ThE bLuE dOdGe FaMiLy

The baby boy arrived!

2010-08-08T23:57:00.000-07:00

This little guy has been with us for about 4 months now... it is unreal how fast they change! I can't believe how alert he is now. Well I wanted to post a "fresh" baby picture of when he was just a newbie to the world.

Duke Blue Dodge was born March 28 2010 weighing in at 6.14 and 20in long. Hard to believe he was a month early based on his size!! Well thats all for now... until next time.

School's Out for the Summer

2009-06-19T00:23:00.000-07:00

I am done with school for now (sigh of relief), and now I get to spend some quality time with my bro! Isn't this picture classic!.. He is never far from his belt. We went up to the beach for a day with the fam and got to use my new camera, which I love! I am so excited to reach back to my "inner photographer" and relearn how to take sweet pictures. Jon is gonna be my ginny pig in this journey, because lets just face it he is too cute to not take pictures of.

The newest member

2009-03-30T18:19:00.001-07:00

Meet the newest member of our hairy family! This is Maebe! This picture is called "pearly whites".
This picture is titled "I am shinny"
Her favorite pose "Chillaxin on the 'parents' bed"
You guessed it "MMMMM Peanut butter"
And last but not least "ppluplupplulllluu"

This is our new bundle of "joy". She is a Rotty Lab mix through and through. She follows me around everywhere and is so protective of everyone in the family. She loves to snuggle and take Jonathan on walks (hehe).
The first day we got this lil lady it was an adventure. She wanted to tear little Steve apart. And Steve is such aloof that he thought she wanted to play with him (some boys just don't get it). After some very strict and consistent correcting she and Steve are the best of buds! They even snuggle together. It is so cute!!
I have been taking her to the local dog park and the first few times was difficult. She quickly caught on that this place was a place for fun. She still gets into tiffs with other dogs but is rapidly getting better ( I am amazed at how fast she learns).
Since we have had her which has been about 3 weeks or so... we have taught her how to give high five, beg, say boo (which is speak on command) and lay down. She already knew how to sit and go potty outside which was very very nice. She always comes on command (which is more than I can say for Steve). She listens when I say no and leave it almost immediately (which is more than I can say for most dogs). I almost feel like I could take the dog whispers job... ok not really but I think I did a pretty good job rehabilitating this dog, but she is a very loyal and good dog so that helps a lot too.
All and all Maebe has mixed in really well with us all.
Jon likes to snuggle with her, Daniel likes to feed her treats, Steve likes to wrestle with her and I like to run with her.

Kudos to Carowinds!

2008-11-03T11:31:00.000-08:00

I just got off the phone with John Shamrock and the other head honcho (I forget his name) of Carowinds and it was the most pleasant experience. They were completely open to my suggestions and were very kind. The park sounds better suited for people with disabilities like my brother and sister with the new policy, and as stated at the end of my post dated 10-31 I made those suggestions to the park and they were very open to the things I said.
I would say from that experience I will take my siblings back to that park and I am happy to see that they are keeping the "fakers" out and letting those that really need the support "in" on the special pass.

Update on Carowinds

2008-11-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

Here is the update for the Carowinds experience. I spoke with Cedar Point whom I understand to be the "head office" for all Cedar Fair parks which Carowinds is apart of. They told me that they did have a policy change recently but could not verify an exact date that it took effect.
As I read a few stories stating that it took place It seemed that it changed around the same time we went. Aside from that there still are a few things that still need to take place. No where on any Cedar fairs companies does it state the change in policy. And Carowinds has yet to change the web page for the discounted prices for Disabled guests.
I guess I kind of hope for perfection, but at least the important thing has been taken care of, that is once again people like my brother and sister can enjoy the parks like the rest of us.

Hope for a Change

2008-10-31T14:04:00.000-07:00

Some of you have read this, or at least heard about our experiences of this summer with an amusement park. I wanted to share this with more people on a broader scope. I will let you read whats happened thus far and I am in the process of talking with all the "right" people to see whats happened since. When and if I ever get some clear answers I will let you know. But for now, enjoy my two cents on the matter at hand (FYI I wrote this for a writing class):

As far back as I can remember I had a special place in my heart for the amusement park Carowinds. Growing up on the North/South Carolina border where Carowinds is located, we would often venture there as a family. It was a great place to play especially for my brother Jonathan, who is disabled. He absolutely loved the rides. Since those early experiences at Carowinds we went on to explore other amusement parks like Disney World, Universal Studios, Hershey’s Park, Lagoon and many others. But for me, those adventures at Carowinds are the ones I recall as favorites.
This summer we went to Carowinds (owned by Cedar Fair) for the first time in years as a family, but it was not a pleasant visit. When my parents, brother, husband and I visited your park it was a very taxing experience for us all. There were several things that occurred that made the visit more difficult on us as a family, given my brother’s disabilities.
First we went online to buy tickets and were unable to find any type of discount for guests with disabilities so we purchased five adult tickets. Only, after arriving at the park did we find out that there were indeed discounts for guests like my brother. Next, while renting a wheelchair for him, we asked an employee if there was a special pass for someone with disabilities to access the rides. The employee assured us that all we needed to do was go through the special access gates (or exits) to get on the rides.
On our first ride we were told that we needed a special pass to get on board. We headed back to the front entrance to get the pass, having to go to two different windows to find out where to obtain the pass. When we finally got it, we were just given a bunch of papers and sent on our way with no explanation of how to use the pass or the park’s policies relating to special access. The experience of accessing each ride was cumbersome, as every operator seemed to have his or her own interpretation of the policy.
While these issues listed thus far are really minor problems, communicating better with your employees and costumers could eliminate all of them. That aside, the biggest issue seems to be the actual policy Cedar Fair now has in place for disabled guests. On your website for Carowinds under “Procedures for guest with Disabilities” the current policy states:
Only one riding companion may enter through the Special Access Entrance with you. Other members of your party are asked to enter the ride in the standard manner through the line. Special Access Entrances are intended to accommodate wheelchairs and those guests with mobility restrictions and not to bypass others waiting in line (Carowinds).
As I understand it, this policy is to prevent people from abusing special access to the rides and is not for guest to “bypass others waiting in line.” (Carowinds) I know there are many issues that have arisen in the past from the old policy by allowing disabled guests to “jump” ahead in the line. I am aware that prior to this new policy there were many people that took advantage of it and faked a disability to get to the front of the line. And there were some that were physically disabled in some way, but they were still capable of waiting the time span they would have waited in the regular line. The new policy is fair for those that can wait for a long time in line, but what about those who cannot wait for a very long time? What the policy does not taken into account are those who really do have special circumstances like being unable to cope with waiting; people like my brother.
Jonathan is 26 years old, has cognitive disabilities, physical limitations and autism. While he shares some commonality with others who have disabilities, he has unique needs. He is capable of walking and standing for short periods of time; his mentality is that of a four year old; but like so many others with autism he experiences fixations, poor social skills, and lacks a conceptual understanding of time. His typical demeanor is happy and carefree, however, due to his limitations he does not fully understand what is going on around him. For someone like him who is not able to sit and wait for a long time, it becomes unreasonable because he cannot mentally process it.
This circumstance is not unique to a variety of people with cognitive and pervasive disabilities. With the growth of autism at the rate of 1 in 150 (ASA), this specific disability presents prevalent issues for families. Parks, like Carowinds, caters to families, but which ones? A mother explains how the policy at Six Flags, one similar to yours, is not doable for both of her autistic children.
My children don't understand time…the things that are reasonable to us make no sense to them. Anything more than five or 10 minutes can be a screaming meltdown for my kids. (Niles)
The mother also spoke of how the wait was so stressful for her daughter that she threw herself down to the ground and bit her caregiver. (Niles) There is a need for a policy change specifically for people like my bother and the children of this woman.
John L. Woodatch the Director of Office of Americans With Disabilities Act at the Department of Justice writes in response to a person inquiring about persons with disabilities being permitted to “cut” in line at an amusement park.
Public accommodations, however, are required in certain cases to make reasonable modifications to their policies, practices, or procedures when modifications are necessary to afford goods, services, facilities, privileges or advantages to individuals with disabilities. See section 36.302 of the title III regulation at page 35596-97, and preamble at 35564-65 [Located in the Americans with Disabilities Act]. In light of this requirement, an amusement park may be required to modify its policies to allow an individual with a disability to be admitted to an attraction without waiting in line, if delay would prevent the individual from participating in the service because of the nature of the disability.
Based on the interpretation from the John L. Woodatch of the Americans with Disabilities Act cases like Jonathan would allow them to be next in line. To do otherwise would be not in alignment with the laws and it could be see as discrimination to those persons.
Parks like Carowinds are meant to enhance the family experience, and that includes the experiences of those who support and care for them. The event should not make it more troubling, difficult or, in our case, toilsome and certainly that was not the intention of the policy, park, or owner. In an attempt to better serve those individuals with disabilities and their families (especially those with autism and other prevalent disabilities), I offer a few proposals.

• Have the ticket purchasing process for guests with disabilities clear on the web page and state the price of the ticket. If tickets for people with disabilities should be purchased at the park and not on line, let people know it.
• Combine wheelchair rental and special access passes at the same location to decrease family frustration, and increase “play” time in the park.
• Make a policy within the policy that addresses special circumstances. People with unique needs should be treated with exceptions to the rule. These families and caretakers deserve the respect and support of the community at large. By keeping the current rules it will still serve the purpose of eliminating misuse.
• Train each park employees about the policy so it is consistently and respectfully applied. Train the staff to recognize authentic cognitive disabilities and provide culturally competent training to the employees to address the special needs of those with a variety of disabilities.
• Provide a special color-coded pass to those who fall within the context of the cognitive disabilities that will permit them to be next in line. This pass will allow park employees to see the difference right away. It will allow those with special needs enjoy the park to the fullest by allowing them to be next in line for the ride.
• Allow families to board together. In these special circumstances, families often need to provide psychological support and physical assistance to the person with the disabilities.
Leo F. Buscaglia once said “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” I urge you to consider your power to provide this small act of caring for these people who would otherwise miss out on the enjoyment of the park. Make a difference for people that have to deal with so many hardships by creating a simple place in line. With proper training and a new policy in place Carowinds and all Cedar Fair amusement parks can once again become a great place for persons with disabilities and their families.

WORKS CITED
(ASA) Autism Society of America, What is Autism: Facts and Stats Page August 18, 2008. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007). August 18, 2008. http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_whatis_factsstats
Buscaglia, Leo F. ThinkExist.com Quotations August 21 2008. August 21, 2008. http://thinkexist.com/quotation/too_often_we_underestimate_the_power_of_a_touch-a/213531.html
Carowinds | North and South Carolina's Themed Amusement Park August 21, 2008. Carowinds| Procedures for guest with Disabilities. August 21, 2008. http://www.carowinds.com/News/detail.cfm?item_id=29
Niles, Robert. Theme Park Insider August 21 2008. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. August 21 2008. http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/200709/474/
Woodatch, John L. United States Department of Justice June 26 2001. Letter in response to inquiry of ADA. August 17, 2008 http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/foia/tal308.txt

Update on Steve Holt

2008-10-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

I figured since I have my computer fixed I need to update some pictures on our cute dog Steve Holt.

Carowinds

2008-08-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

This video of the ride we took at an amusement park in South Carolina is hilarious. John and Daniel aren't so excited to be on the ride (especially Daniel), but Jonathan's has nothing but pure joy on his face. ENJOY!

I'm Steve Holt!

2008-07-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

My name is Steve Holt and I am 4 months old and I am so FINE! If you want to learn more about my name click here .

Mommy BB and Daddy DD almost didn't get to have me in there lives. You see we had met about a month ago and it just wasn't the right time for ma and pa to have a pup so ridiculously good look as me. After about three weeks they came back to the shelter and of my siblings I was the only one left. But to make things more dramatic when DD and BB came back there was a cute little boy that carried me around for about an hour and a half. All the while his parents went back and forth on whether or not they wanted to adopt me. They left saying they would think about it and Becky and Daniel came to adopt me the second I was let go by the little boy.

Now I am in my new home and loving it. Especially all the space and carpet that I get to pee on its great!

Me continued...

2008-07-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

Here I am with my "Grandma".. She says I am her favorite Adopted Grandson.

I am a Shar Pei/ Irish Terrior Mix pup. Top picture is a Shar Pei and bottom is Irish Terrior.

Something about Sexxyback - Post by Double Dee

2008-06-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

Becky and I have learned the best way to cheer Jonathan up is to blast some SexxyBack while riding in the car....his reaction, as always, is contagious! Can you tell which part of the song is his favorite:):):)?

We represent the lollipop kids - Post by Double D

2008-05-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

In our first family ward calling as a newly wed couple Becky and I were called to be teachers of the CTR 5's in our ward. The calling was a sort of rite of passage for all the newly-weds in the ward but it was certainly a surprise to us. I for one haven't worked with kids in more than 8 years and have grown accustomed to the quick, efficient talk of the business world. Becky is very good w/ youngins but because she works w/ atleast one guy who requires the attention of a youngin (arguably more attention) all week long she thought that the Lord would see fit to allow her a 'day of rest' from her normal grind. Now that we've been released, we look back w/ lots of fond memories and gratefulness for the opportunity we had to teach these young and precious souls. As I mentioned before, it wasn't an easy pill for us to swallow at first. After the first few awkward encounters I finally remembered what types of things kids like and the types of questions they respond to (mostly following BB's lead) and everything began to click. Becky is a great teacher. She had a knack for coming up w/ creative activities and games that always grabbed the attention of the boys.

Contrary to the pics above, we actually had 9 boys we taught on a regular basis. Despite what logic or simple arithmetic would lead us to believe (9 boys + 2 hours of Sunday School = utter mayhem, temper tantrums and gray hair growth acceleration) it was an amazing experience. The boys were by far the most reverent group in the whole primary. And even during our class time they were attentive and excited about learning. Becky and I always left church in awe of their humility and desire to learn. There were moments, however, that would leave Becky and me shaking our heads during class...but as we reminisced those moments after church they would always give us a good chuckle. Some examples:

Scenario 1

Me: How do we show our love to our parents?

Boy1: We kill 'em.

Me (trying to ignore Boy1 and move on w/ the line of questioning): What things can we do to show our brothers and sisters we love them?

Boy1: Kill them!!

Lesson learned - fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, shame on me.

Scenario 2

Me: What should we do if we are sad (correct answer is pray)?

Boy1: Poop!

Me (once again, trying to ignore Boy1 and move on w/ the line of questioning): What can we read to help us feel closer to our Heavenly Father (correct answer is the scriptures)?

Boy1: Poop!!!

Lesson learned - see scenario 1. Also, potty humor is hilarious! Its sad though that my use of it hasn't been refined past a five-year-olds.

There are so many other silly things that happened that have helped me to take life less seriously. This calling has helped me to smile more often, let my guard down around strangers and to question what I think is important (to enjoy the moment rather than be so focused on completing a lesson plan). And to that I'm thankful.

Man of my Dreams!

2008-05-20T22:52:00.001-07:00

Who would have ever thought I would marry the man of my dreams. I remember when I was 15 years old my dream guy had the following:

Blue Eyes, Dimples, Dark Brown/Black Hair, Freckles, Tall, Buffer than me, Funny, Loves me, Loves my brother, Strong Faith, Honest, Strong LDS member, Athletic, Loves basketball, Plays the guitar, and ridiculously good looking!
WOW! I cant believe I got everything I wanted and more! We have been married for about nine months now and I couldn't be happier. I love this man! I am so lucky to have found someone made just for me.

The House We Are Buying..hopefully

2008-05-01T17:04:00.001-07:00

"The House" Its not official yet, but everything goes smoothly we will be moving in the end of May... Cross your fingers for us. The house was built in 1990 & its got 90's written all over it. It has 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and its 4 times bigger than our apartment, I am so sick of living in our tiny 500 sq ft apartment.

Here is the master bedroom w/ a walk in closet and our own bath. YEA!
Formal Living room w/ a great 90's touch... MAUVE carpet
Formal Dining Room
Backyard
Family Room
The Kitchen... and yes the tile is pink.

Go-Go-Go Globetrotters - Post by Double Dee

2008-03-03T21:03:00.000-08:00

About a month ago the Globetrotters were in town and I decided it would be a great event for Jon and I to go to. I remember that as a kid I would see commercials promoting globetrotter games in the area. The commericals were filled with high flying dunks, beautifully orchestrated loopty-loop passes intermingled with zany, staged gags. Oh how high were my hopes! Ultimately, the performance was quite the disappointment; alas I was about 15 years past the targeted audience. Jon, however, became the globetrotters greatest fan that night as I became an even bigger fan of Jon. Watching him and trying to see things through his eyes makes every occassion that much more enjoyable. As you watch this video you can see why! I have a lot to learn from his pure and unfeigned attitude.

On Top of the World

2008-01-18T22:29:00.001-08:00

I looked in the rear view mirror and the sky looked like it was on fire. It reminded me of when I served my mission in Hawaii. The sunsets were so beautiful there. I had to stop and turn around, I couldn't pass this moment up. I took this picture up on this hill thats referred to as "The Top of the World". I just happened to have my camera and camera stand with me at the time to capture this. Once upon a time I wanted to be a photographer, well at least obtain some skill. Every once in a while I luck out and get a great shot. But alas I have to admit this talent doesn't come easy to me as it does others that I so envy. I am okay with that now, now that I have found something that I love and excel in. I love helping others. Now I am aspiring to be a nurse. I love my Anatomy and Physiology classes. The human body is so amazing. I cant wait to get into that field. The more I learn the more I want to know. Who knows maybe I will exceed my goals.

2008-01-09T22:07:00.000-08:00

Jonathan has troubles waking up and going to the bathroom at night and so he has to wear a diaper to bed. He is good at putting the diaper on himself. One night my mom and Daniel were helping him get ready for bed and they gave him his diaper to put on and he put it on his head an laughed.
It was hilarious! For those of you that don't know Jon, he has quite the since of humor. He may be mental disabled, but he is no dummy. He is good about getting a laugh out of people.
Since that night he has done it every once in a while. This captures what it looks like. I love this kid he cracks me up! Hope you laughed as hard as I did when I saw him do this......

R to E to D

2007-12-18T01:32:00.000-08:00

I was looking through mine and Daniel's wedding pictures and I came across my RED shoes. My mom bought these so I could wear them on my wedding day. I love these RED shoes, and yes you heard me correctly they are RED not red. I have to say these are the coolest wedding shoes ever, I used to think that white flip flops and tennis shoes were pretty sweet, but the RED shoes are so rad. I have to admit though at the end of the day tennis shoes probably would have been a bit more comfortable. But pain = beauty. Ha Ha Ha. (I keep hearing the song "Your so vain"....hmm I wonder why?)

"Not a walk in the park"

2007-12-10T10:51:00.001-08:00

Here is a little picture in the lovely Canadian Mountains. It was so exquisite up there! Tanya & Joel, friends of ours that we were visiting in Vancouver BC thought of this great hike that we should go on. Tanya warned us that it would be difficult, but its worth it. I warned them that I am really out of shape and hadn't worked out in months. Also warning them it will take a while to get it done. But I love hikes and so does Daniel so we were up for the challenge.

As we began the hike we were greeted with a sign that says "this is not a walk in the park" I wish I had a better picture so you could read it more clearly. I thought to myself there is no way that the hike is going to be that bad. As we went on the hike I proved myself wrong. That was the toughest hike I had ever been on in my life. I stopped a million and one times just to catch my breath. When we finally made it to the top it was well worth it. I wish I had pictures of the view, but I was to freezing cold when I got to the top , that I couldn't pull out our camera.

My Love

2007-11-19T19:54:00.001-08:00

Daniel has been considering modeling.. I think he has potential. There not as good as "Blue Steel" but there is definite hotness going on here!!

When the Honeymoon ends

2007-11-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

Daniel and I have had a lot of trials since we got married. The video pretty much explains it all, but I will give you brief summary of what happened.

The week we got back from our honeymoon we had to move my stuff out of my moms. The only time we had to move was the night that our friends came into town. And they were staying with us. Well the house was a mess and there was hardly room for us to even walk around. Things turned out okay, it was just a crunch to get everything done.

Then the following week we went to our friends wedding down in California. It was about a twelve hour drive. It was such a wonderful wedding. We had a blast! The night of the wedding Daniel was up all night hugging the toilet. The next morning Jake and I felt sick but ok enough to go on. As we are driving Jake gets really sick. We stopped at a rest stop for a couple of hours to recuperate. And off we went again, we didn't last to long and ended up at another rest stop for a few hours. When we felt better we went on the road again, but shortly after leaving I got really sick. I will spare you all the juicy details, but we came to find a motel just around the corner. And stayed the rest of the night there.

After we got back things were good for a while. Then I came down with this really bad cold that just didn't want to go away. I passed it on to Daniel and his turned into a nasty sinus infection that lasted forever too.

The next adventure was the day after I was feeling better from the cold I was rear ended on my way to work. My neck and back are really sore still.

About a week after that I got an eye infection and lost most of my vision in my right eye for about a week.

And the day I went to the doctors to have my last check up on my eye I went home to do the dishes and the dish washer didn't do its job. As I was washing the dishes the glass broke and I cut my hand. My neighbor took me to the ER were I got stitches.

Well I hope the drama is over and I hope you like the video!

Oh that Scotty

2007-10-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

My really good friend Crystal (the hot blond aka my maid of honor) has this adorable son Scotty. Well he thought that he would show us his dance moves & Daniel was playing around on my camera and caught these hot moves.

The LEAF BLOWER

2007-10-05T21:23:00.001-07:00

Most of you know about my brother Jonathan. He has ,and always will be a big part of my life. One of Jon's passions, or what should say is addictions, is wading or playing around in the pool. One day I was at Target and I saw these pools for sale. and I thought to myself "Jon would love this". An image of Jon's face popped into my head and I imagined how much joy this would bring to him, needless to say I got the pool. When I arrived home it was late at night about an hour past Jons bedtime. But I was so excited for his new toy that I couldn't wait to tell him about it so I ran upstairs and jumped on his bed and yelled "I got you a new pool", the look on his face was priceless! He was so excited. He about jumped out of the bed to grab his swim trunks. But I assured him that we would go soon and that tonight was to late to go.

The pool actually set around for a few days until I got the motivation to fill it up with air. We didn't have an air pump so my good friend Crystal and I went to the local GI Joes store and got us an air pump. We get home and I plug it in and it doesn't work. I was so upset. I mean the thing was brand new. When I calmed down I looked at the directions (which is something that I loath to do!) Apparently you have to charge it for 12 hrs before it will work. LAME!! There goes another childs dreams, No Not today Jon will have his pool its 80 degrees out side I AM GOING TO SET THAT POOL UP IF IT KILLS ME.

Oh, I remember I have an air compressor in my car... it was one of those cheap ones, but I thought that it would do. Turns out it was a lot cheaper than I thought! I could blow more air in the pool with my lungs than that thing could do in 5min. CRAP I TELL YOU CRAP!

I was wracking my mind for ideas to come up on how to inflate this pool. A light bulb came on. I remembered that when you take a part a vacuum you can get it so the air is forced outward instead of sucked in. I take the vacuum apart and guess what these new vacuums don't work that way! I am going to give myself a stroke before this is over with.

Then I saw it the answer to my prays or maybe it was Gods way of keeping me from doing anything to drastic that may in the end hurt others or myself. Either way it was perfect!
The.........LEAF BLOWER.

Now why didn't I think of this before! (This is were it gets good... I feel like my inner red neck came out in me. ) Here I am on my pourch wear'in a bikini and my army shorts, with pig tails and haven't showered in a while and I am blowing up my brothers pool with a leaf blower.
It was beautiful. That pool was set in ready to go in under 25seconds. I think I may have set a record.... The pool was then filled with H20 and Jon and Scotty were in heaven. Hope you are able to experience their joy as you watch(ed) the video.

Marriage "the begining"

2007-09-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

Now that we are all married and "settled" in life seems so much more calm. I remember the month before the wedding feeling so stressed. Man, I am getting stressed just thinking about it. Any how we are all moved into this 50's style town home. I painted practically the whole house, with some help from My mom, Daniel, and Mike.. oh and we can't forget Jon. It looks really cool. Its nice to have our own home. Mine and Daniels "love nest", that is until the kids come. Which will be a while if you are wondering. We are taking our time getting to know each other.
Daniel is studying for his GMAT exam which is next month. He wants to go back to school to get a masters in international business. Along with working full time at Intel.
I am just doing the working thang. Taking care of my brother here and there. Cleaning houses, and working part time at this Non-profit organization called Oregon School Based Health Care Network. Its a company that promote health care for children ages 0-18. They have clinics in the surrounding schools so the children get the help they need.
Not to go off on a tangent or anything but what is the deal with the government on health care? We know that education is a "basic human need" so our kids won't grow up to be illiterate or uneducated. Ok so my child will have the ability to have knowledge, which is great, but what if she is sick due to a lack of resources for health care. What if me or my husband take ill due to a lack of health care coverage, that will then effect our children, will it not? I could go on but my point is that it seems to me that health care is just as a basic human need as education, if not more of a need.
Maybe I will just move to Canada.. haha only kidding eh.
Back to what the purpose of this post was...well I am sleepy now, but I want to show you my apartment. So for another post I will show some picture.

Our Song

2007-09-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

Here are the lyrics from the song we danced to.
I put the song on our webstite, but I am not sure
if its playing?? Anyways enjoy!

Not talkin bout a year, No not three or four.
I don’t want that kind of forever, in my life anymore.
Forever always seems, to be around when it begins,
But forever never seems to be around when it ends.
So give me your forever, Please, your forever.
Not a day less will do from you.

People spend so much time every single day,
Runnin round all over town Givin their forever away.
But no not me I wont let my forever roam.
And now I hope I can find my forever a home.
So give me your forever, please your forever.
Not a day less will do from you.

Like a handless clock with numbers, an infinite of time.
No not the forever found only in the mind.
Forever always seems to be around when things begin.
But forever never seems to be around when things end.
So give me your forever, please your forever.
Not a day less will do from you.

Now playing: Ben Harper - Forever
via FoxyTunes

Wedding Album

2007-09-21T18:35:00.001-07:00

Take a look at our pictures from our wedding and reception just click on the title of this posting
"wedding album"

"Our Big Day"

2007-09-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

Daniel Jay Dodge & Rebecca Dyann Blue

As many of you know Daniel Dodge and I were married on July 20th 2007 in the Portland Oregon Temple. It was a the most nerve recking and happiest day of my life.

This day we both had been preparing for, for a long time. As many of you know the temple is a special place. Only those that have been living in accordance to Gods commandments may enter. And believe me its not an easy path to follow.

There are many people that I wished that could have witnessed our ceremony that were unable to attend for one reason or another. For this reason I wish to share our experience inside the sealing room of the Temple.

Daniel and I were all dressed in white and we knelt across an alter.In the sealing room of the temple there were mirrors that faced each other and as you looked into them it seems that you and your love went on forever. in that room we made promises with God and each other. And in return, as we lived up to those covenants made we could have an eternal family. Meaning that our marriage continues on beyond this life. This means a lot to me, I care about and love Daniel so much. And I know he loves me dearly too. I look forward to the family that we will have together and I know that I will love them very much. (if you have questions on the temple feel free to visit this website:
http://www.lds.org/temples/faq/0,11264,1904-1,00.html)