Giving thanks for the sun

OHH Yes thank you for our vacation for it was much needed after all the doom and gloom that we have been dealing with here in dismal Washington (just the weather not the state itself) SOOOO 8 day cruise here were came! We started our cruise off heading down to WET RAINY San Diego! It was raining when we landed and continued to rain as we waited in line to check onto the cruise! Thank heavens I wore that awesome scarf pictures below that Bonnie (paul's mom) brought back for me from Egypt! Any how the wait wasn't too bad but I was soooo anxious to get on to the boat because this was my first real cruise.

We made it through the lines with me snapping pictures for most of the time trying not to act like a 5 year old who was way to excited to be on vacation. We got on the boat and I was starving so Paul and I hit up the buffet and it was awesome! There was so much good food to choose from and I got as much ice cream as I wanted which was a bonus for me and not my pants! haha! lame I know! Our first two days on the ship were days at sea, that was a lot of fun because I was able to get my sea legs and not be sick the whole time which is totally awesome! To be honest I can't quite remember all the things we did but all I know is that I was literally soaking up the sun as much as possible! The second evening on the boat was an elegant night and Paul and I actually got to dress up which we never do!

Thanks to both sides of the family I was able to look fabulous! Thank you to Laura holla holla lady for letting my use your dress I got lots of compliments and Thank you to Ashley for helping me find the best most PAINFUL shoes ever! But all I can say is DAMN because my calves looked amazing! haah Which is technically all that matters. We had great dinners in the dinning room and I was able to try all sorts of cool things that I wouldn't try in a restaurant because I am one of those people who just always orders all the same thing. But I told myself I need to try new things so I tried a bunch of things including a bunch of chilled fruit soups and delicious desserts! I found out that I LOVE BREAD PUDDING so delicious.


OK this I must explain! There were literally the craziest images on the walls of the hallways on the cruise ship like straight boobs and crazy sex scenes of King Tiritan getting it on with some crazy mermaid so Paul and I had to take a picture with it because it was just so insane and hilarious we always got a kick out of finding a new fun and exciting image on the wall!

Our first stop on the cruise was in Acapulco and we did this really cool tour with birds and turtles! So first we drove FOR EVER to this little river and went on a boat tour and saw all kinds of really cool birds and got to see a different side of Mexico! But the best part that we were all looking forward too was the baby sea turtles. We got to realse them back into the Ocean OMG it was so awesome!





It was seriously one of the coolest things I have ever done. There is this little foundation that watches the sea turtles and finds where they lay their eggs. Then they wait for the baby turtles to hatch and make sure that they ALL make it back into the ocean. So we were all able to get our own baby turtles name them and then watch them as the raced back into the ocean! SOooo cool to see that we were helping the environment in to real way but it was awesome to see close up how cool these animals really are!





Our second day was great and we were in Ziwantenaho. OK honestly I know that is not how you spell it but not even the computer has a suggestion for me that is how off I am but if you read it the way I spelled it, it sounds like the place that we went. We got to spend the whole day at the beach here and it was so awesome! There was a little reef and we rented some snorkling gear and got to see some awesome fish....well I thought they were awesome Paul wasn't as impressed haha! Then we got Jet Skies omg those things were so much fun! I have never been on one but they were awesome, Paul and I were zipping all over the place and it was seriously sooo cool! That was an awesome day and Yet Again I soaked up as much sun as I possibly could!







Our final day on land was in Mazitlan and yet again the computer has nothing for me! I know I am a terrible spelled bad enough that friggen spell check finds me to be an artartd! Any ways our last day on land we went ATVING! OMG SOOOOOO AWESOME we had such a great time, we went into the back woods of that part of Mexico and tore it up all over those dirt roads. I was riding so hard I even popped the tire of my ATV by driving over a piece of re bar. NOT on purpose mind you but thats how hard I was riding haha! It was such a blast riding those things I am almost positive that one day Paul and I are going to have to own some! Paul was going a little crazy trying to make the ATV go sideways and what not the guide said he was lucky the main guy wasn't there other wise he would have been off his ATV lol! It was a great time and after we finished they made us sooome BOOOAM BOOTY tacos sooo delicious! Although i was afraid to eat them at first for fear of them coming back later to attack me! In the end I ate them and I was sooo happy! We had an amazing trip!


The trip ended with 2 more lovely days at Sea! They were so awesome! We layed by the pool, we went down the water slides, we played tons of games and each day was better then the last! Although I did miss Thanksgiving with my family because we didn't have any turkey leftovers, and I will admit it I missed my mama! haha And cuddling with my daddy after eating a turkey sandwich. But the Dickson Family Thanksgiving is something I could get used too

Halloween Dickson Style

OHH what a fun weekend we had! This was our first Halloween doing our own fun adventures and celebrating Paul and Rachel Dickson Style woot woot!

We started out with some dinner with Bonnie and Richard Friday night so we could hang out with Bonnie before she left for Egypt! Lucky lady! Saturday I did some hair for my new BFF Laura! She is sooo marvelous and we could literally talk for hours! Paul went to the shoot range and fell even more in love with a new gun haah! its a pretty cute hand gun I held it later in the evening and it was pretty sweet. anyways so I went shopping with Ali and got some legit plum colored leather gloves to get me ready for the fall season! After we got back from the mall went to dinner with the boys and decided that we were gunna have some dinner in a pumpkin and go trick or treating the next day and that is when the craziness began! SOOOO saturday night i sent Paul to the grocery store around 7 to go get the ingredients for Dinner in a Pumpkin.....well I am sitting on the couch and its like 9:30 and the man is still not home! I pick up my phone and called my man......he told me there was no pumpkins at all in our local grocery stores! HE WENT TO 6! AND NONE OF THEM HAD PUMPKINS!!!! Are you kidding me! We can't not have pumpkin soo dad don't be mad but we missed church I know I know its terrible! But we had to go to the other side of town to see if we could find a pumpkin! I am not evening lying we went to at least 10 more stores searching for just one normal size pumpkin. Paul and I start talking crazy about stealing a pumpkin off of someones porch that weren't carved I mean we were getting NUTS! Anyways I was in Safeway in the the employee only section with one of the managers trying to see if a squash would work! My phone rings its Paul he yells "LET GOOO GET IN THE CAAARRRR!" I honestly thought that he stole a pumpkin.....no lie! So I run out of the store and he goes I FOUND US A PUMPKIN GET IN!!!! We speed off to Terry's Berries a cute little pumpkin patch!

We raced home! I had to start making dinner in a pumpkin because we were heading to Rob and Ali's house in just a few short hours and Paul had yet to make his costume, so while he hide in his man cave downstairs with Dexter beating down the door to try and get in to his daddy I was trying to make something that is semi ok into something delicious! haaa it didn't really work out! well we made it to Rob's house only like 30 minutes late as we drove dinner in a pumpkin over I was cursing the whole way over yelling at Paul for driving crappy because pumpkin juice was getting all over me and all over the truck!

We finally made it in with the pumpkin only slightly caving in haha and it tasted ok.....just ok but hey it was my first try and I am pretty sure next year will be better we can only hope! After we ate dinner we finished up Paul's costume and it became one of the greatest things I have ever seen! Paul has wanted to be a robot for Halloween ever since we have been together and let me tell you I now know why because it was awesome!!!!

Paul was a hit with everyone we saw out on the roads! It was hilarious! SOoo many people were like look a ROBOT! And Paul stayed in full character he even talked like a robot! It was the best I mean like the best thing ever! He got more candy then the kids did! People where throwing extra pieces in there for him! I laughed really hard the whole time. My costumes was Paul's sexy mechanic and I had my WD 40 just in case he needed some help!

We had such a good time trick or treating with Gram cracker and Victoria we were laughing the whole way round! It was soo fun to actually be out there again like when I was a little kid! I can't remember the last time I had that much fun when I was out trick or treating! Well the best part of the evening was also the sad part poor AWESOME-O aka Paul was trying to climb some stairs fell face first into some stairs. Luckly his fuel box propped him up, but his arms weren't able to push him up again! I have never laughed so hard in my life all of us were belly laughing and ALi and I almost peed our pants! NO LIE! Finally Rob was able to stop laughing long enough to help Paul up and from then on we had to make sure he made it across the road and up stairs with someone following him! haha sooo funny! After we hit quite a few houses and Paul made a little boy cry we decided to call it quits and head back home! It was such a great night I could not have asked for a better time! Our family just gets better and better as we do more things together! AND I SWEAR GUYS DINNER INA PUMPKIN WILL ONLY GET BETTER!


DINNER
DINNER IN A PUMPKIN
DINNER!

<3

halloween is in the air

Ahh today was a good day. Paul and I needed to carve pumpkins and I was ready for it cause it is awesome! So we were eating at Olive Garden yesterday! SOOO figgen good, we went to Fred Meyer and got some GIANT GIANT PUMPKINS!!! Like you had to weight them and the little weigher things only went up to 30 pounds and if it weighed more then that then they only charged for you 30 pounds! So our pumpkins for sure weighed more then 30 pounds! CAUSE THEY ARE HUGE!
The bigger the better if you ask me! Well we needed some kids to carve pumpkins with because its funner with younger kids! SO Paul and I called Rob and ALi and we had them come over and carve with us! IT was awesome! So I made some delicious White Chicken Chili and it was bomb I mean BOMB DIGGADITY!!! Ate some chili and broke out the carving tools!

I was unable to saw through the top of my pumpkin because NO lie it was at least 4 inches thick and our sawing tools where tiny, you know the ones i am talking about! anyways Rob saved the day and sawed through my pumpkin and then we tried to remove the top of mine and that took even more maneuvering because mine didn't have a little stem either haah I was chalk full of problems. In the end Paul was able to get it out and I taped on my little desgin and worked away on my pumpkin... Those pictures are dumb though because it didn't even stay in place when I was trying to saw through it even though I taped it up! OH WELL! I made it through and came out with an awesome looking spider while Paul drew up his own design and made Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas.

After removing the goop from the pumpkin seeds Ali made us some bomb toasted pumpkin seeds while we....wait for it.......PLAYED SOME ROCK BAND 3! with the new KEYTAR! and it is awesome! it has awesome Queen songs so that is probably my favorite part. Anyway, we played some rockband and Vic sang Lady Gaga which was awesome because she is only 5 and was belting it out lol! with a little help from me which I mean I can't help myself. MY inner GAGA comes out!


Even Dexter wanted to get into the Rock Band game and was climbing all over everyone just to see how to play that instrument as well! haha cute baby! Now we wait for Halloween where the infamous Thatcher Dinner in a Pumpkin will be made for the first time by a Dickson....I am a lot nervous to take on this task but I feel like I can do it! haha Also waiting for Paul's Halloween costume that he is going to make he is planning on being a robot so we shall see how that goes! I am almost tempted to be lady gaga cause we can dress up for work but who knows if that will happen haha! Hope you all have a good Halloween and a very special shout out to my older sister whose birthday is Halloween Happy Birthday Ashley I quite adore you!

I am a slacker

Holy Hannah I am a failure at blogging....seriously a failure. I have no idea where my time is flying too it literally is like WHOOOP and gone. I am trying to figure out exactly what has happened these last 30 days and well I am not quite sure. One thing I can remember, Dexter graduated again from the second level of dog class! WOOT WOOT he is literally the smartest dog put on this earth.... although he would not even follow the direction we were giving him or what Karen the dog teacher was giving him... made a quick trip down to Vegas saw mom and dad and my older sister Ashley which was awesome. I finished and eight book series and am now reading a new book called the HELP really awesome... umm my calling is activity days and I had those sweet girls write Dallin and Laura who is my brother and my best friend which then got me my first letter from my younger sweet brother that brought me too tears because I had no idea just how much I missed him and reading a letter and seeing pictures of him just made me soo emotional haha lame I know I got over it quick....I have been driving in a lot of FOG lately I have never really seen FOG before and let me tell you it is a pain in the butt to drive in......

Work is good, its nice to just chill and get paid for it I don't really mind....I am ready for an actual vacation, good thing we have Mexico coming up in 4 weeks, Paul and I were just looking at all the fun excursions we are planning on doing and let me tell you I can't wait for it!! I got an awesome new swimsuit and my white body is ready to see the sun! haha I am pretty stoked for this. Life as I know it has been crazy but we are trucking along....I am thankful for my memory foam mattress that erases my memory every night haha

One Year Today!

One year today I married my best friend and I can't believe that its already been that long. It seems like just yesterday we were down in Vegas enjoying my crazy family.... But here we are here in Washington and what an awesome ride it has been!

From trips to the Grand canyon to our first Christmas tree and my crazy family Christmas together it has been a non stop adventure getting to know each other more and more everyday. I am so lucky to have someone who I am excited to wake up to every day!

I am so thankful for Paul and all he does for me every day! He got me the most beautiful dog to keep me happy and train me for a baby! haha!

I would be lost without him I had no idea how empty my life until I found my man. He is so sweet, he knows how to make me smile and I can't wait to continue to have crazy awesome loving adventures with the man of my dreams! Happy anniversary lover can't wait till we have 100 more!

New Kid in School

SOOOO I officially graduated from training and start working in the Tacoma Branch tomorrow! OMG I am just a little nervous to be starting at the new branch with the new people when I just finally became used to the branch in Redmond! I knew where everything was and I knew everyone! BAHHH so starting there is just making my stomach a little quezzy! Paul and I had a nice weekend, Friday night we were able to go out for dinner at the Olive Garden with Paul's cousin Mike and his wife Emily! It is sooo nice to finally have someone my age to hang around with! I think i finally have a friend! After our late night dinner we played some rock band which I have become terrible at because we have not played since Christmas! And then some SouthPark which I am still not a huge fan of but I did laugh a little I will give Paul, Mike and Emily that! Saturday was a fun day Mike and Emily found an apartment in down town Tacoma so we were helping them move in, of course Paul and I are alone on our side of the port again! Oh well maybe we will just have to find a house over there so we can be close to everyone! That would be ideal! Anyways after we saw their cute apartment which was built in like the 40's it had a cute vintage feel, we went over to SONIC!!! ohh sooo good I haven't had it since Las Vegas and it was more delicious then I remember! Rob and Ali helped in the move, so after dinner us ladies got together and went off to the cutest little home decor shops! They have the best ones in Tacoma! It was so fun we also hit up a cute little art deco shop and I got my creative on! And this is what I made do you love it?

Ah Cycle Family

I know dad I know its been forever!! I was waiting for something truly exciting to write about because I was even tired of reading about me haha! Anyways it has been a pretty eventful two weeks! Last week Paul and I went camping with the family and it was pretty awesome. I mean dang cold semi uncomfortable, and incredibly sleepless but still a lot of fun. We got to go with some of our favorite cousins. Rob and Ali and their two kids, Laura and Gunnar and their two kids, and Molly and Stefan and their two kids haha soo of course Paul and I had to bring out baby! Dexter had a great time, he frolicked in the meadow and got terrorized by birds that were flying into his food dish and stealing his food. Although we weren't allowed to have a fire at night we were still able to have a nice time chatting. Sleeping wasn't to bad Paul thankful had two sleeping bags thankful and in the middle of the night Dexter climbed into my sleeping bag and I finally was a little warm and so was he! We made it through the night and the morning was soo beautiful. We hung around our campsite for most of the morning enjoying the sun and hanging out which was so much fun to get together again. The husbands all rode down the Schinook Pass while all the women went on a nature hike to Mud Mountain Dam which was really nice and a lot of fun. Later that night Paul and I went to Rob and Ali's so the boys could do their fantasy football draft and I got some much needed shopping for some new bank clothes with Ali. Well the real kicked about this week was Paul and I were able to finally get me my road bike! After saving for what seems like forever we were able to pick up my sweet powder blue and sliver 2011 Avail Advance Giant Road Bike with 105 parts! OOHHHH SOOO SEXY! Let me tell you I am so excited to be able to start riding with Paul! We have officially be come a cycle family! We were planning on getting my bike off line because we found a really nice Avail online for basically the same price, but Paul said we needed to go to a shop to see what size bike I needed. So we were on our way home from the Seattle Premiere Outlets were we were able to go shopping, I did some damage at Banana Republic but all in the name of needing new clothes for Qualstar! That place was insanely full of people it was almost claustrophobic! But we had a great time....anyway so we were on the way home and Paul told me to look up shops on the way home, so I picked Tacoma Bike and called. Well some English guy answered the phone and I told him I was planning on buying a bike off line and just needed to know what size we should be looking at and what not, well he went on the rampage of how I needed to be custom fit to a bike and how much better it is and that it comes with the bike if you go through the shop and it was like 150 bucks to do it otherwise. CRAZY I know! So since it was on the way home I told Paul we might as well go and check it out! Well this bike shop was amazing it was huge and it was full of awesome stuff! Anyways the English guy who ended up being named Tony gave me a full run down and found me the best possible bike ever for a girl who is just starting out. Then went to the shoes and this was nice because I didn't buy any shoes while we were shopping earlier. And I had no idea that bike shoes are SOOO expensive, but Tony worked his magic and found last seasons best Sidi shoes in the back in my size that they were just going to put on EBAY! 350 dollar shoes and we got them for 150! BONUS! Then once we picked out my bike I had it CUSTOM FIT TO ME! :) Can you believe it, it took an hour in a half but my bike is perfectly fit to me, and it fits like a dream! I am one happy girl! I can't wait till Paul and I are able to go on our first ride together! We are a cycling family!