Job Interviews

Devon got a call Saturday morning and a company in California, Jensen Corp. which he really likes, want to fly him out for an interview. They are planning on flying him out of Idaho Falls (a small airport about 1/2 hour away) on March 8th and he will fly back to I.F. on March 11th. He is really excited and so am I. This company is located around the bay area and if he takes it we will end up living with his parent. We lived with his parents this summer while he did an internship and it had it's ups and downs. Devon's parents have a large house with 2 extra apartments. One is on the 3 floor it is one bedroom but has it's own bath, a full kitchen and a good size living room. The other apartment is above the garage and is more of a studio apartment but it still has a kitchen and a good size living room and there is a bathroom right at the bottom of the stairs. Well, over the summer Devon's sister and husband and their 2 kids lived in the up stairs apartment and his brother, wife and their 3 kids lived in the apartment above the garage. We lived in a large bedroom off of the kitchen. It was kinda crazy with so many people and tons of little kids but it was really nice being by family and getting to know them better. Devon's family is really great and some of the best in-laws anyone could ask for. But it's hard living with other people with little privacy. If Devon takes this job with Jensen then when we live with his parents we will live in the apartment above the garage. His brother and his family are just finishing the last improvements on the house they bought and it will be ready to move into in the next few months. So we will have a little more privacy in the up stairs apartment, plus I will have my own kitchen where I can cook and not feel like I am inconveniencing anyone. I think it will work out well. Devon's sister that lives in the upstairs apartment and I get along really well together and her two little girls are pretty well behaved. It will be fun to live with them again. Also, if we live with Devon's parents we will be able to save up our money and be able to afford a house sooner than if we rented an apt. So I guess now we just wait. I really have no idea where we are going to end up but the good thing is that I don't have to wait that long to find out. Devon is graduating in little over a month and we will know by then. Crazy! Wish us luck.

free at last

It's such a wonderful feeling to be able to pay off a debt. Today I was finally able to pay off the last of our car payment thanks to our tax return. It is so nice to know that it's one less thing we have to worry about. When we got our other car we paid cash for it so Devon's civic was the only car payment we had and now it is totally done. What a relief. Now the only debt we have are student loans. I am hoping with Devon graduating in a little over a month we will be able to pay those off quickly and start being able to save for other things like a down payment for a house or another car (which I know we are going to need in the next year or so because we have a hard time fitting into the ones we have with just 1 kid, once we have 2 there is no way)

Cell Phones

So I have decided that it is physically impossible for a cell phone to last for more than 2 years. It drives me crazy! I love my phone. It is small and compact without having 100 useless features that I will never use but alas, it is coming up on it's 2 year mark and it just went kaput. I don't want to get a different phone, but they don't make my phone anymore so grrrr. I don't know what is more frustrating, spending the time to find a new phone that I like and getting use to it, or how much they are going to charge me for a new phone. Oh well I guess that is the price we pay for convenience.

McCall, Idaho

So these are pictures from our wonderful weekend! We went up to McCall Idaho because Devon had a job interview on Friday. We left Thursday night and drove to Boise where we stayed with some old friends of Devon. Devon's interview wasn't until 4:00 so we got up and hung out with Levi and his wife Natalie and then left about 1:00. We got up to the Jones' cabin about 2:30. They live in Boise and have a cabin about 15 min. outside of McCall. Since it was President's Day Weekend the Jones' were going to be there and also some of their friends from California, there ended up being 8 adults and 7 kids. It was probably one of the best trips I have had in a really long time. When we got there on Friday everyone was gone skiing so we unpacked and fed Austin, then Devon left for his interview and Austin and I went down for a nap. We ended up getting up at 5:00 when everyone got home from skiing, and Devon got home shortly after. His interview went really well, he really likes the company and is happy about the job position they have available. For those of you who don't know, which is probably most, McCall is just a little mountain town about an hour and a half north of Boise. It is right by Lake Cascade and there is a Ski resort that just opened about 3 years ago. McCall isn't that big right now but it is expected to really grown in the next couple years. It is a lot like Lake Tahoe. The only difference is that the lake is a lot shallower than Lake Tahoe so in the winter it totally freezes over, but in the summer it gets up to about 78 degrees. In the pictures that I posted we are actually snowmobiling on the lake. But back to Devon, he had a really good interview and felt good about it but they still had more interviews to hold so they said that they will keep in touch. Devon would really like to work there but we will see. I think that it would be hard just because it is so small but the company is planning to move into Boise in the next five years or so. After the stress of the job interview was over the rest of the trip was just a little R&R, and of course games. The cabin we were at was about 50 yards from the (frozen) lake, and on snowmobile it took about 5 min to get to the ski lifts (not the resort but the actual lift, and they could park the snowmobile right at the lift! crazy) So Saturday morning everyone except Devon and I left early and went skiing all day. Devon and I went into McCall to check things out. We drove around and looked at the schools and walked around down town. It didn't take long because it is really small, but it was a beautiful day so it was nice to be out in the sun. We were actually able to take Austin out in the stroller and not worry about him turning into an icicle. Not too long after we got back everyone returned home and then we all went out for Pizza. Austin was wonderful and slept the whole time we were gone. It was so nice. It is the first time since we have had him that I was actually able to go out for dinner without trying to juggle him and keep him happy. He was such a good boy it was wonderful, and I was able to just sit and talk with the others and enjoy the time out. On Sunday we got up and went to church in Cascade. They don't have a ward, just a branch and it was really full because of the holiday weekend. The chapel didn't even have benches! They just set up chairs like from the relief society room, but there were so many people that there wasn't enough room so some people had to sit up in the choir seat and in the foyer. After we got home from church everyone sat around and watched movies and played games. That night after dinner the real fun started. We all played Guesstures and then Catch Phrase. It was so fun. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. It reminded me of being home. I loved it! Monday we pretty much just packed up and left. It took us about 8 hours to get home because of the stops we had to make but it was a great trip back. Austin slept really well and was a perfect angel in the car. I am so glad we were able to go. I had so much fun getting to know people, hanging out and of course playing games. Every time there was free time we were playing games. I learned 2 new card games that were really fun and can't wait to teach them to our friends here. Anyway, sorry it was such a novel today, hope you enjoyed.

Hair Affair

BEFORE

AFTER


what a fun day. Today, for the first time in my life, I went to the salon to get my hair colored. It was wonderful. I will totally do it again! I actually went to the Paul Mitchell hair academy. I was a little nervous because it is a school and I have heard bad stories about beauty schools, but I was so impressed. They were very professional and totally pampered me. After talking with the girl who was going to do my hair they decided to splice my hair instead of weaving it. (I am trying to go blond, as Devon has recently informed me that is how he prefers my hair) I have never heard of splicing and it is hard to explain but it makes it easier to touch up and the grow out line isn't so obvious. Anyway, after they put the foils all through my hair and waited for it to process (which was really quick, I guess my hair "pulls" fast) they took me to go rinse it out. That is when the whole experience turned blissful. Out on the floor all the lights are on and there are people talking and laughing. You can catch whiffs of bleach and perm solution. But then they take you into the room to rinse your hair and it is like walking into a spa. The lights are low, it smells like peppermint, and there is nice piano music playing in the background. After taking out all the foils they rinsed my hair in nice warm water. It felt so nice, you could feel all the tension just drain. Then I proceeded to to sit there for about forty five minutes while they put in toner, then shampoo, and finally conditioner. Every time they put one of them in they would take like 5 min. and massage my head. It was so heavenly. After I was all done in the wash room and totally relaxed they took me back out and dried and styled my hair. The whole thing took about 21/2 hours. It was so nice, and the best part is that it only cost 25.00! (Anywhere else they tend to run 50.00-75.00) And I LOVE the way it turned out and so does Devon. Needless to say, I will totally recommend them to anyone. If anyone has a Paul Mitchell school near them I strongly suggest you check them out.

These are a few of my favorite things

So I guess I have now been tagged and asked to tell 5 things that people don't know about me. I'm not really sure what to write or if I will be able to get 5 things but I will try. I know some of these might be lame, but oh well here we go.

1) Food! I LOVE PIZZA I really think that it is my favorite food. It doesn't matter what brand, what kind (frozen, take-n-bake, ready to eat) or even what temperature. I love it all. The only thing that I don't like is Domino's Pizza, it is never cooked all the way through. Also along the food line, I really enjoy eating popcorn and apples for dinner. I can't decide if I like it so much because Devon finds it repulsive or if the salty sweet combination is just right. Either way it doesn't matter, I just love it.

2) I know a lot of people think that it is really funny, but I truly enjoy water aerobics. I know that it is kind of a grandma activity but I just find it really enjoyable. I still get a really good workout, but it is easy on my joints and in a strange way it is relaxing to me.

3) Some people may already know this but I apparently am a carbon copy of my mother. Maybe not in the way we look, but in every other way we are very similar. It has taken me several years to come to terms with it but now I am aware of it and am okay with it. I have learned to appreciate her and take it as a compliment when people comment on our similarities.

4) I love to bake! I also enjoy cooking but I really LOVE baking. I just get a wonderful sense of accomplishment from baking. When people eat my food and just love it I find it very fulfilling.
When I cook I usually stress out a little bit. There are usually people waiting to eat, or there are deadlines. Nights are just busier, and kids are usually crankier so it makes cooking a little more stressful. But with baking, it is totally different. No one is crabbing at you "oh not that again" or "I'm starving, when is dinner?" When you bake everyone is always positive. I usually bake in the morning or early afternoon. Austin is usually sleeping for part of it and Devon is at school so I can take my time and try new things. Also, I feel that I can be more creative with baking.
I love to try new recipes because with baking, even if they don't turn out they way you plan, 9 times out of 10 they still taste delicious. The ONLY problem with baking is that if you make it, someone has to eat it and that someone shouldn't be me but unfortunately it usually is. So whenever I bake I try to find someone to give it to. Most people are more than willing to take a hot lova cake off your hands.

5) If I had all the money in the world and could do anything, I would travel. I really enjoy traveling and so does my husband. It doesn't really have to be anywhere far or exotic (although I would enjoy that too) but just to go and find new places. I love to come across little places that aren't that popular but turn out to be some of the nicest places you could find. I enjoy camping and some of the best trips we have taken have been when we just packed up some stuff and left without really knowing where we were going. We have this map of Idaho that has all the back roads and small no name places, so we would just read about different spots and then go check them out. The scenery was always so pretty and the campsites were great. I really liked just going and finding new places and see different things. It is always fun to experiance new things. I also like to travel to different places to see the different cultures. I haven't been able to do it a lot, but in the little that I have traveled I always find it enjoyable to see how different people are. We may all live in the same country, but we are far from being the same. I love to see the uniqueness and diversity.

Well, I don't know how much of that was new news and how much was old but that is all I've got. My life isn't that exciting so I don't really have a lot of hidden secrets. Hope you enjoyed

A new week

Oh, the start of a new week! Sometimes I get really excited to start a new week, I think of all the things I want to get done and find myself with a lot of energy to get up and get moving. And yet other weeks I just moan and think another week blah. This week though, is one of those -I'm really excited to start - kind of weeks. I have finally sat down with Devon and figured out how I am going to be able to fit in working out. I have found that I just don't do well with workout videos, after about 3 days I have memorized most of the video and find myself just dreading what is comming next instead of enjoying them. Since it is FREEZING cold outside and I can't go walking we have found another alternative. The college allowed me to get a spouse ID card so that I am able to use the workout facilities up on campus. I was so excited that I could really do this and was a little frusterated that I didn't know about it sooner. I have been up here a while without going to school and it would have been nice to know that I would have been able to use the school facilities if I just went and fillled out a little papper work. Well now I know and have gone and gotten my ID card and am really to roll. The only problem I had was that I didn't know what to do with Austin. I know myself well enough to know that if I had to take him with me then more often than not I wouldn't make it. So, Devon and I have sat down and looked over his schedule and Austin's feeding times and have set times everyday that Devon will stay here with Austin and I am free to go work out. I am really excited about this, I REALLY want to get back in shape. I have lost all of my baby weight but my body (as any of you who have had children will know) just isn't the same. I am really pushing to get it back and have told myself, as motivation, that I can't get pregnant again until I'm back to "normal". Now, I am not expecting myself to be able to fit into a size five jean, but I do need to firm up a lot of soft parts. Also, we aren't thinking of getting pregnant anytime real soon, but I know from talking to others, the longer I wait to get back in shape the harder it is so I am starting now. So, that is my news for the day. Tonight at 4:30 if all works out as planned then off to the gym I will go, and hopefully be able to start the long road back into shape.