Wednesday, February 17, 2010

More Than a Month and No Post?

I know, I have not posted in over a month and I just started this blog. What is up with that? I will try to be better. I havent even been very busy. Things look like they will be picking up soon though and again become very busy.
Well for an update on the last month and a half of our lives goes like this....
December was great with lots of parties, family, presents, and food. I bet I gained 10 pounds. Ok, hopefully not but sometimes it feels like it.
Haley had her wisdom teeth pulled in a research study and it was no bueno. She was in pain for several days and the only good thing was she got paid to do it. However, she didnt get clothes or her nails done or things that a normal girl would do with it. No no, she bought me a dog for my Christmas present. We named her Cosmopolatin Sole "something". We call her Cosmo but the "something" is where I need your help. To be registered with the AKC she needs 3 names so we dont know what the last name should be, and it wont be Castillo.



I built her a dog house several months ago with the hopes that she would be living in it soon. It was a lot of fun to build and she is doing really well. She is getting big quickly and is eating more than I expected.


Easton and Averie are still getting used to her and she is getting used to them. Easton loves to play with her but her teeth are sharp and she is still learning not to jump on people and not to nip at them. Easton is also still learning that he is the master and that he is in charge of feeding her and picking up the poop. Oh well, its a work in progress, right? It sure makes for some great teaching moments though and Cosmo really is a fun addition to our family. We have a blast going on walks and she is starting to really catch on to playing fetch.

January was also of course really busy and fun. We have had alot of time to spend together as a family and it has been great. I made a New Years resolution to read a book a week and it is going really well. I am doing it for 52 weeks and so far I am on track. Maybe I will add a little snippet about the books I read each week. I just finished "More Than Enough" by Dave Ramsey. I highly recommend his books. They are very practical and inspiring. This year I have also read Beleiving Christ, Financial Peace, Green Side Up, and I am almost finished with The Science of Getting Rich, Standing for Something, and Good to Great. This is a great goal for anyone who loves to read.

I also just finished building some shelving in our garage. I am really proud of myself and I also did a little section in our crawl space for food storage. I will be adding onto that soon but it is a lot of fun to work on projects at home and of course the list keeps growing. I am especially excited for the garden this year. Last year we had a great harvest and we expect the same this year but I redid the sprinklers in the garden and we have doubled the size of is as well. I will definitley be writing about that and am thinking about taking a daily picture and making a time lapsed film about our garden growing. That would be fun to watch. I will post pictures of the shelves and the garden as we get further along.

So, what should we name our dog?
What are you reading?
What are you looking forward to in the spring?

Sunday, February 14, 2010

The Reason I Breathe


Happy Valentines everyone.

I am dedicating this post to my incredible wife, Haley. She truly is the reason I breathe, she is the reason I wake up each day and the last thought to cross my mind as I go to sleep each night.

For her Valentines gift I made her chocolate covered strawberries. They were awesome if I do say so myself. I also made a list of 365 reasons why I love her, cut them each into a strip of paper, rolled each one up and stuck them in a capsule so she will have one to open and read each day for a year. That way she will have a daily reminder of why I love her.
Here is a sample from the list....

1. I love your intelligence and excitement for what you do.
2. I love the way you kiss me passionately.
3. I love that you can be yourself around me.
4. I love the fact that you will go to the guy movies with me and never complain.
5. I love the way you look at me when we are together.
6. I love the way your head fits right into the crook between my shoulder and chin and I love it when you burrow.
7. I love the way I can kiss your forehead and your hair when I hold you in my arms.
8. I love the way you can make me laugh so hard that I'm rolling around on the floor.
9. I love that you call me “sweetheart”.
10. I love that you let me be a gentleman and let me open your car door.
11. I love the way you make me happy even when I'm sad
12. I love the way your smile warms me up inside.
13. I love the way your hair falls on my face and occasionally gets in my mouth while we're kissing.
14. I love the way you squirm when I tickle you.
15. love that you like me to sing to you.
16. I love the way my arms feel around your waist.
17. I love that you like to be romantic.
18. I love that you are so respectful and understanding.
19. I love that you are so caring.
20. I love that you are so trustworthy and loyal.

I love my wife with all my heart and am so grateful that she loves me in return.

Haley, thank you for almost six wonderful years full of memories and I can wait for the next lifetime of memories with you by my side! I love you. Happy Valentines day.