Updates...more later.

Since I've been the world's best blogger over the last month or so...I figured an update might be in order. I just wish I had pictures to complement this post. Unfortunately the camera I've had since my freshman year of college has all but kicked the bucket, and I'm hoping there's a new one hiding in a box under the tree!

We've had a couple fun things happen lately, we got a new couch the weekend after thanksgiving (this is one place a picture would be nice! Assuming the camera I've been hoping for comes in a couple days, I'll add pictures of all these things). The couch looked a lot smaller in the store than it does in our apartment, but it's comfy and we love it.

We also got a real live Christmas tree, and so far our cats have not knocked it over. This alone is impressive, and we've loved having a Christmas tree with all the lights and decorations. It's fun being festive and decorative. This year our tree is themed and probably will be until we have kids who bring home fun ornaments. At that point I'm sure we'll have a hodge-podge tree with lots of colors and shapes, but for now it's red and gold and beautiful!

Another fun update is that we got new cell phones, and new phone numbers. All who want my phone number, or Daniel's should e-mail me, because as much as I love the blogging community and trust those around me, I don't feel good about posting my phone number for all to see. My e-mail is aliavalon17@juno.com. Since we switched carriers, we were able to get a really good deal on cool touch screen phones. It has been a fun upgrade, even though I don't use very many of the features.

One last piece of noteworthy news is that I've had snow days! Obviously most of the US has had snow over the last week, but I have really enjoyed these days off. Last week I had Wednesday through Friday off, and I had yesterday off too. I had to go to work today, but it was 2 hours delayed, and we're going to be getting out early because of more snow coming and in honor of Christmas Eve. It has been so cozy staying home with Daniel and watching movies together. We've also gotten to spend a lot of time with my family playing games and eating together. As inconvenient as it was to have snow from November to May while we were living in Rexburg, it was blissful to have a nice break from work over this past week.

I'm now off from work and ready to enjoy another week of Christmas break. In case it isn't clear, I love having a job where we get snow days and Christmas break days.

Merry Christmas to all, and enjoy the season!

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Happy Birthday to my dearest Daniel!

In honor of this special day where Daniel turns 25, I'm going to share 25 things I love about him!

1. He's always got something funny to say.
2. He gives the best hugs.
3. He cooks delicious deserts.
4. He tucks me in every night.
5. He loves kids and is very good at playing with them.
6. He's a good example of patience to me.
7. He has the world's biggest sweet tooth.
8. He's always up for a date night, or a night in, cuddling and watching movies.
9. He watches Gilmore Girls with me and secretly loves it!
10. He loves grey rainy days.
11. He loves Mexican food and would eat it every meal if I let him.
12. Daniel has big dreams and plans on accomplishing them.
13. He is the most thoughtful guy I've ever known.
14. He loves anything and everything spicy.
15. He loves our cats, and pretty much every other animal. If I die first, he's going to turn into the male version of a cat lady.
16. He gets along so well with my family, especially my little brother.
17. He has strategy game nights each week with his guy friends.
18. He encourages me in everything I attempt, even if it's far fetched, and crazy!
19. He loves me unconditionally even if I can be tricky and difficult sometimes.
20. He's a worthy priesthood holder I know I can count on!
21. He's a swimmer, what's not to love about that!
22. He'll drop anything to help me, or the ones he loves!
23. He's a very loyal friend, and would never do anything to hurt me, or anyone!
24. He lets me call him 'Pup' (I have a well developed theory that guys in general are a lot like puppies. I'll share more about that some other time)
    
25. He surprises me with breakfast, creative romantic gestures (like a Christmas light chandelier which hangs in our kitchen)

So thank you Daniel for being a great husband and always loving me. Happy Birthday, and thanks for having your birthday on a day off, so I can spend the whole day with you!

Possible Opportunity

I may have a very neat opportunity coming up. My sister wants to go to New York City to visit her best friend who is currently attending NYU. Naturally my parents won't let her go by herself, and who better to accompany her, than an me? I think it would be a lot of fun to go, but a part of me is hesitant about being the responsible one on a trip like that. I've never been to a city that size, and being responsible for not only my own safety, but that of my sister is somewhat daunting. I'm sure we'd be fine, and that nothing bad would happen, but I just don't know how well I'd do as a chaperon in New York City. I've wanted to go to New York for a long time, but now that it's getting closer to the actual possibility of doing it, I'm a little anxious. I want to go, and it would be fun, but there's a part of me that really likes being comfortable, and this might be a bit of a stretch in my comfort zone. Not that that's a bad thing... I'm always saying I want an adventure, and this could be it. So far this is my pro/con list, so here we go...

Pros:
I would get to go to New York City (that alone is a treat)
Now is definitely the time to do this kind of thing, because I don't really have much tying me down. I've got plenty of vacation time, and no children to worry about. Daniel could definitely fend for himself for a week.
I would get to spend a week with my sister before she goes off to college and then who knows where.
Getting out of Washington in the middle of February is always a bonus.
I could possibly maybe see Wicked (which would be amazing!)
My favorite movie of all time (You've Got Mail) takes place there, so I would get to see some of the sights.
I have a feeling New York is magical, and I just may find out I'm right.

Cons:
I've never been to NY before, and I'm a little intimidated.
I have a feeling this trip could get quite expensive if I did everything I wanted, but I'm pretty sure I'd set limits...
I'd be gone for Valentines day...which really isn't a big deal since Daniel and I have never once actually gone out on a date on Valentines day. (we're more of the stay home and eat pizza type)

So dear readers, I turn to you (as I often do when I need advice). Would you go? Why? Convince me I'm brave enough to handle this!

Tagged!

My aunt Diane tagged me, and it's a good thing, cause I needed some inspiration for a new post!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago

1. I was in 7th grade at Washington Middle school
2. Going through the awkward hair stage (lots of frizz!)
3. Going through lots of other awkward stages...seems like that's what happens in middle school.
4. I played in Capital Area Youth Symphony
5. I played volleyball for school.

5 things on my To do list today

1. Fix the black skirt I'm in the middle of making. I fed it to the serger and now have to fix it. It was going so perfectly and I was almost done...I'm now taking a break to avoid too much stress/frustration. I'll post a picture when it's finished!
2. Clean out our bedroom closet...get rid of lots of old clothes to good will
3. Get my living room and kitchen presentable
4. Try and get our DVD player to work
5. Enjoy the weekend!

5 things I would do if I were a Millionare

1. Have a baby
2. Buy a house
3. Make sure Daniel gets through as much school as he wants
4. Get a masters degree in Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy (I'm still undecided)
5. Donate money to church funds and help those around me

5 places I have lived

1. Garden City, Kansas
2. Olympia, WA
3. Rexburg, Idaho
4. Gig Harbor Washington (for about 2 months)
5. Olympia WA (I haven't moved around much at all!)

5 jobs I have had

1. Babysitter Extraordinaire
2. Waitress/server at retirement home
3. Testing Center Nazi at BYU-Idaho
4. Admin. in Financial Aid Office
5. Student Loan and Collections Specialist

5 people I tag

1. Nicole
2. Meagan
3. Natalie
4. Cindy
5. Susan

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.

Pictures from the weekend

Daniel and I had a fabulous weekend, the only downside was that we were so busy! To start off the weekend, I went with Rachel to get a manicure. She went to homecoming this weekend, and needed somebody to go with her to the salon...obviously it wasn't a problem to join her! It was her first time getting a manicure or pedicure, and I think she liked it, I know I always do! Then later Friday night, Daniel's parents were driving up from Oregon and stopped by to take us out to Dairy Queen where we ran into my parents on their Friday night date.

Then on Saturday, we ran all over town getting costumes ready for the big Halloween party that night. We were planning on going as a frog and princess, but when nothing was working out for either costume, and we found ourselves in the middle of Goodwill, and Daniel had an idea, and there was no putting it to rest until it was carried out! Daniel decided we would go as an old couple...but not just any old couple, He wanted to be the Grandma, and I would be the grandpa. He found the perfect dress to wear (which isn't that easy considering Daniel's six-four, a little larger than the average grandma) and I had my makeup bag ready for him. Here are the pictures from our evening:

I never thought, or even wanted to see my husband like this! I'm glad it doesn't happen regularly!

I wish there had been shoes large enough to fit this grandma's feet!

My mom's attempts of making me into a grandpa...

Yes, these pictures are a little scary, and very wrong, but we ended up having a lot of fun at the party, and will definitely remember this night.

On Sunday we had the Primary Program, and it was stressful! I sat in the very front row on the stand with 4 energetic little sunbeams. Daniel had the easy ones in the second row. By the end, the two on the end were jumping off their chairs yelling hy-yah each time they were supposed to stand up to sing. I guess it's to be expected with sunbeams, but I sure felt like everybody was watching me wondering why I didn't have control over my class. They were all so cute though, that it was hard not to laugh at them. We ended up having a very laid back class with coloring and matchbox cars, and leftover goodies from primary. I think they enjoyed themselves and felt good about their program. Then last night, one of our littlest sunbeams left us a delicious loaf of garlic-herb bread and a thank you note. We were visiting my parents, so we missed him, but it's really sweet of him, and totally makes me love teaching those energetic adorable little boys!

Random updates

Daniel and I were in charge of the cub scout activity for all the boys this last week, and we had to make a quick stop at the store for refreshments on the way to the church. We were in a hurry, so we didn't want to waste time wandering around trying to find what we were looking for. Daniel found a store helper (I don't know what the official title is) and asked (this is a real quote) "if they had any of the cheap boxes of doughnuts that taste like crap and are waxy" Without missing a beat, the store helper replied "Oh, you mean Hostess?" That was exactly what we were looking for, and we were quickly on our way. I especially loved that the guy knew exactly what we were asking for, even though the description Daniel gave was some what abstract.

Life as of late has been very busy. I feel like we're on the go most nights each week, running around town and getting things ready for various church activities. Time is going quickly though. I love my new job, and really hope that I'm able to stay permanent here (Saint Martin's instated a hiring freeze which allowed me to begin my new position, but only as a temporary placement...hopefully everything will end well with that) Daniel's still doing well in his classes. He's in Economics, JAVA and C+. They're on-line this quarter, so the lucky boy doesn't have to take the bus this anymore.

And now for an update about future plans with regards to moving not. I'm sure some of you are still mildly interested if nothing else, So...(insert drum roll here...) After lots of thought, prayer, and pro's and con's, we have decided that Daniel will attend Saint Martin's for their spring semester. He'll get free tuition there, plus some financial aid. This is a deal that's hard to turn down, and since he's still finishing up some classes that will transfer when he goes to the more specialized program at UW-Tacoma there's no reason to pass this up. So things are looking good in Daniel's educational future. Hopefully everything will continue to fall into place and go smoothly for him.

We've got a couple Halloween parties coming up, and for days we've been stewing over what to dress up as. I thought we'd make a good John McCain and Sarah Palin, but Daniel disagreed. It was also tempting to go as Bella and Edward from Twilight...Daniel would make a good vampire...but again he disagreed. We finally settled on dressing up as a frog-prince and princess. I've got to get to work on figuring out these costumes! The first party is 2 days away! We'll make sure and get some pictures to share!

5 Unknown Facts About Yours Truly!

I've been tagged by my dear Aunt Susan, and I'm supposed to share unknown facts about me. I don't think of myself as a super private person, but I'm not exactly an open book either. Here goes:

1) When I was younger, I always wanted curly hair. I was totally jealous of cousins, friends or anybody who's hair curled. Then somewhere between 12 and 18 (the glorious years of puberty) my hair underwent a drastic transformation. It went from being smooth and straight to really uncontrollably frizzy to wavy to curly. I'm still in awe sometimes that I have curly hair. You wouldn't think it would still be surprising as it was pretty slow going to get to the end results, but it is.

2) My dream job is to be a floral designer. I took a floral design class my very last semester of college just for fun, and as a way to de-stress from the other 18 credits I was taking. I ended up loving that class, and if it hadn't been my last semester, I would have changed my major and done the floral design program. I don't know if it would have changed where I am now, since I'm not using my psych. degree at all, but it would have been fun to work with flowers each day!

3) I want to have a baby. I can think of a million and one logical reasons why it isn't a good time right now, or why we can't afford one, or why we should wait etc. but it doesn't change the fact that that's what I want to do. I really have no drive to progress in the business world, but it looks like I'll be holding my own for a couple more years until Daniel is done with school. At least I enjoy my job. Who knew collections could be fun?

4) I have never had a cavity. This is pretty trivial, but I think it's all because I had an excellent pediatric dentist. We got to play Nintendo in the waiting room, and each appointment we'd get prizes, and every 4 appointments without a cavity we'd get a cool "look at me I'm cavity free t-shirt" It made a lasting impression, and I feel very strongly about oral hygiene.

5) My dream vacation is to travel on a private yacht around the remote islands of the South Pacific. I can't think of anything more relaxing and enjoyable than a vacation like that. Before college, I was saving all my spare change for this trip. I had maybe $20 in change, but then ended up using it for laundry money. I guess that's what college is about, and it really wouldn't have gone very far anyway. I think it's time to start over and save my pennies...which brings me to another unknown fact about me: I hate touching money. Especially pennies. They make my fingers smell dirty and feel gross. Certain types of keys do the same thing. I always feel like I need to wash my hands after touching things like that. Perhaps it's a touch of OCD or something...

I'm pretty sure that was a good selection of unknown facts about me. If you've got any questions feel free to ask...I understand that inquiring minds need need to know!

Zip Codes

So far I'm really enjoying my new job. There is still a lot to learn, but I like the people I work with, and it is a new challenge. I will have significantly less free time (which will hopefully make the day go by more quickly) once I'm fully trained, but for now, I've still got some extra time on my hands, which leaves me opportunity to play one of my favorite games. This is a made up game, but it is still fun. On MSN, there is a weather link. One of my favorite things to do is punch in random five digit number combinations and see which ones are real zip codes. When my random numbers actually locate a real city somewhere, I get to see where it is, and what the weather is like. I also find out about towns I never knew existed. Has anyone out there heard of Tom Bean, Texas? or Whatley, Alabama? I hadn't either, but now I have. Try it sometime...if you enjoy random facts, and trivial pieces of information, this game may be for you!

My Sister the Superstar, Cubscouts, and Pizza

My sister Rachel had a soccer game on Tuesday, and while I wasn't there (because I was at cubscouts...more on that later), I got to read about it last night. I will also be going to her home game tonight to cheer her on!

The Olympian posted an article all about the game. Here are a couple highlights:

"The Cougars also had multiple scoring opportunities as the game progressed, only to see them stopped by Olympia’s goalkeeper, Rachel Green."

"Prior to her senior year, the 5-foot-5 Green was a three-year member of the junior varsity team, and got her first varsity experience during the second half of the Bears’ state playoff game against eventual-champion Eastlake last season. She finished Tuesday’s game with eight saves...
“That game goes to her,” Effland said. “It should not have been a shutout, but Rachel stopped those shots.”

I always knew my sister was a good goalie, but it turns out she's proven herself capable of a lot more! (She isn't however 5-foot-5, but you didn't hear that from me!)


Now, about cub scouts. Daniel and I were asked to be Den Leaders for the Wolfs (8 year old boys) in our ward's cub scout program. I always hated going to pack meetings for my brothers, and couldn't believe we had to do cub scouts in our ward. I kept dragging my feet and complaining while Daniel was a surprisingly good sport about it. Well, on Tuesday night, we had our first Den meeting. I went, I helped, and I even wore the shirt. Yes, Daniel bribed me, but I still wore the dreaded khaki shirt with who knows how many patches and emblems (This shirt was found in Daniel's parent's attic (I'm not sure who's it was originally, because I would never in a million years go spend money on a new presentable scout shirt!) Anyway, all in all, cub scouts wasn't nearly as bad as I'd worried it would be. It was actually kind of enjoyable. The kids played some get to know you games, and really the eight year old boys weren't nearly as sweaty/sticky/hyper/stinky as I thought they would be. They were actually kind of cute.

Lastly, we've been on a pizza making kick lately. Our best creation this far is our Pesto Delight. (I just made up that name). It has pesto (obviously) with mozzarella, Colby jack, Parmesan and olives on top. It's really quite delicious and it's fun making our own pizzas. Anyone who wants to try it can come over and we'll make pizza for you!

Wonderful Thursday!

A couple weeks ago I ordered a new mp3 player off of Woot! Since then, I've been waiting patiently for it's arrival and today it came. Daniel was home when it was delivered, and I gave him permission to hide it so it would be even more fun to get it. When I got home from work, he gave me a clue word. The word was "flower". All of a sudden, I realized how many floral things we have in our apartment. The couch we inherited from my grandma is floral, the quilt on the other couch is floral, and I have dried flowers and my wedding bouquet used as decorations all over. I started looking in the likely places but didn't find an mp3 player anywhere. I then noticed a couple things out of place in the kitchen and looked inside the bag of flour (really hoping it wasn't in there). I then checked the big cupboard under the sink, and this is what I found:














Apparently my subtle hints about the roses at Costco have paid off. It was a nice surprise and totally made my day. I love my mp3 player, and it came with some fun music already on it. It is refurbished, so I don't know if they forgot to wipe the hard drive or if it's sample music. Either way I'm pleased.

After much debate between my current office and the office I will be working for next, we finally established a start date. I'll start my new job on the 15th, so until then, I'll be enjoying my free time at work. After that, I may be a little busy, and won't have ALL DAY to look at blogs. We'll see how it goes. We're having a going away party for my boss at tomorrow, so I'm going to be making some cookies tonight. Happy Friday tomorrow!

New Job

It has been too long since my last post, but mostly because there has been a severe lack of excitement when it comes to our lives. There is one thing that is worthy of mentioning, and that is my new job. I applied for a different position (still with Saint Martin's) a couple weeks ago, and had an interview last Thursday. It turns out I was the top candidate, and the office I will be working for is excited to have me, and I'm excited to join them. My new title is Student Loan Specialist. This will have to do with what I've been doing the last year, but will include additional responsibility: including billing, and in-house collections. Along with this responsibility comes a larger desk, my own filing cabinets and...a pay raise! I probably won't get to start for a couple weeks because of internal complications (the transition isn't perfectly seamless on both ends, but it will work). So wish me luck as I move from one side of the building to the other, and from giving money to taking it. I'm sure I'm going to get yelled at, but I'll also get the satisfaction of turning delinquent accounts over to collection agencies. This could be fun!

Today is a special day.

Today is a special day. It marks the two year anniversary of when Daniel and I got married. There are many things I remember about it and I love looking back and remembering the happy moments. Here are a few highlights:

The sealer told us that it was crucial to our happiness to say "I love you" at least 100 times before we were 50. (I'm pretty sure we took care of that during the first week...maybe two)

I felt like a princess all day with my dress and tiara.

Daniel had roses for me when we got to our hotel. The next day we used them in my bouquet.

Daniel knew how much breakfast meant, so he had my favorite breakfast foods ready for me.

My wonderful uncle Don drove my grandparents all the way from eastern Washington to Portland. I will always be grateful for this, especially since it was the last time I got to see my Grandpa alive.

Before we all left the dinner after the wedding, my Grandma Brinkerhoff said quite loudly (but surprisingly innocently): "Alicia, now the next time you two come over, you can share a bed."

My Grandma Green flew in from Idaho (After she said she'd never fly again!)

My parents stuffed my childhood stuffed animal "Thumper" in my suitcase as a stow-away.

There are a lot more memories and things I could share, but these highlights are enough for a blog. I loved Daniel then, and I still love him now. Enjoy some pictures!

Parenting

This past weekend Daniel and I watched our two and a half year old niece Emma, and I have to admit, the whole parenting thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Emma is by no means a difficult child, but it was almost exhausting trying to keep up with her. Perhaps it's different when it's your own child, or when you've had it since it was a baby, but jumping in head first with a toddler was a lot of work.

Yesterday we were at the point where we were ready to send her back, see her in a couple weeks, but never babysit again, (and rethink having children ever). The funny thing, is that as soon as she left, we missed her and felt like we were missing a new part of our family. How does it work that we were so ready to be done, but the moment she was gone we missed it. She drove us crazy for a few hours, but one sweet hug and we were all hers. Is this what parenting is? Moments of complete adoration intermixed in the chaotic happenings of life? I know babysitting for 48 hours is a lot different than parenting, but I think I got a glimpse this weekend, and it was an interesting mixture of experiences and feelings.

Normalcy

I've been in a bit of a blogging rut as of late. There hasn't been anything really blog-worthy going on in our lives, so there has been a distinct absence of posts.

There are however several small things that I will use to make this post an attempt at interesting.

I have been crocheting. A lot. I've gotten half way through a baby blanket I'm making for a friend, and I'm about a foot maybe more into a regular sized blanket for me. I've gotten into this crocheting thing mostly because I've also gotten into Gilmore Girls. I know I'm about seven or eight years too late, but Rachel had borrowed season 1 from a friend, and while house/Pippin/garden sitting for my family while they're vacationing, I have been watching episode after episode, finally understanding why everybody loves that show. I now need to see if I can track down season two so I can finish my projects.

I have also been enjoying my parents garden. Their blueberries are perfect right now, and I LOVE having access to fresh fruit!

Daniel and I were called to teach the sunbeams class at church. This has been an interesting experience to say the least. Yesterday was our second class together, and I feel so inadequate as a teacher. I have no idea how to teach squirmy little three year olds (even if the topic is just "I'm thankful for my ears"). Especially when they're all boys...and when there are seven of them. It was somewhat more chaotic than I thought church would be, but I guess that's expected.

All in all, we're doing well. Daniel is still enjoying his classes, and being in school. I'm loving my summer work schedule. Last week the Dean was gone, and the Director began her cross country road trip, so the assistant director gave me a very flexible schedule which involved me leaving 2-3 hours early most days last week. I've also got a flex day tomorrow, so Daniel and I are planning on meeting his dad at Intel for lunch. I've heard they have an excellent cafeteria...and we're going to discuss Daniel's options about whether computer engineering or electrical engineering would be a better choice for the long run. I tend to tune out most of the conversation when they get talking about things like that (it gets a little too technical and over my head) but I should probably try to pay attention tomorrow.

Enjoy the sun, and stay tuned for more posts this week (hopefully)!

Pioneer Day

If I'm not mistaken, today is July 24th, which happens to be pioneer day. This isn't a big deal in Washington, but in other parts of the country (and by that I mean mostly Utah and Idaho) there are parades, and celebrations and ward breakfasts and other festivities. I don't have a day off to remember my pioneer ancestors, but I'm grateful for them nonetheless. I appreciate that they were willing to walk across the country for the things they believed in. I can only imagine what they went through during that journey, and I'm always in awe when I hear their stories, and read about their lives. Today I'm remembering the pioneers who did more than I think I could have, they sacrificed pretty much everything for the truth, and for that I'm grateful!

Six Words

I've been tagged. I now get to describe myself in 6 words.

1. Loving
2. Driven
3. Cheerful
4. Dreamer
5. Thoughtful
6. Supportive

I now tag:

Daniel (we'll see if he resents himself to make his first post) Serena, Nicole, Tiffany, and Maren, or anybody else who would like to participate.

Why is my life not a musical?

I just got back from watching Mama Mia, and I now sit here wondering why I am not in the middle of a musical. I'd love to go through life with a soundtrack and be a part of the singing and dancing. I know this seems very much unlike the Alicia most of you know, but the "Alicia that lives in my head, in a world where people don't judge your singing or dancing ability" (alter ego perhaps) would love nothing more than to be in a musical world...I'd even be the star!

I had such a hard time not singing along in the theater, and I now want to go buy the soundtrack to sing along with in the car. As I write, I'm listening to songs on youtube...(which will work for the time being).

My favorite musicals are:

1. Wicked
2. Camelot
3. Mama Mia
4. The Sound of Music
5. Children of Eden

What are yours?

One Year ago Today...

A year ago, I was here:

Excited about this:

I've officially been a college grad for a year now. Here are a few things I've been contemplating.

1. Afternoon naps were something to be treasured...they no longer happen with a full time job.
2. College life has a certain sort of simplicity to it. Of course we were poor, and had worries, but it seems like most of my concerns were all school related.
3. Now that I'm done, I occasionally wonder why I worked so hard to get done so fast. Sometimes being a grown up isn't all that fun!
4. Working full time leaves a lot of free time in the evening. Which should mean I have a cleaner apartment...
5. Best of all, I have accomplished a major goal. I worked hard, and enjoyed the ride, and am now at a different, more grown up point in life. So I'll enjoy where I am now, but remember college fondly. I loved BYU-Idaho, and Rexburg was an adventure. I had good friends, and met Daniel there. The Rexburg Taco Time was the best in the whole world, Craigo's had the most delicious pizza, and there was a SONIC. (Sonic is one thing that gives Vancouver a boost on the decision scale). We lived so close to Smith park, that we took walks around the park around dusk each night, dodging sprinklers, and talking about our not so distant futures. Life was simple, and life was sweet.

A Fork in the Road.

This whole post needs to be prefaced by an explanation of our current situation. After I graduated from BYU-I almost a year ago, Daniel and I moved back to Washington, without definite plans of what we'd do next. We knew that I would find a job, and Daniel would still go to school hopefully for Electrical Engineering, but we didn't have exact plans or locations. When I got the job with Saint Martin's, it seemed like the perfect way for Daniel to get his education. After being employed for a year my spouse/dependents would get free tuition ($23,810 a year!!). The only problem was that the closest program they offered to what Daniel wants to do is Computer Science. We tossed the idea around, but didn't feel like it would be the best fit.

The next option we considered was the Computer Engineering program at UW Tacoma. This would be close enough to where we're living that Daniel could have a reasonable commute and even take the bus to save money. Again, not the perfect program, but I enjoy my job 85% of the time, and we're close to wonderful family and we both like where we're at right now.

Last weekend, while discussing plans with Mike and Cindy, they about had us convinced to save every penny for the next while so we could get into a house in Tacoma and be neighbors. Now this would be fun, but after looking at homes in the more desirable areas of Tacoma, we figured we would have to be saving for quite a while before anything like that might actually happen. On one particular real estate page, we had houses pulled up, and were trying to get them to sort from the lowest price to the highest, instead of the other way around. When the page started loading, the cheapest houses were at the top. The cheapest houses were also not in Tacoma, or really anywhere close to it. They were in Vancouver. We thought it was kind of weird, but kept looking at all these houses in Vancouver. I then remembered that there was a WSU Vancouver campus, which might have a program Daniel would be able to do, so we live in an area where we could afford a house. We pulled up the website, and there, announcing clearly, an Electrical Engineering program starting in Fall of 2008. This is such a perfect educational opportunity for Daniel, and we both Love the Portland/Vancouver area, that it would be a great place to live. The drawbacks: we would be moving a couple hours away from our family friends, my job, and our comfort zone. With all this in mind, we're now facing a decision. A lot has to do with whether we could find jobs down there, and when Daniel will transfer to UW-Tacoma or WSU-Vancouver(August or January).

So we face a fork in the road... Do we choose Tacoma with it's almost good enough academic program, and family close by, or Vancouver, which would be the program to set Daniel up for his dream job (and hopefully dream salary) later on in life, but venture a couple hours away from family with whom we love to spend time. So I open it up to you, avid readers. There is a poll on the right side where you can vote, and while we won't base any decisions off of the poll, it is fun to see what other people think, and please share comments or insights we may not have thought of. All advice is welcome!

Blessed

After enjoying a fabulous 4th of July weekend, and finding myself half way through this week, I'm looking back on the week in review, and I feel blessed.

Today I'm grateful for:

the freedoms I enjoy each day

a job with excellent coworkers

beautiful summer weather

summer skirts and shoes

fresh fruits and vegetables and

my parents letting us borrow their economy car while they're out of town.

I also have pretty much the best family in the world. Daniel and I got to go to my Uncle Richard's lake cabins for the 4th of July. I've been attending these activities for several years now, but this was by far the best. Somehow we had the right combination of people, and it was a blast. Even while we were just sitting around talking and laughing, I had tons of fun. I also had a chance to get to know my cousin Lisa and her beautiful daughters better. It was so fun to have a baby to hold, and sweet Elisabeth was the best!

My favorite part of the 4th of July was sitting with Daniel, wrapped up in a blanket watching the fireworks. It was so fun to be giddy with excitement as each one went off in the not so distant sky. I felt like a child, ooooohing and awwwwing with each explosion. Really though, what better way to celebrate our independence than with beautiful, powerful shows of light?

After the magnificent fireworks display which was well documented by my cousin Donald and uncle Mike, Daniel and I headed from Mason Lake to Gig Harbor to stay with his parents. We pulled in pretty late, but were able to enjoy Saturday with them. We did little snake fireworks with Emma, my darling 2 year old niece. It's always fun visiting Daniel's parents and getting our little kid fix for a while. On Saturday evening, we left Gig Harbor and headed over to Mike and Cindy's for an evening of Karaoke. We started out doing an American Idol Tournament, but it was slow going and could only include 8 people (mostly children with short attention spans). After calling the tournament a draw after my final performance of "Can't Hurry Love" which had a real 'twist' to it, we opened the game for quick play. We then got to enjoy Susan's rocking performance of "Satisfaction", Heidi and Jeff's amazing duet of "Bohemian Rhapsody", and several other disco, rock, pop and r&b hits. I had a wonderful time, and I'm so glad to have been surrounded by such amazing people. Really, my family is the best!