About Us

Just a little bit of random tid bits about Michael and I. . .

Michael:

• Michael is an amazing cook, seriously, he LOVES to try new recipes. We can never just have like sandwiches or Ramen for dinner- we have to have something gourmet. Hey, I am not complaining. . . at all. I adore his cooking! He loves it when we have people over and he gets to show his skills. In fact, he would absolutely love to become a chef and to own his own restaurant someday.


• Michael owns about 10 pairs of white shoes. He has an obsession of white shoes. Now, some have red or black or a little bit of tan- so they are not all white, but the majority of the shoe is white. He claims that he has not purchased a pair of shoes since we have been married- but I call his bluff every time he makes this claim. And I am a little bit guilty of indulging his obsession- and have also added to his collection of white shoes.


• Michael has about 1,226,362.90 hobbies. Seriously, he plays tennis, he played football, he has his own home- gym equipment, he goes hunting and fishing, he collects random books (especially cook books) and of course he loves his road biking. Seriously, we have a 2 bedroom condo- so you would think that we have plenty of space- we don't. The second bedroom is filled with all of these hobbies. Now, I am not whining- I love that he has so many talents. . . But I am pretty sure that we are about to out- grow our "roomy" condo.


• Michael is a very talented car-repair man. He has had his 1967 Ford Mustang since his was 13. He and his step-dad have ripped this thing apart, and put it all back together more than once. He also changes my brakes, changes his own oil, and can fix most any kind of noise in his Mustang or my trusty Honda. (with the help of his wonderful step dad Dave =)) I love that we can save so much money, and just have him do it at home.

Laura:

• Hi, my name is Laura Burtis and I am a shop-a-holic. It is so bad. I am a thrift shopper so I always find the good deals, but my problem is that I will find a shirt for $8 so I have to get 3 of the same shirt but in each color. It just makes sense right? I turned a new leaf in the beginning of August and decided that I would no longer purchase myself a new article of clothing every week (once again, so cheap, so I didn't think it was that bad) but it starts to add up. And let me say, pretty much every time I got myself something, I always got Michael something too, so its okay right? Wrong. So I stopped shopping for clothes- but now, I fear, I have started Christmas shopping to fill the void in my life. That's right, I am just about done with my Christmas shopping and it isn't even October!! Oh man.


• I have the smallest feet in America. Well, maybe not in all of America. But I do wear size 5. This is bitter- sweet, I can shop in the kids section (in Converse, I wear a size 3) so that means I can usually get my shoes for 1/2 what they would be if I shopped in the big girl section. But, I can very rarely find heels in a size 5, because, come on who lets their little girls wear heels?!


• I LOVE Kick boxing. I don't have many hobbies, and even though I probably don't look like a pro while I am doing this, I consider it my hobby. I LOVE IT! It is my favorite work out ever. Sometimes I lack the umph to get up and go to the gym. But when I do go, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I always go to Kick. It seriously kicks my trash so good every single time- I leave with my face looking like a tomato and so winded. It is wonderful.


• I'm not a fan of talking on the phone. Crazy, I know- I am a talker for sure. . . but in person please. It is probably because I am on the phone for most of the day, I would so much just rather talk to the person face to face. I am usually so animated when I talk (just ask Michael, he loves to make fun) it just makes it that much better to be able to look the person in the eye and know that I have their undivided attention. Wow, that sounded really bratty. I'm not a brat, I promise. (=

You've had a Birthday Shout Hooray!

Happy Birthday Jesse! Jesse is Michael's younger brother who just turned sweet 16, that's right girls, this boy is on the market! (I am pretty sure he would kill me if he ever got on my blog and read this, but he doesn't- so I'm pretty sure I am a-okay). Jesse is such a funny kid, he is always surprising us by coming down the stairs with a hilarious mask or something random that he picked up. Michael is always trying to wrestle him, but he puts up a dang good fight! He really is just a great kid and we love him very much! So Happy Birthday bud!

We all had a great time at Dave and Julie's house, Julie made her Delicious Chinese food. We played on the 4-wheeler, ate yummy cake and ice cream and watched Jesse open all of his presents.

My Husband; Willy Wonka, a Hottie isn't he?!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy aLaN & AuDrEy!!!

Happy Birthday Alan! Can you believe that my big brother is 30 years old! Watch out old man! (=
Alan is 7 years older than me, so we weren't really close growing up. But 3 years ago I started to work at State Farm Insurance, where he already worked, and for 2 glorious years we became such good friends. Alan is such a fun guy to be around, he always has something funny to say. He is a great father to his super cute kids, a good husband to his wife, and just a great example for what a big brother should be. We love you buddy!

Happy Birthday Audrey! Cute little Audrey turns one on Wednesday.

She was so cute with her birthday cupcake, she absolutely devoured it!

She is such a doll, with so much personality. She always has the cutest smile on her face, and she is the sweetest cuddle. We love her too pieces!

Brayden snuck a cup cake before we had dinner, but he wasn't very good at concealing the evidence, it was all over his face! Then a balloon got stuck in the fan, so while Tracie was trying to get it out with a broom, Michael just walked right over and picked her up. She was pretty surprised. We all had such a great time, it is always so fun to get to spend the afternoon with family! Thanks Alan and Audrey for having a birthday so we could all hang out!

One of the many things we did with my family this weekend

was have my siblings over for food and games.

Erik was a hard core artist growing up, drawing airplanes, and helicopters-

so it was no wonder he was a whiz at Pictionary.

Michael's specialty was with the stick figures. We gave April the chore of drawing

Laura Ingles Wilder from Little House on the Prairie =)

It got pretty intense towards the end, but I think it is safe to say that Tracie won.

Not her team, but just her, she is a winner.

Look-A-Like?!?!

I stole this from Rachelle's blog. Which celebrity do I look like the most? I also thought this would be a fun time to put up some old pictures too. . .

First of all, I think that Tracie is way too nice to tell me that I look like Kelly Ripa- because I think she is gorgeous, but what do you think??

(I am the one in the very back, you will have to click on the picture to get a

closer look. Rachelle made this picture from Alicia's

Bridal shower a couple of years ago, so cute!)

I have been told by a couple of people that I look like Sophia Bush from One Tree Hill??

And last but not least, I have been told that I look like Brittany Snow from John Tucker Must Die.


What do you think? Any resemblance?

Grandpa Leo Paul

Our Grandpa Paul passed away yesterday afternoon. He has been suffering for so long now, we have been praying for the Lord to take him and even though we have known that his time would come soon, I still had a hard time when I found out. Now, I know that he is in a much happier place now, and he is no longer suffering. It just kind of hit me all at once, he was no longer going to be here, physically. Growing up, we spent every single Sunday evening at my grandparents house. He has always been here, around at most family functions. Always good for a great laugh, a good hug, or a sweet kiss. I know for a fact that he is in heaven, he is with all of his family that has passed before him, and I am excited for when I will get to see him again, all healthy and happy.
I am not very good at writing my emotions down. I was pretty emotional yesterday when I first found out. Thinking about my Grandma, my Dad- how they were taking it. But it was so nice to go to our Grandma's house and spend time with most of the family, my parents, my sisters and a few of my aunts and uncles and cousins. It really did make me feel a whole lot better to just be surrounded by family.
We will miss Grandpa "Pill" so much. I know he is so happy now, watching over us all.
Sorry that I am not very good with my words, but Kathrin, the English major, wrote an amazing post dedicated to my Grandpa if you would like to read more. I'm sure she won't mind =)

EISF (Eastern Idaho State Fair)

This weekend we decided to make the trip to Blackfoot Idaho. Michael's Aunt Misty and Uncle Brian live their with their family- including, Emily, Caleb, Brody and Seth. We will usually make this trip at least once a year. . . but this time it was special- it was the EISF Eastern Idaho State Fair- Yeehaw!!! The fair first gets kicked off with the parade, and super cute Brody performed with her dance company. . .

Then it was off to the fair, for probably one of my favorite things ever, people watching =). But don't you worry, in between the all of the watching, we managed to have a delicious mustard covered corn dog, and of course, Michael's very favorite- an elephant ear (I wish I had pictures to document this, but the camera accidentally got left this time, I know, disappointing)

That night we drove the 20 minutes to the fabulous IF (this is Idaho terms for Idaho Falls FYI) For dinner at the ever fabulous Texas Roadhouse then drove around to see the gorgeous scenery around the IF temple- it was absolutely gorgeous, with the waterfalls, and park.

Also on this trip, Michael got to enjoy what it is like to have a Nintendo. FYI-I call any kind of gaming system a Nintendo, just because I can't keep it all straight, I think it really was a Play Station 3 or 8 or 20 or something like that.

So as you can imagine, there was an awful lot of. . .

Me- "okay, are you ready to go?"

Mike- "Yeah, yeah, almost, just let me hurry and finish"

Me- "Honey, they are waiting for us, lets go"

Mike-"Okay, yeah, I'm almost there"

Anyway, we did have a wonderful time in beautiful Idaho, it was so fun to get to hang out with them, we just adore them all!