Come live with me and be my Love

Well, maybe not quite with the same sentiment as Marlowe, but I think you should all come live, visit, or whatever here in California! I definitely would love to see my 4WMs! To tempt you further, here are a few pictures from Laguna Beach when Tricia and I were down there right after Christmas.

Are you tempted to come live with me yet?

So, Jen, I think you and Nigel definitely need to come and consider Santa Barbara, or San Diego (San Diego is a little closer, though, so that's probably my first choice - although UCI is REALLY close!).

Sarah and Whitney, I think you guys should definitely come for visits! If anybody wants to come, you can always stay at our house and I am always up for a Disneyland trip!

Anyway, things have been coming along pretty normally here. Nicole, my friend who told me about my job and has been living with us for the past 4 months, is moving to Orlando this week. It will be sad not to have her in the office with me, but I have some pretty awesome coworkers, so luckily she is not my only friend in the office!

Erik is home from school right now, and my cousin Noel is living with us also, so things are a bit cozy right now. We will still have a guest room open for any visitors, though - hint, hint!

I am also frantically trying to save money right now to be able to go with my parents this summer to pick up Kurt in Russia. He's acutally in Kazakhstan right now, but will be in Russia again before the end of his mission. I really hope that I can save enough to go!

I recently have a new calling: Education Counselor for Relief Society. I think the Bishop was amused that I was so excited to not be the RS President. The person who was called is just perfect and I can have fun while not quite having all of the responsibility and burden of that heavier calling! It also gives me a chance to get to know more people in the ward. It is definitely an interesting dynamic in the ward. Pretty young overall. Makes it a little difficult sometimes to feel connected, but oh well! We have a ward trip this weekend to the mountains, so that should be fun as well.

I'm trying to think of any other updates that I have...I think that's pretty much it! Not too much going on. I miss you all! Oh, and yes, Jen and Sarah, I have gotten your various messages! I will try to be better about keeping in touch, but I think we all know that that is a constant goal with me! :)

I hope you are all doing well! Jen - keep dreaming about California so that we can make it come true!

Going to California

At least that's an option. And during the deepest cold of Utah winter, it seems like an excellent option. On Monday our mailbox held an early present: an acceptance letter to UC - Santa Barbara. N wasn't expecting to hear back from schools until around February, and he's hypothesizing (like a good scientist) that California schools try to nab those in winter-locked states by enticing them during the bitter months. Plus, he gets to visit (all-expenses paid, mind you--where are the perks for liberal arts majors?) during February, one of my least favorite months of dark and frost and snow. 

It's a ploy to win us over...and right now it's working. In fact, I've started dreaming of California and sun. I woke up yesterday telling N--sans preface to this comment-- that my only worry was navigating the crazy freeway system (Jo, you're allowed to laugh right now). Luckily, he understood my mind's meanderings: "So we're moving to California now, huh?" Any thoughts?

getting away

Hello!

So, the blogging has significantly slowed down, no? I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and wonderful New Year. Spencer and I were both able to spend some significant time away from the office, which was a fantastic break and good way to gear up for the next four months of being a widow (busy season). To dispell some of my potential loneliness, I've decided to enrich myself by taking a class: How to Make an Adirondack Chair. No, I'm not kidding, and yes, that is actually the name of the class. I'm really excited! I hope to make two chairs to inspire some porch sitting in the years to come. Or perhaps to inspire buying a house with a porch for sitting.

In other news, I'm trying to plan a big trip to Europe but it's a big task! It was so much easier to plan weekend excursions to a single destination when I actually lived in Brussels. Sadly, I think my four months there, all travel included, will cost less than the two week vacation we're planning. Maybe we'll move back to Brussels?

Anyway, I'm dying to know what's happening with everyone. Please give me the scoop, the poop, the update, the 411, whatev. Please. Love to you all.