Merry Christmas to me..

As I was getting ready for another day at work, my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, so I was just going to let it go to voicemail like I normally do. But, I answered it anyway. It was the manager of the American Crafts warehouse, offering me a job!!! So, I'm taking it. I'm going to be doing order-picking for their scrapbook supply customers from 7-3:30 Monday through Friday and it's going to be great.

I gave my two weeks to my boss today too. Did I mention that he is one of my good friends from high school? He and Cody have been best friends since Jr. High. He's great and has been freaking awesome while I've been working there. The truth is, I hated the type of work I was doing, not my job technically. The atmosphere was really chill, my coworkers were hilarious, and it was a steady paycheck. It's the customers I hated. And the other FedEx employees. So, I hope in my leaving, that Jason understands how much I appreciate what he's done for me.

In response to me telling my parents this great news via email, my Dad said it was like an early Christmas present. EXACTLY! Me getting this job, during this economy, is a miracle. It's not a complicated job, they pay for all the benefits (premiums and all), Istart at $10/hr, and I don't have to effing deal with customers anymore. I can't believe I'm the only qualified person around here. I'm so overwhelmed with gratitude, it's incredible.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!!!

Oh, Kristen..

Alright, I know that you can go through Google and find just as many (or more) examples to prove me wrong, but I just want to have a moment here. Every time I see a photo of Kristen Stewart (bless her little heart), her mouth is open. OPEN. Biting her lip, smiling, or just looking like an idiot. I don't dislike her, make no mistake. I just hate that most of the photos on magazine covers are with her mouth open. No, I haven't seen New Moon, so don't ask! I'm actually planning on seeing it someday, preferably when it's at the dollar theater. I'm excited about it because I enjoy them more than I expected to. I'm such a horrible blogger nowadays, so I thought I'd attempt to make you giggle, growl, or nod in agreement. I hope everyone is doing well! The end.

Happy Birfday..

Today is Cody's 24th birthday. Much to my dismay, I am working from 9am-10pm, so it kind of limits my options for celebration. Considering we are unsure if we will be able to pay our mortgage this month without some mooching, there isn't much that we can do until that bill has been paid. We both get paid at the end of the week, so if there is any money left over, I am going to try to go out for a little dinner with him. My parents were nice enough to get him Star Trek for his birthday, so I hope he likes that. He loves the movie and I know we weren't planning on getting it right away because of the cash-flow problem.

ANYWAY! I was feeling pretty down earlier today and got started on another depressing entry to brighten your lives, but I decided that since I can't give Cody a brand-new car for his birthday, I might as well talk him up to my readers!

Cody and I have been married for almost four years (Feb 18) and have been through a lot together. Compared to now, we've been used to having a lot more money, but I believe that's all part of growing up! We have many ups and downs, we argue, we laugh, and we love.

Something I've learned about Cody is that he is very emotional. Not emotional in the way you would normally think, like me. I cry all the time! He is emotional in that when he feels an emotion, you KNOW it. If he's excited about something, get ready to spend the next three hours talking about it. If he is mad, get ready to be yelled at. It's just how he is and it's been an obstacle for us for sure. He also loves to be in control. He doesn't control everything I do, make no mistake. But he LOVES to be in control. If you're familiar with the personality colors, he is a very RED personality.

Cody loves cars. More specifically, German cars. Even more specifically, Volkswagen. Now, before you start bashing them, you really have to understand! I love these cars too, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to call myself an enthusiast. I like the way they feel, handle, shift, everything. But I would probably enjoy other cars as well. Cody has driven these cars so much, and has driven so many other cars, that he can feel the devotion. It's great.. I am lucky that I am actually interested in this stuff, or we'd be in trouble. I've learned so much, it's amazing.

Our most recent struggle has been money, for sure. And it's all thanks to me getting too comfortable at my last job and getting fired. SIGH. But let me tell you, Cody is such a hard worker. Even though Cody has been frustrated with his current job, he has stuck it out and done his best to keep it until he can find something better. Until we can pay our debt off enough for him to get his degree. He may be a stinker, annoying, unreasonable, or mean sometimes. But he has been as good a provider as he could be for us. He has done his best, which is a heck of a lot more than I can say for myself.

With all of the posts I've done, I hope I haven't bad-mouthed him too much. Because I really do love Cody with all of my little heart. He's an incredible person and I never have a dull moment in my life thanks to him. HAPPY BIRFDAY!!

what I wanna be when I grow up..

I want to be a homemaker. There's is nothing I want more than to fulfill my role as a wife and do the cute things I should be doing. But ya know what? I have to work full time so we can have this cute house we do. And we are barely able to keep it, thanks to this crummy economy and I'm just sick of it. Complaining doesn't do anything to help. I KNOW. But that's how I feel.

I want to get up early and make breakfast for my husband. I want to clean the house during the day (NOT on the freaking weekend, when I should be playing) and have dinner waiting on the table when he gets home. I want to have and raise a family here and I want to be the mom they see every day and who teaches (and disciplines) them at home.

Every family is different, but I don't want to be different. I want to be the cookie-cutter wife (with added reading time, because I can't, and won't, give up my books!) who can do everything without a sweat.

But how the frick do I get to that point? Do I work full-time to get my husband through school so he can get a high-enough paying job to support me staying at home to do these things? Do I have him work full-time, supporting me getting my degree and the high-enough paying job to support him getting his degree (the much longer option) until he can support me staying home to do these things?

Cody and I have been married for a glorious almost-four years. We've gone on a few vacations, purchased two homes and four (or more, probably) cars, raised many chickens, and have loved each other. But we look back on these past almost-four years and we wonder, what have we been up to? We feel like we've just been playing house and working. Spending more than we've made and just hanging out.

The point is, I don't care who caused the economic problems we're having, I just want to find a legitimate work-at-home job that will help me fulfill the role I have dreamed about my whole life. I want to be able to support my husband by taking care of the things I don't have time to currently. I'm not happy with the direction my life is going because I don't know where it's going. I don't see the light at the end of this working-for-rest-of-my-life tunnel.

Isn't there a scam-free way to work from home these days?

AHHH!

I am so freaking happy right now... It's only hours early, but CODY IS COMING HOME TO ME EARLY!! His flight gets in around 1am tomorrow morning, so I'm staying up to wait for him! He was originally coming home tomorrow afternoon.. I've missed him so very much more than I expected! I'm probably going to cry when he pulls up the driveway, which will ruin my plan of looking amazing when he walks in the door, but I DON'T CARE! I miss him so much, I'm bursting with excitement and I know this day is just going to draaaaaag ooooooooonnnnnnn foreeeevvvverrrrr! Henyway, this is kind of how I feel right now! TEEHEE

P.S. I'm eating Wonka's Giant Chewy Nerds .. What more could a girl ask for? (besides not being at work!!)

Babysitting!

I babysat my wonderful little nephews on Wednesday and it was great! Here are some photos from the evening.. Don't worry, I babysat everyone (Parker, Jayden, Hunter, and Kyler) but Parker and Hunter were the only ones who held still for more than 5 seconds for my camera! They're so awesome!

celebrating the season..

I decided that since I had some time (while Cody plays Uncharted..) to update my blog! In honor of this glorious season upon us, of course! I have both Tuesday and Wednesday off next week (in exchange for working the weekend..bummer) and so I plan on going up the canyon to take some photos of the leaves sometime. I'm so excited I finally found my camera charger cord!

In other news, Cody is gone for two weeks starting Monday for training at work. He is going to Houston, so I will definitely miss him! I plan on playing with friends and having fun, but I just feel bad for him because there won't be much for him to do while he's there because he will be in classes until at least 5pm every night. All I can do is hope he'll find something fun to do, right?

I've been sick, but I'm getting better finally! It's been almost two weeks, so it's about time! All that's left to be fixed is getting my voice back. I'm still a little raspy, so it could be worse. I'm just glad it's not the SWINE.. *dun dun dun* Well, that's enough for now. I'm going to get back to updating all of my other blogs now!

Toodles!

Not fun..

So, I was laid-off on Tuesday.. It was great, really *insert sarcastic tone here*

I don't think I've ever cried as hard as I did that night. Cody had a meeting with one of the mayorial candidates here in town, and as soon as he drove away, I lost it. And I've never prayed so hard either. I walked all over my town checking every business to see if they were hiring. I filled out roughly 30 applications, most of which were not even hiring. Tuesday and Wednesday were two of the most stressful days of my life!

Then a little ray of sunshine came today, along with a job offer! I am now doing customer service for Fedex Office for $8/hr. Not my ideal job, but it's a job! I plan on keeping my eyes open for better opportunities, but I'm safe for now. I am also looking into getting a part time job for nights and weekends to make up for the lost income.

Moral of the story .. I'M NOT UNEMPLOYED ANYMORE!! YAY ME!

thankful!

in-laws who love me
a mom who is willing to teach her domestically challenged daughter to cook
facebook
prayer
an awesome little brother
a husband who still loves me even when I'm mean
water
gummy peach rings (thanks Martha!)
top gear
tuesday movie nights!
two awesome older brothers
five crazy nephews
a job
my bishop
bakersource danishes
aleve: all day strong
elementary schools that still have swings (less common than you would think!)
cute dogs
will smith
books
skilled professionals building our house
flip flops
icanhascheezburger.com
a dad who cares about what I do
gmail themes
my curly hair
ball-point pens
rainy days
nu skin shampoo

wake me up when September ends..

...or whenever our new house is built. That's right, Cody and I have signed the papers to build with Salisbury Homes in Spanish Fork. For the time being, we are living with Cody's very gracious parents here in town. Honestly, things could be more roomy down in their basement. But since we're living here for free, I'm not complaining! They have been so accommodating (even doing my laundry this weekend because I was busy babysitting!) for us, I just feel so blessed to have them in our lives.

We had some changes at work, so that means I will be picking up the slack in the customer service department. I am grateful that I still have my job, but I am definitely not liking my job anymore. Thanks to being lined up with Salisbury, even if I could find another job, it would have to be in the same line of work (shipping/production). If any of my coworkers are reading this, don't panic. I'm too scared to do anything.

More about Salisbury, you say? Well, we're getting a two-story (w/unfinished basement), 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom home in SE Spanish Fork (w/a decent sized lot). The build time once the city has given the ok is about 5 weeks, but the city approval usually takes about a month. That's not surprising when you consider how many homes are being built in Spanish Fork with Fieldstone, Ivory Homes, etc. It looks like the builders work 7 days a week, so I'm sure that helps in getting the homes up faster. As far as we're concerned, they could take 5 months building and we'd be fine. That would give us more time to save the 3.5% we will need for the down payment. We technically didn't owe at the closing table of our sale, but our profit went towards the darned closing costs. That's another reason we're grateful we can stay with his parents while we save.

When it comes down to it, I just want the summer to be over. I want my company's profit level to get better so I can go back to my normal job. I want to have the down payment saved up for our new home. I want the home to be done so we can move in. I can't tell you how excited I am to decorate that house and to be proud of our home. But where would we be if we had everything we wanted at the drop of a hat? I know I need to just trust in the Lord and do my best and He'll pick up the slack. Satan is doing his darndest to keep me discouraged, but I don't have to fall for it. It's up to me and I have the knowledge I need to fix this. Wish me luck..

Update?

It appears that everyone is holding off on updating their blogs in an attempt to get me to update mine.. ALRIGHT ALREADY!! Not much has been going on at this end of happy valley. Our house is under contract (THAT'S NEW!) and apparently the buyers are really motivated to buy! I guess they looked at like 35 houses before coming to ours, and they loved it! I'm thinking their price range is low.. because our house isn't that amazing for Utah Valley. Oh well, I'm not going to try to change their minds! So, we've been getting ready to move out and fixing the random things from FHA. If everything goes according to plan, we will probably be moving out around the 18th of this month.

When we move out, we're moving into my parents lovely basement for a few months while we save for a down payment. It's a little annoying, but that will help our payments go down to a more reasonable number and we'll be able to afford something nicer! (always a good thing!) Moving with the fam damily isn't going to be easy for that long, but it will definitely be good for us financially. We're hoping to keep our lives separate even though we are going to be sharing meals and a lot of our living space with my awesome family. To get this done, we're going to watch tv in our room as much as possible and play with friends whenever we can. Another great thing about moving in with the folks is our church attendance. We don't have any excuse besides not feeling comfortable enough in our wards. But even that's not an excuse, we just need to do it! But living at home will add more pressure for going. It will be good!

What else.. Still busy at work, but it's definitely more manageable. I'm getting into better routines and I work more efficiently now. I'm still hoping for a raise in the near future, but that will be determined later, I'm sure. I had a great birthday! It wasn't too exciting, but it was good. Cody bought me a very nice bouquet of lilies, roses, and daisies. It was wonderful!

We're heading to Moab tomorrow after work for a family shindig. I'm pretty excited! We won't be down there very long, but it will be good to see the family and catch up! In other news, I've been writing more and more.. So, ya'll should skip on over to my writing blog and check out my short story attempt.. I'm loving it, so I hope it doesn't sound too bad. Well, that's it for now, kids. I hope everyone is well!

Happy Easter!

Today Cody and I were able to enjoy a fun Easter barbecue with his family in Spanish Fork. It was very nice! And of course we ate too much. After eating, the kids had an Easter egg hunt (of course!), so that was fun to watch. Here are a few photos from the festivities:




In other news, we've noticed more and more people mentioning our lack of procreation recently .. Is it selfish of us wanting to get into a bigger house, pay our debt down, and make sure Cody's job is going to be reliable? I know that if we were to wait until we can afford to have kids, we wouldn't ever have kids. But I don't think it's unreasonable to make sure we can provide for said offspring. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited to have a family with Cody. Nothing would make me happier than to stay home and raise a family in the Gospel. But, that's just not realistic right now. *sigh* What it comes down to is that this is our business and we have to do what is right for us. Some people have been able to start their families right after the wedding, and that's awesome. Moral of the story: Relax, we'll have kids soon enough! :)

a boring post .. sorry!

Even though I don't have much to talk about, I decided it was time for an update! Not a whole lot has been happening around here the last few weeks. I am currently enjoying General Conference with my family as I type this and it's been great! My leaders never cease to amaze me, and I'm so glad that I get to be reminded twice a year.

We're still waiting on someone to buy our house, but we did get an offer, though it was an insult. At least we got one though! We're holding out for a better one; we've decided that if we have to wait until next year, we don't want to settle for less than what we're asking. First of all, I don't think what we're asking is unreasonable. Secondly, the market sucks, so it's not crazy to wait. We do really want to get out, but not enough to owe $12,000 at the closing table.

We miss our chickens, and look forward to the time when we'll be able to welcome them to our new home. We get to visit them every once in a while, we're really grateful of Cody's old boss for taking care of them for us. I guess they've been getting "busy" because there are some of their eggs with chicks in them! They're due to hatch this Wednesday, so I'm pretty excited about that. I didn't think they'd do it, but I guess we'll have to see.

My birthday is coming up this month, and so is my birthday date with my dear friend Jess (her birthday is close to mine). I'm so excited! I just love spending time with her and she's just wonderful! We've been best friends for close to ten years and I've enjoyed every minute!

Well, that's the update for now. Work is pretty busy with lots of new responsibilities, but I won't bore ya'll with that!

Tchussy!

HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY!!

It hasn't been a very nice day, but it's still my favorite holiday! I hope everyone had a good one!

And for your viewing pleasure... Drunk pugs are always fun, right?

MARCH!

Alright... Anyone who knows me beyond my name knows that my favorite color is green. I just love it! It stems from being in the green group on my church history tour I went on after high school. Ever since that wonderful experience, I've loved it.

Onto March .. I love the month of March because of St. Patrick's Day. My brother pokes fun at me because St. Patrick's Day comes from when St. Patrick drove all of the snakes out of Ireland. My brother has snakes as pets (boas, pythons, etc.) so he jokes that I only love the holiday because I hate snakes. NOT TRUE! Cody and I even have a Royal (Ball) Python named Queen Elizabeth and we love her! I love St. Patrick's Day because everyone wears green .. Chicago colors their river green .. and it's just great!

This year, I've decided to wear at least one thing that's green everyday. I painted my nails green last night, so that should help. I also bought a t-shirt that says "FIGHT ME! I'M IRISH!" with a shamrock in the center. So, wish me luck. I shouldn't have any problems, but we'll see.

HAPPY MARCH EVERYONE!

**I'm not completely Irish.. I wish, but I'm quite the mutt with English, German, Scottish, and possibly a wee bit Irish as well.

California: Day 4

Today we attempted to eat our leftovers from Friday for breakfast.. and it was gross! Luckily, I had an apple from breakfast yesterday, so all was not lost! After packing everything up and checking out of the hotel, we drove up to Rialto for one last visit with Rusty and Michelle before going over to a local tree nursery to get some more souvenirs. This guy was really funny.. and we stayed way too long! We bought a Chinese Windmill Palm (can survive down to 5 degrees!), an ultra-dwarf orange tree, and a weird orange tree that makes really small ones that are sour. The two fruit tress will stay inside the house until we can get a little green house figured out for them, but the palm should be able to go out as soon as Cody can plant it.



After spending the rest of our cash ... We left for home! We stopped in Barstow to eat at the original Del Taco .. It was pretty good! I wasn't expecting it to taste different, and it may just be because it's in California with fresher ingredients, but I was pretty impressed! The chicken-soft taco I got was definitely bigger and it had tomatoes!


The drive home was pretty boring .. I got to surf the internet for most of the trip, but that got old after a while. So, we listened to music the rest of the trip. The trees in the back was pretty comical, and the wheel cover came off our car about half-way home. Cody was able to fix it (well, cut it off!), so it was ok.


Well, we made it safe. I'm really missing it already, but I'll be ok *sniff* 'Night ya'll!

California: Day 3

Today, we ate a quick breakfast and headed over to the swap meet at the Costa Mesa fairgrounds. It was pretty fun! My feet hurt a little from all the walking (four miles of booths!), but we got a few goodies. I got a bracelet with a peace sign on it and Cody got a karma-catcher and a laser pointer .. Not too exciting, but it was fun!


After the swap meet, we decided to head up to Hollywood. As we were driving, it hit me that the Oscars tomorrow.. That equals lots of traffic, so it took us a lot longer than we thought. Plus, I didn't get to see the handprints at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre because it was blocked off for the awards.. bleh. We went to the Hollywood Museum, which was pretty cool. Not amazing, but there were a lot of things in there from movies and such. It was interesting for sure. We ate at Burger King (so exciting!) and we also got to see the Hollywood sign, so that was great.





After we got done with all that, we went back to Newport and to the beach for one last evening there. Unfortunately, the clouds were out and my beach sunset plan was foiled. Also, my camera's battery was dead, so I didn't get any photos. After soaking in the last of the beach, we headed back over to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Very yummy, of course! We were pretty tired after that, so we went to bed!

California: Day 2

Today we headed over to the beach which was surprisingly close to our hotel! (only about 5 minutes!) Cody was still feeling a little under the weather, so we mostly just walked around and enjoyed the sun.



From there, we drove around a bit and found a nice little spot for lunch. We went to Subway to grab some lunch and went back to the spot to eat. We shared with some pigeons who quickly became our best friends .. It was pretty funny!


After eating, we walked down to the water to warm up from the cold drinks and shade. We ended up staying until about 5 just watching the surfers and amazing waves. It was so nice to just sit wand enjoy the scenery!


When we were finally able to tear ourselves from the beach, we went to dinner with Cody's Aunt and Uncle Michelle and Rusty, along with their daughter Marcy and her friend. We went to Claim Jumpers and it was pretty yummy! After eating, we went over to the local Walmart to look at their plants (since we bought a nice spider house plant last time that has been doing really well the past two years). We didn't really see anything special, so we just went back to the hotel and to bed!

California: Day 1

We left for California around 7:30 this Thursday morning, so here is the start of our trip!

We stopped in St. George for fuel..


Then on to Las Vegas where we had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe ..


We stopped in Baker to see the big thermometer and our good friend Big Boy ..


We then checked in our hotel and then headed to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (YUMMY!)

So yeah, sorry this is a little late, but the rest is to come!:)

DEADLINE!!

Alright, folks. It's time for me to make my photoblog and writing blog password protected. Tomorrow at 3pm, I will make the switch official, but I wanted to give one more warning this afternoon. If you would like to be added to these lists, please leave a message on this blog, or either of the other two before 3pm tomorrow. If you don't plan on looking at them, don't worry about it. If I remember correctly, these are my participants so far: Roo, Brittni, and Darah. If you would only like to be added to one specifically, please say so and I'll take care of it. Otherwise, I'll just add you to both. I don't plan on making this one password protected anytime soon. Comment!!

**EDIT** My photo and writing blogs are both open to the public.. I can't remember why I changed this originally, but they're back to normal! SHEESH!

10 Reasons Why I Love My Little Brother!!

There was supposed to be photos, but they decided to disappear, so maybe someday I'll be able to put them back up.. SHEESH!

1. We have similar music tastes. Avenged Sevenfold is just one band that we both love. A few others include: Tool, A Perfect Circle, Coheed and Cambria, Pat Benatar, and more.

2. He cares about me. He isn't embarrassed to say he loves me or kiss me on the cheek. He's 17 years old and he enjoys spending time with his older, married, and very lame sister.. It's great! (he's not 17 in this photo...)

3. He confides in me. Sometimes, our parents don't make living at home very comfortable with their arguing. Jeremy has no problem calling me up or shooting me an email if he ever wants to talk or get something off his chest. Although I wish he was more comfortable at home, I'm glad that he is turning to his siblings for support and not some other, less appealing, outlets.

4. He keeps me young! He keeps me up on the bands that the kiddos are listening to, he makes me laugh all the time over dumb, immature things, and he takes me to concerts with loud music! (ignore the incriminating expression on my face...)

5. He's musically inclined. He plays the snare drum in his schools' drumline, he is kicking ass on the guitar for how long he's been playing (like three years) and he values harmonies as much as I do!

6. He always wears button-shirts and the boy knows how to wear them well!

7. I can be my good ole silly self with him. I suppose this is an extension of him keeping me young. It's always a riot when we're together!

8. He's friggin' hilarious!! 'Nuff said!

9. He was my date to the company Christmas party last year!

10. He's my little brother and he's just AWESOME!! (not to mention, we're photogenic together!)

Babysitting day!

I got to babysit my nephews Jayden (almost 3) and Parker (almost 2) today while their parents and older brothers went to the car show up in Salt Lake City. It was fun! They were pretty well behaved, as well as can be expected, and I got a few good shots in. We watched Kung Fu Panda and Shrek the Third. I love my nephews... seriously, if my kids are half as cute as these, I'll be happy! Enjoy!

Moving forward.

We're still working on the kitchen. We've finished half of the tile and my Dad is now helping Cody install the cabinets on that side. I've snapped a few photos of the progress, and will hopefully get a few more when they've finished. It's finally starting to come together!