feel good to see my name on that list as a new-graduate when so often I feel like I am constantly making mistakes or second guessing myself.

On September 1st, Dwayne, Mom, Pop (John) and I all went to the Nugget Rib Cook off.

Both Mom and I had our cameras but didn't think to take any pictures at the cook-off. The two above pictures and the picture below are the only pictures we have to show from that day.

After the cook off we had gone to get some things for Mellie's birthday party. Michael's, the store we were in had their Halloween decorations out so we got some shots of Dwayne and Pop playing around.

A couple weekends later, we had a birthday party for Mellie. She turned 21 this year. Her party was a masquerade theme. Everyone had a special mask for the party. We had her favorites, lasagna and of course, funfetti cake. It was fun. Hard to believe my baby sister is now 21!

Dwayne and I had a date night in Reno and we stopped off in Target. We had fun looking through the Halloween costumes and Dwayne decided to try this costume on. We had already bought a costume similar to it for Halo for Halloween.

Here is Halo in his hot dog costume

He seemed to not mind it too much.

Isn't he cute? He loves dressing up for Halloween!

The following weekend, I went on a girl's trip to Applehill in California. Erin, Allison, Kari and I loaded up on a Saturday morning and took the scenic drive up to the mountains. We didn't take any other pictures the whole day with the exception of the one above. We had a really great time though and had some awesome food and brought back some great treats!

These super cute pumpkins are salt and pepper shakers that I got while we were at Applehill. I thought they would be a nice addition to my Fall/Halloween decorations.

And before we knew it, September was over and it was October!

Fallon Fights 2010

2010-08-28T01:13:00.000-07:00

A good friend of ours and our personal trainer John, is an MMA fighter. Fallon for the second year hosted the Rural Rumble: Fallon Night of Fights and this year John was one of the pro MMA-fights. The rural rumble consists of MMA fights plus pro-boxing.

Those that supported him and the other fighters from the gym he trains at wore these t-shirts the day and night of the fight.

Above is John and another fighter from Battle Born MMA, where John trains walking around and getting a feel for the mat.

First up on the card were the female fights. They were a good fight to watch and we were pleased when the local Reno fighter won.

Up next for MMA was Jerrel.

He has great record and added to it on this particular night.

Jerrel won his fight.

Later in the night it was time for John to fight.

John getting pumped up

John's fight

And down they go

John ended up winning when his opponent tapped out. That night he took his pro-record to 2-0. Later in September, John fought another fight and won that one too. He is now 3-0. It's a well deserved record for someone who trains as hard as he dose.

John giving his winning speech.

Walking proud. Congrats John!

Spending Time in Reno

2010-08-27T01:10:00.000-07:00

Well we bought the Beemer but the windows weren't tinted so the first order of business was to get them tinted.

We made an appointment with Trimline in Reno. We have gotten every vehicle of ours tinted there and have never been disappointed. The appointment was for 8AM so Mellie, who now lives in Reno, came and picked us up so we wouldn't have to spend our morning at the shop.

She picked us up and the three of us all went out for some breakfast. Afterwards we got to see her apartment. We got some Starbucks, hung out at the mall and then I filled her gas tank up before she took us back to our car.

In the mall we walked by a sunglasses kiosk and they had some really crazy sunglasses. We picked a fun pair to try on. Before long our car was ready and she took us back to the shop. It was nice to see her and just hang out. Thanks again for the rides Mellie!

Tiffy Buys a New Car

2010-08-22T01:04:00.000-07:00

For years I have practically salivated at the site of a shiny, pretty, fast BMW zooming past me on the freeway. I have always loved this car. I used to tell myself that someday I would own one. Although I would tell myself this, I never really gave the thought much credit or really believed it would be possible.

Well someday came. Dwayne and I went to the BMW dealership to see if owning one would be possible. Come to find out, it was! I am now the owner of a 2007 328xi BMW. It's graphite gray, 4 doors, leather seats, and all wheel drive. I love driving it! I'll let the rest of the pictures speak for the car.

The drive to Reno for work has gotten so much better!

Ensign Dwayne Macie

2010-08-15T00:10:00.000-07:00

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, Dwayne had been working very hard on earning his Navy Commission. We received word some time ago that he had been accepted. The way things work in the military are generally not lightening fast (unless they need it to be) and it took some time before papers were finalized and we could have a ceremony.

On August 14, 2010 a group of us gathered at Dwayne's Naval reserve center in Reno to witness him being sworn in as an officer in the United States Navy.

We were all there and ready for the ceremony to begin. It was scheduled to begin just after they all returned from lunch.

It was warm in that building, Dwayne said the air conditioning had just gone out. I was glad I wasn't in the heavy uniform in that heat. Dwayne however, didn't even break a sweat!

The recruiter Dwayne had been working with flew to Reno to bring him his plaque from the president and to swear him in.

Dwayne raised his hand and took that oath to the office he was entering, to the United States Navy and further more, to the United States Country. He promised his time, his talents, and most of all his life, it was, as one of our friends Dan put it, his marriage vows to the Navy.

He was allowed to choose someone to change his rank over from enlisted to officer and I was able to have that privilege. I removed all signs of his lower ranking days and revealed the gold thread on his uniform that symbolized his higher rank as a Naval Officer.

Seeing him standing there in his uniform, wearing the rank of Officer, and having listened to him take his oath and be sworn in as an Officer, I had one of the proudest moments as "Mrs. Macie." I have watched him for the last 18 months or so work toward this goal, a dream of his and now I was watching as he accomplished it and received the recognition he deserved. It was a proud moment for him and a proud moment for me. I love him and feel blessed to be such an honorable man's wife.

Over the last few years at this Navy center, Dwayne has become friends with a fellow named Will Castleman. Castleman gave Dwayne his first salute as an officer. In exchange, Dwayne of course first gave Castleman a beautiful, shiny, polished, silver dollar. Castleman later told Dwayne he'd like to put that coin in a special place, something along the lines of a shadow box.

The recruiter gave Dwayne a letter on letter head from the President of the United States that commemorates his new rank in the Navy. We now display this letter in our home in Dwayne's special room.

After the ceremony was over, the other uniformed members at the drill center all filed through and congratulated Dwayne. There were many "Congratulations, Sir." Sir is something Dwayne says he is still getting used to hearing.

Next we took pictures with the new Ensign.

The family picture. Sadly, Dwayne's family from Texas wasn't able to make the ceremony and we sure did miss them. My family went and here he is with the "Black Family."

Here Dwayne is with our close friends the Baerwaldts. A little history for you: Dwayne and Dan were both at A-school together in Biloxi, MS. Later both were stationed together at NAS Fallon in the weather office for their first duty stations. We would later introduce Dan to Erin, my best friend and the two married. We all still remain close friends as you may have guessed from our many blog postings involving the Baerwaldts.

The pictures with friends and family continue and above is Dwayne with friend John.

Dwayne and Mellie

The siblings. We are rarely all together in one place at the same time these days. It was nice to have us all together for this extremely important event.

Mommy and her children

After the ceremony Dwayne had to finish the day but I was able to drive back home and get ready for the celebration afterwards.

A shot of Steven in the back seat.

The cake we served at the party

Dan handled the grilling duties for me since Dwayne was still in Reno and I was handling the other party things inside.

Before long the guest of honor arrived and it was time to celebrate!

But first, more pictures! Dwayne with Mom and John.

Proud Mother in Law, she loves him like her own.

Our picture together

My "Officer and Gentleman"

Dwayne with my Grandma Jody, she was also so very proud of him

Dwayne with Steven

Back to celebrating, no worries, he hasn't lost it, it was time for cake!

Dwayne with his cake

A couple of "Dwayne style" shots

The old-school pose. I do mean old-school, he and his buddy Joe from High School used to do this pose together. We even have a picture of the two of them doing this pose at our wedding.

No party for Dwayne would be complete without a little rock band.

Dwayne and John looking at our wall pictures.

Erin and I decided to enjoy a glass of wine from a bottle she had brought over.

Congratulations Ensign Macie! We are all so very proud of you!

Date Night and Camping at Eagle Lake

2010-07-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

On July 29, the Children's Miracle Network sponsored a fundraiser to benefit Renown Children's Hospital. If you ate at Claim Jumpers Restaurant that night, a percentage of the bill was donated to the fundraiser. We with a few of our friends, decided to have a wonderful dinner while raising money for a great cause. Following dinner, we all headed down to the Aces ball park to watch a little baseball. We had a great night out with our friends and they even caught 2 foul balls! Our seats were fantastic as we were sitting just behind the visiting team's dugout on first base. We love going to baseball games!

The next day, July 30, to round out July and bring us into August, we took our now annual camping trip to Eagle Lake, CA with the Baerwaldts. We look forward to this camping trip. We love the site and the weather is always fantastic! The above picture is "tent city!"

While Erin and I sat up camp, the boys went off to gather firewood for us all. They did a pretty good job and got enough to give us some nice fires.

The above picture is Erin and I with our "camping cups." Every year that we camp we use these cups and write the year, location and some special phrase that represents that particular trip.

Here we are relaxing around the campsite while Halo always tries to sneak something away from us!

The mornings can be kind of chilly up there so campfires, hoodies, hats, hot coffee and puppy snugglings are a must! It doesn't take long for the day to warm up though and before long you don't even need all those things!

Last year the boys had a jet ski to keep them entertained. This year they decided to try their hands at fishing. The fishing wasn't that great this year. They were told by locals that in August/end of July you really need a boat to go out on the water to catch anything good.

Above is this year's group picture. We took it on our second night camping. Sometimes we forget how nice it can be to just sit back and relax.

It's also nice to sometimes just be really silly! The above picture and following three pictures are just that: us being silly!

Erin being silly

Us trying to take a break from being silly and take a nice picture

Dwayne being silly

The weekend always goes by so fast and before long it's time to pack up and head back home. Here is the Macie tent and family!

Here is the Baerwaldt tent and the Baerwaldts!

If we could all find the time to go I'm sure we would go more than once a year. Since it proves to be impossible sometimes to get us all on the same days away from work we will have to keep looking forward to our Annual Camping trips!

Here are Erin and I before we left the campgrounds.

Halo is not the best camper. He doesn't really like camping at all. He couldn't wait until we were going home!

This is his new spot when we travel. He's up high where he can see it all and he was very happy we were heading home!

Virginia City

2010-07-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

Throughout the summer we have been trying to squeeze in fun days with our friends the Baerwaldts, Dan and Erin.

On one summer day we spent the morning walking around Virginia City. You can't visit Virginia City and leave without getting an old time photo taken. We did two group shots. The top one was our silly pose and the second one was our serious pose.

While we waited for our photos to be ready, we walked around and looked in the stores. We visited with the town's folk and were invited to a good old fashioned gun fight. We passed. We did however partake in the delicious fudge and old fashioned candies.

All along the boardwalk paths there are fun little photo opportunities. Here we are on camels!

Here are Dan and Erin on the camel!

After we had spent enough time checking everything out and had picked up our photos, we continued on to Lake Tahoe. We spent the rest of the day on the beach and splashing around in the lake. We stopped on the way and picked up lunch and snacks. Overall it was a laid back afternoon and just an enjoyable time spent with some of our closest friends. It's hard to believe how fast summer is flying by!

Family Date Night

2010-07-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

It's always fun to get together and have some fun with the family!

One Sunday night we did just that. We met with Auntie Buttons, Katana, cousin Jordan, Mom and John at Applebees in Reno for a Family Date Night.

We all enjoyed a nice dinner together complete with dessert.

We sat at big group table in the back of the restaurant.

Katana wasn't very hungry so she had a cookie sundae.

After dinner we headed over to Sparks and took a ride on the go-karts.

Katana rode with me since she wasn't big enough to drive her own car yet.

You can sort of see Dwayne in this picture. He went flying by like a true speed racer!

Up next was mini-golf!

Katana had never mini-golfed before but she was sure to get a pink ball!

It was lot of fun and there was a lot laughing.

I helped Katana learn how to hit her ball.

Dwayne golfing

John golfing

Me golfing

Auntie golfing

Mommy taking her turn

Katana got a hole in one!

Then I got a hole in one!

Dwayne, waiting for his turn.

Mommy got a hole in one too!

Taking a little break for a photo together

Up next, Auntie got a hole in one too! We are on a roll!

Then guess what! Jordan got one too! Man we are awesome golfers! :)

Mom and John at the golf center

Another fun date night! Sadly, Dwayne and John did not get a hole in one. Bummer guys. Although it was hot, it was a good night. We all had a blast and it is always nice to get together and hang out with the family.

Navy Weekend

2010-07-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Every year, the Navy Reserve Center Dwayne drills at has a weekend called "Returning Warriors" weekend. It is a family weekend with food and activities.

There was gladiator style jousting.

Sumo wrestling suits

Dwayne the sumo wrestler!

Let the battle begin

Go Dwayne! Throw that other sumo wrestler!

There was also Volleyball.

It was kind of like watching that scene from Top Gun, but different. It was a fun day. It is always nice to see everyone with their families. We always have a good time at this event and look forward to next year's.

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

Usually, for the last three years or so, I have had to work on the 4th of July. Last year, I worked and Dwayne spent the evening with my family.

This year, I was off and Dwayne had to work. I was able to spend it with my family. I grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner and we all ate together.

We have a tradition of watching the movie "The Sandlot" every 4th of July. True to form, we watched it again this year and then went outside to watch the fireworks.

From our house you can see almost all the fireworks. We set up our lawn chairs in the street just to the side of the house and sat back and relaxed until the show started. This year we had our dessert outside. Popsicles and Ice-cream sandwiches....they were yummy!

Some of our neighbors had extra sparklers. They gave us a few boxes to have fun with while we waited for the fireworks. We had fun with them!

Even Auntie had a few!

Mom wasn't too thrilled with them so I did extra for her!

Jordan and Auntie

Mom and John

It was a fun night, just missed having Dwayne there! It was an early evening for us all because I had to work the next morning but we had a good time. Until Next Year! :)

Yard Update

2010-06-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well, when we bought this house the yards needed a lot of work. Slowly, over the last year and a half, we have been transforming the outside. The backyard was once full of weeds and dirt.

Through a lot of hard work and with help from others, we have managed to get grass and sprinklers in our backyard. The final big and major project for the yard was a concrete patio. With the help of an awesome neighbor down the street and a group of guys he knows, in one weekend, we were able to get a patio!

Here's a picture of the guys getting the concrete poured

Looks like quite the process! We are so thankful for their help and all their hard work.

Here is a picture of the concrete all poured and drying.

Isn't it great? We've been wanting this for a long time and it is so nice to have it checked off the house projects list!

All that is left now for the yards are smaller easier projects. We need to finish the space that surrounds the patio and plant some shrubs along the house but after that, the yard projects will be finished!

While the concrete was still wet, we put our hand prints in it and Halo's paw print too. The smudges you see are compliments of Halo when he decided to run across it before it had dried completely.

We now have a patio swing and our grill out back. All we have left to get is a patio covering of some type and a table set. Maybe a fire pit too for those cold winter nights. :)

Tiffany's Going Away Party at BCCH

2010-06-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

As most of you already are aware of, I have taken a job at Renown Regional Medical Center-Renown Children's Hospital on the pediatric floor. This new job ends the job I have had at Banner Churchill Community Hospital. I have been at this hospital now for a few years. My last night of work was Friday, June 18th.

On my last night, my wonderful co-workers put together a fantastic pot-luck. I was given several cards and many well wishes and tips for my first year of nursing.

Above are just some of the cards I received and as you can see, a New RN Doggie Bag. Inside the bag were things I may need in that first year of nursing as well as a smaller kit inside to take care of myself with on those "looooong" days that I need it. It was so cute and all the messages in the cards brought tears to my eyes.

Here's a shot of the room where all the food was set up. There was a ton of food! I am going to miss a lot of the people I left at BCCH. Thank you all for making the last few years so full. I will miss you guys!

The Wisdom Teeth Come Out!

2010-06-08T15:37:00.000-07:00

Well, most people have had their wisdom teeth out and it was finally my turn. I had been putting it off for long enough. I figured, since school was finished and while I was in between jobs, I should take care of my wisdom teeth. The above picture is of me before we left the house to go to the dentist's office.

On Tuesday, June 8, I went and had all my wisdom teeth removed. They were impacted and causing some major jaw pain and headaches.

The two above pictures are of me getting hooked up to the monitoring equipment. I was given IV sedation for the procedure and based on the way I felt after it was over, I am glad!

This picture is of me once Dwayne brought me back home. I apparently chose to lie down in the guest bedroom and watch a movie. I don't remember any of this happening. I only remember waking up later in the evening in the regular bedroom with Dwayne telling me I needed to try and eat a little something.

It was around the clock ice packs and pain pills that first day. Dwayne did a good job taking care of me. The above picture is of me and my ice packs on each of my cheeks.

If I thought the first day hurt, the second day hurt a whole lot more! I was so puffy and could barely move my jaws! I was even trying to smile in the picture above but I am so swollen you can't even tell.

Here I am a few days later. I am feeling better and able to eat for the most part again. I think my face says it all about how I feel about the whole situation. I am glad that is over with and that I don't have to do it again! The staff at Dr. Guillen's office was amazing and they made the whole experience so much better!

Ace's Baseball

2010-06-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! We love going to the Aces' baseball games in Reno. We were hoping to go to a game on Monday, June 7, and as it turned out, the church youth group was planning on going that night as well and we were able to go with them as adult drivers/chaperons.

We had a special section reserved for us and dinner was provided. We met up with the youth group from Gardnerville once we got there.

A picture of the game from our seats

Dwayne bought a new hat once we were there and I got to have the old one. Now we both have hats!

Just having a good time

Awe, he loves me!

We were watching the big screen to see if we were put up on the kiss camera. We weren't but it was a lot of fun!

The game was over, the Aces won, and we were heading home! It was a fun night and we can't wait to go to another game.

Tiffy's 26th Birthday

2010-06-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

My birthday this year fell on a Tuesday and also very close to all the graduation happenings. Also, I spent my birthday day in a review class for the nursing boards. The day itself didn't turn out as planned. Dwayne wanted to take me to Reno for dinner but got super busy right at the end of his shift and we ended up getting food in town.

He also put candles in a cake and sang with Halo to me. I don't like store cakes but the one he got is the exception to the rule, it was Red Velvet, my favorite! It was a mini cake and the perfect size for the two of us.

The Friday that week my mommy threw a birthday party for me. Dwayne had to work that night but he stopped by for his lunch break. Mom knows I don't like store cakes and that my favorite home cake is white cake with chocolate frosting. That's what she made me for my party!

Dwayne dropped my present off while he was at work. I had been wanting a new jersey and he found my favorite player and got me one!

Katana is visiting during the summer. She came for the party but once she got cozy on the couch with Halo, the blanket, a pillow and a new movie she hadn't seen, she fell asleep.

My friend Darby came and played games, had food and hung out with us.

Here are the seesters. She was killing me at Uno!

Okay this is a nice picture of us.

Before long it was time for cake!

My puppy son Halo :)

Dwayne got there in time to sing!

Mr. and Mrs. Macie

Everyone gave me such wonderful gifts! It was so nice of everyone.

My Mommy got me a necklace I had my eye on for a long time. She even filled the picture slot with a picture of Dwayne for me.

Thanks Mommy, for the party and the presents! I love you!

Paparazzi time! Darby and me

Cousin Jordan and Me

Grandma and Me

Me and John

Auntie and me. We were being silly and throwing the gangsta signs!

Nursing School Pinning

2010-05-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

Every year nursing classes all over the country have a special ceremony known as their pinning ceremony. Traditionally, they are pinned with the college's special school pin. The nursing student chooses someone special to them to pin them on stage while information about the the nursing student's future plans are read to the audience. Our ceremony was held Tuesday, May 25th in Carson City.

Above, is my nursing school class pin. Engraved on the backside are my initials TRM and my year 2010.

We all sat on stage alphabetically. On each side of the stage were video screens for the audience to see the action on stage better. As their nursing student was getting closer to be pinned, the people they had chosen to pin them would line up on the side of the stage.

Above are Mom and Dwayne, the two people I chose to pin me, waiting to come on stage for me.

Above, one of the instructors gives my pin to my mom and Dwayne to come and pin me with.

Mom did the pinning part to make sure it didn't fall off.

Dwayne had gotten me some really pretty roses that he gave me on stage.

Afterwards, we could pose for a picture with our special people. Once the pinning was done, we all returned to our seats until the ceremony was over.

My friend Darcey and her fiance Phil made this sign for me. While I was getting pinned they were in the audience waving the sign and cheering for me. It was awesome! Darcey graduated from the nursing program the year before me.

After the ceremony was over, we all went out for pizza!

It had been a long day and we just wanted to do something that was easy going.

As you can see, Dwayne was ready to cut loose.

Above is the guy making our pizza order

My mom had these little signs with each of our pictures on it for graduation for my sister and me. She brought the one she made for me with her to my pinning ceremony. On one side was my nursing school picture.

On the other side were little sayings and pictures that were awesome!

There were arcade games for everyone to play of course! Look at how intensely Dwayne and his dad are staring at the screen. Must be a pretty intense game!

My best friend Erin was even able to get off work and come to my ceremony.

The "gang" waiting for the pizzas to come out. Quick, somebody feed my sister! She's going loopy!

Erin and I together before she headed back home.

The fun machines had fake teeth. Dwayne and his dad were hooked. They were called "Dentures by D'Wayne" ha ha ha. How funny.

My Mommy and me before we left to go home. I love her so much! She and Dwayne were my biggest strengths during the nursing program. Thank you both so much!

Graduation Party

2010-05-24T23:57:00.000-07:00

The ceremony was over and it was time celebrate!

Everyone headed back to the house for cake, food and some time visiting. Above is me with my friend Jessica and her son Lucas.

My friend Darby and me

Me in my nurse's cap

Three generations: Melanie, Grandma, Mom and me

And then it was time for cake!

White cake with cream cheese frosting. Yummy

Mellie and I cut the cake together

After a while it was time to open gifts. The picture above is a special stethoscope with a smaller bell and diaphragm that I can use on my small babies.

Me with the Baerwaldts, Dan and Erin

Me with Uncle Shane and Carla

The siblings! Melanie, Steven and me.

After everyone left, it was time to get ready for the next day's festivities. The pinning ceremony was the next day in Carson City.

Nursing School Graduation

2010-05-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

After two very fast, very long years, it was time for graduation! Graduation was Monday, May 24th. The day before we spent our Sunday afternoon relaxing and shopping in Reno. The above photo of us was taken while we were having lunch. Dwayne's parents flew in from Texas for the events and my Uncle Bill, Aunt Lisa and Cousin Amanda drove in from California.
Family and friends from in town and nearby towns also attended.

Monday came and it was time to get ready. I took a break to have a little snack. :)

My sister has been working towards her Fine Arts degree while I was working on my Nursing degree. She graduated that night too.

We decided to take some family pictures before the ceremony since we knew how crazy it can get once things get going.

Dwayne and Me outside our house.

Dwayne's Dad, Dwayne, Me and Dwayne's Mom

Me with Auntie, Cousin Jordan, and Melanie

Me with Mom, John and Melanie

Us Girls

Cousin Amanda, Me, Melanie, Aunt Lisa, and Uncle Bill

Before long it was time to head to the ceremony. It was held at the Barkley Oats Park Arts Center. Mom snook downstairs to find us in the waiting area to catch a quick shot of us.

The ceremony was very nice. They always open with a beautiful bagpipe group, then the national anthem, and then of course the guest speakers. After all the formalities were done, it was time to walk across that stage! Above is my sister with her turn.

Then it was my turn to go!

It felt wonderful to walk across the stage and have that moment after all the hard work that went into getting there!

My nursing classmates decided to sit all together. We were at the back of the group, but believe me, everyone knew we were there! At the end of the ceremony as everyone was exiting the stage we decided to do the wave! It was a nod to one of our classes from spring semester. For review, our teachers liked to play jeopardy. Sometimes they would give out extra points for extra enthusiasm so we would be extra loud and one of the things we would do was the wave!

Above is what was considered the Western Nevada College Rural Nursing Group. Way to go guys, we made it! Aren't we a great looking group of Nurses?

Graduation News!

2010-05-21T11:37:00.001-07:00

Well, if you have been watching my ticker to right of our page, you will see that graduation is just around the corner! I am happy to report that finals are over, I have taken my last nursing school exam and am no longer a Student Nurse, but now a Graduate Nurse. That was quite the two years! I am happy they are over but in a way, it is kind of bittersweet. The hard work payed off and now, it is time to graduate!

So what is up next now that I have finished nursing school? I have to take the State Board's exam to get licensed. Once I take and pass what is called the NCLEX, I will then be called an RN. Once that is over, I will be able to start working as a nurse. I have also been accepted into and enrolled into the Orvis School of Nursing's RN to BSN program at UNR. I will begin working toward my Bachelor's of Science in Nursing in the Fall. I will give more information about that as we get closer but for now, I think some celebration is in order!

Graduation will take place on

Monday, May 24, 2010 at 7:00 PM

at the Barkley Theater at Oats Park

The following day, Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 1:00 PM

the Nursing Program Pinning Ceremony will take place in Carson City.

The pinning ceremony is a tradition in the nursing community. New nursing graduates are pinned by someone they choose with traditionally, the school pin. The ceremony highlights the hard work the nursing students have done over the last two years. A class photo is dedicated to the school from the nursing class and photos are shown of our activities over the prior semesters. It is a special ceremony and is of high importance in the nursing community.

So, some of you are wondering where I will be working. I have been offered a job on the pediatric unit at Renown Health. I am very excited about this job opportunity and can't wait to start my new job.

The above picture is of some of the new co-workers I will be working with starting June 21st. I had the ability to do my final practicum rotation on the pediatric unit and as a result I was able to get a head start on my orientation to the floor and meet a lot of the people I will be seeing more regularly come June.

So, Renown will be my first home as a new nurse! I am very excited to start this new chapter in my life! The time I have already spent on the pediatric unit during May has proven to be the right place for me!

Amazing News!

2010-05-21T11:17:00.001-07:00

About 18 months ago or so, Dwayne started a process with the Navy Reserves to apply and submit an application for commission as an officer. He currently has been with the Navy Reserves with prior enlisted service. He has completed his Bachelor of Science degree since enlisting back in High School. He enjoys being a part of the military and saw the opportunity for advancement by becoming a Naval officer for his reserve unit. So, he began the process of becoming a Naval Officer. He submitted an application, had an intense interview with a Naval Captain, has had his navy file reviewed by numerous people and completed his most recent PFA (Physical Fitness Assessment) with a high score of Outstanding (the best you can score). The process is rather difficult and for many, it takes several rounds of applying before they are picked up for commission.

(Dwayne, Bootcamp- 2000)

In late March he got a call from the recruiter he had been working with. The recruiter told him he had some good news and bad news for him. The bad news: he was going to have buy all new uniforms. The good news: he had been picked up for commission and on his first round! So what does that mean? It doesn't mean we are moving, he will still stay with his reserve unit, but will now serve as an officer. He now gets to be saluted! He will keep his civilian job as a police officer here in Fallon, but will continue to drill every month and do his training as needed.

(Dwayne and Tiffy, Navy Ball- 2002)

He will have a special ceremony in August where he will be pinned with his rank. I am very excited since I will get to be one of the people that pin him!

(Dwayne-2002)

The ceremony will be held at the reserve center where he drills every month. We would love to have family and friends there for this special occasion and we will send out information about it as we get closer and have more details finalized.

(Dwayne and Tiffy-2002)

CONGRATULATIONS DWAYNE!

We are all so proud of you and all the hard work you do. I am especially blessed to be married to such a man of honor, character and integrity.

Spring Break- Part 3

2010-05-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

After our time in Monterey, we headed on back toward Santa Cruz. We stopped in Capitola along the way. There was a mall there and we did a little shopping. After a good amount of time browsing through the stores, we got back on the road and went back to Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz has a board walk with rides and and an arcade. Because it was the off tourist season and during the week, the rides were all shut down but the arcade was open.

So, we decided to live it up like big kids in the arcade. Above, Dwayne is punching some game that measures your punch strength. It was kind of neat. After we were done playing our games we counted our tickets in the ticket counter machine and gave our ticket total to some little boy that was in the arcade with his parents. He was pretty happy!

This is part of the boardwalk with the entrance to the arcades.

It runs along the beach. There were a lot of people on this beach!

Also inside the arcade building was a mini-golf course.

It was actually pretty impressive. It was pirate themed and was spread through out two different stories and in and out of a black light tunneled room.

There's Dwayne taking a break from putting to drive the ship

And here I am driving the ship. We had a lot of fun being big kids. Even though the roller coaster rides weren't open we were still able to have a lot of fun our last night on vacation.

On our last morning in Santa Cruz we headed downstairs to our hotel-included breakfast before we hit the road.

The choices were delicious and it was nice having a meal before we driving back.

Dwayne is getting our car all ready for the drive back home.

Packed up and ready to go we take a picture before we get ready to head home. It was so nice to get away. We already have our next weekend get away picked out and now we just have to find the weekend to do it! It involves caves, a zip line and a little bit of hiking! We can't wait.....

Spring Break- Part 2

2010-05-04T16:42:00.000-07:00

So, after we completed our tour at The Mystery Spot, we decided to take a drive toward Monterey and spend some time on the beach.

We found a pretty open area and decided to take walk along the water and just feel the ocean air.

The sand was warm but the water was cold!

At this particular beach there were signs posted that it was a dangerous beach and that it has been known to have large waves and unpredictable rip tides and to enter water at one's own risk. Guess it was a good thing we hadn't planned on going swimming isn't it?

Should I go in the water? Nah, think I'll stay dry, and warm!

It was so pretty in this area. On the beach were a few families building sand castles and flying kites. It was fun just watching them have a good time!

You gotta' write in the sand when you're at the beach!

Well, we aren't that original but, the T + D = love was kind of the theme of our writing in the sand. :)

Can you see the waves? They could get kind of large.

This is a little more original, our name! Well, I wrote it in the sand and then about 30 seconds later, it was gone. The water rushed up so fast I had to run away from it to not get wet! Dwayne got a good laugh out of the rushing water. Those unpredictable waves!

We love spending time on the beach! It is one of our favorite places to have lunch or just take a walk.

Great sun, great weather, great company, great day at the beach!

We left our footprints....

....and our hand prints. Bet you can't guess which one is mine and which one is Dwayne's!

After our lazy time on the beach we headed down to have lunch at Monterey's Wharf. Lots of seafood options that was for sure, but we aren't really seafood people so we settled on a pub and had delicious burgers and steak fries! It was soooooo yummy and we had the whole place to ourselves!

After we had food in our tummies we decided to check out the shops. In our exploration we found this guy who draws character portraits. We decided to get an updated one of the two of us. I went first.

Then it was Dwayne's turn. The picture turned out well. We plan on hanging on it on our "fun" wall in the house.

We also found this little candy shop. Inside they sold chocolate covered strawberries, one of Dwayne's favorites! Of course, we got one for him to have!

He really enjoyed it!

Another great part of our vacation. We had fun looking at all the different boats that were docked and viewing all the tourist items in the shops. The food was good too! We definitely plan on coming back to Monterey and spending more time in this area. It was time for our next activities of the trip!

Spring Break 2010- Part 1

2010-04-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

Spring break for us kicked off March 21. Since it had been 8 weeks of no days off for me, and 8 weeks of time that Dwayne and I had not had together, we booked a room in California and decided to go somewhere and do something for spring break. Dwayne booked us a room in Santa Cruz and on Sunday morning, March 21st after I was off work, we loaded up and headed out of town. We spent some time running errands in Reno and then drove onward to the outlet mall at Vacaville. We shopped, bought some new things and then continued our drive on to Santa Cruz.

Dwayne booked us a very nice room.

After getting a good night's sleep we got up and got ready to head out and see what the Cali coast had to offer!

Our first stop was "The Mystery Spot" a local tourist attraction in the Santa Cruz area. Apparently it has been featured on various scientific shows and is a phenomenon of sorts.

These two are perfectly level. They are standing on perfectly level ground, complete with a leveler to prove it.

Then they switched spots, and the stranger went into what is known as "the mystery spot" and suddenly he was way shorter than Dwayne, even though the ground is perfectly level.

Up the hill inside the mystery spot is a tool shed that the original owner of the land built. This place made it look like you were all sideways and the gravity pull was weird. You were feeling kind of dizzy too when you walked up the hill to get here. Aside from the gravitational pull we are pretty sure this part of the place was simply an optical illusion.

The tour guide put a wood plank on the windowsill and rolled this ball on it. It rolled uphill! He gave it to Dwayne to inspect and make sure it was a legit pool ball.

He even rolled my lip gloss on the wooden plank to show that they hadn't set it up funny or anything.

After they gave us the spill about the lay of the land and the history behind the tool shed we were allowed to roam around inside and take pictures.

Dwayne got his lean on by standing on the table and leaning toward the ground. Usually if you were to lean this far on a normal table and area you would fall over, but not in the mystery spot.

Next it was my turn to get my lean on!

They had different places you could stand and go against gravity inside the shed.

Some very nice guys offered to take our picture together for us. It was definitely difficult to walk around inside "the mystery spot."

In this picture the tour guide pulled three people from the group to stand on the spots. The difference between where Dwayne is standing and the child is standing is only about 2 inches. The side Dwayne is standing on is the taller side.

Look at the major difference when they switched spots!

So then the guide paired the two who were closer in height on the spot.

And then they switched and the guy shrank big time!

At the end of the tour you get a bumper sticker and there is a gift shop you can look around in. They encourage everyone to revisit the site and bring their own levelers to check the ground and also to bring their own compass because at certain areas in the mystery spot the compass gets thrown out of whack with the different directions not being right.

The mystery spot was kind of secluded inside this tree heavy area.

The road behind Dwayne is the road we had to drive on to get to the spot. That skinny little road was a two way road! It was in between trees and wasn't level, it was kind of scary! But, then again, the trees were beautiful! After the mystery spot it was time for our next adventure!

Mom's Birthday

2010-03-24T13:34:00.000-07:00

We have officially entered birthday season in our family. March kicks off the birthday season with many many birthday celebrations over the next few months. We bought a new grill for our house this year and to break it in, we had a BBQ for my mom's birthday party.

We got the house all decorated and the food all cooked for the party.

Mom with her birthday cake

Mom and John at her birthday party

Mom and me at the end of her party. It was a nice day. We ate, had some cake, mom opened her presents, and we played some games.

Mom and Dwayne, and Halo too!

USBC Open Bowling Tourney

2010-03-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

On March 1st Dwayne bowled on a team event for the USBC Open Bowling tournament at the Reno National Bowling Stadium.

I was supposed to be in clincals that day but they were canceled part way through the day so I was able to watch him bowl.

Here are the two lanes he bowled on.

They have everybody up on the TV screens as they enter the stadium. There was clapping and music playing.

Dwayne throwing his ball down the lane.

The score board

Waiting his turn.

He will bowl again in this same tournament but in the singles and doubles events next month.

Nursing School Updates

2010-03-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I have made it to my final semester in nursing school! Yay! This semester has been extra busy for us. The above picture was from the very first day of our last Med/Surg Clinical rotation that started in February.

We've been driving a lot this semester. We drive 3-6 days a week either to Carson City or Reno.

When you are on those roads you have to be very careful. The roads had become full of cows grazing nearby and several people had been hitting them. As a safety precaution one of our husbands had suggested a helmet. Well, we like to be safe so here we are in our helmets! :)

The semester has us doing lots of things out in the community.
On one particular day we were at the Junior High School doing school screenings. We assisted in the vision screenings and the scoliosis screenings.

Afterwards, it was time for a quick bite at one of our favorite lunch spots, Maine Street Cafe. For the last four semesters we have been going there during lunch breaks to eat and study. The food is delicious and they are always very good to us! The above picture is of myself and my classmate Marci.

At the end of February/ beginning of March the entire nursing class got together to take their group/class photo. Here I am with Nate and Marci, two of my classmates.

Val, my partner in crime for most of the program. It was kind of neat to know, that what we were doing was bringing us one step closer to graduation!

During February was Valentine's day too. Due to our busy schedules, we were both working on the holiday. One night after I got back from clinicals I had these wonderful surprises waiting for me!

We ended up exchanging gifts a little early and celebrating with dinner and a movie a little late.

So, I have exactly 2 months until graduation. I can't wait! Graduation is May 24th, at 7pm and then on Tuesday, May 25th we will be pinned in the Nursing Pinning Ceremony, a tradition that all nursing schools have. I can't believe how fast time is flying by! This chapter is certainly almost to a close but, I received news yesterday in the mail that my next chapter will soon be starting! I have been accepted to the RN to BSN program at UNR. I will register for classes for the fall semester and depending on how I choose to do the program, I will graduate from UNR either next December (2011) or the next (2012). I am both excited and very nervous!

I have been applying to and interviewing for jobs all over the area and I hope to start getting some job offers here soon! I will keep you posted.

Jessica's Surprise Party!

2010-03-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

Over the years we have been blessed with making new friends at every opportunity. I have become good friends with one of my co-workers Jessica. Her birthday was in January and we decided it would be fun to throw her a surprise birthday party.

So, Dwayne and I decorated the house and with some help from another co-worker of mine, we sent out invitations and got food ready.

She was definitely surprised and so was her son.

We all had a good time and it was nice to celebrate her birthday in such a fun way! Happy Birthday Jessica!

New Years- 2010

2010-03-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that the last real blog post on here is from Christmas. So, we shall pick up with where we left off and catch up this page with our crazy super fast moving lives! :)

New Year's Eve for us is usually not very big. We both generally work. I worked the night shift and Dwayne had to be up bright and early on January 1st so he went to bed before 10PM. Above is the staff that worked New Year's eve with me. Like our hats? We wore them all night long!

So I rang in the new year with my patients, and my coworkers. We had the Rockin' New Year's Eve on one of the TVs in the empty rooms. Not the greatest picture in the world but we felt festive anyway!

My friend and classmate, also co-worker Sandi was there too! It is the holiday she works every year.

We were as festive as we could be with hats throughout the night!

Happy New Year from us to you! (Even if this post is a little late! )

Updates Coming Soon!

2010-03-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

Hello blog followers! I know you have all been checking in to see what we have been up to. As you can tell by the lack of blogs, we have been super busy! We have much to share with you so keep checking throughout the week for updates. Several update blogs to follow! Love and blessings to you all! xoxo Tiffy and Dwayne

Christmas

2010-01-03T13:22:00.000-08:00

My first Christmas present was opened early. Dwayne couldn't wait for me to open my gift from him so before we left for the Family Christmas party, I opened one of my gifts from him.

Once I opened it and had it in my hands I could see why he wanted me to have it early. It was a new camera that I had been looking at all year long!

I had been wanting a new camera for a long time, one that would take amazing pictures. Well, now I have it, complete with tons of accessories, but now I need to learn how to work it!

Halo gets his own little corner at Christmas. Next to his bed is set up a Christmas tree complete with his own special ornaments and angel. On the wall above his bed hangs his stocking. Under his tree are the presents he gets others and the presents that are for him. He looks so handsome in his Christmas tie!

We changed up our Christmas routine this year. Work schedules were different, we kids are all grown up so it was time to try something new. For the past few years we have gone to the Mid-night Mass on Christmas Eve, and then did dinner followed by gift exchange on Christmas day.

This year, we did our dinner on Christmas Eve. Both Dwayne and I had Christmas eve off, but I had to work Christmas night. So, we all got together for dinner on Christmas Eve. It was nice, laid back, and delicious!

Dwayne and I had started a tradition between the two of us of giving each other Christmas pajamas.

We give each other wrapped pajamas on Christmas Eve and it is our one present to open. This year not only did I get new pajama pants, but also a very cozy robe!

After we spent the morning at mass as a family, we came back to our house and exchanged gifts. Halo went first and had fun opening his presents.

Dwayne handed out the presents to everyone from under our tree

Mellie stationed herself atop the couch

My brother was there too to open his gifts

I hung out by Halo's corner

This is Dwayne getting ready to open his big gift from me

It was a surround sound system, his number one wish

Mom and John sat down around the tree with us too to open gifts

Dwayne got push up handles too, so he was doing a demo for us

Dwayne also got a new bed set from his parents for Christmas for the Cowboys room.

It was a very nice Christmas. We were able to slow down, enjoy it, and spend time with the family. Going to mass Christmas morning as a family was the highlight of the Holiday for us. We hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours was!

Show and Family Christmas Party

2009-12-24T12:58:00.001-08:00

Over the years, the annual Family Christmas party has rotated through various family member's homes. This year, my Uncle Shane hosted the party.

He also puts on a yearly Christmas rock show to raise food for an organization in the town where he lives. So we loaded up the "sleigh" with our presents, food, family, and Christmas spirit and headed out to his town.

The show takes fun rock songs and blends them in and with traditional Christmas music, sometimes creating non-traditional Christmas music that for us, has actually become traditional.

It has kind of become a family show too in a sense.

There is quite a bit of musical talent in our family and often, the various musical family members perform numbers in the show.

Above, my uncle Shane plays lead guitar in the front, and in the middle, is my uncle Jim, playing I believe bass guitar.

The family gets together and sits throughout the audience enjoying the music. Here are auntie Robyn and Mellie

My cousin Sylvia lends her vocal talents and performs numerous songs.

She combines with other singers and my uncle to do some songs too.

This year my other cousin Olowan got on stage and sang a song too.

The crowd visiting after the show was over

This was the first time John has seen my family perform. I think he enjoyed it!

After the show, we went back to my uncle Shane's house for the Annual Family Christmas party. Everyone came this year I believe. Above is the youngest of the grandchildren, Marisa.

This is Angelina. Such a pretty little girl!

Here are my cousins Jimmy, Angelina and Olowan playing with Halo. He was pretty popular at the party this year!

Here in the back room playing video games are my cousins Angelina and on the left, my cousin Jordan.

We spend time visiting, catching up, munching on delicious food and eventually, we pass around presents for everyone.

So, here I am starting off the present passing!

Everyone passes out their presents for each other and we dig in!

It is always fun to see what everyone gets

This year, a lot of the boys got some fun sleep shorts/boxers. So, for our viewing pleasure they modeled their pants!

From left to right: My cousin Wanblee Ska, cousin Matt Jr, cousin David and Dwayne

They gave us our second round of entertainment for the evening!

It was a good laugh that was for sure. Thanks guys!

The Macie Family, Dwayne, Tiffy and Halo in front of uncle Shane's tree

Uncle Shane and Me

There was even dancing! Mellie and Uncle Shane tango!

It was a fun but late night. Until next year.....Merry Christmas Family!

Christmas Double Date Night

2009-12-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

For the past few years we have had an annual friends Christmas party where we get together, eat, play games and have an ornament exchange.

Well this year, everyone was particularly busy doing their own things so the four of us, Dan, Erin, Dwayne and I, got together for a group date.

We started with our gift exchange over dinner at Applebee's. Yummy!

Then it was time to take it back to when we were kids. We drove over to the Grand Sierra Resort and hit up the arcade.

We had tons of tokens and just had fun playing all the different games.

Erin and Dwayne played Dance, Dance Revolution (Erin won) while Dan and I looked on.

Erin and I played a game where we had to shoot dinosaurs. This was our "we are dinosaur hunters" look.

Dwayne took a turn at seeing how many points he could earn throwing a football.

I played my all time favorite arcade game: Ski Ball!

After we were all done with our tokens we counted the tickets we had earned and turned them in for prizes. Much to our happiness, you could redeem some of the tickets for Christmas ornaments! So, even though we didn't do the ornament exchange this year, we each got an ornament anyway to put on our trees! Perfect!

Once we had our prizes it was time for some laser tag. We rented a locker to keep track of all of our stuff and then waited until it was time for us to enter the arena.

It is so much fun to run around shooting a laser at people while earning points!

Dwayne was very sneaky, creeping around the corners and such.

Erin and I never shoot each other, instead we try and gang up on the boys. Sometimes it is difficult but we try! Somehow, they always do better than we do.

See? The boys take it so seriously! We had a really good time though. Sometimes you just have to let your inner child loose and have fun! What a better way to do it than on a double date with your best friends?

After running around the arcade and laser tag we went for hot chocolate, turned up the Christmas music and drove around looking at Christmas lights. It was a great double date night!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

2009-12-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

In the last blog I talked about the snow that started falling. Well, it kept falling! All through the night!

Here is what our street and view from our front door looked like when we woke up the next morning! I was so happy! I love it when it snows!

Halo doesn't like when the snow gets too deep in the backyard though. We try and let him out but he stays pretty close to the back door.

There aren't many places he felt like venturing to with all the snow.

His puppy tracks stayed pretty close to the house. Those were the deepest puppy tracks I have seen from him yet!

And much to my liking, the snow didn't stop! It started back up throughout the day and kept snowing! I loved it! We had to go out and take a picture in it and just take it all in.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Halo and me in our snow coats!

Me, Halo, and Mellie.

Bring on more snow!

Meet John- It was his birthday!

2009-12-13T13:38:00.000-08:00

This is John, my mom's new boyfriend. Well not new-new, but recent.

Recently we celebrated his birthday with family dinner and a small birthday party.

We all went over to Mom's house for dinner and then after we hit up the cake and presents.

Dwayne and I got John this Giants Santa hat. Not Cowboys I know, but that's John's team.

He's also a fan of the Godfather so we got him that on DVD as well

John, me and Halo

Mom got him a nice Giants sweater

Halo loves John!

After we had our cake and the presents were opened it was time for some games. We played Yahtzee and had a good time.

Even Halo played, just kidding but he stayed up at the table with us and made sure we followed the rules.

Halo, me, Mellie and Steve

John grew up in New York, where they have real winters. For most of his adult life though, he has lived in states where it doesn't really snow. On the night of his birthday, it started snowing!

And I don't mean the pretend snow we get that lasts as long as it takes for the snow to leave the cloud and hit the ground. Nope, I'm talking about real snow, the snow that sticks and makes you use a broom to clear off your car.

Naturally we were all very excited and had to take some time to go out and play in the snow.

Mellie and me after we came back in from outside. The snow was a nice ending to John's birthday day. Happy Birthday John!

Dual Birthday Parties

2009-12-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

Steven's birthday was the day after Thanksgiving and Katana's was on Thanksgiving day. She was up on our end of the state for her birthday and Thanksgiving so, we combined Steve's party and her party on the same day.

Here is our newest 5 year old!

Our little God-daughter isn't gonna' be little much longer!

Katana with the present we got her

Steven opening up some of his presents

We got him a bunch of Butterfinger candy bars. They are his favorite and he couldn't eat them while he had braces but now it is fair game!

Happy 19th Birthday Steven and Happy 5th Birthday Katana!

TSO to kick off the season!

2009-12-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

Almost every year now, for the last four years, TSO has kicked off our Christmas season. This year they were in Reno for two shows the day after Thanksgiving. We as a family went to the PM show. It has sort of become a tradition now to go have dinner before the show all together and then head over to the venue to find our seats.

The night of the concert it was raining and I didn't want to get my hair wet so I wrapped my scarf around it. Kind of funny looking isn't it? :)

Dwayne was hungry and ready to go inside to get some food!

They put together a nice long table for us all. Pictured here is Mellie with cousin Jordan.

Dwayne has had a little food and is feeling much better!

Cousin Jordan and Aunt Elaine

John and Mom

Cousin Olowan and Me

Me with Dwayne. Once dinner was finished it was off to the Reno Events Center for the show. The weather was wet, windy and very cold. Parking was terrible! We had a tough time finding a spot but , alas, we made it to the show!

If you've never seen TSO live, you must try to go at least once. They never disappoint. Their shows are always energetic and awesome.

They have their own singers, musicians and workers but they also incorporate the town's musicians as well to fill in their strings section.

They do it all, smoke, lasers, lights, fire, you name it, they have it!

The lights always match the beats of the music and it really pulls you in.

Our seats were right where the platform was for when they came off the stage and into the audience.

My cousin Olowan had never been before and she really enjoyed it. She looked at me and said "I want their CD!"

Like I said, it is an amazing show and we look forward to it every year now!

Us after the show was over

Mellie after the show

Mom, me and Mellie

Mom and John

Me, cousin Olowan, cousin Jordan and Mellie

We had gotten Mellie her ticket for her birthday in September and she was so happy!

Giving thanks in 2009!

2009-12-12T16:09:00.000-08:00

Well, as I sit here updating our page, the Christmas cards have been mailed and looking out the window, the snow has started to fall. We already have a good layer of snow on the ground much to my liking. I keep saying I want more snow and Dwayne keeps assuring that not only do we have plenty but that more is on the way. Turns out, that weather man of a husband was right! The snow is now coming down outside my window in large flakes. I love it! I have been a little slow in updating the page again, I apologize. We have been very busy. Dwayne has been taking quizes, taking finals and writing essays. I have been doing much of the same. We both have been working too and Dwayne has put in some overtime. Busy busy busy as usual! So, now that I had an afternoon available, I'd thought I would get this blog updated. Lets start with Thanksgiving!

Mom and I got the turkey ready the night before and on Thanksgiving morning I got up and put it in the oven.

Mom made most of the sides over at her house while the turkey was cooking at mine and then she came over and helped finish getting everything ready to eat. Perhaps it was more like she came over and I helped her.

Of course, football wasn't in shortage. The guys, John (my mom's boyfriend), Halo and Dwayne all sported their team jerseys.

They watched and talked football while the food was finishing up.

This was our thanksgiving table.

The centerpiece.

Then it was time to eat so we called everyone to the kitchen to dish it up.

Even Halo gets a plate on Thanksgiving (Christmas dinner too) and he inhaled it in about two seconds! It must have good.

Judging from Dwayne's look as he digs into the leg, it was!

Turkey overload!

When you get us all together, there's never a shortage of good times. Mellie and I were having a good time for sure.

Our family meals are always filled with laughter and love, always.

The siblings, Tiffy, Mellie, and Steve

The girls, Mommy, Mellie and Tiffy

Awe, look at that brotherly love!

Okay a more serious picture of the two. Dwayne and Mellie

We have so much to be thankful for and so much to be grateful for. We are thankful for all of you, our friends and our family. We are grateful for the home we have and all that's inside. We are grateful for the love we receive from everyone and for all the blessings the Lord gives us. We thank Him everyday for what we have and we pray that He keeps all of you and yours close to Him too!

Halloween Part 2

2009-11-22T21:13:00.000-08:00

Halloween started off with us doing last minute decorating and errand running. Halo was ready to help.

Here we are running errands, yes with devil horns and all!

Halloween night we hosted a Halloween party for the family. I made cocoa-krispie tomb stones...

...."mummy wraps," taco soup and mac and cheese. Mom brought over some yummies too including her caramel popcorn balls.

Here's the crew outside doing the pumpkins for the yard

Dwayne's making sure all the decorations are in place

Care for some of my witch's brew?

And John has arrived! Check out that vampire outfit

Lt. Dangle on patrol!

So everyone comes over just before trick-or-treat starts. The kids get ready to go get candy and the adults get dressed up and walk around stalking those that come to our door. After its over we come inside for food, games and movies

My uncle Shane and my brother Steven

My aunt Elaine, my cousin Jordan and my cousin Katana

My sister Melanie, she was pink, and my brother Steven, I don't know what he was

John and Mom as vampires

I even had everyone vote on four different Halloween costume categories for a Halloween Costume contest. My aunt, Elaine won the most original costume category for her way cool Mummy costume

My uncle Shane won the scariest costume category

My cousin Katana won the coolest costume category but it was a close race between her and Steven. Dwayne won the funniest costume category but he had left the party to take a nap since he had to work that night. All the winners were given a prize bag. It had a Wal-mart gift card and some goodies in it.

When we decorate we go all out. Big spookies, lots of pumpkins, strobe lights, black light, fog machine and scary music.

A view of the decor in the dark

This greeted you as you walked up to the door

Most of the group from the party. Not everyone is in the picture that was there though. As you can see most everyone had changed out of their costumes by this time of the night. Happy Halloween!

Lattin Farms Fall Fun

2009-11-22T20:35:00.000-08:00

I love the fall. Every year I look forward to going to Lattin Farms to go to the pumpkin patch and the corn maze. This year was even better since a bunch of the family went too!

Mellie, Jordan and Katana are waiting for me to get the tickets for our activities

Jordan and me waiting for the hay ride to the pumpkin patch

Mom and John on the hayride

And here we go! Everyone climbs on the hayride and it takes you out to the pumpkin patch. Once everyone has gotten their pumpkin it takes you back to the parking area.

Since I already had my pumpkin, Dwayne had to look for one

And here it is!

Katana and her mom Crystal in the patch after Katana found her pumpkin

Mellie found hers!

We got our pumpkins and loaded up for the hayride back

And here we all are with our pumpkins!

Off to their new home

After the pumpkin patch it was time to go through the corn maze

Hmmm.....which way do we go?

Maybe this will help us?

Time for a little snack. Anyone have any butter?

Almost there.....

Do we look lost?

The bridge to get out! Yay we made it!

Mom and John at the end...yep my mom went through the corn maze too!

Mom and her girls!

Buttons and Jordan crossing the bridge to get out

Katana and Jordan riding the animal train

Halo and his pumpkin I got him from the pumpkin patch

It is just the right size for him!

The night we went to the pumpkin patch I had to work so afterwards I ran home, ate and changed. I got ready and headed to work. I wore my Halloween scrubs, my cat earrings and as you can see bunny ears. My friend Darcey standing next to me spent her day wearing eyeballs. The patients all got a kick out of it.

Halloween Part 1

2009-11-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

Every year we have an annual friends Halloween party. It rotates through the different homes. This year it was Dan and Erin's turn to host. So we got in costume and got together for dinner and games the weekend before Halloween weekend.

Before heading out to their house we stopped by my mom's house so she could see us in costume. Get a load of Dwayne's sweet legs!

We had some delicious food for dinner and then sat down to play a new game. We tried something different this year called Curses. It's a pretty hysterical game once it gets going.

Our crowd was smaller this year than it has been in the past. Some of the usuals couldn't make it for one reason or another. A new one to our crowd this year though was Sarah. You can see her in the picture above as the outrageous Dodgers fan. She's doing one of the tasks from the game and is being a ninja warrior in a fight scene. Told you, it's a pretty funny game when it gets going.

Get a load of Dan's costume, pretty funny!

The four of us! Macies and Baerwaldts

My bestie, or should I say Cleopatra

Lt. Dangle and the Wheaties box champion

Sometimes you just have to change it up a little!

And of course a little rock band action! It was a fun night even if it was smaller and milder than last year! We are already starting to think of what we want to be for next Halloween.

Girl's Trip

2009-11-22T17:44:00.000-08:00

On October 16, 17 and 18, my best friend Erin and I took our quarterly girls trip. This time we went to Sacramento.

Friday after Erin was off work we loaded up and headed over the mountain to Sacramento. We browsed through Ikea and then checked into our hotel.

Down the street from our hotel, probably about 2 blocks or so, was PF Changs. We decided to have them sit us where ever was first available. Turned out, we got sat on the patio. It was really nice weather so we didn't mind one bit! We were able to make friends with a group of firefighters at the table next to us who were there visiting the Fallen Firefighter Memorial. There was plenty of interesting people watching from our table as well.

The main reason for this particular trip was so we could attend the Scrapbook Expo. They have this event yearly and we thought it would be fun to see all the different vendors and scrap booking ideas.

The expo was held at the Sacramento Convention Center. Erin did a great job getting our hotel withing walking distance so we could avoid having to pay for parking. We got up, had breakfast at our hotel, and walked about a mile down the road to the expo where we spent a good portion of our day but not a lot of money! (we still aren't sure how we managed that one!)

When we had seen all that we needed to see we walked back to the hotel and got in the car to head out to our next destination: shopping at the outlet malls in Folsom! Along the way we had lunch and then shopped until we were all shopped out.

Fall is our favorite season and at the outlets there were beautiful fall trees everywhere. We paused so we could take a picture with our favorite fall colors behind us.

After we were done shopping we loaded up again and headed to Placerville. I had never been to Apple Hill so we thought this would be a good opportunity to spend some time there. We stayed in this hotel....it wasn't too bad...just shy of Norman Bates scary. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad but it was definitely older. The bonus was it was just down the hill from all the orchards.

First up was apple picking!

Apple trees were everywhere so we got our little apple picker thingy-ma-bob and headed on out to find us some apples! The apple I spotted was way at the top of course so I made Erin try for it!

Next I was up

I found an apple a little easier to reach for my endeavor

Here we are under the tree after we had collected our apples

We spent the rest of the day going from orchard to orchard. To end it all we went to a pumpkin patch to find our pumpkins. The houses above were on the outside of the orchard. They really have that scary Halloween horror movie look to them don't they? Would you believe me if I told you people actually live in them? Well, people do! A lot of the workers actually use them as housing.

Erin was on her mission to find the perfect pumpkin

I was looking for my own perfect pumpkin....

....and decided this was the one. Almost perfectly round and little blemishes.

Erin ended up finding "twin" pumpkins and bringing them both home

We have conquered the pumpkin patch!

One of my favorite seasonal things to do with one of my favorite people!

This is my new friend, "Ghostie"

Look a pumpkin washing station!

The end of a great trip! After we got our pumpkins we loaded up and headed for home. It was a really nice weekend away. I can't wait until our next trip! Thanks to my friend who goes on all these adventures with me, you make them wonderful!

Anniversary Trip

2009-11-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

For our anniversary this year, we chose to stay close to home. It was hard just getting the time off together so we wanted to maximize every minute together. We ended up staying in Reno and doing various activities in either Reno or Lake Tahoe.

To start our trip off we had massages booked at Ahhh Massage in Sparks. It was a couples massage session so we were able to be in the same room together while we got nice and relaxed.

If you've never had a massage you should get one! They are wonderful!

After getting relaxed, it was time for dinner. One of our favorite places to eat isn't a national chain and often times, we forget to eat there. Not this trip! We had dinner at Pinocchio's.

They have site in both Sparks, just down the road from the massage place and in Reno, on Moana.

The food was great!

After dinner we decided to head over and check into our hotel.

Dwayne had booked us a nice suite with two separate rooms, tvs, fridge etc.

The only thing about it was the height of the ceiling and door frames. They were short! Well too short for D, all he had to do was turn his head up and he could touch the door frame. After we checked in, we went and did a little shopping, had some dessert and then turned back in for the night.

The second day we planned to spend in Tahoe. We got ready and drove over to Carson where I first had to take a test, boo, I know, but then we drove on up the mountain.

Look! An action shot! This is us literally driving up the hill....hope he's looking at the road under those sunglasses!

Heavenly has gondolas that run to the top of the mountain with skiers during the winter. During the off season it still takes people to the top and Dwayne had really wanted to take the ride so, we bought our tickets and took our ride.

Before we left the ground

Relaxing while we climb to the top

See the trees going by?

At the top there was a photographer to take your picture for souvenirs.

So of course we got them!

We were at the first stop of the ride. It was an observation deck where you could look all around the area. It was beautiful!

It had snowed but it was really warm on this day and we were very comfortable just walking around

Four years of marriage and another fabulous anniversary!

The ride back down

L-O-V-E

Getting closer...

The last day we went around town and saw a movie, did a little more shopping and then headed home. At one stoplight we shot this picture, this is our gangsta' look! Another great time together. Next year's anniversary will be spent in Rome and Germany and we are so excited!

Just Checking In:

2009-10-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hey friends and family!

October has proven to be just as busy as ever! I have so much to catch up on and just can't find the moment to blog it all. I will get up some new posts just as soon as I can. There is much to tell about: Dwayne and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary in Tahoe and Reno, I went away on a girl's trip to Cali, there are some changes in school and D is busy with work, school and bowling. Plus: Halloween is just around the corner!

We are doing well and trucking right along! Can you believe we will be entering the holiday season soon? October is almost over! Good thing I've already gotten a jumpstart on my Christmas shopping! We hope you all are doing well and staying healthy in this flu season.
Love and Blessings,
Tiffy and Dwayne

Dwayne's 28th Birthday

2009-10-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

For Dwaynes 28th birthday we had a Dallas Cowboys themed party. The decor was the team's colors complete with Dallas stars.

We had it at our house and had pizza from Pizza Barn ( the best!)

Here Dwayne is relaxing in what we so fondly refer to as the "Man Cave" before the party. It's his room all the way. It has Dallas colors complete with fatheads on the walls and ceiling. Most of the game systems are in this room too.

I am on my way out the door to pick up the pizza!

Here are his two cakes, the Dallas star and the Helmet

Although the team lost that day, here is the birthday boy with his cake.

The candles I thought were cool mostly because they were silver and went with the decor. But also because they were the ones that you couldn't blow out. I'm surprised the fire department wasn't called on all the smoke!

Just us being us after the cake and ice-cream. He received some very nice gifts from everyone. It was nice to have everyone at the party.

Like I said, it was Cowboys themed!

After everyone was gone, when it was all said and done and just the two of us and Halo were left.

Happy Birthday Honey! Only two more years and you'll be 30!

Mr. and Mrs. Macie

2009-09-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

4 years ago a week from tomorrow, Dwayne and I were married. The wedding took place October 8, 2005 at St. Patrick's Church in Fallon.

My dress was beautiful. Pure silk with hand beading. It was heavy but it was perfect and worth every penny!

The boys got ready at the church while we girls got ready at our hotel suite.

Above Dwayne's dad is helping him attach the pocket watch I had engraved and sent over to him the morning of the wedding.

My sister was my maid of honor. This was taken as the limo pulled up to the church and just before I exited.

My mommy being escorted down the aisle by a close friend Kyle who was one of our ushers.

Dwayne's mommy being escorted down the aisle by another close friend Kevin who was an usher.

Doesn't he look nervous? He was waiting for me to come around the corner.

My brother walked me down the aisle and gave me away.

It was the greatest feeling to take those vows. Looking at each other and making those promises made everyone fade into the background.

When we put our rings on each others fingers the moment was perfect.

The ceremony was a traditional high Catholic mass.

It included communion and all the parts of the mass.

Here is the black family with the married couple.

Here is the Macie family with the married couple.

Mr. and Mrs. Macie outside the church

The groom

The bride

The happily married couple

The wedding party: 5 bride's maids, 5 groom's men

Our beautiful cake! I made this with the help of my best friend. Can you believe it? It was so pretty! And, delicious!

I love precious moments and they were our cake topper.

Our first dance as a married couple and the start of a great life together! I can't believe it has been four years already! These years have been wonderful and full of many adventures. I can't wait for the next years to come. My best friend, my support, my strength, my mate for life. Here's to the next anniversaries!

Nursing School Starts Back Up!

2009-09-29T23:22:00.000-07:00

Well, school has started again. We've been going now for a four or five weeks and I am starting to get back into the swing of things. I've started adjusting to the schedule and have adjusted to not seeing my family as much. I must say though, although this year is just as challenging as last year, it isn't as stressful and chaotic as last year. Don't get me wrong, it is still hard and very time consuming but I feel like I can breathe a little bit easier this year.

This semester my clinicals are at Renown in Reno. That means getting up every Monday morning at 3:45 AM so that I can be to Reno on time. After a brief stay on the Orthopaedics floor, I have now become comfortable on the Neuro-Sciences floor. I have been able to see a few very interesting procedures and don't worry, I will spare you all the details. The above pic was taken on the first day of clinicals, in the parking garage at Renown. It was sooooo early in the morning!

The first few weeks of school we have had IV labs in the mix. We have gone in for class to learn about all things IV. We were shown how to prime tubing, how to operate pumps, how to spike IV bags and how to set up blood transfusion tubing.

Toward the end of the lab were able to finally do an actual IV start. They taught us what we needed to know and do and then we were turned loose to practice on the fake arms. The arms aren't bad looks wise. They start from the shoulder and run all the way down to the fingers. They are set up with some fake blood so that when we get our IV into the vein we actually get blood return like a live person would give. They are however a little off from the real thing in respects to how the veins are and how they feel.

In the above picture I am finding my vein and cleaning my area.

So, as you can tell by my face in the above picture, something isn't right here. Don't worry it was nothing serious. Well as I mentioned, the arms aren't exactly like the real thing. Some of the veins aren't "true" veins and won't give you blood return or allow you to advance your IV cath. In this particular situation that is what was happening to me. I got my poke done but the vein ended up bending, that's right bending, the tubing of my IV cath.

The instructor decided to see if it was like that on the whole arm and if we were waisting our time practicing on this arm. After some looking, she found a vein that was a true vein and had excellent results. So I tried again.

The second time, after finding the true vein, I got my IV in with no problems. In place, secure and beautiful!

You may wonder if I have started an IV on a real person and the answer is yes I have! I have done only one, but I am hoping to change that real soon. So far the semester is going good! I did well on my first exam and at the moment am preparing for my next one that will be next week. I have become the Vice-President of my class and meet with the fellow officers of my class to discuss graduation plans, fundraising, and the like. Graduation is in May and there are quite a few things that have to happen before it. So far it has been a great experience being VP.

In October our clinicals at Renown will end and we will switch to a psychiatric rotation at some places in Reno. I say October like it is far away or something but really it isn't. Hard to believe the holiday season is just around the corner! But I can't get too distracted by that....must stay focused and continue through and finish this semester strong!

Love and Blessings to you all!

Dwayne's Birthday Came Early This Year!

2009-09-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

Dwayne's birthday isn't until October 6th. This year though, I gave him his present early.

I wrapped it up and had him open it up with just the two of us.

It didn't take him long to get the wrapping paper off the box.

I packaged the present in packing peanuts to make him dig!

And dig. And dig.

He couldn't find it so he dumped all of it out on the floor!

After sifting through it all he finally found it. His present was a wad of money rolled up and tied with a ribbon. I gave him the money he would need to buy a season pass to Mt. Rose during their September pink slip sale. If I had waited until his actual birthday he would have missed out on the great deal. He loves to ski and this was the perfect present for him. He also got a snowboard, boots and bindings from the pawn shop to take with him to learn on. I think he is set for the winter! Happy early birthday honey!

Happy 20th Birthday Mellie!

2009-09-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday, September 19th, was my little sister's birthday. As you can see she turned 20.

She really likes batman so I made her a batman cake for her birthday party.

It turned out pretty well I think.

I present to you Gotham city and batman

I made this creation with no sleep! Woohoo!

The birthday girl with her cake

She asked Jordan to help her blow out her candles on the cake....apparently 20 candles are just too many for the "old lady!"

Look at all that smoke!

After the cake it was time for her to open up presents. In the above picture she is holding a ticket Dwayne and I got her to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra in November. She got a lot of very nice presents for her birthday and had several friends and family over to help her celebrate. It was a nice day and a nice party.

Macie Family Visits Pt 3

2009-09-23T15:10:00.000-07:00

Day 6 was Labor Day. Our town always has a parade along with what is called the Cantaloupe festival. We haven't been to the parade in years but decided to go this year. Dwayne always works the parade with the police department so his family, me and my cousin Jordan found a spot toward the beginning of the parade route to sit and watch the parade.

*My cousin Jordan and me waiting for the parade to start*

Jordan checking to see if the parade was getting ready to start

Here we are waiting to get started

Almost time......we had a good spot. The floats in the parade throw candy and Jordan made out!

Thierry did good at the parade, well until all the firetrucks came by with their loud sirens and horns that is!

After the parade and after Dwayne was off work we all went to the Cantaloupe festival. To start we all got something to eat. We had Indian tacos (if you've never had one you're missing out!), funnel cake, iced tea and lemonade. It was delicious!

To occupy Thierry, Dwayne would make him an airplane and would fly him over to me for a kiss and then pull him away really quickly. He loved it! He would laugh and laugh.

After walking around and looking at all the different vendors it was time to head over to the carnival. Jordan had been looking forward to riding some rides all day long! You can't see him in the picture above but he and Dwayne are riding the spider ride!

Next it was time for the Berry-Go-Round. Even I got in on this one!

Next came the swinger. My brother Steven was with us and he rode this one too!

There they go!

Later it was time to sit back and relax. We played a little with Thierry (& Halo) and some "toys."

Can you tell he was having fun with his uncle?

I went off to the bedroom to do some reading for my class the next morning and Dad and Dwayne played some Wii bowling.

Dwayne taking his turn.

Day 7 was a "rush" of a day. Just kidding. I went to class for the first part while Dwayne and his dad did the final touches to the yard. After class, Dwayne's family, my sister, my mom and us all went to Reno to do some more shopping and to stop at the Ultimate Rush.

A couple of years ago Dwayne and I gave Mellie a coupon of sorts, an IOU if you will, for a ride on the Ultimate Rush for her birthday present. Since Diana was here visiting she wanted to go too and it made it so they had three people.

Off they went and started to get ready.

They guys helped them get suited up

Almost ready to fly.....

Loading up on the platform

The rest of us just hung back and watched the crazy ones get pulled into the sky. Here is my mom and the baby watching.

There they go, almost to the top.

They got to the top and after what seemed like no hesitation at all, they came flying down!

Screaming along!

Having a little fun with it

Goofing around while they continue to swing back and forth

The normal ones watching and waiting while the crazies went a second time!

After they were all finished we headed over to the mall to do a little shopping and work up an appetite for dinner! Thierry rode around on uncle Dwayne's shoulders. That's pretty high up there!

When we were all hungry we had dinner at Applebee's. Thierry sure likes his desserts!

The next morning it was time for the family to pack up and get ready to head back home.

I spent the morning getting my last few hours of play with my nephew. He was content while everyone got ready to go.

Thierry and aunt Tiffy

Hard to believe next time we see everyone he will be walking! Until next time.....

Macie Family Visits Pt 2

2009-09-23T13:07:00.001-07:00

Day 4 was spent with the guys outside getting all the pipes in place for the sprinklers and the gals inside relaxing and catching up on house stuff. We didn't go anywhere. We didn't do anything major (well the boys and the sprinklers but you know what I mean). I made dinner at home and we all watched a movie after.

Since they had the trenches all dug, they were able to start fitting the pipes and all that entails.

Before long they were cruising along and we had the beginnings of a sprinkler system.

They tried to explain to me how the pipes all worked and what did what but really, all I needed to know was that when the timer was set, the water came on, hit the appropriate areas and then turned off, and that my grass stays green.

Now there is a proud man and his yard!

Inside the house we were all just relaxing and taking it easy.

Nothing too exciting but Thierry seemed to have a good time.

Day 5 started with all of us getting up and taking our time getting ready. We had breakfast and coffee. Since we hadn't gone to Tahoe as earlier planned we thought this would be a good day to do that. Diana had never been to Tahoe so it was a great opportunity.

We all got ready and drove up to the shops at Heavenly to walk around and browse.

It was pretty busy up there. It was Labor Day weekend so everyone was trying to get that last summer trip in. The weather was nice. Slightly breezy but not hot or cold.

There is a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company there. Dwayne and I love the caramel and chocolate apples they sell. The above picture is us picking out which apple we wanted to have and me on the phone taking orders to bring back home. The apple was so yummy!

We were gonna see about taking a ride with all of us on the Gondola, something Dwayne has wanted to do for a long time but, it was just too much to pay for so many people for something so simple. Maybe someday.

Here's a pic of the gondolas taking the people to the top.

Like I said, it was really nice up there. Beautiful day!

We took the scenic way back down. We decided to head into Reno and head over to the new shopping center Legends and look around there. To get back we came down the Mt. Rose Highway and had a really nice drive. Great scenery, good music playing, and the sunroof open the whole way down. Perfect.

After all the walking we went to one of Dwayne's favorite places to eat: Outback Steakhouse.

We were able to get seated right away and the food was great! Thierry really wanted some of the dessert.

The family does this game with the coasters where they progressively add coasters to a stack and try to flip them a few times in the air and catch them in the same stack before they all go flying.

Dwayne was able to do it but I think he may have lost a coaster on this try. It's kinda fun to watch and a way to pass time while we wait for food. After dinner it was time to drive back home. It was pretty late by this time and we were all getting tired.

Macie Family Visits Pt 1

2009-09-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

With September almost over I think it is time I caught our page up. Like I mentioned in the previous blog, it gets tough to keep up once everything gets going. School has started and is in full swing, I will post more about that later. At the beginning of September Dwayne's family came and visited. They hadn't seen our new house since we bought it almost a year ago. His mom, his Dad, his sister and the baby all flew into Reno and then drove down to Fallon. They were here for a week and we stayed busy the whole time! I will post about their visit in three separate blogs. I've broken up the week into three parts.

Day one was spent getting settled in. Halo had the hardest time settling in I think. He's not used to having someone else take all the attention and as you can see in the picture above he was competing with the baby for lap space and attention.

Day 2 I was out of town for class. Dwayne and his Dad spent the morning digging trenches in our backyard to install a sprinkler system.

When we moved into the house the front yard had sprinklers and the backyard didn't. So, after we decided to put grass in the backyard we realized we needed a sprinkler system to go back there too. Dwayne's dad is really good at things like that so the father and son went to work digging up the yard.

Once they had all the trenches dug, they went to Lowe's and bought all the materials they would need to lay the piping later. Later that night Dwayne and his dad headed down to the bowling alley for Dwayne's league. We ladies and little man stayed back at the house watching TV and playing with the baby.

Day 3 was reserved for family picture day. I had reserved the photographer we had at our wedding to do some family shots since we were all together. We got ready at home and then drove out to the Dayton valley golf course and country club for our photo session.

The above picture is Thierry and me waiting for the session to start.

The golf course was really accommodating to us. We were able to go anywhere we wanted. They gave us our golf carts and turned us loose!

The cart in the back has our photographer Allison and Dad in it. The cart in the front had Mom, Diana and Thierry in it.

We led the way in our cart. The carts had some get up and go to them. We were flying! I was pretty sure there were a few times that Dwayne was gonna' roll us.

The original plan was to continue on to Tahoe and walk around up there but by the time we were done with our pictures we were all starving! So we drove into Carson and grabbed some food at Chili's. So yummy.

After we ate we drove over to Reno and walked around all the stores at the Summit window shopping and looking for anything that caught our eye.

Thierry really liked the flowers and wanted to touch every single one we passed. After walking around the stores we decided it was time for some ice cream. We went over to marble slab and had delicious ice cream before heading back home for the night.

Celebration of Marriage

2009-08-30T10:12:00.001-07:00

Dwayne and I were married at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Fallon. It is the church we still attend together today. The priest and a group of church members got together to get a celebration of marriage under way. All the married couples of the church were invited to come to a mass in their honor followed by a sit down dinner at the convention center afterwards.

So it started yesterday, Saturday, August 29, with 5 o'clock mass. We attended mass together. We had been asked to read the prayers of the faithful so of course we did! We were a little nervous about it but it went well and afterwards several people came up to us expressing how well they thought we did. The mass was nice and had a special blessing for all the married couples. The messages delivered were about how marriage may not always be what we dreamed it would be but that it is a journey full of different turns and how with God in the marriage the journey is doable and well worth it. Concepts we really believe.

After mass it was off to the convention center for dinner. When we first walked in the doors, we checked in at the table that had our last name. We were given name tags to wear that had both our names, the amount of years we had been married and what table we were seated at on them. In the lobby of the convention center tables were set up with all sorts of different appetizers. There was a drink fountain with water flowing for us all to drink from and we mingled for about 45 minutes or so while everyone arrived and the final touches on the dining room were set in place. Before long it was time to eat and the doors to main room of the convention center were opened!

We found our table, table 15. We were seated with two other couples and one widow. We hadn't ever met any of the people at our table so it was nice to hear their stories. When we all first sat down we were served salad. It was a very nice salad. They had the high school NJROTC students there as our servers that night. They were very good and made sure our places were cleared and our drinks were full. They also served us our main course of tri-trip steak and red potatoes with cantaloupe and rolls. The food was wonderful and all the planning and work that went into the event was amazing!

While we were eating and visiting with each other, we were all supposed to write down some advice about marriage on a card that each couple had. The advice we wrote down will be compiled into a book that will be given to all the couples who get married at St. Patrick's within the coming years. After the dinner dishes had been cleared away, one person from each table stood and read aloud what the table had decided was "good" wisdom. There were some very profound sayings, some very sentimental sayings and of course some very funny comments.

It was nice to hear all the different words of wisdom from all the years of marriage. They announced that in the room, between all the couples, there was something around 2,078 years of marriage (I can't remember the exact number they announced).

One of the couples got up with a guitar and microphone and lead the room in the song "Only You." They sang it all the way through once and then the second time around, they instructed all the husbands to get down on their knees and take their wives hands and serenade them with the song. The above picture is my husband down on his knee preparing to serenade me. It was pretty funny to watch a room full men down on their knees singing away. It was really neat.

The shortest married couple in the church was 3 months. They were not in attendance though so they named off the next shortest married couple. It was one other couple and us with 3 years. The longest married couple in attendance was a couple who had been married for 60 years.

On the stage they had a wedding cake. They asked the longest married couple and us, the shortest married couple to come up on stage and cut the cake. Each couple had a knife, and we took our position on each side of the cake and on the count of three we cut the wedding cake.

After the cake was cut it was cut up and served for all to enjoy. It was delicious!

With our 4 year anniversary approaching, this was a nice night to have together. We were married in the church that held the special mass that evening and we had our wedding reception at the same convention center with many of the same guests as the couples that were there that night. It was like a complete circle for us.

We had a wonderful time and look forward to the next one as they are saying they want to make this a yearly event!

As part of the decor in the room, they had hung up a quilt that the women of the church had made about 9 years ago. The quilt was made to honor Mary on her feast days. All the women of the church were invited to create a square of the quilt that represented them. As I was looking at the quilt I was able to find the squares that my mom, my sister and I had made all those years ago. The above picture is the square my mom made. It has my mom, me, my sister and my brother on it. The bottom is a verse out of the bible and it reads: "...As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

This was my sister's square. Funny, not much has changed since she made this square. Her passion for art has not gone away and she still enjoys playing outside and doing such things as basketball.

And here is the square I made. I still am strong in my faith, I still love music and theater (although I don't actively participate in either these days) and I still look for the sun to come through in tough times. It was neat to see this old quilt.

After we had gotten home from the celebration, some friends called us up and let us know they were in town and out at a local spot. So, we went and met up with them for some drinks.

We didn't stay out for long but it was nice to see Erin and Dan, Diane and Dalton and Candace and Waylon.

Overall, it was another really nice night to have together before the fall semester of school goes into full go mode. And on that note: If the blog seems to fall behind I apologize in advance. When school gets going it gets hard to keep up sometimes. Throw in everything else and it can get downright crazy. I will try and keep up though.

Love and blessings to everyone!

The Braces are Gone!

2009-08-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

Since February of 2007 I have had braces on. Just 5 months shy of three years it was time to get them off!

This picture is a little scary but that's kind of how I was feeling on the inside the day we left the house to drive to Reno so I could get my braces put on.

I had several unseen reasons for needing braces. I never thought I would be getting braces but I did.

So, I went to Dr. Andrews in Reno and had my braces put on.

I wasn't all that thrilled to have them put on though.

When it was all over, I had a mouth full of metal!

Today was the day I got to drive to Reno to get them off!

I ate my breakfast in the car on the way so I needed to make a pit stop at the sink to brush my teeth.

This would be the last time I brush with all the metal and brackets and hooks in my mouth.

It was time for the big moment, the braces were taken off!

Then she had to scrape off the cement that was used to hold all that stuff in my mouth.

Here is a look at some of the tools they use to do my adjustments and to take off my braces.

And there they are, the braces that were on my teeth.

Two hours later, it was all finished! My braces were off and they gave me a water bottle filled with treats that I wasn't able to eat while they were on. It had laffy taffy, bazooka bubble gum, starbursts and hard little candies.

And here is my smile today. No braces, just me! It feels so good to have them off. I keep getting asked how it feels to have them gone. Some people have heard that teeth feel slimy when they come off but I feel differently. I tell people that it feels like I have fake teeth. I think it may take some getting used to with them gone but I don't have any complaints about that! It is nice to have them gone!

August Date Night!

2009-08-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

As always, we try and work in at least one date night a month. Since the Aces baseball team came to Reno we have been really wanting to catch a game. But there was always something keeping us from making a game. So we figured, August date night was the perfect chance to go to a game!

We shot this picture just outside the entrance to the park.

We made it to our seats. Dwayne picked our seats and bought our tickets for them hoping that by sitting in our section, we would have a chance at catching a foul ball. A few of them headed our way but none came just to us. Maybe next time!

Date nights are the best!

A little bit of the game action.

We decided to do the whole ball park experience. We had dinner at the game. Hot dogs, nachos and pretzels! It was so yummy and fit the night perfectly!

We were having a really good time. Can you tell?

Yep that's us and that's what we do!

I thought this guy was the only cute one on the team. So, every time he was up to bat Dwayne would say: "your guy's up...he he he."

The only thing about "my guy" was that he didn't play all that well that night. He kept striking out.

Before long it was time for the good ol' singing of "Take me out to the ballgame" with the little baseball head guy. He popped up from behind the speakers and we all sang along.

In between another inning, they had a human hamster ball race. It was pretty funny to watch!

When it was all said and done the Aces won! 17- 6 in fact! It was a really great game to watch and they played the team Round Rock Express, which is fairly close to where Dwayne is from.

Dwayne got a new hat to sport to support the team and I got a new hoodie sweater.

After the game, they turned out the stadium lights and we were able to watch some fireworks. They do fireworks after every Friday night home game.

It was the perfect ending to a perfect date night!

Our self shot with the field behind us.

A very nice lady took a regular picture for us. Here we are...until next time!