Saying Good-Bye

At the end of the school year people move. 

They move for the summer or they move to a new apartment. 

Or they move all the way across the country.

Not. Cool.

Jacki has been my best friend since I moved to Utah. I moved into an apartment and didn't know any of the girls but Jackie and I hit it off really well. 

We lived together as roomies for three years before she got married. 

We've had a lot of late nights, fun adventures and just plain crazy times together. 

She and her husband are moving, permanently, to Rhode Island. John got a big kid job so their starting a whole new chapter of their lives!!

It's exciting but I'm also really sad. I know we'll always be friends but it's weird to think that she and I have lived in Provo, either in the same apartment or just down the street, for four and a half years. Now? My drive to visit her will take just slightly longer than five minutes.

I'm going to miss her but I know they're going to have so much fun in RI. 

Here's to old memories and new adventures.

I love you, Jacksters. I'm gonna miss you.

I Don't But I Do

I don't have pretty blue or green eyes. 

I don't have a slender, athletic, "powerhouse" body. 

By the time I graduate with my undergrad, I will have been in school for 6 years,

(The time it takes most people to do an undergrad and a masters...) and I've already been told that it "doesn't count" because I'm "just" graduating from BYU, so "who cares?"

I don't own a fancy car. 

I don't own "in fashion" clothes. 

I am extremely self conscious about my weight and sometimes feel like an elephant among swans. 

Sometimes I'm so nervous about being perceived as ridiculous or silly or stupid that I suppress who I am and can't get comfortable around certain people.  

Often times I think I am the only one who cares about what I care about. 

I'm often fairly certain that I am the last person on peoples' "Care About" list. 

I struggle. I cry. Sometimes I avoid mirrors so I don't have to look at me.

BUT

I do have a wonderful husband who loves me no matter what I look like or how comfortable or uncomfortable I feel in my skin. He likes my brown eyes.

I have a job where I help so many people. I may not be a nurse, a fighter pilot or a child care specialist but I certainly do good and help people. 

At least I have a car! One that I don't have to make payments on, one that works, one that is reliable...most of the time.

I will graduate from BYU and I will have worked hard (I am currently) and it will count.

I have clothes. They aren't the cutest but I have a wide variety to choose from.

I have learned that if people look at me and only see an elephant, they aren't worth my time. 

I run. I may not run far or fast but I run and I am grateful that I have a body that is capable of doing that. 

In moments when I think nobody cares, I realize that it's not up to them to care. It's up to me to care. 

I have come to learn, through the help of my husband, that it is okay to cry, okay to not understand and okay to not be okay.

I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and I love Him. He knows me and my needs and if everyone else in this world left me, He would still be by my side.

Training Week 1

I've had a couple people ask me about my 10K Training and what it's like. 

Well, I use a program call 10K Trainer by Zen Labs. It's an app I have on my phone. 

It tells me when to switch from jogging to walking etc. 

If you have a smart phone you can download the app from the app store. There is a free version or one you can buy but each is the full version.

There are a few that they have...Couch to 5k, 10K Trainer, Push-Ups Trainer...

Anyway, if you want to know what week one looks like, here you go:

Day One: 

5 minute warm up walk (brisk walk)

Alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 second of walking for a total of 20 minutes

5 minute cool down walk

The program only has you doing this 3 days of the week. You can do more but shouldn't do less if you want to keep up with the program. 

What to do?

In t-minus 12 days Neil and I are going to...

SAN FRANCISCO!!!

I have never been before and I am VERY excited to go.

The only thing is, because Neil and I have never been, we only have a couple of ideas about things to do.

Here's the list (in no particular order):

1. Fisherman's Wharf
2. Ghirardelli Square
3. Haight-Ashbury
4. Pier 39
5. Chinatown

It's a small list and we're trying not to spend too much money on activities. BUT if you have any ideas, we're listening! 

Team Building Exercise

At my job, we get to have weekly meetings. Staff Meetings. These are used for training and team building. This last week we went bowling for a "Team Building" exercise. It was AWESOME!!

I wore a skirt...I don't know what I was thinking but I looked SO GOOD! Ha.

BOWLING!!

14 lbs...no thanks.

I bowled a 108, lost by ONE POINT. But I had bushels of fun.

A couple things I learned:

1. When you cheer for your team, everyone does better
2. When everyone works together, everyone can have fun
3. Instead of playing against each other, play together. Set a goal to reach (Like 300 points or something else...)  that the entire team can contribute to.

I do love my job. Especially when we get to go bowling!

Slab

My mom is in town to help my sister get ready for her wedding this weekend and was able to take some time out to spend with me and Neil!  We went to slab for dinner and it was 

DELICIOUS!!

Mom, Neil and Me!

Pizza: Pepperoni, Spinach, Chicken Bacon Ranch, and something with Potatoes.

Fun times were had by all.

The Interview

I don't like interviews.

"When I quitted Barton last...No, I must go further back."

(Ten points if you can name that movie!)

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. 

(It's stuck in your head now isn't it!?)

So, once upon a time, there was a President named Obama. He decided to "reform" the American health care system.

Barf. 

Thanks to the ACA, "Affordable Care Act" aka "Obama Care" all the rules regarding my employment have changed. And it ain't pretty people. 

One of the Act's "affordable" rules states that any individual working an average of 30 hours or more in any 52 week period is required to be provided insurance benefits by their employer. Well, I work at BYU and BYU is essential RUN by part time student employees.

BYU can't afford to pay all of their student employees benefits. That would be THOUSANDS of students. I work 20 hours a week during school and 40 hours a week during the spring and summer. For a couple of months now, that 40 hours a week during summer was being threatened.Rumors that only 29 hours/week would be allowed were floating around...

This is no bueno for my family's budget. NO BUENO!!

Because of this I decided to find a second job. 

I interviewed for a Account Support specialist for Vivint. 

I got the job...and then I didn't. 

I got a phone call explaining that all the paper work was ready to go for me and then something happened within the company and someone else, who was already affiliated with Vivint was placed in the spot I was being hired for. 

The guy I interviewed with told me that they were a call away form hiring me, they were very impressed with my qualifications and that he was super upset that there wasn't a place for me on his team. He also told me that, if it was okay with me, he would keep my info on file and contact me when another position becomes available. He said I wouldn't have to interview again but that I'd just get the job.

If I had been hired, I would have worked 55 hours or more every week during the summer. That would make taking vacations hard.

Anyway, the good news is that everything has been ironed out for BYU and I will be working 40 hours a week for BYU but I have to be careful about the hours.

Our Friends The Robertsons

Sometimes you meet people in life that are okay but don't become forever friends. 

But some times there are people you meet and they are fun and funny and nice and accommodating and friendly and THEY become forever friends. 

That would be the case for our good friends, The Robertsons. 

The night before Neil and I got married, my Mom and Dad sat down with the two of us for a chat. One thing they said was, "Find couple friends. Friends that you both get along with." 

AND WE DID!!

The Robertson Family moved into the area around Christmas time last year. Neil and I met them at the Church Christmas Dinner/Talent Show. One day I was thinking and felt prompted to invite them over for dinner. 

And just like that we became friends. 

We basically spend as much time with them as we can. 

We've been on a little road trip together. 

We go on hikes/walks together.

We do laundry together. 

We eat together. 

Pizza is probably our go to dinner. LOVE the chicken pesto pizza.

We do bonfires together. 

We watch A LOT of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and other shows/movies.

We help each other with car problems. (Okay, they really help us because our car is the one with issues...)

We girls to crafts together and the boys do homework.

We basically just have a lot of fun with each other and I am SUPER sad that they are moving to Washington for 13 weeks. It's gonna be a long lonely summer. Here are some pics!! (KM, I hope you're okay that I totally stole these from your blog!)

Crafts and Chevron

There are a few things that I know:

1-Some people hate the whole "Chevron" thing. But not me.
2-Knowing how to sew in a straight line can help you do a LOT of cool things
3-I'm obsessed with Pinterest and all the tutorials I can find there.

March was kind of crazy in my house and I needed some sanity. So, I made time to craft. I don't know exactly when the "craft" bug hit me but it has. Hard.

Anyway, I made pillow cases and a laptop sleeve.

Here are the pics:

It's missing the velcro.

I found the pillow case tutorial on Pinterest (duh) and it was SUPER EASY!
I can't find the actual one I used because oddly enough I didn't re-pin it. Weird. But I found one that is essentially the same. You can go here to see it.

I had to do a LOT of Google-ing to find the tutorial for the laptop sleeve. I had to search for a good one because I don't do buttons just yet and so I needed one that was easily adapted to accommodate velcro.This project was just a little bit daunting to me but I did it. In fact, I made two because the first one was just about 1/2 an inch too small. You can go here to see the tutorial.

It's A Really Good Thing I Take Pictures Sometimes...

Why?

Because when I don't blog often enough, I forget what I've done but the pictures help me to remember.

March was the craziest, busiest, sleepiest month Neil and I have had in school. I even lost my "running" streak. Bummer. 

But all is well. BYU doesn't have a Spring Break which I love and hate at the same time. I hate it because it makes March a blasted busy month, but I love it because it means that there are only 6 more days of school left. 

BOO YEAH. 

Anyway, here is a March Update:

We celebrated Neil's Birthday with a movie and dinner. 

We spent LOTS of time, as much as we could with our good friend's the R's. (They're gonna have a post all to themselves!!)
We went to an Orchestra at Temple Square concert.

I filled out a March Madness bracket for work. (I didn't get very many right but I do have Louisville taking the whole thing! I'm hoping! Tonight is the big game...)

We went have shamrock shaped Ravioli for St. Patrick's Day

We made gifts to give away for St. Patrick's Day


I made time to be crafty. (I'll have another post for these too!)

Pillow Cases

Laptop Sleeve

We celebrated "Pi" day.

We celebrated National Pancake Day

We had a bonfire that failed so we used our backup plan-a gas stove.

I had a job interview for a second job. (Also, another post all together.)

 We got to go to a Natalie MacMaster Concer. It. Was. AWESOME!!!

We went to a Palm Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeline in Salt Lake City

We saw Wreck-It Ralph on a date.
We dyed/Sharpie-d eggs for Easter

There was a lot of stuff in between everything which made for a hectic, crazy, busy month. 

But it was good for us.