So, it's been a while. A lot of things have changed since the last time I wrote. For starters, we moved into an apartment closer to where Ashton works! Ashton is loving the shorter commute and who wouldn't with the commute dropping from an hour down to 10 minutes?
We love the area that we're in. We took a drive Sunday, since it was so nice out, just to go exploring and we had a lot of fun. There were a lot of people out biking, and I mean A LOT, so that made it interesting, especially when we were on windy roads with hardly any shoulder.
Since we moved last weekend, this week has been quite a bit of unpacking. There are still things to be unpacked, but all the essentials are out and in their new homes. I'm discovering things that we need that we'll have to get out of storage, and things that we don't need that can go back in. It's like a big game of musical chairs.
I am happy that we've managed to get everything installed (washer, dryer, internet, etc) without too much hair pulling. Good thing I've had stuff to do while waiting for people to come. Less stressful that way.
On a completely different note, I saw this video and wanted to share it.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
One Down, Many More to Go
Well, Ashton's had his first week of work. That's right, I said work! For those of you who haven't heard, Ashton has a job now. He got offered a job last Friday and started Monday. The job is here in Colorado although it's about an hour away. For right now, he's just been commuting down there.
We're pretty excited about the job. Hooray for money coming in! It's been a bit of an adjustment though. For starters, no more sleeping in for him. With the hour commute either way, it's a pretty full day for him and he comes home pretty tired. Of course, for me, it means an empty house to myself. I know for those mothers out there, that sounds pretty good, but believe me, it's not all that it's cracked up to be. Doable, but not preferable.
There are still a lot of things to figure out now that Ashton has a job. Such as, housing. We're still not sure what we're going to do, but we'll be figuring that out soon. Moving into a new place is always pretty exciting, although picking out a place can be a bit of a headache. It's nice though to have progression.
Of course, now that we have income, I can do some much needed shopping! I've been holding off as much as possible so as not to deplete our savings. I still won't go crazy with the shopping, but I do need some new jeans.
We're pretty excited about the job. Hooray for money coming in! It's been a bit of an adjustment though. For starters, no more sleeping in for him. With the hour commute either way, it's a pretty full day for him and he comes home pretty tired. Of course, for me, it means an empty house to myself. I know for those mothers out there, that sounds pretty good, but believe me, it's not all that it's cracked up to be. Doable, but not preferable.
There are still a lot of things to figure out now that Ashton has a job. Such as, housing. We're still not sure what we're going to do, but we'll be figuring that out soon. Moving into a new place is always pretty exciting, although picking out a place can be a bit of a headache. It's nice though to have progression.
Of course, now that we have income, I can do some much needed shopping! I've been holding off as much as possible so as not to deplete our savings. I still won't go crazy with the shopping, but I do need some new jeans.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Procrastination
Ashton and I were asked to give talks this Sunday and while I've started writing mine up, I'm now taking a break. I haven't gotten too far into it, but in my defense, what sounded good and complete in my head, has turned out to be far from the truth. I always spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to say and then write it down on paper. It's taking a lot longer than I thought it would to put this to paper.
Although it's taking a while to write down the talk, I'm more nervous about getting up there and actually giving it. I hate the whole feeling of shaking knees, heart pounding, and what ends up being a race to finish my talk and sit down. A deacon had it right when he said at the end of his testimony this past Sunday, "I can't stand this anymore" and sat down. I get nervous when I make a comment during Sunday School or Relief Society, so the idea of actually standing up in front of a large group of people and talking for however many minutes (we weren't actually given a specific amount of time to talk...do I hear 2 minute talk?) is rather nerve racking.
Since I'm so nervous about this, I'm in the process of trying to bribe Ashton into giving the talk for me, but he's not going for it. I've even offered to write it up just as long as he gets up there and reads it for me, but even after throwing in the promise of cake, he's still not going for it. That just means that I'm going to either have to wear him down, or suck it up and do it myself. Wearing him down sounds like way more fun though.
In other news, we are still looking for work. Right now, Ashton's still interviewing with Amazon for a job in Seattle. He's actually been granted a face-to-face interview and we're waiting to hear back about what day that is! This is definitely a big and important step towards getting this job, so we'd definitely appreciate any prayers on our behalf.
Although it's taking a while to write down the talk, I'm more nervous about getting up there and actually giving it. I hate the whole feeling of shaking knees, heart pounding, and what ends up being a race to finish my talk and sit down. A deacon had it right when he said at the end of his testimony this past Sunday, "I can't stand this anymore" and sat down. I get nervous when I make a comment during Sunday School or Relief Society, so the idea of actually standing up in front of a large group of people and talking for however many minutes (we weren't actually given a specific amount of time to talk...do I hear 2 minute talk?) is rather nerve racking.
Since I'm so nervous about this, I'm in the process of trying to bribe Ashton into giving the talk for me, but he's not going for it. I've even offered to write it up just as long as he gets up there and reads it for me, but even after throwing in the promise of cake, he's still not going for it. That just means that I'm going to either have to wear him down, or suck it up and do it myself. Wearing him down sounds like way more fun though.
In other news, we are still looking for work. Right now, Ashton's still interviewing with Amazon for a job in Seattle. He's actually been granted a face-to-face interview and we're waiting to hear back about what day that is! This is definitely a big and important step towards getting this job, so we'd definitely appreciate any prayers on our behalf.
Monday, January 11, 2010
A New Blog
Ashton started up a blog of his own to talk about his programming projects. He's much better than I am about the whole updating thing seeing as he created the blog yesterday and has already written twice. I thought, however, that I'd create an entry with the link to his new blog for those of you who would be interested in reading it. http://halla-dev.blogspot.com
While I'm here, I might as well write an update about what we've been up to. While we're still looking for a job, we've taken up projects to keep us busy and entertained. Some of the projects are individual. For example, Ashton is usually on the computer doing some programming and reading up on stuff (news, more programming stuff...). I usually bounce back and forth from the computer (when I can steal it or I just use the laptop), to reading books (picked some up from the library), to anything else I can think of.
Other projects, we do together. Usually that ends up being a game. Sometimes, however, we'll watch the news together or take a trip somewhere. Last Saturday, we went down to Colorado Springs to do some sight seeing. We went to the Garden of the Gods. There were more people there than I expected, but it still was nowhere near as busy as I'm sure it gets in the summertime. It wasn't too cold out as well so that made it even nicer. I, of course, brought my camera and had a blast taking pictures. We'd start walking and then I'd all of a sudden stop because I had seen something that I wanted to take a picture of. Ashton was a good sport about it. I took about 140 pictures there so there was a lot of stopping involved. Ashton would sometimes suggest that I take a picture of something, so he got into it as well.
On our way home from Colorado Springs, the sun was beginning to set and it looked like it was going to be a cool sunset. So, we headed over to Waneka Lake so that I could take some pictures of that. Well, the sunset wasn't as spectacular as we thought it'd be, but still good enough to take pictures of. Not to mention, there were lots of flocks of geese on the lake so they made fun models. Too bad it was a bit too dark to see them really well. I guess I'll have to head over there during the day to try to get some better geese pictures. It was a lot of fun.
So I'd post some of the pictures I took except for two things. One, I discovered after I put the pictures on the computer that I apparently had some spots on my lens. Spots that I'm pretty sure that I've cleaned before and had tried to clean off just before taking the majority of these pictures. Apparently, it didn't work. So now I have about 200 pictures to clean up on the computer. It makes a good project no matter how redundant I'm sure it'll feel while I'm doing it. This brings up reason number two that I won't be posting the pictures yet: in order to clean up the pictures, I need the desktop to do it because it's faster than the laptop and because that's where the pictures are. Unfortunately, this is also the computer that Ashton uses to do his programming because it's faster and that's where his program is, and as I said earlier, he's on the computer a lot. I'm thinking we need to talk over some custody rights.
Well, seeing as I have the computer for a little while, I better get going on those pictures...
While I'm here, I might as well write an update about what we've been up to. While we're still looking for a job, we've taken up projects to keep us busy and entertained. Some of the projects are individual. For example, Ashton is usually on the computer doing some programming and reading up on stuff (news, more programming stuff...). I usually bounce back and forth from the computer (when I can steal it or I just use the laptop), to reading books (picked some up from the library), to anything else I can think of.
Other projects, we do together. Usually that ends up being a game. Sometimes, however, we'll watch the news together or take a trip somewhere. Last Saturday, we went down to Colorado Springs to do some sight seeing. We went to the Garden of the Gods. There were more people there than I expected, but it still was nowhere near as busy as I'm sure it gets in the summertime. It wasn't too cold out as well so that made it even nicer. I, of course, brought my camera and had a blast taking pictures. We'd start walking and then I'd all of a sudden stop because I had seen something that I wanted to take a picture of. Ashton was a good sport about it. I took about 140 pictures there so there was a lot of stopping involved. Ashton would sometimes suggest that I take a picture of something, so he got into it as well.
On our way home from Colorado Springs, the sun was beginning to set and it looked like it was going to be a cool sunset. So, we headed over to Waneka Lake so that I could take some pictures of that. Well, the sunset wasn't as spectacular as we thought it'd be, but still good enough to take pictures of. Not to mention, there were lots of flocks of geese on the lake so they made fun models. Too bad it was a bit too dark to see them really well. I guess I'll have to head over there during the day to try to get some better geese pictures. It was a lot of fun.
So I'd post some of the pictures I took except for two things. One, I discovered after I put the pictures on the computer that I apparently had some spots on my lens. Spots that I'm pretty sure that I've cleaned before and had tried to clean off just before taking the majority of these pictures. Apparently, it didn't work. So now I have about 200 pictures to clean up on the computer. It makes a good project no matter how redundant I'm sure it'll feel while I'm doing it. This brings up reason number two that I won't be posting the pictures yet: in order to clean up the pictures, I need the desktop to do it because it's faster than the laptop and because that's where the pictures are. Unfortunately, this is also the computer that Ashton uses to do his programming because it's faster and that's where his program is, and as I said earlier, he's on the computer a lot. I'm thinking we need to talk over some custody rights.
Well, seeing as I have the computer for a little while, I better get going on those pictures...
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
It's Been a Year Already?
Generally, I'm not one for New Year's resolutions. I figure that it's not going to last very long anyways, so why bother going through all the trouble of making special goals simply because that's what you're supposed to do at the beginning of a year? Not worth it. I prefer to make my goals because that's what I want to do.
Looking back on the last year, I did accomplish some goals that I wanted to. I did lose the weight that I wanted to, dropping 10-ish pounds and reaching the 130's! More importantly, I can fit into some of my old pants again and fit into them comfortably. It's rather exciting. Now if I can only maintain, I'll be set!
Speaking of maintaining, last year I did start running like I wanted to for a while. Thanks to Tiff for being a great motivation to getting up and running. Unfortunately, I haven't been running since we moved, although yesterday I did get up and go. I also dragged Ashton out of bed to go with me although he walked while I ran. I'm thinking that I'll probably have to go by myself from now on though. Getting up early and walking in the cold is not Ashton's idea of fun and while it's not my idea of fun either, if I want to keep in shape, I need to do it.
One of the biggest goals that we have accomplished this past year was moving out of Utah. Probably the more exciting goal anyways, not to mention the most stressful. Although we're still looking for a job, we're happy to be out of Utah and the craziness that is there. I'm starting to get to know my way around Colorado, or at least this area. The amazing thing is that I'm not just learning how to get to different locations (the store, Aunt Marcia's, etc) and back (always important to know how to get back home), but I'm learning where the street names, where they come out, and so forth. I've never been too good with directions, getting turned around quite easily. Directions were always given by landmarks and familiarity with different areas. So, to be able to tell you what street to turn on to get to the store, where a street will take you, and to be able to visualize which streets are parallel or perpendicular to other streets is quite amazing for me. It's not like I'm an expert yet, but I'm getting there.
As far as goals for this year are concerned, we've made a few and I have a couple of my own. Some of the more obvious ones are getting a job and then a place to live. Hopefully, it'll happen soon. We're still optimistic.
Looking back on the last year, I did accomplish some goals that I wanted to. I did lose the weight that I wanted to, dropping 10-ish pounds and reaching the 130's! More importantly, I can fit into some of my old pants again and fit into them comfortably. It's rather exciting. Now if I can only maintain, I'll be set!
Speaking of maintaining, last year I did start running like I wanted to for a while. Thanks to Tiff for being a great motivation to getting up and running. Unfortunately, I haven't been running since we moved, although yesterday I did get up and go. I also dragged Ashton out of bed to go with me although he walked while I ran. I'm thinking that I'll probably have to go by myself from now on though. Getting up early and walking in the cold is not Ashton's idea of fun and while it's not my idea of fun either, if I want to keep in shape, I need to do it.
One of the biggest goals that we have accomplished this past year was moving out of Utah. Probably the more exciting goal anyways, not to mention the most stressful. Although we're still looking for a job, we're happy to be out of Utah and the craziness that is there. I'm starting to get to know my way around Colorado, or at least this area. The amazing thing is that I'm not just learning how to get to different locations (the store, Aunt Marcia's, etc) and back (always important to know how to get back home), but I'm learning where the street names, where they come out, and so forth. I've never been too good with directions, getting turned around quite easily. Directions were always given by landmarks and familiarity with different areas. So, to be able to tell you what street to turn on to get to the store, where a street will take you, and to be able to visualize which streets are parallel or perpendicular to other streets is quite amazing for me. It's not like I'm an expert yet, but I'm getting there.
As far as goals for this year are concerned, we've made a few and I have a couple of my own. Some of the more obvious ones are getting a job and then a place to live. Hopefully, it'll happen soon. We're still optimistic.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Our Christmas Holiday
Hope everyone had a great Christmas! We sure did. Here's a very brief overview of our Christmas holiday. Last weekend we went back to Utah for a few days to celebrate Christmas with Ashton's siblings and Dad. Steve and Gail let us stay with them and we had fun hanging out. It was great to see everyone again. It was a bit sad to leave again, especially when we're not sure when we'll get to visit again, but staying in Utah and only having 5 sets of clothes to wear for a while wasn't really a good option.
Christmas Eve, we went over to Aunt Marcia's to visit with them and everyone else that was over there (Becky and Bryce, Mandy and Andrew, and Jeff and Stephanie). It was a blast. There was never a dull moment, especially watching the kids play with the nativity set and when the games came out. Never a dull moment. While we were there, we watched a short movie about an exhibit called the "Reflections of Christ." This exhibit is by a man named Mark Magby and the whole exhibit is photographs that he took portraying different moments of Christ's life. We first watched how the photographs were taken and then we watched a 5 minute thing that showed some of the pictures set to music. It was rather impressive and the photos were well done and powerful.
On Christmas Day, we just stayed home. It was nice to just hang around the house all day and spend time together. We opened presents from each other, called some family to wish them a Merry Christmas, and played games. It was a relaxing day and it was great to not worry about applying for jobs, interviews, and so on for a day. We also watched "The Nativity Story" and we really enjoyed it. I was a bit skeptical about how it would portray the birth of the Savior since it wasn't done by the Church, but I thought the story was well done. I would recommend you watch it if you haven't already.
Well, it's a day late, but merry Christmas to all of you! We hope that you all had a great Christmas holiday and we wish you a happy New Year's!
Christmas Eve, we went over to Aunt Marcia's to visit with them and everyone else that was over there (Becky and Bryce, Mandy and Andrew, and Jeff and Stephanie). It was a blast. There was never a dull moment, especially watching the kids play with the nativity set and when the games came out. Never a dull moment. While we were there, we watched a short movie about an exhibit called the "Reflections of Christ." This exhibit is by a man named Mark Magby and the whole exhibit is photographs that he took portraying different moments of Christ's life. We first watched how the photographs were taken and then we watched a 5 minute thing that showed some of the pictures set to music. It was rather impressive and the photos were well done and powerful.
On Christmas Day, we just stayed home. It was nice to just hang around the house all day and spend time together. We opened presents from each other, called some family to wish them a Merry Christmas, and played games. It was a relaxing day and it was great to not worry about applying for jobs, interviews, and so on for a day. We also watched "The Nativity Story" and we really enjoyed it. I was a bit skeptical about how it would portray the birth of the Savior since it wasn't done by the Church, but I thought the story was well done. I would recommend you watch it if you haven't already.
Well, it's a day late, but merry Christmas to all of you! We hope that you all had a great Christmas holiday and we wish you a happy New Year's!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
We are here, we are here, we are here!
Things have been a little crazy here since I last wrote and a lot has changed.
We successfully made the move from Utah to Colorado and it only took about 8 hours. Believe me, it felt a lot longer. Maybe that was because I was following Ashton who was driving the truck with the majority of our stuff. Wyoming apparently isn't as flat as I thought it was because on any sort of incline, it struggled to go past 50 mph. I was kind of embarrassed as I saw semis pass me in my car. Following someone is also kind of lulling in the sense that after a few hours of staring at the back of the truck, my eyes grew heavy. Usually I have Ashton to talk to during the whole trip, and we did have walkie talkies to use which was a good thing, but it's not the same as having someone in the same car to talk to. It was pretty boring to say the least. When I couldn't take it anymore, I told Ashton that I was going to lead for a while, passed him, and tried not to lose him. Unfortunately, we were going up a big hill at the time. We lost connection for a little while, but he caught up eventually as he tried to speed up and I tried to slow down. In any case, we made it!
Not all of our plans have worked out however. We didn't get the apartment or the job that we were hoping to, but thankfully, Paula (Ashton's mom) was willing to let us stay with her on fairly short notice. It's been nice to not have to live in a box.
So, right now, we're focusing our attention on getting a job, then working on finding a place to live. Ashton has an interview today that we're really hoping works out. No pressure or anything. It would make a very nice early Christmas present though.
So, when we were up here for the other job interview before we officially moved, we timed it right to be here when Nate and the girls arrived in Colorado for Thanksgiving. We had fun playing with the girls and here are some pictures.
Katelyn chasing a bubble.
Paula helping Sadie get some bubbles with her toes
Sadie
Katelyn took to getting the bubbles in different ways. First she just swatted them, then poked them, and then picked up a leaf (as in this picture) and catch them that way.
(By the way, by this time, I had come out to help Ashton take pictures.)
After she saw Ashton blowing a bubble to keep it up, Katelyn took to blowing on the bubbles.
After going inside and getting warm, I turned my camera to Katelyn and this is the face I got.
We successfully made the move from Utah to Colorado and it only took about 8 hours. Believe me, it felt a lot longer. Maybe that was because I was following Ashton who was driving the truck with the majority of our stuff. Wyoming apparently isn't as flat as I thought it was because on any sort of incline, it struggled to go past 50 mph. I was kind of embarrassed as I saw semis pass me in my car. Following someone is also kind of lulling in the sense that after a few hours of staring at the back of the truck, my eyes grew heavy. Usually I have Ashton to talk to during the whole trip, and we did have walkie talkies to use which was a good thing, but it's not the same as having someone in the same car to talk to. It was pretty boring to say the least. When I couldn't take it anymore, I told Ashton that I was going to lead for a while, passed him, and tried not to lose him. Unfortunately, we were going up a big hill at the time. We lost connection for a little while, but he caught up eventually as he tried to speed up and I tried to slow down. In any case, we made it!
Not all of our plans have worked out however. We didn't get the apartment or the job that we were hoping to, but thankfully, Paula (Ashton's mom) was willing to let us stay with her on fairly short notice. It's been nice to not have to live in a box.
So, right now, we're focusing our attention on getting a job, then working on finding a place to live. Ashton has an interview today that we're really hoping works out. No pressure or anything. It would make a very nice early Christmas present though.
So, when we were up here for the other job interview before we officially moved, we timed it right to be here when Nate and the girls arrived in Colorado for Thanksgiving. We had fun playing with the girls and here are some pictures.
A holiday treat for all: blowing bubbles in the snow (they used a bubble gun). Katelyn enjoyed blowing bubbles and then chasing them. After a while though, she wanted to just chase them. It then went to Ashton who was taking pictures, to blow bubbles in one hand and take pictures with the other. It was funny to watch.
Frozen bubbles on the snow
Katelyn chasing a bubble.
Paula helping Sadie get some bubbles with her toes
Sadie
Katelyn took to getting the bubbles in different ways. First she just swatted them, then poked them, and then picked up a leaf (as in this picture) and catch them that way.
(By the way, by this time, I had come out to help Ashton take pictures.)
After she saw Ashton blowing a bubble to keep it up, Katelyn took to blowing on the bubbles.
After going inside and getting warm, I turned my camera to Katelyn and this is the face I got.
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