The Bailey Three

Two Tails, Eight Paws....

2010-06-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

We Got our new Kitty

we love her

she is cute.

Nap time is her favorite

its our favorite too!

She lets Brinlee hold her and even falls asleep on her.

That makes her even more great.

She has a Big Smile....

She like Andrew the best. Always wants to be near him

I always want to be near him :-)

I'm so glad we got her. She has been so much fun for us.

Oh and BTW less then an hour after we adopted her and brought her home....

BRUCE

came home.......

So now we are a two cat family!

(Bruce survived a week being locked in our neighbors garage.)

Much love always-Marci

Family Of Four

2010-06-25T22:28:00.000-07:00

We are feeling like our house is empty..

Bruce is gone.....

Its time for a new furry friend to join our family

Can't decide whether to get another cat, or maybe a dog. We have never had a dog before so the thought of it scares me. Tomorrow is the big day when we search for our new friend.

Can't guarantee a feline or canine but we will find something with fur to come live with us!

(we are a strong family of animal lovers)

The fact that we have only had two cats during our six years of marriage is nothing short of an absolute miracle. It is all we can stand to not adopt more. Our dream job would be working with animals all day every day! We are just a bunch of softies.

Plus Brinlee doesn't understand why she can't go "spill food" (feed Bruce) anymore.

its time.....

Enough To Fill Up A Vacuum Bag

2010-06-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

I decided I was brave enough to take her to the Sand Dunes. So glad we did. They are the same sand dunes I played on when I was a little girl. It was always one of my favorite things that I did in my childhood (growing up in Parker there isn't much to do for fun)

I love her funny face!

All worn out.

I have been feeling GREAT!

Jumping off sand cliffs into soft warm sand is just as fun now as it was 20 yrs ago!

Sand everywhere

Sand over there

Sand in hair

Sand all over cloths

in my nose

inbetween my toes

Much Love Always-Marci

Bruce

2010-06-23T10:04:00.001-07:00

Bruce....

You will be missed.

Thanks for being the best black and white cat a family could ask for...

Bruce

April 2007-June 2010

Most Summer Days

2010-06-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

Everyday (as long as it is warm) we are always out and about.

We have great parks for kids in this town. Today before andrew went to work we took Brinlee to her favorite park.

I told Brinle to go get her shoes on so we could go to the park...

This is what she found..Black high heel velvet church shoes~

(I made her change)

Always so happy~

"hello, can anyone hear me?"

Brinlee was so confused. She could hear her dad,

but could see her dad! They were so cute!

Later in the day after naps Brinlee and I went for a run around the river and then to Freeman Park. I let her get out and play in the sand and she loved it. It makes me want to take her to the Sand dunes....We will see if I have enough energy to clean sand out from her, me, my house for the next three months.........

Later that night while making dinner she asked if she could play with the "hot mitts" (hot pads) I later found her using it for a shoe.......

I love this girl!

Much love always-Marci

Fathers

2010-06-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

We had a great fathers day.

I think Brinlee is pretty lucky because she has such loving Grandpas in her life. She loves her "Tampa" and "Ya Ya" I think they think she is pretty special too.

This past week Brinlee was really sick.....

Her Grandpas both came to the rescue.

Brinlee is also so lucky to have her dad. He is one cool guy. There isn't anything he would do for her. Reading a million bedtime stories is one of them...

-She is one LUCKY LUCKY girl!

Short Term Memory Loss

2010-06-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that I have really been struggling with my short term memory. Not to big of a deal if its just not remembering where you put your keys or what you had for breakfast yesterday. But sometimes Andrew will be talking about an event that happened or something cute that Brinlee has said and I don't remember it.....

My little family is so special and there are amazing little things/miracles that happen for us every day. I always want it to be fresh on my mind. I want to take lots of pictures of the sweet times and jot down memories from it so it can always be with me.

My Blog will help me with this. Its fast, easy shows pictures, and I will always have it to look at as long as the Internet exists!

Things are different for us now. Everything has changed. For the better I feel....Depends on the day.

MS happened to us. Showed up in the form of my eye going blind. Its better now, but what a journey it has been.

Multiple Sclerosis is an Auto Immune disease. That basically means my Immune system "hates" me, or hates my nerves anyway. It effects me different days in different ways. But I am learning how not only to live with it, but to FIGHT it! Its easy to fight a disease when you have an army of soldiers (family and friends) behind you.

Official Diagnosis March 17th

"Lucky me"

Brinlee had just turned two. I am glad I have her to keep me on my feet and going. She expects me to be the same mommy that runs with her, twirls her and plays "airplane" with her now just like she did before March. I'm glad she does. It makes me stronger.

My posts are for me, for my family to always be able to look back on with fun memories, remembering the cute things said, to reflect on the fun things we have done, and to be proud of the way we have risen above hardships.

Much Love Always- Marci

Stikeers Nan Teets!

2010-02-19T23:41:00.000-08:00

If you were wondering, stikeers nan teets are translated into "stickers and treats" Oh boy, stickers and treats. My life for the past two weeks has been centered around those two items. I decided to start potty training Brinlee when we got home from Hawaii because she was acting like she was ready. I have to say that I am so proud of her! She caught on so quickly. Well we had a few questionable days where I felt like I was going to have to re-carpet my whole house, but after a week she became a potty pro!

I studied the potty training thing out pretty hard. Took lots of advice from family and clients, then came up with a method that was tweaked to Brinlee's personality. I decided that I was going to put her in big girl underwear, and never go back to a diaper. when she would go I had a special song, followed by a dance, then a major clapping fest accompanied by her picking out a sticker then getting a skittle for a treat. Then she would have to call one of her grandparents to brag. I never thought so much happiness could possibly come from hearing a little trickle sound....

Tonight as I was thinking about how awesome and smart my little Brinlee is, I discovered that in all the celebration of her new talent of not messing her pants I forgot one key component. ME! It is as much a celebration for me as it is for her. After all I am the one who spent countless hours in the bathroom that first week reading stories, singing songs just waiting for her to experience a victory. I am the one who had to buy two bottles of "resolve" carpet cleaner in one week. I am the one who gave up play dates, gym work outs, running errands so that there wouldn't be any "accidents" not to mention the many loads of laundry making sure there was always a fresh clean pair of "hello kitty" underwear.

I realized tonight that I have such a big hand in whether or not my child succeeds at something. I realize as mothers we don't give ourselves as much credit as we should. I need to be just as proud of my skills as a mother as I am of her skills of growing and progressing. After all she would still be peeing her pants if it wasn't for me :) So I think I will celebrate me tonight. I'm going to celebrate being a diaper free mom. Celebrate the fact that I came up with the coolest plan ever to get my daughter to be "pee pee free". I think I will go get myself a sticker, followed by a treat!!!

Escape From Snow

2010-02-09T00:18:00.000-08:00

Andrew and I just spent the last week vacationing with his parents in Hawaii. OOOOOO Goodness it was sooooo fun! We played so hard, saw so much, ate way more than anyone ever should and laughed until it hurt. We had a blast spending time with our parents and making fun memories with them. Here are a few highlights of the trip!

Hanging out at Pearl Harbor. The USS Missouri in the background.

P

What happens when you feed the birds.

Andrews Tattoo given to him by a native of Samoa.

Luau at Polynesian Cultural Center. Way to much food!

Luau when we were in Kauai. It was located in the middle of a

beautiful tropical garden

Sunsets on the beach.

Andrew chillin with the dolphins

Went on a beautiful hike up a mountain the rain forest

An all day boat tour we took around the Nepali Coast

which is on of the most beautiful places on earth.

It was on that boat ride that I learned how sea sick

one can get!. It was still great fun though. We saw dolphins

whales and snorkeled

Peacock trying his best to impress the ladies

Spent the day playing in the ocean. Met a friendly

Sea turtle that hung out with us for quite a while.

Ode To Running

2009-12-01T04:34:00.000-08:00

I still remember the first time I ever ran. It was in 2007 a few months before I was pregnant with Brinlee. It was impossible. My lungs hurt, my feet hurt, and I was miserable the whole four minutes I ran. I went to community park and only ran from the swing set to the bathrooms which is not only half of one time around the park. I never did sports growing up or was ever interested in exercise. The only reason I started to run was because my sister inspired me to do so. She is an amazing athlete and has competed in several Iron man Triathlons.

It was like pulling teeth every time I would go running or rather "slow jogging" At that time Andrew worked nights so I after work I spent my time at the gym on the treadmill mostly because I had nothing else to do. After a while I worked my way up to three miles on the treadmill. I thought three miles was pretty good. That's a 5k! So in May I entered my first 5k. It was so hard for me! I finished in 35 min and was panting so hard. Two weeks later I found out I was pregnant! So I stopped running and and to start all over in the spring after I had her. My goal was to run a half marathon by the end of the year. It was a fun summer of running with my Neighbor and her baby. We took our little strollers everywhere! In October I ran my first half. For mothers day last may Andrew gave me a watch that is a GPS that tells you your miles, time and calories burned. It is my favorite running tool! I pulled up my history on my watch. Since May I have ran....

320 miles

62 hours

543195 Calories

I'm pretty proud considering a few short years ago I was a couch potato! I never ever thought I would be a runner but since May I have ran two half marathons, one full, and 4 5k, In all different places including Rexburg, Boise, Utah, Pocatello, and New York City. Not to bad for one summer of running.

Now that its getting colder I still try to run outside but soon it will come to an end for the winter. I am grateful for this summer and how active I was still able to be while juggling Andrews crazy work schedule, my own work and being a mom. Running has brought such joy to my life and if I can do it anyone can do it! I hope my little family will always stay active and no matter how hard it gets "Just keep Running!!"

Up Early

2009-12-01T04:21:00.000-08:00

Andrew is usually up at 3:30 every morning to go to work. This morning I got up with him because I just wanted to spend time with him. I discovered its way to early for me. I have become more proud of him because it takes a special person to be able to go to work by 4:00 and stand in a freezer all day. He has really enjoyed his job though and I think it makes it easier on him to get up and do it everyday. His job just announced that they are no longer going to open on Saturdays. I'm actually pretty exited about this because we haven't had a Saturday together our whole marriage. (unless traveling or something) But a Saturday to just wake up late and do yard work eat a big breakfast, just never happened. I'm so exited to experience a true family Saturday! We will enjoy it as long as we can. Andrew is the hardest worker and the best daddy ever!

"FALL"ing in love with my Family!

2009-11-02T20:00:00.001-08:00

And I need you to know you can "FALL" into me.
That my arms are wide open and will always be...
Right here waiting, staying strong
Come and "FALL" into me.

One Man Marathon

2009-11-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

So all summer I had been training to run a marathon. I didn't know if I could actually run a marathon, but it was on my list of things I wanted to do in life. The marathon I was training for was the City Of Trees marathon in Boise the first weekend in October. I ran the half there last year and loved the course. When it came closer to October we started to realize that we weren't going to be able to make it down to Boise that weekend (work, family functions, church stuff) there was no way we could leave that weekend. I was so dissapointed because I trained so hard. I knew that if I didn't run that I would always regret it. So the morning of the race in Boise I woke up and ran the 26.2 miles here in Idaho Falls. Even though I was dissapointed that I couldn't do the real thing I realized that all I really cared about was finishing 26.2 miles and seeing my family at the end. It was a great day. A very PAINFUL day! Andrew made it so special for me. He made a race bib (Bailey 001) and a finish line and even awarded me with a certificate and medals at the end. My friends and parents cheered me on the last six miles (the worst six miles ever!) Im so proud I did it!!!!!!

A post from Brinlee

2009-08-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, its Brinlee. Today I got my haircut! First daddy took me to the Salon it was so exiting!

I wasn't scared at all. I just jumped right into the chair and was ready for my haircut to start.

My mommy was a litle sad to cut what little hair I have, but she did okay.

First she had to wet my hair down this was so fun for me!

I was to small in the chair by myself so my dad held me on his lap!

I was so brave....but somtimes I was a little concerned when the scissors were so close!

I sat so still so the haircut would be even!

I have bangs!

I loved say "hi" to all the people in the salon getting their hair done to!

And blowing kisses to everyone.....couldn't find my hands under my cape!

After the haircut was finished, everyone told me how pretty I looked!

And my parents were so proud of how good I was!

It was a fun day at the salon. Maybe my hair will grow faster now so I can get my haircut again!

Bumble and Bumble

2009-07-20T20:53:00.001-07:00

(Brinlee trying to be a stow away!)

Its been a week since Andrew and I got back from New York and we had the best time ever!!! Here are just a few pictures of our favorite memories from the week!

(On top of the Empire State Building)

First off, the main reason we went to NYC was for hair. My work sent me to do training at Bumble and Bumble University (known as the Harvard for hair). I am so greatful that I was able to go and learn all that I did. It is a very inspiring place and it is safe to say that it changed my entire outlook on my career and I am a much better hairdresser for having attended. The Class I attended was really neat because top hairdressers from network salons all across the country came together to learn from one another and fine tune their craft. The class mostly focused on cutting and more specificly cutting with Bumbles favorite cutting tool; the strait blade razor ( I choped my finger off pretty bad!) It was realy neat to rub shoulders with some of the countries best hairdressers, and to learn from editorial stylist who are really well known in the industry. I loved working with the models and became very fast friends with them as they let me use tools next to their heads that sometimes are used as weapons! Watching editorial stylists-these are stylists whose work has been published- do what they do best has really helped me fine tune my eye and expect nothing less than perfection. I even met and watched one of my most favorite hairdressers, whom I have always drawn inspiration from, work on a photo shoot (just happend to be in the right place at the right time!) It was an amazing experience and I feel so blessed to be able to go and see everything I was able to see.

This picture shows how congested NYC is and how the sun doesn't even hit some of the buildings

Me just walking down the street we traveled down everyday to get to Bumble. The garbage there is out of control. They have garbage trucks that run all day long every day and by early morning the streets are full of garbage.

Times Square. Andrew loved hanging out in Times. See if you can find him! The day of Micheal Jacksons funeral everyone was lined up in Times Square watching his funeral from the big plasma t.v. on the buildings. They even brought lawn chairs and blocked of some roads for people to watch.

One of our favorite places. It's actually a restaraunt called Mars. You take a space ship ride to "Mars" before you eat dinner and the whole place was red lights and martians serve you dinner. Very clever. They also would dance every once in a while. They were dancing "Thriller" in honor of the day.

Wall Street

One of my most favorite things that I was able to do in NYC was to meet up with an old friend Tiffany and run a race in Central Park. It was so good to catch up with her and to also run in the worlds most famous park. The race was to be a 5k but we were having such a good time talking we missed the turn and ended up getting lost. Our race was much longer than a 5k that's for sure, but it was so much fun!

One night we went to the top of Rockefeller Center. It is as tall as the Empire (which you can see in the background) We decided to go at night and it was so beautiful!

And Romantic!

80 Story high kiss!

Our view!

Dinner in Little Italy.

We took a ferry ride at night to see the Statue of Liberty. Here it is with the sun setting behind it.

New Jersey at night from our ferry

Fire flies. I had never seen them before. They were really neat to me. One of the few stretches of grass there is to be seen.

On our very last day, we had seen everything that we wanted to see. I had finished classes and our flight wasn't until later that night. We decided to go to the tip of Manhattan one last time. When we got there the weather was so perfect and there were benches lined up so we sat and watched the sail boats sail past the Statue of Liberty. This was my favorite part. Just sitting in silence enjoying the breeze, reflecting on the wonderful week, and holding hands with my Andrew who I was able to connect with for days at a time uninterrupted. We spent most of our Saturday there until the time came to come home...............

Where we were greeted by the biggest, wettest, most wonderful kisses and hugs from one happy little 18 month old! *Thanks to all the family members who took such good care of her while we were away!

A Dam Race!

2009-06-14T17:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my friend Emily and I ran in the Teton Dam half marathon. This was my second half and probably the hardest run I have ever done! (even harder than the chicken alfreado incident Meeka!) I bought new shoes this winter that are great for short distance and trail runs but around 5 miles yesterday my feet were on fire! There were many times I thought that I would do better to take them off and run bare foot but didn't want to stop to take them off because I was afread I wouldn't be able to start back up again! All in all it was a great day and I am so proud of my friend Emily and I where we both recieved our best PR at the race. It was a beautiful morning and a very pretty course but the best part about the whole day was the finish line where my cute little family was waiting for me. Poor Andrew felt really bad about my shoes because he told me that they would be fine and I needed to use them all year long since they were new. Its safe to say that I will never put those on my feet ever again!

She is worth finishing for! (notice no shoes!)

Andrew though these shirts were pretty funny. Its not very often someone would be called a Dam Volunteer! If you look close you can see me!

Still Alive After Five!

2009-05-01T18:41:00.000-07:00

We have been married for five years today! The time really does go fast. I have enjoyed today because I have been able to think about my wedding day five years ago and what it means to me. Just wanted to give a shout out to my Best friend and companion Andrew Bailey and wish him not only five more happy years but fifty five! May 1st 2004 really was one of the best days of my life. I'm grateful for Andrew and all he does. No one can make me laugh quite like he can. We both had to work today and he doesn't get home till close to midnight so we didn't get to spend much time together, but when I got home he had this poem waiting for me and I want to share it because it is just and Andrew poem!

"In year number one, we had so much fun.

Year two I still loved your eyes so blue!

Year three I was so care free

Year four brought Brinlee to our door

Year five, makes me feel more alive!"

Believe it or not...Andrew was an English major!

I love you Andrew!

Little girl growing up!

2009-04-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

Today Brinlee is 14 months old!

My little Brinlee isn't so little any more! She is so tall now that she can touch my counter tops and door handles. Time goes by way to fast. She has really Grown from a baby to a toddler this month. She has the walking thing down pretty good. But of course it is more of a run now so she can keep up to her "kiey" (kitty) She loves to swing and gets very upset when its time to come home! She also loves the piano. She is getting pretty good at it. She loves music and it doesn't matter where we are she will break out dancing if she hears music. We have a keyboard and she knows how to turn it on and can change the sounds. She can even play a few notes of a scale (if i show her first) This picture is of her when she was six months old and playing the piano. Little Mozart!

She even has mastered the stairs which is great because most of my house is stairs! I am so proud of her and all of her accomplishments. I love learning along with her!

Salon Stuff

2009-04-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

As many of you know our Salon has been super busy with the launch of Aveda. Last weekend Andrew Brinlee and I were able to go down to Boise and meet up with other Aveda salons to do a charity walk. It was called the Walk for Water and all the proceeds go into the Snake River to keep it clean. My sister Stephanie walked it with me and we had so much fun. We also realized that our legs are super long and it didn't take us long to finish! The walk was four miles to symbolize the average miles it takes a woman in Africa to walk for clean water. The Defining Line Salon is holding a raffle where tickets are four dollars and then you can enter a drawing to win gift cards to the salon. Thank you to all the wonderful clients who have supported us in this effort! Love you all!

Earth Day

2009-04-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

Today is Earth day and it was also our ribbon cutting ceremony for launching Aveda. We had a "green carpet" event in which we invited clients as well as the general public to come learn more about Aveda's mission and purpose to find beauty not only with hair but also beauty from within. To learn more about Aveda: www.aveda.com (They are the most green company that I have ever come in contact with) I am very proud to be working with and for people who care about the earth in which we live and love! Happy Earth Day Everyone!

Not the worlds best blogger.....

2009-04-21T18:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have been slacking. Its been pretty busy around here. Just wanted to share some birthday pictures of Brinlee for friends and family that couldn't make it!

Because everyone else is doing it........

2009-04-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

Because I am the only person I know who doesn't blog, mostly because I don't know how.......I am now going to try it. I don't know what I am doing. I don't understand technology. I just got a cell phone a year ago. I don't even know how to adjust the volume on it so it is extremly anoying. We will see how this goes..I don't even know how to put pictures on this....Meeka help me! You are the one that inspired me to do this!