Bad Boy!

Not much going on with the Sweigarts this week. We've been eating, sleeping, working out, and watching '24' and 'American Idol'. We took our first walk on the greenbelt yesterday at lunch. It was great. We went to the park (Ann Morrison) and I swang on the swings. It was a lot of fun.

But tonight...well not so much fun. A coworker, Aric, gave me a ride home from work. I was really excited to show Aric our dog and his many amazing tricks. Bachelor's only trick tonight was lunging for Aric and biting him on his hand. This is DEFINITELY the first bite for Bachelor and I am very upset about it. Bachelor was obviously super scared because his little body was shaking like crazy afterwards...but it was such a disappointment. Aric left after I apologized profusely, and was nice enough to assure me that he was ok. (Bachie didn't break the skin) But still! So our night tonight has been giving Bachie lectures and trying to come up with what we can do about his fear of people. We're now looking for a good dog trainer to help. Any ideas? DL, any good 'Doggie U' videos?

Yee-Haw!!!

Thanks to our friend Kendra turning the big 3-0, CJ and I went to our very first country line dancing lesson at a local western saloon. Now we can say that we know how to do the 'electric slide'. It was a great time. We felt like such silly idots on the dance floor trying to step in time with the other cowgirls/cowboys. I was so impressed that CJ really got into it. He even rolled up his jeans and went up to the front row so that he could get closer to the instructor! It turns out that my darling husband is almost TWICE as coordinated as I am :). This was the first time that he and I danced together in public! We've gotten tons of dancing experience in with our dog at home...thank goodness none of you have to see that!

Later in the evening, we spent our time chatting and playing darts. Kendra had a couple of giant balloons in the shape of 3 and 0. CJ thought it would be hilarious to freak Kendra out by faking like he was popping the 3 with a dart and ended up actually doing it! CJ apologized profusely and Kendra said that she laughed so hard that it hurt. It was an awesome evening and we were so glad to be able to have our first real country experience with our best friends.

Stolen in the night!

Wednesday night about an hour after we had fallen asleep we were awoken by our dog barking like crazy. CJ looked outside and saw 4 people with stockings over their head in our yard. They looked like teenagers, so he decided to send the dog outside to scare them away. He opened the door, and out ran Bachelor barking at our intruders. It was quite scary for Bachelor as he ran to the front door step and wet himself. Once CJ was dressed, he went outside to find Kendra, Sarah, Amanda, & Tab(Rowedder) dressed like criminals and our house tastefully toiletpapered. When I came to the door, Kendra announced that they were kidnapping me and that she was having her last 'hurrah' of her 20's. (the next day was her 30th birthday) I tried to weasle out of it because I needed sleep desperately for work the next day...its been a rough week. The girls reluctantly left and I ended up calling them about 15 minutes later with regret. So I jumped in the car, and drove like a mad woman to meet them at the next victim's house - Andrea Williams. I'm so glad that I didn't wimp out because we had so much fun acting like 13 year olds. I was given my stocking for my head and we proceeded to toilet paper and awake sleeping Andrea. After lots of giggles & fun, we headed over to IHOP and had some late night snacks. I ended up getting a mere 4 hours of sleep but had so much fun.

Here are some pictures of our night:

Amanda & Kendra watching as I toilet paper Andrea's apartment. We were all wearing black and with these stockings over our head, its amazing that we didn't get the cops called on us.

Tab Rowedder toiletpapering Andrea's pretty flowers.

Amanda Coleman is our fellow partner in crime.

Andrea told her husband that a bunch of crazy girls were at her house and promptly dressed and came with us.

For the finale, we stuffed into a car and drove to IHOP for treats. This is us at IHOP around 2:30am.

Bachie has a bad day

See this sign to the left...this is little Bachie's worst nightmare. Some doggies fear thunder & lightening, some fear fireworks...but this little guy fears the groomer. We've brought him here since he was a pup and each and every time he freaks out. We've tried & tried to get him used to the groomers, we bribe him with treats, but nothing works. Friday morning, CJ brought him here prior to going to work. It was such a traumatic experience for the little guy. (Both little guys in fact). Bachelor shook in fear and then proceeded to take a poo while CJ was holding him! Ick! CJ asked the groomer to let him take Bachie back into the grooming area and they relunctantly let him. Afterwards we swore that we'd never bring him back...at least not to this place. We're not sure if they were mean to him, but probably not. Either way, this causes the dog to be so unhappy that we'd rather suffer through grooming him ourselves than putting him through this torture. But afterwards when we picked him up, he seemed to forgive us.

Here are some before/after doggie pics...

Bachelor before has tons of fluffy curls all over the place, which only end up in giant fur balls on the hard wood floor.



Bachelor after looks like a dog-peanut. Hes got no curls, no furballs, and is soft & cuddly. Also, he smells like doggie-baby shampoo.


Here is the picture of Bachie's happy ride home in the back of our Volkswagon Beetle. He is in the trunk area and resting his head on the back seat.

Scrapping with Pals

Here I am doing my favorite thing in the world...scrapping with my buddies Andrea & Kendra. Friday night, the three of us went to this little craft store and participated in their 'Moonlighter'. The 'Moonlighter' is a open scrap using their workshop from 6p-12am. It was great. We worked on our scrapbooks and had lots of laughs. You would think that with 6 hours of scrap booking time that we'd be able to get a whole scrapbook done! I think we spend more time goofing and talking than we do actually getting any work done. Andrea got a few pages done, Kendra got four done and I got a measly two! But we had such a blast and it was a really good time. Also, this is one of the few places where we could ask someone to take our silly picture holding these frames and they wouldn't give us a funny look.


Check out the pics below of Andrea & Kendra's work....

Is it me, or did these girls dress to coordinate their pages???

CJ - The Artist

The large castle (to the left) is a statue CJ was looking at while he was at his Grandma's house last summer in Seattle. All weekend he was studying the details of it and I couldn't figure out what he was doing. His Grandma told him that he could take the castle home and he was thrilled. Immediately when we got home, he took me to the craft store and bought a bunch of clay. Then he created a tiny replica of the statue, baked it, and then painted it. Why did he do this? I still don't know...but the end result is amazing! He has such a steady hand and an eye for detail. It is hard to tell in this picture, but this little castle is about the diameter of a penny and no more than a half an inch tall. Its really cool. I love crafts, especially stamping & scrapbooking. CJ isn't really into those hobbies but he's taken up a lot of other little crafts that he does while I'm doing mine. One day he made a kite out of black trashbags. He cutout a batman symbol in yellow and pasted it onto the kite. I was completely convinced that it wouldn't fly, but amazingly that kite flew higher than any kite I'd ever seen before. And then there was the time that he tried to make one of those little stained glass window art things from scratch. He grabbed a bunch of wire, cut up a bunch of teeny pieces of colored plastic, and placed it carefully in his wire design. Then he baked the plastic. It was also very impressive. His creativity and funny crafts are something that I adore about him....it keeps me guessing and laughing...

Biggest Loser at Work

Craig & I are in a contest with some of our coworkers to try to lose the most weight (%) by the end of April. We each put in $25.00 to the contest so the grand prize winner will get $250.00. Last year, I joined a similar contest with some friends and won! This year...not so much. So far I am trailing behind and losing slow, but steady weight. Craig is doing great though! He is currently in fourth place and has been working out everyday. Its a fun and lighthearted contest, but one of the contestants 'Scott' (same one who cleaned up at Texas Hold'em) is currently in the lead and bringing cupcakes to work to tempt us. Its gotten to be so obnoxious that Craig & I don't care as much about winning as we do about beating Scott. Cross your fingers for the Sweigarts!

Happy Valentines Day...I LOVE You!

I had a conversation with a good friend the other day who said that Valentines day stinks and that it is a silly stupid holiday. I immediately responded that Valentines day & Anniversaries are my favorite holidays. As far as commercial holidays go, what better than to celebrate your love for your family? I think that we should be spending AT LEAST the hoopla on each other during these holidays as we do for birthdays, fourth of July, Easter, and yes even Christmas. The greatest gifts God gave us besides his son are our loved ones and the relationships we have here on earth. And of course, the very next argument my friend gave is that we shouldn't NEED a day of the year to celebrate our love for each other. I say YES WE DO! We always need to be reminded not to take those we love for granted. We need to fully seize every moment that we have together and that includes making a fuss over each other once a year.

So here I am making a fuss over you...

My CJ: This has been the most incredible year of my marriage and you are the greatest guy ever...and every day you surprise me with your love and kindness to me. You are my best friend and I love spending my life with you. Thank you for an amazing year.

My DL: (Dad-in-Law) I cannot even begin to tell you how much you mean to me. I love how our relationship has grown over the years. It is so fun to laugh and talk with you. You truly have filled a void that was in my heart by becoming like a father to me. Thank you SO much for investing in me. I love you.

My Nones: (Mom-in-Law) I love how you are always so concerned about having yummy dinners ready for us when we come over for '24' night. You have such an amazing servants heart. You & I have shared so many laughs and tears. You are so blessed to me and I love you very much.

My Tossie: You are such an inspiraton to me! I love how dedicated you are when you set your mind to something. I loved all of the great chats we had working out together and I'm really happy that you are in my life. It is great to hear your stories of all of your adventures.

My Theresa & Joseph: You guys are so sweet. You are always willing to help and have such great attitudes. It has been amazing to watch you grow up. I'm so thankful to have you in my life and really appreciate you.

My Bec: (Sister) I love you little Bec! You are so beautiful inside and out. I love your spunk and your reckless behavior on 4-wheelers. I love how you make fun of me for saying things that I shouldn't say like 'fo shizzle' and 'talk to the hand'. I love you so much and you will always be that little girl doing the hokie pokie to me!

My Mom: We have been through so much together. I love the wonderful memories I have of you and me having sleepovers together. You were always so wonderful at making a huge deal of my birthdays! I love how you are persistent with keeping in touch with me even when I get too busy! I love you so much.

My Step-Dad: When you came into our lives, my Mom was very sad. You put a smile on her face and have been so constant and supportive every since. I really appreciate you for your funny sense of humor and your great desserts :) I love you for being so wonderful to my family and always being a great friend to me.

My Grandma Arvie: I love how strong you are. You are an amazing woman who can always be counted on! You've always made the holidays special for me and have done a great job of keeping in touch with me even though we've lived geographically apart. I love your feisty spirit and your wisdom. I love you!

My Aunt Lori & Uncle Mark: You guys are the best! I love that you love doggies as much as I do. Some of my favorite early LA memories are with you guys. You always had the greatest condos with pools :) The one thing that I can always count on is that when I see you, we can pick up right where we left off as if we'd been talking daily. I love you guys SO much and appreciate the awesome testimony your marriage has been to me.

My Uncle Richard: You are a CRAZY guy and I love the way you make me laugh when I am with you. You are the funniest person I know. There is never a shortage of laughs when you are around. I love how you used to give me toys when I came to visit you from your 'toy box' in the closet. I love you!

My 'Seattle Sweigarts' Family: You guys have accepted me from the start. I love how you guys always greet us with open arms when we come into town. You are all so fun to be around and I love just hanging out listening to you talk and reminisce. It is such a blessing to be a part of your family and I love you guys SO much! Buster & Georgia, I love your funny newspaper clippings that you send. Aunt Wendy & Nancy, you are always so interested in what is going on in our lives and caring to keep up with our birthdays (even when its impossible to get a card delivered to us because of our silly postman). Aunt Becky & Fam, you are so great to keep us updated with your lives and to spend time with us. I really appreciate how much you pray for us. Crazy Dosterts: You guys are awesome! We loved sitting with you at Becky's wedding. It is great to hear about your crazy stories and share laughter with you. And Uncle Scott & fam, I love you guys so much. I have had so much fun coming to see you and spending time with you guys. It has been great for me to hear all of the fun stories with the cousins.

My Friends: There are just a few of you, but you are all such great and beautiful women. I love you for your advice, your listening ears, and your amazing scrapbooking skills. I love you.

And finally....

My God: You have been true to me no matter how many times I have failed you. You are so incredible to me. What I appreciate so much about our relationship are all of the little reminders that you give me that show me your love. All of the 'coincidences' in my life and special moments that you've given. You didn't have to do anything more to prove your love for me given that you sent your son, but you continue to 'woo me. I love you SO much!

Happy Valentines Day Loved Ones!

What we're up to....

This has been a fun/challenging last couple of weeks. For the previous two weekends, we have been housesitting/babysitting three kids out at their house in Eagle. The house is great and has many horses and pets. For the most part, the kids were great, but taught us some lessons in humility to all of you dealing with parenting on a daily basis. We loved spending time with them, but found ourselves completely wiped of all energy afterwards. When we got home, I found myself dancing with the dog and celebrating our freedom. Seriously, I don't know how you guys do it.

Yesterday I caught the flu (from the rugrats) so today was a day at home. It was great to catch up on 'Judge Judy' and 'The People's Court' and CJ's guilty pleasure, 'Little House'. Its great entertainment...especially when sick.

CJ has been working on a programming project on the side, so much of his free time lately has been spent on the computer. I'm starting to really miss him. Isn't that crazy? We work together, sleep together, and I start to miss him if he spends just a little of his extra free time with the computer. Anyway, this project is really cool. He is helping with some website features for www.checkabiz.com. This is a neat site which allows you to rate local businesses. I love it because it gives me a place to rant & rave about the businesses that I love & hate. He's working on some great enhancements to the site which will help the businesses be able to respond to users that make reviews about them. It is an awesome project and a lot of fun...just a lot of work!

And that is our week's update...nothing too incredibly interesting. We're really looking forward to the next couple of weekends of just hanging out around the house...with NO KIDS :)

My First Chain Email Response

A friend of mine sent me an email which is like one of those chain letters that you send to tons of friends and hope they send back to you. In the process, I learned about her blog and got inspired. So I am breaking my rule of not responding to these types of emails and I'm not only responding, but posting my responses to my blog...enjoy

What is your occupation? Software Developer - Currently working on Jim Beam's website.

What color are your socks right now? - Boring, black.

What are you listening to right now? - Rockwell & Michael Jackson - "Somebody's Watching Me"

What was the last thing that you ate? - Movie nachos

Can you drive a stick shift? - Absolutely! I miss my 6 speed TransAm

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? - I'd be silver

The last person you spoke to on the phone? - Bree from work in Chicago

Do you like the person who sent this to you? - Yes, thanks Lori!

How old are you today? 28, who's counting?

Favorite drink? Diet Pepsi

What is your favorite sport to watch? NFL football

Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes, two weeks ago!

Pets? Our baby Bachelor, and a bunch of worms

Favorite food? Hmm.... Hawkins Pac-out french fries

What was the last movie you watched? Rocky Balboa, watched it this evenng with Ciege

What was the last book you read? Wow...I really can't remember!

What is your favorite fall or spring? Definitely Spring. I was born in Spring.

Hugs or kisses? Hmm...depends on who the hugger/kisser is. Hugs from strangers, kisses from friends.

Cherries or Blueberries? Cherries.

Do you want your friends to email you back? Email me, but not because I send you a chain letter. :)

Who is most likely to respond? I don't know, but I don't blame them if they don't.

Who is least likely to respond? This is a pretty manipulative question isn't it?

Living arrangements? House

When was the last time you cried? Tonight, my hubby & I were reflecting together on what an amazing year 2006 was for us and he told me that it was the best year he'd ever had in our marriage. I started crying/giggling with joy.

What is on the floor of your closet? LOTS & LOTS of Laundry.

Who is the friend you have had known the longest that you are sending this to? Kendra

What did you do last night? I played poker with some coworkers.

Favorite smells? Clean clothes :)

What are you afraid of? Crawl spaces!

Favorite dog breed? Springer Spaniels of course.

Number of keys on your key ring? 1 because Ciege insists on this and we ALWAYS lose the key!

How many years at your current job? Only about 6 months, but its been the best 6 months of my professional career.

Favorite day of the week? Fridays

How many states have you lived in? 3 North Dakota, Idaho, New Mexico

Favorite holidays? Anniversaries & Valentines day

Ever driven a Motorcycle or operated heavy machinery? No, thank goodness. I am such a clutz!

Liquidation World...Its just like a Mini-Mall

(click picture)
After work tonight Ciege & I headed for some much needed relaxation at the dollar movie. We found ourselves about a half hour early, so Ciege begged me to agree to going to the 'Liquidation World'. UGH! I hate this store. It is a packrat's paradise and my beloved husband is like Templeton on Charlotte's Web. That guy LOVES a good deal. So here is the fantastic deal: 8 tubes of
expired sunscreen and 10 boxes of candy canes. The guy is scared out of his mind he is going to get skin cancer. Give him 1 year and he will be walking around like Marlon Brando in the Island of Dr. Moreau, complete with Mumu and a giant floppy hat. And what is up with those candy canes? No one actually likes candy canes! And especially not all year round. We're going to be working on those candy canes for years. Just as long as he doesn't ever drag me to "Flea Market Montgomery", I'll continue to put up with his obsession for a good deal. I can hear him now... "Can, its just like a mini-mall!"

Texas Fold Em

Tonight CJ & I joined four coworkers at our boss' shop for a friendly game of Texas Hold Em. The buy in was $20.00 and we had been excited all week to get our shot at some gambling.

Most of you know that CJ & I are gambling fools. A couple years ago we could be found weekly down in Jackpot trying to beat the house at Blackjack. Our fun little addiction started to get bad when the dealers knew us by our first names and suggested that we space our visits out more. Now that we have lost our weekly gambling escapes, we jump at the chance for a fun game.

All day our coworker Scott teased and jabbed at us about how he was going to clean up. Although the teasing was in good fun, I have to admit that I came to the game tonight with the #1 goal of beating Scott. And just like a bad weekend in Jackpot that guy took first place tonight!!! Oh well. We had a blast and it was a really good opportunity to hang around with some cool people that we work with. But now that we have been annihilated by Scott, we're on a mission for revenge. Its looking like our gambling habit has been reborn :) Don't worry readers, we won't sell the dog for gambling money.

Welcome to our Spot!

Hello you. Welcome to the sweigartSpot and thank you so much for reading about us. I (Candace) have been thinking for a while about creating a blog and have finally just now sat down to do it. Craig (AKA CJ or Ciege) and I were talking tonight about how badly we wished that we had a blog or journal from a few years ago that we could read and giggle about.

So ready or not...here we blog...

For those of you who don't know, 2007 has been VERY busy year for us thus far. Last month CJ left 7+ years working for 'the man' (Micron) and came to work with me at Wirestone. We are so thrilled to be working together again finally. We originally met at Micron and worked together for the first year of our relationship while we were dating. One of the things that confirmed that this was the guy for me was that we could spend tons of time together without getting sick of each other. We are having a blast getting a chance to work together again. Our commutes to work are filled with lots of 'shop talk', but we are able to really connect because we have the same profession, and like the good ole' days, we work for the same company.

And have I mentioned that our dog is amazing? He is the coolest dog ever and will most definitely be featured many times on this blog. He is a 'tricky' dog in that he knows just about every trick we can think of, yet refuses to do basic tricks like stay or come.