Our Life – Page 2 – meet the butters

April Wrap-up

Published on May 10, 2017May 20, 2017 by JButtersLeave a comment

April was all about birthdays and family.

To start the month, I had a nice joke-free April Fools Day thanks to it landing on my big Spring Preview event at work. Mom and Andrew surprisingly behaved!

The following week held Brian’s birthday, Andrew’s family birthday dinner, Andrew’s friend birthday dinner and Andrew’s joint birthday dinner on the Nance side. We are party Animals! Special highlights of the festivities included Mariah surprising Andrew on his birthday, a Dunkin’ Donuts refillable cup, new shoes (his obsession is only growing), and winning Trivia at Dave & Buster’s.

Easter Weekend became the new Arrington Family Reunion Weekend, starting with hot dogs, s’mores and pinatas at Katie’s house. She even had a projector set-up outside to view old pictures and The Apple Dumpling Gang movie. Saturday morning we met at Dan’s house for Fred’s famous sausage gravy (my FAVORITE), “Anything Goes” challenges, seeing my turtle, Tya Elizabeth, and an egg hunt. Andrew held up the purple team as much as he could, but my blue team won out in the end. We were so exhausted by the day of events that we fell asleep as soon as we got home!

On actual Easter day we went to TopGolf with Andrew’s mom and then I slipped away for a Wendy’s picnic lunch for my grandpa’s birthday.

Monday I had my first official taste of becoming Promo Team Manager. I am still earning their trust, but these crazy kids have me beaming with excitement for this new adventure. Special shoutout goes to my awesome JEP, Caitlin!

On the actual day of my dad’s birthday, the whole family was able to eat at Blue 32 for dinner. Jaron and mom nailed the present giving with a doorbell security system!

Saturday the 22nd we went to the Dbacks vs Dodgers game with the Nance clan to celebrate dad, leaving with car window shades and an awesome Dbacks victory.

Rounding out our busy month was lunch with my former boss (Julie), Brian W’s bachelor party, a vegan Friday night in with Jessie and Kristi, and the lantern fest with Heather.

I can’t help but feel blessed!

-Jory

25 Days of Andrew

Published on April 20, 2017April 25, 2017 by JButters1 Comment

In honor of Andrew’s 25th birthday I had the grand idea to gift one present a day for 25 days leading up to his birthday. I did not manage to keep up, so it turned into “25 Presents for Andrew” instead. Here’s how it turned out:

The Angry Crab was Andrew’s dinner choice!

We bowled a record 5 games and Andrew got a 198!

Eric Church concert on a Tuesday – such party animals!

He does NOT like Almond Joys so we made a run for Airheads

A note about 25 reasons I love Andrew

Happy birthday to my handsome hubby!

-Jory

March Wrap-up

Published on April 20, 2017 by JButtersLeave a comment

March turned out to be VERY surprising for our family! On March 11, 2017 Andrew and I found out we were going to be an uncle and aunt for the first time:

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At Shani’s birthday dinner, her and Brian broke the news by slipping an ultrasound to the waitress. When my dad received the check it was tucked in the left side and the receipt was labeled “congrats”. After much confusion (“is this the right check?”), and a little help explaining from the expecting parents, we celebrated the news with some fun presents.

Other happenings in March included TEDxGCU and TEDxASU:

The Ostrich Festival Parade and Suns game with my girls:

Spring Break baseball games:

And car snuggles with the pups while the house got sprayed for cockroaches:

Six months of marriage has sure been great!

-Jory

February Wrap-up

Published on March 2, 2017March 2, 2017 by JButtersLeave a comment

Happy March from the girls!

February was eventful for the Butters family. We started out the month by celebrating Andrew’s grandma’s birthday, enjoying Superbowl craziness and dealing with the removal of Andrew’s wisdom (teeth). We also replaced all of our home’s interior and exterior doors, completed our taxes and ended the month with a cockroach fiasco.

Wisdom Teeth

Andrew had all four wisdom teeth removed on February 10. He did not undergo anesthesia, so the whole experience was unfortunately memorable. However, with the aid of pain medication, frozen peas, LOTS of soup and mashed potatoes, couch sleeping and his lovely wife, he is back to his normal shenanigans.

Valentine’s Day

Love day was consumed with work and wisdom teeth pain, but we still managed to enjoy one of our favorite holidays. We kicked it off by celebrating one year since our engagement on February 12! Andrew was stuck celebrating at home, but I was able to decorate sugar cookies with my sister and Aunt Net. On the actual day I was surprised with flowers and my favorite chocolate bar, and then the next weekend we were able to exchange cards and hit happy hour at RA. I even got my life together enough to make special sugar cookie puppy chow for my coworkers!

Home Renovation

We thought the doors would be a major feat for February, but we ended up doing even more than we thought. Somehow I ordered new sliding closet doors on top of what we had planned, due to Andrew being home during the measuring and me being a bit distracted when ordering. Also, we had a cockroach infestation on Tuesday, so all of our kitchen cabinets had to be emptied. It was (and is) stressful, but on the bright side our kitchen project just got bumped up to this weekend. Wish us luck and check back here for updates…

-Jory

January Wrap-up

Published on February 19, 2017 by JButtersLeave a comment

Happy New Year! We celebrated with my closest friends at Kristi & Cory’s home and shared a great new year’s kiss. Cheers to 2017!

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January came and went in a flash. Andrew started the new year with a crazy week of back to back events, really testing his patience, stamina and will. He also began his MBA introduction class at GCU in the same week! Now in the clear, it is safe to say he crushed it (and survived).

I joined a weight loss challenge at work and am trying to get back into a healthy routine. Andrew and I have managed to cook at home on a regular basis, which is a big help, but the exercising has not been implemented quite yet. Other than that I have been engrossed in my regular routine of work, teaching dance and trying to fit in friend and family time.

Our big news of the month: new doors! Installation should be completed next month and we’ll post a before and after on the blog.

Thanks for catching up with the Butters!

–Jory

Meet the Pups

Published on January 3, 2017February 19, 2017 by JButters2 Comments

Meet our our fur babies. They are crazy, energetic, cuddly terrors that we couldn’t live our lives without. First came Dobby, then came Bella…

Dobby

Dobby “Dobster” Butters, pit bull-Chihuahua mix, was adopted into the family on September 11, 2014. Shortly before his adoption, we had to put down a beautiful, independent, one-of-a-kind mini schnauzer named Daisy. Andrew and I were coping with the loss in different ways. He needed another pup in his life, but I was skeptic and thought it would make everything worse. Eventually I agreed to go visit a dog of his liking that had just been rescued by a veterinarian’s wife in Scottsdale.

As we drove to meet Dobby, I did not think we’d bring home a dog that night. I thought we’d just window shop and head home. Boy was I wrong! As we walked through the door, the lady put Dobby in my arms and he immediately hugged my neck. In that moment, even though there were 10+ other dogs around me barking, I fell in love with him and knew we would be going home one family member larger.

We brought him home that night and he was terrified. We had learned that he had been left outside an abandoned house tied up with no food or water. Neighbors shooed away anyone trying to help the dog in hopes that he’d get so bad animal control would stop by. The veterinarian’s wife had gotten a tip about him and saved his life. He didn’t like the leash around his neck, he didn’t move from the kitchen, and he didn’t eat much. He was all skin and bones, so much so that he looked like Dobby the House Elf from Harry Potter (the rescue named him, and it just stuck).

A week or so later he made some progress. We had left for dinner and somehow our back gate got left open. As we returned I began to panic, that maybe Dobby had gotten out! We walked inside and he was not in his kitchen spot (where he NEVER moved from). As we walked into the front room it took a moment, for he blended in, but he was eventually spotted in the corner of the couch! He had felt comfortable enough to move rooms and strong enough to jump on the couch.

After two years he is still anxious and weary of new people, but Bella is certainly helping. He is a definite mama’s boy when it comes to snuggling and has taught me so much about unconditional, overflowing love. He is smart, fast, loves to be chased, good at fetch and knows how to sit, lay down and stay. He’s already around three years old and time needs to stop!

Bella

Bella “Boo” Butters is our nine month old pit bull-boxer mix named after our wedding venue, Tre Bella. She was adopted on June 19, 2016 thanks to “Uncle Brian” Gaarde. Andrew and I had been talking about possibly getting another dog to keep Dobby company, since our roommates were moving out and Dobby loved their dog so much. On their move out date Andrew got a call from Brian, who had just visited Lost Our Home Animal Shelter to return some cat items. He saw a cute little pup around three months old that we just HAD to go see. I happened to be a little dog-crazy at the time, so when Andrew then called me I rushed home from Big Lots to go see this mystery dog.

As we had been talking about another dog, our list included a house-trained, older, smaller dog. Not exactly what Bella turned out to be! We walked into the shelter with Dobby in tow, looked through the window at “Pippa” and were sold. She came out to play with Dobby, they got along great and we were even more sold. The non-house-trained, destined-to-be-big baby girl came home with us that day.

Within the past six months she has become such an integral part of the family. She loves to lick, play, and stare out the window. She follows Dobby around and vies for his attention. You’ll always find her curled up next to him, whether he likes it or not. She loves everyone, and everyone loves her!

These fur babies make each day even better. We love them like crazy!

–Jory

Meet Andrew

Published on December 28, 2016February 19, 2017 by JButtersLeave a comment

Meet Andrew – AKA “Butters” to most of his friends. He’s my best friend, love of my life and craziest person I know. Here are a few fun facts about the guy:

He LOVES the color blue. He has a blue house, blue car, and wears blue most days of his life.
He has a newfound love for shoes. Mostly athletic shoes, but any will do.
He’s been hit by a car.
He has an extensive movie collection.
He tells it like it is. You know just where you stand with him.
He’s a candy-holic.
He is very protective of his friends and family.
He was named after Hurricane Andrew.
Corona makes him smile.
Being active keeps him sane. He’s always up for a good CrossFit workout, football game or frisbee golf.

I could go on and on, but all anyone really needs to know is that this party animal has my heart.

-Jory