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

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.

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!)

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.