March!! And SPRING!!!

I am SO ready for spring. I love being able to just walk outside without having to bundle up first. It's also really refreshing to open the windows in the mornings, that part is one of my favorite parts of spring! Anyway, as it gets warmer here there are more things to do! For example, we went for a nice little bike ride a couple weeks ago.

I am still working at the Charleston Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and teaching on Thursdays. I really enjoy my Tuesdays though. Those are my deep cleaning days. I have worked everyday for the past two weeks so I was pretty excited when Tuesday came around this week!! I had done a pretty good job of keeping up with everything though so I also took some time to take it easy.

Gary is getting pretty burned out of his job at Orange Soda. He's looking into doing a sales job with a food storage company this summer though. It's a brand new company and so far they are doing really well here in Utah, as you could imagine... He seems pretty excited to try it out!

I went to the doctor again this morning. I'm excited because I was sick of going to those community health centers that are looming with illness. I finally have a doctor!! In a real office!! Anyway, I just went for a check up and he told me I'm crazy! HA ha, not really. He did tell me that I probably do have OCD and then told me to chill out. If I can't he told me he's going to have me "just talk with a psychologist". He told me that he thinks my migraines are a result of the stress. So I'm going to try and "chill" I guess and that should make me so much happier and healthier too. I knew these things... I just have a strong desire to be perfect.

Other then that, not a lot has been going on around here. We bought a few guppies today, but that wouldn't be a surprise to anyone. We're always buying fish. You'd think we have hundreds but we're only at about 30. But we've got 85 gallons of water to fill!!! (that's the 75 gallon and the 10 gallon).

I really want to move away from this Utah place. It feels so temporary. It's like I'm in limbo waiting to be moved to a permanent location. I told Gary that we need to move to Denver or Vancouver because once we have kids I want to be around family. We really have no idea what we'll be doing even in a year from now though so who knows where we'll be!!

Anyway, that's the latest here in the Hall home of Provo. Hope everyone who's reading is doing well!!

Love!

Let me start out by saying, Valentine's Day is hated by many but it is my favorite holiday and pretty close to my favorite day of the year. I have, rather than a favorite color, favorite color combinations. One being black and white, the other being red, pink and white. So you can imagine how excited I get when I step into a store near February. I LOVE decorating for the special day too.

Last year Gary sent me 18 red roses in a red vase, spending near $100. This year we decided that rather then spending money on flowers and chocolate, in which no evidence will remain 2 weeks later.... we will spend the day doing something special. Gary heard in a recent study that "Making a memory creates longer term happiness then buying or receiving something". I loved the idea and went along with it.

We started the day out by eating a nice bowl of cereal, lol. I would have made something special but we didn't have the ingredients. We got ready and left to the early bird showing for Coraline. To our surprise it was in "real 3D". It was a really neat experience! The movie was great and we did as planed, had a great time! Next Gary had planned on taking me to the California Pizza Kitchen because I'd never been there and I LOVE pizza! We enjoyed a great lunch and then went next door to the mall. Gary found a video game he wanted. Seeing that it was only $15 I begged him to buy it for himself. Next we bought a couple Wall-flower re-fills at Bath & Body Works.

When we got home Ryan was back (he was staying with us for the long weekend). We decided to take him to the movies so we eat a yummy spaghetti dinner and ran back to the theaters. I cant believe I went to the theaters twice in a day, but I did... and I loved it.

We got home and the boys played video games; or should I say Gary played and Ryan "worked on homework". I watched a movie in the bedroom and folded some laundry. It was a wonderful day and I really lookforward to my many Valentine's Days to come, filled with new and special experiences.

Time FLYS!

Well here we are, almost finished with January 2009. I can hardly believe it! I was just thinking today about my blueprint of life. Since I can remember I've planned on getting married, about when I did... and having children around our two year anniversary. Yes we've only been married for just under 6 months but that puts me at being a mom NEXT YEAR! I'm not making ANY promises here, nor am I hinting at anything. I'm just saying... I'm getting old!

Anyway... we have had some changes and things worth mentioning since the start of the year.

First of all, I got a new job! I'm working at an assisted living called The Charleston at Cedar Hills. I'm a receptionist on Wednesday's and Fridays. It doesn't sound like much but just in those two days I'm making more than I do even in 4 days of subbing. It's a lot of fun too! I LOVE working with the residents and am loving them the more I'm there. You can and should check this place out! It's the most outstanding place I've seen... ever! Here is a link: http://www.thecharlestonatcedarhills.com/index.php

Gary and I are discussing our education and trying to figure it all out. Honestly, I really do not want to go back right now. I'm working hard as it is and I feel like I should continue this path while Gary finishes. I do respectable work with the degree I have and I plan on getting my bachelors and even masters eventually, maybe just not right now. On the other hand, Gary is motivated more than ever to go back and finish his degree.

Speaking of Gary, as most of you heard he was pretty sick there for a while. He had a severely sore throat that kept him up all night for close to a week! Finally he went in and got some anti-biotics and is all better now!

I continue to have strange health issues but nothing too bad. We're waiting to have insurance to maybe look a little deeper. Overall, I feel great. I just tend to have minor set backs on a weekly and daily basis. (ocular migraines, UTI's, unexplained weight loss, worst of all extreme fatigue)

To tie that together with more GOOD news, Gary is now considered full time (even though he's always been full time...) which means he now gets benefits! We'll have insurance in a month!

Well... I think that is all for now. Life is going so well. I was reading Gary's patriarchal blessing this week and it brought overwhelming gratitude and humility to me. It reminded me how extremely blessed I am. With that, I want everyone to know how much I love you, how much I love this gospel and how thankful I am for all that I have.

The worst working day ever!

This week BYU and the Provo School District had fall break so I only got to work one day. I was excited since I knew who I was subbing for. She seemed to have a pretty good schedual and she was just a teacher assistant. Once I arived to the school I was asked to "go get the 8 special ed. students from the busses". I'd never seen these students before, how am I supposed to find them? Once the bus arrived I realized that was the least of my problems. There was a student in a wheel chair (he was non-functioning), and 6 other students that needed assistance getting off the bus. I was alone!! Luckly, one of the main stream students that I've taught before came running out to help me. I was releaved!

Once I got into the classroom the main teacher left me with the students. First of all, my contract says that I'm not to be alone with special ed. students for safty reasons. Second of all, they don't know me and didn't like that I was left with them. Suddenly there were a lot of problems! I had a student on top of a chair, another banging the radio on the floor, one playing in the teacher's desk, and then a student I was supposed to be keeping an eye on as he was tube feeding. AHHH!!! I didn't think I would survive! But I apparently did, right? Worst day as a sub!

A WHITE WHITE Christmas!

Well, as I mentioned we went to Washington for the holidays this year. Mainly because Bayli was getting baptized on the 27th! Our plan was to leave December 23rd and stay at my mom's til Christmas morning...

The 800 Mile Journey to Washington!
On the 22nd a snow storm came into Utah (and everywhere west of it for that matter) so we decided to leave early and stay the night at my uncle Preston's house in Tremonton UT. We made it there pretty quickly and went on our way on the morning of the 23rd. The roads were great!!! There was a patch of snow on the road here and there but 90% of it was as clear as any other day.
Once we got into Portland we hit some tough snow and ice which delayed us quite a bit. I got extremely stressed out and feared for my life. Poor Gary had to listen to me scream and cry as I was sure we were going to die. As a result, we stayed in a Howard Johnson in Tualitan, just north of Sherwood where my mom lives. It was a really nice hotel and we were in great need of a rest after the 13 hours in the car.

Visiting my Mom!
Luckily we made it safely to my mom's new house with ease on the 24th. Once we reached her driveway we had Scott (her fiance) come get us on the 4 wheelers because he didn't want us to slip off the driveway. Once we arrived to the nice warm home we did some catching up and took a tour of her grand mansion in the middle of nowhere. We didn't get to see it in its true beauty as the power was out the entire visit but it was a very lovely home.
Christmas morning was fun! We got to open our presents and watch Jeremy open his new PSP! Not long after that we left for our long journey to Washougal.
To make a long story short, it took us an hour to get out of my mom's driveway Christmas morning. Luckily Scott's brother (who lives next door) has a snow plow/tractor and helped us out. Once we got out of that mess we were at my dad's in no time.

Home Sweet Home!
We were warmly greeted at my dad's. Oh how I love to be home. Colton and Bayli had waited to open their gifts, which was extremely sweet of them! Luckily we got to enjoy all the gift giving again! Gary and I got pj's, some crystal Christmas decorations, games, movies and books! We all spent the rest of the day relaxing.
Unfortunately I woke up with the stomach flu so my goal for the day was to recover! None the less, it was an outstanding Christmas. I loved being with my family and having Gary with me too.

The rest of the week was enjoyed as we played games, spent time with aunts, uncles, and my family. Gary and I also ran around town a little on day care days. We even took a family trip to Powell's bookstore! Bayli was baptized too which was a glorious event! All in all, it was a WONDERFUL vacation!

We left for home and made it their safely! For New Year's Gary was sweet enough to take me to my Grandparent's house in Preston ID where we enjoyed more games and family.