El Paso Zoo

We have been all about trying everything El Paso has to offer so this week we made our way to the El Paso Zoo. The sign outside boasts they have 20 endangered species at the zoo! The place was so small that I'm not sure there was many more than 20 animals in total. Maybe I missed something? Either way we had a great time. In my opinion there is a lot to be said for a small Zoo. You get to see it all and you don't have to spend the whole day there dragging the kids all over the place.Last year we went to the Bronx Zoo in NY and it was so huge and crowded that it was hard to see anything and we ended up leaving early...only to find that while we had been inside we got a parking ticket for parking too close to the fire hydrant. I can't tell you how much we spent last year on parking tickets but it was a lot! No more of that here, that's the beauty of having your own garage!

White Sand National Monument

Yesterday we drove the the White Sands National Monument. By far one of the funnest/coolest places I've ever been, and I've been to some fairly cool places in my time i.e. The Eiffel Tour, London Bridge (and a few others).

The sand basin was formed by gypsum desposites millions of years ago, or something to that affect. All the sand is piled high so what you do is buy a sled and slide down the drifts of sand like you would in the snow. Haylie loved it, and I thought it was super fun too! Everything was so white I felt like it was snow. It didn't help that it was FREEZING. I mean freezing, it snowed on the way back and the wind was whipping all around. We should have dressed warmer, but we didn't think it was going to be that cold. In fact, last night when Tom took Wedge out it was snowing at our place! This is El Paso, I didn't think we were going to get snow. This morning when I walked out side there was snow all over the Franklin Mountains! Yikes.

We had a blast, and it was one of the first days Tom has had off in awhile. What a fun family adventure!

The Things Tom built

Because I have expensive tastes and we currently don't have the pocket book to match Tom has become a carpenter.

Haylie has graduated to a twin bed. She kept falling off of her toddler bed mattress. I looked and looked for a modern kids bed that was affordable and it wasn't out there. All of the beds I liked had a price tag of 900-2,000, for a kids bed! Come on, it's just wood and a non-toxic finish! So I had Tom make a replica of one of the beds I loved. He did a pretty fantastic job. I should have posted a picture of the actual frame, because it's impressive. It's hasn't been stained and sealed yet because I've had a hard time finding a non-toxic stain here in El Paso and I have to special order one. I'll post the pictures of the finished product once it's all done.

The other thing Tom built was our media console. Once again I fell in love with one I found at Room and Board in NYC. Couldn't afford it, and since it's just wood, Tom decided he could make it. It houses all of our cables, DVD stuff, XBox360, Wii, Playstation3, and even has enough room for Haylie and Huck to go inside one of the cabinets and have small party. The picture doesn't show how big it really is...Nine feet! It's huge! It took Tom and another Dentist in the ward to move it into the house.

It sure is nice to have a handy husband.

I'm not going to bother trying to give an update. I will simply give list a few of the most important events...in no particular order.
1. We moved to El Paso, Texas,
2. Huck turned 1
3. We bought a dog. The mini schnauzer is named Wedge Antilles, after the Rebel Alliance Starfighter pilot in Star Wars.
4. We bought our first house

Here are some pictures, also in no particular order!

Welcome to El Paso

We've been in El Paso for a little over a week now. The first week was spent living at a Embassy Suites Hotel while we searched for a place to live. We think we've found a place and are currently waiting to see if everything goes through. In the meantime we have moved to a more permanent-temporary home at the Value Place. We have a studio with two double beds, a fridge, microwave and a two burner electric stove top. Just like home! Actually if there was a bedroom and a hallway it would be about the size of our Jersey place....which we miss like crazy in case anyone was wondering.

We are luckier than most military families as it just so happens I have a friend from MHS (carry on Jackrabbits) whose husband is stationed in El Paso is well. They have been great, even having us over for a real meal on Sunday (all we've had for over a week is fast food...disgusting). Slowley but surely things are getting better!

In the last two months since I've posted Tom has completed his Officer Basic Training in San Antonio. It went better then expected. He ended up being assigned the best room mate ever, Kevin. He was also LDS, and I personally think they had way too much fun. The went to Magic Mountain a few times, Sea World, and ended up Golfing 90 holes in the last two weeks!

In the meantime, I was living back in AZ with my family. It ended up being better then expected. I hired my 15 year old sister to babysit for me while I went to Pilates sessions. I went to K Pilates studio in Mesa and it was one of the best studios I've ever practiced at. I don't feel so bad about all of Toms fun since I was going to Pilates sessions everyday that I could. That took the sting out of living back at home! We did have lots of fun getting to know grandparents and cousins. Haylie ended up having a really sweet bond with her cousin Travis. She would wake up and ask about "Travy".

Being back out west has taken a bit of getting use to, I forgot how hot it gets in AZ. El Paso is about 10 degrees cooler so when we got here it felt like heaven. El Paso seems to be a great place and we are excited to get settled, sooner rather then later hopefully. We really miss the City and hope to possibly go back there to live one of these days. Although, my only request of going back East is I want to live in Manhattan. Sometimes I still feel robbed that I had to live in Jersey for part of our time there.

Tom misses everyone from school, especially Mike, Audrey, Anne and Dr. Meeker! He starts work on Thursday, and I'm sure he's excited to find out what it's like to be a dentist for the US Army.

I'm a Pop Star/ Couch for Sale!

Tom and I have the exact same problem in the opposite way.
We both have a difficult time finding sunglasses that fit our heads. His head is too big for most and my head is too small for all. I've been trying to find a pair that looked nice and fit me properly that I could use now that the spring/summer is upon us. I looked everywhere for a pair that was just right. I tried on expensive Dior, and Channel, and Oakley's, even Rayban. Nothing fit. Then one day with out warning I found a pair that actually fit me. Check me out in my new Shades. I know, I look amazing. If you want to look like a rock star like me you can. You too can buy your own Disney's Hannah Montana "Pop Star" sunglasses at Duane Read. I'm slightly embarassed that I'm wearing childrens sunglasses but they fit so I can't complain. At least I'm a bonafide "Pop Star", I mean if my glasses say it, it must be true. Tom even made the clerk at Duane Read cut the Hannah Montana plastic protector off them so I could wear them while we walked home. How thoughtful. She looked like she felt sorry me, and adult wearing sunglasses with the words "popstar" emblazed on them.

The other day we came home and the house smelled of Gas. I thought nothing of it, someplace always smells like gas out here, and went to my Pilates session. When I came home Tom was still obsessing about the smell. He was now convinced that he could smell death seaping from beneath the couch. He had already looked all over for the smell to no avail. The only thing he hadn't done was cut the couch open, but right after Huck went down he turned the couch upside down. Using his keen sense of smell (apparantly this is a Wilson trait and both of his sisters have amazing sniffers as well) he located the area where the smell was coming from. Utilizing a utility knife he sliced open the belly of the couch and out fell a dead/rotting mouse! Umm, gross. I already hated the couch for being ugly and uncomfortable but now I have a new reason to not take it with me when we move.

And in case you were wondering we finally recieved our orders. We will be stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. We are excited for a new adventure, but as our stay in NY comes to a close we are having a difficult time and remembering all the great things that have come our way out here. I love NYC, it was our first home together. We are trying to embrace the change and look forward to the great things in Texas, like Rodeo's, cowboy hats, and boots. I've already decided that Haylie is going to run barrels and Huck is going to be a little cowboy and rope those little baby goats. It's going to be adorable. I'm also going to start speaking with a southern Texas accent, just for fun. Oh, and I'm going back blond, Texas blonde...the bigger and blonder the better. It's going to be amazing. I'm also going to start saying "y'all" and put a big banner outside our door that reads "God Bless Texas"and inside our home instead of a "Remember who you are" sign I'm going to put up "God hates a coward" instead. Tom told me he was going to become a "hunter". He asked if I would display his kills in our home. I said no. He said okay, it cost thousands of dollars to stuff animals and he doesn't really like to kill animals (except for birds he says) anyway. He's too much of an animal lover. As you can see we have big, Texas size plans.

Feel free to come visit us if you are out our way. I'm sure we'll have plenty of room for ya all.

NYU Class of 2009

Wednesday was New York University's Commencement. Although Tom's official Graduation from NYU Dental isn't until the 26th of this month he attended the ceremony along with thousands of other NYU graduates. Hilary Clinton spoke and Tom said that her speech was great despite the fact that she is a Democrat and he's a Republican. He said she was very relevant. I wasn't able to attend..well I could have attended, but seriously, taking a two year old and a seven month old to sit and listen to speakers for two hours straight seemed a bit much to ask. I wish I could have been there to show my support for Tom. I am incredibly proud of what he has accomplished. The last four years have been a lot of hard work! When Tom first arrived in New York, a naive young man from Arizona (not that naive, but naive by NYC standards) he was living the single life. In the last four years a lot has happened for Tom. At the end of his first year we were married. At the end of his second year we had Haylie, and in his forth year he became a Dad for the second time to Huckleberry. If you ask me that's pretty damn impressive (hope the curse didn't offend anyone, but I don't think "darn" had the oomph I was looking for). He has handled all of it with grace and maturity. I don't usually do sentimental posts, but since we are coming to the end of this period of our lives, I feel justified by what I'm going to say. I am immensely proud of Tom and all that he has done. He is respected by the professors and the students alike. He has done well in all of his classes and tests while at the same time becoming a husband and a Dad twice. I'm glad to say he didn't do any of those things half way (well, maybe he did only half way study for his boards...but if you know your stuff, you know your stuff). Congrats Tom! Haylie and Huck say thanks for all your hard work. And a special thanks from me for your hard work in becoming a dentist so you can buy me all the stuff I want. We need a dentists budget for that :)