So What?!

My Lunch Today:
Don't Judge Me!

Thank's neighbor for the delicious American Dream Cookie and Oreo Mint Icecream Cake!!!!!

Bad Jericho

Last night our suspicions of our lil' Apple being preggo were confirmed. She went into labor around 6:00pm. We took her to the vet around 9:00pm. After 3 xrays we could see the tiny little puppy... Jericho's puppy. The vet had to measure the baby's head and Apple's pelvis to make sure a natural delivery was optional.

Apple and I discussed calling a Doula and whether or not she might prefer a water birth, we just kept it simple.

Apple was giving birth to her sister???! During Apple's first heat we kept them apart as long as everyone had suggested, just not long enough.

We took Apple home and were instructed to take her temp every 2hrs and monitor her breathing all night. Right before pushing her temp was suppose to drop and we couldn't let her push for more than an hour. After a sleepless night Apple's temp was going up hinting at infection.

Phil took Apple to the vet at 10:00am for an emergency csection and it turned out that the lil' puppy (Grape) was dead and rotting inside her, the vet said it was too messy to try to save Apple's uterus.

No puppy
No future breeding for Apple
Lots of bills

We love our dogs, love them but they are also an investment. Jericho has helped out a lot paying for Phil's school. We got Apple for the main purpose to breed. We were hopping that by selling this puppy we could cover all of the medical bills, bummer. One thing after the other keeps going wrong. We're SAD and TIRED and STRESSED.

Rest in Peace lil' Grape.

and

Rest in Peace "Neigh"

Sorry Emma but Jericho ate "Neigh" last night, he was probably really stressed out over his pregnant wife/daughter giving birth to his daughter/granddaughter.

Bad Dog

Special thank you to Jenny for bringing us breakfast and dinn and Mum for cleaning our kitchen! Love you guys!

I have a new appreciation for rain????

Im thankful for the rain. when it rains that means I don't have to go outside and hand water my garden. I dont always feel like going outside every morning and watering, I got so spoiled with the in-ground sprinklers at the Kelley's last summer.

Im thankful for the rain. when it rains thats means my allergies aren't as bad. Nice clean air.

Im thankful for the rain. when it rains it softens up the ground and makes it easier to pull weeds. I need to edge our yard.

Im thankful for the rain. when it rains im more motivated at work. the beautiful sunny days distract me.

Im thankful for the rain. when it rains Phil builds me a fire and i get to cuddle on my couch with tea and my laptop.

Im thankful for the rain. when it rains I dont feel obligated to use the laundry line... dryers are soo much easier!

Sweet Baby Girl

The Bad's first pig tails... squirmy and tired I couldn't get a good photo. But she is soo stinkin cute. She needs to come hangout with Nu-Nu again. Maybe she can start saying hi to me instead of instantly asking for Apple or Bill? Maybe we should have Emma call him Red Guy since that is what her friend Jack calls him..

Bye Bye REW-LUBE

Our friends are gone and the house is empty... I'm sad today. I don't like empty houses! I guess it doesn't help that Phil has one million midterms. Its 11:30am and I already started dinner... is there a rule that you can't start dinner when the clock is still reading AM?

I didn't take photos of yesterdays go-away bbq but Phil took a picture of the Sad Bananas cuddling on the couch depressed..


Bye tootie! Im going to wear all your clothes while you are gone... to bad we dont have the same shoe size...dang!

I forget to download the Asian man pictures from Ruby's camera. Hopefully she'll blog about it, its the most blog worthy thing that has happened in months! Short recap.

siting by the door of Downward Dog patiently waiting for the delivery of $5 mac n cheese special, Jenna sees an American man shuffling in a handful of Chinese men. "Hey you look busy," Jenna says at the stressed out man.
"Yes, hello, I've got seven Chinese visitors for 2weeks and tonight is their last night," the man replied.
"You look really busy and in charge," Jenna laughed.
While Ruby, Sara and Jenna patiently waited for their order the Chinese interpreter came over to offer us a drink. We thankfully declined as we had already order our food and drinks. The interpreter insisted as it was their last night in Corvallis and they really enjoy the American culture and would be insulted if we declined....so we accepted the drinks and walked over to welcome them to the good ole U-S-of-A. They taught us a bunch of fun Chinese customs. There was a lot of laughing, a lot and I felt at home with my Asian people or should i say peep-oh. This is a long story with lots of great details. I'll spare you but seriously guys, so so funny and if you know how much Phil and I love Asians..... But as I was telling Denny the story he said that he thought he read about them in the GT.... well he was right!!!! These are my friends! we may have got the number of actual presidents confused but here they are.

Copied from the GT:

Chinese college presidents tour LBCC
By Alex Paul
Gazette-Times reporter

ALBANY — The walls of the new 20,000-square-foot science building at Linn-Benton Community College were being hoisted into place Monday to honor presidents of four Chinese vocational/technical colleges, LBCC President Rita Cavin jokingly told the visiting dignitaries during a welcoming ceremony Monday morning at the college’s board room.

The visiting college presidents are at the start of a two-week visit to the mid-valley. They plan to study LBCC programs, governance, faculty development, curriculum development and connections to business and the community.

LBCC is one of only eight community colleges nationwide selected for the cooperative program sponsored by the Vocational Education Leadership Training Program, the American Association of Community Colleges and the China Education Association for International Exchange.

Wearing a red Asian-style blouse, Cavin explained to her guests that the expansion of the science building will double its size when construction is completed. The deadline is December. The expansion is funded by both public and private money.

The Chinese college presidents are Jianmin Chen, who is president of Beijing Polytechnic College; Wanmin Wu, president of Guangzhou Civil Aviation College; Fangming Zhang, president of Lanzhou Petrochemical College of Vocational Technology; Xinguang Feng, president of Rizhao Polytechnic and Jianjun Gu, interpreter and program officer for the China Education Association for International Education. Their colleges are vocational schools in both rural and urban settings and specialties. (I sat next to Chen and Wu)

Cavin said that in the United States, community colleges have an open-door policy and welcome students of all ages and social levels. LBCC includes high school students earning college credit, students who are fresh out of high school and adults of all ages. They are either retraining due to job displacement, or seeking a degree they may have always wanted but were sidetracked along the way, Cavin said.

“The mixture of age groups is good for learning in our classrooms,” Cavin said.

President Chen said vocational/technical colleges did not start in China until 1999. Today, there are 1,200 schools in the nation of more than 1.3 billion people. That’s about the same number of community colleges in the U.S., which has a population of about 308 million.

Chinese students must pass a national college admissions test and can select from a number of courses of study, but once they begin their program, they cannot change majors. Most students range in age from 18 to 22. Their tuition covers about one-third the total cost of their education, about the same as in the U.S. The Chinese government picks up the other two-thirds, Chen said.

Chen said that about 95 percent of graduates enter the workplace after three to five years of study. There is a high demand for trained employees due to an expanding economy. The other five percent continue their studies at universities.

Cavin talked about the value of college partnerships within area communities and the role of the LBCC Foundation, which was instrumental in securing donations for the science building. There are no foundations supporting the Chinese schools, she was told. It is the responsibility of the college president and comptroller of finance to develop training partnerships with private industries.

Some of the schools have partnerships with U.S. corporations including Boeing, Cessna, Northwest Airlines and United Airways.

As part of their experience, the group will tour LBCC’s Benton Center Wednesday morning and then visit Good Samaritan Hospital that afternoon as a guest of Larry Mullins, Samaritan Health Services CEO.

Alex Paul can be contacted at alex.paul@lee.net or by calling 758-9526.

OH HEY Phil

2nd Farmers Market

Hooray its that time of year again. The SaturdayFarmer's Market is back! I love love love it! The people, the music, the food... I love Corvallis.


My favorite Honey Lemonade!
And tofu burger, yum...

FUNNIEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE

1 Chinese Interpreter who is the Liaison between China and Australia
1 Vice President of Linn Benton
7 Chinese University Presidents
3 American Girls
1 Downtown Pub...

more to come!

They Grow So Fast

Its like it was only yesterday that I put these baby seeds in starter pots, and now they are growing like weeds.

Our April starts are almost ready to go into the ground. I dont know all the rules of gardening... Im just following the instructions on the back of the seed packet. So these seeds Started April 1st will go in the ground May 1st.

oh hey there little eggplant and tomato

Speaking of growing, Ruby and Betsy are so old! They need to stay babies!


Yesterday Lebanon ran against CV. My lil bro is a senior this year CRAZY! Denny is coaching at CV so Abby and the girls were there along with Ry-Ry and Lindsey. We had a fun dinner party and Jessica and Casey's after. Thanks Jessi!
Hi Bella, nice tan!

Welcome Tiny Human!

Congratulations to the Momma, Dadda, Aunties, Uncles, Grandpas and Grandmas of
Ada Lynn Bulthius

Just For Today

I don't want to be an adult.
I don't want to work.
I don't want to pay bills.

I want to be on vacation, on the beach, under the sun with a mojito in my hand.

BYE.

Come On Over And Say Goodbye

Ruby and Lewis are leaving for the Pacific Crest Trail on Monday. Come over after Dox this Sunday for a BBQ to wish them well and say goodbye OR say hello if you haven't seen them yet.

Cool.
See ya then.

My New Hair Cut

Not Now Chief Im in the Zone
Muscle Milk!! H.G.H!! PROTEIN!! POWER BARS!!!

Ok sorry about the youtube quotes... some of you will get it.

Anyway, I had so much fun helping Ruby cut her hair I made her cut mine. Its sorta like an Aline-ish bob? Anyway we cut out all of the perm. Yeah, thats right, my perm from Summer 2008. I'll never forget me asking the hairstylist how many people get perms these days and she said "not many, most old women".

A before photo from Easter
I'll miss being able to just pin it up... I guess this means I have to shower more, dang. I hate getting ready!

Pioneer Woman Phase 3

The Laundry Line...why not?!
I loved hanging Bem's cute little jamis. I can't wait to hang up baby Chings tiny clothes... your know, my asian baby, Im only half Filipino but Im just positve Phil and my first child will come out 100% Asian!

Phil finished the next phase of our garden. got our final bed ready for our May seeds... now if only we can keep the dogs out of the beds. the keep trampling my little seedlings and destroying them.

What a differnce! We borrowed my parents monster machine. The dirt is so fine and soft now. Come over in October to the Kelley's pumpkin patch, we'll have enough for all the kids!

Im Fessing Up

I've finally updated my blog with all the links that I stock...Im a blog stocker. Im just so tired of blog hopping everday. Now I can just go down my organized list and spy on people that don't really know me that well.


Li-Li you blog is private now. Please add me!

Burn Day

Its a quiet afternoon at work when all of a sudden...

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!

There is a giant explosion outside that literally shook the windows and vibrations trembled the house.

Ruby and I rushed outside to discover OUR HUSBANDS!

Just doing a little yard work. They haaaaaad to start the burning barrel with plenty of combustible gasoline and they haaaaad to take their shirts off.

They told me I would be in big trouble if I put this picture on the blog...but they didnt say I couldn't post an edited version!!!! ha ha ha ha ha.

Happy Birthday To 2 Special People

Wubby if you were here I would buy you an ice-cream cone. OK, I'd buy you 2 ice-cream cones because your real birthday was Tuesday!

Happy Birthday Beka... this is the year you become a MOMMY!!!!

LOVE YOU BOTH, HOPE YOU HAVE GREAT DAYS!

On My Shopping List

Patio Table and Chairs

If you know anyone getting rid of theirs let me know. I check craigslist everyday for a set thats not plastic or blue & pink... its so hard!

Spring Flowers Everywhere!

I love that my yard is full of flowers...even better, I get to pick them and bring them in the house, they're everywhere, every vase I own is full:

Dining room table
Fireplace mantel
no vase is too tiny for flowers
bathroom
coffee table
kitchen sink

I LOVE FLOWERS!

Upgrading Technology

Most of you know I work from home for an online company. We make a lot of calls and we have to have a landline... but that means I can only work from my house and I hated that. I thought I was pretty cool with my Vonage V-Phone. Its a USB device with a headset plugged into it. its 25.95 a month and I can plug it into any computer so that allowed me to visit Ruby for weeks and Angie in Portland. My stupid Vonage freezes up a lot! After a year of using my Vonage I'm totally annoyed with it.....but I refuse to get a landline.

Since the last time I researched Skype, they have added some new options (new to me, I'm slow with technology) Before, skype allowed you to make calls from your computer at a very low rate. I make a TON of calls for work so a per minute charge didn't work and people need to call me back so Skype was never an option to me. NOW SKYPE OFFERS an unlimited calling plan for the US @ 2.95/mo! and I can "buy" a phone number so my customers can call me back for $30/year!

Hello! I just saved my company about $300/yr! I'm really excited about my new skype phone.

I'm waiting for corvallis to get totally hooked up to WI-FI, Skype has a wireless phone that operates off of WI-FI. Man, I'm so done paying over a $100/mo for a verizon cell phone...so DONE!But it says its only available in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Sweden and the UK. Come on! USA get with it seriously!

The End

True Love

You really know someone loves you when they are cleaning up your puke!

This is a shout out to my husband who I love so much and am lucky to have. Yesterday I got this random horrible, terrible, miserable migraine out-of-the-blue! 2nd or 3rd of my life and it knocked me down hard. It was the end of our Easter Party with my family. I couldn't say goodbye to anyone. When my mom came in all I could whisper was tell Phil Im going to throw up. After eveyone left thats what I did, 3times and on his side of the bed... I did make it into a bowl but still, thats disgusting!Phil was so gentle with me. Rubbing my neck and making me a pretty snack, yes... pretty! He also cleaned the entire house and washed all the Easter dishes while I laid in bed in agony. What a great teammate.

I love you babe, you're the man of my dreams!

Speaking of Easter....

I hosted my family and we had a lot of fun. Great food! We taught them how to play Settlers of Catan. My mom is now hooked and gave me the cash to buy it for her. Wanna play? Wanna Learn? call us, we love it!

Phil's grandma Mama got us a honeybaked ham gift card for Christmas, we've been saving it for a special occasion and this was it. MMM so so good!
Roasted Balsamic Asparagus
Twiced baked potatoes that my mom made to look like bunnies..can you tell?
Dessert I experimented with a Lemon Trifle...Ruby and I made a practice one on Friday night and I didnt really like it it was too sugary.
So I made some changes.
I marinated the berries in some orange brandy, made homemade lemon custard and unsweetened whipped cream. Instead of making a trifle I made a this..it doesn't have a name but it was tasty.

My parents brought Phil a lovely Easter present.... A fire extinguisher! ha ha ha! poor phil.

Filipino Night

This is late, but blog worthy.

Last Wednesday in honor of Chad and Kylie I had Filipino night. I make a Filipino feast about 3-4times a year... when Chad comes over! Chad is the best man to cook for, soooo grateful for every bite!
Jenn, you look very pretty.
Isn't my lil' kids table cute?
Emma, pens on the table, not your face.
This is how much my niece loves me!
Silly babies in my toy box.



Some Friendly Catchprase after dinner: