Sunday, June 20, 2010

Happy Father's Day to Dad, Eric, Jared, Nathan, Adam, and Aaron! Love you all!

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

An adventure . . . maybe

It might become a great adventure or nothing. We'll see.

Anyway, I was on Facebook and saw a post from the NaNoWriMo page announcing a new job opening for their company (the Office of Letters and Light). I've looked at their occasional openings before, but I've never been qualified.

This time, I was. So I sent them a cover letter and now I'm hoping. If I got the job, I'd have to move to Berkeley, California. (That's just north of Oakland.) For this job, I'd move. It also pays three times as much as I'd make on my current job in a year.

To give you an idea about the nature of this company, I think mentioning I have a blue spork-wielding bunny called Plot is a good idea. (The sporks are a recent addition; Clarissa gave me several she and Jeremy got when they went out to eat.)

Other than that, my job schedule is going to be a little crazy for the next few weeks. One of my coworkers is off due to medical reasons and others are going on vacations, so I'll have to fill in on days. This includes a couple of Sundays. But I will be able to attend the stake temple night.

Friday, June 04, 2010

update

FYI - I updated my personal blog today after about 2 weeks with multiple back-dated posts and lots of pictures, including our new family portraits that Dad shot and Mindy manipulated for us. Thanks, Dad and Mindy!

It's been rather quiet this week with getting used to having no extra people around. We had a new friend over on Tuesday - a family just moved into our ward and they have a daughter who's only 2 months older than Summer. We had her over for a few hours while their moving truck was being unloaded. Other than that, it's just been the normal stuff. Not really anything adventurous.

I've been reading a lot - both with the girls and for myself. I just finished book #9 for the year - well, technically I finished 8 because I opted to not finish one of them because I didn't like it (Cold Mountain). And 2 of the 8, I started last year and didn't finish them until now. One of them was a Civil War book that I kept starting and stopping - I finally beat that one. I can read only so much about General McClellan - as in, a couple of pages - before I want to throw the book at the wall. He was such an neurotic idiot!

Thursday, June 03, 2010

the not so fun adventures in the north

Our current adventures involve job hunting. After working at Legacy Kitchens for three months, the boss decided that Aaron "didn't fit" with the company, and let him go. The boss also thought Aaron was sexist, conceited, and didn't respect authority. This was based off of very limited interaction with Aaron, and the boss's assumptions based on security video. Of course Aaron could defend himself in all situations, but in the end "the boss's decision is final." And that was that. And so we hunt again. Aaron wasn't keen on telling, but I feel like I'm keeping a secret from my family and I don't like that. Besides, we could really use your prayers.

It was just the night before we found out he lost his job that we got my residency paid for. We still have another six months to wait for my paperwork to process, but at least it's in. If we hadn't done it then, it probably wouldn't have happened for a while.

A few months back Aaron's good friend Mikey (who was the one that confirmed him a member of the church) came to us with a little presentation - teaching us about how to handle money and dealing with investments and insurance. He's come back a few more times, teaching us more. At out most recent meeting we made some investments and got Aaron some life insurance (I can't get any because I don't have a social insurance number), and Aaron has joined the company. He's going to teach people about money and help them plan for their future. Obviously we're still hunting for a full time job, but once he passes the exam (anyone selling life insurance in this country has to pass it) then it's just a night or two a week and we'll have some extra income.

Last week we had some snow, but this week the weather improved. Gray some days, but yesterday was beautiful. And then today, when Aaron has a ball game (after last week's got snowed out), it's raining again. We're hoping it clears and dries up by this evening, so he can still play. If not, we hope the weather is beautiful for the two games he has on Saturday. (We're missing the one tomorrow because of a church activity we helped put together.)

I'm trying to stay happy and positive. I like having Aaron around, but we really need some sort of income. I've already started some Christmas projects, which has been fun, but I can't share any of the details with you!

Emily's Adventures

These probably aren't as exciting as your adventures, but here you go.

I get up and I work on my writing. A couple weeks ago I decided to follow Card's favorite advice to me: "Go back and start over." I've already changed the rescue scene, one character's background, and the entire plot exposition bit. Instead of telling a legend, there's a dream-vision sequence.

Then I go to work. Mop floors, clean toilets. The Mikkelsons have been getting me home, and they're good about getting on time. Except for the first night . . . Good thing I had a really good book. I'm currently reading "The Talismans of Shannara." I like an epic fantasy adventure, and Terry Brooks writes pretty exciting battle scenes.

The best adventure was when Nathan brought the boys over on Saturday. Henry's starting to crawl and get into things, though this doesn't make Joshy very happy. We had cheeseburgers and root beer floats, and we took the boys outside for a while.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Adventures

I know you've all been having adventures lately. Nathan has moved. Trina had a baby and then had Mom and Dad visit. Jared went to visit Trina and also had Dad with him earlier that week. Eric will soon have Dad and Mom there to visit, plus I heard rumor of a trip to New York recently. Emily and Clarissa are taking over the house while Mom and Dad are out of town. And Mindy is hopefully keeping herself busy while being stuck in Canada for the next six months. So I expect to hear about all your adventures.

And since I expect to hear about your adventures I assume (is that a dangerous thing to do) that you want to hear about my adventures. If not, just ignore this next part and go straight to posting about your own adventures.

I left home on May 21 and drove down to Nate and Manda's. We had an enjoyable weekend together. I can't think about it too much because it makes me miss Joshy and Henry. On Monday morning (May 24) I got up early and headed towards my new home. Two stops for gas, two stops for the restroom, and one stop for lunch later and I was at my friend's house in North Logan. Yep, that's all it took. Oh, and several CDs worth of Harry Potter 7. It's amazing how quickly a drive goes when you have a good book to listen to while doing it.

I spent the next day in Logan figuring out the last of my pre-grad school assignments and ordering my books. I also got my room set up for the summer and did some homework assignments that I have. (And I need to finish the rest of those soon.)

On Wednesday I drove to Murray to meet some friends for lunch. One of them never showed up, apparently she had written down the wrong day. The other showed up an hour late because her work replacement had shown up 45 minutes late. So I spent a lot of time pacing in front of this restaurant and texting people. After a 2 1/2 hour lunch, I hopped back in my car and drove down to PG (that's Utah slang for Pleasant Grove) to my friend Mandy's. She has a Guide Dog in Training and it was fun to learn all about that. I spent an enjoyable evening with her.

Thursday I drove up to Duchesne to meet my future co-workers and check out my future stomping grounds. I will be in the middle of nowhere. When telling my friends around here how to get there I tell them to drive up Provo Canyon until you get to Heber. Turn right and go another 70 miles.... you're now in Duchesne. If you want to get to Roosevelt you have to drive another 40 miles. The things I noticed about Duchesne are: 1. The people are very friendly and everyone seems to know everyone. 2. There are lilac bushes. (This was a good selling point for the place.) 3. It is quite windy. 4. It was a much longer drive than I was expecting. 5. I am going to be very well taken care of.

That evening I was back in PG for another evening with Mandy and Kyle (the dog). The next morning I drove out to the middle of nowhere in the opposite direction, ie. Eagle Mountain. My friend recently bought a house out there and I had to go and see her and the new house and find out that she's pregnant with number 2. Crazy stuff. Long drive. Excellent 4 hour visit.

I got to Springville that evening and have been here ever since. I have eaten at my favorite restaurants (it's a good thing that Duchesne County doesn't have many restaurants because it will force me to stay in and cook good food for myself), visited with lots of friends, and mostly just relaxed and enjoyed myself. It is normal and yet strange to be here. I'm staying at my old apartment which doesn't make things less normal/odd. It's like going back in time but things are just slightly different... like I now sleep in the living room because someone else has taken over my bedroom.

I will be down here for this week to relax and play because starting next Monday I'll be in class for about 40 hours a week. Plus there will be homework to do once I'm out of class. It will be an intense summer for sure. I'll need all the support I can get from you so feel free to e-mail, text, facebook, post, comment, send mail or care packages, or call me (weekends would be best for phone calls). And hopefully I'll be able to respond to you when I drag my head out of my textbooks.

Love,
Tawnia