The Leech Family

2012-01-23T14:11:00.005-05:00

Well, not much has changed here. We are still waiting for our ultrasound when we can finally find out if this amazing little baby is a boy or a girl. For a while Greg was pretty sure it was a girl and I almost trusted his intuition (he was the one experiencing morning sickness, after all!). But then he decided it was and boy, and now he's back to girl. I don't feel anything one way, or the other. People ask me if I'm carrying high or low...but I'm still not really showing so I can't really tell. Did any of you "know" what you were having before you found out for sure? How?

We had an ultrasound at 12 weeks which they used for our First Trimester Screening Test. The results were wonderful. Everything looks great so far! And look how cute our tiny baby is!

I'm 16 weeks today and feeling excellent! I was hoping for a little extra energy in the 2nd trimester, but I guess I should just be grateful that I had such a great 1st trimester.

I stole this fun little questionnaire from another blog and thought it would be a good way for me to keep a record of my pregnancy. So, here we go:

How far along? 16 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 4 pounds gained
Maternity clothes? Not yet. Just a lot of leggings!
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Sleeping great!
Best moment this week: Possibly feeling a tiny flutter of movement...maybe...
Miss Anything? Being able to run 5 miles, no problem. Oh well. This is so worth it!
Movement: Maybe...
Food cravings: Blackberries!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not so far.
Have you started to show yet: Not really. I can see a tiny bump. Maybe next week!
Gender prediction: I have no idea. Anyone have a "feeling"?
Labor Signs: No!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!
Looking forward to: Feeling more movement & finding out what this baby is so I can go shopping!

2012-01-04T16:44:00.004-05:00

I'm back! It's a new year and I have so many incredibly exciting reasons to blog again so I'm here and I'm going to do my best to keep up with everything that's going on in our lives. Well...the exciting parts anyway. And the most exciting reason for my motivation...

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!

Greg and I are both so excited! We've waited so long for this and we could not be happier.

Things are going very well so far. Ladies, please don't hate me for this. I've had no morning sickness! Tiny waves of a nauseous-like feeling every now and then, but that's it! I feel wonderful! I've been so blessed so far and I can't wait until July when we can meet the little cutie. Official due date is July 10th...we're going to shoot for the 4th.

RIght now I'm 13 weeks and 2 days and things are going well. We've had 2 ultrasounds (pictures coming soon), and as far as anyone can tell, things look great. My awesome husband bought me a fetal heart doppler for Christmas so I can hear Baby Leech's heart beating anytime I feel the need. That's usually once or twice a day.

I'm not really showing yet, but I want to keep track of the changes my body will make in the next months.
I love being pregnant and I can't wait to be a mom! I'm taking advice on anything and everything so if you have any, please share.

2010-04-30T20:05:00.012-04:00

I am so excited about what I'm about to post! Greg and I have been procrastinating buying a dining room table for four years now! We can never agree, or the one we do agree on is way too expensive or it's just right but it's the wrong finish, or it doesn't seat enough people...it's always something. So for the last 4 years, our poor guests have been dining in our living room around the coffee table. Well, I found the perfect table! It's totally us! It's from Restoration Hardware and it only costs $2725.00

Yes...I said two thousand, seven hundred and twenty five dollars! And chairs aren't even included! But isn't it beautiful!?!

Would you like to know what my husband said when he saw it? "I can build that!"

And build it he did!

We stained it the exact color we wanted...

I found these great chairs on craigslist for $25 for all four of them...

Gave them a couple of coats of black spray paint (of course I did)...

AND...

Our dining room is finally complete! I'm in heaven! I can't stop looking at it!

And some homemade (super easy to make) mossy spheres finish it off just right!

He is so talented! I had no idea he had such mad carpentry skills! Now that I do however, I have a whole list for the poor man of things I'm going to have him build for me! Including the beautiful square tray you see sitting on that ottoman. I've been wanting it for years but can'y justify forking out $70 for a tray and I can't seem to find anything quite like it anywhere else.

Tomorrow we'll be picking up a couple these gorgeous ladies to go on each end of the new table. Only ours do not cost $399 each like these ones. Try more like $45...for two!

2010-04-09T15:15:00.008-04:00

Our little puppy turned three years old today! I know everyone thinks we're crazy because we treat him like a child, take him everywhere, include him in our family pictures, have huge portraits of him framed in our house, throw him birthday parties, take him out for ice cream, etc. But he truly is the best dog in the world and is such a wonderful companion when Greg is gone. We love him so much so today I'm celebrating!

Thanks for the treats and the new ball Grandma Elaine!

Happy Birthday Ares! We love you!

2010-04-09T10:48:00.016-04:00

I have a big shoot coming up tomorrow so I've spent the morning clearing off my memory cards and I came across a whole bunch of pictures that I thought would be fun to share starting with Halloween pictures that I promised months ago!

Remember our house in 2008?

We added a few more things this time! Greg and my dad made that awesome spooky fence, the grim reaper and the super creepy guy on the left! They are so talented! My mom made some delicious Chili and cornbread and Citrus Cider for everyone that stopped by. It was so great to have my parents here!

We love Halloween!

After a long spring, summer and fall in the hospital we decided to spend a very quiet and relaxing Christmas at home. Just the three of us.

The day after Christmas, we headed to the mountains for a week of relaxation at a gorgeous cabin in Tennessee.

Hmmm...where are my Thanksgiving pictures? I guess I'll be back.

2010-03-30T18:35:00.011-04:00

Three times in a week! What's wrong with me? I'm so so so so so so excited about what I got done today! The weather was absolutely gorgeous (except a bit of wind) and Ares and I spent the entire day outside.

I dusted off the lawn mower and gave it a fresh drink of gasoline, then took it for a stroll around my backyard. Oh how wondrous that bag on the back is that sucks up all the leaves and dead grass. It's like a vacuum for your lawn...and I love vacuuming! I forgot that there was a lawn under all those leaves and sticks and weeds! It looks beautiful.

I saw this done on some very creative person's blog and I just had to have some of my own! They are just terra cotta pots that you can get at Lowe's for a couple of dollars each, some black craft paint, then I traced on some numbers (my house number) that I printed off by rubbing a pencil over the back of the paper, lying the paper on the pot and tracing over the numbers with a pen so that the lead stays on the pot! Then, I painted the numbers with white acrylic paint...
threw in some flowers...
I LOVE THEM!

I went to the Restore again today...this time I had a mission! I just wanted to get a couple of plastic outdoor chairs because I have never really appreciated them or given them a chance and I wanted to see what they had to offer.

I found these for $3.00!

I gave them a couple of coats of black spray paint, threw on some pillows that I got for $6.00 a piece a few weeks ago and they've been sitting in my living room waiting for a pair of chairs to sit on, brought down the console table I bought two years ago and have never found a use for, found a green candle that I got for free from Pier 1 when I worked there and was still in the wrapper, and a couple of other odds and ends that have never really had a spot...and turned this...

Into this!

I think the chairs definitely showed me that they were well worth the $3.00 and a little bit of TLC!

2010-03-29T16:19:00.014-04:00

Can you believe I'm blogging twice in one week? It's a miracle! I'm just so excited about all these projects I'm doing that I justhave to share!

I've been working on finding some photo props for an event I have coming up in April. I'm going to be doing a full afternoon of back to back mini photo shoots! I already have seven families signed up! I'm so excited and I can't wait to use my new props! I've been wanting to get some old suitcases for a while and I finally found some at the Restore! One of them was already perfect and yellow but the other one needed a paint job!

Here they are making their modeling debut!

I can't wait to use them! Just look at all the fun things I could do with them!

AAAAHHHH!!! I'm so excited!

So, remember my painted easter eggs from my last post? Well I found these half off at Michael's the other day and almost passed them up because purple just really isn't my color...Ares really wanted to be in the picture.

But with the same paint job as my other eggs and a little burlap and ribbon...

and an Easter greeting...

they fit right in!

I still have a whole bunch of projects in the works and if I can keep up this blogging streak...you'll be seeing them soon! And just for your viewing pleasure, here's Ares hanging out with me while I took the picture of the suitcases!

2010-03-25T16:48:00.011-04:00

I'm back everyone! At least for one post! I still have so much catching up to do but it's probably going to take a while because all of my pictures are on different computers and it's just a mess. But, the good news is...Greg got me a new laptop that is virus free! So now I'll, hopefully, be able to blog more often than I have in the last six months!

Things in North Carolina are wonderful! The weather is warming up and I've been able to spend tons of time outside gardening and crafting!

In fact, I've spent the entire day spray painting, recovering, sewing, etc! I'm so excited about my new decorations!

I found a new thrift store, Habitat for Humanity Restore. They have them all over the country and I'm lucky enough to have one five minutes away!

Here are some before and after pictures for your enjoyment!

Some hideous easter eggs on sale at the Hobby Lobby

Aaaahhh...the wonders of a fresh coat of paint!

Wreath: $4.99 Letter: $1.49 Ribbon: $1.99

Finished Product: Fabulous! (at least I think so)

And my favorite project of the day...
I found this wonderful treasure at the Restore for $10!

I gave it a couple of coats of glossy black spray paint...

...recovered the vinyl seat with some burlap that I already had...

...and made a quick and easy throw pillow (leftover fabric again) to finish it off!

And the best part of all...I didn't have to promise my first born to get it all from The Pottery Barn!

Coming up next time...

*Photo season is here and I've been practicing!

*I'm working on finding some super cute photo props

*Ares is turning 3! Time for another ridiculous dog birthday for a very spoiled pup!

Ok, fine. I'll blog.

2009-10-17T16:13:00.014-04:00

I apologize that it has been so long since I posted anything at all on here. My computer is dying. It's a horrible time for us. None of my pictures work, programs only stay open for about five minutes before my whole computer freezes up and I have to start all over and I usually loose everything I've been working on so I just end up giving up for a few days before I attempt to get anything done again. So, Here is the post I've been working on for the past two months with no success. Let's see if I can get it posted before I lose it again!

Greg is still, technically, a patient at Walter Reed so we aren't completely finished with that whole ordeal, but we are not a pair who can just sit around waiting for the next doctor's appointment to roll around! And since Greg is still a patient, he doesn't have to (or, as he thinks of it, doesn't get to) go to work so we've been finding all sorts of things to do to kill time. We've been able to spend a lot of time working on projects around our house. Greg's installed a fan in our living room, recessed lighting in our bathroom, new trim in the half bath, cabinets in the garage (you should see how organized our garage is!). We've painted walls, staircases and porches. Greg has pruned all the trees in our yard and our neighbor's yard. He's really quite amazing and I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful man around! I've always thought that Greg had a touch of superhuman in him, but a couple of weeks ago my suspicions were confirmed! Due to his "business trip" and then to all the time he's had to spend in the hospital this year, Greg had to miss out on the majority of Triathlon season so when we had a chance to take a break from the hospital a few weeks ago, he decided to sign up for a race. Now, keep in mind that he's been in and out of the hospital for close to six months now. He's been able to run a little bit but swimming and biking have been out of the question thus far. But, when Greg decides he wants to do something, there is absolutely no stopping him! Not only did my husband finish a Triathlon after six months of being out of commission...but he took SECOND PLACE!!! So, it's official, my husband is Superman! At least I think so! About three weeks ago he surprised me with tickets to a big amusement park in Virginia. That my not sound special to a lot of people, but the only thing that comes even remotely close to competing with Greg for my heart, is a good amusement park! It was so much fun! I was so excited it's embarrassing! In October, my parents came out to see us and to bring Ares home! Finally! We missed him so much it was ridiculous! My parents took about four days and drove across the country with him in the back seat and got here just in time for Halloween! I will give halloween it's own post with pictures later. It was so wonderful having them here for a while. I have such wonderful parents, I just wish I could see them more often. November so far has been fairly uneventful. After I give Halloween the spotlight for a while, I'll post about our Thanksgiving. Right now I'm just happy that my computer has not shut off so I'll quit while I'm still ahead. I hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday season!

How I made over my mailbox...

2009-09-14T09:56:00.003-04:00

I've had a few requests for this so here is my mailbox makeover how to. Sorry it's short but I have to make a Wal*Mart run for toilet paper...

Ok so here's what I did.
I used some leftover trim paint to paint the whole mailbox white (it would probably be easier to do with spray paint but I didn't have any on hand).
Next I found the branch online and dragged it into photoshop where I added my numbers and lettering and printed it out then used carbon paper to trace the transfer onto the mailbox. I was going to try and paint it on, but it proved to be way to tedious and I ended up using a couple of different tipped sharpies! For the Bird, the flag, and the handle, I had some cute scrapbook paper so I cut out a little bird to put on the branch then I cut the rest of the paper into strips and dipped them into a solution of 3 parts Elmer's Glue to 1 part water and did a little paper mache!!! I also dipped the bird in the solution to get him to stick to the mailbox and then I finished everything off with about 5 coats of indoor/outdoor clear glossy protective spray paint! That's it!

Saving money once again!

2009-09-08T12:49:00.005-04:00

I've made myself proud again and I have to share. I've been wanting one of these camera strap covers for a long time but I just couldn't bring myself to spend $25.00 simply for the purpose of beautifying the appearance of my camera strap! So, I found this
tutorial and I did it myself saving approximately $20.00! Let me know what you think!!!

Mailbox Makeover

2009-09-03T17:34:00.012-04:00

I'm not sure why I never noticed before, or maybe I have and I've just been in denial, but I have a really ugly mailbox! I thought about buying a new one...not really in our budget or on our priority list. So, I switched into crafty mode and consulted google images for some cute mailbox inspiration...Nothing! Doesn't anyone out there have a cute mailbox? Here are some of the results I got from google...

They're all very creative, but not exactly what I was looking for.
I was on my own. Here is what I cam up with. Let me know what you think!

Before

And after!

The only thing I had to buy for this project was a can of outdoor protective clear spray paint ($2.97 at Wal*Mart)! Everything else I already had at home! I won't bore you with all the crafty details but if you want to know how I did it I'll share! I'm quite proud of it and even though I'm probably the only one that will ever notice it (besides the mailman and notice I did leave him a little message on the front) I feel so much better now knowing that my mailbox is an eye sore no longer.

It's not all bad...

2009-09-03T15:48:00.011-04:00

So, I know I've been complaining a lot about being stuck in Washington D.C. and having nothing to do...but it really isn't as bad as I make it sound. I would just much rather be home. But, we have been able to have a little bit of fun! It was my birthday on August 10th and Greg was still in the hospital after his last surgery so we weren't able to do anything but my wonderful husband still surprised me by waking up extra early, unhooking his IV (which he does quite often...), sneaking down to the main floor of the hospital and buying me Hot Chocolate and doughnuts! He is so sweet! He felt really bad about not being able to do anything on my birthday so the day he got out of the hospital, whether he felt like it or not, he took me to downtown D.C. to the place I allow him to take me only once a year (both because of the cost and the ridiculous amount of food), The Melting Pot!It was delicious as always and Greg bought me some of their milk chocolate and white chocolate that I can't wait to melt up and try out! YUM! And being a wounded soldier in D.C. definitely has it's perks! Everyone wants to meet you and thank you. Greg's like a celebrity up here! We've met with Tiger Woods, the NY Mets and most recently Collective Soul! They were very cool and of course they loved Greg (he is very loveable!) and the concert was incredible! We've found a nice little place to hang out when we have nothing to do and it always proves to be a great time. It's a little town called Silver Spring and there's always something going on there. There are tons of restaurants, bookstores, a HUGE movie theater, an interactive fountain that we love to sit and watch kids play in, live music and every weekend they have some kind of street fair. One weekend we came across an Indie Handmade Mart and found some really cool treasures! As I've said before, I love one of a kind handmade stuff so I was in heaven and Greg had a good time too! Our favorite vendor, who I just have to share with you, was a guy named Dan who has his own company called Sharp Shirter. He and some friends design everything they sell and they are so unique, I just love all of his stuff! Greg got a couple of shirts and I got a dress and a bag. They had everything there from skirts made out of old t-shirts to amazing art, adorable jewelry and...soap for your dog? So, it really isn't that bad here. We usually find something to do it's just the hospital part that's no fun. Hopefully it will all be over in a few weeks and we can finally settle back into life...but if not...there's another Handmade Mart in December. Oh, yeah! And I chopped all my hair off! (see collective soul picture)Comments welcome!

Greg's Hand (this is for you Jim)

2009-08-30T21:37:00.009-04:00

WARNING
THIS POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES UNSUITABLE FOR SMALL CHILDREN, WEAK STOMACHED ADULTS AND VEGETARIAN VAMPIRES
IF YOU HAVE A HISTORY OF FEELING ILL AT THE SIGHT OF EITHER BLOOD OR BLOODSUCKING PARASITES OR BOTH AT THE SAME TIME, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND VIEWING ANY FURTHER. IF YOU'RE STRANGE LIKE ME AND THINK BLOOD, GUTS, GORE AND ROADKILL ARE FASCINATING...READ ON!

As I mentioned in my last post (approx. 10 minutes ago) Greg's injury proved to be one of multiple complications, one of which included a broken finger that refused to support the growth of new skin resulting in exposure of the titanium hardware holding said broken finger in place.Well, apparently this was not a good thing. So, surgery was scheduled, and a skin flap surgery was performed. Just a little info so that the next part of my story makes sense; skin flap surgery is where skin is transplanted from a donor site (in this case Greg's forearm) and stays attached to it's own fat, blood vessels and occasionally an artery (as happened in Greg's surgery). Fortunately the artery that was transplanted worked wonderfully pumping lots of nice fresh healthy blood into Greg's skin. Unfortunately the blood vessels attached to the skin were damaged meaning that nice fresh healthy blood had nowhere to go. Enter bloodsucking parasites. The only chance of saving the skin was 10 days of 24 hour a day Leech Therapy. It was rather disgusting and incredibly exhausting. My poor husband hardly got any sleep in those ten days. I mean, would you sleep if you knew those little buggers might detach at any moment and wander off? Are you sick yet? And can you believe that they are actually still using Leechs? As weird as it was, and as miserable as my poor Greg was during the therapy, it actually worked and his skin is recovering splendidly! I apologize if the pictures or the details made anyone queasy, but I've had a lot of requests for pictures of the Leechs so, there they are. Until next time...

I'm way behind!

2009-08-30T19:09:00.012-04:00

Ok, I'm going to do it. I'm finally going to catch up on my blogging! It's been a crazy few months but that's no excuse for keeping everyone in the dark about the many adventures of the Leechs. I'm not really even sure where to start and this is probably going to take me a couple of days so I apologize ahead of time for the lack of order that might present itself. Let's see if I can do this in chronological order...

As most, if not all, of you know, Greg was injured "on the job" in May and has been being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. It turns out it was a very complex injury and has resulted in multiple surgeries, pins holding bones in place, titanium plates and screws...and a few other fairly gruesome components that I will mention a little bit later. The remainder of May and the entire month of June was spent in or around the hospital and honestly I don't know how we managed to pass the time as quickly as we did, but we made it through and on July 2nd, they let us go home to Utah to see our families. It was an awesome trip and just what we needed. My whole family was there, Greg's whole family was there and we were able to visit with so many of our old friends. We had a chance to spend some time with My brother Preston and our good friends Chase and Ashley in Cedar City and Ashley, being the sweetheart that she is, hooked us up with tickets to the Shakespearean Festival. Greg and I both love live theater so we were very grateful for the opportunity and loved being able to hang out with them! Thanks again Ashley! A couple of weeks into our trip one of Greg's really good friends that he grew up with in California drove down from Provo to hang out and as you can see from the picture, he and Greg definitely enjoyed being together and truly brought out the kid in one another...yeah. At least they had fun! Greg hadn't seen his brother Tim in about 8 months so he planned a backpacking trip for the two of them through the part of Bryce that most people never get to see. I'm so jealous that I didn't get to see the scenery but not jealous that I didn't get to hike 30 miles in stormy weather and definitely not jealous of the blisters! But seriously, I would have loved to have seen the area...I mean, would you just look at that (note to readers: I would highly recommend clicking on the picture to enlarge, you don't want to miss out on the glorious details)...it's gorgeous! It's the perfect ending to my post. Don't worry...I'll be back in a few hours for more!

Quickest Update Ever

2009-08-12T16:45:00.002-04:00

I don't have a lot of time but I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on Greg and what we're up to. We are back in Washington D.C. and will be here for a few more weeks. Greg had another surgery on his hand last Monday and we're still waiting to see if it's going to be a success. I'll try and blog again soon, but I just don't know when. Sorry about the vague details! I'll write more soon!

Finally, a Vacation!

2009-07-08T17:56:00.008-04:00

Well, we're back in Utah! It's so nice to finally be away from the hospital and we couldn't have picked a more perfect place for Greg to recover! We got here just in time for one of everyone's favorite days of the year in Tropic; The 4th of July. I absolutely love going to the town park on the morning of the 4th, right after the parade, and enjoying local talent, snow cones, sunshine and most of all (and Greg's favorite part) Navajo Tacos! A couple of days later, Greg planned a two day backpacking trip for the three of us (Greg, me and Ares). Oh, by the way, 7 months of not seeing Greg had absolutely no effect whatsoever on Ares' "Man's Best Friend" status. He was so excited to see Greg and has not left his side since we got here! Anyway, our backpacking adventure was just that. An adventure. No trails, lots of bugs, animal calls in the middle of the night (we still have no idea what was making that sound), a restless watchdog sleeping on top of my feet, then my backside, then Greg's feet, then right in the middle of my legs, my first bottle of filtered river water and treking through no man's land trying to keep up with an incredibly fit man who has been nicknamed "Superman" took their toll on me but, in spite of what Greg may think, I had a great time and the views were totally worth it. He's planning many more of these excursions while we're in Utah so I'll have a lot of pitcures to post later, but right now we're off to enjoy another Tropic favorite; The Pizza Place!

First Pictures in 6 Months!

2009-06-16T18:05:00.011-04:00

It has been a very tiring month for the Leech family and I am so happy that Greg is starting to recover, that we're no longer sleeping in a hospital and that we'll be going home soon! However, we are still in the middle of Washington D.C. staying in a little hotel room and it's very hard to get away from people here, so Greg decided to take us both on a relaxing getaway to West Virginia this past weekend! And it was just what we needed! We left Thursday evening and spent the night in a hotel in Harpers Ferry because there was an arts festival that we wanted to go to Friday morning. We love just walking around checking out all the local vendors and their wares! I really love unique one of a kind handmade stuff and Greg bought me a bracelet there that might be one of the coolest things I've ever owned. So cool, in fact, that I will be dedicating an entire blog to it alone later on. For now I will just add that we had a great time wandering around checking out all the interesting art, food and just crazy random stuff! After the festival, we drove about two and a half hours west to Blackwater Falls where we rented a secluded cabin for the rest of the weekend. It was so great to get out of the city for a while and just be alone! We spent a morning hiking, an afternoon picnicking, an evening eating "Tin-Dins" (if you don't know, you should ask! They're the greatest thing you'll ever eat!). The whole weekend was awesome and it was great to see Greg in his element again, running, hiking, he's so happy outdoors! I know he'll be so grateful when he can get back to grueling triathlons and rappelling off of insanely high cliffs...upsidedown...But for now, we're just happy to be out of the hospital. It was such a breath of fresh air (literally!) to get out of the city for a few days, and West Virginia is beautiful! Still way more trees than we're used to, but definitely beautiful! In other news, Greg is recovering very quickly. As you can see in the pictures, he has a cast on his right arm which they will be taking off on Monday to see how things are healing. He has some lacerations thorough his hand that need to heal and a lot of broken bones that need to fuse, but if all goes well, we should be able to take some time off from hospital visits to fly to Utah to see our families! We are both very excited about that! Not only are we excited to see our families but we had to leave Ares there are well so we are very anxious to see him! Well, I guess that's about it for now. Everything is going well and I am loving being able to be with Greg 24/7! It's great to have my husband back even if the circumstances aren't ideal. I'm just so grateful that he's here...

Free at last!

2009-06-03T19:30:00.002-04:00

Greg was discharged from the hospital on Monday! His condition is improving every day. Everyone is still amazed at how quickly he is recovering. We are so grateful for everyone's continuing support and prayers. We will still be staying in Washington D.C. for the rest of June before heading back to Utah for a few weeks. This picture is for Elaine (Greg's Mom). It was taken shortly before the incident and his hair has gotten even longer since! We are doing very well and look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Another Update...

2009-05-27T09:40:00.004-04:00

Hi Everyone! Greg and I are in Washington D.C. at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Greg is recovering better than anyone could have expected. He has such a wonderful attitude and is so motivated to get better I think he'll be out of here in no time. Speaking of time, I don't have much but I wanted to let everyone know that he is doing really well and is actually at the gym working out right now! He doesn't let anything stop him! The doctors took the monsterous cast off his arm yesterday to take a look at the damage and said everything looks like it's healing really well. We don't know yet how many more surgeries he will have to have but so far, things look really good! We'll probably be in the hospital for another week or so and then we'll be staying here in D.C. for at least a month doing therapy to get his hand working again. There's always a ton going on here, even at 3:00 in the morning, so again, I apologize that we don't have time to call eveveryone personally but we do appreciate everyone's care and concern and especaily your prayers. I'll try to update you again in the next week or so.

Update on Greg

2009-05-15T20:47:00.003-04:00

I apologize to everyone who has been trying to get in contact with me. As most of you have heard, it's been a very crazy, emotional, terrifying, confusing and dramatic week for Greg and me and everyone who knows us. I don't have a lot of time or a lot of details but I know that there are some wild stories flying around out there so I just wanted to set everyone straight. My husband was in an incident which I was informed about Monday morning (May 11th). Like I said, I don't have a lot of details but the only thing that really matters is that Greg is doing very well and should fully recover from this very scary incident. He did not loose his arm or his eye, he did not have to have his chest and face put back together, he is not fighting for his life so if you hear any of those stories ( I know they're going around) please inform whoever is telling it that they were misinformed. Greg is very very lucky and I am so incredibly thankful that he is going to be okay. We appreciate everyone's concern and more than anything we appreciate your prayers. I can't say where he is or when or if he will be coming back to the country anytime soon but I will let everyone know if I receive any information that I feel needs to be shared. I will probably be MIA for a while taking care of everything that is going to need to be done over the next few weeks so I apologize again if I am hard to get ahold of but I'm on the phone with the Army almost 24 hours a day and it's quite exhausting. We don't really need anything right now except for your prayers that things will go quickly and smoothly and that he will recover soon! We love you all and I'll try to keep you somewhat updated so that the rumors don't get too out of control!

Happy Birthday Ares!

2009-04-09T11:35:00.005-04:00

Today is Ares' second birthday! If you know Greg and me, you know how badly we spoil our dog and his birthday is no exception! He's honestly the best dog in the world and he deserves it! So, although it's a little embarrassing that I spoil my dog this much, I'm here to share with everyone (Especially Greg) some pictures and video of Ares birthday party!!!

Greg

2009-03-19T00:56:00.007-04:00

Everyone has probably already figured out by now that Greg is, as I say, "at work" (meaning he is not in the country). And he asked me if I would say hello to everyone and let everyone know that he is doing very well. He, being his wonderful self, bought a new laptop before he left so that we can video chat which we get to do at least once a week and we are able to contact one another almost everyday by e-mail or chatting which is very nice. Of course there are those times when he isn't able to talk but he's sweet and is always sure to call me as soon as he can. He sounds and looks great (he always looks great!) and they are keeping him very busy which he loves! I'm amazed at what a wonderful husband he still is even from thousands of miles away. He's helped me through this more that I could ever help him. I'm so proud of him and I appreciate everyone for supporting him and helping me through this separation. He can't tell me a whole lot but I'll try to keep everyone updated on how he is doing. Again, thank you to everyone for your help and support and especially for your prayers! Just a few more months and he'll be safe at home again!

My First Performance

2009-03-17T22:02:00.004-04:00

I'm actually posting this for Greg because this is the only way he can see videos of us, but since everyone else is going to see it to I guess I will explain. I started taking violin lessons about two months ago because it's something I've always wanted to do. My mom actually put Preston and I in lessons when we were 3 and 4 years old but my tiny little arm was too short for even the smallest violin so I had to quit and I just never went back. So, when my mom found the most incredible teacher here in Utah and started lessons, I decided I was going to do it while I was here. Today was the Relief Society's birthday and the theme was Tropic Ward "Hee Haw" so they asked all of us to play a fiddle piece. So...here it is. My very first violin performance after almost two months of lessons! Oh yeah, sorry it's sideways...I have no idea how to fix it!!!

Firsts Tag

2009-03-09T23:47:00.003-04:00

1. Who was your first Prom date? Levi Lefevre
2. Do you still talk to your first love? Well that depends. If we're talking about what I thought was my first love (David Smyth, Preschool) no. But my first true love, is Greg and yes, I talk to him every second I have the chance.
3. What was the first time you drove like? Tari let me drive La La to Cook's Ranch and it was terrible. I put the car in park while it was still moving!
4. What was your first job? Hostess at the Hungry Coyote
5. What was your first car? A '91 Oldsmobile!
6. Who was the first person to text you today? Michelle
7. Who is the first person you thought of this morning? Greg
8. Who was your first grade teacher? Mrs. Lau
9. Who was your first best friend and do you still talk? Melissa Foutz, we kept in touch until a couple of years ago.
10. Where was your first sleepover? Kassidy Hallowell's
11. Where did you go on your first airplane ride? New York City
12. Who was the first person you talked to today? Parker, but I don't know if grunting counts as talking...
13.Who'swedding were you in for the first time? I was a flower girl in my aunt Karma's wedding.
14. What was the first thing that you did this morning? Grunted at Parker for waking me up.
15. Who was the first concert that you went to? Janet Jackson!
16. First tattoo? I don't do tattoos.
17. First peircing? My ears, I think I was like 8.
18. First foriegn country you have been to? none... :(
19. First movie you remeber seeing? The Little Mermaid! It was wonderful!
20. When was your first detention? Oh man, probably 7th grade and it didn't stop until I graduated!
21. What was the first state that you lived in? Utah
22. Who was your first roomate? Shayne Pollock, Leslie Lefevre, Kami Barton, and Lindsey Johnson
23. First Funeral you attended? My Great Aunt Grace
24. Who was your first kiss? ...Brannon Mecham...
25. What is the first thing you do when getting on the computer? Log into ichat and hope Greg is on!

I tag everyone, this is way fun!

I need a new logo!

2009-02-26T21:24:00.004-05:00

So, I'm working on getting my photography going while I'm here in Utah and I was looking back on some of my work and I decided I want a new logo. I'm not sure that I like any of these but I'd like some opinions. Let me know what you think. If you click on the picture itself, you'll be able to see a larger version. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. Also, if anyone would like to schedule children's shoot, let me know in the next few days and I'll cut you a really good deal because I need some new pictures and I want to try out some new equipment! Thanks for your comments!

Ares Loves the Snow!

2009-02-20T01:05:00.001-05:00

Ares loves snow!

I'm the worst blogger ever!

2009-01-23T23:02:00.006-05:00

Wow, I am way behind! It's been a crazy few weeks so you'll have to forgive me for being such a slacker. I guess I owe everybody a little update. Christmas was wonderful, we had a great couple of weeks hanging out with both of the families. Greg is "at work", so I'm still here in Utah spending some time with my family. Everyone's done a wonderful job of keeping me busy thus far. My mom has got me working everyday and I got recruited to help run the BVHS Homecoming Queen Pageant which my little sister was running in. I had tons of fun with the girls and can't wait to possibly do it again next year. Malory did a wonderful job and I'm so proud of her! The judges couldn't believe she was only a sophomore! She took 2nd Attendant and is already getting ready for next year's pageant. I've taken up a couple of hobbies to help keep me busy for the next few months. I started violin lessons two weeks ago and I'm really excited that someday I might be able to say "I play the violin"! I'm also starting an adult ballet class on Monday to help refresh me (it's been almost 6 years!!!). So, things are going really well here. As for Greg; he's doing very well and we appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers! I'll try to do a better job about keeping everyone updated!

2008-12-20T17:59:00.011-05:00

We're in Utah! And we're having a wonderful time! We've got a lot going on with both families so I don't have a lot of time to post but I thought I would share a few pictures from our sledding trip today.

Crummy California...

2008-12-15T22:41:00.005-05:00

Hey everybody. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Greg and I have been really busy the past month preparing for our trip to California and Utah. We're in San Diego right now with Greg's dad and we're having a wonderful time despite the rain. I knew all that "best weather ever" talk was too good to be true. We'll be here for a couple of more days and then we're off to snowy Utah!

Go Yearbook Yourself!

2008-12-09T12:08:00.004-05:00

Ha! Drop what you're doing and go Yearbook Yourself!

I Can't Wait!!!

2008-12-06T10:31:00.004-05:00

Before and After

2008-11-19T11:39:00.010-05:00

Something that I've always been really bad about doing, is taking before pictures when I start working on a project. So you can imagine how excited I was when I found these pictures today of our house the day we did a walk-through before we closed on it. So here are a couple of before and after pictures of our first home!
Before
After

Before

After

Turkey Trot 2008

2008-11-12T09:39:00.004-05:00

Greg and I just signed up to do our first race together. We're going to be running in the PInehurst Turkey Trot on November 22nd. Well, we won't be running the whole thing together. Greg is doing the half marathon and I'm just doing the 5k. But I'm excited to get to run with him! We have just over a week to get ready so I'd better get running!

Your Vote Counts!

2008-11-04T14:45:00.007-05:00

Happy Election Day! I just wanted to remind everyone to get out and vote today! Support what you believe in and take advantage of this national privilege and personal freedom! Thanks for making a difference!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T19:20:00.009-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween yesterday. All of us here at the Leech house had a lot of fun! And I'm very happy to say that we had the scariest house on the block! Greg and Parker worked really hard the past couple of days putting up decorations for me and adding a few touches of their own and it turned out great!
This is Greg's very artistic pumpkin eating pumpkin! He's so talented! I was very impressed!

Here is what the house looked like last night! Greg was dressed up like a Vampire on the porch and would give candy to anyone who dared enter our yard. We kept hearing comments from kids like "That house was the best!" and "I don't want to go up there, there's somebody on the porch" and once when a group of kids walked by one of the kids told all the others, "that's the vampire's house!"

After scaring the pants off trick-or-treaters, we went to a Halloween Party; which we were two hours late for because we were having so much fun with the trick-or-treaters.

Even Ares got dressed up in a costume!

And I had to take every BVHS students favorite halloween treat...Mrs. Lefevre's Eyeballs! Sorry, this is one recipe I can't give out. You'll have to ask her!

We hope everybody had as much fun as we did! Now it's time to get ready for Turkey Day!

Floor Sleepers

2008-10-29T22:07:00.002-04:00

I just walked out of the kitchen and this is what I found! Greg and Ares fell asleep on the floor together! My camera is in the closet right next to Greg's legs and I didn't want to wake them up so I had to take this picture with my phone. I just thought it was so cute!

Random Picture Tag

2008-10-29T09:02:00.004-04:00

This tag didn't work very well for me because most of the pictures on my computer are my work. But here it goes anyway. For this tag you are supposed to find the 4th picture in your 4th folder and write about it. No cheating! You have to use whatever happens to be there!

This is the 4th picture in my 4th picture folder. It is a birth announcement, as you can see. This is just a little something that I do. This baby was so wonderful for the shoot I really had a good time taking these pictures and designing the announcement! Now I tag KAMI, MEGAN, SHAYNE AND CHERISH!

Snickerpoodles!

2008-10-28T21:35:00.010-04:00

I'm having another proud creative moment and I have to share! So, I just love things that are made for dogs that are just like things that humans have. Like little dog clothes and dog Camelbacks (yes, our dog has one), and how about little dog running shoes! But, one of my favorite little things are little gourmet dog cookies! Cookies are one of my favorite foods ever and I'm so happy that someone was creative enough to come up with adorable little cookies that dogs love! We have this cute little shop here called Deka's Doghouse Pantry. It's like walking into an old fashioned gourmet candy shop, only everything is for dogs! You go in and handpick everything out of those glass jars with little tongs and fill up your little bag full of deliciousness! Ares loves their cookies and treats and we get him a bag full whenever we are in the area, but they're kinda pricy for dog treats! So I decided I would make him some! Greg loves sugar cookies so I have a set of cookie cutters for every event imaginable and with Halloween just around the corner I decided that Ares deserved some halloween cookies too! I made him some last year as a stocking stuffer but they didn't turn out very well and I don't think he liked them that much. This time I was a little more creative. I even made dog frosting!!!
Ares is very good about doing tricks when he sees a treat!

He loved them! Oh, and please excuse my messy kitchen! That's what happens when I get into a project like this!
Ok, so maybe I got a little too into the whole gourmet dog cookie thing. I don't think Ares really cares what they look like as long as they taste good! But I thought they were really cute!

Here is the finished product! I know, I'm a weirdo and I treat my dog like a child. But, if any of my fellow weirdo dog owners care for the recipe, just let me know and I'll post it!

Adventure Race

2008-10-27T16:22:00.016-04:00

Well, I'm a day late on posting race pictures but at least I'm getting it done. So here they are!They started out with a map, a compass and some directions and took off running!The goal was to complete as many checkpoints as possible in 9 hours!

Ares had some fun in the water while we were waiting for them to finish kayaking. He wanted to go with Greg and Parker so badly he swam after them when they took off in the kayak and swam behind them for about 50 feet before I could get him to come back! I was so worried that I was going to have to jump in after him that I didn't get a picture of it.
The last part of the race was a 23 mile bike trek during which my poor husband got a flat tire and had to finish the race on foot pushing his bike along side him.

The race finally ended around 6:00. The boys said they had a really good time. They're both pretty beat up and very sore and tired, but they had fun and so did I! Plus I got to enjoy some gorgeous scenery! Maybe next year I'll do it too...

No more prune fingers!

2008-10-24T16:40:00.005-04:00

My dishwasher died the other day. Greg did everything he could to try and save it, but it was too late. I told Greg not to even worry about it. There are only two of us and we lived without a dishwasher for a year in Fayetteville so I decided it wouldn't be that bad to go back to doing them by hand. Well, when I left for work this morning I didn't have time to do yesterday's lunch and dinner dishes and the pile in the sink was starting to get pretty big. But, I thought maybe the boys would be sweet and do them for me. After work today, Greg and Parker came to pick me up at 3:00 and when I asked them what they'd been up to all day, they said "nothing". They hadn't done anything? LAZY BOYS!!! So I walked in the house pulled up my sleeves and prepared to dive into the task hand washing the huge mound of dishes, which by this time had doubled since I left them this morning. I shot a bitter look at my broken dishwasher...but it was gone! And in it's place was this beauty! They bought and installed me a new dishwasher! I love them!

Parker's Here!

2008-10-24T16:27:00.004-04:00

My little brother Parker is here visiting for two weeks! He got here on Wednesday and so far, we're having a really good time. Tomorrow Greg and Parker have signed up to do an adventure race which includes stuff like whitewater rafting, kayaking, trail running, rappelling, orienteering and mountain biking! The race is supposed to last 7-9 hours so it's going to be a long day for me, but they are really excited and I think they're going to do really well! I'll post pictures from the race on Sunday!

State Fair

2008-10-21T17:31:00.012-04:00

Greg's Back! He got back about a week ago and we've been having such a good time! I've been so busy hanging out with him that I haven't even been on the internet is over two days...and that's an incredibly long time for me!!! On Saturday, Greg and I went to Raleigh for some shopping and the North Carolina State Fair! We love fairs so we didn't even hesitate when we heard it was in town! It was so much fun! It was really cold so we bundled up, and snuggled up on the ferris wheel! I would have snuggled up with him even if it had been 102 degrees! We had such a good time! Greg spoiled me with my favorite fair food, cotton candy! He also introduced me to "The Zipper". Of all the many many times I've searched for the most thrilling rides at fairs and amusement parks, I somehow missed this one. And yes, it was very thrilling. My entire body was shaking when I got off. Greg had to help me out of the little cage I was afraid my legs would give out on me. One of my absolute favorite things about fairs and carnivals is the food! The funnel cakes were delicious! Overpriced, yes; but, delicious! In fact the entire night was overpriced but it was definitely worth it and Greg was so sweet and would have bought me anything I asked for! It was a great night and I can't wait to go again next October!

He's Coming Home!

2008-10-11T18:51:00.003-04:00

Greg will be home on Monday after being gone for 5 weeks! I can barely contain my excitement! I've missed him so much! I'll post pictures and an update once he's back!

I'm So Excited!

2008-09-24T19:51:00.003-04:00

I'm so excited I can hardly contain it! Dancing With the Stars started back up on Monday and I can hardly wait until next week when I can watch it again! This is one of my favorite shows of all time and I just had to share my excitement with someone. They are so talented and it's so much fun to watch! I just wish I was in as good of shape as those women! SO... everybody tune in on Monday night and we can all be excited together! Now I'd better get to the gym and whip this body into shape!

I Got Tagged!

2008-09-20T12:20:00.005-04:00

4 Things Tag!
FOUR RANDOM THINGS THAT I LOVE ABOUT MY HUSBAND: The way his laugh sounds when he's laughing really hard, the way his hair looks when he wakes up in the morning, that he actually owns more shoes than I do, and the way he holds me when I need to be loved.

FOUR JOBS THAT I HAVE HAD: Waitress, Nursing assistant, Nanny, Photographer.

FOUR MOVIES THAT I HAVE WATCHED MORE THAN ONCE: Ever After, Hocus Pocus, Beauty and the Beast, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days.

FOUR PLACES THAT I HAVE LIVED: Salt Lake City, Tropic, Hawaii, North Carolina

FOUR TV SHOWS THAT I HAVE WATCHED: The O.C., Grey's Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, Sex and the City

FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN MOST RECENTLY: The Beach, Asheville, Raleigh, Utah.

FOUR PEOPLE WHO E-MAIL ME REGULARLY: Elaine, Clients, Netflix, Shutterfly.

FOUR FAVORITE FOODS: Milk, Fettuccine Alfredo, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cheese

FOUR PLACES I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT: Europe, Alaska, California, Japan.

FOUR THINGS THAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS YEAR: Greg coming home, going home for Christmas, going back to school, making lots of money!

FOUR PEOPLE I TAG: Christina, Marcie, Cherish, and Kristen

Fall is Here!

2008-09-20T10:59:00.007-04:00

Hi everyone! I know that the first day of fall is not officially here until Monday (22nd) but I'm so excited about the season starting to change that I've already started decorating and planning for the holidays! Ok to be honest, I started decorating about two weeks ago! But today I'm especially excited because I woke up this morning all curled up in bed and shivering so I went and checked the thermostat, and it was only 68 degrees in my house! Which means, my house no longer needs to be air conditioned! I think it's still a little early to turn on the heat or build a fire, but it's only a matter of time before I'm curled up with my husband in front of the fire drinking hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music!!! Can you tell I'm excited? Well, I am. I even went out and bought some new fall scented candles yesterday! My friend told me about this little place in downtown Southern Pines called Gap Creek Candle Company and she swears they're even better than Yankee Candle, so I decided I had to check it out. Well, I'll just say this...I'm in love! They smell so good! I spent about 30 minutes just smelling trying to narrow down my selection because there were just so may that I loved! I ended up going with a couple of Bayberry ones for my living room and a Lavender Vanilla for my bedroom. I have the bayberry one burning right now and it is smelling up my entire house! I love it! And they're so affordable! The company is based in Biscoe, NC but you can buy the candles online! They all smell so good. I was amazed when I picked up one with the name "Fairway" and sure enough, it smelled just like fresh cut grass on a golf course! The scents are true to the names so if you're going to order some online, just know that if you pick one called Pound Cake, you can bet that it's going to smell just like pound cake (it's delicious, by the way!)! Some of my favorites were Cedar Mist, Mint Leaves, Cranberry Chutney, Vanilla Sandalwood,White Birch, Warm Apple Crisp, Fairway, Yuletide, Lilly of the Valley, Christmas Tree, and of course Bayberry and Lavender Vanilla. If anyone ever comes to visit me...wink wink...we'll definitely be making a trip to Gap Creek to pick up some of these wonderful candles!

Prayers Please

2008-09-08T19:30:00.003-04:00

Hey everybody. I just found out that Greg's dad has been in a minor accident. He rolled his tractor today and cut his head pretty badly, and really messed up his leg and is going to need some surgery. He's going to be okay but I'm sure he would appreciate us keeping him in our thoughts and prayers this week. Thanks! Hopefully he will recover quickly!

Ultimate Favorite

2008-09-06T22:31:00.018-04:00

One of my all time favorite things in this world is....drum roll please....Black Spray Paint! I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I absolutely love it and use it as often as I can. I really can't explain this obsession using words, so instead I'm going to use pictures. Here are some fabulous before and after pictures of how a can of black spray paint can change your world! (Most of these are not mine...I could only dream of ever being that creative!)

...and a little white spray paint...

...and back to black...

This is my latest project. I got these candle sticks at Goodwill for like 75 cents a piece and the silverware for 10 cents.

Here is what I did with the candlesticks. These are actually going to be a halloween centerpiece for the dining room but I wanted to show them off quickly and the rest of the centerpiece isn't done yet. I'm in the process of finishing up the project with the silverware so I'll post that later.

We Survived the Storm

2008-09-06T09:22:00.006-04:00

Well, Hannah is moving north. We got the worst of it around 5:00 this morning. No major damage except to the brand new tree that Greg just planted in our backyard. It got blown over, luckily I was able to save it this morning and it is now anchored to the back deck because it's still incredibly windy out there! Here is an updated map to show you where we are in relation to the storm as of 9:30 this morning.

738 homes are without power this morning in our county (obviously mine is not one of them) and I'm on my way to Fayetteville this afternoon for a photo shoot (indoors). Fayetteville got the brunt of the storm, but apparently there was no major damages and I don't think any injuries. This is a park located about 6 miles from where we used to live in Fayetteville.

At least my lawn got a good drink!

Hurricane's A-Comin'!

2008-09-05T23:18:00.002-04:00

Hannah is on it's way! The storm tracker is predicting it will hit near us early tomorrow morning. Here's a map to show you just how close she will get to us! We live pretty much directly under the little white star!!! Aaaahhhh!!! I hear the rain starting to come down! I'm going to go curl up in my bed and sleep until the storm has passed!

My Favorite Things

2008-08-27T13:22:00.003-04:00

Ok, really quickly...I figured out what my favorite thing is this week. I was thinking yesterday about what I should post and I just couldn't think of anything that had really excited me this week until this morning while I was taking Ares for a walk. For those of you who know me really well, you know that I have tiny little ears. Well, the headphones that come with ipods just don't fit in my ears very well. They're just too big to fit in my ear comfortably. If I actually want to hear anything that's coming out of them, I have to shove them really deeply into my ear and then I just end up with sore ears. The other problem is that they fall out of my ear really easily so running with them is totally out of the question. However, while my sister was visiting, she showed me some headphones that she'd borrowed from my brother and I loved them so Greg picked up a pair for me while we were in Raleigh for my birthday. They're actually called ear buds and they're made by a company called Skullcandy. They fit right in your ear and they have this cool little silicone "bud" on them that creates a seal while you're wearing them that blocks out outside noise and traps in the music for your ear's enjoyment. Music sounds amazing coming out of them too! You'll hear things in the background of your music that you've never noticed before. The "buds" come in three different sizes so you can pick which one best fits your ear! They're super light, you can barely tell they're there. They come in all sorts of colors and they run around $10-$20. So, for those of you who were wondering what sparked my excitement about these today, I was taking the dog for a walk this morning and I decided to take my ipod with me since I've only used my new headphones a couple of times. I really need to update my playlists so all I had to listen to was some classical music but seeing as how you don't have to turn it up really loud to block out other noise, it actually turned out to be a very peaceful walk. We passed a lady walking her chihuahua and as we got closer to them I realized the little dog was barking it's head off at us and I couldn't even hear it! I was so impressed I started smiling to myself and then I started thinking about what an idiot I probably looked like and then I started laughing out loud as we passed the lady and her tiny barking dog. Anyhow, it really did turn out to be a wonderfully relaxing walk!

Husband Tag

2008-08-24T19:26:00.007-04:00

Oh yay! This is my first blogger tag! Thanks Kami!
What is his name: Gregory Thomas Leech
How long have we been married: Just over 2 and a half years!
Who said I love you first: I did! Greg had been trying to get it out all night but I could tell he was scared so I said it first and he pretty much finished my sentence!.
Who is taller: Greg is way taller then me, I come about to his chin!
Who sings better: Me, but I'm still not a good singer...Greg is just really bad.
Who is smarter: Absolutely Greg!
Who pays the bills: I pay them...with Greg's money.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: I do!
Who mows the lawn: Greg usually does. There have been times when he's gone that I'll get out and do it, but that's rare.
Who cooks dinner: I do...unless we want spaghetti!
Who drives: Usually Greg.
Who's more stubborn: Definitely Greg!
Who kissed who first: Greg kissed me in Mike McCave's basement in Long Island, NY on the night of our first date! It took him forever to do it. I think he was waiting for me to make the first move but I was afraid that if I did I would get the "Ew, you're like my little sister" line!
Who asked who out: Well Greg asked me to lunch and it turned into a weekend so I guess he asked me out by accident.
Who proposed: Greg! It was over the phone (I lived in Connecticut and he lived in Hawaii) and he never used the line "will you marry me" and he didn't ask my dad's permission, and there was no ring but I love him so much that I didn't care about any of that!!!
His Best Feature: It doesn't specify so I'm going to go ahead and be shallow and pick a physical feature...Definitely his butt! I can honestly say I'm jealous of his butt!
Who has more siblings: I do! I have 6 and he just has one.
Who wears the pants in the family: I try to think I do sometimes Greg really does.
What do we like doing together: Anything! We are so weird and we find pleasure in the silliest things like reading maps, watching youtube, filling out surveys in the mall under the name of Steve and Kate Pants, watching dancing with the stars (it's true...he loves it!) and just anything random. We love just hanging out together!
**Now I tag Shayne, Marcie, Cherish and Kristen!

Meg's Design on a Dime!

2008-08-19T15:25:00.009-04:00

I'm having a proud moment so I thought I would share with everyone. A while back I saw these awesome pillow covers at The Pottery Barn that would go great in our new living room but I just couldn't stomach paying $100 for a total of 4 pillow covers! So I decided I would look for something else but I kept coming back to these admiring how perfect they were for our house. Then as I took a closer look, I decided, "I can totally make those!". So, after a couple of trips to The Hobby Lobby for supplies (totaling around $20.00), a few bad thoughts about my sewing machine that kept jamming, a lot of procrastination, and some help from google...Here is what I came up with.
Here is my inspiration...

And here is my attempt at DIY decorating!

So they're not quite as gorgeous as the ones from the pottery barn, but for the $80 dollars that I saved, I'm perfectly pleased with how they look in my living room! Plus, about 2 yard of fabric left over for future projects! Anyone have any ideas of what else I could do with white denim?

Megan's Favorite Things

2008-08-11T14:02:00.010-04:00

I'm sorry that I haven't been able to keep up on my weekly "favorite things" post. We were on vacation for two weeks and then yesterday was my birthday and Greg took me to Raleigh for the day so I wasn't able to post yesterday either. So I guess this week I will have to catch up with a triple feature. So first off I have to say good things about Layers While I was in Utah, my sister and I threw a "Tee Party" and could not have had more fun. The clothes are so cute and unbelievably comfortable, and just when you thought it couldn't get any better, they're totally modest. I have a very long body and I'm always struggling to find shirts that I don't have to pull down constantly to get them to sit where I want. These tops fit so well! And the swim wear is adorable! I absolutely love everything that Layers has and everyone had better be ready for another "Tee Party" when I come back for Christmas!
While my little sister was here this summer, we discovered the wonderful joy of vinyl wall art! It's such an affordable way to totally customize any room in your house! There are a few sites that sell them buy most of the good ones you can get on ebay for great prices! I found a great one to put in my living room because we have really tall vaulted ceilings and huge walls and we jut couldn't find anything that really fit the space but the vinyl wall art works perfectly! I love this stuff!!! They have some really cute ones for nurseries! I can't wait until I can get one of those! ;)
And last, I just can't go any longer without sharing with you the wonderful world of Bella and Edward from Stephanie Meyer's fantastic seriesTwilight. I've been waiting and waiting to read these books and I put off buying them so that I could just borrow my mom's copies when I went home and I finally got my hands on them last week. I'm on the second book right now, New Moon and I'm absolutely obsessed! The plot is your ordinary teen romance novel with a twist; Boy meets girl, girl likes boy, boy turns out to be a vampire! I haven't been this excited about reading since Harry Potter! I would recommend these books to anyone, including you guys out there who don't think you can handle some teenage romance novel. More than one of my favorite men in the world have read them (Greg hasn't read them...yet...) and love them!!! That is it for my favorite things this time because I can't wait to go back downstairs, get some house work done, and then start reading again!

Utah!

2008-08-07T20:07:00.012-04:00

Well, Greg and I are back from our trip to Utah. We had an incredible time and it was so wonderful to get to see our families! I have tons of pictures but I'll just post a few from some of the highlights of our trip! We arrived in Salt Lake City on the 24th of July around 9:30. For those of you who don't know, the July 24th is known as Pioneer Day in Utah. It commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon Pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. As we were landing in the airplane we could see fireworks going off all around the Salt Lake Valley. It was so beautiful; I was ecstatic to be home again! My grandparents picked us up at the airport and we spent an hour or two visiting with them and with my cousin Jon. From there we took my brother Eric's car and drove the 5 hours to Tropic. Greg's dad arrived on the 25th and we spent the day visiting with friends and family and then on the Saturday we went to the town's 24th celebration. My brother Preston came over from Cedar City and brought my nephew Zach who I was able to meet for the first time. He is so adorable! We were able to see a lot of friends and family that we haven't seen in a very long time. Greg really wanted to enjoy the great outdoors while we were there and he did just that! He and my little brother Parker ran, rappelled, climbed and hiked almost everyday that we were there. First they rappelled into Bull Valley Gorge. My dad has the pictures from that adventure so I will have to post one later but they had so much fun that they decided next to attempt rappelling off of the Escalante Mountain! Those crazy boys dropped off of a 150' cliff held by nothing but a knot that I tied! Then, they pulled themselves back up the rope! Once they finished hanging off of cliffs, they decided to run back down the mountain! And they did. They ran from 11,000 feet back down to 6,000 feet! Why anyone would want to put themselves through that, I don't know; but I was very impressed! We were able to spend an evening with our good friends Chase and Ashley and thier son Cadance and Preston and Kami and my nephew Zach over in Cedar City. We all went out to dinner together and the next day Greg and Parker went paint balling with Chase and I took some pictures of Zach for Preston and Kami. He's such a cute little kid! I can't wait to see him again at Christmas!It was so good to be able to spend some time with them. Most of our trip we just spent hanging out with our families. It's been so long since we've seen most of them that there was tons of catching up to do. We spent mornings and nights at Elaine and Helma's. They take such good care of us; it was so great to be able to visit with them. Greg was able to help his mom get a lot of work done around the house while he was there and I know she was really grateful to have him around for a while! My older sister Cecy and her boys Dallon and Braiden are staying with my parents for a while so we got to spend a lot of time with them. Then on our way back up to the airport, we stopped in Provo to spend a night and a day with Eric and Kristen and their kids Gavin, Addie and Olivia (who we met for the first time). She is such a sweetheart! And all of their kids are so adorable and incredibly smart. We had a lot of fun with them! Overall, we had a really great time and we're already looking forward to, and planning for, our next trip to Utah in December for Christmas!

We're Home!!!

2008-08-07T12:43:00.001-04:00

Greg and I just returned from our wonderful vacation in Utah. We got back at about 3:00 yesterday morning so we're still pretty tired and I have a lot of unpacking to do so I will be back later with pictures and stories!

My Favorite Things

2008-07-21T13:22:00.001-04:00

I'm so excited about our upcoming trip to Utah that I can barely think about anything else. And with a day off of work, I'm finding myself going crazy with anticipation so I thought I would write a quick blog. I decided that if I have a theme that I post once, a week, I will be better about keeping up with my blog. So I'm tossing around a few ideas that I've seen such as Flashback Friday where I would post a picture from the past (like from my first dance recital) and write a quick story that goes along with it, or do kinda like Oprah does with Oprah's Favorite Things and share with my friends and family and other blog readers wonderful things that I've discovered that I think everyone should know about! So today I'm going to share with everyone one of my favorite things. Planet Earth was recommended to Greg about six months ago so we netflix'd it and were able to enjoy the many wonders of this earth, right from our living room. Planet Earth is an Emmy Award and Peabody Award-winning BBC nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough. There are 11 episodes focusing on the Earth's natural habitats. The episodes include: From Pole to Pole, Mountains, Fresh Water ,Caves,Deserts, Ice Worlds, Great Plains, Jungles, Shallow Seas, Seasonal Forests, Ocean Deep, Saving Species, Into the Wilderness and Living Together. There several locations and animals that had never been filmed prior to the making of this series. The cinematography is absolutely breathtaking! I would recommend it to anybody, even if you're not a documentary kind of person! You'll love it! Be sure to get the BBC one though and not the American version narrated by Sigourney Weaver (however, I'm sure that one is wonderful too). So that is my favorite thing for today. Check back every Sunday for more of The Leech's Favorite Things.
P.S. I'm sorry, everyone in the audience will not be receiving the Planet Earth 5 DVD Boxed Set...

2008-07-05T17:04:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to share with everyone what a wonderful and amazing husband I have. Instead of taking time for himself to relax this 4th of July weekend, he spent it putting in a hardwood floor in our dining room! It is absolutely beautiful. I'm so excited about it! Here a a couple of pictures for you so that you can see what a wonderful job he did! This is the floor before. It was covered in this ugly gray-blue carpet which made the room look tiny and crowded even though we just have our tiny little table for two in there. And here is the beautiful finished product! Isn't it gorgeous? He's also going to be installing hardwood in the kitchen and breakfast nook and putting down new carpet in the living room and bedrooms! He's so talented I just can't believe it!
We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. We went and watched the Village of Pinehurst Parade, enjoyed free ice cream and enjoyed some of Pinehurst's finest live entertainment. Here is a little taste of the talent for you...

Longest Blog Ever!

2008-07-01T21:45:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official! I am the worst blogger, ever! I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've posted an update on our lives. Things are going wonderfully in the Leech house! Greg graduated his training course on March 6th and both of his parents were able to be there and stayed with us for a few days. It was wonderful to have family to visit with and we can't wait to see them again. We moved about an hour from where we used to live and we are now living in Pinehurst, NC where we purchased our first house! We are enjoying the beautiful summer here in Pinehurst and have been staying very busy! We moved into our new house on March 31st as planned and immediately began the process of making it our home. After Greg's graduation, he was able to take some time off and we spent the majority of that time working on the house. Greg has proved to be quite the handyman! He installed new showerheads, faucets, lighting fixtures, dimmer switches, a sprinkler system, an entire wall unit in our garage, a floor in the attic, he painted 20 foot tall walls, de-texturized ceilings, planted 3 trees, grew a lawn, and is now working on installing real hardwood flooring! He's quite amazing! It's been so much fun making it our own and we've really enjoyed being able to spend the time together. In other news, I have started working part time at Pier 1 Imports! Those of you who know me know how much I love decorating so you can only imagine how much fun I have at work setting up displays and taking advantage of my great employee discount! I really do enjoy it and it keeps me busy while Greg is at work. The only downfall is that we only have one car so I'm riding about 8 miles a day on my bike! At least I'm staying in shape. I'm still taking pictures as often as I can. I have to leave all my clients back in Fayetteville so I'm working on getting my business up and running again in Pinehurst. My little sister Malory came and stayed with us for two weeks and we had so much fun! So much in fact, that we've decided to do it again, this time in Tropic! That's right! We just bought plane tickets and will be arriving in Utah on the 24th of July and will be there until August 5th! We can't wait to see everyone! Malory's visit dropped her here right in the middle of Triathlon season so she was able to travel with us to Asheville, NC for a weekend full of exploring. Greg raced in the Enka Lake Triathlon (his 3rd race of the season) and took 3rd place in his age group! It's always fun to have someone else there with me to cheer him on. Thanks Mal! That afternoon Greg took us to Chimney Rock Park where we hiked to an amazing view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It poured on us at the very top, but we just laughed it off and had a really good time! The next day we got to do something I've been waiting to do ever since we moved to North Carolina. We toured the largest house in America. The Biltmore Estate. It was absolutely incredible! Mal and I loved it. We lost Greg somewhere on the first floor so I'm not sure that he enjoyed to quite as much as we did but I'm sure he had fun. How could you not? It was amazing! My imagination goes crazy when I'm in places like that just thinking about the people that once called that place home. I loved seeing the knife marks in the cutting board that was once used to prepare meals for someone. And the chess board that Napoleon once played with. It was all just amazing to me. I had such a good time!
ce There was a lot to see in addition the the house as well. The Vanderbilt's backyard was over 8,000 acres, 3,000 of which are gorgeous gardens designed by America's foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted (designer of Central Park and incidentally, Pinehurst, NC!) Down the road past two lakes, is their winery. We couldn't really do much there seeing as how we don't drink wine and also it isn't wine season so nothing was being made, but it was fun to see anyway and there was free grape juice!
Ares celebrated his 1st birthday on April 9th! We took him out for his first taste of ice cream which he loved! He's spoiled rotten but we just can't help it. He's so cute! That's pretty much it as far as updates go. We are really looking forward to our trip to Tropic in a few weeks and we hope that we will be able to spend a little time with everyone there! We hope all is well with everyone. I will try to do better this month and get a couple of blogs up! But in the meantime, we would like to wish everyone a very happy 4th of July! Thank you all so much for your love and support and prayers in behalf of our family! God Bless the USA!

We're Back!

2008-02-26T18:45:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. You can all thank Greg for this post since he's the one that talked me into finally getting on here and catching up on my blogging. I guess it's still close enough to the beginning of the year to make better blogging one of my resolutions. We'll see how long I can keep it up. I believe the last time I wrote was around Halloween...so...
On our way to Savannah for Thanksgiving we had a chance to stop by and spend the night with a good friend of Greg's who was on leave from Iraq. It was great to be able to see him and his wife and we are excited for him to come home for good in the spring. Thanksgiving in Savannah was wonderful. We're so grateful to the Myers family for taking us in, again! We really enjoyed our time with them and were able to see a few sights while we were there as well. A couple of days after Thanksgiving we were able to visit Fort Pulaski National Monument which was used during the Civil War. My favorite part of the trip by far was an evening with Greg on River Street in Old Savannah. It's a street full of adorable shops along the Savannah river. We ate breakfast for dinner, ate homemade ice cream (even though it was 30 degrees out), went antique shopping, saw Santa Claus on a riverboat and bought Ares gourmet peanut butter dipped dog biscuits!Greg and I spent Christmas in our own home this year and had a wonderful time. We had a few friends over for Christmas Eve dinner and spent Christmas morning just like little kids. We woke up before the sun came up and sat in the living room in our PJ's opening presents. Even Ares got presents and he opened them all by himself. Our next adventure of the holidays was a road trip to Philadelphia and New York City. Thanks again to good friends for letting us stay the night in their home and for introducing us to the Philly Cheese Steak! We would like to recommend to everyone, if you're ever in Philadelphia, go to Geno's! Yum, now I'm getting hungry!

Highlights of our Philly trip included The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, The National Constitution Center, and The Philadelphia Museum of Art where Greg made the famous "Rocky Steps" run!
Our next stop...NEW YORK CITY! It's where Greg and I had our first date so I was super excited to go back! It was freezing cold but we had such a good time! We got to see some of the things we weren't able to last time like Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, the Museum of Natural History and the view from the top of the Empire State Building. My favorite part of this trip were the tickets Greg got me to Phantom of the Opera as a Christmas present! It was amazing to see a show on Broadway and something I've always wanted to do! Our little vacation was absolutely wonderful and just what we needed before Greg had to leave for a month for some more training. He's back now, thank goodness, and we're really enjoying our time together! He isn't going to have to leave again for a while so I'm really grateful for that. Right now we are looking forward to buying our first house! We've been looking for a while and have a home that we really like so we'll see if it works out! Wish us luck in our quest and for all you golfers...we're going to be living about 2 minutes away from the Pinehurst Resort Golf Course! So, come on out. We've got a place for you to stay! We hope all is well with everyone and I'll write again soon!

Getting Ready For The Holidays!

2007-11-12T08:33:00.000-05:00

Hello friends and family! I'm so sorry that I've been so horrible about updating our blog this past month. Things are going very well for the Leech family. Greg and I have both been very busy working. I was mistaken when I thought that the winter would be a slow time of year for the photography business. Everyone is rushing to get a great picture for their Christmas cards and it has kept me very busy but I've enjoyed every minute of it. I've also spent a little time teaching myself how to design Photo Christmas Cards. Below is an exapmle of some of my work.

Greg is very busy with Russian and continues to excell and always stays at the top of the class. Speaking of the top of the class, Ares started Obedience school three weeks ago and is undeniably the teacher's "pet". We just can't believe how smart he is and how quickly he catches on to everything he is taught. He has three weeks left and we look forward to seeing how far he can go.
Greg and I have jumped the gun on Christmas! We spent our evening last night putting up out new Christmas tree and painting ornaments together. We made the decision that we would refrain from listening to Christmas music until Thanksgiving day...well, that didn't last long. We started listening to Christmas music a few days before Halloween and it hasn't turned off since! We were able to enjoy our first Halloween together this year and we had a fun time carving pumpkins and scaring Trick-or-Treaters. Well, I didn't do much scaring but it was fun to have kids come over to the house.
This year we have made plans to take a 5 hour road trip to Savannah, Georgia to spend Thanksgiving with our good friends Eli and Adrea and their two little ones Madysen and Silas. We are excited to see them again and excited to explore that area of the country. It's so wonderful to have so many friends in so many places. We only hope that we will be able to find the time to visit all of you at one point or another. And visitors are always welcome in our home! ;) We hope everyone is well and that you are all getting as excited about the holidays as we are. Take care, everyone and know that we love you all. I'll write again soon!

Work Work Work

2007-10-13T21:56:00.001-04:00

Business has also been crazy! I shot a wedding a few weeks ago and everyone was very pleased with the outcome of the pictures, myself included.
Just so everyone knows, you can now see my work at
http://cherishedmomenstphotography.blogspot.com

Today I had a photo shoot with a newborn named Audrey. She is 5 weeks old and so adorable! I took maternity pictures for her mom in August and I'm so happy they came back for more. I had a lot of fun and I hope everyone enjoys the pictures! We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the last few weeks of good weather. It's even starting to get chilly here! I'll be back soon with lots more news from the Leech's!

Summer to Fall

2007-10-13T20:20:00.000-04:00

I'm back! It's been a crazy few weeks around the Leech household, but, that's no excuse for keeping everyone in the dark about all that's been going on! Greg is finished with Triathlons until next spring, but let me take you back a few weeks ago when tri season was in full swing! On the 16th of Septmber Greg competed in the Duke Half Ironman! The race was held on a freezing cold moring in Cary, NC.

It consisted of a 1.2 mile swim,

56 mile bike ride and a

13.1 mile run
Greg did very well in the race and far exceeded his goal of being in the top 25% of the competitors!

This past week we had the wonderful privilidge of playing host to the two best guests in the world...My Parents!!! The week went by quickly but we all had a lot of fun including Ares who was spoiled by his "Grandparents"! On Saturday they were able to come with us to Greg's last triathlon of the season. The Pinhurst Olympic Distance Triathlon. 1.5K Swim, 40K Bike and 10K Run. It was so much fun having family there to help me cheer Greg on! I think my parents were really excited to be there. Three of Greg's friends also raced and did very well! I think Greg having a cheering section helped motivate him and once again, he did an incredible job! This race was the Championship race of the 2007 North Carolina Triathlon Series so it was the biggest and most competitive race yet! Greg placed 4th in his age group! He only missed 3rd place by seconds! I am very proud of how hard he has pushed himself this season and how well he has done. His hard work has definitely paid off. Afterwards Greg and I drove home to take showers and naps while my parents drove up to Seagrove, NC where they found one of North Carolina's hidden treasures, pottery. They brought home some gorgeous pieces sold to them by the artists themselves. Then on the way home they were lucky enough to run across the last hour or two of the Semi-anual Cameron Antique Fair! I would have been really jealous, but I hadn't yet discovered my interest in antiques. That didn't reveal itself until Wednesday when we took a little trip back to Cameron!
Sunday we went to the Pope Air Force Base Air Show which actually ended up being really neat! It was super hot outside but frozen lemonade cooled us off and we were all so glad we went! My parents both really enjoyed it and my dad got some really awesome pictures!

I was so sad to see my parents leave Thursday morning. We had such a good time with them and Ares has never had so much fun! They are still on the road as of now and they'll fly back to Utah on Monday.

Another Victory!

2007-08-30T15:08:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! I am so sorry I didn't post earlier! Greg's been sick all week so I've been trying to take care of him and just as he started to get better, I got sick! This past weekend we traveled to Hillsbourough, NC for the Endurance Challenge Triathlon. It was a really fun race to watch and Greg had a fun time competing. He placed FIRST in his age group (Males20-24) and 6th overall out of over 450 people! The next Triathlon Greg will be competing in isn't until September 16th and it is going to be an intense one! It's the Duke Half Ironman! This will be, by far, the longest race Greg has ever competed in!
We just found out that my parents are coming to visit! They are planning to arrive here on October 5th, just in time to watch Greg compete in his last Tri of the season! We are very excited! We LOVE visitors, and we have an extra bedroom and bathroom so you are all welcome to come and stay! We hope everyone is having a good week! I'll post again soon!

Off to the Races

2007-08-24T10:10:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm just taking a break from packing for our weekend trip! Today we are off to Hillsborough, NC where Greg will be competing in the Endurance Challenge Triathlon. There will be over 450 people competing at 8:00 tomorrow morning. I think this might be the biggest race Greg has done thus far. We got Greg's new bike yesterday! He took is for a test drive this morning and is very excited to be racing on his own bike again! Hopefully all will go well and we will have good news for everyone at the end of the week! We hope everyone is doing well and have a good weekend!

Race Results

2007-08-18T18:16:00.000-04:00

Today was a wonderful change after the slow and uneventful week we had. Greg took me out for homemade ice cream at the Gillis Hill farm which was a great refresher from the heat! Although we didn't end up going to the pool like we had planned, we did find something we thought we might enjoy a little more. Greg competed in the 2007 Pope Air Force Base Duathlon (run/bike) this morning and I thought everyone might enjoy hearing about the outcome of the race!It was Greg's first time competing in a duathlon but I had no doubt he'd do just fine seeing as how it's one event shorter than the triathlon he's used too. It was also his first race on the loaner bike that he is borrowing while his own bike is being repaired after his spill a few weeks ago. But the bike wasn't a problem at all! Races are always very exciting to watch when Greg is competing and I love the excitement of watching my husband finish stronger than he had anticipated. But today I was able to experience a whole new state of pride watching my husband cross the finish line in FIRST PLACE! I'm very excited about his win and can't wait until next weekend to see him race again! Next week will be heading to Hillsborough, NC for the Endurance Challenge Triathlon! We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and we'll write again soon!

Finding Frugal Fun!

2007-08-15T10:32:00.000-04:00

I'm already falling behind on my blogging. But really, there's just not a lot going on in the Leech house this week. Greg is very busy working LONG days and I'm just preparing for a few photo shoots I have lined up. Greg and I are going to try and be creative and fill our weekend with activities that don't cost any money! So far we have plans to go to the pool on Saturday...that's all. If anyone has any ideas for us, we'd love to hear them! We hope everyone is well and happy. Take care!

Happy Early Birthday to ME!

2007-08-09T14:53:00.001-04:00

No, it's not my birthday yet. Not until tomorrow anyway! But I wanted to show everyone what I got from my parents and grandparents! I was so excited when the boxes got here today and I didn't want to have to wait until Greg came home from work tomorrow evening, so I opened a few presents early! I had absouloutly no idea what to expect! My Grandparents usually send a card with money, so you can imagne how surprised I was to recieve two large boxes from them!
I'm so happy with my new keyboard! I haven't played the piano in almost two years and I'm very rusty, not that I was very good to begin with. But I am very excited to at least have something to practice up on. Plus it will give me something to do when Greg is gone! Thank you, thank you, thank you to my Dad and Mom and to my G&G Seiler! I love you all so much! To everyone else, we hope you are all having a wonderful day! I'm sure we'll have more birthday updates at the end of the week!
We took Ares to the vet today and at exactly 4 months he already weighs a whopping 34lbs!!! The vet said if he grows into his ears and his paws he's gonna be a big boy!
xoxo The Leech's

It's hot out there!

2007-08-07T13:44:00.000-04:00

Despite the 102 degree weather we're having, I really needed to get the dog outside for some exercise The poor thing was running laps around the coffee table! So I took him outside and had a mini photo shoot and I wanted to show everyone how handsome he's getting. He spent half the shoot eating pieces off an old burnt tree stump in our backyard. If it were up to him, he would live on wood chips, small rocks, and spiders!

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too. ~Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912

Our Life in Pictures

2007-08-07T11:14:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures we've taken over the past few months just to show you some of the things we've been doing. We hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Greg and I had the opportunity to spend our 4th of July at our nation's capitol.
Here we are in front of Greg's Boss' house!

Greg competing in one of his Triathlons this summer.
He doesn't like to brag, but I do...He took 3rd!!!

The beaches here aren't quite as nice as those in Hawaii but we
still enjoy heading to the coast! This was from our trip on Father's Day
when Greg's dad was visiting.

Greg had an accident on his brand new Tri bike.
This is just a fraction of the road rash he received!

Greg making friends with Ares on one of his first days with us.

A quick update

2007-08-06T10:44:00.000-04:00

So let me see if I can quickly fill you in on what is currently going on in the Leech family! WARNING, whenever I say I'm going to make a long story short, you usually find youself submerged in a novel by Megan Leech...So, here goes nothing!
For those of you still looking forward to using us as an excuse to visit Hawaii, we are very sorry. We moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina (Fort Bragg) in November 2006 so that Greg could start a very extensive period of training.
He's studying Russian and picking it up very quickly and has been competing in a series of triathlons in which he has proven to have natural talent. I've started my own photography business called Cherished Moments Photography, and I'm absouloutly loving it! If you would like to view some of my work you can go to: www.myspace.com/cherishedmomentsphoto

We've recently added a new member to our family. His name is Ares (as in the Greek God of War, not the astrological sign!). He's a purebred German Shepherd who'll turn 4 months on Thursday! He's a wonderful puppy, most of the time, and he's going to be a wondeful companion for me next time Greg has to leave.
Well I guess that's pretty much all for now. I did pretty well keeping it short, didn't I? As of now, we don't know when we're coming home next and we're not positive we know when or where we will be moving next, but we will be sure to let everyone know! Have a wonderful day!

Welcome to our BLOG!

2007-08-06T10:15:00.000-04:00

Hello friends and family! Welcome to our family blog and thanks for reading! Last night I had the change to see my newest niece via The Clarke Family Blog (thanks for the idea Kristen!) and it was then that Greg and I decided that this would be the best way to keep in touch with everyone, keep you updated with where we are and what we're doing, and share pictures of our many adventures and introduce you to the newest member of our family, Ares (our German Shepherd Puppy)! Army life can be crazy sometimes but I'm going to do my best to keep it as current as possible. Please forgive me if I fall behind. Feel free tell other members of the family about our blog! We love all of you very much and hope you enjoy our family Blog!
♥
Greg and Megan