Building The Brookshires: 2008

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

today is a great day!

Sean is on a plane coming home eight days earlier than planned for Christmas! Woooohooooooo! I get eight extra days during Christmastime to spend with my handsome wonderful husband. I am beyong stoked. 'Nuff said!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

sunshine in the shade

You know the hardest thing about being apart from Sean for the first few months of our marriage is that Sean is completely surrounded by shady people. He doesn't have anyone who has his best interest at heart out there. He is working his bum off for people that would throw him under the bus at any monent in time. Shady people that blatantly steal personal documents with no explanation and no apology.

My man is such a good man with a good heart who is putting up with this wretched situation in light of the current economy and preserving his professional credibility.

There is light in this darkness, as Sean gets to spend weekends with his grandfather in Oklahoma, but all in all when the middle of the week rolls around and it seems to be countless days until we are together again it becomes increasingly difficult to keep things in perspective.

I love my man and I just wish that the people he was working with were good people with proper priorities and ethics.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

...because I have 17 more days until I see my husband and I am trying everything I can to keep smiling.

So really .... although life has been beating me up a bit and testing my strength, faith, and perseverance, I really am still a very lucky girl. Yeah sure, my husband is on the wretched project that has taken him out of town for the first few months of our marriage, but at least I am blessed enough to have found my soulmate, my bestfriend, my better half, my husband. I have a man that has my picture in his car and calls me multiple times a day just to make sure that I don't forget how much he loves me.

Maybe my cable was shut off without notice and my account sold to satellite the night before I had a housesitter for four days, but at least I can afford to have cable.

...and yes, my external hard drive corrupted and I lost half my pictures, but thankfully, I had already uploaded most of them to be printed which means I can at least have prints.

So without question, the property manager of the house Sean and I rent is impossible to work with, irresponsible, rude, and lacks follow-through, but we love this house, we have a roof over our head, and it has a great big yard for our dogs to run in.

So these days, when I feel like the world is just taking blow after blow at me and I can't help but cry (which is pretty much daily) ... these are the things I think about and I smile.

This picture of Sean and his grandfather from our wedding...

My wonderful team of employees that decorated my office for my return from mine and Sean's mini-moon...

...the fact that a week after my wedding I had 12th row center seats to see Jason Mraz in concert and he performed mine and Sean's song from our first dance...

... the fact that Sean and I probably spent 15 minutes trying to get Teagan to stand on a scale so we would know how much our dogs weigh...

So in the spirit of our recent Thanksgiving, I am thankful for everyday of this life ... even these recent days that just haven't been going as planned. I'm blessed. I have an amazing family, fabulous friends and an exquisite man as my husband ... for these things I am thankful and I promise to smile.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

third times a charm ... at least in North Carolina

I figure while I am sitting here trying to keep jet lag from getting the better of me by keeping my eyes open ‘til a reasonable hour, I figure I would drop in and blog a little. I just got back today from my third trip to North Carolina. My previous to trips were very quick 24-hour turnarounds … that went a little something like this. Matt and I arrive at RDU, get our luggage (although that wasn’t quite so easy the first time), go pick up our rental car, check into the hotel, I go to my room and call in to the Board meeting, and then meet Matt for dinner at PF Chang’s, go back to our respective rooms, answer emails until the wee hours, get up, grab a cup of coffee, go to our meetings, stop at Jimmy John’s for lunch and then back to RDU to return the car, check in and head back to the P-H-X. Sufficed to say, both of our previous trips lacked any true experience of what is North Carolina.

This trip was different in that we had three days and three nights there. The locals were promising us that it isn’t usually as cold as it was this weekend, but I didn’t mind at all. After all, when you live on the surface of the Sun, it’s nice to switch it up a bit. Anyway it was crisp and breezy and Friday morning it snowed briefly and lightly … but snowed nonetheless.

After being in this business for a couple years now, I have friends and colleagues tucked into pretty much every corner of this beautiful country, so I took this opportunity to try and schedule some time with my girl, Brittany. She and I met two years ago; she works with the company we use for translations. I digress. Anyway, Brittany was very excited that I was going to be in town and offered up one of her tickets to the Carolina Hurricanes hockey game. I LOVE ice hockey, so I was super excited and was only more tickled when I noticed that the ‘Canes were playing none other than the Phoenix Coyotes! I am not lying … how random is that? We had a great time and it was a nice break from all the work and industry formalities. Ice Hockey, beer, a Carolina pulled pork BBQ sandwich and some girl-time … it was just what the doctor ordered after a very emotionally trying week.

So the next day after we were finished working, Matt and I went on the quest for some authentic North Carolina BBQ, so we headed off to the highly recommended Ole Time BBQ on Hillsborough Street. It was what most great local food is … a hole-in-the-wall, family-owned joint that was lacking in curb appeal but overflowing with love and locals. Matt and I got to know that family that owned the place. Matt tried his first hush puppies and I got to enjoy some more BBQ pork sandwich, with green beans, fried apple sticks, hush puppies, and sweet tea …. Fabulousity!

So between the hockey, the BBQ, a surprisingly wonderful heart-t-heart with an industry colleague that I had never had the opportunity to really chat with before and the beautiful autumn colors on the turning trees, it was really a great trip. I can honestly say that even when considering the fact that we probably didn’t get too many leads out of this conference, my Thursday night mental breakdown from missing my husband, and the three hours I spent on the phone with Direct TV trying to get my installation coordinated (that could be a whole ‘nother blog), it was really a fantastic trip. I can definitely see why those that move there or are from there love it so much.

So now I am back home in the beautifully warm and golden Valley of the Sun, but I am telling you … I can’t wait until the next trip, I am craving those hush puppies already.

OK, off to bed for me … I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow of standing in lines at government offices to change my name. Wish me short lines and friendly government employees … ha!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

missing my man

I miss my husband! I hate that he is away. I really don’t know what else to say about that … other than, I miss him and I love him and I HATE that he is away. I have six days and counting until I get to see his handsome face again. I know this is just a test and that we will be just fine and that this challenge will only make our bond even stronger and more amazing, but goodness …. Couldn’t we have had more than five days as husband and wife before we had to sleep in separate beds again … separate beds that are more than a thousand miles apart? There will be good that comes from this … learning and strength and perspective, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less right now.

I guess that’s all I had to say. I hate this. I hate the wretched man that put this all into motion. However, I love my husband and that his dedication to us and his own credibility in his industry is so important to him that he is doing the right thing and taking the high road. I love my husband and I miss him tremendously tonight.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

distance makes the Post-it grow fonder

So for those of you that don't know the story, the man Sean has worked for since he arrived to Arizona is ummmmm ..... let's say a very cruel man and essentailly sold Sean to another company to go work on a project in Arkansas for the next six months starting one week after our wedding. Sean didn't have a say in any of it, but we are trying to make the most out of a really trying situation. So I came home from work last night to the first of many nights of missing my husband's handsome face, when I reached in the cabinet to grab a plate and found this...

...which of course instantly brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. So I called Sean with a tearful voice and thanked him for being such a lovely husband even when he isn't here. We got off the phone and I sat down on the couch to eat dinner and watch some T.V. when I look at the candle sconce above the T.V. and saw this...

I will save you the play by play of the rest of the night, but my wonderful, loving husband has been gone from the house for only 24 hours now and I have found these love Post-its in...

...my laptop...

...the kitchen tool drawer...

...the cabinet where our drinking glasses are...

...the coffee cup cabinet...

...with the pots and pans...

I am such a lucky woman! He's not even here right now. I won't see him until Thanksgiving, but it's like everytime I turn around he is here giving me a sweet little kiss. I love this man! I am so lucky that I get to spend the rest of my life with this Post-it hiding man!

Friday, November 14, 2008

a few days rest!

Sean and I only had a couple days to escape after the wedding before Sean had to take off to Arkansas for work. So we headed to breathtaking Greer, Arizona ... it was just what the doctor ordered. A log cabin hours from anything, no cell service, tons of trees, no traffic, no drama, and a fresh blanket of snow.

Our cabin was prestine. Sean immediately commented on how he could lie there and that is all we would need 40 years from now when we retire.

Even though you can't get a burger on the mountain before 11 am or after 2pm, it was still a charming, relaxing, and beautiful location with some of the nicest locals I've ever come across in all my travels. And if that wasn't enough, outside the Greer Community Center, there is a three-seater outhouse! Perfection!

We're married!

So the big day has come and gone and it was well ...amazing! I will try and take some time to find words to articulate how and why and on how many levels it was fabulous, but until then ... I will let some of the few pictures we have so far speak to how plainly awesome our day was.

Thank you to my new mother-in-law, Susan, for getting these pictures to Sean so quickly. More to come as soon as I have some to share.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

playing catch up

So it has been nearly six weeks since I have written anything, so I thought I would take a few minutes to play catch up and share what we have been up to.

Work for both Sean and I has been nearly impossible to keep up with. Sean's been in and out of town with consistent irregularity and lack of warning (you can only imagine how trying that can be when you are trying to get things together for a wedding) ... stay tuned for how I choose to personally thank the man responsible for that when he is no longer responsible for Sean's scheduling.

On top of Sean's schedule, I have been putting in long days at the office as well. We moved into a larger office and have hired a handful of new employees. So I have been a busy, busy girl helping to make all that happen while all the while trying to keep our clients happy and up-to-speed. The business is a success; so I have no real complaints (especially in this economy) ... I guess I just wish I had a little bit more free time than I do at the current time.

Anyway, on to the more enjoyable things ...

Despite all the hecticness of it all, my wonderful parents can out to visit about two weeks ago just in time for the first weekend of post-summer nice weather here in the Valley. It actually got cool enough for us to inaugurate the fire-pit and break-out sweatshirts.

Sean and I have been spending lots of time with our pups out working in the yard. Sean has built me some planters out back and has been attempting to lay some winter seed, so that this rented house feels more like a home. It's working; I really am starting to feel a bit more settled in.

In other news, we are two weeks from the wedding and there are certainly lots of fun things to blog about. Just a couple weeks ago, my bridesmaids all came to San Diego for their dress fittings and an impromptu "shower" for Sean and I.

Anyway, accept this as my formal apology for my absence and my personal promise to deliver more delicious commentary on life as it unfolds for this young bride and groom.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

And if you have a taste for more of the happy couple playing on my family's beautiful chunk of land

Here are a few more of the pics taken by our most fabulous wedding photog, Deann Barrera.

http://blog.deannbphotography.com/the_decisive_moment/2008/09/a-few-more-of-b.html

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Sneak Peak at our Engagement Session

Hey everyone! Not a ton of time to write about this weekend (hopefully, I will find that later tonight), but in the meantime ... here's a sneak peak at our amazing photographer and our very fun engagement session we had done this weekend.

http://blog.deannbphotography.com/the_decisive_moment/2008/09/bonnie-sean-eng.html

Monday, August 18, 2008

Ty James Herrera

So within a few very short hours of my return home from North Carolina, I got a call from Deena that she was in labor at the hospital and about to get her epidural. Sean and I jumped in the car and headed out to San Diego, so that I could try when the baby arrived, but while we were driving on the 8 East right about Jacumba ... Ty James Herrera joined us on Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 2:46p.m.

Ty is just about the luckiest little boy in the world since his momma is one of the most amazing women to walk this Earth.

Congratulations Deena and Jesse!

a day in the life of my luggage

... from August 15th ...

So this week I made a 28-hour quick turn-around trip with Matt to North Carolina for some very important meetings. We had a great flight out, but unfortunately, my little one city stop wasn’t enough for my luggage. It decided … or rather the ticketing agent that mixed up my luggage tags decided … that it needed to go on a longer, more exciting voyage. However, neither my luggage nor the preoccupied ticketing agent felt it necessary to share their plans with me. So imagine my surprise when I arrive at RDU, wait for my bag for an hour, and then watch everybody else from my flight grab their belongings off the carousel and mine was nowhere to be found.

Before I finish this story, I have to tell you that considering the extensive and frequent traveling I do, I have counted myself very lucky at this point to have never have suffered any luggage trauma save some beat up bags. I digress.

So I look at Matt and tell him my bag isn’t there and now it is two newer flights on the carousel and without any words spoken, I make my way over to the Baggage Service counter.

Now for those of you that have known me a long time, you may have expected me to be livid and perhaps short or abrasive with the baggage agent. Perhaps, you even (as one of my officemates put it) expected me to have explained to them that they are idiots in the most intelligent and eloquent way possible, but I assure you I did neither of those things. I decided to be the nicest, most calm person I possibly knew how to be while still sneakily getting the agemt full name and badge number and documenting the exact time I spoke to them. Again I digress.

So it turns out that when I checked my bag at PHX, the ticketing agent mistagged my luggage with the person at the next kiosk’s baggage ticket. So my bag went to Tampa and Schultz, Sand’s bag ended up there in RDU. At least they knew where it was right? At least it wasn’t completely MIA. So the woman at the baggage service counter makes arrangement for my bag to return from Tampa on the last plane of the evening at 10:42 p.m. which meant my bag would be delivered to my hotel at 12:30a.m. Since this was a business trip and my suit was in that bag, I kindly request that they call me upon the bags arrival to both RDU and the hotel. The agent assured me that they handle all claims in that matter and that it wasn’t asking too much. So I kindly thank her for all her help andMatt and I leave to go pick up the rental car and head over to the hotel. So at 11:30 p.m. I get a sick feeling in my stomach and call the airline to check on my baggage. And well, to summarize the next three hours of madness. My bag went from Tampa to Philadelphia to Charlotte to RDU arriving late (of course) to the airport at at 1:14 a.m. and then finally to my hotel at nearly 2:30 in the morning. So I promptly took these reunion photos (because I am silly)…

… went to bed, and got in 2 ½ hours sleep before having to get up and go to my big meetings. Let’s just say today was sponsored by caffeine.

So now, I am typing this from the plane on the way back to the PHX after two seemingly very successful meetings. We are about an hour and half behind our course because we all got to sit on the plane for the aforementioned amount of time while the mechanic drained excess hydraulic fluid from one of the lines in the wing flaps. YAY us! I guess it could go with out saying (although I will) that this trip … although beneficial in the long run … was far from my favorite travel experience.

Although, to end of a high note and in my typical Bonnie silver lining fashion, I will say that it was exciting to come to North Carolina for the first time. The place is beautiful and I can’t wait to come back again and see a little bit more time in the gorgeous part of the country.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Oh heavens!

The summer skies of Arizona have delivered a special treat this week. Here are just a few of the pics from the night I got to my camera in time to attempt to capture it all.

I promise you the summer evening skies of Arizona are some of the most amazing sights I have ever witnessed. Wish you could be here to watch them with us.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Fried food and feet

This weekend held a few milestones. We are now at less than 100 days until I become Mrs. Brookshire, Sean managed to get the worst sunburn I think I have ever seen in my entire life on the tops of his feet, and I met my soon-to-be sister-in-law for the first time.

All the guys in Sean's office had a company day out at the lake on Friday - pontoon, jetskis, tubes, and all. The guys spent the entire day out there, playing in the water, partaking in libations, and torturing each other in the playful way that only grown men can. So when Sean called me to tell me than he was related to a Maine lobster, I was extremely concerned. Little did I know I should have put my concern into researching burn treatments online. Let's just say that Sean has been using Aloe Vera gel with Lidocaine, Bactine, and Burn Cream on the tops of his feet and thighs for the entire weekend ... and shoes (even flip-flops) are seemingly the devil's equivalent. Poor Sean ... I can just hear my Mom's voice saying, "you play, you pay." Then I realize it was his boss' idea and work sponsored, so I get to kinda be mad at his job and give him some of the pity I feel for him when I see him cringe when he moves at all.

I digress, so Saturday morning brought the start of the second weekend in a row of houseguests. Sean has a younger sister, Taylor, she is 14 years old and lives in Temecula, California. We were supposed to meet this past Easter weekend, but that didn't work out. So this weekend, Taylor and her father, Paul, drove out to the P-H-X to spend some long overdue quality time with Sean. I was beyond excited that I was going to get an opportunity to start building my relationship with her let alone meet her before the wedding. Taylor's a soft-spoken, smart, pretty young woman who just recently took up dancing (which is exciting for me since I automatically had something to talk to her about). Taylor is also VERY 14 years old and had her cell phone within an arm's reach for the entirety of the weekend. Ha! Love it and I would have wondered if she was feeling ill had it been any different.

Taylor was at Six Flags with her girlfriend's the day before, so shortly after she arrived Taylor and Paul called it "nap time." So Sean and I headed back to our office / wedding war room, I futzed (as I do) and Sean continued to work the amazing alter pieces for our special day.

Before they arrived, Sean's family had put in a special request for meal that his grandmother was known for and since these infamous steak cutlets were so labor-intensive, Sean decided to invite over a few of his friends to celebrate his groomsman, Leo's birthday. So Taylor jumped into the kitchen to help and we ended up with eight people sitting at our dining room table.

Sean and I woke up early Sunday morning, due to our fabulous pups that have decided that 6a.m. is time to wake up all seven days a week (gotta love those pups), so we took advantage of the early morning not-quite-so-stinkin'-hotness and worked on finishing the potting bench Sean built for me, repotting some of my plants, rearranging garage and work shop stuff, and watching our pups play in the sprinklers (their favorite thing in the entire world). The rest of the day was spent pretty much hanging out, catching an IMAX film, watching movies on HBO, Taylor and I running off to Petsmart to buy some doggie clothes for her little mongrel, eating some fabulous spaghetti and surprising Paul with a yummy apple pie as a happy, early birthday gesture.

All in all, it was a fabulous, family- and friend-filled weekend. Yay for another layer of love and memories in our blooming household.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Attack of the bedroom fan

This morning the bedroom fan attacked Teagan ... OK, not really, but by the chaos that ensued this morning you would have thought that was what had actually happened. Sean and I have an upright tower fan in our bedroom that blows right onto Sean so that he can stay cool and we don't have to have the AC so far down that I freeze. Last night, we moved it out from the wall a bit to blow more directly on Sean as he was sunburned and miserable after being in the field all day.

So this morning, we hadn't moved the fan back to its normal location yet when Teagan went to go lay on the dog bed over in that section of our room. Well, something startled Teagan and as he got up run out of the room he got his paw caught up in the fan cord, pulled the fan out of the wall and both he and Tucker started barking ferociously while running backwards away from the fan as it slammed down onto tile.

Sean and I both jumped (a little startled ourselves from the ruckus), tried to quiet Tucker and Teagan, while laughing hysterically at the ridiculousness of it all.

Teagan is still a little shaken and won't go near the fan. Sean and I are still giggling.

I think it may be time to move the dog beds, as I foresee it not being used as frequently if it remains in its current position.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Lots of love, miles, and food ... yep, that about sums it up!

So this weekend was a busy one. My Mom came out to visit and help my bride-to-be nerves by getting the patterns and material for the bridesmaids dresses. So she arrived Friday afternoon and I took off early from work so that we could get our weekend started. I love early starts to weekends; so it was grand! We started with some relaxation time by getting pedicures and taking her to check out the Sex and the City movie followed by some home-made backyard burgers … which was probably good that we started off the weekend that way since it took four fabric stores and probably close to 90 miles to get enough of the material for all three dresses. Needless to say, it’s a darn good thing that Mom and I thoroughly enjoy each other’s company and well that we have a sense of humor about things. The extra added bonus was I got to try on my wedding dress that mom has been working on and well ... it's perfect! My mom is so remarkable and I feel so beautiful in that dress!

After our fabric excursion, my Mom and I returned to the house and tried to help Sean prepare for dinner. Since we were already entertaining and preparing food for more than just Sean and I, we had our neighbors, Gene and Alda, over for dinner as well. After we cleaned up dinner and cooed over how completely adorable our sweet neighbors are, we all headed off to bed. On Sunday morning, we all woke up early and indulged in Eggs Benedict and pomegranate mimosas at the Kranak house (my 3rd cousins). Mom headed back to San Diego around noon, Sean and I attempted to catch a couch nap and then we prepped for a carne asada dinner at our place with two of my coworkers.

Stir in some early morning coffee conversations while watching the pups play in the sprinklers and that about sums up our weekend. Lots of great people and the beginning of mine and Sean’s pursuit to fill our home with as much love as possible.

Friday, July 25, 2008

I love summer skies

Seriously ... Arizona skies during Monsoon season are indescribable, so I figured it was best just to post some pictures of it. So check in every once and a while to see what the heavens have given us to look at lately.