First week of school, not dead yet!

Well, like Andrew said last week was our first week of school. Holy smokes, what a crazy week! I'm not even sure where to start. School is fun. It will be a lot of work, but with such a smart husband as Andrew I think I will make it through alright. It is funny, He and I had such grand plans for school before it started. Our mornings were going to consist of: Wake up early, bike into town, go to the gym, attend classes, bike home, do homework and get ahead for the week, make dinner, go on an evening walk or watch a movie, then get to bed early so that then next morning would run flawlessly. Once a week we planned to go to the Temple. Now doesn't that sound ideal?  This is how our days really go: wake up to Andrew's phone alarm which is on the other side of the room, ignore it, wake up 3 min later to a different alarm he set, turn it off, 3 min later wake up to the only alarm that I wanted to wake up to which I set (All three of these alarms don't even ruffle Andrew, he sleeps right through the onslaught of annoying beeps and bells), we get out of bed, rush to finish the homework we were too tired to get to the night before, sprint out the door and pray to find a parking spot for class. We literally run to classes, go to work, come home beat, and struggle through a fourth of one homework assignment, then crash. I made it to the gym twice last week and Andrew only made it with me Saturday night and there was no way we could have made it to the Temple. This sounds much less ideal, but much more realistic. Andrew no longer works at Wingers and I want to cut my hours at the Rex even more so that I can put more time into my salon. He has a better job and the salon pays infinity better than the minimum wage. Both jobs have better hours so in theory we will have more time in more convenient times of the day... In theory... Either way it is better money. Oh Andrew and I got invited to a BBQ at the Bishop's house this last Sunday! It was us and a few other families. It was so much fun! The other families each had at least three children. Andrew and had the most fun playing Crack the Egg with them out on the tramp. They were just so funny! We went inside to socialize with the adults (and to get dessert), we were in there about five minutes when our little neighbor girl came in to ask us to come back out and help her crack Aaron (the bishop's son who is 7 years old). I am glad the kids like us because they will be seeing a lot more of us. We have just been called to be primary teachers of the 5 year old class. Both Andrew and I are excited! We want to have little parties for when they pass off articles of faith or if they all remember to bring their scripture or something. I have substituted for this before. I was supposed to be teaching the Christmas story but we ended up having a class on why climbing out the church windows during class was not the best idea and why daddy would be unhappy if we had to get him out of boring adult Sunday school to help make sure the window exit was not used.  Hopefully this time will go a bit better than when I was a sub.
Andrew and I had quite the adventure yesterday! The coyotes are getting worse and worse. Our neighbor got so sick of their yipping the other night he took his gun and drove down to shut some of them up. I didn't think he would really find any but he was ready to blast anything that moved. What he did find was the actual den of about ten coyotes just off the hill on our second field. He told us about it at the BBQ. Sunday night was ridiculous! I could head the yipping clear down stairs! So yesterday Andrew, the neighbors, his gun, and I headed down to shoot us a coyot.  None were home, but we found two large dens. We will watch and see if we need to call the Fish and Game department to evict them. Oh wow it was an entertaining night!
I kinda broke Andrew's car window a few nights back. Well... it wasn't really me... I blame the rain. Either way it was stuck a fourth of the way down. He and I are going to the temple today in IF (Idaho Falls) so he wanted to fix it. Right now he is out there fighting with his door panel in the Rexburg windstorm. Wow he is so attractive! :) I like him. Ha ha K Off we go!!

A very hectic week.

 School has started! Can you tell? We haven't blogged since. Haha, its been nuts trying to adjust to the extra time consumption. Erin and I are taking two block classes. Its only 6 credits, but we're doing it in half the time, so its a 12 credit work load. So we're going to school basically full time, working, and trying to get things done at the house, not to mention trying to make it to the gym and the temple! We're a busy couple... (PS. Erin just squawked at me, like Kevin in "UP.") Our professors are really cool. Sister Moon, is super fun and energetic. And reminds me a lot of my mom when she taught seminary. We are divided into companionship's and have districts and she's the Zone Leader. Its fun. I love talking about church stuff in Math class... Brother Kinghorn is our D&C professor. He's actually the older brother of our Bishop and the Son of President Kinghorn who sealed us in the Temple. He's really funny, which makes the 2 hour class go by a lot of faster. Anyways, School is going good. We're already counting down the days until its over though.
We finally made it to the gym on Saturday and spent 2.5 hours lifting and swimming, oh it felt great... I really love the gym and hope to make it a little more frequently than I have the last few weeks. The bad part is, my meal portion sizes are like I'm going to the gym everyday, but I'm not... I see bad things with that formula. So, I have two options. Eat less, or go to the gym more. And with Erin's excellent cooking, I have only one choice, more gym... Well, that's all for this post, until next time....

A busy Monday

Well , I'm officially a US Government Employee, well I think... Haha. I'm working for the Census Bureau as an Enumerator, the guy who has to go around door to door and find out why they haven't filled out the census. I'm pretty excited about it. Its good pay, and flexible hours. I talked with Erin just before I left the house (she claims she doesn't remember a word of it), and then was on the clock at 730am until I got home at 1pm. Pretty nice. But the whole day was just paperwork and fingerprinting... They now have two copies of everyone of my fingers in every direction and together as one. It was nuts, ink all over me! If I ever do anything dumb they'll know it was me for sure, no way I could I hide now. Lol. But after taking oaths and filling out a ba-jillion papers, I'm officially hired on. Pretty exciting. We should have work at least until the 18th of June, which is around when Erin and I will be leaving to Florida.

Well its Tuesday now, and we have our first class in about an hour and a half! I'm really excited, actually. I usually am, but this is different, I don't know... Maybe its just because its been a while since I've had to really think... Haha, I've been on auto-pilot the last 4 months... Zombie Mode. Lol, I'm just messing. Anyways, I'm going to go get things ready for school! We'll let you know how it goes!

Run away internet!

Don't worry, despite rumors you may have heard my cooking did not kill us off....at least not yet. We haven't blogged for a while because our internet disappeared! We found it again... obviously. So here we are!This week... WOW! Where to start?!
 Andrew and I wanted to go on a bike ride. His bike had been shipped from Florida so we had to put it back together. His pedals wouldn't thread right but we were in a  hurry to get out on the road. Andrew got the pedals in just enough to pedal and we were off! We went to a dirt trail out in Hibbard. The trail consists of a few jumps, and a five foot mound. I went off the jumps and took off up the mound. I thought Andrew was behind me but I looked back and saw him fly over his handle bars and do a creative roll to avoid getting smashed by his bike. I guess one of his pedals came off  and in order not to die he had to tuck and roll. I sat on my bike at the top of the hill till he got the pedal mostly back on. I came down and watched him attempt the mound again. This time  he made it up and only lost one pedal. I ran to get it but he started freaking out about ants and that there was a big ant hill where he was standing (where I had been standing moments before) He stared yelling that I had pissed them off and to move so he could come down. I was in the way  because I was being a loving wife and went to get the pedal. I would have moved if I could.... But I was laughing so hard that I could hardly stand. He ended up chucking his bike and sprinting like a mad man down the hill shaking his feet vigorously whenever they left the ground. That only made me laugh harder. He looked so silly!! The ants had climbed up his leg and it turns out that Andrew HATES ants. He hates them more than spiders. I couldn't stop laughing! We went to our neighbors and they helped us get his pedals on right. While we where there we asked about our house key. My mom had given them one when she and my dad left just in case something happened to the house. We had never gotten it thus we were locked out of our house twice in one week. They gave us the key and we promptly went out and made copies.
I went back to work last week too. It was super slow so I started to do some deep cleaning. When my boss saw what I had done he wanted the rest of the place to look that clean so the whole staff had the awful chore of deep cleaning the theater. It was super crazy and I felt bad for them. I have been working crazy hours because we only have one car now, I have to get off when Andrew can come pick me up. We live so far out in the country that we only make a few trips into town a day. So the trips are packed with things to do. I was going to ride my bike home (a 45 min bike ride) Saturday but my wonderful co-worker wouldn't hear of it. We stuffed my bike into her van and headed out to Hibbard. She dropped me off and I went around back to unlock the house with the copies we had made with the key. It didn't work. I tried everything! Sadly I was just as locked out as I had been without the copies. :( Grrr, grumble, and unhappy faces! Andrew had left for work an hour before but I had no choice. I called him. My wonderful husband was able to get off of work in Idaho Falls (30 min away) and come to unlock the house. Only after we had gotten inside I found the real house key in my work bag. BLA! All that for NOTHING!!! Good grief, I was so tired that I had completely lost my mind. Although it was wonderful because I was able to have another adventure with my perfect husband! So losing my mind wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. 

What really happened Sunday

My version of the weekend was a bit different than Andrews. I don't remember much because I was sick of most of it... But Sunday was really fun! I was sick for most of the morning but I really wanted to get some fresh air. Andrew had been talking about Florida and the beach lately. He seemed to miss it, so I thought that I should share my beach with him. About a mile behind out house we have a river. there is a spot, once you crawl through the willows, where the river front trails off into a rocky beach. Probably the best "beach" in Rexburg. So we took a Sunday walk down though the woods, to the river. It was a lot of fun! We skipped rocks played in the mud/sand and just sat and talked. I knew it was spring and that this was a time to avoid the river bottoms because the moose would be mating or calving. Either of which is not safe for people to be around. Because of this, I was on high alert. Every little noise set me off and I would flip around to see what is was and how close it was, if I should talk off running or not move a muscle. The whole way down I was like that. I felt safe at the beach because it is completely surrounded by willows that grow very close together. If there was a moose, I doubt it would bother trying to get to the water by route of the beach. With hours of no moose appearing I was pretty sure that we were fine. After all I had come to the river hundreds of times before with little trouble. It helped that I had a dog with me then, but this time I was dog less and stupid. I thought on our way back that it would be fun/romantic to walk through the deeper part of the forest. Andrew and I were laughing and having fun when I heard a branch break. I whorled around to see the large black shape of a cow moose very close to us. Four thoughts dashed through my head. #1 does she have calves, if so, where are they? #2 remembering when my dad had gotten charged by a cow moose when I was younger and what he had done to stay safe. #3 That this moose was massive and maybe ten feet from us. #4 Oh frick.
My body somehow suddenly became very far from that animal. I was walking quickly in the other direction as fast as I could walk. But Andrew was not beside me. I panicked and looked back. He was still sanding there! Then he started to walk in my direction. Once we were far enough away I asked him what he had been doing. He said, "Well, I was going to take off with you but then I realized that I wanted as much distance between you and the moose as possible and that I should make sure you were safe before I moved. I wanted to be between you and the moose." :) What an amazing and brave man I married!! He is just so amazing I can't get over it! But that is what really happened Sunday evening.

A typical weekend.

Oh what an exciting weekend! Lets start with Saturday. I didn't get home until super late Friday so I slept in until 10 30! It was great. But then we had to get going... We finally got everything out of our old apartments and are officially moved out. The moving in part is a slow progress, but the turtle always beats the hare in the stories, right? Anyways, when we finally got back to the house we unloaded the car and then discovered that we locked ourselves out of the house! Erin got really freaked out when I was at work and locked the door knob part of the door, which we forgot to unlock when we left. Normally that wouldn't be so bad, but we don't have any keys! After about an hour we got a hold of a member out here, who owns a locksmith company, and he quickly put an end to our troubles.
I had to leave for work shortly after making it inside, so I quickly got ready. Erin hadn't been feeling good at all for most of the day, so I was a little concerned for her. So, I tucked her into bed and got everything she needed for the rest of night. I ended up getting off a little early and wanted to surprise Erin, so I drove all the way home and to my dismay she was no where to be found! I started to panic thinking she was abducted, or collapsed in a bathroom somewhere, or called an ambulance; so I made several phone calls to try and find her. After about 10 minutes Erin calls me: "Hey, you're home early; I'm at the gym."  . . .  The gym... Apparently she loaded up on drugs and needed to get out of the house. Fun times.
Sunday was equally as exciting! Erin again wasn't feeling that great, so I went to church alone. But when I got back she needed some fresh air so we went for a nice long walk down to the river. It was such a peaceful time until on our way back we hear a branch break in the woods and see a huge moose! Erin freaked out and ran away, while I played it cool and told the moose I met her second cousin while I was in Alaska and she wanted me to tell her Hello. What a wonderful world we live in.
That's all for tonight; no poems... sorry folks, maybe next time!
-Andrew

Now I know how married men get fat...

Erin is an amazing cook! and every morning I wake up to her bubbling smile to tell me that breakfast is ready! Every morning is a lavishly prepared full course meal, definitely a step up from the oatmeal and Frosted Mini Spooners I was living off of while I was single. Today was Waffles (I had 3), Cornbread (I love cornbread), 2 eggs, a tall glass of Milk, and a little glass of OJ, oh! and a banana. Doesn't that just sound yummy? Well trust you--me: it was! This is just breakfasts, Dinners and Lunches are just as elaborate if not more. So, basically I will grow up to be a very fat man, like many others, if I do not go to the gym! About which I will write a poem.

The gym, oh I miss,
Your smell and heavy iron,
Please come back to me.

Just a short Haiku for your reading pleasure. Hope you enjoyed it!
-Andrew

White Glove Part II

Well darn! My hands hate me. So it turns out that in order for Andrew to get his cleaning deposit back we had to go through white glove part two. Not near as bad… but worse in some ways. Does that even make sense? All we had to clean was the oven, microwave, windows and table. I started on the oven as Andrew went to fix up his room. They had this oven cleaner that was supposed to work miracles. I sprayed all over and started scrubbing. It didn’t work. I sat and scrubbed one spot for… I swear, a million years. Andrew came out and pointed out that it said on the bottle to spray, let sit for ten minutes then scrub. Bla. I tried it again, but this time followed the directions. It worked SO much better! It was amazing! You could just rub away anything! In the middle of my joy my fingers started to burn. I look down and saw blood! The stupid cleaner had cleaned the skin right off my bone! Ouch!!! Suffice it to say, Andrew cleaned the rest of the oven. We finished right on time but the woman who had to check us off was twenty minutes late. We were just about to leave as she showed up. My goodness, this woman was crazy! The oven wasn’t shinny enough for her, so she had us clean it again with Windex. Even after we had re cleaned it she went through and did it all herself! What was the point of us cleaning it in the first place?! She did this with everything she checked. No wonder she was so late to apartment. She must be getting paid by the hour. But no doubt that every apartment look superb by the time she way through with them! My finger is still mad at the world. We came home then I dropped Andrew off for his car pool to work. Oh!!! He got the job with the census place! It pays a lot better and it is better timing. If the bank job works out we will be set! I am so excited for him! …I just hope I still get to see him between all his jobs and all my jobs and school… Well, there is always Sundays!
I think I am going stir crazy sitting in this house with nothing to do but clean some more. AH!!!! I have been cleaning all week!!! Hummmm… I think I will go to the gym then come back and clean! The gym makes everything better.

Swimming/white glove

Andrew took me swimming Tuesday. He was trying to teach me free style... I started to swim a lap about a fourth of the way Andrew started swimming. He passed me before I got close to a half of the way to the middle of the pool. He was waiting at the other end as I kept trying to move in the water. I ended up sucking in half the pool so I gave up. I just went all the way under and swam the rest of the way to Andrew. When I came up he said that what I had just done had the makings of the breast stroke. So he told me the basics and showed me the stroke. I tried it and swam a whole lap!! I SWAM!!! I looked silly, I'm sure. But the point is I can kinda swim!! We worked on this stroke the rest of the time and I want to try again soon if we have time. It didn't hurt my foot and it sure got my heart rate up! I am so excited! Andrew was really proud of me. He said I had the build to make a really good swimmer at that stroke. He wants us both to join the swim team. Ha ha! I told him I would join the swim team if he joined the cross country team with me. Or at least the track and field team. He just laughed. But we will see...
Yesterday went well.... ish... I made Andrew grits, eggs, ham, and toast. (I guess I made a bit too much cause he had to leftovers for breakfast today) Then we looked on line for an hour or so to find him a closer job. There was an opening at Wells Fargo as a part time teller in Rexburg. That would honestly be perfect. There were a few others... maids at hotels and such... the hours were from 11 pm till 7am. :( I don't like that idea but we wrote it down just in case. Please pray that this whole job hunt goes well.
My white glove was yesterday. UHG. Chris (my apartment manager) gave me the bathroom to clean. I told the girls the night before to get there stuff out and be finished using the bathroom by 12. That is when Andrew and I would be coming out to clean it. Despite my request stuff was still left in the draws and the shower. I set everything out in the hall and Andrew and I went to work with blue towels, scrapers, and a whole bunch of bleach water. We couldn't find any other cleaner and I knew bleach would kill anything that was living there. Andrew took the high stuff and I go the low stuff. On the cleaning list it said to scrub the mold off the walls. We took the window blinds down and the whole window was black. The mold was sporing! It had climbed all the way up into the fan where we couldn't reach. The same black mole was in the draws, cupboards, and toilet. No wonder everyone was getting sick this last semester! We scrubbed till paint started to come off. We couldn't open the door cause I was cleaning the draws directly behind them. The fums were awful. After two hours of this, random spots on my hand started to sting very badly. I looked closer and saw that the bleach was eating away my flesh. I asked Andrew if this was happening to his hands. It was but not as bad. He has "Man Hands," or so he says. I found some gloves and gave one to him. Another hour passed and Andrew started saying that his head hurt. We couldn't open the door yet so we just kept working. I was basically inside the cupboards and draws trying to clean them. All I could smell was bleach. Finally after four and a half hours the bathroom was finished! That darn bathroom sparkled. I had already cleaned my room so we went and got Chris. She checked us off. Andrew and I went straight to Cragos. (Thank you Amanda!) My head began to be sensitive to light as we drove away. When we got to Cragos the pasta I was eating had the after taste of bleach. My stomach was not doing well. By the time we left my head no longer felt as if it was attached to my body. Light, smells, and noises were sources of great annoyance to me. But it was such a beautiful day! I asked Andrew to drive out to the Plano bridge. The water was low and we sat on the rocks under the bridge and watched the sun set. OUCH. It was just as beautiful as it was painful. When I got home I went to lay down for a quick nap. Andrew was a sweet heart and came with me. He watched a movie while I slept. The alarm went off but there was no was I was going to be able to move. My head had just gotten worst. Andrew brought me some pills and I crashed for the rest of the night. When Andrew finally came to bed he said that my roommate Beth had been calling my phone, after no one answered she called his phone. (I don't even know how she got his number) She was mad that we had put all the stuff in the hall way. She wanted us to come back and put it away. Ha ha! That made me laugh. I had warned them. But really you would think that the spotless bathroom would make her happy. The best part was that she had already put everything away when she called. Go figure, it was all her stuff. Whatever Beth. I am so grateful that I like my roommate now.
This morning I was fine! A bit sleepy but I will live. I woke up at 6 and fixed up the left overs for Andrew and made his lunch. He worked the morning shift today. 9 till 4. I am excited to make dinner! I got this cook book with really simple, step by step instructions. It was written with "students, missionaries, and nervous cooks" in mind. The ingredients are cheap and we already have most of them. This will be a fun adventure!
I need to clean the things from my apartment up that we dumped in our living room so that we can clean out Andrew's apartment today after work. His roommates are so cool! I like them much better than I like mine. They are cleaner, nicer, and a lot less dramatic and mine! They even said that he doesn't have to worry about coming for white glove!
We obviously didn't get to swim yesterday. So hopefully get to swim tonight after we clean out his stuff from his apartment. We want to lift weights too. My foot is doing better so I have hopes of going on evening walks with Andrew soon... maybe even a few mile run... We will see.
~Erin