Reason why...

we moved back to California...

Because if I wanted to I could be wearing flip flops and shorts right now. It is 70 degrees outside...oh and it's febuary! If we still lived in Utah we would probably be shivering our butts off and shoveling snow or something. But instead I am starting my tan early this year and soaking up some much needed rays after the long hard winter...okay maybe not as long and hard as Utah winters... anyways this is turning into a ramble so I will stop. Guess I just wanted to tell California thank you for brightening my day with the sunshine and warm weather. I know it won't last but it sure made my last few days better!

Valentines Day - 1 = Saturday

We celebrated our Valentines day early because tomorrow is Sunday. It was a wonderful Saturday! We went to the temple this morning and it was wonderful as usual. It always seems that there are a million reasons not to go but we finally just decided to go and we were sure glad we did. There was a beautiful spirit in the temple and we both felt refreshed and clean again. I think it also helped us to get in the "love" mood, you know, for V-day. The temple is always the best place to remember why we got married, why we love each other and why we want to spend eternity with each other. So that was a good start to a great day.
We drove home and changed and went to Apple bee's. That was the low of the day. The food was not that great for it's price which is always disappointing. Then we went to see Dear John. Here are my thoughts:
I heard that a lot of people didn't like the ending and I can see why most wouldn't. It wasn't a fuzzy-warm-feeling kind of ending. It was a real life kind of ending. When we go to a movie we want to watch something that usually doesn't happen in real life. Most chick flicks fall into this category. And so I can see why the "real life" ending night have thrown people. But I liked it. I liked that you have to imagine for yourself what happened. I also liked that at least they were happy. Isn't that real life? We don't always have the fairy tale ending and we have to figure a lot of stuff out, but at least we're happy right?
I also really liked the smaller messages. Autism. War. Marriage. Right and wrong. Love (okay maybe not a small message but an important one). I enjoyed the subtle message of autism. The father and son relationship was so sweet. I almost enjoyed that relationship more than the main love story.
And I was happy that they weren't trying to use this movie as a political statement or a pro-war or anti-war agenda. It had war written into most of it but more than anything it showed how much the soldiers give up rather than if they should be there or not. I don't know the correct answer to that and I am glad the writers and producers of this movie didn't try to answer it for me.
And marriage. This subject always seems to be treated with such low priority. It would have been easy to work adultery into this movie also but they didn't which I was pleasantly surprised by. Instead they treated marriage with the importance it should be. They honored it. They picked the right over the wrong for once. Yes! Finally!
And last but not least I liked the first two weeks of their relationship. I like that finally it is OK to fall in love in a short amount of time. Two weeks is all it took for them to fall in love.
That's how it was with Chad and I. It was more like two months but still short. Sometimes you just know. We did. Savannah and John did. So maybe we won't get as many surprised looks when we tell people that we met and got engaged and married in a matter of four months. No, we will probably get the same amount. But we expect it and it doesn't bother us anymore. On another note...
I wore my brown snake skin high heels tonight. Chad pointed out that they're his favorite. Why? Flashback to May 2007. I was in the lobby of the Fine road chapel where the Modesto singles ward met. I was dressed in a brown and white polka dot dress and wearing my brown snake skin high heals. I was chatting with a friend when Adam and I guy that looked vaguely familiar walked up to us. We all talked for a minute and I knew the vaguely familiar guy was interested in me because he was definitely trying to monopolize my attention. We went to Sunday school and there he was a few minutes later sitting next to me. He looked down at my snake skin shoes and said he liked them.
I smiled at him and the rest as they say is history.
So almost three years later I wore those same shoes again on a Valentine's date with my husband who told me three years ago that he liked them. That's why their his favorite and that's why he is my favorite.
Because to this day he still remembers what shoes I was wearing when we met. And he takes me to the temple. And he watches a romantic movie with me on Valentines Day even though it probably isn't his first pick. And he loves me. Most of all that's why he's my favorite man on this earth. Because he loves me and helps remind me why love is so important. So while Valentines day may be mostly a holiday created to sell flowers and cards and candy, it's also a holiday to celebrate love. So to me it's a good holiday.
Happy Valentines Day!

Golds Gym...

This will be a quick post...Chad and I are trying to transfer our Golds Gym membership over to someone else. We just live too far away from GOlds and don't use it very often. It will be $44 a month for 2 people or $22 a month for one person. The contract is good through August. So you would only be signing up for a 6 month contract. Please let me know if you are in the Modesto area and are iterested!!

Wisdom from working

My work life in a nutshell:

1) Shut up and listen: I love to say what I think. I usually have pretty strong opinions and sometimes I just talk before I think about it...and sometimes this tends to get me in trouble. So I have learned that sometimes even though I don't agree with something an employer asks me to do, I just have to do it. Just do what they ask, no ifs ands or buts about it. It doesn't matter if I think there is a better way or a way that makes more sense. They sign my check and thus I must do as they say.

2) Time off: It seems that I have always had jobs where it was easy and accepted to ask for as much time off as I needed as long as it was in advance. Those were part time jobs, where there were a good amount of employees who wanted more hours if I didn't want them. Well...my job now is not like that. I do all of the scheduling for our technicians and so it is important for me to be here. Others can do my job but it makes things a little more comlicated. So, I can't just request days off whenever I like. In fact, sometimes it seems like pulling teeth would be easier than getting time off. I feel guilty for asking for one day off every couple months. So...I don't...unless I absolutely have to. Sometimes, I wish I could go back to my part time jobs where it wasn't a big deal and I wouldn't really miss the money that much, but I can't. This is what I have and I have to learn to live with it. So I treasure my weekends and try to fit as much as possible into a Saturday.

3) Office Politics: This part of a job is frustrating. It seems that I am the low man on the totem pole. I was last to get hired and so it seems that I get everything last or sometimes get stuck with the sucky jobs.

For instance: we all got a week off during Christmas time. The only thing was we each come in for a day to man the office. There were 4 of us chosing days and of course...I got stuck with the day no one wanted. I'm certainly not complaining...I loved my week off. Just saying that there is a food chain in the workplace and I am at the bottom of that chain.
I also usually get blamed...maybe not the right word...more like asked if I made a mistake first ...because I am the youngest and don't know what I'm doing (sarcasm).

It seems.... at least in my mind... I have to try harder to earn respect and acceptance than say the other two women who are in their 40's-50's. No one does this intentionally but it happens and I have to deal with it. But I adjusting and realizing that I have to work that much harder to get ahead.

4) Sometimes life isn't fair: I am an adult now. I am out of college and working a full time 40 hours a week, 8-5 job. And sometimes it sucks. But that's life. Sometimes I really don't want to get up early and go to a pretty boring job, but it pays the bills. I make pretty good money and when I get the paycheck it's worth it. Sometimes it's really hard to make it to friday without going crazy but then I get the weekend to refresh and by the time Monday rolls around again, I'm ready to start a new week. It's a viscious cycle but it's life. I really do look foreward to the day when I can stay at home with my kids and not have to work. But for now I do and I am coming to accept that, hard as it may be. But I have a husband that works really hard (he has already recieved a dollar raise at a job that he has been at for less than 3 months) and tells me all the time that he wishes I didn't have to work full time. He doesn't want me to have to work forever and that is comforting. So someday I can quit and he a homemaker (honestly never thought I would long for that day) but for now I am a working woman.

Moral of the story:

Why I am writing this? Who cares? This will probably be boring for most to read...so I will say it is more of a journal post for me. I had a really hard time at first adjsuting to no school and full time work. It was a slap in the face to say the least.
So I wanted to post about the lessons I have learned so far. Life is tough and sometimes little things that seem unimportant to life tend to make or break our happiness. Jobs are one of those things. I used to dwell on the negative and have a wo-is-me attitude but now I am trying harder. Trying harder to learn from the bad times. Trying harder to be more mature and be more of an adult. Trying harder to be more positive. But what I am always trying to do is live my life to the fullest.
We were sent to this earth to learn. What we learn is up to us. But I honestly belive that every experience in life is meant to teach us somthing. I think I forgot that the last 6 months. I just thought that I hated my job and I needed to find a new one.
But then I realized that it was my attitude that was the problem. I just had to realize that life doesn't always happen the way we want but we have to live with it and try to learn from it. So sorry if the first part of this post seemed to be one big complaint. It really wasn't. It was more of a...what have I learned so far. I will leave you with this thought. It helps me get through each day:

Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around, shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.
Life is like an old time rail journey...delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride." -Gordon B Hinckley

Ollie, Bubbers, Sullivan, Kwalski, Little Man, *#%$ DOG! aka Oliver

Oh Oliver...We just love him...and hate him sometimes...

more specifically when he goes to the bathroom in our apartment...

or tears a large piece of toilet paper to shreds when we are in the shower...

or puts his paws on the coffee table and proceeds to steal the snack I just carefully prepared for myself off o fmy plate.

Ok so maybe we don't ever hate him but there are times when we certainly want to strangle him. He is hyper, mysterious, mischievious, naughty oh and did I mention hyper and naughty? Oliver is now 8 months old and has definitely become a part of the family. He has his favorite places to lay in the house...

like by the slider in the sunshine.

He has his favorite places to go to the bathroom...

like in the spare room when we aren't watching.

He likes to bark every time we take him out to the bathroom and everytime we go on a walk and every time someone knocks on the door...and... shall i go on? I think you get the picture.

Man, why do people get dogs? They are so much work?? Well after thinking about this question...for a while...I remembered why we love him...This is why:

Because he likes to curl up in the warm just-out-of-the-dryer clothes and fall asleep...

Because when we take him in the car he likes to sit in the very back and look out the window and then fall asleep...
Because he will cuddle with me and let me give him a paw massage...no kidding...he really did let me do this for like 20 minutes while he napped.

And he is just the cutest dog ever! Look at that face...how can you resist?

And last but not least...he is just plain funny...

So even though he is a pain in our butt sometimes...he is also a fun little dog. He loves to play and go on walks. And sometimes the simplicity of a dog's life can help you remember that we should not take anything for granted.

If only my life was as simple as Oliver's...

(OH and the title...in case you didn't figure it out are his nicknames. I have no idea how half of them came to be but they are all used on a regular basis...I promise)

Nightmares of Used car shopping

For the last almost year we've been using my dad's Jeep as a second car. We have so appreciated using it but decided it was time to get another car to call our own. So a few weeks ago we started looking. Nightmares...I have nightmares all day long. My brain is tired from crunching numbers and looking at pictures of cars on craigslist. But those I can handle. What i can't handle? Used car salesman...well actually ALL car salesman. We went out yesterday looking at car lots when our efforts on Craigslist, yahoo and ebay failed us. We drove along McHenry (if you don't live in Modesto, McHenry is one of the largest roads in Modesto and has oh about a million car lots, used and new alike) looking for cars. We decided to stop at a Nissan/Jeep dealer. We were looking for a Jeep Grand Cherokee and figure we would stop at the Jeep dealer. Duh!
I didn't want to get out of the car, I just wanted to drive around and look. We figured they wouldn't have anything but we wanted to look anyways. Well Chad insisted we park and get out and walk. So I relented. I got out of the car and noticed a salesman perched on the steps of the dealer getting ready to pounce. I wanted to yell to Chad to run back to the car, but of course I am civilized and didn't. About 30 seconds after getting out of the car, before we had even come close to any of the cars, the salesman found us. He was hispanic with a very thick accent, which I don't mind, but it was very very hard to understand him. He proceeded with his intro, half of which I didn't understand. This is what I got out of it: he had only worked there a month: Great! He kept saying he wanted to give us a quote for trading our existing car in: of course we had to tell him about 3 times that we were not selling that car, we needed a second car. Finally I subtly but sternly told him we would come and get him if we needed help. When he realized he was failing, badly, he started saying anything that came to mind in a desperate attempt to keep us interested. One of the things he said was, "so sorry, I am not trying to scare you off, I promise." Well dude you are so leave us the heck alone!! That's what I was saying in my mind.
He left, finally! After about 1 minute of looking through the cars, we knew we couldn't afford anything and started heading back to the car. All the sudden I spot annoying-hard-to understand salesman standing on the steps of the dealership with yet another salesman. Both are scanning their lot trying to find us. I was tempted to drop to the ground and crawl back to the car and then speed away. But again, I am civilized and didn't.
So car salesman #2 we shall call him practically runs up to us before we reach our car. He then proceeds to smoozsh us. He charmingly tells us that the other salesman told him we just weren't clicking with each other and wanted him to come help us. I was mad at this point. I just wanted to leave. There was nothing there we wanted and they were just wasting our time. So we talked for another minute, he showed us a Jeep Wrangler even though I had already told him we needed a car that you could take a baby carrier in and out of. He seemed to ignore this which pissed me off. Then finally finally he understood. We couldn't afford anything they had and wanted to leave. IT WAS A NIGHTMARE!! AHHH!!!! I am still shuddering at the thought.
We got back in the car and I looked at Chad and said, " We are NOT getting out of the car again. We will drive around the lot, I don't care how stupid we look." His look said it all. Yes. You're right. You were right. We will NEVER get out of this car again.
So that was just one of the many horrifying experiences we have had while looking for cars. I think we have found the car for us, but there are still some details to work out so I will post about it when it is ours. Pray for us....we desperately need any and all help we can get.

Novel idea?

I always have a million things running through my mind that I want to write about. I lay in bed at night writing my posts in my head...and then I fall asleep. Then when I wake up the witty comments and good ideas are no longer there like they were the night before. And thus my blog gets forgotten until I actually sit down at a computer and type what I am thinking when I am thinking it. This is one of those times...
I finished City of Glass the third book in the Mortal Instruments series. It was good. Really good. I am a sucker for a good fantasy book I have found out. Why? I was thinking about that in one of my pre-bed thought sessions. I had just finished the book and was really happy and somewhat sad. I loved the ending but was thinking...'where will I now get my entertainment?' I love just getting lost in a book. It's like you are by yourself somewhere but all you can see are the pages of the book. Your surrounding are a little fuzzy. You might see a tree or a person but you aren't really paying attention. You know they are there but you don't really care.
When I am involved with a book I have a really hard time not finishing it as soon as I can. I just want to know what happens. I don't want the story to be mixed up with anything else. I am putting myself in the story. The characters are my friends for a few days and I am right along side them acting out their story.
That's how it is when I read a book I am really into. So sorry to my friends, family, husband, dog, kitchen, and work. Because when I have a book I like, everything else is on the back burner. (Ok so I obviously don't neglect my husband and completely ignore him, but you get what i mean right?) I sneak in a few minutes of reading whenever I can. And I mean whenever and wherever I can. I read all 3 450-500 page books in this series in a week. Thats how much I LOVE to read. I would say its my favorite past time. My love for reading is probably one of the major reasons I have such terrible eye sight. But I don't care. So where was i going with this.... oh yeah.
After saying all this, I will now say, I am realll really really jealous of novelists. I want to be able to do what they do. I want to have this fantastic idea and sit down and write a 500 page novel that completely sucks its readers in for days at a time and finally releases them when they have finished. I want to imprison people with a book I write. Is that crazy? I don't think so...but I don't know if that's my purpose in life. I love to write and I am good at it, but I don't know that I will ever call myself a novelist. But I can dream can't I?
Wow...I never know where I will go when I write. That was something way off topic than I was originally going to write. So thank you to Cassandra Clare for being a very imaginative person and having the ability and perseverance to write the Mortal Instruments series. I for one am grateful for my little vacation from life while reading them.

Oh now I remember the fantastic news I was going to post about....drum roll please... My sister Nichole and niece Brielle who I haven't seen in 6 months are coming to Modesto on Thursday for 11 days!!!!! Yay!!!!! I am so excited I can barely contain myself. I miss them so much! I am the lucky one that gets to pick them up from the airport. So next week will be great!

And i should mention why my sister gets to visit for that long. My awesome brother-in-law Chase left yesterday morning for Haiti. He was asked to go and help with the relief efforts. He is a EMT/firefighter so he has a good medical background that will allow him to help a lot in Haiti. So he will be there for 3 weeks so my sis decided to visit us to fill some of her time without him. We are so proud of Chase. He is an awesome guy and we couldn't be happier to have him in our family!