Mmmmm Turkey

So Thanksgiving has come and gone just like that!   I was so pumped for it because Zac's mom Peggy and brother Jake got to come down here to AZ for the holiday.  It was REALLY fun and I was so glad we were able to have some family with us.  I also didn't have to worry about screwing up my first Thanksgiving dinner because I had Peggy's help.  It turned out great and I think I have gained 5 pounds over this week.   We were able to see some of the sights here in the Phoenix area and we had a ball.  We got to go to one of my FAVORITE pizza places called Grimaldi's and I ate about my weight so that was good.  I said it was in preparation for the Thanksgiving dinner...I was stretching my stomach.  Anyhoo......

What a bunch of weirdo's.  

I really liked this picture.  Jake had some sort of setting on his camera that only allowed certain colors to show and I thought this one was neat.  Zac's not posing either...he is just deep in thought about how he loves pizza.

We went to the D-backs stadium and ate lunch inside by the field.  That's Jake holding a giant bat.

I'm on top of the world.

Proof. Thats all I'm gonna say.

We also got the chance to tour Zac's job site.  All I can say is how the crap do humans do what we do.  The job site was absolutely INSANE!!!  It is a 280,000 sq ft research facility.  The creepiest part is that they have two floors of 'animal rooms' which is exactly what you think it is.  They are rooms to test animals with stuff.  I kept thinking around every corner there would be a frothing dog with red eyes just waiting.....waiting.

We were also able to go to the Mesa temple which was really nice.  The Christmas lights are all up.  It is weird/different having it be sunny and 75 degrees with Christmas decorations and music being played all over the place.  It's all good though.  I like not having to scrap my car windows every morning.

I got tagged again.

So this tag is all about my spouse.  I won't get too gushy and I am getting to the point.  Enjoy.

p.s.  I think this picture is one of the funniest one's we have.  Look at Zac's eyes.  Holly helped us really make it a gem by blurring the sides.  We were going to use it as our christmas card picture but we figured not everyone would "get" it.

1. Where did you meet your husband?   Don't really know.  I was probably 9 or 10 when we 'met'

2. How long did you date before you got married?   9 months?  We knew each other for a long time so I don't keep track of that crap.

3.  How long have you been married?  4 years

4.  What does he do that surprises you?  Every now and then I wake up to him talking....that's kinda surprising to me.

5.  What is your favorite feature of his?  His creepy and crazy eyes (see above)

6.  What is his best quality?  His goal in life is to make me happy....fat and happy.

7. Does he have a nickname for you?  Lots....Upchuck, Cheech, KJ

8. What is his favorite food?  Cheesy noodle bake 

9. What is his favorite sport?  hmmmmm......Football are you kidding me with these questions?

10.  When and where did you first kiss?  Um...I don't remember when....I think it was before we were married......But it was in his car at night looking over the city of Eagle/Boise/Meridian/Mergal<----thats the dead space between Eagle and Meridian).

11.  What is your favorite thing to do as a couple?  Get Crunk

12. Do you have any children?  No and quit asking me!!!!  

13.  Does he have any hidden talents?  He is a fantastic racket ball player

14.  How old is he?  27 but you say it like- twenty SEFFAN

15.  Who said I love you first?  I did.  He can read minds.

16.  What is his favorite music? Not the radio-Alternative, indie

17.  What do you admire most about him?  He was the homecoming king in high school

18. What is his favorite color?  JET BLACK

19.  Will he read this?  Yes.  He is turning into a blog stalker.

20.  Who do you tag?  Heeeeather, Howlly, and Chelsea because I know you all will have hilarious answers.

Big Time Help

So all of you out there in the blogging world I need some advise.  For my 4th anniversary Zac is going to either take me to The Lion King (broadway style....not DVD style) or Les Miserables.  I can't decide and I want to see both but alas...I must choose.  I am hoping someone out there has seen one or both and can give me any suggestions.  So GO!

My Mom

So I got real lucky and scored a trip to Boise last week.  All I had to do was T-Bone someone when I was twenty years old and have that person take me to court five years later!!  It ended up working out because the dudes doctor ended up testifying against him and he also went bankrupt.  He had to settle and my lawyer said he wouldn't see a penny of it....so free trip!!  Whilst I was in Boise, it happened to be my mom's 52nd....okay 62nd birthday (but she could pass for 52).  It was really fun and everyone was there (except Zac-tear).  She also retired from her job and is living the high life!  If anyone knows my mom you will all know that she is classic and classy.  I hope I can be as kind, thoughtful, helpful, and as generous as her when I  grow up... ;)  Also I hope I can be as beautiful as her. She is a fox!  Check out these pictures to prove me right.

Me and my moms

These are all the grandkids plus Richelle because Paige didn't want to be put down.  

And this gem is my favorite.  Check out the space behind me and my sister.  That is my mom peeking in on our self portrait.  Nice work maw.  We're all a bit creepy and I love it!  I really miss my family and especially my mom since we have moved down here to sunny AZ.  It was really fun to go back for a visit and enjoy the fall weather and the company of my family.  

A Dibble and a Dabble

So I haven't updated my blog for quite sometime.  I don't have anything super fantastic that has happened to me so I decided to go through a few things that I took pictures of this past month or so. 

I did it.  I finally made pogacha all by myself.  Pogacha is a serbian bread that my mom D. makes (as well as Baba-Zac's grandma)  It is a secret family recipe and I finally decided to give it a go.  I think I haven't made it before now because my other oven at our other apartment in Boise would burn EVERYTHING I tried to bake.  I had to turn the sucker down to 150 degrees and bake something for an hour so it was always sketchy.  I took pictures to prove I did it.  They turned out great!!!

I have no life.

This little fella was on the celling in our condo.  Yep.  I pretty much wanted to cry.  The scorpions have been running rampant.  Our neighbors have all found them in their places too and a dog next door got stung.  I hate those things.  Zac caught this one in a cup and put it down the drain with the garbage disposal on. :)

This little gem was too priceless to not put on my blog.  A couple weeks ago Zac and I went back to Idaho for a visit.  My buddy's got my camera and took a bunch of self portraits and someone snapped this of Kristen Levendusky.  I'm sorry Lester....it had to be shared with the blogging world.

This was too precious (say it like Gallum) not to put up.  This was on a lazy Sunday after church.  We are always hanging out at home now that we don't have family and family dinners.  It is nice but I miss having somewhere to be or options.  Plus I have.....I mean GET to cook Sunday dinners which has been kinda fun!  They don't taste as good as when you cook them though and I can't quite figure out how to make gravy like my maw.  Update......complete.

I did it!

For the past about eight or nine months I have been training for a triathlon. I have had this goal for quite some time but I had never got enough gumption to do it (mostly because I had never swam competitively and I didn't have a road bike). Once I made the decision I was pretty much religious about training regularly. It helps when you don't have a job and don't have many friends where you live. Last Saturday, August 30th I competed in the Lake Las Vegas Triathlon. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad I did it!! The course was set in a REALLY nice part of Henderson, Nevada (right outside of Las Vegas) in a resort/ritzy neighborhood/location. The course I ran, which was a sprint triathlon, was a 500 meter swim, 10.6 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run. Here is me signing in-

The swim was interesting because I had only open water swam once before this. I tend to swim to the right instead of in a straight line which made me go a little off course. Its pretty crazy to be swimming with 30 others and getting kicked in the face, flailing into other peoples stroke and almost running into the next wave of swimmers. I swam it in 11:39. Next was the transition to the bike which was really crazy. I had to make sure I had everything (helmet, water, race number, shoes, socks) and what not before jumping on my bike. The bike course was not what I was use to. We started out on a hill that just kept getting steeper and steeper (kinda hard when you don't have any momentum leading into it). Once at the top of the hill it is an extremely fast and scary ride down. I got going 35 mph and people were passing me and I was passing others. One dude biffed it at the bottom and got pretty messed up. Then it was another grueling hill climb (traffic was still allowed on the streets too), and another shot down a hill. It was pretty intense being so close to other bikers who would weave for no reason and all of the sudden slam on their breaks. Then we road a moderate incline back to the transition area and repeated for 3 full laps. I did it in 44:08.

The run was pretty hard too.  There aren't very many hills here in Scottsdale so I never had the chance to train on them.  The run when back into the desert and we had to run on two HUGE and steep hills.  There was only a handful of people running around me during this part of the race.  Most everyone walked up the hills.  I am proud to say I never walked!!  Once we made it out of the desert it was a slight run downhill to the finish at the Ritz Carleton.  The finish line was way out of sight so  I never really kicked into my higher gear because I thought I still had a ways to go.  It kinda bummed me out because I was saving some energy for the last 1/2 mile.  So I came around the corner and there was the finish and i wasn't even that exhausted!  I think it was because I trained so long and regularly.  But boy were my calves sore from all those hills!  I finished the run in 28:05.  I feel like I could have easily shaved 2 or 3 minutes off of my run...but crap, I finished!  And I did have the fastest run in my division which I didn't think was possible.  Here is a pic of me and my boys at the finish line--

Here are the results in my age group.  I came in 6th with a time of 1:26:57!!  I came in 92nd out of all the men and women in the race which was about 230 people.

FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29

Place Name                     City                    Sta   Swim    Trans#1     Bike     Trans#2     Run     Time  

1 EMILY WILLIAMS           HENDERSON  NV        14:38    1:18   37:18    1:16   28:15 1:22:44  

2 SARAH RINGER                LAS VEGAS  NV           10:56    2:07   39:35    0:46   30:31 1:23:54  

3 LETA ROSE                        HENDERSON  NM      9:44    1:08   43:19    1:17   29:59 1:25:26    

4 KEIRA WALLAND             HENDERSON  NV      9:55    2:04   42:30    1:55   29:56 1:26:19   

5 AMBER RAMIREZ             LAS VEGAS  NV         12:10    1:17   40:51    1:28   31:01 1:26:45 

6 KRISTEN D.                 SCOTTSDALE AZ    11:39    2:19   44:08    0:48   28:05  1:26:57  

7 MICHELLE O'BRIEN       HENDERSON  NV    11:33    2:04   43:19    1:10   30:21 1:28:25    

8 BRITTANY POLLOCK      LAS VEGAS  NV    10:55    1:44   43:08    0:23   34:14 1:30:23    

9 JENNIFER KALE             LAS VEGAS  NV    11:03    3:17   44:25    2:07   30:39 1:31:30   

10 REGAN STOKES            LAS VEGAS  NV    14:10    1:58   42:29    0:58   32:24 1:31:58   

11 KATRINA DORTON         LEHI       UT    12:57    3:06   44:57    2:08   29:48 1:32:55   

12 AMANDA MAPES         LAS VEGAS  NV    11:58    3:16   41:22    2:13   34:40 1:33:27   

13 JENNIFER SIMMS       LAS VEGAS  NV    11:17    2:03   43:33    1:25   38:15 1:36:32   

14 LINDSAY BAUER         HENDERSON  NV    14:04    2:45   46:13    2:00   33:31 1:38:32   

15 LISA SKIFTON              LAS VEGAS  NV    13:00    3:21   42:35    2:50   38:05 1:39:49   

16 KELLY OLMSTEAD      LAS VEGAS  NV    12:45    2:07   43:32    0:48   42:00 1:41:10   

17 ELISA ARNOLD           LAS VEGAS  NV    12:41    2:13   51:59    1:32   33:29 1:41:53   

18 HEATHER CROCKET SALT LAKE  UT    13:59    1:19   45:12    1:46   40:58 1:43:12   

19 FRANCESCA BACA    HENDERSON  NV    15:01    1:03   52:50    0:50   36:23 1:46:06   

20 JOELLEN GIANI        LAS VEGAS  NV    14:16    2:35   51:47    1:26   36:51 1:46:54   

21 ANNE NICKSICK        LAS VEGAS  NV    16:16    2:02   57:20    1:40   37:31 1:54:48    

22 KRISTIN HUBBARD  HENDERSON  NV    18:06    3:47   49:25    4:18   39:59 1:55:33    

23 SHANNON RICHARD HENDERSON  NV   11:34    3:54 1:00:04    1:31   39:07 1:56:09   

24 NATALIE MONSEN    LAS VEGAS  NV    13:50    2:03 1:01:16    0:53   48:36 2:06:37 

So since we were in Vegas and I had never been...we have to do the Vegas thing which for a Mormon consists of people watching, eating, riding the New York, New York roller coaster, watching a Cirque De Sole show, and playing penny slots (I lost 50 cents). We also saw the fountains at the Bellagio (Saweet). So Zac and I went to get some lunch after the race and we left Jaitz in the hotel room. We roped him off in a section of the room so he wouldn't have free reign to chew on stuff. So when we got back from lunch and I came in the hotel room and called for him thinking he'd be in his section of the room...this is what I saw....

Somehow he got on the bed and I have no idea how. He can't even jump up onto our small couch yet and this thing was WAY off the ground. He is a magician.

This is Zac and me at the Bellagio waiting for the fountains and stuff.

You guessed it...the fountains!! All in all it was fantastic and I am so glad I did it! I have to thank my one and only Zac for being there to cheer me along. Thank you for coming with me and spending all this money on me and caring so much for me. You made me feel like I was the best one out there. I love you. This is the longest post of my life....

I'm 'IT'

So I got tagged by my buddy Kristen L. and I guess I will respond with the following (I don't have much to do with myself these days....today I read pretty much the entire book Breaking Dawn)  p.s. I copied Kristen L's and it is in the ABC format:

A. Attached or Single:  Um.....check blog name and you have your answer

B. Best Friends:  Zac, Howlly, Krunchy, Lester, Hepter, and Chepetee

C. Cake or Pie:  Cake with minimal frosting.  My sister Steph, Jen and my mom would beg to differ.

D.  Day of Choice: Saturday, mostly because of the cartoons.

E.  Essential Item:  Hair tie.  It sucks when you have long hair and the wind blows and you can't breath right because every breath is tainted with strands of hair entering your esophagus. 

F.  Favorite Color: Blues

G.  Greatest Accomplishment:  Shooting the moon all by my self during a pinochle game between me and Ross VS. Zac and Steph.  It was intense.

H.  Hometown:  'The' Eagle, Idaho

I.  Indulgences:  Number '8' at McDonalds.  Man I don't do it often but every time I bite into that grilled chicken sandwich, followed by a hot french fry and washed down with McD's coke....that is what I am talking about.  (However, my indulgences change about every two months)

J.  January or July:  Are you kidding me?  I even live in Arizona and I will say July because that's how much I love America!

K.  Kids?  None in the oven yet....I do have a puppy which wakes me up in the night to pee....that's gotta count for something.

L.  Life is incomplete without....:  Ninjas

M.  Marriage Date:  November 6, 2004

N.  Number of Siblings:  2 Brothers, 2 Sisters, 5 brother in laws, 3 sister in laws.  They count too!

O.  Oranges or Apples:  Depends on the season.  If it is half time...oranges.  

P.  Phobias or Fears:  I hate hate hate hate spiders.  We had a monster on our doorway last night that was probably two-three inches wide.  Then we saw a little scorpion crawling up the side of our condo....lame.

Q.  Quotes:  "I can't believe I ate the whole thing"-Homer Simpson

R.  Reasons to smile:  Peeing in the lake to get warm

S.  Season:  Still gotta be summer...we'll see once I get to experience my first Arizona winter.

T.  Tag three friends:  Um....Holly, McKinzie, Rachel  (I think that they will read it)

U.  Unknown fact about me:  I'm running in my first triathlon at the end of the month.

V.  Very Favorite Store:  Newt and Harolds or the Record Exchange

W.  Worst Habbit:  Leaving my finished glass of chocolate milk on the floor (as zac would say)

X.  X-Ray or Ultrasound:  Since I have never had an ultrasound and I hear the first one is rough when you are prego gotta say x-ray.

Y. Your Favorite Food:  Before dinner roles....especially from Texas Road house and olive garden.

Z. Zodiac:  Leo.....(maw waaaaahhhooo<------that is a wild cat sound...try reading it outloud.)

Hope you all enjoyed.  I did because it got me off the couch....to my credit, I am sick today with some sort of bug)...Peace out!

It's as official as a referee with a whistle

Introducing the newest member of the Drzayich family--Jaitz.  We broke down (or better put, Zac finally broke down to my pleas) and we got a puppy!  He is a Boston Terrier and is lots of fun.  We are working on using the outside for a toilet right now.  I did just teach him how to sit and lay down--he is a smart little thing.  He is 11 weeks old as of yesterday.  I really love him and am glad I have someone to talk to during the day.  Zac likes him too and is constantly tormenting him (instead of me!!! Hooray!!)  Anyhoo, there are some pictures of him!

There is too an Arizona

Alright Alright!  Here is a new post for all of you goofs out there!  Seriously.  Things are going just peachy here in Arizona.  We moved pretty smoothly down here to the desert only almost getting in two wrecks so thats not bad!  I took some pictures of what everything looks like and so forth.  Zac started his job last week and he is really enjoying it!  The only thing that sucks is that he has to be to work at 5:30 a.m. and his job site is about a half hour away!  YUCK!  I am currently looking for a job and enjoying time to figure out where the heck I am!  So to the pictures.

This is Zac driving.  (If you couldn't figure that one out)  We had just entered into the Arizona border.

All the plants here seem to want to hurt you.  This little fellow is right by the green belt outside of our condo and looks harmless.....until you zoom in.  I about got ripped off my bike because a branch from a tree brushed past my hair and had sharp little pokers that latched into my hair.

This is our condo!  It's easily twice a big as our last apartment so we feel like we're living in luxury.  This is a view from our deck and I can watch people tee off on the fourth tee.  That is the green belt right at the bottom of our stairs which is real nice to be by.

I took this picture for my mom to show her that I totally bedazzled my toes.  I don't EVER wear closed shoes unless I am running so my toes have totally become an accessory (I do have a bit of girl in me see!)

This was the other day when a fire broke out on the west valley and smoke blew all over.  It turned the sun red and I thought it was fantastic looking!  So with that, there are a few pictures and such so people can know what is going on in my world right now!  Word.

Next Step

Hoorah and Hooray! Zac has gradumacated from college. He is now a construction management major at "the" Boise State University. There were 20 graduates and all of them have a job already which is pretty sweet. We are heading to Phoenix (Scottsdale) Arizona where Zac will work for DPR Construction, Inc. We are pretty pumped!


This was our celebration dinner at Idaho Pizza Company. Dang that's good pizza.

Zac's brother Nick married into a fantastic family. They are oh so nice and took us to the lake the other day. The Thompsons have a SAWEET boat and membership to a private lake so on one of the hotter May day's, we went boating! There is nothing better than the smell of boat exaust and the sight of smooth water.

This is me catching some air. There was a dog at the lake that is real old and deaf and he would try to bite the boat. Another boarder sprayed him real good in the face with water and I laughed.

Things are going alright for us. Zac and I have been living with his mom for the past month but we will be heading out in about three weeks to the Valley of the Sun. We got a place to live and our things are all packed. I am excited, nervous, anxious, and interested to be going to a new place. I will miss all of my friends and family for sure but heck, if any of you are in the Phoenix area we have definately got a place for you (everyone but Chelsea....I don't like her very much--Just kiddn' Chep. You could even have my room!) So anyhoo, that is about it for me and my Zac. Just taking the next step.

He Was One of the Best

We have recently had a tragedy hit our family. Zac's dad and one of the best people on this earth passed away on April 11. His name was Emil and I know him as Butch or Butchey and he died of a massive heart attach after coaching a baseball game. There is too much to say about Emil and I am greatful most of my friends here on the blogging world got to know him or heard wonderful things about him. I love him so much and I know I will have the opportunity to be with him again. My mom #2 Peggy and him were the best of friends and did everything together. I love her so much and my heart aches so much for her. Butch was unlike most people in this world. He cared so much more for others than he did for himself. His funeral was just yesterday (Friday April 18) and more than 1,000 people were there for it. The funeral director said it was the biggest funeral he has ever been to. I had the honor of giving the life sketch and I was so greatful for it because I got to learn so much about Butch. I pray I can live my life as selfless as he did. We will miss him so much and we love him so much. I will do my best to remember him, honor him, and keep him alive for the future generations.


This was our last family picture


Easter at our apartment last year.


Hydro Seed Bowl action on one of our Thanksgivings together.



Check out Butch and Zac blocking for me.


They were the best of friends and they will be together forever. I love you mom D.

There is a light that never goes out

So I decided to put some more stuff up here possibly for my future posterity but mostly for my friends that read this.  I am just hanging out with my B (aka Zac) watching some Scrubs and having a good time.  Zac keeps laughing real hard which makes watching Scrubs twice as fun.  Thanks Hops for letting us borrow all of your DVD's and we will get them back to you soon.  Anyhoo, since the top of my blog says Kristen and Zac I figured I should include my one and only on here.  Zac is quite the character and I love him so very much.  We are pretty much best buddies that hang out and eat and joke and occasionally make out.  Here are some pictures from our latest adventures...

(notice the self portraits)

Summer in San Francisco/Berkeley for an internship with DPR for Zac.  It was windy.

This is the Mesa Arizona temple.  It was November 8th in the picture and 91 degrees. WHAT?

We are caught dancing at Bryan Dewey's (or just plain Dewey) wedding.

p.s. the title of this post is the title of a song on my playlist.  It is a remake done originally by Van Morrisey (remake done by Anberlin).  It reminds me of Zac and just being young and loving life.  Enjoy a good listen if you choose to.

This one is for my home boys

So my bestest friends decided that I should become a blogger and since I cave very easily to peer pressure I agreed to do just that.  I very quickly wanted to take a trip down memory lane and post a few pictures of my favorite friends because they are a huge part of the reason I am who I am today.  We were a bit stupider back then but man those times are some of my greatest memories.  So before I start posting stuff about what is going on with myself today, I figured I should start with some fun from just a few short years ago.  I feel so blessed to have a crew like you who get my humor and accept me for who I am.  I know I will never meet anyone else like you all and glad we will be friends forever. (cheesey?)  I love you boyfrens!

Chelsea, Holly, me and Kristie at Kristie's 19th birthday. 

Me and Kristie playing mud volleyball.

Holly and I before braving the cold of winter.

These are my best friends; Heather, Kristen L. (or Lester), Holly, Chelsea, and Kristie.

Heather and Kristie on a warm summers day.

All of us on 80's prom night.