Our home in St. George

We made it. We are here in beautiful St. George, Utah and ready to enjoy our next year here. We drove up last Saturday from Tucson. Our brother-in-law Troy flew down just to help us drive up. Lucky him, he was the one in the big Budget truck. The drive went very smooth and we made it up here in pretty good time. We were all a bit nervous for Troy during the whole drive, but he did well and the truck did well (except for the air conditioning going out). This week Ryan and I have been unpacking, hanging up decorations, spending way too much money and touring the city. It has been so nice to be able to spend this week together and get settled into our new home.

We really like our new home. It is very spacious compared to our last place. As we were unpacking, we realized we had plenty of stuff to fit into a 3 bedroom. I have no clue how I got it all into a one bedroom. I must be more organized than I think. There are definitely some quirks about the place. The last renter did something crazy to our walls, so there are big miscolored spots all over our walls. They're in weird places too- it's not like they hung up a picture and filled in the hole. We're not sure what happened. We're trying not to worry about it and it's less noticeable with our pictures up. Overall, we are excited about our new place and have plenty of room for visitors. So, please, feel free to drop by if you need a place to stay.

We really enjoy St. George already. Each day as we drove around, we both grew to love the city more. It's extremely smaller than Tucson and it feels so much more like home. We're excited about living here, nervous about work, but it should be good. Due to requests, we have posted a slideshow of pictures of our home. It's hard to capture everything in a picture, but I tried my best. We still have some decorating to do, but this is it for now!

Update

I know, I know, it's been way too long since we actually paid attention to this thing. It's not like we don't have anything to report on, it's just that we've been busy. Ryan has been busy trying to finalize everything with his last semester of actual school work. He has different comprehensive exams he has to take, a national exam and he has to finish up his thesis project. He's been super busy with that and trying to balance it with his calling at church. I have been busy with work as usual, but when I do get a day off, the last thing I think about is this blog. But here we are. Ready to give an update of what we've been up to...

As most people know, we're moving to St. George, Utah next month. In March, we took a week off during Ryan's spring break to visit family and find a place to live. We took our trip up slowly and stopped to see two of my brothers and their families on our way up to St. George. That was a lot of fun and we're so happy we were able to spend time with them. Our time in St. George was super stressful, but we found a place to rent for a year. We're really excited about it. It's a 3 bedroom/2 bath town home with a 2 car garage. We can't wait to actually have some space to live. We figured after living in a one-bedroom apartment since we've been married, we can spoil ourselves and upgrade. And we're hoping to have space so we can have lots of visitors. Consider this a standing invitation! After our time in St. George we decided to rush up to Utah County to see some more family. Plus, we hadn't been to Utah since Oct. 2007, so we were excited to go back. We got to spend time with one of Ryan's sisters and her family and Ryan's mom. We also saw the rest of my brothers and their families (except one brother was missing, but his family wasn't). All in all, it was a successful, fun trip.

My bro Jeff and his wife Shar

We're planning on moving away from Tucson next month. We're aiming to leave around May 15th. It all depends on my work situation. Yes, I am getting a transfer. It has been such a hassle to get a transfer. I had no idea it would be this difficult. The Human Resource manager I've been "working" with up in Utah is brand new and has no clue what she is doing. I tried to contact her numerous times and didn't hear anything back. When we were up in Utah, I decided to just drop by the Wal-Mart market office to see if I could catch her. Luckily, it worked, but she gave me the run around and said it would be hard and that I needed to get some higher up's approval. So, I did. No big deal right? That was easy. I call her back- she tells me there are no openings in St. George and asks if I would be willing to step down and take a lower position (ie- cashier, not really a cashier but probably something similar). I told her I couldn't do that. She told me to call the store managers to see if they needed an assistant manager, yep, her job. So, I did. No big deal. The store manager I talked to was great and he put the wheels in motion up there. So, 2 weeks later, a few phone calls and unanswered emails, I finally found out that I got the transfer. I have a place to work in St. George. I'm so glad. We don't have any other specific details. I'm just glad I don't have to stress about not having a job.

So, slowly our move is finally in motion. We can't wait to get up there. I have a feeling this year isn't going to be super fun. Ryan is starting a new job and that's never fun. I'm starting at a new store, that's not easy. I'm just excited for a new start. It feels like we're getting out of the playing house stage and actually becoming established. It will also be nice to feel more settled and we'll hopefully be staying in the area for a while.

In other news, my store that I work for won Neighborhood Market of the Year for our Region (a few states in the west) and our Division (all the western states) and there was a nasty, humongous cockroach in our shower this week.

Things That Are Awesome

The following are things that Ryan currently thinks are awesome. They are not necessarily, however, listed in order of awesomeness.

#1: My Skull Sweater

I was at the mall with Schuyler earlier this month and I was in the middle of telling her that I was tired of skulls on every shirt. I mean, skulls were maybe cool in 2007, but not any more. We then happened to enter Aeropostale and stumbled across a skull sweater all alone on a rack full of pants. A check of the price tag revealed that the skull sweater was marked down from $79.50 to $9.99. I couldn't stop laughing about the sweater and I pretty much had to buy it, despite Schuyler's protests. Blurry picture warning (it's the price tag):

#2: Hand Held Yahtzee

I've always loved Yahtzee. My sister Patrice and I used to play Yahtzee all the time. We even kept our old scorecards and would occasionally examine them to see who had the all-time highest score and such. Well, just this last month, I found that Schuyler has been holding out on me and actually OWNS an electronic hand-held Yahtzee. I've been in heaven ever since.

#3: The Biggest Loser

Schuyler and I have a DVR and we record a lot of shows. Of all the reality shows we watch, the Biggest Loser is my favorite. This particular season has been fun so far -- two teams of Mormons?! I'm hooked.

Happy New Year

We'd like to explain our last post. The pictures were of a "saint" and a "george" implying that we're moving to St. George this May for Ryan's externship. We are so excited to get back to Utah, be closer to family and still have warm weather. Sorry if those pictures frightened anyone. Boy George was especially scary, that's why we chose him.


In other news, we had a wonderful Christmas. We wish we could have been with family, but we had a blast with just the two of us. We enjoyed a nice Arby's dinner for Christmas Eve. We were going to cook a roast, but got too lazy that night, so Arby's was our solution. I promise I'm not that bad of a wife usually. Christmas day we slept in, opened presents and saw the movie Doubt.We really liked the movie and even got free movie passes from it because of technical difficulties during the film. For Christmas dinner we grilled steak and shrimp (that's become our Christmas tradition). Hopefully in the next few years we'll be able to host Christmas at our house.

And the winner is...

December Update

We wanted to show you what we've been up to so far in December.

Ryan's mom came down for a quick one-day visit. It was so fun to spend time with her and Doug.

We spent most of the day at the Desert Museum. It's like a zoo, but it has the animals in their natural habitat. So you're pretty much just walking through the desert.

We watched a free-fly bird show- meaning there were wild hawks flying above us and swooping at us. If you look closely at this picture of Ryan, you can see the bird in the background. This was not my favorite part of the day. As you can see, Ryan was ecstatic. He loves the zoo.

Behind us is the cutest fox in the world. I fell in love with him. He was just so cute.

We've also been enjoying the Christmas season. We went to my work Christmas party on the 11th. It turned out well, even though it took place in our backroom. I got spoiled by the associates with gift cards and a winning lottery ticket ($5)!

Ryan also braved the drug wars going on in Nogales, Mexico to provide audiological services. Basically he volunteered to help get hearing aids to needy Mexicans.

This is the group Ryan went down with. Thankfully, none of them got shot. (There have been over 100 murders in Nogales this year and multiple shoot-outs in the streets.)

We're excited for the second half of the month and hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season as much as we are!

It's just that I'm bored...

I've been tagged a few times this last month, so as not to disappoint the fans... Or just so I have something to post, I'll do a couple of them. Feel free to skip through. It's not that exciting!

Tag #1
This first one was a tag by one of my favorite friends Katie Glaz (that's what we call you Kate, no ier). Here you go...

Joys: I love coming home from work. There's nothing better than being home after being gone all day. I love running. I love the way I feel after I run. It makes me so content. I love being with my husband. I'm totally happy with anything as long as my husband is there with me

Fears: I'm terrified of being home alone all night long. I can't handle it. I "sleep" with the TV on and it does not work well. I'm scared that I will never want to have kids. I fear that I'll just have them to have them, but not find the joy in it.

Obsessions: I didn't think I had any obsessions, until I asked Ryan. Here's what he came up with... I'm obsessed with reality TV-I'll put TV in general. I definitely have our shows for the week lined up and ready to go on the DVR. I'm also obsessed with sweets. I love sugar. I can't get enough of it. I'm trying to be better.

Collections: I used to have a ton of collections, earrings, Zack Morris and Jonathan Taylor Thomas pics, NSYNC stuff, even DVDs. That has all died down. I don't really collect much of anything anymore.

Surprising Facts: I recently just got obsessed with playing Tetris again. It's a little handheld Tetris. It lays around the house whenever I get a free moment, I love to play it. Ryan just got the high score that I don't think I will ever beat. Also, I try to get as many people into The Office as possible. I loaned our DVD seasons to some co-workers and they are hooked. I love it. I figure that most people that read this already know me pretty well- I don't think I can surprise you with much.

Tag #2
This next tag was from a long lost friend, and an amazing former roommate- Alison Warner. Thanks for thinking of me Ali-

Seven Things

Seven Things I can Do:
1. I can make a mean Orange Julius and a mean Chocolate Chip Cookie.
2. I have a pretty fast ten key. Too much register time.
3. I can memorize songs pretty quickly.
4. Ryan wanted me to write that I can run an entire Wal-Mart by myself, but that's not true. I couldn't run it without my associates. I can definitely take charge of an entire Wal-Mart all by myself.
5. I can keep a consistent journal. I love writing in my journal and reading through my old ones.
6. I can interact with anyone at anytime while I'm at work. It's like I have a different persona while I'm there.
7. I can watch the movie Center Stage over and over again without getting bored.

Seven Things I Cannot Do:
1. I cannot blog. I know that I am blogging now, but I have the hardest time doing it. It always puts me in a bad mood and I just don't like to do it. I can't blog.
2. I can't sit still when I'm at work. If I'm there, I have to be doing something. Sitting in the office drives me insane.
3. I can't tell the Gosselin sextuplet girls apart- from the show John & Kate Plus 8 -no matter how hard I try.
4. I can't read a book without feeling guilty that I should be reading my Scriptures instead.
5. I can't be super outgoing when I first meet someone. It takes me awhile to come out of my shell. If I am more talkative at first, I'm forcing it.
6. I can't retell a story or explain a conversation I had. It's always jumbled and I always forget what was said by the other person. I know in my head what happened, but I can't put it into words.
7. I can't discipline someone at work without feeling guilty or second guessing my decision (unless it's over attendance.)

Seven Things that attracted me to my husband:
1. He's one of the funniest people I have ever met. He has made me laugh since the day I met him.
2. He has an amazing testimony of the Gospel. His knowledge and faith is so inspiring.
3. He laughs at me. This is a big deal. I have a hard time with people if they don't find me funny. I love it when Ryan legitimately thinks I said something funny.
4. He is unbelievably motivated. He will do anything and everything to be the best he can be.
5. How well we get along. We have never fought and we just understand and love being around each other
6. How well he can explain and teach me anything. I'm so impressed by his knowledge and how well he retains it. I can ask him about anything and he will explain it in a way that I can understand.
7. He is so sweet. He always wants me to be happy. He's such an amazing guy, I need more than seven things to describe him.

Seven Things I most often Say:
1. "Whatever"- I say this after anyone makes any sort of sarcastic comment. I didn't even realize I said it so much until my Store Manager started doing it to make fun of me.
2. "Thanks for Playing"- This is my favorite saying ever. It's usually said after someone does something they shouldn't do or shouldn't have done. It's hilarious, it gets laughs every time.
3. "Totally"- I throw this in the middle of sentences way too often
4. "Ew"- used in the same context as whatever
5. "Och"- long story, but it means OK.
6. "I hate my job"- I say this way too often-it makes me feel a little guilty, but then something happens to justify it.
7.It's not really a saying, but Ryan and I shorten any word and add an "s" on the end, example- dins (dinner), breaks (breakfast), etc.

Seven celebrity admirations:
*As a side note, this one was my least favorite. I don't think I admire any of these celebrities. I could only think of people that I would be interested to watch if they were on a talk show.
1. Justin Timberlake- I don't admire him and I don't really love him, but he'll always have a special spot in my heart
2. Barack Obama- I'm excited for his presidency and for what it means for our country
3. Julianne Hough- I will always vote for her on Dancing with the Stars
4. Bob Harper- He is so sweet on The Biggest Loser, I always love Bob's team, except this year. I want them all to go home
5. Any star on The Office, except Meredith
6. I think that #5 makes up for #6
7. My mom- she's an author and other people have put authors. She may not be as famous, but I think she is in her own right. Besides, this celebrity section is lame.

Seven favorite foods:
1. Cafe Rio Salads
2. Candy Necklaces (not a food, but it can be)
3. Cereal (Lucky Charms)
4. Cheese
5. Pizza
6. Plain old salad with ranch, or caesar
7. Ryan's Guacamole

Seven friends I tag:
1. Tiff
2. Diane
3. Rachel
4. Megan
5. Katie
6. Swa
7. Amy