Ketchup... catsup... Catch Up

It has been a while, like usual.

Brian is working at Verizon still. He has been working hard at school and will be graduating in December. We don't know what will happen from there. Anyone know of someone that needs help from someone with a technology management degree? He is great with computers and what goes with them.

Anyway, I am very proud of him and what he has done. He works hard to take care of me.

I have started school. I started in May and just finished my first semester yesterday. I have never had to work so hard for school in my life. I love the challenge! I passed all my classes with A's and B's and even got a 100% on my math final! I will be done next December and then will be studying a lot for the certification exam. After that, I will be a Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant and will finally be able to work doing what I have wanted to do my entire life!

I am so grateful to Brian for making it possible for me to not work. I have quit driving buses and am able to focus on my schooling. This last semester was mostly during the summer and I would not have made it through if I had been working along with 7 classes. It was brutal and I was having a hard time looking at the future of getting up at 4:30 and leaving the house and not getting home until 6:30 at night and then having 7 classes of homework. Brian made it so I didn't have to go back to work and I jumped at the chance.

We are all doing well here. For our one year anniversary, Brian surprised me with a trip to Indio California. It is a small town outside of Palm Springs. I loved it there. So beautiful! We stayed at one of his grandparents timeshares and could not have asked for a better location. The weekend happened to fall right before midterms and it was just the thing I needed to be able to relax and calm down. When we got back, I was focused and passed midterms with flying colors! It was a wonderful getaway and we plan on doing it again!!

This summer we have made a few trips to Flagstaff and spent lots of time with family. It has been great! My sister moved to Tucson and is now only a short 2 hour drive away from me. She has been spending a lot of time at our house and I have loved every min of it.

That's the happenings around here. Hope all is well with you!

April

We are nearing the end of Brian's semester at school. He will be taking one class this summer and then 4 more in the fall. Then he will GRADUATE!!! December 16th I think is the official date. I am so proud of him and all that he has accomplished! He is still enjoying his job at Verizon and I hope that the fun and joy he has at his job continues.

I am still driving buses and enjoying it a little more. I love that I can have a group of kids to get to know again. I like having my own route. I start my Occupational Therapy Assistant school this Monday. It is a 20 month program so I will be done in less than 2 years! I am nervous and excited and ready and not ready and so many emotions at once. I have wanted this my whole life and now I have found a way to accomplish it. I am excited to take this next step in life.

A Whole New World...

I read everyones blogs every day. I actually check my google reader account numerous time a day. I LOVE google reader, but there is a problem... Google reader doesn't tell me how long it has been since I last blogged. I checked it out and found it has been since June. JUNE people! I haven't blogged since I got back from my honeymoon. I can't believe that was over 7 months ago!

A fast catch up:

July: Brian and I finished moving into our home. I started working for Gilbert Public Schools. I was in training for my CDL actually but it was still work. I was getting up at 5:00 and leaving the house at 6 to get to work at 7. It was hard and little did I know... it gets worse! Brian and I tried to adjust to living together and I was trying to adjust to moving away from everything I had ever known. I had a new house, new husband, new job, new family, heck I even had a new last name. I loved it and hated it all at the same time. I went home every chance I got. I think Brian was getting tired of driving to Flagstaff all the time, but he is so good to me and didn't complain at all. He is so supportive.

August: More traveling to Flagstaff and still training. Brian is enjoying not working and not having school work. He got a lot of good video game time in. Work started for both of us in the end of August. I really didn't like my job but I loved that I got to work with Brian. Being with him was the best part of my day.

September: Work was in full swing and now school started. Brian and I both are doing online classes. They are convenient but man are they a lot of work. I think there is double the amount of work. We were still getting used to living together and honestly, I think we will always be getting used to living together. My birthday!! Brian got me a wonderful trip to Tucson and invited my parents to come because he knows how much my family means to me. We went to Cartchner Caverns and had dinner with some family friends. We had a GREAT time! It was a wonderful birthday!

October: Not much happened that I can remember. Work and school... My mom's birthday and my sisters birthday. Halloween was fun this year. I got to have Alora with me and we went to the church trunk-r-treat party. She was Pebbles Flinstone. So adorable as always!!

November: The beginning of the month was pretty quiet.Brian and I joined my family, some family friends, and Aunt Lois in Page for the Balloon festivel. It was so amazing! We also went to Antelope Canyon. It is a huge canyon that has been carved in the ground that you can walk through. The pictures don't do it justice. The colors are AMAZING!! Truly a work of God! It was another really great trip.

Our house heater went out but we had a very warm season so it was not too big of a deal. Well for Brian at least. I was freezing but my parents gave us a room heater so it was ok. We had Thanksgiving dinner here and my family and Brian's family both came. I was a little worried about what we would all talk about but I think it went great! We all had a good time and I really enjoyed having everyone over. Maybe this will become the new tradition!

December: CHRISTMAS!!! I LOVE this time of year!! The beginning of the month we found out that Brian got a job with Verizon and he was supposed to start in January! We we so excited that we could still do our big trip to Utah and Colorado together and then he could start this great new job. He then got offered a chance to start the end of December instead. This meant no trip, but he would get a giant jump in seniority and therefor able to get better shifts when the time came. We debated, but in the end decided it would be much better for him to start as soon as possible. He was able to fly up to Denver and be with us for Christmas and then flew back again for work. It all worked out and Brian is happy at his new job.

January: A new year!! We are loving our precious time together. Now that we don't work together, we don't get much time to be together. It really makes me savor the time we do have. I really feel so lucky to have such a hard working and wonderful man with me for eternity. He is truly the perfect guy for me! Now that we are all caught up, maybe I will remember to post a little more often.

Memories

We are MARRIED!! It was a Beautiful weekend and we thank all of you who helped make it so. Everything turned out just the way we wanted! The receptions were both so beautiful! My sister told us she had a gift for us that she was really excited about. I had been racking my brain trying to figure out what it could be. Finally, after all the waiting, she gave us her gift. It was a memory. She hired Trevor Forsman, a young man that she grew up with and won second place in the Arizona Idol competition the weekend before, to come and sing our first dance for us. He had a partner with him and after they finished singing At the Beginning with You, they sang a Trevor original. Oh my gosh, the words are so beautiful and they did such an amazing job singing! I know he will go far with his music. Thank you so much to Mary Lynne! You gave us an amazing memory that will last forever!! We love you!

We are now on our honeymoon in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. It is so green and gorgeous here. We got here Sunday night and went straight to sleep. It had been a long day. We woke up Monday morning and went to the activities center to book some activities to do. We booked a wagon ride/bbq dinner for that night. It was delicious!! Brian wants to go back again tomorrow night just for the food! The ride was fun and after dinner we sang a few songs but the highlight was the food.

My parents gave us a day on a zip line course. We rode the Silverton train about half way up and then we started. They fit us with harnesses and taught us a few safety things and then we were off! While we were eating lunch (which they provide) one of the dogs chased a bear right under us. (We ate up in the trees) I will post pictures that I got of the bear. He ended up climbing the tree we were sitting in and sticking his nose through the slots. He was really cute and I got some good pictures before we had to chase him off. It was a really awesome experience and I HIGHLY recommend anyone who comes to this part of the country (and you all should because it is wonderful) do the soaring. If you want to learn about it, go to soaringtreetopadventures.com A little expensive but worth every penny!!

Brian surprised me with a hot air balloon ride that we will be taking Thursday morning. I am really looking forward to that! We don't really know what else we will plan but I am loving the relaxed nature of this honeymoon and I am mostly loving the time I am getting to spend with my husband. I am learning more and more about him everyday and loving him more and more every minute!

Changes in Attitudes, Changes in Lattitudes

The only thing constant is change right? Well there have been some big ones here!

The little girl that I have been babysitting for the last 3 years is moving! Her step dad decided he was not able to find a job here so he wants to look in a bigger city. He picked Denver, as in Denver Colorado. A whole 12 hour drive away from Flagstaff. I cried and cried. I called Brian and told him. With them moving, we would not be able to make enough money to live in Flagstaff. He listened to my heart break then helped me to calm down.

A little while later, he called me and told me that maybe we should look into me moving to the valley because it is so much cheaper to live and he already has a job there. I conceded that this was the best choice and so we started looking for apartments.

His parents came to him a few days later and gave him/us a wonderful gift! They offered to act as a bank for us and give us a loan for a house. A whole HOUSE!! We started looking at prices and decided that somewhere in Queen Creek would be the best bet. Newer houses and VERY GOOD prices! We have a couple friends that live out there so we were kinda looking in their neighborhood. We found a few that we liked and after a lot of bidding wars (they are forclosure houses) and some frustration, we finally won a house at auction!

It was a house that I had never seen. Remember that I live in Flagstaff still and the list for the auction goes out the night before the auction happens. Brian had seen it and told me about it and I trusted him to make the decision. Boy am I glad I did. The house is AWESOME!! 3 bedrooms, 2 and 1/2 baths, a huge kitchen that I LOVE putting together. There is a nice back yard with a sprinkler system already in. It is perfect for us.

I have been applying for a few jobs this last month and last week I got a call from Gilbert Public Schools. I went in for an interview and got the job! I will be driving school buses! They are going to train me for my CDL.

I am a lucky girl and feel so blessed to have all these wonderful people in my life! Thank you to everyone who has helped make this time in my life so great! The wedding is in 5 days!! Then I will have another wonderful group of people to add to my family! This transition has been a difficult one for me but the support from all my family has been great! Thanks to all! Love ya!

Where has all the time gone?

I don't really believe it has been 2 months since I updated. I don't know where the time is going. There is 84 days until our wedding and I am still really calm. People keep asking how the plans are coming and I think and say that every thing is great! It really is!

Brian applied to NAU and was accepted last week. He also applied for a job with NAU driving busses. He interviewed on Monday and was offered the job on Tuesday morning! I guess they saw how amazing he is just like I do. He will start in August so he can finish his finals and his current job in Gilbert with their school district. Then he will move here the beginning of June and we will get married the end of June and then the honeymoon the last week of June then we will have almost 2 months to settle into marriage before he has to start work. I am so proud of him and his determination and focus. He always get done what needs to get done.

We got our engagement pictures done a few weeks ago. They turned out great and I will be posting some on my facebook soon. We are in the process of trying to design the announcements now. Wording is proving to be a little difficult. If anyone has any suggestions or examples please let me know. My e-mail is ljw13@hotmail.com I would love any help I can get.

Love you all!!

Wedding Blues (actually purples)

I promise my posts will not all be about the wedding. Just until the wedding is over.

We have the Temple time arranged!! 9:45 in the morning on Friday June 25th. I think we will be taking pictures before hand so we can avoid most of the heat. The reception will be here in Flagstaff on the 26th. Don't know what time yet but I think it will be around 6 in the evening. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the reception. I have enjoyed the planning but there is so much to do and I start to get really over whelmed with it all. (I am starting to understand eloping) I am so glad that I have my mom to help. I have pretty much given her the reins and am just putting in my 2 cents worth now and then. I know it will be beautiful and it will turn out wonderful.

Brian has been great as usual. He gives his opinion when I ask but for the most part he is letting me do and have what I want. I really couldn't ask for a better man! Now we need to find him a job here in Flagstaff. Anyone have suggestions?

I am still watching the 2 girls and I will be starting to watch a 3 month old little boy soon. I am starting to think I am crazy. I don't know how I will do it. I need to pray for patience.

I also want to thank Nikki for making my blog so cute! You are wonderful!