Falling into place.

It amazes me how certain things happen for a reason and how it all plays out in the end.

Maria got prego about 6 months earlier than what we had wanted or planned for. That motivated us to follow a friends urge to check out some larger houses in the area which ultimately led us to purchasing our home. Only two months after purchasing our home did the government change lending laws that would have made it nearly impossible for us to buy a home. Situations in the purchase of the home has caused us to fall into some extra money today as I received some bad news that will ultimately affect us financially. Had we received the money earlier, as hoped, it would have been long gone and spent instead of available in this moment.

I am grateful for how everything has worked out recently and hope that things will continue to fall into place for us.

Dear Twix,

I know that you and I have been good friends for quite sometime and that lately I have been avoiding you. I don't know how else to say this, so I am just going to come out and say it... we're finished! I want nothing more to do with you and would appreciate it if you would stop coming around. I found ways to keep our distance at the super market and gas station but to do this, to come to my place of work, is entirely unacceptable! Breaking up with you hurts me just as much as it hurts you, but please understand that I need to do this. In the end we will realize that it is for our own good.

With unwanted love,

Jake

One crazy but fun week.

Andres and Eliza Di Geronimo, two friends I met while serving a mission in Caracas, Venezuela came to Arizona as part of a two month vacation to the United States. I did all I could to show them a great time knowing that this may very well be a once in a life time opportunity for them. In the end we all had a great time and managed to get many great photos and memories.

(I was not the only one who enjoyed their visit to AZ -- Check out these two blogs as well: Tour Guide and VE Visitors)

The sweet taste of weight loss.

Today I am 101 days into a 365 day bet or challenge. Over a year ago Maria's parents challenged everyone in the family to give up sugar. At that time I had little to no interest in doing it so I never even attempted the challenge. I watched from the sidelines as others began and gave up months into the challenge. I forgot to mention that the prize for managing to stay off sugar for one year was a sizable amount of cash.

Long after all had given up on the challenge for various reasons, Maria became pregnant. While visiting with her cardiologist he said that her heart murmur could become more troublesome during the pregnancy. He said one way to avoid extra problems was to cut back on sugar intake (a sign right?) Well I still had no interest in doing attempting the sugar free lifestyle.

The first part of summer and several months into Maria's un-sweetened pregnancy I began to come around. Maria said it was getting harder and harder for her to stay sugar free with little or no support on my part and I also made the mistake of allowing Maria to check my blood pressure at one of the pharmacies near our house. Needless to say I began feeling a bit more pressure to give it a try.

Maria and my health were not the only motivators to start. Maria's cousin Jennifer also had began a sugar free existence along with some other doctor prescribed diet changes and began to melt before our eyes. She has lost a ton of weight and is doing great.

I hate being told that I cant do something. I guess it is the child in me, but I hate it. Many times I will do what ever it is I am told I can't do in spite of the individual who lacked faith in me. The sugar challenge was not different. So I guess what I am saying is aside from my health, Maria, weight loss, and/or money, a huge part of me is doing this because Lara said I couldn't, and I am grateful for her lack of confidence in my abilities.

Well this turned out to be a much longer post than I intended but I want to finish up by saying a few last things. First of all I am so proud of Maria for doing this and motivating me to do the same. While being prego she has managed to safely loose 30 0r so pounds and will be on the path to becoming and staying healthy. To Jen I also want to say thank you. You are doing awesome and looking great, keep it up (if you want post and let everyone know how much you have lost to date). I have managed to loose 17 pounds in the three months by only cutting out sugar!! It was much easier to do than I thought with Maria's support. To Lara, I hope I never gain your confidence - it's great motivation!! And finally to Spence and Christine I just want to say thank you for caring enough about your family (even the in-laws) to challenge us to be better and you best start saving up now!!

Put a face with the name!

Maria went to the doctors today for another ultra sound and came back with some totally amazing shots of Davis (well one amazing one, one cool one, one ok I can see that one and one 'what is it' one to be completely honest).

I am, first of all, totally amazed that the technology exist to get such a clear image and secondly I am amazed that within the bowling ball that is Maria's belly there is human life with a face - distinguishable and clear.

I am so excited to meet Davis and wish he could be here today.

Belly Picture Preview

So here is a bit of a sneak preview of what is to come tomorrow at the baby shower... enjoy! (The rest of the pictures will be shown at and only at the baby shower!)

Baby Shower Invite

The baby shower is coming up quick (this Saturday) and Maria is very excited. Just so everyone knows there is an open invitation to any one who would like to come. Here is a copy of the invite we sent out (minus the address and map for security reasons) but I will gladly email the address and map to any one who wants to come (just email me at jake@jaboyle.com or leave your email address as a comment below).

Update from Maria

We have had such a fun week so far with our Venezuelan friends Andre and Eliza. Kelly took them to the zoo yesterday and dipped into their magical art skills at "as you wish" painting pottery. Last night Lara, Aubrey, Karen and the rest of us at the house all went out to Logan's Roadhouse. If you have ever eaten there you know that peanuts are provided and you can throw the shells on the floor. At first Andre and Eliza had a hard time throwing their shells on the floor. I guess it just goes to show the meaning of the term "dirty Americans" :) Andre ( who just put in his mission papers) thinks that Karen is pretty cute and has even asked her to wait for him till he is finished with the mission.

Jake took them up to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon today. I was pretty jealous as I was thinking about how I have never really been to the Grand Canyon. Then I thought of the hours in the car and I feel good about being here at work. I can't wait to see the pictures tonight.

I feel like a new woman after my doctors appointment yesterday. The nausea and vomiting has stopped and I have been able to keep enough food down to feel human again. I just have to say that I have the most wonderful husband in the world! He has been my main help and support and I can't believe I am so lucky to have him.

Arepa Night

Andres and Eliza got here on Saturday. They came from LA by shuttle and I had to go to 99Market in Phoenix to pick them up. This was my first going there and it was pretty cool. It is a little Chineese Market and has all kinds of wierd foods and activities going on. I bought a bread that had cheese and green onions on it and it was really good. Anyway...

After picking them up we headed back out to QC. Andres is convinced that Arizona reminds him of Egypt. He has never gone to Egypt but is still sure that Arizona looks just like it. He is also convinced that A mountain at ASU is a pyramid. Again anway...

When we got home Maria had already began some of the Arepa preperations. Eliza tought us some additional tricks and ways to prepare them and needless to say they turned out a bit better than the ones we have done in the past.

Here is the photo of all of us after eating (note the absence of Maria... she was in the bathroom throwing up again, poor thing, that night she threw up 12 times and I took her to the ER in the morning but I'll save all the details for another post later maybe.)

Need a hand with that?

Maria and I have ran into this problem several times now over the last year or more. We love having our nieces over to visit and to play but we don't have many toys (none to be a bit more specific). Every time the kids leave we say to our selves that we need to buy some and have a toy box so that the kids have stuff to play with when they come over. For now they will just have to resort to playing with the few toys I have, like the one Aubrey is playing with in this photo!! My Aunt Donna gave me this years ago for Christmas and it still amuses and brings joy to the lives of little children. Thanks Auntie Donna Dearest (that's what we called her back in the day)

We hope to show them a good time!

Gasolina: $120

Entrada al Parque Nacional: $25 por carro

Comida para el viaje: $75

La oportunidad a ver el Gran Canyon por la primera
vez con mis amigos Venezolanos: sin precio!

Well as I have mentioned a time or two before, two friends from Caracas Venezuela are coming and will be staying with us for a week. It is only a small part of a two month vacation over several parts of the Western United States. Maria and I (more I than Maria) want to ensure that we show them a good time and that they leave loving AZ as much as we do. To achieve this, Maria and I have thought and planned out what will hopefully be a fun and memorable time for Andre and Eliza. (I took it "over-board" says Maria, by putting together this travel plan/itenerary with photos and facts.)

The tree house is begining to sprout some leaves!!

Well work continues to move forward. Karen helped us paint the limbs of the tree yesterday. Maria and I took turns out lining different branches and when we had the basic shape out lined I filled it in with two coats of dark brown paint. Maria and Karen did most of the highlight elements and added some knots and depth the the tree.Below is the finished tree (well sord of). It really does look better in person and even better the next day now that all the colors have had a chance to dry.
Today we went to Lowes (thanks for the gift card Christine... on behalf of Maria of course) and bout the green spray paint that we are using to spray on leaves. We priced out the vinyl like we originally wanted to do and it was going to cost us more than $200!! The paint seems to be working great and we are liking the finished look. The room is small and ventilation is poor so Maria is sitting this one out completely. I have to take a break every now and again too.
While at Lowes we also bought wood to make a short rail around the bottom half of the room to keep Davis and friends from falling out of the tree and some tin siding to put on one of the walls. It is really coming together well and we are excited for everyone to see it when it is finished.

Davis' Tree House!

We finally began work on Davis' room this weekend. It was a ton of fun and it becoming more and more exciting as we get closer and closer to welcoming him in our lives. I am trying to have the nursery finished by the shower so Maria can show it off to family and friends who may be interested in seeing it.

The master plan is for it to look like a tree house. We have finished with the base coat color of blue to represent the sky. Over the blue we are going to paint branches and limbs of tree tops and finish it all with a variety of colored leaves. We are still playing with the idea of putting tin on the ceiling or painting the wooden rails of the tree house on the walls.

We are also trying to think of creative furnishings that kids may use in building a tree house like the milk crate shelves that you see on the back wall.

If you have any ideas let us know.