Another Kelly Daut!

When I was a freshman at Long Beach State I signed up on FaceBook. I never really used it, but it is always fun to search and see what other people are up to every once in a while! The other day my blackberry chimed, signaling I had a new email. It said, "Message from Kelly Daut". At first I thought this is my brother-in-law, Aron, emailing me from Kelly Daut in the future (if you are an Office fan I hope you get it). The weird thing is that it really was a girl from CT with the same name as me who found me on FaceBook. She joking asked if I pronounced Daut like "Dot" or "Doubt" and asked all about me. I called my Dad asking if we knew of any Daut's in CT. He said no, but that his Dad moved from Iowa to Manhattan Beach, CA. So, as a long shot, I asked where she and her family was born. To my surprise, she was born in CT, but her brother was born in Manhattan Beach, CA. There is a VERY strong possibility we are related somehow. Then I looked at her pictures, and thought that darn TABER BUTT! There was so much possibility without that gene!

(Picture of Kelly Daut- CT)

P.S.

Brian wanted me to remind everyone that it is Kelly Rogers now, and I even changed my driver's license last month. So, it's official.

Happy Halloween!

For the Trunk-R-Treat at church I made Rice Krispy Frankensteins. It was so much fun making them. It took about two hours and burned up my microwave! Side note- do not trust anything that says microwavable save!

Here are the pictures... I am so proud of them!

I made the Rice Krispys with green food coloring, dipped the tops of them in melted chocolate, used red hots for the eyes, and marshmallows for the bolts.

My poor microwave!

Countdown Change

Lisa Henderson asked me why our blog's College Count Down changed drastically. I realized that I never blogged my good news... which is weird because every time something awesome happens I think about putting it on my blog. So, this exciting news fell through the cracks.

I spoke to my counselor at Chapman and realized that by rearranging my schedule that I will be done on January 30th, 2009 (about 4 months earlier than expected). The other interesting note is that I will have finished my MBA 7 days before my birthday. So, I will be able to say I got my MBA at the age 23!

They FINALLY got Blogs!

Here are my parent's blog addresses.


Pam Daut
http://www.pjdaut.blogspot.com/


Ken or Rick Daut
http://daut007.blogspot.com/


It will be interesting to see what they write. I am giving them a blogging tutorial this weekend.

Lily the Lady Bug

Brian and I found a really cute Halloween costume for Lily, and thought she should get some more picture professionally taken. This time we will be skipping JC Penny's and going to Petsmart. We were so excited to try it on her!

Lily looks a little crazy here, but I think it is crazy excitement for getting a new outfit! So... like a previous blog said, "I am that weird dog lady".

"Did someone yell fire?"

On Friday night, about 12:00 am, Brian and I heard tons of noise coming from outside our window. Then we heard, "FIRE!". We immediately jumped out of bed, grabbed our shoes, the dogs, and our emergency folder. When we ran out of our condo into the courtyard and saw an entire condo unit engulfed with flames. Our 32-unit condo complex is composed of four, small two-story buildings arrange in a square around the pool. All of the residents were standing in PJ's as the fire fighters arrived. The fire was on the second story, and coming through the roof. Brian and I handed out blankets and spoke to the very shaken up college guys who lived directly below the burning condo unit. They told us that they smelt smoke, and heard a loud whistling noise. When they realized there was a fire above, they ran up stairs to help the elderly man. The man keeps his door unlocked at all times since he has nurses come and check on him. The three guys opened the door and saw the man in his chair on fire. The guys used a fire extinguisher, but it was too late. The fire was moving very fast. The man was declared dead.

The guys are obviously affected by this horrible event, and this morning they got some bad news. After talking to their insurance company the water damage from the hoses is considered flooding damage not fire damage, since the fire wasn't actually in their condo. They are NOT insured for flooding just fire.

This might be a good time to go over your own homeowners insurance policies, create a family plan for emergencies, and make an emergency folder. Last summer, as a family home evening project, Brian and I made a folder that had copies of ALL of our important documents.


The tabs include:

-Identification Information (copies of drivers licenses, medical cards, passports, and birth certificates)

-Homeowners Information (copies of Deed, the note, appraisals, homeowners insurance policies, and HOA information)

-Car information (copies of car registration)

-Emergency Contact Information (numbers for family members, hospitals, police, HOA- property management company)

There is a pocket that has a calling card, an extra key to our cars and our garage storage unit with our family storage stuff.

Disneyland

Since Mom and Auntie have been gone Grandpa calls me a lot more. At least I have been upgraded from 'that girl with the checkbook' to 'Kelly'.

Last Friday Brian and I took grandpa to Disneyland, I guess he bought a pass last year and has not used it once. Well, we ate bread bowls by Pirates of the Caribbean, went on the newly decorated Haunted house (honestly-it is too scary for kids under 7 or 8), and he talked about when Disneyland used tickets to ride the rides. He also told me about the very first time he went to Disneyland, and about how Pam and Caroline just loved it. Grandpa said, "Pam was a baby at the time, but Caroline was cute then. So, it was fun". To finish up the night we went on Space Mountain. I was surprised when Grandpa said he wanted to ride it. He sat behind Brian and I in the last seat. After the ride was over, and the rocket pulled back into the main room, I turned around and I really thought Grandpa had some type of heart attack, stroke, or at least a form of shock. His face was pale, his eyes were wide, his mouth was open, and his hands were gripping the handle bar so hard that his knuckles were white. Brian shouted, "Grandpa are you OK? Grandpa?" His response is too graphic to write on my blog. Lets just say it would have a lot of *'s in it.

Thanks for a great time Grandpa!

The Countdown

The recent addition to the blog was the "College Countdown". This was created due to Brian looking around at different Master programs for Speech Pathology. He is applying to more than 15 schools, and 4 of the schools have the Ph.D. program I want to apply to. So, we thought it would be fun to make a countdown, but we thought this would be much more fun than it was. It actually was more of a bummer movement. 88 of anything seems like a lot, but 88 WEEKS equates to 616 days of school left. The more devastating number is that 616 days equates into 1.687 years.

We're just going to take it one day at a time.... starting down from 616.

Cruise to Mexico

Brian and I went on a vacation to Mexico on the Royal Caribbean for three days. It was so much fun. Exactly the break we needed. Here are some photo's from the trip:

Just like the commercial...

This one just made me scream when I opened the door... not on the commercial!

Serenaded at lunch...

We ate spicy Mexican food (or at least Brian ate all of the spicy stuff).

We bought JUNK (AKA Brian's new Seahawks outfit for football games). It's like he has some type of Seahawk radar- Really a Seahawk Poncho!

Brian saw 8-10 grey whales (or were they blue) that were only about 100 feet away. I never really saw them, but apparently the guy on the left saw them.

THE END!

Financial Seminar Panelist

Tonight I sat on a Financial Expert Panelist for Senator Harmon of the 35th District of California. Again, I was the youngest person there, and, again, they asked if I was Kelly Rogers' intern. Other panelists included the President of California Certified Financial Advisors, Vice President of Master Card, and the California Director of the Consumer Affairs Department.

Brian took these pictures, and if you look closely you can see Senator Harmon's nose on the far right side of the second picture. Brian HATES being in charge of taking the pictures, because he knows that I always complain about it. So, even though I would like to complain about the fact that all he took were two pictures (one only including the senator's nose) I am not going to do it. Love you Bri!

Guidance

Without looking for it, the perfect house found Brian and I. It is a short sale property in Fullerton. In order for this to really happen, meaning put in an offer, many tasks have to be done very quickly. Today, when Brian and I met with the realtor and lender, I felt as if I was having a panic or anxiety attack. I felt uneasy and indecisive. Looking at everything it seems great, but the actual decision is what is affecting me. All I wanted to do was call my Mom and Dad and ask, "Should we buy this house?" I guess I just need them here supporting me in this BIG decision. The problem is that they are both on a cruise somewhere in the Pacific Rim and are not even reachable by phone or email. The part that gave me the most anxiety was when the lender and realtor explained that everything could be done by October 5th! My parents don't even get back until the 7th! I just couldn't imagine picking them up from the airport and telling them, "Oh, good news, we bought a house while you were gone".

I am so thankful to have my Heavenly Father to turn to when I need guidance. It is comforting to know that even though I don't have my earthly parents guide me I can always turn to my Heavenly Father.

Labor Day Weekend

For the three day weekend Brian, Lily, and I went to Palm Springs to visit my parents and relax!

I love going to palm spring, and for the following reasons:

5. Sun, Sun, and more Sun!

4. Having access to a backyard.

3. More than 800 Sq. Ft.

2. Home cooked meals!

1. FREE washer and dryer!!!!

Here are the cutest pictures of Lily in the pool. It's really funny how she likes to mimic people, even when we are laying out in the pool.

My Visit to See Peter...

I had an awesome time hanging out with Peter in El Paso. We went dancing, ate REALLY spicy Mexican food, hung out with other reporters and anchormen, ate REALLY good Texan BBQ, and sun bathed in the 103 degree weather. Here is a picture of Pete's backyard.

I was able to watch him tape a live newscast while he anchored. It was so nerve racking... for me! He does regular reporting during the week, and is the sole anchorman on the weekends. If you want to see some of Peter's stories go to www.kfoxtv.com and go to the video on demand tab.

I miss him so much, and really have my fingers crossed that he can work closer to me.

For now, El Paso is where he will be for the next year. I guess I will be making some more trips to El Paso in the future.

For now, stay classy El Paso.

CHAPMAN and CAL STATE FULLERTON

Brian started another semester at Cal State Fullerton, and is taking a ton of classes regarding his major to finish up his degree. It is so interesting to me when I get to help him with studying, because I know nothing about speech pathology. Last semester I was able to learn quite a bit from him while he was taking his sign language classes. He is using it as his second language for graduate school. The annoying part is when he ONLY uses sign language to communicate. This helps him practice, but it drives me crazy trying to figure out what he is trying to tell me. And of course he finds it hysterical.

I finally start the MBA program tomorrow. I am so excited... not so excited about taking out student loans. I keep telling myself it is an investment, but it is definitely hard to swallow.

Last week I got a package from one of my professors with a two-inch notebook full of articles, journals, and PowerPoint slides. There was also a note that said, "Be prepared to discuss, analyze, and test on all materials before the first day of class. From, Your Easiest Professor". I thought, "So, this is what a real university is like!"

The New Car

A couple weeks ago my faithful New Beetle died. It lasted two years of high school, all four years of college, and 103,000 miles. I guess my advice to anyone who wants to keep a car after 6 years and a hundred-thousand miles a should NOT BUY A VOLKSWAGEN!

So, after a little looking around I realized I wanted a BIGGER car. As spacious as the front two seats were in the beetle, there really wasn't a back seat or trunk. I really loved the idea of a mini-SUV or crossover. So we went with a JEEP Patriot. I love my car!

And YES, for those of you asking, I am going to use this car only to drive... not as a storage unit like my beetle!

First Time Blogger

Hi, I'm Kelly Rogers and this is my first time blogging.

I guess the good news of the week is that Brian and I got our wedding album... Finally! We have been married for 1 year and about 3 months and we finally got it. It really is beautiful, so I guess it was worth the wait. Even though everyone told us to sue them (mostly all of our sue-happy orange county friends) we held out because we would rather have our photos then the money back. We still do not have the parent's albums or the story book albums and never got the wallets for the announcements, but at least we got the most important album... ours!

The other really fun thing that happened last week was that I was on the news again. CBS and KCAL interviewed me for a segment about California homes foreclosing.

If you want to see it you can go to http://www.cbs2.com/video/?id=44407@kcbs.dayport.com .

In the background of the interview is the evidence of a fun gift that I had done for Brian. As a semi-joke I called JC Penny's and inquired about their policy on photographing pets. The salesman explained, "If you can carry them in it is allowed." So, with my friend Erica's help, she took the back end and I took the front half and we carried the 40 lb. puggle through JC Penny's to the photography area. I had a couple of the pictures framed, because they are so cute, and put one in my office. When I was watching the CBS interview on television I noticed the only thing you can really see behind me is my professional-framed picture of my dog. Did I mention she is in a dress and is wearing pearls! So... now it is official... I am that weird dog lady that people always make fun of!

I don't want to forget... Happy Birthday Dad!