Swim

I've decided to try harder to become a 'swimmer' in life. Here's why:

The song "Swim" by Jack's Mannequin is really good with some awesome lyrics that I think could apply to just about anyone. I have it on my playlist on the side for listening purposes.

You've gotta swim

Swim for your life

Swim for the music that saves you

When you're not so sure you'll survive

You gotta swim

And swim when it hurts

The whole world is watching

You haven't come this far

To fall off the earth

The currents will pull you

Away from your love

Just keep your head above

I found a tidal wave

Begging to tear down the dawn

Memories like bullets

They fired at me from a gun

A crack in the armor

I swim for brighter days

Despite the absence of sun

Choking on salt water

I'm not giving in, I swim

You gotta swim

Through nights that won't end

Swim for your families

Your lovers your sisters

And brothers and friends

Yeah you've gotta swim

Through wars without cause

Swim for the lost politicians

Who don't see their greed as a flaw

The currents will pull us

Away from our love

Just keep your head above

I found a tidal wave

Begging to tear down the dawn

Memories like bullets

They fired at me from a gun

Cracking me open now

I swim for brighter days

Despite the absence of sun

Choking on salt water

I'm not giving in

Well I'm not giving in, I swim

You gotta swim

Swim in the dark

There's no shame in drifting

Feel the tide shifting and wait for the spark

Yeah you've gotta swim

Don't let yourself sink

Just find the horizon

I promise you it's not as far as you think

The currents will drag us away from our love

Just keep your head above

Swim

I've also been reading a book called "Sink, Float or Swim" by Scott Peltin. It mostly talks about how to succeed at work and in the business world (Brody got it at school), but I have been able to apply it to my own life and my own situation instead. The general idea is to learn many different ways to keep yourself energized and motivated to always do the best you can in every situation. Instead of "floating" along and doing just enough to get by (in my case, applying for job after job only to realize that none of them are working out, so far), or completely giving up and "sinking" (for me, to stop looking for jobs all together) this book teaches you how to "swim" and actually strive to do the best you can in all aspects of life.

**To be a 'swimmer' you must have "high motivation, strong self-esteem, excitement to handle challenges, and abundant physical energy. It is an outcome of excellent habits. It is a process and not a destination."**

So to do this, I'm going to volunteer.

p.s. thanks to all for your ideas and input from my last post (I had actually already looked into volunteering somewhere, but I wasn't exactly sure where, and I got some great ideas for specifics from a lot of you, so I greatly appreciate it!)

Stay-at-home Owner

I thought of a funny joke today. Maybe, if people keep asking me what I do all day while Brody is at school, instead of saying absolutely nothing, I could tell them (in a very proud-like way) "I'm a stay-at-home owner; I stay home and take care of my dog all day." And until I get a job, sadly this is pretty much true- Sal is getting the best care he'll ever get!

Speaking of doing nothing during the day, does anyone have any ideas of something (anything) that I can do during the day (besides the usual- reading, cleaning, exercising...) that costs little to nothing? I'm running out of things to do...

Missing Logan

Among the many, many things I miss about Logan, this guy is definitely one of them

I miss seeing him riding his bike around Cache Valley every so often, waving at everyone he sees. How could this happy, sweet guy NOT make your day?

Slideshow Videos

So, in all my long, boring days I've had being jobless, I've come up with an idea to make slideshow videos for people. I love doing this anyway, and I've made quite a few for myself and other relatives and I would love to do more videos for anyone who is interested! I made a "website" but really it's just another blog, with all the information. Check it out at www.slideshowvideos.blogspot.com

p.s. Tell your friends :)

The joys of living in an apartment complex

So we've kind of gone backwards with where we've lived-- we went from living in a basement apartment, to our own house, to an apartment complex. That doesn't seem right. Oh well. There are many new experiences that come along with living in an apartment complex; both the good and the not so great.

First: Doing laundry in a laudromat. Good thing there is one in the complex so it's not far but still, it's not IN our house.

Second: Having to take Salomon outside ourselves for him to do his business instead of him just being able to walk out his doggy door whenever he wants. This is a new experience, but so far it hasn't been too bad.

{This last picture is for you mom!}

Third: We have a pool! It's close and it's free and has been great fun so far! There's 2 and they even have a heated one for the winter.

I bought some cheap pool toys at the dollar store (because no where else is selling them anymore! It's too late in the summer...) not realizing they were probably made for infants. Needless to say they didn't last long (that little blue spot in the middle of the sidewalk in the last picture is the remains of Brody's inflatable seahorse that he named Paul. Weird...).

Fun activities

THURSDAY-

We had Ryan over for dinner and games for his last night in AZ. We had a great time and it was fun to have him here during our first few weeks!

FRIDAY-

We went down to Mesa and helped our friends Stu and Alyssa fix up their house they just bought. The boys used big machines and worked on removing the tile, while Alyssa and I began sanding and painting the kitchen cupboards. We had some of the yummiest pizza I ever had (from New York Pizza Dept.)

It's so weird how many freeways there are here, and how much more often we use them.

Oh yeah, check out what we saw one day driving down the street!!!

SATURDAY-

Brody went for his first bike ride down here with Stu in the morning and right when they got done, it started pouring rain. We've had 4 big rainstorms since we've been here, or monsoon's as they call them, but the first 3 were all at night and by the next day it was clear skies and in the 100's again. So it was fun to watch, listen and smell the rain on Saturday.

That night we went over to Jordan and Jakes since Von was there visiting. We watched the BYU game, ate a yummy dinner, went swimming and later watched the movie State of Play, which I thought was really good! We had a fun time and we're so grateful to the Robertson's for always being so willing to invite us over!

SUNDAY-

After church, we just relaxed, read, took naps, etc. Then made a really tasty dinner (creamy white chili- I am loving this new 'tradition' thing of making something we've never made before for Sunday Dinner). Then the Robertson's and Von came over to see our apartment and visit for a while. Their girls were so cute and were loving looking at Sal through the window. It was all fun and games until Ellie fell and hit her face on the corner of our coffee table and bit two gashes in her tongue. Poor girl! I felt so bad for her.

We saw them all again on Monday where we met up at Pei Wei's (an awesome asian restaurant) in Phoenix before Von went back home to Utah.

MONDAY-

In the morning, we invited our friends Meghann and Daniel Tracy and Claire and Dave Ford over for a big Labor Day breakfast (to continue the tradition started by my family). We ate and visited for a few hours and then actually hung out again later that night where we had dessert and played my new favorite game- Tripoley. We had a great time and we're glad to have some friends here that are also LDS and Thunderbird students.

(p.s. we did not sit in the same exact places on purpose)

It was a great weekend but now back to the boring life of being jobless....

Family Pictures

I don't really have much to update on other than Brody is in school and loving it and I'm still busy looking for a job. Although sadly, it's not keeping me very busy. I hope I find one soon or I might just go crazy!

So instead, I'll just post this....

Before we left, both of our families had family pictures taken. They all turned out really good! Here are a few of my favorites...

Check out Brody's face?!?!

------------------

It started raining, that's why we're posed like that.