FRONTIER AIRLINES...just say NO!

A little over a month ago, I got online to purchase plane tickets for myself and my three children, ages 4, 3, and 1, to fly back to MI to visit my family.  After looking at several sites and comparing prices, I settled on Frontier tickets that would fly from our hometown of Idaho Falls to Chicago.  Once in Chicago, my parents would pick us up and drive us the remaining 3 hours to their home.  I was so excited.  I was able to find a great deal on the tickets, and I wasn't even going to have to fly out of Salt Lake, which would add another 4 hours to our trip.  Since booking my tickets, my enthusiasm for Frontier has steadily declined until this morning when I was supposed to fly out and things hit rock bottom.

Leading up to today, I had trouble finding the information I needed about traveling with children, which items I could bring on the plane with me and what needed to be checked, baggage fees, etc.  I finally found the information I needed about baggage fees only to find out that I would be charged for carry-ons, checked bags, and bags checked at the gate.  I still had no idea what they would do with my double stroller I would need to get around in the airport and if I was going to need any special documentation for my children to get through TSA.  I resigned to the fact that there would just be some unknowns and I would have to pray for good agents who would be willing to help me the day of.

Last night, I got online to check-in and check my one bag.  I logged in and tried to check-in, but it would not let me, stating I needed special assistance from an agent.  I looked online for the check-in times and found that I would need to be there anywhere from 2 hours-45 minutes before the flight departed.  I was all packed, the kids were put to bed in their clothes for the next day so we could just get up and go.

This morning, my mother-in-law showed up at 5:20am to take us to the airport.  We arrived at 5:50 for the flight that was scheduled to leave at 6:35...45 minutes early.  As I was getting in line, I was warned that the agents at the counter were not the friendliest and that hopefully I would make it on the flight.  I didn't worry too much as it is a small town airport and I have always had a good experience there.  I stood in line and watched the agents help 10 more customers, before shutting down their computers and telling the rest of us that we would not be getting on the flight because we did not arrive early enough.  They then walked away and did not help the remaining 4 of us with our questions.  I later found out this is because Frontier Airlines makes their staff do double duty at the airport-they must handle the check-ins and then go board the plane. 
I immediately hopped on my phone to see what the company could do to help me out.  I spoke to three different agents, 2 of which were in management positions.  They were able to get me on a flight out of Jackson (about 2 hours away), but insisted on charging me $75 change fees for each of my tickets.  During this whole process, I was ignored by the agents in the airport, yelled at by an agent on the phone, and not one person offered to help me out as the customer.

After doing some research and reading other people's stories that are similar to mine, I have found that Frontier Airlines' "strict policy" that the agents kept referring to must be to screw over as many customers as possible, whenever possible.  It was a joke trying to get help.

I am writing this so others can be aware of the type of company they are and make a more educated decision before choosing to fly with them.  To me it is worth paying a little more to not have to deal with this crap. 

Be aware: Frontier Airlines is not in the business of serving their customers.  Avoid using them at all cost.  Spread the word.  Let's boycott this company and see how well they do without any of the customers that they refuse to help. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Yum! I made myself a little smoothie treat this morning for breakfast. It was going to be my post workout treat, but then I realized I threw my workout clothes in the dryer last night and never turned it on. Awesome! So, while I was waiting for my clothes to dry, I made this smoothie. I found a basic recipe on Pinterest, aka the other half of my brain, and then added some extras to making it yummier and healthier. I was going to take a phot0 of the deliciousness, but I emptied my glass way too quickly. :/ oops! Enjoy this pic of my empty glass!

My clothes are dry now, and I am heading out for a quick jog. Here's the recipe so you can enjoy the tastiness of this smoothie for yourself.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
1 frozen banana, cut in chunks
1/2-3/4 cup of milk
1 t peanut butter
1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 T wheat germ
1/2 T ground flax
1 handful spinach
1 handful ice cubes

Throw it all in your blender (I have the BlendTec home and love it) and blend until smooth.

Update:  I wrote this post forever ago.  I have made this several times now, and it is definitely my new favorite smoothie!  I have found that I like to add a few items at a time to the blender, blend until smooth, then add a little more.  I continue to do this until all ingredients have been added and the mixture is smooth. 

FEET...ick!

Disclaimer: If you like feet as little as I do, then this IS NOT the post for you. If you are looking for a new way to combat tired, dry, cracked feet, then this post IS for you!

It is officially summertime at my house. That means my kids can be found running around in their swimsuit or underwear about 90% of the time. It also means I can be found barefoot or in flip flops about 90% of the time. For someone who already suffers from dry, cracked feet the rest of the year, this only makes it worse. This summer, I am trying a new approach to managing my feet issues. On an episode of Dr. Oz, he mentioned that the salicylic acid used in Stridex is good to use on your dry, cracked feet. Now daily, or at least every other day, I am washing my feet like normal, gently using a pumice stone, wiping each foot with a Stridex cleansing pad, and then slathering them with a heavy duty moisturizer.    
 I can't say I have noticed much of a visual difference yet, but the way they feel is fantastic! It feels great to pamper my feet a little extra. Relaxed and rejuvenated feet seem to give me a little more pep in my step. I will continue this regime for the next month, and report back on the success then. If you decide to give it a try, I would love to hear how it works for you.

2 Boys' Bikes

Over Memorial Day weekend, my mother-in-law treated all her daughters and daughters-in-law to a weekend getaway in Boise.  It was a blast.  We were able to do a ton of fun things, but my very favorite part of the trip was renting bicycles from 2 Boys' Bikes.
When we got to the hotel on Friday evening, we noticed a rack of rental bikes out front.  We all decided it would be way fun to rent them all day on Saturday and use them as our primary mode of transportation. (Side note: I love that we were able to use the bikes as our primary mode of transportation.  Boise is great about having bike lanes on the main roads, as well as having a 26 mile long "Green Belt" along the river.)  Because we rented 5 bikes for the whole day, they gave us a great deal - 50% off. 
We rode the bikes to the Farmer's Market at the City Center, along the "Green Belt", to the Old State Penitentiary, through the Historic District of homes, back through the city center for shopping, and to dinner at Fork. (Another side note: FORK is an awesome restaurant.  If you get the chance to eat there, make sure you get the asparagus fries and some of their mouth-watering tomato basil soup.)
Renting the bikes from 2 Boys' Bikes was super easy and it is what really made our Saturday exceptional!

Influenster

Here is the deal. I am going to try to start blogging more often. I will be writing about my family-the things we like to do, the food we like to cook, the products we like to use and more. Let me know if there are specific topics you would like me to write about. I love researching topics and sharing the information and my opinion. Thanks, friends!

My Beautiful Kids

I just have to brag on my beautiful children. I love them so very much. They bring so much happiness to my life everyday. It astounds me how smart, loving, and fun they are. They radiate joy and light!
M1 turns 2 in a week and a half. Where has the time gone? I swear just yesterday I was bringing home this tiny little baby from the hospital. Now I have a smart, energetic, curious, and fun-filled toddler. He is so so so smart and independent.
He is now sleeping in a "big boy" twin size bed. We made the decision to do this after M1 became a pro at getting himself in and out of his crib every night. Even though he was a pro, I didn't want him falling and breaking something. So he is in a "big boy" bed and loving it.
He loves his bath time. He swims like a little fish.
He loves music. He likes to sing and dance! He is so cute when he hears a song he thinks is dance worthy. A huge grin appears on his face and he begins jamming. I love to watch him light up with laughter as he busts a move to songs on the radio or even silly songs I sing like "Gummy, Gummy, bo bummy" and "If You're Happy and You Know It". He can sing along and do the actions to "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes".
He has started saying so many words. His most common words right now are Dad, Mom, No, more, please, thank you, toes, owie, hot, Sissy, Sassy, baby, ew, shoes (he LOVES shoes), hat, head, eyes, lion, juice, horse, ride, mmhmm (he does this for yes, it's so cute), ball, Ree (Aunt Marie), door, waffle, and water. He will repeat just about anything. He will count to 10 with prompting, but his favorite numbers seem to be 2, 4, 9, and 10.
His favorite movie is The Lion King. He will watch it all day everyday if people would let him. His favorite is the first one, but he will also watch 1 1/2 and 2. He even quotes parts of the movie. He laughs when Simba is about to laugh in the elephant grave yard and he yells dad at the part when Mufasa dies. It's hilarious to watch him.
He is so strong and athletic. He loves playing football with my friend's 8 year old.
He gets the opportunity to go to preschool with my friend on the days she watches him. At preschool he loves story time, singing time, coloring, and of course, snack time. In fact, he has been known to remind them (at the correct time) that it was snack time.
M1 adores his baby sister. He loves to make her smile and laugh and tries so hard to take care of her. Sometimes, he gets a wild hair or just loses control and she ends up crying instead of laughing, but as he gets older he is becoming more and more aware of how to be a good big brother.
He is a terrible eater right now. He hates protein. Occasionally, I can get him to eat beans and eggs, but he refuses to eat meat. This from the kid who loved to eat chicken nuggets and hot dogs a year ago. He still loves fruits and vegetables and has added things like pasta, waffles, and cereal to his list of favorites. He had his first cup of apple juice this summer and has been guzzling it ever since. It is hard to get him to drink just water anymore.
He recently started trying to potty-train himself. He likes to strip down, remove his diaper and go sit on the nearest potty. He has yet to actually go to the bathroom on the potty, but he keeps trying. He started doing all of this on his own. Since he isn't even 2 yet, we haven't really pushed it. I figure when he gets a little older, it's going to be a breeze to train him.
As you can probably tell, Gummy is full of energy and constantly keeps me on my toes. I adore my little man and am enjoying watching him grow into an exceptional person. I can't wait to see what the future holds for him.
M2 is now 10 months old.
She is getting to be quite vocal and busy. She is learning from a great teacher, her older brother.
She loves to chatter away making nonsense sounds. However, recently she has started saying mamamama and dadadada. It's fun to hear her say them, even though I know they don't quite carry any meaning yet.
She has become more than a little dramatic to say the least. If she doesn't feel people are responding quickly enough to her demands, she likes to throw her head back and give out the most pitiful cry to make them feel bad. As soon as she gets what she wants, she is all smiles again.
She has started teasing her brother by touching his blanket or stealing his food and/or drink. She smiles pretty big when he gets upset. What a little stinker! ;)
She has become incredibly mobile. She crawls anywhere, pulls herself to the standing position and walks around furniture, can walk if someone holds just one of her hands and can climb the stairs. I have a feeling she will be walking on her own very soon and I am hoping she will learn to come down the stairs on her own even sooner. Right now she gets to the top and then wails for someone to come get her.
Sis loves to eat! She gets so excited when she sees any food. She doesn't care if it's intended for her or not. She starts to shriek and shake until you give her a bite. She will eat just about anything at least once. I did learn tonight that she doesn't care for Cafe Rio pinto beans, go figure!
M2 is a momma's girl. She loves her mommy. The best part of my day is when I get home and she lights up and lifts her arms for me to pick her up.
Sis is a snuggler. This is new for me, as M1 did not like to cuddle at all. I love having her cozy in to my arms and just snuggle. She is such a precious doll.
She is such a beautiful little girl. She has vibrant blue eyes and thick, toe-head blond hair. She is just perfect in every way imaginable. I anxiously anticipate her growing into an extraordinary young woman.
I love being a mother. It is the greatest joy in my life at this time. Sure it can be exhausting and overwhelming, especially with 2 under the age of 2 and being a full-time teacher, but it is worth it. I always have a reason to smile. All I have to do is think about all the fun, fabulous, brilliant things my children do. I love them more than words can express. I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father trusted me with such an important job.

Pinterest

Have you heard about pinterest.com? It is my new addiction. I am fascinated with all the amazing ideas out there. Loving it.
On a completely unrelated note, my growth plan at work is to write grants for funding for new technology in my classroom. I went to an in-service on Thursday all about technology in the classroom. I was a bit overwhelmed. Especially after I heard a few women talking about grant writing. I may be in way over my head. If any one is reading this and you know how to write grants, let me know. I need all the help I can get.

The Voice

I cannot put in to words how music affects me. It speaks to my heart and elicits feelings and emotions that I don't even know are there sometimes. That is how I felt tonight watching The Voice. So powerful. I am in awe of the talent people have. I wish everyone could feel what I feel when I hear a voice that sends tingles over my body and warms my heart. It is so pure and true. I. Just. Love. It!

Disappointed!

I am thinking what were supposed to be sweet potatoes are really yams. I don't know that there is a huge difference, but still. I hope my plans for making mashed sweet potatoes, sweet potato fries, and baked sweet potatoes still work out.

I should be sleeping, but instead

I just went through and reread all my old posts. It was so fun to read the things I wrote while I was pregnant with M1. I wish I had blogged during my second pregnancy. There were so many little things I had forgotten. Makes we wonder what things I have forgotten about from my pregnancy with M2.

The grass is always greener...

when I get to spend the day with my babies. I had a wonderful day today, not for any big reason, just because of all the little things. M1 woke his sister and I up around 6:45am. We all had some breakfast and then hung out for awhile. M1 took a bath and was probably ready for a nap around 9, but I had a Bountiful Basket to pick up at 10:45am. Which meant no early nap for him. When the time came, we loaded up and headed to Roberts (a town in Idaho) to pick up our basket. M1 and M2 fell asleep right away and I enjoyed talking to my mom on the phone as I drove. After retrieving our basket and 36lbs of sweet potatoes I am accepting any tips or ideas on what to do with my sweet potatoes, I headed back home. When I was just getting back in to IF, my phone rang and it was the stucco man. He needed me to come out and approve the new stucco trim color-I didn't care for the the original color that had been picked. So, I redirected my car and headed out to the new house. It was such a beautiful day-blue skies, bright sun, and a refreshing breeze-I didn't mind being out and about. While out at the house I took a minute to walk through and see all the progress. The stucco guys were outside working and the dry-wallers were being productive inside. I truly appreciate all the hard work that is being done on our house. I made sure to take the time to thank the workers for logging extra hours on a Saturday. Their extra effort means I will be in my new house just that much earlier. After the detour to the new house, I went back to the apt. Once I got everything from the car, it took 3 trips, I laid M1 down in his crib with a bottle. He went right back to sleep and slept for another 2 1/2 hours. During that time I did a little laundry, played with M2, watched several episodes of Army Wives, and assembled my new double jogging stroller. When M1 woke up we took the new wheels for a spin. My plan was to just cruise around the apartments, but the weather was so nice and the kids were enjoying being out, so we ended up going around the neighborhood for a slightly longer walk. I loved all the wonderful sounds and smells of Spring. I could smell fresh cute grass and BBQs. I could hear birds chirping and kids playing. It was wonderful. Towards the end of the walk, I noticed M1 and reached over and was holding M2's hand. He can be so sweet sometimes. When we got back, my friend Mistie brought her son over to watch M1 while Mistie, her husband, M2 and I went to Walmart to get some last minute Easter supplies. Our shopping trip caused us to work up quite an appetite, so we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Cafe Rio and then headed home. I put my sweet babies to bed and then helped get things set up for the Easter Bunny. I think in the future, we will be on the Easter Bunny's Saturday route. That way, Sunday can be reserved for remembering the life and death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the real reason we celebrate this beautiful time of year when everyone and everything is coming to life again.

New/old desire

After spending a half hour reading the posts of one of my dear friends, whom I walk with almost every evening in the mall, I am inspired to be a better blogger. Her posts are so entertaining. I find myself reading about things that she and I have already talked about and therefore I know all the details, but she makes them so comical to read, that I do. Tomorrow night, I am going to force her to share her blogging secrets. She does all kinds of clever things with the blog.
I need to be creative.
Must be more creative.
It is in me, I just have to figure out how to unleash it.

A more detailed update.

It's Saturday night, I should be in bed getting all the beauty rest I can, but instead I am up blog-stalking people. Oi, facebook and blogs suck me in.
Well, my little man is sleeping soundly right now. He has been so great the last couple of nights, going to sleep at about 10 and sleeping until 6:30-7. He really is such an easy baby. Well, I figured I would share his 2 month stats, even though he has probably surpassed them by now. At his last Dr. appt. (Feb. 10), he weighed 11 lbs. 3 oz. and was 23 1/4 in. long. He is growing like a little weed. When we left the hospital on Dec. 13 he was 7 lbs. 1oz. and 20 in. long. Next thing I know he will be 6 ft tall and eating me out of house and home.
Work is going well. I have successfully accomplished 2 full weeks and only have 14 weeks of school left until summer break-not counting Spring Break. I had an observation by my principal last Tuesday. It went really well. It was very nice to hear the wonderful compliments my principal gave me in our post-observation conference. When someone tells you that you possess skills and qualities that cannot be taught, you can't help but feel good about yourself.
Well, we are sort of in the middle of negotiating the sale of our home. A couple has put in an offer on our home, but they would like to rent for 6 months and then purchase it. They are willing to pay $5000 more than our asking price, but we are negotiating some of the minor details. We will see how it all works out on Monday. I don't know if I should hope for it to go through or not. I really wish someone would just show up and want to buy it out right.
Brandon is finally heading back to work, it looks like it will be around the first of March. He has been home since the end of November. It is going to be very hard to go back to the way things were. I enjoy having him around every evening. It will be nice to start getting that 2nd paycheck again. Oh well, this isn't a permanent situation and one day we will live a more normal life. Hopefully, sooner than later.
I am off to bed now. My baby is sleeping and I should join him!

Remember that one time...

when I actually wrote on my blog. Me either! It seems I start a lot of my entries that way. I get so caught up in things that I forget to post. Well, the big updates are that my son was finally born on December 10, 2009 and he is wonderful and I have returned to work :( not as wonderful.

All is well

Brandon is home! He surprised me on Saturday night. I guess his work felt it was getting too close to my due date and that they had better send him home. Bless them! I have enjoyed having my husband home. Even if it does disrupt my single life schedule.
Well, we go in today for a check up on the little man. Hopefully he is still doing well. I had a little food poisoning over the weekend, I hope it didn't stress him out too much.

Baby Update

So, I had a doctor's appointment today. Baby and Mom are doing great. Both are healthy and relatively happy. Mom would like to be a little less tired and weigh a little less, but other than that, can't complain. I talked to the doc about inducing. If my body is ripe and ready to go, they will induce me on December 14th. It's a Monday, which will make things easier for me planning for the substitute. Just found out today that one of my students has been having anxiety for the last week about me leaving to have the baby. He thinks I am going to leave and not ever come back. Oi! Rips my heart out to leave my class, but at the same time, I am so excited for my time with my son. Anyway, back to my update. It looks like I have about 33 days until my sweetie pie is born and anywhere from 11-17 days until my spouse returns from South Africa. It seems like everytime I talk to him, his trip gets more and more drawn out. I told him he needs to be careful because he is going to miss all the action if he's not careful. :(

5 weeks and counting...

So, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and I think I am going to talk to them about being induced on the 14th of December. It's only 2 days early, and it will make planning my maternity leave super easy if I can just pick the day to go in. If they say it's okay, then that means 5 weeks from today, I will have my baby boy in my arms...I can't wait. I think this last stretch is going to be the hardest for me. I don't like waiting for things, I am not very patient.

Best friends...

I truly have the best friends ever. I always know there is someone out there who cares about me. Thank you all for being there for me. You have showed me in millions of little and big ways that I am important to you and I want you to know how important you all are to me. Thank you for the little things like comments on my blog or facebook, baby showers, phone calls, emails, texts, and so on. I am so lucky to have all of you in my life. I wish I could mention each one of you individually and each of the things that you have done for me, but I don't have the time or space. Your kindness is endless and I so greatly appreciate that. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And know, if I was there with you right now, I would be hugging you!

Holy Hannah!

Wow, time flies when you are having fun! I have been so busy lately. I am currently in my second year of teaching and learning to love my students as much as I loved my class last year. I am exactly 31 weeks pregnant, which is scary and exciting, all rolled in to one. Only nine weeks to go. Aaahhh! I had a doctor's appt today and both mom and baby are doing well. Woo hoo! I now need to go get the flu shot and the h1n1 shot. I even have a doctor's note for them. Brandon is gone to South Africa until November 9. I should add another countdown to my blog for that. We are thinking he will return home about 5 weeks for our beautiful baby boy arrives. Other than that, I am still keeping busy with church-enrichment leader, stamping, and hanging out with Mistie while she is husbandless too. Life is good for now, let's keep it that way!

It's a boy...

that's right, Baby J is a little boy. His expected arrival is December 16 and we will be calling him Montgomery Robert. We can't wait to meet our handsome little guy.