Update

My Job:

I'm just now realizing that I forgot to mention on my blog that I got a new job! I started the week of Halloween with a small Medical Billing Company that is owned by a family in my ward. My job is to call the insurance companies (or check online for the bigger companies) and make sure they are paying what they are supposed to. If they aren't, I have to figure out why and fix whatever is wrong and get them to pay. I spend a lot of time on the phone (on hold for most of that time) and on the computer. It doesn't sound like anything exciting, but it's really an awesome job compared to some of the other options I was considering prior to getting this job. It is just the perfect situation for this time in my life. Here's a few reasons why:

- It's full time. YAY! Finally. Something to occupy my time and something to pay our bills.

- It's Monday-Friday from 8:30-5:00 just like I wanted. I NEVER have to work past 5 and I NEVER have to work Saturday or Sunday. I am guaranteed to have that time to spend with Brody and enjoy life, no matter what. I love that.

- It pays better than any job I've had thus far in my life-- by $1.00, but still, it adds up!

- It's exactly 2 miles away from my house. I can get there in 7 minutes. 5 if all the lights are green.

- I can wear whatever I want. Which is perfect for me because I don't own very many "nice/dressy" clothes.

- I get to work with my friend Meghann. It was so nice to already know someone when I started and it's great to carpool and eat lunch together.

- The work itself is fairly easy and not too boring (for the most part anyway- Wednesday's get a little hard, but that's normal right?).

Here's the view from my desk. Not bad... eh?

(we work out of a house, so this is the backyard)

It's a whole different world working full time. Aside from a few busy weeks at my job in Logan, I've never had a permanently full time job. It was a little weird at first having to do all my laundry, grocery shopping, house cleaning, working out and errand running in the evening or on Saturday, on top of making, eating and cleaning up dinner, and trying to find SOME time to relax, but I'm getting used to it. (Brody does help a lot with things around the house and I am VERY appreciative of that!) The thing that makes it all worth it is knowing that down the road, our roles will switch and Brody will be working full time and I will (hopefully) be able to do what I've always wanted-- stay at home with the kids. And let me just add how comforting it is to know that Brody will (most likely) be working at a job he truly enjoys. At least that's what we're hoping will come of all his hard work at school.

{P.S. I really look up to my dad who doesn't love what he does, but does it anyway to support his family. I know it's hard for him at times, but that's what makes him such a great person!}

Brody's School:

Speaking of Brody and school, he has been super busy lately with classes, homework, group projects, assignments and any and all other school related work. He usually does school work all day while I'm at work, and then we can hang out for the rest of the night. Grad school is definitely more time consuming than undergrad was, but he loves what he's doing and enjoys learning more about it, which, like I said makes things much easier. I guess if we wasn't super busy, we wouldn't be getting what we are paying for!!

Trips to Mesa:

It is SO nice to have multiple family and friends just 45 minutes away (and Jordan and her family who are even closer!!) to do things with. We try and make a trip down there once or twice a month, for sure to go to the temple and then to just hang out if we can make it down again. I love the Mesa temple and I can't wait to do a session. So far we've done baptisms and sealings, both with our friends Stu and Alyssa, which were both really awesome. Thanks to everyone who has invited us into their home and made us feel welcome here in Arizona!

(did you notice that one panel that is missing windows?

Weird huh?)

A Birthday

Today, Salomon the dog became 2 years old.

Halloween Spirit Cont... (pictures)

Here are all the pictures of my Halloween Spirit I was talking about.

DECOR:

Hanging ghosts (Cost= $2.50 total)

{Made from cotton balls taped together for the head and gauze for the rest. I already had cotton balls and tape, gauze was 2.50}

Bats (Cost= $.35 total)

Chair Cover ($2.50) & Spooky Tree ($1.00)

Witches Broom (Free) & Peeking Eyes ($1.00)

{The broom is made from a dead palm tree branch I found. I spray painted the stick part black with the spray paint I used on the tree and tied the leaves with the ribbon I already had}

I probably spent a total of $10 on these decorations but I still have leftover spray paint, ribbon and black paper to use for something else! It was a lot of fun and gave me something to do for a few days.

COSTUMES:

Brody decided to be Bill Cosby. I don't know much about him, but apparently he wears ugly sweaters and loafers with white socks. Well, when Brod found this afro wig at a thrift store and an ugly sweater to go with it, that's what he wanted to be. He already had loafers and white socks, so that was easy. We thought about painting his face brown, but thought that might not go over so well with some people.

Sydney gave me the idea to be a character from the movie Dodgeball. I liked this idea because it was basically free! Brody had some yellow b-ball shorts from high school and I had a yellow jersey he got me from Brazil, so it was perfect. I also had a red shirt to go underneath and a red headband. I just bought the material to make the label, the sweatband and the ball.

TREATS:

I made 4 new recipes for the first time and they all turned out pretty good, I must say! Hot apple cider, Halloween Fingers, Caramel Popcorn and Caramel Apples (with homemade caramel!) The fingers are made with butter, peanut butter and sugar (mmm healthy) with an almond slice for the fingernail and a pretzel in the middle for a bone.

I'll do another post later (after Halloween) about our Halloween activities

Halloween spirit

For some reason, I am really getting into the Halloween spirit this year. I've always liked Halloween, but I've never put much thought into any of the festivities. This year, maybe because of all the extra time on my hands, I've been busy conjuring up really cheap ways to make cute decorations (thank you google), planning costumes, treats, and carving pumpkins. Stay tuned for an update on all these things.

Also, I'm still accepting ideas for really cheap costume ideas for me and Brod. I haven't come up with anything good.

Question?

Why weren't prom dresses this cute when I was in high school?

{This is my little sister's friend/friend's little sister and her friends}

For those of you that don't have facebook...

Brody got accepted into the study abroad in the Czech Republic!! We'll be living in Prague for 6 weeks this coming spring. We are SOOOOO excited!!!

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Brody has applied to do a study abroad for 6 weeks next spring, and also for an internship for 3 months in the summer. He had to write a bunch of essays for the study abroad and they can only pick so many people, and he applied for a few internships in various locations, and is now waiting to hear back about whether or not he got it; just like a job. So we don't know what will happen, but we could be going somewhere really fun next year. We find out about the study abroad on Monday and who knows about the internships. I'm so excited to see what happens!!

Also, I got a job at a place called Home Instead Senior Care! I will take care of the elderly in their own house, if you couldn't gather that from the name. But I've also applied/interviewed with a few other places that will give me more and better hours and better pay, so I'm not really planning on this being my job for sure, but at least I have something for now!

In the meantime, we've been loving the nice weather, I feel like it's summer in Utah. We've been out on our mountain bikes once, but the trail wasn't nearly as fun as what we're used to. We'll just have to keep looking for something better. We also went to Oktoberfest with our friends last weekend in Tempe which was really fun. It was a great place to do some people watching and spend $5 for a hot dog- so $10 total for me and Brod (it was pretty good though- it was German style with loads of sour kraut. I loved it! But still, a hot dog for 5 dollars is ridiculous). There was a pretty bridge to look at and lots of entertainment. It was a fun night!

Also, we found an AWESOME park just 2 miles from our house. It's huge- 4 blocks wide and who knows how long! It has a ton of soccer fields, softball fields, volleyball nets, extreme playgrounds, probably 100 picnic tables and just really pretty scenery. It addition to all that, it also has.... a DOG PARK!! So we took Sal last night and it was pretty interesting. There were lots of dogs there and it was a big grassy area, so it was perfect for him. Or at least it should have been. He just sat there and stared at all the other dogs, drooling. It was so weird. So after 15 minutes, we left and the second we got home he started running in circles around our tiny 700 sq. ft. apartment. HELLO!! That's what the park was for!!!! Silly dog. We'll just have to take him back and get him used to it.