Christmas Festivities

Christmas was good this year. It was different yet refreshing. We went to my sisters house and spend the holiday with her little ones and her in-laws. It all started on Wednesday night (Christmas eve) cause there was supposed to be a huge storm but wasn't. Anyways Jessica wanted to incorporate some of our old family traditions and we got together a bunch of food and she had her kids take them to the neighbors then she plated up some food to take to the firemen and it turns out that they don't live at the firehouse... So we had a ton of treats to eat all weekend. So we went home and put the kids to bed and wrapped presents for the next hour or so and put them under the tree and went to bed ourselves. On Thursday Spencer and I woke up at 7 and had to go upstairs to use the bathroom and I went up first and Tyler and Jessica yelled "turn off the light and go back to bed." "Don't wake your siblings up." It was hilarious, cause they thought we were the kids. They finally woke the kids up about 10 minutes later and it was time to open presents. Kaitlynn, Braxton and Emalyn were really excited to get their stocking stuffers and were even more excited to open presents. Braelyn is still too little to know what is going on but she opened some things but she was more excited to play with the wrapping paper. We went to the Chlarson's house (my sisters in-laws) and had "Linner." After that we just hung out and I did a mask on Jessica and Kaitlynn and then the day past like any other day. Friday we were treated to a movie "Bedtime Stories" which was good and then we went home. It was good.

Finally going to be content . . .

I got a job at a great place called Nuskin (I will be in the Call Center). I am also working at McDonalds and my last day at McDonald's is the 26th. I love that I am almost done cause it is like a dramatic Stressful Soap Opera.We are doing pretty good lately, things are starting to go right, we won the pumpkin carving contest at our apartment so we get $100.00 off of Decembers rent. Hooray for that. Spencer too got a job at Nuskin. We have been training all week and I love it there already and am pumped to get out on the phones. I can't believe I have a whole week left of training at Nuskin, I am ready to get out there and show them what I am made of and capable of. I guess staying in training is good so I will be prepared and ready for whatever comes at me.

We cannot seem to keep our house clean because we are never home. Spencer is at school and then work and I am at work and then work. Our poor puppy Lexie spends a lot of time in her kennel. We are going to run her like crazy tomorrow so she knows we love her and are not neglecting her. We dressed her up for Halloween, she was a frog and hated it, she shook her hat off and constantly tried to shake off her sweater, it was so frustrating, so now Spencer threatens to use it as punishment when she is naughty, he puts the hat on her and she knows she is in trouble! Any suggestions on how to get her to like Sweaters? It is so cold up here and I don't want her to get sick from being cold.



Well, Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, I know that it is because of all of you, that we were able to make it through this change in our life and we are grateful for having such special friends and family.

Our little apartment

I talked to my good friend Skye yesterday from Blackfoot, Idaho and she told me that I needed to post pictures of my apartment so I decided to do what I was told and post some. I don't have a great camera, so I did the best I could but it gives you a general idea on how no matter how small the place, you can always make it a bit of home.

Well, it is still messy, but it is a work in progress and probably will be until I move next year. Yea! Still no jobs are lined up for me and Spencer, but at least I am still looking and I have an interview to possibly be a manager cashier for McDonalds. I know, not my ideal job but it would finally be an income if I get the job. I am not too optimistic though because I have interviewed three other places and nothing has come of it. I am a little bit frustrated by that. We are still eating and we have great family nearby to help us and they are so gracious to let us do our laundry there it saves a lot of money So thank you my wonderful sisters.

Our neighbors/friends Zach and Becca (they live two apts down) are moving so we will be down to not knowing anybody where we live again. We are not sure if we like the family ward we are in cause there is not a lot of potential of us making good friends there cause we are surrounded by wonderful older people. We are flirting with the idea of trying out the married student ward which would give me a little more motivation to get involved even though I feel out of place there too. I am not sure what is wrong with me, but it hurts to see so many young couples who have been married less time than me with a child or who are pregnant when that is all I have wanted for almost three years now. I get frustrated at how the Lord works and not knowing what his plan has in store for me. Yet I know he does have a plan for me and that he knows what is best for me. I need to become better so I can be worthy of bearing one of His precious children. I love being an aunt more than ever though, and in the meantime and I am very grateful I have that much.
Well, I wrote a novel and left you again to wonder what is wrong with me. I swear I am a happy person, I just don't have a lot of happy things to write about right now. I promise I will become my normal self when I am less stressed and I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I love and miss you all. I am glad for what family I do have near, but sad I am so far away from all you others I am so far away from.

God Bless and I pray you will all have the things you need to get through the hard times ahead.

Whoa is me!!

Well, we finally got a car! it is a 98 Buick Regal and it is actually a pretty good car so far. We bought it a while ago and I have been really slow at making a new blog post so I am sorry for the delay. I have been really unmotivated lately cause I still do not have a job. I feel worthless and even scared at times that we made the wrong choice in moving to Utah right now. Spencer is looking into joining the air Force a lot earlier than planned because even he cannot find a job. This is crazy stuff. We are in Provo, a huge town for crying out loud where is the sense in that. Anyways, our new car is Hunter Green and it works well. It is a really heavy car so I am a little bit worried about the hill I live on when it snows, cause it makes us go really fast down the hill no matter what drive we are in. IT IS A STEEP HILL. We are almost completely unpacked, I still have a few things I do not have space for so they are just laying around my house and are in the way Boo. I will find them a place soon though, I hope.

So Spencer's cousin is getting married tomorrow and his sister, (my great friend) Kristi is making her cake and I had the priveledge to go to her house and help her with her boys and experience cake making hands on, it was really fun and interesting. She does a really good job and I am really excited to see the final out outcome. Well, I need to go to the store so I am going to log off now, but thanks for reading and for your continued support to me and Spencer. Also, thanks for your prayers.

OH BOY, The fun never stops

Well, It is Now Tuesday, but let me catch you up on my weekend. On Saturday, we (Spencer and I) went car Shopping... Yea! Um not really. We went to Brent Brown Chevrolet and the sales guy there was really pushy, trying to get us to take a van for two people... NO thanks, then he showed us a Ford Focus and it was alright but it was small and had a small engine. So we decided to leave and look a little more. We went to Orem and stopped at Ken Garff Honda and the sales guy seemed really cool but in the long run... I'll get there.
Anyways, we found a Toyota Camry that Spencer liked cause it is like our old one except it is three years older and and it was gold. Our conditions were clear, we said we didn't want to buy it until our mechanic (Spencer's cousin) looked at it. The sales guy said that's fine but it probably won't be here on Monday so why don't you sign paper work and and on Monday, when your mechanic looks at it, if there are problems we will rip the contract up. Spencer believed him of course and we signed our lives away on a contract for this 1997 Toyota Camry and walked off the lot.
Now we didn't pay a thing cause our bank would not give us the money on Saturday so we are driving off the lot not paying a cent. Monday came and already we have problems, the check engine light is on, the car hesitates from from 0 MPH and on the way to the Mechanic in Lindon it hesitates on the highway. Our mechanic says that it could be the computer and/or the timing belt and that it had a few other problems. Well we did what we were told, we brought a list of all the things the mechanic found into the car dealership and conveniently, the sales guy went home sick, and the floor manager said the deal was not contingent, he called the sales rep and he told the manager he didn't say it was contingent since supposedly, they were only making $200.00 off the car.
Well stupid us, we didn't get it in writing and we signed the contract. Well, here we are stuck with a car that could break on us anytime and no money to repair it. Spencer and I were both furious and he made some calls to his dad, his uncle who is a car sales guy and his cousin the mechanic. In the end we took the car to the dealership, gave the manager the keys and walked away (cause we don't have a car anymore) Well after we left, I was in tears, mad as mad can be and Spencer was furious cause I was so upset. We had my sister-in-law come pick us up and we watched Heros.
In the mean time I asked Spencer if he still had our checkbook, he said it was in his bag which was at home and when we got home, he looked in his bag and it wasn't there. It is in the car we gave the keys up to. Hooray. He had to go to the dealership this morning to get it and boy I hope he gets it. On Sunday, I wrote the check to the dealership and signed it in case we were going to pay for it and now the checkbook is in their hands. If they find it and look in it are they allowed to take the check out and deposit it without us giving it to them? I am worried.

Well, that is my soap box, I had a job interview yesterday at Shopko and today, I am going to interview where Julie works at The Generations Network, so hopefully, I will have a job soon.

I just got the call from Spencer, he got the Checkbook and the check was still there WooHoo. Now we just have to wait to see if we get summonsed to Court. Spencer said that the car was in the used car detail parking spot, so we might be OK.

Today I am better than yesterday

My Sister-in-Law said it when she said that happiness is a choice. I have to be honest, I haven't been happy with my current situation. Today however, I feel like a new person. To tell the truth it is because I have not been cooped up in my apartment all day. My good friend also my Sister-in-law called me and asked me if I wanted to get out and to tell the truth, it felt good. I got to get out, spend time with someone besides my dog and I was able to get a look at the world of Utah... Well, Costco and The University Mall!!! Thank you Kristi for rescuing me from my world of sorrow and bringing me back to reality.

Spencer and I still do not have jobs, he would like to work at Barnes and Noble at the University Mall and I really do not care where I work as long as it includes benefits and it is full time. I am once again the bread winner. I don't mind it though, because it is also my responsibility to help our family.

What are the keys to a budget and some tricks that you all have come up with? I need some help with that, because I fail royally at keeping money very long. At least that is how I feel after moving and paying some of Spencer's Tuition. I almost wish he would have worked a few more months so we could save and pay for school. Any suggestions on Budgeting? Please share.

The blessings and curses of moving to Provo, Utah

We have been in Provo since the 6th of September and we are still looking for jobs. We live in a 600 sq. ft. apartment and it has one bedroom and thank goodness for a lot of storage in the "dungeon". As for the Apartment Complex we live in, it is called Lookout Pointe and it is on top of a mountain. (We will see how long we live in the winter driving up the hill). We can look out our back door and see a beautiful view of the valley and I mean beautiful! I especially like the lights at night. We have a swimming pool and lots of grass on a hill so the dog loves to play and get exercise which is really good for a pup with lots of energy. We are also excited to go Sledding in the winter with Nieces and Nephews. But besides that we are still not sure what we got ourselves into. It is on the top of a mountain, and we are not living by LDS people so we have heard about window shattering, attempted break ins, loud obnoxious parties, and drug busts. I hope it stays good for us cause we signed a one year lease.

"We do not live in Zion"!

Spencer is in School and is doing a lot of the things that he did at BYU-I but the credits didn't transfer so he gets to do it again. So far so good though as far as I know.

As a lot of you know, we do not have a car anymore, it has been wrecked for like three weeks now and we just finally found out today that it is totalled so we probably have to wait another 2 weeks before we get the check to go get another car, which I am really scared about, because I have never been car shopping before. I guess a new beginning means trying new things.