In the Railroad world, when you get "bumped" it means that someone with more seniority than you took your job, and you have to put yourself on another job. This usually happens when the management cuts jobs, so instead of having 20 people on a specific assignment, they will cut 10, and so 10 people need to find another job to work. Hence, they have to bump 10 other people, etc. Rick kept getting bumped and was unable to work for 5 days. We decided that our time in Arkansas was up and it was time to go back to Arizona. As soon as we made the decision that we were really done, I couldn't get out of that place fast enough. We got packed up and left the next day. We didn't even have an apartment to go to in Arizona, but that wasn't gonna stop us.
Since we bought a car earlier this year, we had to drive 2 cars back separately. Rick always talks about how when he goes on long road trips by himself he will end up talking to himself. I always thought he was crazy until I had to drive by myself through Texas. Texas was a real B-word to drive through, and I was the only person I had to talk to. Luckily I'm good company. Halfway through our trip Rick was able to find us an apartment in Tucson. We pulled up to the apartments right as they were closing and were barely able to get the paperwork signed and get our keys. We unloaded all the stuff from our cars and then went to a nearby hotel and passed out. The next day we were able to go to our storage unit to get the rest of the stuff we needed. I really love our apartment, but I also love that we don't live in the middle of nowhere like we did in Arizona City. We got a really small 1 bedroom apartment, but compared to the hotel room, it's humongous. Except somehow my kitchen is smaller than the one in the hotel, but this one has an oven so I'm happy with it.
We've been back for about a week, and we've already been able to spend time with my nanny family, Rick's brother and his family in Phoenix. and go see the Christmas lights at the Mesa temple. It feels good to be back, and I really hope that this time goes a lot better than the last time we moved to Tucson.
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Friday, December 07, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Procrastinating
Right now I am supposed to be finishing up one of my last big school projects that is due on Sunday night. I just can't seem to work up the motivation to get the dang (I'm way better at not swearing lately, so damn proud of myself) thing finished. So instead I have watched the new episodes of Modern Family and 30 Rock, polished off a box of cereal, made cookies, and now here I am writing this blog.
I have a lot to blog about. We've been to Arizona, Sea World, Utah, and Rick had a birthday. I tried to change my blog background and I somehow ruined everything. I've got it kind of fixed but not really. I just want it to be all one solid color, no boxes, so that when I put my large pictures up they don't overlap the stuff on my side bar. No idea how to fix it. Anyone have any ideas? Cause it's driving me crazy.
I deleted my Facebook recently becauseI hate everyone it's a positive energy sucking black hole. I understand that it's Political season, and I think that people should care about politics and should pay attention and have an opinion, but seriously, what does anyone accomplish by posting political crap on Facebook? Do people honestly think that they are going to change someone's political opinion by sharing a photo of someone running for President with a quote or "fact"? The only thing this does is invites people of the opposing party to argue with you. The best is when people post something about politics and then get mad when people disagree. Really, what did you think would happen? And then they're like "This is MY Facebook, I can say what I want!" When you post something as arguable as politics on your Facebook, you are inviting everyone to disagree with you. It's a social networking site, not your password journal (remember those?) If you want to make a difference in this Country, vote.
I also deleted my Facebook because it was such a huge waste of time. I told Rick that this is going to be the only time in my life where I am jobless, kid less, and in a foreign land. I hate that I'm wasting time. The day after I deleted it we found a "mountain" (so cute when the locals call hills mountains) and went hiking. It was awesome except we forgot mosquito repellent (also known as "skeeter don't" by everyone here) and the mosquitoes here are the size of birds. I'm not sure if these are mosquito bites or boils. But it still felt good to do something fun and worth while, even though we were right by a swamp and I could barely breathe. Which brings me to my next topic, Arkansas is not my favorite place. Some days I like it here and some days I want to go home, but I'm not sure exactly where home is. I think it's somewhere in Arizona. I find myself increasingly homesick for my nanny family. I miss Chad's food, talking to Christy everyday, but mostly I miss those sweet boys. Even on my absolute worst days with them, I would go home to Rick and tell him how much I love that family. They gave me something to love about Arizona when Team Brimhall was facing it's darkest moments. They saved us.
Our apartment contract is up next week. Rick is going back to AZ for a few days to go pack up all of our stuff and put it in storage. I'm not going with him because his ticket is free (paid for by the railroad) but we'd have to buy mine, and I don't want to spend the money just so I can do the one thing I hate most in this world - move. We will be saving a lot of money by not having to pay rent, utilities, etc. which is awesome, but I'm also anxious about it because we will technically be homeless. All of our stuff will be in a storage unit in Arizona and we'll be living here. It's still really weird to me that I live in a hotel. When we went to Arizona in August, Rick was able to go to the Ranch and see his parents after having not seen them for 2 years. While we were there we decided that whenever this Arkansas gig is up, we should move to Phoenix. Even though we both swore we'd never live there (go figure). If we live in Phoenix we will be closer to the Ranch and Rick's siblings by 2 hours, and Chad and Christy are moving to Phoenix in April. Rick will switch from working in the Tucson yard to the Phoenix yard, and he will have more seniority there because everybody hates working in Phoenix (120 degrees in the summer heat for 10 hours). I'm looking forward to whenever we go back to Arizona, and when we move this time it should be easy because all our stuff will already be boxed up and in storage, so it's already halfway done for us. Everybody wins. Except for Rick who has to go pack it all up by himself next week.
We recently realized that we saw each other more when we were living in Arizona City and I was working full time than we do now that we're here. There he was working every other day or every 2 days for 8-10 hours. When he works here, he works at least 8 hours, plus an hour commute each way, so he's gone a minimum of 10 hours, usually 12, and sometimes 14. Every day. Days off are rare. I decided to volunteer at the Hospital here because, why not? It's a humongous Hospital, I get lost every single time I go. Right now they have me working in the surgical waiting area, where friends and families of patients wait for their loved one to come out of surgery. Most of the surgeries that are done are to remove tumors, and at least once a day it's an emergency surgery that someone needs because of something like a car accident. Emotions run high in this room. It's like in the movies. Someone is always crying, and I'm always within earshot of a Doctor delivering news that the cancer has spread or they weren't able to remove all of the tumor. When I ask people if they need anything they either say nothing or they beg me to check on the status of their loved ones surgery. It's very sad, and I can see the fear in their eyes. One old man was waiting for his wife to come out of surgery, and he was very worried about her. I had no way of helping him until I found a stash of word searches. If you're ever in a surgical waiting area, print off some word searches. Those things sell like hot cakes.
I have a lot to blog about. We've been to Arizona, Sea World, Utah, and Rick had a birthday. I tried to change my blog background and I somehow ruined everything. I've got it kind of fixed but not really. I just want it to be all one solid color, no boxes, so that when I put my large pictures up they don't overlap the stuff on my side bar. No idea how to fix it. Anyone have any ideas? Cause it's driving me crazy.
I deleted my Facebook recently because
I also deleted my Facebook because it was such a huge waste of time. I told Rick that this is going to be the only time in my life where I am jobless, kid less, and in a foreign land. I hate that I'm wasting time. The day after I deleted it we found a "mountain" (so cute when the locals call hills mountains) and went hiking. It was awesome except we forgot mosquito repellent (also known as "skeeter don't" by everyone here) and the mosquitoes here are the size of birds. I'm not sure if these are mosquito bites or boils. But it still felt good to do something fun and worth while, even though we were right by a swamp and I could barely breathe. Which brings me to my next topic, Arkansas is not my favorite place. Some days I like it here and some days I want to go home, but I'm not sure exactly where home is. I think it's somewhere in Arizona. I find myself increasingly homesick for my nanny family. I miss Chad's food, talking to Christy everyday, but mostly I miss those sweet boys. Even on my absolute worst days with them, I would go home to Rick and tell him how much I love that family. They gave me something to love about Arizona when Team Brimhall was facing it's darkest moments. They saved us.
Our apartment contract is up next week. Rick is going back to AZ for a few days to go pack up all of our stuff and put it in storage. I'm not going with him because his ticket is free (paid for by the railroad) but we'd have to buy mine, and I don't want to spend the money just so I can do the one thing I hate most in this world - move. We will be saving a lot of money by not having to pay rent, utilities, etc. which is awesome, but I'm also anxious about it because we will technically be homeless. All of our stuff will be in a storage unit in Arizona and we'll be living here. It's still really weird to me that I live in a hotel. When we went to Arizona in August, Rick was able to go to the Ranch and see his parents after having not seen them for 2 years. While we were there we decided that whenever this Arkansas gig is up, we should move to Phoenix. Even though we both swore we'd never live there (go figure). If we live in Phoenix we will be closer to the Ranch and Rick's siblings by 2 hours, and Chad and Christy are moving to Phoenix in April. Rick will switch from working in the Tucson yard to the Phoenix yard, and he will have more seniority there because everybody hates working in Phoenix (120 degrees in the summer heat for 10 hours). I'm looking forward to whenever we go back to Arizona, and when we move this time it should be easy because all our stuff will already be boxed up and in storage, so it's already halfway done for us. Everybody wins. Except for Rick who has to go pack it all up by himself next week.
We recently realized that we saw each other more when we were living in Arizona City and I was working full time than we do now that we're here. There he was working every other day or every 2 days for 8-10 hours. When he works here, he works at least 8 hours, plus an hour commute each way, so he's gone a minimum of 10 hours, usually 12, and sometimes 14. Every day. Days off are rare. I decided to volunteer at the Hospital here because, why not? It's a humongous Hospital, I get lost every single time I go. Right now they have me working in the surgical waiting area, where friends and families of patients wait for their loved one to come out of surgery. Most of the surgeries that are done are to remove tumors, and at least once a day it's an emergency surgery that someone needs because of something like a car accident. Emotions run high in this room. It's like in the movies. Someone is always crying, and I'm always within earshot of a Doctor delivering news that the cancer has spread or they weren't able to remove all of the tumor. When I ask people if they need anything they either say nothing or they beg me to check on the status of their loved ones surgery. It's very sad, and I can see the fear in their eyes. One old man was waiting for his wife to come out of surgery, and he was very worried about her. I had no way of helping him until I found a stash of word searches. If you're ever in a surgical waiting area, print off some word searches. Those things sell like hot cakes.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The Worst
I am the worst person ever at keeping in touch.
Everyday I think "I should call (insert friend or family member's name) but...maybe they're busy. I should probably just wait until they call me. I don't want to bother them." Which is so stupid of me to think because if I call someone and they are busy they can either just not answer the phone or schedule a better time to talk. Or what if they are like "I should call Jodi, but wait, I have kids/a job/both and she has none of those things so if she wants to talk then homegirl can call me." And I won't even be offended if people think that, because it's true, I have no job and Rick works everyday for 12-14 hours. I've got some time on my hands.
I keep thinking "I need to ask Andrea about Disneyland" or "I need to call Lacey and tell her that I think I'm going to start a swear jar where I put $1 in a jar every time I swear and hopefully it'll rid me of this damn habit" but I usually think about this stuff when I'm at the grocery store and I am in no where near coordinated enough to talk on the phone and shop for everything on my list at the same time. I see Mom's with 4 kids talking on the phone and getting all their groceries at the same time without breaking a sweat. How is that even possible? The only time I call people when I'm grocery shopping is when I have to ask my mom where in the hell Walmart keeps coconut milk or when Rick and I get separated and we both start to panic. After I get home from grocery shopping I usually make dinner and then I'll turn on the TV and there will be a marathon on TLC of Honey Boo Boo Child and so obviously I will watch it. 5 hours later I will remember to call/text everyone but it's too late. Not like 10 pm too late, like 3 in the morning too late.
I vow to be better at this. I miss my friends and family a lot lately. I was never this homesick when we lived in Arizona, but Arkansas is way different. Arkansas is a place where hopes, dreams, dental hygiene, and general well-being goes to die. I think part of the reason that I'm homesick is because it's getting cold here. I love Arizona because of the warmth, and because it never gets cold. I left Utah to escape the cold. And now it's cold here, but it's different cold. It's a humid cold, which is worse. And every time I get cold I get angry and I think "IF I'M GOING TO BE COLD I MIGHT AS WELL BE IN UTAH." And then Rick gets a look on his face like "what have I done to deserve this life?"
If you are one of those friends/family members who is like "I should call Jodi, but what if she's busy?" I'm not. Call me. Or text me. Or email me. Or Skype me.
P.S. We finally got a toaster oven. I had been looking for some but they were like $100 and gigantic. Like half the size of a regular oven. I have very limited counter space. But I was at the store and I found a perfect sized one for $20. It can barely fit a 9X9 pan in it but it's still perfect. I've finally been able to bake, and it's made living here a lot more bearable. I told myself that while I was here I wanted to try all the recipes I had seen on Pinterest, and I've actually been able to make a lot of new things. Some have been awful, but some are the kind of meals that get passed down from generation to generation. Our favorite meal is DORITO CHICKEN. The secret ingredient is, you guessed it, Doritos. When a recipe calls for Doritos, you don't second guess it.
Everyday I think "I should call (insert friend or family member's name) but...maybe they're busy. I should probably just wait until they call me. I don't want to bother them." Which is so stupid of me to think because if I call someone and they are busy they can either just not answer the phone or schedule a better time to talk. Or what if they are like "I should call Jodi, but wait, I have kids/a job/both and she has none of those things so if she wants to talk then homegirl can call me." And I won't even be offended if people think that, because it's true, I have no job and Rick works everyday for 12-14 hours. I've got some time on my hands.
I keep thinking "I need to ask Andrea about Disneyland" or "I need to call Lacey and tell her that I think I'm going to start a swear jar where I put $1 in a jar every time I swear and hopefully it'll rid me of this damn habit" but I usually think about this stuff when I'm at the grocery store and I am in no where near coordinated enough to talk on the phone and shop for everything on my list at the same time. I see Mom's with 4 kids talking on the phone and getting all their groceries at the same time without breaking a sweat. How is that even possible? The only time I call people when I'm grocery shopping is when I have to ask my mom where in the hell Walmart keeps coconut milk or when Rick and I get separated and we both start to panic. After I get home from grocery shopping I usually make dinner and then I'll turn on the TV and there will be a marathon on TLC of Honey Boo Boo Child and so obviously I will watch it. 5 hours later I will remember to call/text everyone but it's too late. Not like 10 pm too late, like 3 in the morning too late.
I vow to be better at this. I miss my friends and family a lot lately. I was never this homesick when we lived in Arizona, but Arkansas is way different. Arkansas is a place where hopes, dreams, dental hygiene, and general well-being goes to die. I think part of the reason that I'm homesick is because it's getting cold here. I love Arizona because of the warmth, and because it never gets cold. I left Utah to escape the cold. And now it's cold here, but it's different cold. It's a humid cold, which is worse. And every time I get cold I get angry and I think "IF I'M GOING TO BE COLD I MIGHT AS WELL BE IN UTAH." And then Rick gets a look on his face like "what have I done to deserve this life?"
If you are one of those friends/family members who is like "I should call Jodi, but what if she's busy?" I'm not. Call me. Or text me. Or email me. Or Skype me.
P.S. We finally got a toaster oven. I had been looking for some but they were like $100 and gigantic. Like half the size of a regular oven. I have very limited counter space. But I was at the store and I found a perfect sized one for $20. It can barely fit a 9X9 pan in it but it's still perfect. I've finally been able to bake, and it's made living here a lot more bearable. I told myself that while I was here I wanted to try all the recipes I had seen on Pinterest, and I've actually been able to make a lot of new things. Some have been awful, but some are the kind of meals that get passed down from generation to generation. Our favorite meal is DORITO CHICKEN. The secret ingredient is, you guessed it, Doritos. When a recipe calls for Doritos, you don't second guess it.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
I'm Forgetting How to Blog.
I really, really miss ovens. I didn't even bake that much when I had one, but that was mostly because I didn't need to. When we were in Arizona I was working and I would eat lunch and dinner with my nanny boys 5 days a week. Then on my weekends we would go out to dinner for date night. And the other night of the week we'd eat leftovers or maybe I would make dinner. All my life I never thought I was a good cook. My mom would make us take turns helping with dinner, and I would do just fine and I had a few recipes that I carried with me onto married life. (I can heat up a Stouffers lasagna like it's nobodies business.) But I always think about how my mom worked full time and went to school to get her degree and raised teenagers but would still make foods from scratch like her homemade cinnamon rolls. (By the way, mom, can you send me that recipe? Oh wait nevermind because I DON'T HAVE AN OVEN.) When we moved here I told Rick I wanted to try to become a good cook because I want to be the mom that my mom was and because lets be real, I don't have a job, I've got some time to kill. Although I don't have an oven, I have mastered the art of the crock pot. The best part is that it's SO EASY. Rick thinks I'm a genius. He really thinks that I've transformed into Julia Child but really it's all the crock pots doing, I'm just really good at googling/pinning crock pot recipes. I no longer buy boxes of food, I buy ingredients. Due to lack of cupboard space/the desire to plan meals ahead and the fact that Walmart is within walking distance of our hotel, I go to Walmart probably 4-5 times a week to buy food for dinner every night. I ask Rick what he wants, go get the ingredients, he leaves for work and when he comes home it looks like I've been slaving away in the kitchen all day when really I've been watching all 5 seasons of Friday Night Lights. And then he does the dishes. It's the perfect setup.
Rick really is the best. He's been including me a lot more in his sleeptalking lately, so that's been a nice bonding experience for us. Instead of just saying something random he will ask me a question, tell me a story, or wake up frantically, grab his glasses and start freaking out and asking me in between panicked breaths "Are these my glasses? Do they look like mine?! LOOK! LOOK AT MY GLASSES CLOSELY! THESE AREN'T MINE, THEY DON'T LOOK LIKE MINE, THESEARENOTMYGLASSES!" Through experience, I've found out that the best way to handle these situations is NOT to throw a pillow at him and tell him to shut up. Instead, I
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| His head is at the top left and his feet are at the bottom right. How does this even happen? |
Bless his heart.
His Birthday is next month. This isn't just any birthday, this is his 30th birthday. I have no idea what to get him. I was going to get him a new TV but then we moved to Arkansas and we have a big TV in our hotel room so there is no point in getting one now. I keep asking him what he wants and he keeps saying "whatever." Truth is, I could get him absolutely nothing for his birthday and he wouldn't mind, but every year on his birthday I turn into a bawl baby and we talk about his adoption and how thankful we are that his biological mom made the brave choice to put him up for adoption and how wonderful his parents are for adopting him and then I buy him anything he wants. So really it's just us sitting around crying and eating chocolate cake like a couple of teenage girls and then going to DI so he can buy unnecessary wires (he has baskets of wires for everything you could possibly imagine). Today he did tell me "Hey, we should go to Alabama!" And he was serious. I guess there is some art exhibit there or something that he wants to go see. So for his 30th Birthday we are taking a road trip to Alabama. I'm going to go ahead and add that to the list of things I never thought I'd say.
I'm doing well in school. I've liked all of my classes so far and I really like the ones I'm taking right now. Online schooling is so amazing, there is no way I could be doing a regular college with how much we're moving around. I've traveled from Arizona to Arkansas, Tennessee, Utah, and California all while being able to stay in school and keep my grades up. Online schooling is the best invention. That, and crock pots.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Hotel Home
The last few weeks have been a blur. I got back to Arizona from my trip to Arkansas and had 3 weeks of work, school, and getting ready to move. I'm pretty sure people think we're crazy. Normally when people ask you where you will be living the answer is not "in a hotel" and when they ask how long you'll be there the answer is not "I don't know." If someone gave me those answers I would think they were liars, runaway teens, or in trouble with the law. I promise this is legitimate. Since we are living in a hotel I only brought my clothes. So really this was the easiest move ever for us. 3 bags was all it took. We still have our apartment in Arizona. The one good thing about that dust bowl of a town is that the housing there is really cheap. So we are keeping all of our stuff in our apartment for now.
The hotel we're staying at is brand new. Like it isn't even on google maps yet. A brand new hotel means no cooties anywhere. Best news ever.
This hotel also has a pool, hot tub, BBQ area, gym, and laundry room. I told Rick that everyday I want to make a new recipe from Pinterest, but then I realized I don't care if it's from Pinterest I just want to make something new everyday. Which will probably turn into make something new a few times a week but just cook everyday. So far so good but we don't have an oven so I've been crock-potting like it's nobodies business. They have toaster ovens you can use here but isn't that just for heating stuff up? Or can I actually bake a cake in a toaster oven?
Besides the humidity that hasn't even really started yet and the swamp smells, I like it here. It's very green. Such a nice change from the desert. Even when you get into the busy city you can look in every direction and just see green.
The hotel we're staying at is brand new. Like it isn't even on google maps yet. A brand new hotel means no cooties anywhere. Best news ever.
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| The view when you first walk in. I love the long desk with the built in dresser. There is room for all our computer stuff. The plastic bin under the TV is my dresser. We're pretty fancy. |
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| The kitchen. Not just part of the kitchen, the ENTIRE kitchen. The dishwasher is broken so that's fun, but everything else I love. Especially the cupboards. I want those same cupboards in my house someday. |
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| King sized bed! After this, I can't go back to a queen. I just can't. Just barely Rick did his famous steam-roller move and he didn't even elbow me in the face. Magical. |
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| This bathroom is about twice as big as my bathroom in Arizona, and has twice the cupboard space. |
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| Love it. |
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| I hate toilet shots but this is to show how big the mirror is. |
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| My view. I like to lay in bed at night with the window open to have the fluorescent lights from the Walmart sign shine into the room. So romantic. |
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| It's actually really pretty here if you just overlook the swamps. |
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| The Arkansas River. |
Since I flew here, I left my car in Arizona for my In-Laws to use. Rick has his car out here, but he takes it to work everyday. I didn't really like that my options would be to either be stranded in a hotel while he was at work or take him to work and pick him up everyday when it's an hour drive one way. We have been talking about buying a new car forever because ours are both hanging on by a thread. So, for my birthday, Rick got me this beaut.
It's really nice to drive a car that doesn't spill water from the AC all over your feet when you make a left turn like Rick's car does, and that doesn't have broken door handles so you have to roll the window down and open it from the outside every time like mine does. It's a stick which I don't love but I'm used to it already. That last line should bring tears to my Father's eyes.
Lastly, a few month ago I started a Twitter account as a place to record all the things that Rick says and does in his sleep. Normally he would wake me up by talking and I would go back to sleep and forget about it. Now I just grab my phone and update it. You can follow it on twitter www.twitter.com/ricksdreamworld OR you can just look at the side of the blog because I'm going to keep it on here from now on.
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| Notice how shiny it is but also the low gas prices. |
Lastly, a few month ago I started a Twitter account as a place to record all the things that Rick says and does in his sleep. Normally he would wake me up by talking and I would go back to sleep and forget about it. Now I just grab my phone and update it. You can follow it on twitter www.twitter.com/ricksdreamworld OR you can just look at the side of the blog because I'm going to keep it on here from now on.
Friday, June 01, 2012
Oh, the Places You'll Go!
After 45 days of being apart, I went to Arkansas to visit Rick for a week. It was wonderful and I finally felt like myself again when we were together. We did a lot of fun things and celebrated our 3rd Anniversary (more blog posts on that later). The Railroad puts you through a lot of uncertainties and decisions for the early stages of your career, and we have certainly been no exception to this rule. At first Rick was going to be there just the 90 days, then 2 weeks after he arrived, Tucson started requesting that those employees who were in Little Rock come back. We had no idea how long Rick was going to be out there. Now, Tucson has plenty of employees and are putting them all to work, and Little Rock is desperate for workers. With a borrow out, you have to stay there for 90 days but you can stay longer if you'd' like. Most guys don't because they have wives and kids who need them back at home. One of the guys asked the management how long he could stay in Little Rock. The management said they needed people until 2014. After a lot of going back and forth and "but what if"s, we decided that I'm going to quit my job and move to Arkansas to be with Rick, and he's going to work out there for as long as he can.
I just bought my 1 way ticket to Arkansas, and I leave in a little over 2 weeks. I gave Chad and Christy my 2 week notice, and I am so sad to be leaving my nanny family. I love them so much. This move is not permanent (at least for now, who knows what other adventures Rick's job will bring), but we have no idea how long we will be out there. Could be 3 months could be 6 months could be a year. We will leave all of our stuff in Arizona and just bring clothes. When you go on a borrow out the railroad pays for you to live in a hotel, so that will be my new home sweet home. Luckily the hotel that we are staying at has a kitchenette. Full size fridge, a sink, dishwasher, cupboards, dishes, stove top, and microwave. We will get a toaster oven and a crock pot. If the hotel didn't have these things, I seriously don't think I could do it. Months without a kitchen? No way.
The best part about all of this, besides being able to live with Rick again, is that every 26 days he gets a guaranteed 4 days off, and we can use those 4 days to plan little trips. He already had his first 4 days off when I came out, and for his next time off we will be headed to Utah for the 4th of July. You have no idea how happy this makes me. I'll be damned if I have to relive last years 4th of July. No way.
I can't wait to be with this handsome guy again. I'm a little nervous because I don't know what I'll do all day. Luckily I still have my online schooling to do. And I keep telling Rick that I'll go fishing while he's at work. He thinks I'm kidding. I'm not. I will also be able to fill up my free time by trying to manage my curly hair in 100% humidity. I was only out there for a week but I started to look like Monica from friends when she went to Barbados.
If things get too bad I can always just do what she did. I'm sure Rick wouldn't be embarrassed by me.
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
One Year
On St. Patrick's Day Rick and I realized that we had made the move from Provo to Tucson exactly one year ago that day. When we made the move on St. Patrick's day 2011 our truck broke down, we were averaging 9 miles per gallon and it took us 2 days to get there. This year for St. Patrick's Day we spent the night with my nanny boys while Chad and Christy went on a weekend getaway. That night there was a horrible wind storm knocking over everything outside and keeping me awake until 2:30 am. At 3:00 am the 2 little boys came into the bedroom to wake us up for the day. I put them back to bed and at 3:30 we were all asleep again until 5:50 when they woke us up for good. Rick and I decided to take turns napping while the other stayed up with the boys but then Rick got called to work and had to leave right away. The only other things I remember about that day were bathing the boys after lunch because they had made a huge mess, the 2 year old crying and when I went to find him he had stepped in a fresh pile of dog crap that was on the carpet, giving him another bath, putting them down for a nap and then cleaning up the poop. I have never in my life had more respect for stay at home Moms/Dads.
I guess we don't have that "Irish Luck" that everybody talks about.
This year that we've been in Arizona has been full of changes. It seems we finally got into a regular routine of things and now we've got some more changes coming our way, but these ones are good.
Rick put in a bid for a borrow out in Little Rock, Arkansas. A borrow out is what happens when a place is desperate for workers and they bring them in from different areas of the country to work for them temporarily. They take you based off of seniority. Rick got the job and will leave on Saturday. They require you to be there for a minimum of 90 days, after that you have the option to leave but if you want to stay longer you can as long as they have work for you to do. Every 26 days they will fly you home for 4 days, so I'll at least get to see him once a month. We had taken time off of work and scheduled to go to Disneyland/Sea World for our anniversary in May but instead I will be going out to Arkansas for that week. We realized that so far we have been in a different state for each of our anniversaries - 1st was Utah, 2nd was Arizona, and now 3rd will be Arkansas. And thus, a tradition has been born.
I will stay in Arizona and work while he's in Arkansas. A few months ago I felt the urge to go back to school. So I did. I'm currently enrolled at University of Phoenix doing the online Associates Elementary Education program. Let me just take a minute to talk about how much I love technology. I take my laptop with me to work and when the boys are napping I can do my homework. I can also do it from my iPhone. I went to Utah 3 weeks ago and while I was sitting in the airport waiting for my flight I was getting my participation points in for the week. It's hard and it's a lot of work, but it's convenient. So with working and school I think I'll be able to keep myself pretty busy while Rick is gone.
Lastly, I finally went to see a GI specialist after 7 years of nausea and vomiting that was getting worse, happening more frequently and lasting longer. Last year I had an abdominal ultrasound done and a HIDA scan done to make sure all my insides looked normal and to make sure my gallbladder was functioning properly. Everything looked good, which I know normally you would want to hear but I was getting sick of Doctors telling me I was fine and that "everything looks great!" or "sometimes we just throw up and we don't know why" because that didn't leave me with any answers. I had been leaving a bucket in my car so that I can throw up while I drive to work. That doesn't tell me that I'm fine. When I went to the ER last year the Doctor diagnosed me with Acid Reflux/GERD. When I went home and looked it up online the only symptom of GERD that I had was nausea and vomiting. She gave me an antacid but it didn't do anything for me. I've had a few Doctors give me prescriptions for Zofran which helps tremendously with the nausea, but again, it doesn't give me any answers it just covers up the symptoms. While we were sitting in the waiting room of the GI Doctor's office I was wondering if I would get any answers, or what if this was somehow all in my head? She called us back to the room and as I was telling her my symptoms she started asking me a lot of questions.
Does this have a pattern? It didn't used to but now it happens monthly. Like clockwork.
How do you feel in between cycles of nausea and vomiting? Completely fine.
Do you get headaches when you get these flare ups? I didn't used to but over the last few months I have been getting them.
How long does the nausea and vomiting last? 4-7 days.
Are you tired when this happens? Ex-freaking-hausted.
What is the pattern of your flare ups? Wake up, barf, barf throughout the day, feel better by night time, eat.
When did this start? When I was 16.
Have you been to the Hospital for this? Yes, I went to the ER once.
Did they do blood work? Yes. It all came back normal.
She sat in silence for a few minutes typing away at her computer before she turned to me and said -
"It sounds like you have Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome. Technically there is no way to officially diagnose anyone with this disease, but enough people have all the same symptoms that we can call it a disease. There is no way to test for it. The diseases that kill people are the ones that get all the attention and research, so the good news is that this isn't going to kill you, but since we don't know exactly what it is or what causes it there is no cure for it. You can go home and do some research online but you won't find much."
I was relieved just to have some validation and someone to tell me it wasn't all in my head - this is a real thing. She then said that there are some treatment options that I could try if I liked. She gave me a prescription that other people with CVS have had success with and then, of course, gave me Zofran for when the cycle hits. I decided to try the medication just to see how I felt on it and if I noticed a difference I would keep taking it and if not then I would stop talking it and just be happy I had an answer. When we got home I looked up CVS and I had every single symptom. After that I started taking the medication and it has given me instant relief. The weird part is that now when I wake up, I'm hungry. I don't remember a time in my life when I woke up and wanted to eat. I never eat breakfast, and I never did as a kid. The thought of eating in the morning made me nauseous. I understand now why people say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because if I don't eat it, I'll probably kill you if you get in my way.
I have not thrown up or been nauseous one time in the last 44 days.
Miracle.
I guess we don't have that "Irish Luck" that everybody talks about.
This year that we've been in Arizona has been full of changes. It seems we finally got into a regular routine of things and now we've got some more changes coming our way, but these ones are good.
Rick put in a bid for a borrow out in Little Rock, Arkansas. A borrow out is what happens when a place is desperate for workers and they bring them in from different areas of the country to work for them temporarily. They take you based off of seniority. Rick got the job and will leave on Saturday. They require you to be there for a minimum of 90 days, after that you have the option to leave but if you want to stay longer you can as long as they have work for you to do. Every 26 days they will fly you home for 4 days, so I'll at least get to see him once a month. We had taken time off of work and scheduled to go to Disneyland/Sea World for our anniversary in May but instead I will be going out to Arkansas for that week. We realized that so far we have been in a different state for each of our anniversaries - 1st was Utah, 2nd was Arizona, and now 3rd will be Arkansas. And thus, a tradition has been born.
I will stay in Arizona and work while he's in Arkansas. A few months ago I felt the urge to go back to school. So I did. I'm currently enrolled at University of Phoenix doing the online Associates Elementary Education program. Let me just take a minute to talk about how much I love technology. I take my laptop with me to work and when the boys are napping I can do my homework. I can also do it from my iPhone. I went to Utah 3 weeks ago and while I was sitting in the airport waiting for my flight I was getting my participation points in for the week. It's hard and it's a lot of work, but it's convenient. So with working and school I think I'll be able to keep myself pretty busy while Rick is gone.
Lastly, I finally went to see a GI specialist after 7 years of nausea and vomiting that was getting worse, happening more frequently and lasting longer. Last year I had an abdominal ultrasound done and a HIDA scan done to make sure all my insides looked normal and to make sure my gallbladder was functioning properly. Everything looked good, which I know normally you would want to hear but I was getting sick of Doctors telling me I was fine and that "everything looks great!" or "sometimes we just throw up and we don't know why" because that didn't leave me with any answers. I had been leaving a bucket in my car so that I can throw up while I drive to work. That doesn't tell me that I'm fine. When I went to the ER last year the Doctor diagnosed me with Acid Reflux/GERD. When I went home and looked it up online the only symptom of GERD that I had was nausea and vomiting. She gave me an antacid but it didn't do anything for me. I've had a few Doctors give me prescriptions for Zofran which helps tremendously with the nausea, but again, it doesn't give me any answers it just covers up the symptoms. While we were sitting in the waiting room of the GI Doctor's office I was wondering if I would get any answers, or what if this was somehow all in my head? She called us back to the room and as I was telling her my symptoms she started asking me a lot of questions.
Does this have a pattern? It didn't used to but now it happens monthly. Like clockwork.
How do you feel in between cycles of nausea and vomiting? Completely fine.
Do you get headaches when you get these flare ups? I didn't used to but over the last few months I have been getting them.
How long does the nausea and vomiting last? 4-7 days.
Are you tired when this happens? Ex-freaking-hausted.
What is the pattern of your flare ups? Wake up, barf, barf throughout the day, feel better by night time, eat.
When did this start? When I was 16.
Have you been to the Hospital for this? Yes, I went to the ER once.
Did they do blood work? Yes. It all came back normal.
She sat in silence for a few minutes typing away at her computer before she turned to me and said -
"It sounds like you have Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome. Technically there is no way to officially diagnose anyone with this disease, but enough people have all the same symptoms that we can call it a disease. There is no way to test for it. The diseases that kill people are the ones that get all the attention and research, so the good news is that this isn't going to kill you, but since we don't know exactly what it is or what causes it there is no cure for it. You can go home and do some research online but you won't find much."
I was relieved just to have some validation and someone to tell me it wasn't all in my head - this is a real thing. She then said that there are some treatment options that I could try if I liked. She gave me a prescription that other people with CVS have had success with and then, of course, gave me Zofran for when the cycle hits. I decided to try the medication just to see how I felt on it and if I noticed a difference I would keep taking it and if not then I would stop talking it and just be happy I had an answer. When we got home I looked up CVS and I had every single symptom. After that I started taking the medication and it has given me instant relief. The weird part is that now when I wake up, I'm hungry. I don't remember a time in my life when I woke up and wanted to eat. I never eat breakfast, and I never did as a kid. The thought of eating in the morning made me nauseous. I understand now why people say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because if I don't eat it, I'll probably kill you if you get in my way.
I have not thrown up or been nauseous one time in the last 44 days.
Miracle.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Annoyed
So I finally kicked my bad habit of drinking soda. When I say soda, I mean Dr. Pepper. I don't drink any soda besides Dr. Pepper. If we would go to a restaurant and I'd order a Dr. Pepper and they'd be like "Is Mr Pibb okay?" I would order water instead because Mr. Pibb? Really? No that is not okay. I've been off of Dr. Pepper for 8 days. In possibly relevant news, here is a list of things that have annoyed the hell out of me for the last 8 days:
- I finally kicked this habit in a state where the water tastes like chlorine and doesn't ever come out of the tap cold unless you leave it running for 482059 minutes, which I don't do because of the overwhelming guilt that consumes me when I leave water running and I think about the Orphans in Africa or something. Why couldn't I have done this in Utah? I love Provo water so much. Every time I go to Utah, I walk into my parents kitchen and the first thing I do is turn on the sink and get myself a cold tall glass of Provo water. We have a Brita water filter in our fridge but I will drink like 3 cups of water and then it will need to be refilled. Rick and I have a silent battle where neither of us will refill the filter, instead we just wait for the other person to pass out from dehydration and then they'll finally give in and refill it. Not sure who's winning yet. But I hate refilling that thing. You have to take it out of the fridge and take the weird lid off and then it won't fit in the sink so you have to fill it up one cup of water at a time, but it holds all the water at the top and then slowly filters through so you have to wait for it to filter through before you can add more. I'd rather just buy water bottles but then I think about plastic and the earth and the Orphans in Africa.
- When someone moves to a new state and then they act like they're from there after they've lived there for 2 months. I've lived in Arizona for a year, but I'm definitely not an ~ArIzOnA gUrL~. You have to live somewhere for at least 5 years before you can pretend like you know what it's like to be a local. Otherwise you're just making an idiot out of yourself and annoying the people who are actually from there. I also hate it when people are like "Oh, yeah, I'm from Texas. But I moved to Utah when I was 6 months old and then lived there for 20 years. But originally I'm from Texas." Sorry, but that makes you from Utah. If you don't have a memory of where you lived when you were a baby, it doesn't count. You can say that you were born there, but that is not where you're "from". Wherever you lived for the majority of growing up is where you're from. If you were born in one place then moved every few years, you're one of the lucky few who gets to tell people all the cool places you grew up in. Those people are the exception to the rule.
- People with joint facebook accounts. Why????
- When I log into Pinterest and someone that I follow has just spent the last 4 days pinning things that are all in the same category. I had to scroll through 50 pages of bird houses to get to the stuff I actually wanted to see.
- I set my DVR to record 1 minute before and 3 minutes after each show I want to watch, and for some reason every single show I record cuts off at the last 5 minutes and I have no idea how to fix it. The last 5 minutes is always the most important part! What happened in the last 5 minutes of the last Grey's Anatomy episode?!?!
- Arizona City. Guys, I hate it here. HATE it. I loved it at first. And honestly I don't even know what changed, but one day we were both like "wow, this is the worst place ever to live." I think that what I loved about it was our apartment, which I still love, but everything else about this place I hate. First off, it's so far away from everything. The closest main store to us is a Walmart, and it's 15 minutes away. Actually it's not even in the same city as us. Second, there are no good food places here. We love food, and we love to eat out, so good food will make or break a place for us. There is a Taco Bell by the local gas station, but that is about it. So disappointing. Third, we live right by this big open field and people just walk right by our apartment all day (and night) and it's just weird. Fourth, it's dusty. So dusty. And windy. Last night we were driving home from Tucson and there were signs everywhere that said "50 mph winds ahead" and then we got hit by a gust of wind so hard that it blew us into another lane and we almost hit a diesel. Our apartment contract is up in October then we'll move back to Tucson. But then we have to move again, and I really hate moving.
- I'm still nauseous a lot and still have bouts of throwing up every once in a while. I have no idea what is causing this, but it's almost like I get flare ups. It's never brought on by a certain type of food so I never know when it's going to hit. I finally made an appointment to see a GI Doctor and I just know that they're going to have to shove a camera down my throat. Just the thought of it is making me dry heave. I know I'll be out for it, but still. Usually with any type of ailment I turn to my trusty friend WebMD. Do you know what happens when you WebMD symptoms of nausea and vomiting? You diagnose yourself with every disease ever, such as: pregnancy, miscarriage, brain tumor, cancer, stress, heart attack, gall stones, kidney stones, kidney failure, liver failure, food poisoning, infections, concussion, ulcers, and everything else you could possibly think of. Not helpful.
I could really use a Dr. Pepper right about now.
Saturday, November 05, 2011
So...I ate all of your Halloween candy
So...Halloween was a bust this year. Normally I make us dress up and do something but we had no where to go so no reason to dress up. Rick was supposed to work and I had the day off so I was going to just stay at home and pass out candy, which didn't happen because we didn't get a single trick or treater. Rick ended up getting bumped from the Tucson yard and can only hold in Phoenix now so his schedule is different (again) but that meant we suddenly had Halloween off together. Rick wanted to "do something really fun!" so I got my eyebrows waxed and then we went home and he fell asleep at 8. I'm kind of worried about him. I make fun of him for sleeping so much and I say it's because of his old age but he seriously is tired all the time. He was taking this cholesterol medication and it was making him super sore and restless and then he read the side affects and it said that if he was sore he needed to stop taking it immediately, so he stopped but ever since then he sleeps all the time. Like right now, I'm not even kidding, he is asleep in his car in a Del Taco parking lot because he was too tired to drive home. I can't remember the last time he drove home from work without stopping to sleep. We should probably get that checked out...
So...I love my job. Like, love it more than any job I've ever had. I love those little boys. Last week was rough because the 2 youngest boys and I all had colds so we were pretty miserable. They are comfortable around me now and I've got their routine down (seriously, routine is key, I can't believe how easy they are.) The 2 youngest ones are learning my name. Sloan (age 1) has said it once, probably on accident, and Cael (age 2) finally starting saying "dough" when I asked him what my name was and now he says dough-ey. Close enough. Last week Christy said "I swear Sloan could be Rick's kid." I asked her why and that's when she showed me pictures of Sloan sleep crawling throughout the whole house in the middle of the night. Then she wished me luck for whenever we have kids.
So...A few weeks ago we were driving home and right across from our place is a big open area with nothing but dirt, rocks, and big scary dogs. I only saw them at a glance before they were gone but I was like "uhhhh....are those werewolves?" Rick says they are just big homeless dogs. I don't know what they are but every night when I come home from work and it's pitch black outside I get out of my car and all I can hear are howls closing in on me. It is the most terrifying thing. I swear they are chupacabras or something. One time I heard them fighting. They howl and bark and scream all night long.
So...Yesterday everyone kept saying to prepare for a big dust storm (the kind that causes 30 care pile ups). I know what to do to prepare for when it rains or snows, but really what do you do to prepare for a dust storm other than not go outside? The city that we live in got it worse than everywhere else, and you couldn't see through it. It made me sick all night. I could feel the dust in my lungs and I couldn't stop coughing it up. Sickest thing ever. During the dust storm, it started raining. My car looks like I drove it through a field of mud. The wind was so bad last night that I woke up to the windows shaking and for a minute I thought there was an earthquake. I was not prepared for this type of weather.
So...Rick bought his car a few years ago while he was living in Arizona, so while we were living in Utah his car had an Arizona license plate. He was going to switch it to Utah (because he had to) but the tint wasn't legal in Utah and he would've had to remove it and we would've had to pay the taxes on his car which was like $700 and it wasn't worth it especially knowing that we'd move to Arizona someday and we'd have to switch it back anyway. So he tactfully (and lets be real, illegally) kept his car registered in Arizona for the 3 years he lived in Utah. Then we moved here, and we knew we were going to have to get my car registered in Arizona, but we thought that we'd have to pay a million dollars for the taxes on it. We held out as long as we could, but my registration expired this month. We went to the DMV on Halloween just to figure out what we needed to do. We went up to the lady at the help desk and told her we had just moved to Arizona City and we needed to figure out what paper work we needed to get in order to get it registered in Arizona. She looked at us like we were morons.
"Uhhhh....do you have the registration?"
"Yeah."
"Okay then, pick a number and have a seat."
"Okay but what else do we need. The car has a loan on it through a bank in Utah, do you need the paperwork for that? And where is the closest place to get the emissions done? And do we have to pay the taxes on the vehicle?
"No. You just need the current registration, you don't have to pay the taxes on your car, and this is Pinal County, we don't do emissions here."
We looked at her like she was lying.
"You guys aren't from here, are you? All you need is the current registration. Pick a number and someone will help you."
So...We picked a number and sat down knowing she was wrong. But at least whoever helped us next would be able to tell us what exactly we needed to do. We only waited for about 20 minutes when our number was called. We sat down and Rick explained to the lady that we needed to switch the registration from Utah to Arizona. She asked for the current registration and began typing away at her computer. Rick started getting nervous. He asked how much we had to pay for taxes on the vehicle and where we could get the emissions done. For the second time that day, we got the "are you stupid?" look from someone at the DMV. She told us that's not how it works in Arizona. She gave me my new license plate, new registration, asked me if I wanted it to expire in 1 year or 2 years (you can pick!?!?) and then said the grand total was 30 bucks. And all of this in under 30 minutes. We felt like we had just robbed the place. Arizona knows how to get it done! Also my drivers license doesn't expire until the year 2053. I asked her why they do it that way (I was more thanking her than asking her) and she said that you have to come in every 12 years to get your picture changed and eyes tested but other than that having people come in more often would be a waste of time. Bless you, Arizona. I went home and took off my Utah plates, which was kind of sad, and replaced them with my AZ plates, and ever since we switched from Utah plates to AZ plates, people don't flip us off while we're driving anymore. That is 75% a joke but 25% the absolute truth.
So...I've recently discovered Pinterest. For those of you who don't know, its basically a website full of google images that can give you ideas for crafts, recipes, hairstyles, clothes, FHE activities, decorations, funny sayings, etc. and you can organize your "pins" however you want. There are some really good ideas on there, or funny things.
So...I love my job. Like, love it more than any job I've ever had. I love those little boys. Last week was rough because the 2 youngest boys and I all had colds so we were pretty miserable. They are comfortable around me now and I've got their routine down (seriously, routine is key, I can't believe how easy they are.) The 2 youngest ones are learning my name. Sloan (age 1) has said it once, probably on accident, and Cael (age 2) finally starting saying "dough" when I asked him what my name was and now he says dough-ey. Close enough. Last week Christy said "I swear Sloan could be Rick's kid." I asked her why and that's when she showed me pictures of Sloan sleep crawling throughout the whole house in the middle of the night. Then she wished me luck for whenever we have kids.
So...A few weeks ago we were driving home and right across from our place is a big open area with nothing but dirt, rocks, and big scary dogs. I only saw them at a glance before they were gone but I was like "uhhhh....are those werewolves?" Rick says they are just big homeless dogs. I don't know what they are but every night when I come home from work and it's pitch black outside I get out of my car and all I can hear are howls closing in on me. It is the most terrifying thing. I swear they are chupacabras or something. One time I heard them fighting. They howl and bark and scream all night long.
So...Yesterday everyone kept saying to prepare for a big dust storm (the kind that causes 30 care pile ups). I know what to do to prepare for when it rains or snows, but really what do you do to prepare for a dust storm other than not go outside? The city that we live in got it worse than everywhere else, and you couldn't see through it. It made me sick all night. I could feel the dust in my lungs and I couldn't stop coughing it up. Sickest thing ever. During the dust storm, it started raining. My car looks like I drove it through a field of mud. The wind was so bad last night that I woke up to the windows shaking and for a minute I thought there was an earthquake. I was not prepared for this type of weather.
So...Rick bought his car a few years ago while he was living in Arizona, so while we were living in Utah his car had an Arizona license plate. He was going to switch it to Utah (because he had to) but the tint wasn't legal in Utah and he would've had to remove it and we would've had to pay the taxes on his car which was like $700 and it wasn't worth it especially knowing that we'd move to Arizona someday and we'd have to switch it back anyway. So he tactfully (and lets be real, illegally) kept his car registered in Arizona for the 3 years he lived in Utah. Then we moved here, and we knew we were going to have to get my car registered in Arizona, but we thought that we'd have to pay a million dollars for the taxes on it. We held out as long as we could, but my registration expired this month. We went to the DMV on Halloween just to figure out what we needed to do. We went up to the lady at the help desk and told her we had just moved to Arizona City and we needed to figure out what paper work we needed to get in order to get it registered in Arizona. She looked at us like we were morons.
"Uhhhh....do you have the registration?"
"Yeah."
"Okay then, pick a number and have a seat."
"Okay but what else do we need. The car has a loan on it through a bank in Utah, do you need the paperwork for that? And where is the closest place to get the emissions done? And do we have to pay the taxes on the vehicle?
"No. You just need the current registration, you don't have to pay the taxes on your car, and this is Pinal County, we don't do emissions here."
We looked at her like she was lying.
"You guys aren't from here, are you? All you need is the current registration. Pick a number and someone will help you."
So...We picked a number and sat down knowing she was wrong. But at least whoever helped us next would be able to tell us what exactly we needed to do. We only waited for about 20 minutes when our number was called. We sat down and Rick explained to the lady that we needed to switch the registration from Utah to Arizona. She asked for the current registration and began typing away at her computer. Rick started getting nervous. He asked how much we had to pay for taxes on the vehicle and where we could get the emissions done. For the second time that day, we got the "are you stupid?" look from someone at the DMV. She told us that's not how it works in Arizona. She gave me my new license plate, new registration, asked me if I wanted it to expire in 1 year or 2 years (you can pick!?!?) and then said the grand total was 30 bucks. And all of this in under 30 minutes. We felt like we had just robbed the place. Arizona knows how to get it done! Also my drivers license doesn't expire until the year 2053. I asked her why they do it that way (I was more thanking her than asking her) and she said that you have to come in every 12 years to get your picture changed and eyes tested but other than that having people come in more often would be a waste of time. Bless you, Arizona. I went home and took off my Utah plates, which was kind of sad, and replaced them with my AZ plates, and ever since we switched from Utah plates to AZ plates, people don't flip us off while we're driving anymore. That is 75% a joke but 25% the absolute truth.
So...I've recently discovered Pinterest. For those of you who don't know, its basically a website full of google images that can give you ideas for crafts, recipes, hairstyles, clothes, FHE activities, decorations, funny sayings, etc. and you can organize your "pins" however you want. There are some really good ideas on there, or funny things.
I showed this to Rick and he said "no kidding." We aren't allowed to discuss anything important if I haven't been fed. Things can get really ugly really fast.
I came home from work last night pretty mad for no reason at all. Rick told me to take a nap, so I did, and then I woke up and got onto Pinterest and saw this.
She's only 8 but she's got it all figured out.
There are also some things on Pinterest that I see and think "that is the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life." For example:
Are you serious? The only thing not pictured are her 500 cats.
So...I saw this and thought it was hilarious and I hope you find it as funny as I did.
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
New Place
Lets start from the beginning.
Why we moved.
This was the water that was dripping onto the floor. When it rained outside, it rained inside.
When we moved. This was the day of the 30 car pile up. Traffic came to a dead stop and was backed up for miles.
All because of a dust storm.
Our new place! I love it so much. When you first walk in you're in the living room/kitchen area.
I love love love our kitchen. I've wanted cabinets that don't touch the ceiling since we got married and we finally got them! And we also have a pantry which we didn't have in our last place. Also, our dish washer is SO LOUD. We can't hear anything when the dishwasher is running. It sounds like we're in an airplane when it's taking off. Another also, you see the light in the hallway? We replaced the bulb and have tried every light switch and light switch combination and nothing turns that light on. We also have some extra light switches around the house that don't do anything.
Rick's bathroom, obv.
We've been married for almost 2.5 years and we just bought our first washer and dryer set (I love craigslist!) They run beautifully and I am so happy that we have them.
Bedroom.
Bed. That door goes to the master bathroom.
My bathroom, obv.
The best and worst thing about our new place. The best is the small rainbow light fixture in our bedroom that I assume is meant to go in a little girls room and you can only feel the wind from it if it's on high because the blades are so tiny. The worst is that whoever installed it made is so that you either have the light and fan both on at the same time or off at the same time. If we want to have the fan on at night with the light off we have to unscrew the light bulb.
every.single.night.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Here's What's Up
A few months ago we decided we were paying way too much money to stay in our place and that we needed to move. We looked at a few places near where we were but nothing seemed right. Then Rick went up to Phoenix to work and he was going to stay there for "maybe a week" which ended up being 6 weeks. While it sucked to be away from him, we were just happy to have him working, and very grateful that he had family to stay with up there. We still knew we needed to find a new place but weren't really pressed for time, until a few days before we went up to Utah when I came home from work and noticed our ceiling was dripping water onto our living room floor. I cleaned it up, put a bucket under it, told Rick, and then we were off to Utah. When we came back, pockets of water were all across a 6 foot span of our ceiling, dripping water everywhere. Not wanting to get mold poisoning and die alone in my apartment while Rick was in Phoenix, we started taking house hunting a little more serious. We told our landlord, but didn't hear back from him. A few days later I was awoken by someone pounding on my door. It was our neighbors telling us that they just went to pay their HOA fees and found out our water was going to be shut off. The place we lived at wasn't an apartment complex, we were renting a condo from a guy who owned it, and the HOA fees, water, garbage, and maintenance were all his responsibility, but he hadn't been paying it. We had until Friday to get it paid or they'd shut it off. We finally got in touch with our landlord and said that they were going to shut it off because he hadn't paid it and that we would be moving soon. He said okay. We later found out that he hadn't been doing anything with the place except for waiting for it to go into foreclosure. Awesome of him to let us know what's up.
Since Rick has the possibility of going back and forth between Tucson and Phoenix for work, depending on his seniority, and the family I work for could possibly end up in Phoenix, we decided to look at places between Tucson and Phoenix. Rick looked at some and said "they are super cheap, in the middle of no where, and it's really dirty there, but I still think we should move there." I wasn't sure what he meant by "dirty" like was there garbage on the street or what? On our days off we went out there and I found out that dirty literally meant dirty. Do you know what a haboob is? It's a huge dust storm. They've been crazy in Arizona this year, and we went there right in the middle of one. When we left I could feel dust in my eyes, hair, nose, and teeth. Disgusting. But we ended up finding a really cute place that we love for HALF the price of our other place with TWICE the bathrooms. TWO! TWO BATHROOMS!
We had to wait until the next week on our days off to move, and by this point our water had already been shut off for a week. They turned off the water to the bathroom so we couldn't shower, flush the toilet, use the sink, or do laundry. They kept the water in the kitchen on so I could brush my teeth and wash my hair there, and we were still able to do dishes. Chad and Christy opened their home up to us and let me shower and do laundry there after I would put the boys to bed. On my days off, Rick and I would give each other what he calls "billy baths" but what I call "camping." One of us would get in the shower and the other would fill up a bucket with water from the kitchen sink and then stand on the toilet and pour it on the person so they could "shower". I will never take running water for granted. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and run to the bathroom to check if we have running water, and we do, and I'm so thankful for that.
We set a date to move and then found out who our new Bishop would be. We called him and asked him if we could get some help moving, he told us his son would be able to help. The day before we moved we called to get our electricity and water all set up. The water place said that they only accept cash so we couldn't make a payment over the phone, and that whatever day we pay the water will be turned on the next day. It was already too late for us to go there before they closed so we knew we'd have to wait until the next day to pay it, which also meant that we'd be waterless for one more day. We got up the next day and put everything in the Uhaul. We had our neighbor help us with some of the big stuff, but for the most part it was just me and Rick, and contrary to popular belief, I am neither strong nor am I a good sport about anything. I tried to help Rick with some big stuff, but I was just getting in the way, and he ended up carrying our couch and mattresses by himself, holding it over his head while walking down a flight of stairs. I'm such a good wife. In the middle of all of this we decided to get some lunch and then leave to get the water set up. We left at noon, they closed at 5, it should have been an hour long drive but halfway into it traffic came to a dead stop on both sides of the freeway. We were totally stuck and had no idea what was going on when my Sister-In-Law texted me and said "You guys okay? I just heard there was a 30 car pile up on the I-10, both sides of the freeway. Bad dust storm, wait it out." We sat there for 4 hours. At 4:45 we called the water place and told them that we wouldn't make it to pay, but could they please schedule our water to be turned on and we'd pay them when they opened the next day? That was when the lady told us that our water was already on, we just had to switch it to our name. They failed to mention that to us the first time. So we did some very illegal maneuvers and headed back to Tucson, now almost 5 hours behind schedule. We weren't going to make it at the time we told the Bishops son to meet us. Rick called him and said we wouldn't be there until late that night, the guy said he'd probably be asleep. We got the rest of the stuff packed up. I was tired and whiney, Rick was exhausted (from holding couches above his head) and we finally left at 9:30 that night. We asked Rick's Brother, Sister-In-Law, and Niece to meet us there, and bless them they did. They got there before us when Megann texted me and said "people from your ward are here." When we pulled up there was our 3 family members, the Bishops son, his wife, another guy from the ward, and our neighbors who said "Hey we're your neighbors and we're Mormon too!"
A miracle of freaking miracles! Are you kidding? It was 10:30 at night, and they all showed up and got right to work. It took me and Rick 12 hours to pack up by ourselves, and it took us all 30 minutes to unpack. That's the kinda stuff that goes in the Ensign. Bless them.
After we got unpacked we chatted with our neighbors for a minute and that's when we noticed that our front window had been shot at with a bbgun and the window was broken, and then our neighbors told us that they've been broken into twice in the last 6 months. After that we headed to Walmart so we could buy all the proper security stuff to make our home safe. I wanted to just Home Alone the place with glass ornaments by the windows and saran wrap with glue on it but Rick wanted to go the more traditional route with door alarms and sealing off our windows and attic (apparently people here break in through the attic? What?)
I really love our cute little 2 bedroom 2(!!!) bathroom apartment. We've lived in BYU central when we lived by the library, which I hated. We lived in the middle of a city in Tucson, which I liked, and now we live in farm lands where we're surrounded by cotton fields and if we want to run to the store we have to "go into town." It's a nice change from the busy city. It's quiet. We live near a bread factory which frequently smells like freshly baked bread, cinnamon rolls, cookies, etc. We also live near a sewage plant which smells like I-15 between Pleasant Grove and American Fork. They have no street lamps in Arizona City which is actually pretty creepy but at night I can see the milky way and I've seen several shooting stars. I love living with Rick again, even if we are on completely opposite schedules and hardly see each other, he still comes home every morning. I love that it's getting "cold" here. Rick complained that he was "freeeeeeeeeeezing at work last night! Seriously it was like 45 degrees I swear I could almost see my breath." We are so spoiled by Arizona climate. I love it. And I really really love having running water.
Before 2 months ago, my idea of romance was if Rick got me flowers or chocolate or if I came home and he had cleaned, but during this time that all changed. Real romance is Rick filling up the bucket for me as many times as I asked him to for my billy bath, or coming home from work to see that he had filled the toilet up with water and filled the bucket up with water and set it next to the toilet so that I could flush the toilet twice without having to fill up the bucket. During all of this, Rick had a birthday, and we didn't get to see each other on his birthday or celebrate it in any way. I asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said to move into our new place so we could live together again. The older he gets the nicer he gets. Maybe next year for his birthday he'll want an ipad for his wife.
Since Rick has the possibility of going back and forth between Tucson and Phoenix for work, depending on his seniority, and the family I work for could possibly end up in Phoenix, we decided to look at places between Tucson and Phoenix. Rick looked at some and said "they are super cheap, in the middle of no where, and it's really dirty there, but I still think we should move there." I wasn't sure what he meant by "dirty" like was there garbage on the street or what? On our days off we went out there and I found out that dirty literally meant dirty. Do you know what a haboob is? It's a huge dust storm. They've been crazy in Arizona this year, and we went there right in the middle of one. When we left I could feel dust in my eyes, hair, nose, and teeth. Disgusting. But we ended up finding a really cute place that we love for HALF the price of our other place with TWICE the bathrooms. TWO! TWO BATHROOMS!
We had to wait until the next week on our days off to move, and by this point our water had already been shut off for a week. They turned off the water to the bathroom so we couldn't shower, flush the toilet, use the sink, or do laundry. They kept the water in the kitchen on so I could brush my teeth and wash my hair there, and we were still able to do dishes. Chad and Christy opened their home up to us and let me shower and do laundry there after I would put the boys to bed. On my days off, Rick and I would give each other what he calls "billy baths" but what I call "camping." One of us would get in the shower and the other would fill up a bucket with water from the kitchen sink and then stand on the toilet and pour it on the person so they could "shower". I will never take running water for granted. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and run to the bathroom to check if we have running water, and we do, and I'm so thankful for that.
We set a date to move and then found out who our new Bishop would be. We called him and asked him if we could get some help moving, he told us his son would be able to help. The day before we moved we called to get our electricity and water all set up. The water place said that they only accept cash so we couldn't make a payment over the phone, and that whatever day we pay the water will be turned on the next day. It was already too late for us to go there before they closed so we knew we'd have to wait until the next day to pay it, which also meant that we'd be waterless for one more day. We got up the next day and put everything in the Uhaul. We had our neighbor help us with some of the big stuff, but for the most part it was just me and Rick, and contrary to popular belief, I am neither strong nor am I a good sport about anything. I tried to help Rick with some big stuff, but I was just getting in the way, and he ended up carrying our couch and mattresses by himself, holding it over his head while walking down a flight of stairs. I'm such a good wife. In the middle of all of this we decided to get some lunch and then leave to get the water set up. We left at noon, they closed at 5, it should have been an hour long drive but halfway into it traffic came to a dead stop on both sides of the freeway. We were totally stuck and had no idea what was going on when my Sister-In-Law texted me and said "You guys okay? I just heard there was a 30 car pile up on the I-10, both sides of the freeway. Bad dust storm, wait it out." We sat there for 4 hours. At 4:45 we called the water place and told them that we wouldn't make it to pay, but could they please schedule our water to be turned on and we'd pay them when they opened the next day? That was when the lady told us that our water was already on, we just had to switch it to our name. They failed to mention that to us the first time. So we did some very illegal maneuvers and headed back to Tucson, now almost 5 hours behind schedule. We weren't going to make it at the time we told the Bishops son to meet us. Rick called him and said we wouldn't be there until late that night, the guy said he'd probably be asleep. We got the rest of the stuff packed up. I was tired and whiney, Rick was exhausted (from holding couches above his head) and we finally left at 9:30 that night. We asked Rick's Brother, Sister-In-Law, and Niece to meet us there, and bless them they did. They got there before us when Megann texted me and said "people from your ward are here." When we pulled up there was our 3 family members, the Bishops son, his wife, another guy from the ward, and our neighbors who said "Hey we're your neighbors and we're Mormon too!"
A miracle of freaking miracles! Are you kidding? It was 10:30 at night, and they all showed up and got right to work. It took me and Rick 12 hours to pack up by ourselves, and it took us all 30 minutes to unpack. That's the kinda stuff that goes in the Ensign. Bless them.
After we got unpacked we chatted with our neighbors for a minute and that's when we noticed that our front window had been shot at with a bbgun and the window was broken, and then our neighbors told us that they've been broken into twice in the last 6 months. After that we headed to Walmart so we could buy all the proper security stuff to make our home safe. I wanted to just Home Alone the place with glass ornaments by the windows and saran wrap with glue on it but Rick wanted to go the more traditional route with door alarms and sealing off our windows and attic (apparently people here break in through the attic? What?)
I really love our cute little 2 bedroom 2(!!!) bathroom apartment. We've lived in BYU central when we lived by the library, which I hated. We lived in the middle of a city in Tucson, which I liked, and now we live in farm lands where we're surrounded by cotton fields and if we want to run to the store we have to "go into town." It's a nice change from the busy city. It's quiet. We live near a bread factory which frequently smells like freshly baked bread, cinnamon rolls, cookies, etc. We also live near a sewage plant which smells like I-15 between Pleasant Grove and American Fork. They have no street lamps in Arizona City which is actually pretty creepy but at night I can see the milky way and I've seen several shooting stars. I love living with Rick again, even if we are on completely opposite schedules and hardly see each other, he still comes home every morning. I love that it's getting "cold" here. Rick complained that he was "freeeeeeeeeeezing at work last night! Seriously it was like 45 degrees I swear I could almost see my breath." We are so spoiled by Arizona climate. I love it. And I really really love having running water.
Before 2 months ago, my idea of romance was if Rick got me flowers or chocolate or if I came home and he had cleaned, but during this time that all changed. Real romance is Rick filling up the bucket for me as many times as I asked him to for my billy bath, or coming home from work to see that he had filled the toilet up with water and filled the bucket up with water and set it next to the toilet so that I could flush the toilet twice without having to fill up the bucket. During all of this, Rick had a birthday, and we didn't get to see each other on his birthday or celebrate it in any way. I asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said to move into our new place so we could live together again. The older he gets the nicer he gets. Maybe next year for his birthday he'll want an ipad for his wife.
Friday, September 09, 2011
Life lessons learned while sleeping in a parking lot in Vegas
Last week we went up to Utah for 3 days. I got to meet my new niece, spend time with (almost) all of my favorite people, help Rick with some photo shoots, and I ate like 500 cupcakes. We left late Sunday night because we never learn because we wanted to stay as late as we possibly could and then Rick had to hurry back for work. We said we would take turns driving. We never do. He always drives. I don't make him, he just likes driving or thinks I'm going to kill us or something. One time when we were driving from Arizona to Utah he pulled over in Mona because he couldn't drive anymore and I drove from there. Do you know where Mona is? Its like 30 miles from Provo. That's all I contributed to that roadtrip.
When we made it to Vegas we were both struggling to stay awake. We decided to find a place to sleep. We called a hotel and asked about rates but we were only going to be sleeping for 2-3 hours because Rick was on a strict time schedule and we decided it wasn't worth it to get a hotel room. So we pulled into a Flying J's parking lot and as I was laying there listening to the sound of Rick snoring and smelling the sweet smell of diesel fumes, I reflected on the days we spent in Utah and all of a sudden I was hit by an intense, sad and somewhat surprising reality.
I am not meant to live in Utah.
I do not feel comfortable there. And it's not just because there are 4 billion college students there and construction on every road in Utah County (the freeway splitting on our way to and from Salt Lake - what is that?! who the hell thought that was a good idea?) I feel like if you live in Utah you are on one side or the other as far as political/religious beliefs. Everybody has their guard up because they're going to be attacked and need to be ready to fight back at any moment (ESPECIALLY during the political season, my gosh). And you constantly have to defend your beliefs, whatever they are, and everyone is always getting their feelings hurt, and everyone is a victim, and nobody ever wins. Because of some of our friends and family members, I felt like I was constantly defending both sides, because I don't view things as black and white. I live in the grey, and because of this I was caught in the cross fire. It was so exhausting.
Last night we had a pool party/BBQ with a bunch of our neighbors. When one of our neighbors found out we were from Utah she asked if we were Mormon. My insides churned, not because I am ashamed of what I believe, but because I was having such a nice time and really didn't want to have to defend or argue my beliefs or worry about hurting someone's feelings. We told her yes, we are Mormon. She said "Well then we'll keep the beer away from you! You Mormons really know how to build beautiful buildings. Have you seen the temple here? Or the one in Los Angeles? They are so beautiful!" And then throughout the night she asked us questions about the church, and not "so why do you hate gays?" or "why are you racist?" but "so how does the Priesthood work?" and "what does the oil do when you give blessings?" It was a breath of fresh air. I wanted to keep talking, I wanted to tell her more, and I wanted to go home and read and do my research to make sure I was answering all her questions correctly. I've never experienced that kind of conversation in Utah.
I like Arizona. Even the first few months when things were really hard I still liked it. There was a time about 2 months ago where I still didn't have a job and Rick found out that the railroad was starting to lay people off again, and he would be laid off soon. We panicked. We were barely surviving as it was and were already so behind and we could not live without his job. We seriously considered moving back to Utah, and starting all over. Again. Rick knew he could get his old job back at the Hospital. Between all of our family there we knew we could stay with someone until we got back up on our feet. We prayed and fasted and cried and had no idea what to do. And then I found Chad and Christy, and they hired me. And then Rick found out that if he transferred to the Phoenix yard, he would be able to hold there because they needed people because nobody likes working in Phoenix (because it is 400 degrees). And he's been in Phoenix ever since, and I've been working ever since, and we are still behind and still struggling and I still hate not being able to see my guy every day, but we're blooming where we're planted, and we're learning and growing and we know this is where we need to be.
The night we got home we laid in bed and talked about it. I was very sad to have come to this realization and was so glad to have Rick there with me (even though later that night when we were both dead asleep he elbowed me HARD in the nose and then every time I moved after that he would wake up frantically and put his hand on my head and say "sorry 'bout yo face"). We talked about the things we liked and would miss about Utah, and about the things we were going to have to get used to in Arizona. Although there are some things I don't think I will ever get used to. Things like...
When we made it to Vegas we were both struggling to stay awake. We decided to find a place to sleep. We called a hotel and asked about rates but we were only going to be sleeping for 2-3 hours because Rick was on a strict time schedule and we decided it wasn't worth it to get a hotel room. So we pulled into a Flying J's parking lot and as I was laying there listening to the sound of Rick snoring and smelling the sweet smell of diesel fumes, I reflected on the days we spent in Utah and all of a sudden I was hit by an intense, sad and somewhat surprising reality.
I am not meant to live in Utah.
I do not feel comfortable there. And it's not just because there are 4 billion college students there and construction on every road in Utah County (the freeway splitting on our way to and from Salt Lake - what is that?! who the hell thought that was a good idea?) I feel like if you live in Utah you are on one side or the other as far as political/religious beliefs. Everybody has their guard up because they're going to be attacked and need to be ready to fight back at any moment (ESPECIALLY during the political season, my gosh). And you constantly have to defend your beliefs, whatever they are, and everyone is always getting their feelings hurt, and everyone is a victim, and nobody ever wins. Because of some of our friends and family members, I felt like I was constantly defending both sides, because I don't view things as black and white. I live in the grey, and because of this I was caught in the cross fire. It was so exhausting.
Last night we had a pool party/BBQ with a bunch of our neighbors. When one of our neighbors found out we were from Utah she asked if we were Mormon. My insides churned, not because I am ashamed of what I believe, but because I was having such a nice time and really didn't want to have to defend or argue my beliefs or worry about hurting someone's feelings. We told her yes, we are Mormon. She said "Well then we'll keep the beer away from you! You Mormons really know how to build beautiful buildings. Have you seen the temple here? Or the one in Los Angeles? They are so beautiful!" And then throughout the night she asked us questions about the church, and not "so why do you hate gays?" or "why are you racist?" but "so how does the Priesthood work?" and "what does the oil do when you give blessings?" It was a breath of fresh air. I wanted to keep talking, I wanted to tell her more, and I wanted to go home and read and do my research to make sure I was answering all her questions correctly. I've never experienced that kind of conversation in Utah.
I like Arizona. Even the first few months when things were really hard I still liked it. There was a time about 2 months ago where I still didn't have a job and Rick found out that the railroad was starting to lay people off again, and he would be laid off soon. We panicked. We were barely surviving as it was and were already so behind and we could not live without his job. We seriously considered moving back to Utah, and starting all over. Again. Rick knew he could get his old job back at the Hospital. Between all of our family there we knew we could stay with someone until we got back up on our feet. We prayed and fasted and cried and had no idea what to do. And then I found Chad and Christy, and they hired me. And then Rick found out that if he transferred to the Phoenix yard, he would be able to hold there because they needed people because nobody likes working in Phoenix (because it is 400 degrees). And he's been in Phoenix ever since, and I've been working ever since, and we are still behind and still struggling and I still hate not being able to see my guy every day, but we're blooming where we're planted, and we're learning and growing and we know this is where we need to be.
The night we got home we laid in bed and talked about it. I was very sad to have come to this realization and was so glad to have Rick there with me (even though later that night when we were both dead asleep he elbowed me HARD in the nose and then every time I moved after that he would wake up frantically and put his hand on my head and say "sorry 'bout yo face"). We talked about the things we liked and would miss about Utah, and about the things we were going to have to get used to in Arizona. Although there are some things I don't think I will ever get used to. Things like...
- Africanized Honey Bees. Also known as Killer Bees. Super mean, super scary. A few months ago one of them got into our apartment and kept bumping aggressively into Rick. He finally caught it and let it outside. The next day we went to leave and it was by our car and anytime we got near the car it would chase us. It took us 20 minutes to get into our car. If you kill one of these bees they let off some kind of scent or something to let the other bees know what's up and then you will get swarmed. And die. Like on My Girl. Did anybody else sob during Thomas' funeral when Vada was crying saying Thomas needed his glasses? No? Just Rick? Okay.
- Sewer Roaches. They come up from your drains and hang out in your bathtub. Kill myself.
- "If you need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night just put your flip flops on in case you step on a scorpion." Kill myself twice.
- These really big really loud beetles that hang out in the trees and you'll be outside thinking "man, those power lines are really loud" and then you realize you are no where near the power lines.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
My Heart is in Phoenix
Rick has been in Phoenix for a few weeks. The good part about that is that I get the whole bed to myself and I've never slept better. The bad part is that it sucks and I hate being alone and I miss him and I don't know when I will get to see him or how long he will be gone. He is planning on staying there for as long as he can work, which turns out could be for a few months. That's good because then he won't be laid off but also he will be in Phoenix and not Tucson (and that sucks). Luckily he has been able to stay with family/friends up there, but he wants me to go visit him on my days off which is annoying for two reasons - first, I feel weird staying at other people's houses, and second, have I ever mentioned how much I hate Phoenix? Phoenix is so freaking hot. Way hotter than Tucson, which I don't really understand because Tucson is further South than Phoenix but I heard it's a difference in elevation or something. It's the kind of hot that just instantly makes you irritated. The kind of hot where you can only be comfortable if you lay on the kitchen floor in your underwear eating popsicles. But then again it's not my house and so I have to remain fully clothed, which spikes up the irritation. Tucson has beautiful monsoon rainstorms that cool everything off and then it smells amazing afterwards. Phoenix has dust storms that ruins contacts, gets in your mouth and then you feel the dirt grinding against your teeth, and if you blow your nose afterwards you think you've got a horrible sinus disease. Tucson has the best mexican food ever, and Phoenix has a Taco Bell on every corner. Tucson has mountains (that get SNOW on them in the winter) and Phoenix has the sun in your eyes forever. So we decided that if Rick has time off he's going to come to Tucson instead of me going to Phoenix.
It's times like these that I hate the Railroad. The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing that this will not last forever and that we are just in the "lets throw you around and test your commitment to the job" phase. Plus, we have killer Health Insurance, and it's hard to hate that. Rick put in another bid for a job in Dallas (for 90 days) and they've started calling people for it, so we'll see what happens there. He also had lunch with an old coworker and this guy is a manager for an oil rig company in North Dakota. He said that if Rick gets laid off he could go work for him. So that is also a possibility. Our lives are so weird. Luckily we don't have any kids right now and if Rick needs to keep having a horrible schedule and travel everywhere then this is the time for it to happen, and then one day our patience will pay off and I'll be living my dream ofhaving as many ferrets as our landlord will allow being a stay at home mom. If he did go to North Dakota he would work for 2 weeks straight then come home and have 2 weeks off. Because of my job, if he was home, he would be able to come to work with me and help me watch the kids. One of the many perks of being a nanny. Have I mentioned that I have the best job in the world? The kids are awesome, and the couple is amazing. I swear they were sent to me straight from Heaven/Craigslist. Chad (the dad of the boys) is a photographer, so he and Rick hit it off instantly. When Christy (the mom) comes home from work we will sit and chat. It will feel like 5 minutes has gone by and I'll check the time and its been an hour and a half. Chad is an awesome chef and so I get to have a quality home cooked dinner every night, and they buy me lots of Dr. Pepper. It's a dream come true.
It's times like these that I hate the Railroad. The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing that this will not last forever and that we are just in the "lets throw you around and test your commitment to the job" phase. Plus, we have killer Health Insurance, and it's hard to hate that. Rick put in another bid for a job in Dallas (for 90 days) and they've started calling people for it, so we'll see what happens there. He also had lunch with an old coworker and this guy is a manager for an oil rig company in North Dakota. He said that if Rick gets laid off he could go work for him. So that is also a possibility. Our lives are so weird. Luckily we don't have any kids right now and if Rick needs to keep having a horrible schedule and travel everywhere then this is the time for it to happen, and then one day our patience will pay off and I'll be living my dream of
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Making Lists is Easier
- A few weeks ago, Rick woke me up at 5 one morning and said "Go pack, we are going to Utah today." He is the coolest. Because things have been changing at his work, he suddenly had a week off, and I still didn't have a job so it was the perfect time to go. It was the longest 12 hour drive of my life and when I finally saw the Y on the mountain I cried tears of joy. I rolled down the window to smell the beautiful smell of Utah and instead I got hit in the face by a lot of bugs, so that euphoric feeling was short lived (I think I swallowed either a very large fly or a very small bird.)
- While in Utah I ate a lot of cupcakes, spent a lot of time with friends and family, and spent a lot of time barfing my face off. It was everything I've ever dreamed of.
- While in Utah we made the very sad and very hard decision of giving Meeko away. We thought long and hard about it and we decided that with Rick's crazy work schedule, and with me knowing (hoping and praying) that I would get a full time job sometime, we felt guilty about the thought of having to leave him home alone in his kennel for long hours. We were able to find a family for him to go to that has another dog of his exact breed, 5 kids at home, and a big yard. The youngest child is new to the wonderful family and is their foster/soon to be adopted son, and he needed a buddy to bond with. They played really well together when they came over to meet Meeko, and as they were leaving the sweet boy looked up at me and said "Thank you so much for giving me your puppy, he is so cute and I promise I will take very good care of him for you" and I totally cried.
- I cried for most of the drive home. I was sad to leave my family, friends, and Meeko. When we got back, Rick immediately started working graves and I was home alone every night, and jobless during the day. Seriously, so depressing. I was sad and lonely and wondering if we had made the right decision when...
- I got a job. I'm a nanny for the most amazing family with 3 little boys. The oldest boy calls me Miss Jodi and says "yes, ma'am" and he's only 6. The two youngest boys think I am the coolest thing ever and when I give them their bottles and put them in bed they go right to sleep. Amazing. The best part is that we found each other on CRAIGSLIST after I watched an episode of Law and Order that was about a nanny named Jodi from Utah who was a Mormon. Not even kidding. Yesterday was my first day and I was gone for about 12 hours and Rick has been working up in Phoenix, and I knew then that we had made the right decision about Meeko and I felt 100 times better knowing he was in a home with another dog and kids instead of stuck in his kennel in our apartment for 12 hours.
- I've already learned so much from these kids, and I've also learned so much about myself, mostly because of this book. Changed my life.
- Rick was bumped (someone with more seniority than him took his job) from the Tucson yard and has been working in Phoenix. He will stay there as long as he can work. He came home last night because he has 2 days off and 3 times last night he woke up giggling so hard he was wheezing, I had to wake him up from sleep paralysis twice, and he talked all.night.long. I guess I'll just sleep when he's not here.
- I walked into my bathroom a few days ago and saw something scurry into a hole in the floor. Turns out a gecko has been living there. He's quick and I was never able to catch him. Yesterday he had made his way into the kitchen. I caught him and released him outside. He's been trying to get back inside ever since. If he makes it back, he is welcome to stay. Anything that tries that hard to get into my house is welcome.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Plan On It
I really hate it when people say "Things are great right now which means that something bad is about to happen." That drives me crazy. If things are going good then just appreciate it and don't wait for things to be bad or don't expect it because it will happen, and then you'll think you're right, and you'll complain about it, and I won't feel sorry for you because you were being obnoxious in the first place. That kind of mentality makes me crazy, but I was thinking about that today, and then I realized that lately, I am one of those people. Not in the way of "things are good so something bad will happen" but in the way of "as soon as I verbalize my plans, they change, so I'm not telling anyone anything ever again."
Lately whenever I tell people what my plans/goals are, they change within a second. I was looking back at my New Years Resolutions and it gave me a nice good laugh. I'm really starting to look like a giant liar.
We're coming to Utah, no we're not.
We're spending the summer in Dallas/Chicago/St. Louis, no we're not.
Rick's job is going to be so much better for us financially, no it's not.
I've been applying liberally to every job in Tucson. One job I had a 2nd interview with, they loved me, they said I would be great, they said they were excited, and that I should hear from them soon. I was so happy. I felt confident and I knew that I would get the job. Since it was an almost sure thing, I decided it was safe to tell people. So I told just a few friends and family members, and the next day I got the rejection. I've had my share of "thanks but no thanks" since applying to jobs here, but that one stung.
And then things started snowballing. Rick wanted to clean out our 2nd bedroom and change it from the "all of our random crap room" to our "electronic stuff neatly organized and a bed for guests" room. But why bother putting all that work into it? What if he loses his job and we have to move? What if no one ever comes to visit us? Why does it matter? And that turned into why should I even apply for jobs if no one will hire me anyway? What's the point? Why should I do anything productive if it's just going to backfire?
Rick has come to me on many occasions and said "Do we need to move back to Utah?" He feels guilty for moving me here. I feel guilty for quitting the one job I did get that I hated more than anything. But the worst part is wanting so badly to say "yes, please, lets go back home" but knowing that we're here for a reason. I have no idea what that reason is, and for a long time I doubted it, and that's when I realized I was turning into the obnoxious person who always waits for the bad to hit. That person sucks.
So, I'm breaking the cycle. Want to know my plans? Sure thing.
We plan on coming up to Utah September 16 - 21. Rick has a photo shoot to do up there on the 17th, and since that is his birthday week we plan on celebrating BBQ style. If you are reading this, you are invited.
I plan on getting a job. I currently have applications being reviewed with 2 hospitals here, one job is for a receptionist in Labor and Delivery, and one is in the OR being the person who makes sure all the surgical tools are sterile. I was talking to a lady in our ward and she had a similar story. Lived in Utah, moved to Tucson for her husband's job, went crazy not working, and then finally found a job that she had no experience with before but she loves it now. She works for a medical software company, and she told me to send her my resume and she'd pass it along because she knows they are hiring. So there is also that possibility. Either way, I'm going to keep applying and interviewing until I find a job.
I plan on getting out of debt, saving money, and getting ready for cars/houses/babies.
I plan on buying a nice rug for our living room because I never realized how much I love carpet until I didn't have it anymore.
I plan on cleaning out that 2nd bedroom and even getting a futon bed for when we have guests.
I plan on living in Tucson forever, and that is kind of scary.
I plan on Rick not getting killed on the job and not telling me that "work was good...except when the train we were on derailed" ever again.
I plan on keeping Meeko forever.
I plan on both of our cars working like we need them to.
If our plans change, then we'll just roll with it.
Lately whenever I tell people what my plans/goals are, they change within a second. I was looking back at my New Years Resolutions and it gave me a nice good laugh. I'm really starting to look like a giant liar.
We're coming to Utah, no we're not.
We're spending the summer in Dallas/Chicago/St. Louis, no we're not.
Rick's job is going to be so much better for us financially, no it's not.
I've been applying liberally to every job in Tucson. One job I had a 2nd interview with, they loved me, they said I would be great, they said they were excited, and that I should hear from them soon. I was so happy. I felt confident and I knew that I would get the job. Since it was an almost sure thing, I decided it was safe to tell people. So I told just a few friends and family members, and the next day I got the rejection. I've had my share of "thanks but no thanks" since applying to jobs here, but that one stung.
And then things started snowballing. Rick wanted to clean out our 2nd bedroom and change it from the "all of our random crap room" to our "electronic stuff neatly organized and a bed for guests" room. But why bother putting all that work into it? What if he loses his job and we have to move? What if no one ever comes to visit us? Why does it matter? And that turned into why should I even apply for jobs if no one will hire me anyway? What's the point? Why should I do anything productive if it's just going to backfire?
Rick has come to me on many occasions and said "Do we need to move back to Utah?" He feels guilty for moving me here. I feel guilty for quitting the one job I did get that I hated more than anything. But the worst part is wanting so badly to say "yes, please, lets go back home" but knowing that we're here for a reason. I have no idea what that reason is, and for a long time I doubted it, and that's when I realized I was turning into the obnoxious person who always waits for the bad to hit. That person sucks.
So, I'm breaking the cycle. Want to know my plans? Sure thing.
We plan on coming up to Utah September 16 - 21. Rick has a photo shoot to do up there on the 17th, and since that is his birthday week we plan on celebrating BBQ style. If you are reading this, you are invited.
I plan on getting a job. I currently have applications being reviewed with 2 hospitals here, one job is for a receptionist in Labor and Delivery, and one is in the OR being the person who makes sure all the surgical tools are sterile. I was talking to a lady in our ward and she had a similar story. Lived in Utah, moved to Tucson for her husband's job, went crazy not working, and then finally found a job that she had no experience with before but she loves it now. She works for a medical software company, and she told me to send her my resume and she'd pass it along because she knows they are hiring. So there is also that possibility. Either way, I'm going to keep applying and interviewing until I find a job.
I plan on getting out of debt, saving money, and getting ready for cars/houses/babies.
I plan on buying a nice rug for our living room because I never realized how much I love carpet until I didn't have it anymore.
I plan on cleaning out that 2nd bedroom and even getting a futon bed for when we have guests.
I plan on living in Tucson forever, and that is kind of scary.
I plan on Rick not getting killed on the job and not telling me that "work was good...except when the train we were on derailed" ever again.
I plan on keeping Meeko forever.
I plan on both of our cars working like we need them to.
If our plans change, then we'll just roll with it.
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