I keep trying to think of things to write about because I enjoy writing posts, but unfortunately, I don't feel like I have anything interesting to say. My time has been spent packing, trying to figure out we need to do to move, finding places to live, as well as other moving related things. It's been a crazy past couple of months.
I feel a bit ashamed that I haven't even taken any pictures of the few trees that have changed colors. Seeing trees change colors makes me miss Maine and the beautiful colors that never fail to appear there. There are more trees here in Pleasant Grove than in other places in Utah, like Provo, which is nice.
We do have some interesting things coming up. Ashton has an interview in Colorado next week, which we're happy about. We're both hoping that this opportunity will work out. We're not exactly sure yet what day his interview will be, but we should know soon. We're crossing our fingers that everything will work out.
On Saturday, I'll be teaching an organ workshop. I'm the ward organist and there aren't too many people in the ward who know how to play the organ. By not too many, I mean there is one other guy and he already has a calling. So, our Bishop was a bit sad when I told him that we'd be moving. I did think it was funny that I told him 15 minutes before Sacrament meeting, and while I was playing prelude, the entire Bishopric was talking about it, and the ward music coordinator knew sometime before Relief Society. However, when I first took the calling I said that I'd be willing to show others how to play the organ so that there would be more people should they need a substitute or anything. I'm a bit nervous about teaching this class because the only class I've taught is Sunbeams. Pretty different than teaching adults about how to play the organ. It'll probably be fine, I'm just a bit nervous about it although kind of excited, too.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Update
It's been a while since I wrote saying that we were looking for a new job and moving and I thought that maybe people would be wondering how that was going. Well, it's still going. We haven't found a job yet although we're still optimistic and still applying for more jobs. Sooner or later, though we'd obviously prefer sooner, something is bound to show up.
As far as moving is concerned, we're still moving even though we don't have a job. We'll be moving on the 28th of this month. Paula has been nice to enough to allow us to move in with her for a little while after we move. We also appreciate everyone else that offered to let us stay with them. We're so lucky to have you guys in our lives. So, we're moving to Colorado!
It's been kinda funny making plans to move. I've always been the planner in this relationship, wanting to nail down details in advance so I would know generally what to expect, especially if it required coordinating schedules. (I'm always up for spur of the moment things, like ice cream runs, but if something needs to happen or is going to happen, I need a plan and details.) In the past, my need to plan has driven Ashton a bit nuts. He must be getting used to it because we were able to plan not only what day we were moving, but when his last day of work was going to be, what day we were going to be all packed by, days we were going to clean, and so on. Not only that, but he wanted to make a packing order list, as in which rooms we can/should pack before other rooms. (We obviously wouldn't want to pack up the kitchen stuff until the end.) I must be rubbing off on him.
As far as moving is concerned, we're still moving even though we don't have a job. We'll be moving on the 28th of this month. Paula has been nice to enough to allow us to move in with her for a little while after we move. We also appreciate everyone else that offered to let us stay with them. We're so lucky to have you guys in our lives. So, we're moving to Colorado!
It's been kinda funny making plans to move. I've always been the planner in this relationship, wanting to nail down details in advance so I would know generally what to expect, especially if it required coordinating schedules. (I'm always up for spur of the moment things, like ice cream runs, but if something needs to happen or is going to happen, I need a plan and details.) In the past, my need to plan has driven Ashton a bit nuts. He must be getting used to it because we were able to plan not only what day we were moving, but when his last day of work was going to be, what day we were going to be all packed by, days we were going to clean, and so on. Not only that, but he wanted to make a packing order list, as in which rooms we can/should pack before other rooms. (We obviously wouldn't want to pack up the kitchen stuff until the end.) I must be rubbing off on him.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Really?
I found this article/video this morning about the swine flu and the latest updates. Now, I've never believed that the swine flu was a big deal. The symptoms and health concerns not being unlike your traditional flu. I still don't plan on getting the vaccine, even if they were to tell me I had swine flu, I wouldn't do it. I do realize, however, that some of you might be considering it. I think the government has blow this way out of proportion (let's not forget what happened with the whole bird flu thing).
I think it's shady that the government is pushing this so hard when there have only been 1,000 deaths that they have linked to swine flu, although the CDC is no longer testing people to confirm the H1N1 strain of the flu nor tracking down the cases. They haven't been doing this since August 30th. So really, there's no way to tell if these people actually died from swine flu. 1,000 deaths are still a lot, but there are 36,000 deaths a year from the seasonal flu to put this in prospective. These numbers are sure to sore since the CDC is now counting people with only flu-like symptoms. Doesn't mean you have to have the flu of any type, just the symptoms.
It's sad when the government tries to scare people into doing something. If they had the facts to back their story up, I'd listen, but I've heard nothing but scare tactics. I'd encourage you to check out this article/video. Both are really good and worth the time. The article also has other links to the CDC's website and other useful information.
http://articles.mercola.com/swine-flu-article/20091027.htm
I think it's shady that the government is pushing this so hard when there have only been 1,000 deaths that they have linked to swine flu, although the CDC is no longer testing people to confirm the H1N1 strain of the flu nor tracking down the cases. They haven't been doing this since August 30th. So really, there's no way to tell if these people actually died from swine flu. 1,000 deaths are still a lot, but there are 36,000 deaths a year from the seasonal flu to put this in prospective. These numbers are sure to sore since the CDC is now counting people with only flu-like symptoms. Doesn't mean you have to have the flu of any type, just the symptoms.
It's sad when the government tries to scare people into doing something. If they had the facts to back their story up, I'd listen, but I've heard nothing but scare tactics. I'd encourage you to check out this article/video. Both are really good and worth the time. The article also has other links to the CDC's website and other useful information.
http://articles.mercola.com/swine-flu-article/20091027.htm
Monday, October 19, 2009
Something Good Can Come Out of Getting Up Early
It's been cold here in Utah for the past few weeks, although the past few days have been actually fairly nice. This morning when I walked outside to go running, I was surprised that it was actually warm enough to not need a sweatshirt. Found out while I was running that there's a storm coming. I don't mind thunder and lightning for the most part, but I don't particularly like being out running in it. Thankfully there were only a couple flashes, two big drops of rain on my arm, and apparently that was it. Weird right?
In any case, as a result of some storm that's somewhere, there are cool clouds hovering over the mountains. It was too dark to really enjoy on my way home, but since Ashton's car needed to go into the shop this morning, I got to go back out and drive him to work. As we headed back down to Provo, I found myself wishing I had brought my camera because the sky looked amazing.
The drive back to Provo was much the same and I pleaded with the sky to just hold that pose until I could get my camera. Well, it changed a little bit, but stayed pretty much the same while I ran inside, grabbed my camera, and headed back out to get a better angle (there are fences that surround the entire apartment complex that are just a little too high for me to get a good shot). I headed out to a nearby business and took pictures in their parking lot. Since I took them at about 8:30 in the morning, it was still a little dark, but I'm still happy with how they turned out.
In any case, as a result of some storm that's somewhere, there are cool clouds hovering over the mountains. It was too dark to really enjoy on my way home, but since Ashton's car needed to go into the shop this morning, I got to go back out and drive him to work. As we headed back down to Provo, I found myself wishing I had brought my camera because the sky looked amazing.
The drive back to Provo was much the same and I pleaded with the sky to just hold that pose until I could get my camera. Well, it changed a little bit, but stayed pretty much the same while I ran inside, grabbed my camera, and headed back out to get a better angle (there are fences that surround the entire apartment complex that are just a little too high for me to get a good shot). I headed out to a nearby business and took pictures in their parking lot. Since I took them at about 8:30 in the morning, it was still a little dark, but I'm still happy with how they turned out.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
So Many Projects, So Little Time
As most of you know, I like crafts. I'm not always the most creative, but I like trying lots of new things and I like to be busy. It's little wonder then that I have a lot of projects going on.
These projects include: scrapbooking, crocheting, a few plaque projects that are almost done (just haven't bought the hooks to hang them), and somewhere there's a cross stitching project that I started several months ago. I like all of these things and want to finish them, but I think there's just something exciting about starting a new project.
I realized today that I'm starting to get that itch for a new project. This time, however, I'm determined not to actually start a new project until I've finished up some other ones. I did temporarily satisfy the itch by looking at some cool ideas for projects online. I think I've found what I'm making people for Christmas this year!
(By the way, we haven't heard back about any jobs yet, but I'll let you know when we do!)
These projects include: scrapbooking, crocheting, a few plaque projects that are almost done (just haven't bought the hooks to hang them), and somewhere there's a cross stitching project that I started several months ago. I like all of these things and want to finish them, but I think there's just something exciting about starting a new project.
I realized today that I'm starting to get that itch for a new project. This time, however, I'm determined not to actually start a new project until I've finished up some other ones. I did temporarily satisfy the itch by looking at some cool ideas for projects online. I think I've found what I'm making people for Christmas this year!
(By the way, we haven't heard back about any jobs yet, but I'll let you know when we do!)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Diving into the Unknown
As many of you know, Ashton and I have been planning on moving out of Utah come November when our apartment lease is up. So, Ashton started looking at job options back in August and soon after started applying for jobs. Although we have a general idea of where we'd like to end up (he's got his favorites, I've got mine), but we applied for jobs in multiple states. Even States we don't really want to end up in. A job is a job.
Well, we've had no responses yet on the job front. Not one reply. It's been kind of discouraging and we started thinking that maybe we'd have to stay here. After talking to his boss, Ashton discovered last week that his job most likely won't be there for him after November. Not because they don't like him or anything, but because of a lack of funding (the company that he works for is funded by grants). I found out a couple days later. That news made things more stressful. Now we can't just sit back and think, well if Ashton doesn't get a new job, he's got a job already and we can just renew our lease or maybe try to find a new apartment. Ashton needs to find a new job by November.
The hardest part of this news came down mostly to what to do about our living situation. There were so many options to consider. Do we stay in our apartment and renew our lease for a few months? How long should we renew it for? Should we put in our 60 day notice and hope that Ashton gets a new job? What will we do if he doesn't get a new job? We spent a day or two talking about it. Discussing our different options, our first impressions on what should be done, thoughts, feelings, etc. Thankfully, we had been planning on going to the temple this week, which was just in time since we had to make a decision by today in order to put our 60 days in if that's what we decided.
I love the temple. There's no other place that's more peaceful. Although I was a bit stressed about getting an answer, as answers don't always come when we want them to, I was happy as I entered the temple. Fortunately, we did get an answer and thankfully we both got the same answer. We're putting in our 60 day notice and moving to some unknown location in November.
Although we both feel good about our decision and know that everything will work out, it's still scary. It almost feels like plunging into a dark room that you aren't familiar with. You don't know if there's going to be furniture in there, where it is, how tall it is, or even how big the room actually is. It's enough to make you move forward cautiously. Even moving around in a room you are familiar with is dangerous. I can't tell you how many times I've hit my head on the side of the closet door because it was open and I couldn't see it.
I'm also thankful that this decision has come right before General Conference. Hearing inspiring messages from the Lord's servants is a great way to soothe troubled feelings. I love General Conference. Such a great way to spend a weekend.
This may be the scariest decision we've made yet since we don't know how it's going to turn out. We have great support though and family that'd be willing to help if we needed it. For right now though, we're diving into the unknown.
Well, we've had no responses yet on the job front. Not one reply. It's been kind of discouraging and we started thinking that maybe we'd have to stay here. After talking to his boss, Ashton discovered last week that his job most likely won't be there for him after November. Not because they don't like him or anything, but because of a lack of funding (the company that he works for is funded by grants). I found out a couple days later. That news made things more stressful. Now we can't just sit back and think, well if Ashton doesn't get a new job, he's got a job already and we can just renew our lease or maybe try to find a new apartment. Ashton needs to find a new job by November.
The hardest part of this news came down mostly to what to do about our living situation. There were so many options to consider. Do we stay in our apartment and renew our lease for a few months? How long should we renew it for? Should we put in our 60 day notice and hope that Ashton gets a new job? What will we do if he doesn't get a new job? We spent a day or two talking about it. Discussing our different options, our first impressions on what should be done, thoughts, feelings, etc. Thankfully, we had been planning on going to the temple this week, which was just in time since we had to make a decision by today in order to put our 60 days in if that's what we decided.
I love the temple. There's no other place that's more peaceful. Although I was a bit stressed about getting an answer, as answers don't always come when we want them to, I was happy as I entered the temple. Fortunately, we did get an answer and thankfully we both got the same answer. We're putting in our 60 day notice and moving to some unknown location in November.
Although we both feel good about our decision and know that everything will work out, it's still scary. It almost feels like plunging into a dark room that you aren't familiar with. You don't know if there's going to be furniture in there, where it is, how tall it is, or even how big the room actually is. It's enough to make you move forward cautiously. Even moving around in a room you are familiar with is dangerous. I can't tell you how many times I've hit my head on the side of the closet door because it was open and I couldn't see it.
I'm also thankful that this decision has come right before General Conference. Hearing inspiring messages from the Lord's servants is a great way to soothe troubled feelings. I love General Conference. Such a great way to spend a weekend.
This may be the scariest decision we've made yet since we don't know how it's going to turn out. We have great support though and family that'd be willing to help if we needed it. For right now though, we're diving into the unknown.
Friday, September 25, 2009
What's in a Name?
Our Stake just started doing an adult institute class on Thursdays. The teacher is a former CES teacher, having taught seminary and such. Ashton saw it on the program this past Sunday and immediately asked if I had any interest. Well, when Ashton is interested enough to point it out to me and ask, it means that he really wants to do it. I thought that it could be a really good idea, so we made plans to go this week.
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but we got a few surprises last night. We met the teacher out in the hallway as we were walking to the Relief Society room in the Stake Center. He introduced himself and asked what our names were. Now, he's an older man, probably in his 60's, or around there, so he repeated our names to make sure he heard them right. Well, Ashton said his name first and no problem there. Then came my turn. He repeated my name and I confirmed it. He looked slightly confused/surprised (not a name you normally hear) and asked me to spell my name. He repeated my name again after I spelled it. This is fairly typical of me introducing myself.
When we walked into the Relief Society room of our Stake Center, we saw that the room was full of older people, mostly women. (By older I mean there were a few probably in there 40's-50's and quite a few in there 60's-70's.)It kind of felt weird to be the youngest couple there. There was another sister there who was also younger, and another couple or two walked in, but for those few minutes, it felt slightly weird. Not in a bad way, just a little odd as I was expecting a few more younger couples since our stake is mostly comprised of younger couples. It made the dynamic of the class so funny though. Older people have such interesting insights.
Anyways, we found some seats right in the front and sat down. Then the class started and the teacher had those who were new introduce themselves (the class started last week, so some of the people there had attended before). Well, he came to us and he was standing right in front of us and when it came my turn, he told the class, "Now she's going to tell you her name and you have to remember it." He said this while putting his hand on my head and turning my head around for everyone to see my face. So, I said my name and immediately there was a general murmur of people repeating my name and some people saying how pretty it was and that they liked that. The teacher also repeated my name, trying to remember how to say it, and asked me if I went by "Z." I kinda laughed, a little surprised, and said that I have gone by "Z" before so, that was fine (Ashton was definitely getting a kick out of this, by the way). Well, that was that, or so I thought.
Then came time to read. We were taking turns reading verses and it came down to my turn, but this time the teacher called me, "Z," repeated my actual name, and then must have had a light bulb come on because then he said, "Hey! I can call you Zorro!" He sounded so happy to have made that connection. I couldn't help but laugh and then start reading. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd prefer any other nickname to Zorro. Ashton definitely thought it was funny because he laughed quietly to himself and nudged me.
After the class was over, and as we were leaving, I asked Ashton how many nicknames he thought I could acquire during this class. I'm thinking of keeping a running tally.
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but we got a few surprises last night. We met the teacher out in the hallway as we were walking to the Relief Society room in the Stake Center. He introduced himself and asked what our names were. Now, he's an older man, probably in his 60's, or around there, so he repeated our names to make sure he heard them right. Well, Ashton said his name first and no problem there. Then came my turn. He repeated my name and I confirmed it. He looked slightly confused/surprised (not a name you normally hear) and asked me to spell my name. He repeated my name again after I spelled it. This is fairly typical of me introducing myself.
When we walked into the Relief Society room of our Stake Center, we saw that the room was full of older people, mostly women. (By older I mean there were a few probably in there 40's-50's and quite a few in there 60's-70's.)It kind of felt weird to be the youngest couple there. There was another sister there who was also younger, and another couple or two walked in, but for those few minutes, it felt slightly weird. Not in a bad way, just a little odd as I was expecting a few more younger couples since our stake is mostly comprised of younger couples. It made the dynamic of the class so funny though. Older people have such interesting insights.
Anyways, we found some seats right in the front and sat down. Then the class started and the teacher had those who were new introduce themselves (the class started last week, so some of the people there had attended before). Well, he came to us and he was standing right in front of us and when it came my turn, he told the class, "Now she's going to tell you her name and you have to remember it." He said this while putting his hand on my head and turning my head around for everyone to see my face. So, I said my name and immediately there was a general murmur of people repeating my name and some people saying how pretty it was and that they liked that. The teacher also repeated my name, trying to remember how to say it, and asked me if I went by "Z." I kinda laughed, a little surprised, and said that I have gone by "Z" before so, that was fine (Ashton was definitely getting a kick out of this, by the way). Well, that was that, or so I thought.
Then came time to read. We were taking turns reading verses and it came down to my turn, but this time the teacher called me, "Z," repeated my actual name, and then must have had a light bulb come on because then he said, "Hey! I can call you Zorro!" He sounded so happy to have made that connection. I couldn't help but laugh and then start reading. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I'd prefer any other nickname to Zorro. Ashton definitely thought it was funny because he laughed quietly to himself and nudged me.
After the class was over, and as we were leaving, I asked Ashton how many nicknames he thought I could acquire during this class. I'm thinking of keeping a running tally.
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