1st trip to Cali.

Mick had called and said that I should come a few days earlier than planned because he would have 3 days off to spend w/ us instead of having to work all week and try to do things together after work. We were very excited to go see him and get to spend some time w/ him.

Mick gets paid every Fri and they don't do direct deposit (who knows why) so I had to wait until she got it printed and go get it. The time to pick it up was changed a few different times, but i was finally able to get it around 4. Came back to Meridian, deposited it and then went to pick up the car, which was a Dodge Charger that I am completely in love w/, I need one of those cars! I asked the kids if they wanted to leave that night and get to Winnemucca or get up early and try to drive all day. They opted to leave that night. So we came home and loaded up the car, got some diner and hit the road. I don't think we left until 6 or 6:30p, it was ok, and now looking back I'm glad I broke the drive up.

The kids are at the perfect ages to take a road trip with. They were absolutely perfect. No fighting, actually had conversations w/ one another. It helped that they each had some kind of electronic to keep them entertained. Clay rode in the front the whole way to Winnemucca, he was my little navigator, helped w/ the GPS and when we were getting close looked up hotel numbers and helped book a room for that night.

I forgot the time change so when we got their I couldn't remember what time was what, so that was annoying. :) I didn't sleep hardly at all, was up at 6 and got the kids up and we were on the road.

I am a no non sense driver. When we have 10 hrs ahead of us, we don't stop for much, gas and a few potty breaks. My mother called practically the whole time we drove to make sure we were going to get there, I guess.. haha.. But that's what mom/grandma's do.. Thanks mom!!

We got to Cali around 7p, when we got out of the car at the hotel, the air was thick and hot. WOW, that was interesting. Seeing Mick was like we hadn't seen eachother in forevver!! He's such a good looking man, I love him like crazy!! He was hungry and wanted to eat, so we headed out. Found a Pizza place, which was very exspensive, $20 for a small.. Wowzers.. Anyhow, went back to the hotel, I was exhausted! The bed was soo comfy, I don't think I have slept that good in a long time, it felt great. I need to get a new mattress, ours totally sucks compared to that one!

Thursday we got up and had decided to the Aquarium, it was in Long Beach which was 2 hrs away. The kids weren't excited about being back in the car again but once we got there they loved the Aquarium. I didn't know it was on the Ocean but the water came right up to the Aquarium. It was huge, a lot of different fish, sharks, sting rays, jelly fish etc. The kids had a great time, you were able to touch a lot of the fish so that was probably more exciting than just looking at them. We touched baby shark, bigger sharks, jelly fish, sting rays coral, star fish. It was great!

Afterwards, we walked out on the boardwalk, their were a ton of beautiful boats in the water and we saw a sign that does tours around the harbor. It was pretty cheap and it was leaving in 45 min, so we bought tickets and took a tour around the harbor. That was a lot of fun to learn about what was around that island and see some of the huge cruise ships docked.

Then it was back in the car to head home. OMG, we were stuck in California rush hour traffic. it was 3:30-4, I so didn't think it was rush hour but honestly every hour seemed like rush hour. I think we were at a slow pace for about 30-45 mins, yea that sucked.. ;)

Got back to the hotel, the kids wanted to go swimming so we all changed and hit the pool. It was probably 105 degrees outside but a little overcast. It was fun to hang out in the pool and relax, the kids had a blast and Mick and I sat and talked. That night we had dinner at Red Robin. We like to eat at places that we are familiar with, i don't like to go to too many new places on account that it might irritate my stomach plus Mick has a very sensitive stomach when eating out.

Sat we got up and were going to go to the San Diego Zoo, the kids weren't excited again about having to drive almost 3 hrs to get there and then I realized I forgot the coupons at home and we weren't too excited about spending $150 just to get into the Zoo.. So we changed our minds and headed to a town called Cabazon, we saw this mall off the freeway and wanted to check it out. It had very exspensive stores at it, Prada, Gucci, Coach, Loui Vitton and a ton of other stores that I know my mom shops at, had to text here where we were and she really wished she was there.. :) We bought the kids some new sunglasses, Sis a new pair of cute shoes, and Mick a new pair of shoes so that he can wear his shorts instead of pants.. haha! Some of the exspensive stores we just had to go into to see what the sell, and yea, nothing in my style or taste..
Mick wanted a new pair of Wranglers or Carhart pants and trying to find those in Cali was very hard! I happened to get off the freeway to go into Palm Springs and we found the one and only western store, that looked closed but was open when we got there.. She sold wranglers, but not in Mick's size. He needed a 32x38 and all she had was the opposite 38x32, most are shorter and rounder I guess.. :) So we didn't find him any but I did find a new pair of bling sandals, that she was clearancing for only $40!! YAY, there were 3 to choose from and being as I already have a brown pair I got the black one!!
Mick got a guy that he use to work with at CP a job their in CA w/ him. He left Sat morning and was traveling all day. We were checking in w/ him to see where he was throughout the day. Diner was coming up again and by this time I was soo tired of eatin out. I felt like I put on 10 lbs, I wanted a good salad and the restaurant we thought we were going to wasn't there anymore so we went w/ Buffalo Wild Wings, I had a chicken salad and the rest of them shared wings and potato wedges.
After we got back to the hotel Curtis arrived while we were at the pool.. I am very glad that Mick has Curtis there to hang out w/. He had been sharing a room w/ Gilberto, and Mick said he snores, and always wanted to watch the Mexican chanel that Mick couldn't understand and he was in bed by 6p every night, so he was really looking forward to hanging out w/ Curtis.

Sun we were suppose to go to the Knott's Berry waterpark, but when we drove into Palm Springs, it was pouring rain. Mick said he hadn't noticed any rain the whole time he's been there. So were weren't able to go, it didn't stop raining until 2 and Mick still needed to do his laundry for the week and go get some groceries. It ended up being a great slow day. We all ate at In n Out, that was great food and pretty cheap. Steve, the boss, flew back in from being here at home, so then we all hung out by the pool for the rest of the afternoon. I was working on my tan, the guys didn't put on sunscreen and got pretty red.. They never listen, so it's their own fault. haha

All of the rest of the guys started showing back up to the hotel, so we met them and it got busy around there. Mick was moving into a different room w/ Curtis so he was moving all his stuff into the other room but we were still staying in his room he shared w/ Gilberto until the next day. They all made their lunches and got all there stuff in order for the next day. They wake up at 3:15 and are out the door by 4. It takes them 40 mins to drive to the job and then they have a 15 min safety meeting before work everyday.

Mick's alarms were very loud, and they started going off at 3:15, they woke up me and Michayla. by 3:30 someone was knocking on the door and Mick was up and left by 3:45.. It was fast and i wasn't able to get all sad, Sis cried for a while. Once I am up, it's very hard for me to go back to bed, so I decided that it was actually 4:15 our time and I got us loaded up and out the door.

It was a very fun filled 4 days. Mick knows his way around that town already. It's just a huge square so it really isn't that hard to figure out, but I am glad to know that he knows what he's doing down there.

We got home around 7:30 grabbed some Subway for dinner and hit the hay. The dogs were happy to see us and Chloe purred and purred. I love my animals!!

We had a good time and I am glad that we got to see daddy. It will be just about a month that he will be gone before he comes home, that would have been way too long. We are buying him a laptop so that he can skype everynight w/ us. I'm very sad that he's gone but I know this will benefit us in the long run.

I'll share pictures later, unless you're on my facebook, you can look there too..

1 week down...

It's officially been a week since Mick left. It seems to be getting easier on all of us. Michayla is doing good, she talks and texts Mick all the time, and I have been giving her melatonin to help her sleep at night. It seems to work well because then she isn't laying in her bed for a while waiting to fall asleep thinking about missing her daddy.
Clay got home Sat afternoon, having been gone all week at camp he came home to learning just how often we talk to dad on the phone. Mick calls a lot. He isn't allowed to talk during the day when he is at work, so we don't hear from him until 5 o'clock our time (which is 4 his time) but he then talks to everyone and will then call 2 or 3 other times before going to bed.
This week we are going to go see him. They are changing the local crews with some new crews so he will have this Fri & Sat off. We had originally planned to leave next Mon and stay a week but Mick would have had to work the whole time, so now we will be able to spend Thur afternoon and the rest of the weekend exploring California.. We have never been to CA, so we are all excited to see what lies ahead..

I went on a cleaning spree this weekend. I cleaned out our closet, and I mean cleaned out. Got rid of old clothes that both Mick and I had and organized everything. It is so nice to have a clean closet to actually walk around in. ;) Then I proceeded to clean my bedroom, re-arrange it, clean the bathroom and shower.. I then cleaned the rest of the house, dusted everything including my kitchen table and chairs. I still need to mop the kitchen and entry way but man does it feel nice to walk into a really clean house! I sent pictures of the closet to Mick and he was wondering why I was cleaning so much.. Just one of those moods I guess.

Tawnya, Mick's cousin is going to come and house/animal sit for us while we are gone. I am relieved to have someone here for the dogs and our little mischievious cat. 2 days of us being gone and the dogs start to notice and then they start getting into trouble.. ;)

After seeing a grilfriend of mine Skype with her husband who also works out of town, I can't wait to get Mick a laptop so that we can see him in person everyday. Hopefully when he comes home for Clay's Bday we can get him one then. I love that technology is so advance now-a-days that we have that opportunity.

Last week was a busy week for us. Luckily I have some great friends who have kept me busy. Diners, swim dates, and just girl chatting.. ;)

Surviving..

Well we survived our first full day without Mick. He has been using his new phone a lot. I gave him my old phone that is easier to text and send pictures. He has sent a lot of pictures and we have texted eachother over 200 times since he left. lol! I love it, most people think Mick is a man of little words but he truly can chat my ear off.. ;)
We spent the day at my parents house. (My sister is out of town until this Thur, I can't wait for her to come home. Nothing like hanging out w/ my sister!!) We painted our toenails, had ice tea and meat/cheese/pickle wraps for lunch.. Then we went and did some "looking" not "shopping" because we didn't buy anything.. Had shish-cabobs for dinner and played some badmitten.. All in all it was a great day w/ my folks.. I love that they live 1 min from me.. It's nice to have the support from my family while Mick is gone.
Michayla has been better w/ Mick being gone. I think it helped that he worked nights and slept for most of the day last summer/fall. It also helps that she can call/text him anytime she wants to. She is also excited that we are going to see him..
Clay left this morning for church camp, he will be gone until Sat afternoon. So it's just me and my Michayla this week. We have plans for a lot of swimming, having a dinner date w/ a friend and spending some quality time together. I love having a daughter to hang out w/..
Mick won't be able to come home until the week of Clay's bday (Aug 19) so we have decided to drive down and see him! The kids are very excited, not neccasarily about the 15 hour drive to get there. We are leaving Mon Aug 1 and coming back Friday the 5.. It's extremely hot down there but Mick's hotel has a huge pool and we are looking forward to hanging out by it every day we are there!! ;)
Mick met other guys that have been sent down from Stockton to work w/ them. He said they all went out to dinner last night and he seems to like them. Mick can get along w/ just about anyone so I am sure he is going to do just fine.

I miss him like crazy and truly there isn't a moment of the day that goes by that I don't think of him. His pillow smells like his cologne and I fall asleep smelling it every night. Everyone says that distance makes the heart grow fonder, well I am pretty fond of him so i don't know how I can be even more "fonder" of him but I probably will.. lol!

Bound for California..

Where do I start? We all know that the economy is horrible and when your husband works in construction this kind of economy is absolutely horrible.. A few months ago Mick started looking into finding a job elsewhere. He looked into the Oil Industry and had an offer to work in N. Dakota, while waiting for the weather to warm up (which felt like forever, past the middle of May) he was approached by his old boss, Steve with STP Concrete. The job was to work on the railroad making roughly $15/hr more. It sounded to good to be true, the worse part was the location of the job, California... Mick & I have never been to CA, and we were a little nervous about him having to leave us.
Well months turned into weeks, and weeks into days and days into today.. They were originally suppose to leave late this evening due to it being a 15 hr drive, but then it was changed to noon..
Michayla and Mick have a very close bond and I knew that when 3 days ago she couldn't fall asleep w/out crying that she was going to have a hard time w/ her daddy not being here everyday.
Clay got up this morning and went rafting w/ my parents. We took him to Build-a-bear last night and let him pick out a stuffed Monkey (his choice) and Mick recorded himself telling Clay that he misses and loves him. *Michayla had received one from Mick last year when he was working nights.* So now they both have Mick's voice talking to them whenever they want to hear him.



I am very saddened that Mick isn't here. We have been together for 16 yrs and have never been this far apart or gone as long as we will go without seeing eachother. I am a little nervous to do this all on my own. But, I shouldn't say all on my own, my parents and sister I know are willing to help me. It's just sad that he won't be coming home every night to be with us.

I love Mick more than I have ever loved him, and I am so greatful that he is willing to leave us to provide a better life for us. He is the best husband and father that I could ever ask for. I hope that he doesn't run himself too tired. It is extremely hot in Indio, CA so he better be taking care of himself.. ;)