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.

Happy Belated Birthday Sarita!

I am so not on top of things. I am very very lucky I remembered my mom's birthday this month...yikes! I feel like December is so crazy, and my students are out of control this month! They know Santa is coming...that can only lead to insanity. I hope you had a wonderful birthday Sarah! Yay for another year older and wiser!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, JO!

I don't know if I have a cute picture to post, but I wanted to give a shout-out to our favorite Southern California WM. And by the way, she had a birthday recently, so happy birthday, Jo. Here's to knowing you for 8.5 years (if I did that math correctly). Can you even believe that? Time flies in the "bubble." Happy birthday! We love you.

Way to go Jo!

I can't even imagine how much time and effort you must have put into the Prop 8 campaign, but I just wanted to say thanks. I'm happy and relieved that it passed. As for other decisions made about our country yesterday, well, I'm feeling less than stellar about some of those.

Theories

I've developed some new theories about my unemployment. I've never had a hard time getting a job that I wanted (up until now), so going on four months of unemployment has been a new and humbling experience for me. Here are my theories about why it's lasted so long.

1. The economy (obviously) - this is a big one... I apply for positions and they get cancelled, new jobs aren't posted, etc.

2. I am a young-ish, married BYU graduate living in Utah. This is my most recent idea about why I've been unable to get a job. I had my thoughts about it while I was still at BYU and interviewed with a few companies in Utah (not sure if you remember), but the ring on the finger is like the nail in the coffin. Since I've been unemployed, I've submitted applications for 36 positions, interviewed for more than 10 of those, and had second (or third) interviews for several. This destroys my theory about being a bad interviewer, because if I were really awful, I don't think they'd be calling me back. So, my strongest theory at this point is that I can't get hired because I'm a girl, I'm married (one step closer to baby) and they think I'm going to get pregnant any day now which means I'll last 9 months to a year at most, when they'll have to go through the hiring process all over again. It's times like this I wish I had gone into nursing or teaching - two fantastic, respectable professions that seem a little less subjected to this sexist rule.

3. God is trying to teach me a very important lesson that I haven't learned yet and will only see the meaning of in years to come.

4. I needed the time to get my own business rolling.

5. I'm supposed to be working on family history, volunteering, humanitarian aid projects, and serving the elderly in my now abundant free time. (this goes along with the lessons God is trying to teach me)

6. I'm supposed to have a baby. Now. (not sold on this one, just a theory)

Thoughts?

updates

Hey girls. I've felt so out of touch lately... with everything! You, the world, etc. Anyway, the thing that my life has been revolving around lately is the launch of my new business and the accompanying website. :) I don't quite know what my expectations are for Sugarhouse Ink, but for right now I'm only hoping that perhaps a steady stream of Christmas card orders will help pay for the crown I found out I have to get. Boo for expensive dentist visits. Although, I'm sure someday Whitney will learn to love and appreciate crowns, root canals and the like. For now, not so much my favorite thing.

Spencer is gone for the weekend so I'm just hanging out at home alone. Oh, and what's with me not having a job yet? Seriously, I never expected the unemployment to last this long... but I'm thankful that it has; it's given me a chance to work on lots of my own projects and learn so many things I wouldn't have if I had been working.

So anyway, that's that. It's really late and I'm super tired. Have a good night and wish me luck at the dentist...