Kobe, Truck Love, Kobe, Spring/Winter Battle, Kobe, My Parents, Kobe, Josh at Work, KOBE, STAR WARS, AND MAMBA OUT!

**LAKERS! KOBE!** 
I still remember when Kobe was drafted. I was in the car with my mom listening to the radio and all of a sudden she said, "YES!" Huh? What? "We are getting Kobe!" I asked who that was and she said, "He's that High School kid that's really good." Oh ok! 

Sounds good to me!

We watch Kobe (with his fro) play for the Lakers and build an amazing franchise. Just a few years later Kobe and our Lakers got their three-peat! It was amazing! I still remember Mark Madsen dancing and the Kings crying! :-P

I've been a Lakers fan for most of my life and I can't even imagine the NBA without Kobe. I grew up watching him. I cried when they lose in the Playoffs and I cheer when they win! It's been hard to be a Lakers fan lately but that hasn't stopped me. I just LOVE my Southern CA teams!

Even though the game didn't start until 9:30 PM, I HAD to stay up to watch Kobe play one more time! The tributes were amazing and the game was so much fun to watch! Kobe scored 60 points and they won their 17th game of the season! :-/

[I made this sign for Kobe when we went to the Bulls vs Lakers game. Kobe never got to see it]

[KOBE!!]

[JACK!!]

[SHAQ AND KOBE!!]

Anyways, I'm going to miss Kobe, but I am excited to see what the Lakers are going to do with all the extra cap space!

"Mamba Out!"

**TRUCK LOVE**
I miss my X-Terra. I love how it had a big back seat and a nice large trunk. It made grocery shopping and transporting suitcases easier. Don't get me wrong, I do love our new truck but having a trunk (that you can use) is really important to me. So we decided it was time to put our eight-foot bed to use.

[Before. The truck bed it lined with ugly plastic]

[During. I went and took the truck to get it sprayed with liner. It looks beautiful!!]

[After! I took the truck and got a beautiful bed cover installed. It cost a little more then I wanted it to but I love how it looks!]

Now I can put everything from my backseat in the bed of the truck. It is also really easy to just open the cover a little bit so I can put groceries back there. And I have my backseat back! Woot Woot! Everyone hop in!

**STAR WARS VII**

Star Wars VII came out! Eek!! I already watched all the extra features! Love it!

**RAPTOR WORK**
We got a small crack in the floor of the shower. Josh is handy so he fixed it :-) We are also in the process of ripping out the carpet in the closet. Always something to do!

**WINTER/SPRING BATTLE**

I keep wearing my Rainbows hoping that Mother Nature will take the hint but the snow just kept on coming!!

I think that Winter is almost over now. Time to put away the sweatpants and Converse... hopefully!

**MISSING CA**
I love this shirt! I miss California!

**JOSH WORK**
Josh continues to work on the pipeline. He enjoys his job and I appreciate all the work he does!

[Pipeliner blasting the pipe]

  

[Applying the coating]  

[Josh the Inspector inspecting the coating] 

**IT'S MY PARENTS 35th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY TODAY!**
My parents are at the end of an epic vacation. They spent a month in Portugal, a month in Spain, a month in Africa (South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe), and time in Qatar and Paris. My parents are such a great example to me and I am excited to see them when they get home next week!

THEN:

NOW: 

**GOING TO OHIO**
I am going to Ohio on Tuesday to see my family! My sister-in-law, Missy, is going to give birth at anytime and I am so excited to meet my new nephew and to play with my other nephews!

Why Can't I Trust My Dentist?!

For the first 28 years of my life I actually liked going to the Dentist. I never had a cavity and I take great pride in my teeth. I love all the compliments that I get whenever I get my teeth cleaned. "Wow! You have great teeth!" "Keep up the good work!"

Two years ago we moved to Indiana I went to our new Dentist. I went to the office and a girl took me to get my x-rays done. She rolled her eyes at me when she told me I needed to take our my earrings. "Um... okay. That's not a problem."

She then took me to my chair where I watched Pawn Stars until my Hygienist showed up. She was awesome! I love it when they really get in there and clean. She said that my teeth looked great and that I would just need to wait for the Dentist to come look at them. I continued to watch TV and then all of a sudden my chair was going down and back and someone had their hands on my face. "Oh! Hello." The Dentist had arrived. He said nothing to me. He proceeded to do his exam and he told me that I needed to have one of my sealants* filled and that I had a few cavities and then he left.

"WAIT! WHAT?!"

*Side story: I've never had a cavity, but when I was younger my Dentist did fillings (or sealants) on some of my molars because I have deep grooves. It was a preventative thing. So yes, I have had shots in my mouth, I have had drills in my mouth, and I know what it feels like to have a filling.

Ok. So now I am shocked! SHOCKED! I didn't even have time to ask him about the cavity or anything!

I then went over to the lady who schedules they appointments. She said that because all of my cavities are in different quadrants I would have to come back four different times! FOUR!

So I came in for my first appointment a few months later. My first cavity. I was told that at this time the Dentist was going to fix one of my sealants and do one of my cavities at the same time. Alright. Two birds, right?

The rude girl from before came in and put a couple of q-tips in my mouth. I know what these are! Numbing agents! Yeah! I was watching TV for only a few minutes in my chair when this hand grabbed my face. I knew it was the Dentist and I figured he was just checking on the numbing agents. NOPE! Here comes the needle! It hurt so bad! SO BAD! He gave me a few shots and my mouth was throbbing! 

Then he laid me back and had the rude girl and another lady come over and help. It seemed like he was teaching them. He let them do some of the procedure. Which was fine. But it would have been nice to know. 

Also during my procedure he and the girls would be laughing and flirting. It was so strange. After the procedure he left and I was told to go make an appointment for my next cleaning. 

My head, not mouth, HEAD was numb for the rest of the day. I really think he hit the wrong nerve with that shot. So stupid. 

Well, a few weeks went by and my tooth still hurt (it didn't hurt before the "cavity", but it hurt during and after). I didn't think this was normal so I called the Dentist. They told me it shouldn't hurt and that I needed to come back in. Fine.

I went back in and the Dentist attempted to fix my cavity. He seemed angry and proceeded to blame me for it. What could I have done?!

So I sat down in the chair and the rude girl came back with the q-tips. I told her that I didn't think they worked last time and she just rolled her eyes at me. Great. Good job, Court.

The Dentist came back and I prepared for the shots (even though he didn't tell me they were coming). They still hurt but at least they didn't scare me this time.

Well, a few months went by and my tooth still hurt! I called the Dentist again and they said to come in when I had my cleaning and they would look at it then. Fine.

I went back in and had my cleaning. Again, the Hygienist did a great job. Then the Dental Assistant came over. I told her about my tooth. She told me that they were going to put numbing agent on it and if it didn't get better I may need to get a root canal. A ROOT CANAL?! She then told me that I had more cavities. 

WHAT?! NO F-ING WAY!

I got mad. I told her that that was not possible. She just rolled her eyes at me and told me to get a second opinion if I wanted to. Why would I need to get a second opinion?! BAH! 

On my way out of the office I was told I needed to make another appointment. "No. I'm never coming back here. Tell me what I owe you and I am leaving and never coming back."

So, here we are. I didn't go to the Dentist at all in 2015 because I was so freaked out by my experience in Indiana.

When we moved to Illinois in December, I decided that I needed to go get my cavity checked out and to get a cleaning. 

A few days ago I went to the Dentist. I was so nervous! I told the Dentist there and the Hygienist about my last experience in Indiana. They listened and were very nice about it. After my cleaning the Hygienist told me that my mouth looks great and that I didn't have any cavities! What?! How is that possible?!

The Dentist then came in and had a look around. He said my mouth was very "boring" and that was a good thing. He then poked around my mouth trying to find where my tooth was hurting. He said that he could see the filling and he could remove it and try to fix it but he didn't want to if it wasn't hurting any more. I told him that it only hurts if I bite down on something hard (like granola). He said to keep up the good work and that he will see me in 6 months. 

So here we are. I don't even know what to think. I am so happy that I ended up getting that second opinion. I don't have any cavities. I probably got all that work done in Indiana for no reason. 

AND, Josh also went to that Dentist in Indiana. He has fine teeth, but he has had some cavities and he has a tooth that needs to be pulled. He got one of his cavities filled and he had the same problem I had (still hurting and can't eat anything hard). I'll have to set him up an appointment with this new guy. 

Employment Status: Check One Please

I have very mixed feelings when it comes to being unemployed. Sometimes I think about how nice it is. I can do what I want, went I want. I have no one to answer to. I can run off to Europe at a minutes notice. I can read and write or watch TV all day. I can take online classes ...

BUT

On the flip side I get frustrated. I like structure. I like to have things planned out. I like to have order and control. I like to contribute. I like to feel like I matter.

That being said, this is what I've been doing (and other random stuff too):

(1) I work out. I go to the gym 6 days a week. I lift weights, walk on the treadmill (I hate to run), go on the Elliptical, and Spin. Then I go home and do either Yoga, Piyo, stand on my Bosu Ball or Insanity.

[I usually end up icing my knees a few times a day]

(2) I have been looking for a good natural deodorant for a long time. I don't like antiperspirants and it seems like that is all they sell at the store. I saw Piper Wai on Shark Tank (See? Watching TV pays off, right?!) and thought I would try it out. So far it works great and smells good :-)

(3) Snow! Where is Spring?!

(4) Meal Planning. Every Sunday I sit down and plan out what we are going to have for dinner during the week based on meals that we like (~15 choices). I then make a grocery list based off of my meal plan. I find that this helps me with my WW and we don't waste as much food.

(5) This election is getting out of control. I love this:

(6) I do the finances. I started tracking our spending back when we were living in North Dakota and I had us on a tight budget. I like seeing where our money goes every month. I am crazy and I know Josh gets annoyed when I call him and ask him about a specific charge, but he knows it's for the best.

(7) I sit in my chair and watch TV. I have three years worth of Gotham and House of Cards to catch up on!

(8) Spring arrived! We had tornado watches and warnings (there was a touch down just south of us) so we did a little work on the Raptor and stayed glued to the News until it passed.

[Adding sealant so water doesn't get in]

[Such a manly man!]

The storm was a little scary for me. There was a ton of lightning and thunder (Josh loves that crap), but we didn't have any damaging hail or tornados (like they said we would).

So far I have been enjoying my time off :-) And I am looking forward to going to Ohio to visit my family soon!

2016 Portugal and Spain

Blog posts about my 2016 trip to Portugal and Spain to see my parents:

Impromptu Trip to Europe: Part I - Evora and Lisbon, Portugal

Impromptu Trip to Europe: Part II - Pena, Portugal

Impromptu Trip to Europe: Part III - Porto, Coimbra and Lagos, Portugal

Impromptu Trip to Europe: Part IV - Flight to Spain & Gibraltar

Impromptu Trip to Europe: Part V - Seville, Spain

Impromptu Trip to Europe: Part VI - Madrid and Toledo, Spain & The Trip Home

Lakers Vs. Chicago Bulls: Farewell Kobe!

I've been a Kobe fan since he was drafted. I've loved the Lakers for as long as I can remember and the Lakers without Kobe is going to be very strange for me. 

When I heard that Kobe was retiring I knew that I would have to go see him play one more time. When we got back from our Honeymoon, I started looking at tickets for when the Lakers were coming to Chicago. Luckily, they were playing on a Sunday night (so Josh would be able to come with me) in February! I debated about the tickets for a while but in the end I splurged and got us front row tickets on the Club Level! Eek! 

I've never been to the United Center before so I did some research and found out that you are allowed to bring in posters so I made one for Kobe:

We arrived at the United Center and found our VIP Parking spot at 5:00 PM. The game didn't start until 7:00 PM but I wanted to get there early so we could look around the arena and get something to eat.

[Michael Jordan statue outside the United Center]

[It was cold but I was EXCITED!]

We waited in line for a few minutes before the doors opened at 5:30 PM. While we were coming in the lady at the metal detector told me that I couldn't bring my poster in! "But how will Kobe know how much I love him?!" I was super sad!

So we entered the arena and found our awesome seats!

We dropped off my Lakers foam finger and our Noah bobble heads then proceeded to walk around the Club Level looking for good food. Josh decided to go with a pulled pork BBQ sandwich with sweet potato fries and I got steak tacos, guacamole, and a margarita. YUM! Totally hit the spot!

We then went back to our seats so we could watch the guys warm up!

KOBE!

I was anxiously waiting for Pau and Kobe to meet at center court. They were so cute! I really miss Gasol! Come back to the Lakers PLEASE!

Then I saw that Kobe was signing basketballs at center court. I told Josh that I needed one. Maybe for Christmas?! ;-)

I knew that during his farewell tour a lot of the other arenas had done tributes for Kobe. And this one was AMAZING! Gasol ended up introducing Kobe! I loved it! 

"KO-BE! KO-BE! KO-BE!"

[Kobe and Gasol hugging it out before tip off]

[Tip off!]

[I took this picture because we were actually ahead and I had no idea when that would happen again, but it ended up being a really close game!]

[The Bulls player at the bottom of the shot lost his shoe but he continued to play anyways. It was so funny!]

During the 4th the whole crowd started chanting, "We want Kobe!" *clap clap clap clap clap* and "MVP! MVP! MVP!" and "KO-BE! KO-BE! KO-BE!"

He was just sitting on the bench cracking up the whole time!

Finally, Byron put him in and the crowd went wild!

With a minute left, Byron called a time out and Kobe left the court for the last time. He was smiling and waving while the crowd gave him a standing ovation. I got a little teary-eyed! Seriously going to miss him!

The Lakers put up a great fight but in the end they lost. 

[Can you tell how much I love these guys?!]

Oh and since the Bulls won and scored over 100 points we all got free Big Macs. Um... yeah? I guess it's no better then the Staples Center where you get free tacos from Jack-in-the-Box. YUCK!

Thanks to Josh for putting up with my obsessions! And you don't have to get me anything for our Anniversary, or my birthday, um.... or Christmas? :-)

Thanks Kobe for retiring as a Laker! We will miss you!