Moving on.....

We made it home from Virginia a few days ago and it feels like we have been living out of suitcases the entire month of December! I'm ready to just hunker down at home for the next few months. We had a wonderful time spending Christmas with my Dad, Maria and the family. Everyone was so kind and gracious (as usual). We are already planning to head back up for Easter. Brandon, being the military buff that he is, decided to take us on a field trip to Appomattox. That is the site where the Civil War ended. It was a nice historical break in our 6 hour road trip home. Here are a few pics from our trip. I may sound like Debbie Downer when I say "Halelujah, the Holiday season is almost over!" Yippee. My decorations are already boxed away for next year (Thank you Brandon for taking care of it for me). Once again I am looking forward to a New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's been a crazy last few months here at the Zito House and I totally slacked on the annual Christmas card, so this will just have to do. We are headed to Yorktown, VA to spend Christmas with my Dad and Maria. I haven't spent a Christmas with my Dad in 14 years, so it's long overdue. I'm super excited and Maddie can't wait to see Grandpa and Mimi. I'll be sure to take lots of pics and post them as soon as we are back in sunny yet cold TN. Merry Christmas everyone! We love and miss you all. :)

Utah Trip and Home Again...

Alright, so I'm being lazy and not blogging as often as I once did. But this time I have good reason. We took off to Utah 2 weeks ago and it's been a whirlwind ever since. Now that I'm back home I am enjoying the pleasant weather, but missing my family and close friends out West. We had a blast in Utah and it made me homesick all over again. I have to say "Sorry" to those friends that I didn't get time to hang with, but we are planning on coming back out in July, so there is still hope right? I have to say thanks to both sets of parents for letting us crash at their pads. Also, thanks to my step-dad Bruce for letting me drive the Ridgeline all over the Wasatch Front. Unfortunately, now Maddie says, "I hate this truck" because that's all I would say when I was driving it, (usually that statement came out when I was attempting to park the beast). I guess I'm just a small car gal, better tell that to my Pacifica. Enjoy the slideshow. Brandon took some pics of the snow out here in Johnson City, so yes it does snow here, but doesn't stick. I think I like that kind of snow best, you get the effect but not the messy driving conditions. I'm looking forward to Christmas and now counting down to July! I love and miss you all! :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Maddie Moo!

Maddie's 3rd Birthday was November 25th. I can't believe my little munchkin is 3. On Monday her preschool had a little party for her. On her birthday we opened presents and ate cake at 8:00 a.m. We then had a Birthday Party at the Fun Expo on Wednesday. So it was party central this week for Maddie Moo and she deserves every minute of it.

Happy Halloween!

This week has been a crazy madness of Halloween nonsense! Maddie isn't even 3 yet and she had Halloween functions almost everyday this week! Luckily for her she had 3, yes 3, costumes to choose from. Originally she was going to be Tinkerbell, then last week she wouldn't stop talking about Supergirl. So, the pushover I am I found her a Supergirl costume and we were on our way. However, she also had a Snow White costume leftover from a Princess Party she went to earlier in the month. Decisions,decisions. So, on Monday she was Supergirl and we went to the Johnson City Public Library Halloween Storytime and Parade. Then on Wednesday she was Tinkerbell for the Ward Trunk or Treat. On Friday she decided to be Snow White for the Munsey Preschool Halloween Parade. Then later that night Brandon took her to the Butler's for dinner and Trick or Treating where she was AGAIN Supergirl! As you can see from the pics she had a great week and I am relieved that it is over, and kinda sad. Now, what to do with all this Halloween candy. Hmmm.....is that my stomach growling? Gotta go.

Down to Dollywood

Yesterday we headed to Dollywood with the Bensons. It was our first visit so we were pretty excited and didn't know what to expect. After a nice 2 hour roadtrip (thanks to Brent's skillful driving) we finally made our destination. Dollywood was great. The atmosphere was very family friendly and everyone was really nice. Since we went with the Bensons Brandon and I were able to enjoy some roller coasters. It's been over 3 years since we were able to go on rides and it was a blast. Maddie's crush Zach kept Maddie entertained and Sienna was just cute as a button the entire time. It was an all day affair and we've already marked the calendar for our next visit. I can't wait.

Jada's Princess Party

Maddie's friend Jada had a "Princess Birthday Party" today. The girls were told to dress as princesses and the boys were to dress as knights. We had a great time hanging out with our new friends and Maddie had a blast running around being crazy. As you can tell from the pics everyone had a great time. Check out the cake that Leah made. She is in a cake making class and I am always so impressed with her skills. Happy 3rd Birthday Jada!

Sharkie 500 and Stickley Farms Fun

This week-end we headed up to the Bristol racetrack to watch the Sharkie 500. You pay $10 for a foam shark that floats down a little creek. The winner gets a boat and the proceeds go to the Children's Hospital. There was quite the turn out, lots of crafts and fun stuff for the kids and it was free to boot! After the race (we are still hoping and waiting to find out which shark finished first) we headed to Stickley Farm Pumpkin Patch to get Maddie a Halloween Pumpkin. This farm was awesome. There was a pumpkin patch, corn maize, lots of playground equipment and a hayride. I'm not sure how many acres the farm sat on, but it was huge. Lots of wide open spaces for everyone to run around and kick back. Plus, the bluegrass music in the background and all the lazy dogs taking their afternoon naps added to the festive atmosphere. Good times.

Snicker Snicker

Seriously So Ticked!

Ok, I am really really livid right now and I know that my grammar and spelling may not be on par, but I have to vent. I absolutely hate North American Moving Company! They are the worse moving company in America and I can't believe that they are still in business. We used them to move out to TN and it has been a nightmare since I had the verbal contract that I would use their services.

First off, let me just tell you that I thought I had done my homework and been a good consumer by getting numerous bids, and not jumping at the first moving company (Allied, wish I would have now). After narrowing my search I finally decided to go with North American Movers. They were within reason of the other companies that I had researched and everything seemed ok at first.

Well, it all started going down hill when they had to change the pickup date of service. Then when they finally arrived (5 hours late) none of the movers could speak English. After all of our items were loaded up they gave us the grand total which was more than DOUBLE of the initial quote. I was speechless and I could not belie my eyes when Carlos gave me the breakdown. Seriously, was this a joke? Nope, and what could I do. Our entire house was loaded in the truck, of course I'm not going to tell them to unload and have a nice day (should have now that I look back). Anyways....they then told us that they had never got a deposit, LIE, and that we had to pay by check (which the contact stated credit card was accepted). However, since Carlos could barely speak English it was kind of hard to negotiate with him, and it just so happened that we were moving on 4th of July so of course the office was a skeleton crew and we'd have to wait 3 days to talk to a "manager".

So, off the truck went with our good and almost all of our money. They had told us they would deliver our stuff within 7 days. LIE, Our stuff didn't arrive until 2 weeks after the pickup. Seriously, how long does it take to drive to TN? We got there in 3 days, my little tercel, which arrived by semi made it in 4, so what was the hold up. Anyways, once they got there they unloaded everything (thankfully everything but a mirror made it's way to TN) and then they were off.

Well, once we paid them in full we decided that we just wouldn't use them ever again, and go with a UHAUL with our next move. I was soo excited to have our furniture and clothing that as I threw the first load of laundry into our washer I was kind of oblivious to that face that our perfect washer was not working! WHAT?????

So we called the movers and told them our washer is broke, and we need some a refund for the washer. In our contact it stated that the company would pay .60 cent on the dollar for the poundage of the loss, broke item. Well, being that this washer weighed atleast 300 lbs we figured we could get atleast $250 from them. NOT!!!!! Come to find out we need to get 3 bids, take pictues, provide original receipt of the item broke and the itemized list from the pickup date, PLUS get everything notarize. How many more hoops would we need to jump through to get some compensation. Alright, so we did all this, we had to pay $75 just to get an initial bid which only confirmed our belief that our washer had been beaten to death by the movers. Great....well once I sent everything in we decided that we should just go and purchase a new washer because the estimated amount to fix our washer was $1200! That's right $1200!!! Of course you can buy a brand new washer for way less, which is what we did.

Alright...so now the company has received all of our infomration about the claim and it is now just stewing at the claims office waiting to find out what the company will take responsiblity for. 2 weeks went by and NOTHING. Everytime I would call the company the claims departmetn was busy, away from their desk, out of the office, or gone for the day! So aggravating. Well, today Brandon tell me that we got a letter from this awesome moving company that told us they were not responsible for any internal damage to our washer! Are you kidding me! I hate them! NEVER use this company, it is such a ripoff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright, I feel a little better now.

First Day of Preschool

My little girl is all grown up. Today Maddie went to her first day of preschool. She was on the waitlist at Munsey and they called last Friday to let me know a slot opened up. I didn't know when Maddie would be starting so I called this morning at 8:45 a.m. to confirm her slot. They said I could bring her in today (class started at 9:00 a.m.). So of course I decided to make a mad dash to school. Maddie had been enjoying her leisurely morning routine of watching morning cartoons in her underwear and drinking chocolate milk. Well, I put a quick stop to that, luckily she was in a good mood to get dressed (picked out her own outfit). I usually would have preferred something more on the "cute scale" but I was more concerned with getting her to school in 15 minutes. Anyways, we were off and running in 10 minutes and with a little coaxing and some tears from Maddie she was off to school! It's only twice a week for almost 3 hours, but hey it's a chance for me to get caught up on stuff and a nice break in the day for the munchkin. I can't believe how fast she's grown up.

Appy Fair

Last night we went to the Appalachian Fair. It was smaller then the fairs that we've been to in Utah,but it still had all the old staples i.e. cotton candy, corn dogs, fries, burgers, candy apples. Maddie was just tall enough to ride the rides and she had a blast. My boyfriend Jake Owen performed, and he sure can put on a show! :) Good times. The highlight of the fair was this little water wheel exhibit with ducklings. The ducklings would swim together as group, walk up a plank, and then slide down the waterslide. It was adorable.

Our House

Here's a couple pictures of our house in Johnson City. I also took a pic from our front porch. Notice the "mountain view" our landlord was really proud of that. I had to chuckle a bit because HELLO...we are from Utah where the best mountains in the world are! The last picture shows the mountain view from when we lived in Ogden. How do you like them apples!

Maddie's Haircut

Maddie got her first official haircut today. I held off on cutting her hair because I envisioned her having waistlength hair by the time she was 4. But her hair was getting scragglier and scragglier and she was quickly rebelling against me. Lately she would not let me style her hair whatsoever or she would just pull out the pigtails in the car soo... it was time for the big cut. She did great at the salon, she just sat there and stared in the mirror. I think she was more nervous then anything. Once the cut was done it looked so adorable. I love it. She totally looks like a little flapper girl now. I wish I would have taken the plunge sooner. Atleast now her hair looks cute all the time, whether I do it or not! :)

Facebook Frenze

I am officially addicted to facebook! Alot of the ward members out here use it as a means of communication, and I was asked to join. So...I logged on,set up an account and now I can't stop checking facebook. I LOVE IT!!! I have been able to re-connect with quite a few people from my past and I am so grateful for it. However, I now find myself up at nights trying to think of who I could search for. It's crazy, but I love being updated on people's lives, plus you can upload pics (my favorite). The spare time that I had was once spent on blogs and has now been transferred to facebook. So, if you're reading this and NOT a member, join now!

Remember when...

Now that Maddie is officially potty trained (no accidents since Thursday) as far as I'm concerned, I feel that my baby girl is now a little girl. So sad. I was soo excited for her to be out of diapers, and don't get me wrong I am thrilled. But there is a yearning for her baby years now that will never come back. I started looking at old photos of her and found myself back to the days of her babyhood. Here are some pics from over the last few years of how much my baby has grown. Enjoy.

NO MORE DIAPERS!!!! and some fun in the sun...

I have officially begun potty training Maddie today. By that I mean she no longer has ANY diapers to wear whatsoever! I refuse to buy another package of diapers or wipes. Last night she went to bed without a diaper and has not had one on since! Yay. I can't tell you how excited I am. However, I am now constantly monitoring every move she makes. Asking her what feels like every other minute if she has to use the potty. In past posts I tried using candy "potty lemons" to bribe her to pee, but of course that only made her want to eat candy. After all the advice everyone gave me I decided that I was just sick of changing diapers and Maddie will be potty trained whether she likes it or not. I also feel that I've realized a part of Maddie's personality that I didn't recognize or was just in denial about. My child will not be the "she will grow out of it" child or the "she will stop/start when she's ready child". I have the "until you force me to actually change my behavior I will stay in my comfy little whatever forever child". I absolutely love Maddie to bits and I wouldn't change a single thing about her, but this parenting thing is not all it's cracked up to be. Also, with the whole potty training thing going on now I am totally paranoid about taking her out in public. I fear that she will pee all over her carseat or at a friend's house. Ugh...oh well, just the perks to having a diaperless child right? Anyways...since today was nice outside and I don't really care if Maddie pees in her bathing suit, I decided it would be a good "swim" day. She had more fun playing with the hose and running around rather than actually wading in her pool. But she had fun and laughed most of the time so I'm happy.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Today we went to our first Johnson City Cardinals Baseball Game. This was also both Maddie and my first "professional" baseball game ever. Luckily the weather was perfect, low humidity and everything. :) We didn't know if Maddie would make it through the entire game but she was a champ and was wide awake all the way to the 9th inning. The Cardinals won and looks like we found a fun summer activity for the whole family.

4th of July

Since we were in transition over 4th of July here is a delayed post of the festivities. We decided to sell our Hannah Montana tickets to spend one last 4th of July in Brigham City. I always looked forward to our big 4th of July bash at Todd and Mishelle's and this year was as fun as ever. Here are some pics of the good times. Enjoy!

Memories

As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or alot, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you(if you already haven't). It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Touch Down Tennessee

Sorry this post is a few weeks overdue. Today we FINALLY got our cable and Internet access hooked up at our new house. It's sad how much I depend on the Internet to function day to day. We had been making daily trips to our local library to get online to check email and try to keep up with day to day news. But now we are online and good to go! I don't have any great pics to post yet, I will definitely get some posted in the near future. We found a little house a few blocks from campus which will be perfect for our time here in Johnson City. Even though we are only about 2 miles from downtown our little street has a country charm to it. Our landlord informed us that there is a rabbit that lives in the area and would be stopping by for daily visits. Not to disappoint, that rabbit (now goes by the name of "Bunny") is a daily fixture of our backyard. I will have to get a pic of him. There are also numerous squirrels that race up and down our street and too many birds to count are always chirping in the trees. We are still trying to get use to all the streets, but I've located Target, Starbucks, and the mall so I'm already feeling at home in our new city. I'm intrigued by the Southern accent that the majority of people here have. If I'm not careful I can easily slip into when ordering food. It's pretty entertaining to listen to strangers jabber on about their day events. Anyways, stay tuned for upcoming pics of the wonderful little town of Johnson City.

This Is The Place!

After living in Utah for nearly 90% of my life I decided to finally venture out to "This Is The Place" Park. As most Utahns know this is the area made famous by Brigham Young's declaration when the pioneers trekked into what is now Salt Lake City. Robyn, Laney, Dill0n, Linda, Maddie and me made a date to check out what the fuss was all about, and I'm glad that we went. I would first advise NOT to go when it's a balmy 104 degrees outside, but besides that the park was really cool. I'm trying to squeeze in as many "Utah" activities before we head East on Sunday. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be making it out to The Great Salt Lake...tear :-( but hey, that's what visits are for right?

Good-Bye Beehive State....Hello Volunteer State!

We are officially setting our sights to Johnson City, Tennessee on July 6th! In other words, we are moving to Tennessee. That's right, I can't believe after talking about moving to Tennessee (for nearly 2 years) the time has finally come. For those who are wondering why Tennessee? It's simple...Eastern Tennessee State University. Brandon will be studying for his Master's there. We are very excited for some new scenery, but sad to leave good friends and beloved family behind. I'm also pretty bummed that I'll have to miss the Jack Johnson concert in August. So, if anyone needs tickets there are 4 for sale. Don't worry, we will definitely be back for a visit or two. :)

Here are some fun facts about our future home state.

Fun Facts

• Nashville, Tennessee, is the country music capital of the world. The greatest stars of country music perform at Nashville's famous Grand Ole Opry.

• Each August, Memphis holds a citywide celebration honoring the King of Rock and Roll—Elvis Presley.

• President Andrew Jackson named Memphis after a city in Egypt.

• Each year the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is held as part of the Memphis in May International Festival. Lucky attendees can sample all kinds of succulent pork barbecue while the pitmasters duel it out in the "Super Bowl of Swine."

• Graceland, Elvis Presley's home and 14-acre estate in Memphis, Tennessee, was opened to the public in 1982.

• Dollywood is Dolly Parton's 125-acre theme park in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains. It features rides, entertainment and craft demonstrations.

• The Smoky Mountain National Park is America's most visited national park. It is home to 30 species of salamanders and an estimated 1,600 black bears.

• Pat Summit, the longtime coach of the University of Tennessee women's basketball team, is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history (men or women's).

• The architect of Tennessee's State Capitol Building in Nashville, William Strickland, died during its construction. He is buried within the building's walls.

• Tennessee's state tree, the tulip poplar, can grow to be 200 feet tall. Pioneers used the tree in the construction of their homes and farms.

Happy 5th Anniversary!!!

Cousins

My sister Stephanie, her husband Justin and their little boy Jonathon are in town from Orlando this week. We were able to get together for a little KFC and some geese feeding down in Layton yesterday. The weather was super chilly, again a little unseasonal for this time of year but it was fun seeing everyone again.

Memorial Day Week-end Getaway

This post is long overdue. We took a trip up to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone National Park over Memorial Day week-end. I've been too lazy to download the pics and take the time to type out a blog for the last month. So....here's my blog about our trip. I've never been to Jackson or Yellowstone so I was pretty excited to see what the fuss was all about. Unfortunately the weather was rather unseasonal for this time of year. It rained almost the entire time we were up there, which made walking around the town not to pleasant. Anywhoo...we did spend a day driving around Yellowstone which is really scenic. We hit Old Faithful and then went up to Lower Falls. We saw our share of buffalo, caribou, and moose. I was hoping to see a bear or wolf, but no go. I guess we'll have to sneak up there again in the next month or two. I've posted some pics of our trip, it was nice to get out of town, but it was even nicer to get home and be able to sleep in my nice big bed. :) Enjoy.

Gymnastics Bungee Day!

I haven't blogged in awhile so I thought I would post some pics from Maddie's gymnastics class. I've been taking her to gymnastics since last August. At first she was really shy and couldn't even jump. Now she's all over the place and her favorite thing to do is jump on the couch, the bed, the grass, the ground, anywhere! It's fun watching the kids do their "warmups" and I love that her class is at an actual gym. I get nostalgic and reminisce about my limited time I had with gymnastics when I was younger. Sometimes I wonder who is having more fun, me or Maddie? I've definitely had as much fun if not more running around the gym and jumping on all the different tramps. I love the springboards and foam pit. Although she's not doing her roundoff back-handsprings (in due time right?) her pediatrician said that I am instilling a "healthy lifestyle" by getting her involved in physical activities. So, I guess I deserve a pat on the back for being a good Mommy.

Her class starts off with a 15 minute warmup and then we focus on one apparatus for 15 minutes. Then she gets to have "playtime" for the next 15 minutes. She usually bolts for the big trampoline and then makes her way over to the other equipment. Today we did the "bungee" which the more skilled gymnastics use to master flips. I'm tempted to ask Fred (coach) if I could try it one day, it looks like fun and Maddie has a blast.

Baby Farm Animal Day

Today Maddie and I went to the annual "Baby Farm Animal Day" at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville. We got there bright and early and it was already packed with people and children of all ages. I tried to get Maddie to take advantage of the free pony rides, but she wasn't quite up to it. We then checked out the "Petting Zoo" and she was more afraid than anything in there. I think the idea of little baby cows walking around freaked her out. Anyways...we wandered around and as you can tell by the pics it was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect and not a cloud in the sky. Some of the volunteers are dressed up like pioneers and Maddie kept saying "Little House on the Prairie". Yes, that's another show that we watch together from time to time. I'm gonna say her favorite part of the whole day was taking a ride on the covered wagon. We tried it out more than once. My favorite part was buying the best $4 kettle corn money could buy. Yum yum! I wish there would have been more baby animals there, but what was there was pretty neat. Little lambs, foals, calves, a piglet, and some baby goats. The whole experience made me want to go camping. But I totally looked forward to taking a hot bath when we got home to wash off all the dirt and animal funk off! :)

Stadium of Fire

As I've written in my past blogs Maddie is a huge Hannah Montana fan, kinda scary being that she is just over 2 years old. Back when Hannah Montana "aka Miley Cyrus" came in concert a few months ago Maddie was still oblivious to Hannah Montana. That was ok, because she was still too young to really get the whole "Hannah Montana" thing (not like she's much older now) anyways...I always thought it would have been nice to take her to a Hannah Montana concert in a few years, if she was still around. Well, low and behold Brandon told me that Hannah Montana was coming to Stadium of Fire! Holy cow! Here was our chance to take Maddie to see Hannah Montana. I know she probably wont grasp the whole concert thing, and not even remember it, but still I was pretty excited. Brandon and I are both closet Hannah Montana fans, it must be said. I'll belt out the tunes in the car and rock out with Maddie. I was little nervous that we may not be able to get tickets because from past articles about Hannah Montana it was obvious that tickets are gone within minutes. Well at 4:00 I got on the internet and waited for over an hour to be able to purchase our tickets. Well, the heavens parted and we were granted a miracle, yes we secured 3 tickets to Stadium of Fire to see Hannah Montana! Oh and the Blue Man Group will be there too which will be pretty cool. I've always wondered about those blue guys and what the fuss was all about. I just hope Maddie wont be in meltdown mode by the time the concert kicks off! I've always loved 4th of July and looked forward to it, but now I am seriously counting the days 'til July 4th! :)

Happy Easter Monday

Today we got together with the Zito Family and had a great cookout, fun Easter Egg Hunt and good times all around. Linda bought the grandkids a new "airplane teeter-totter" which is awesome and kept the kids interested for about 15 minutes of fun! :) I'm sure they'll learn to love it as much as the tramp and swingset. Also, there was a new game for the "adults". I'm not sure what the name of it is, but it reminds me of the volleyball tied to the rope contraption from "Napoleon Dynamite", except it's a tennis ball instead of a volleyball and you use a large paddle instead of your hands to hit the ball around and around. Most everyone that gave it a shot ended up with sore shoulders, bruises, welts or all the above. I think Robyn was the champion as you can tell by the pictures posted. We usually get together on Sundays, so being that it was a Monday it kinda felt like Sunday today, which was nice. We had a blast and it was great seeing Bill and Wilma who came down from Big Sky Country for a much needed visit. Thanks for the good times and happy memories.

Happy Easter

Here are some pics from Maddie's Easter Egg Hunt. We had to give her clues to direct her to the eggs and even then she couldn't see them sometimes. I loved seeing her face light up when she found an egg. She looks a little elderly with the curles, jumpsuit and heels on eh? As I'm putting this blog together she is sitting on the floor, devouring all the jelly beans that were inside her eggs.

After the Easter Egg Hunt it was off to church. Easter Sunday has always been my favorite church day because all the little girls seem to be dressed in their best Spring dress and today was no disappointment.

Beyond Perfect Day

Today I got some much needed pampering and I loved every single minute of it. Years ago Robyn discovered this little spa called Beyond Spa in a strip mall in Layton, yes a spa in a strip mall. Everytime she went for a massage she would tell me how great it was and how I needed to get my body there. Well, I finally did and I'm so grateful I did.

Back in the day you could get a quality deluxe 50 minute massage for $35! That price is unheard of, but it's true. They have since raised that price by $5 but it still isn't bad for the work you get. Brandon gave me a massage/facial certificate for my birthday last year and I finally got around to using it. It was fabulous. I almost wanted to cry after my 2 hour vacation was up. The only draw back was that I was ready to take a nap after the service and unfortunately new that was a dream because I still needed to get home and get lunch ready for the munchkin. My batteries are fully recharged and I am refreshed, have super soft skin and a great complexion. Yippee!!!!