Catch up time and pictures

WOw, it has been a while since I've last posted. We ended up going home to Idaho for Thanksgiving and we loved every second of it!! There was so many people to see, and we still didn't get to see them all!! It was so hard turning around and leaving them all to come back to Arizona. Derek's birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day this year, so we made sure to get him a cake and not just pumpkin pie! :) Here are some fun pictures we took while in Idaho. Most of the pictures we took only when we were with our friends Ryan and Syd.

Syd "jumping" in the picture! (baha)

Derek and Ry guy



The cutest Birthday boy ever!!!

Me at Derek's grandma's house

Our cute little neice Taysia. I love her BIG brown eyes!

Derek with our nephew Jarom at Derek's grandma's the night before we left.

Mine and Sydni's engagement photo!! HAHA I love this girl!

Dawson's and the Pasley's just "hangin" out. Baha


Also... something really awesome that just happened to Derek and I is Derek got a job!!!!! YAHOOO!!!!! Finally, a huge stress has been taken off of our load!! Derek actually got the job through one of my patient's. Someohow one of my pateints figured out I was LDS, and he is a convert. The more we started talking, we figured out that we are in the same stake and associate with some of the same people. About 2 months of working with him he asked me if my husband was looking for work b/c they were looking to hire someone.... Anyways, after 2 interviews and a drug test, they called Derek today at 8:30 in the morning and asked him to start at 9. As you can see we are ecstatic that he has a job now!! We are so blessed, this is the best Christmas present we could have ever asked for!!!!

Halloween Fun!!

This Halloween we had loads of fun!! We went to a pre Halloween party on Friday night at some people's house.... haha i have no idea who these people were, but they had about 200 people at their house!! We had a lot of fun dancing and Derek and I dressed up as twins this night.
Saturday I had class, and afterwards we all went to get a massage at the college. We went with 2 of our friends Josh and Perry. I FINALLY had a good experience with getting a massage so I was pretty happy about it!! After our massages, we got all dressed up and went to an awesome dance party at the Chandler Airport. IT was so much fun b/c we had a HUGE dance in an airplane hanger! I dressed up as an 80's dancer, Raylon was a gangster, and Derek was dead... Haha he ended up looking like the dad from the Adam's Family (Gomez. After derek got all dressed up he changed his costume last minute to being a gangster, but I didn't get any pictures of it. It was so hilarious, b/c our friend Perry dressed up as a banana, and Josh dressed up as Lil' Wayne. HAHA the best part of it was that Josh painted himself with Brown face paint and he had a ligit wig, so he SERIOUSLY looked black!! hahaha, there was a black guy who came up to Josh during the dance and asked him if he was really black or not. haha anyways Halloween was a success and we all had a blast!! Here are some pics... enjoy!!


Perry the banana man, and Josh our black friend Lil' Wayne!


Raylon the gangsta gangsta!!!


My 80's girl comin out!!


Made in the 80's.


Derek my dead husband!!

Blogging Inadequacy

I am not going to lie.... but I don't know how to put this video on my page.... but I love this contemporary dance from last season on SYTYCD!! If you want to take the time, you should definately check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szUJ9yo2CpU

Random Facts about AZ

ALRIGHT, here are some random facts about Arizona I have discovered while living here!!

1. In Primary, we do not sing "Once There Was a Snoman". Considering that most of the kids here have never seen the snow before, we sing "Once there was a Cactus". The cactus starts out small, then grows tall tall tall in the sun! hahaha

2. If you live in a house, your next door neighbor lives 2 feet away. You can see into their living room if you're lucky!!

3. The water tastes like chlorine... so EVERYONE drinks purified water.

4. Finding cockroaches is not a rare thing!! While playing sports at the church, someone always seems to find the cockroach of the day!

5. Everyone here hates being cold!! That is why people live here... because we are all big fat babies about being cold!!

6. The wards here are awesome!! Many of the members here are converts, so no one cares what you've done in the past. As long as you are in the ward, you are family!

7. People are so active here!! Most people love being outdoors, camping, biking, GOLF (it's a big thing down here), and anything active outside. I love it, b/c that's exactly what Derek and I enjoy is staying active and being in the great outdoors!

8. There are a lot of members... but it's rare running into them, b/c there are sooo many people here!!

9. EVERYONE drives fast!! Get out of the way, b/c people will run you over!

10. You HAVE to know your directions here, b/c it is so big! Everyone gives directions using North, South etc. There are main streets that go through multiple cities. This is why you must know your directions b/c you dont' want to follow a road all the way to Gilbert if you are supposed to be headed towards Tempe.

11. People mind their own business and do their own thing. This can be a good and bad thing. It's great b/c it's not full of gossip and drama, but hard to feel close to others at times.

12. I never knew how to sweat until I moved here!! Holy Moly, it sucks when all you wnat to do is open the windows up at night to cool down the house in the heat of the summer, but it's hotter outside at 1 a.m. then inside of your house.

13. October is the perfect weather!! I am loving this 80-90 degree weather, and I just can't get enough of it!!

A RUN DOWN

Well.... basically I haven't posted a blog in a VERY long time!! I don't even know what to say b/c I feel like I've gone through a lot but I haven't written about any of it b/c I just wanted it all to pass and I didn't want to dwell on it!!
Pretty much.... it's been rough!! We moved 900 miles away from home. We have been struggling b/c Derek has been out of work. I was stressed with work and school. We sold our car... and we were ripped off when we bought another car. The man who sold it to us scammed us... so we are basically screwed. We've had horrible car problems, and everything just kept piling higher and higher. Derek and I held it together for so long until about 2 weeks ago. The car completely pooped, we didn't have a vehicle, getting to work for either of us was kind of an issue, and... basically we couldn't see any ups in our situation.
Finally Derek has been receiving some input back from jobs, so there was an up. We fixed our car... or so we thought... but there was a small little up to that situation for a while. Just having these small little ups made a world of difference. I feel like going through all of this has made us stronger. It's made Derek 10x more motivated to go to school and to get a career. Derek came home from a down interview realizing that he didn't want to take a crap job. He came home and worked on his resume for hours. He was determined more than ever to find a good job. He also registered for school that night, so he will be starting in January rather than September. I have been more motivated about my job. Even though I don't enjoy going to work everyday b/c of the people and the stress levels of it all, I am still determined that I want to go into this field. It has made me so thankful that I have a full time job b/c without it, Derek and I could have never made it this far!!
I am grateful for the oppurtunity to be going to school!! School is so important, and I know that it is important for me to have a degree as well. You never know what life will throw at us. In the future we may need an extra source of income, Derek could end up jobless, or I could even end up a single mother. I have always felt that I need to get a degree for my future, and I have always been bound and determined to make it happen.
We really do enjoy Arizona!! Derek and I have amazing friends here!! I love our ward, and I love our friends!! Every week we get together w/ some young couples from the ward and we play sports. Whether it's some intense dodgeball, volleyball, basketball, or ultimate frisbee, we do it all!! We also get together and have dinner, movie/game nights. Without our ward and our friends, it wouldn't be the same!! About 3 weeks ago they completely divided out stake. Now rather than having 100 people in our ward, we now have 400 people in our ward!! We have met a lot of new great people and it's so exciting getting to know everyone!! Derek and I were both put in the primary, but then they had to put him into Sunday School, so I am left with a class of 9 children without Derek!! haha it's so much fun though, I love it!! I teach the 7 and 8 year olds!! This is such a prime age, and they are all so excited to learn! Derek teaches the 14 and 15 year olds, and his first week is Sunday!! Wish him luck!! He will be an awesome example to those kids!!
So even though it has been a struggle moving down here, we have learned a lot!! We are working towards our goals, and we have amazing support down here!! I just hope that we can get this car situation sorted out, and I hope Derek can find an enjoyable job!!!

Happy Anniversary!!

I can't even believe it, but on Saturday Derek and I shared our 1 year anniversary!! That year flew by, but YAY we did it!!! Somehow I fed us and we survived!! We had an awesome anniversary, and I just want to say that I have an amazing husband and I love him more than anything!! I don't know what I would do without him!! Anyways, enough with the gushyness let's talk about our fun adventure!
Friday after I got off work... Derek and I made our way over to L.A. It is a 6 1/2 hour drive from our apartment! We got to our apartment... and it was disgusting! It smelt like smoke, and I was afraid to even sit on the bed! haha so luckily we found another hotel down the road that was available for 2 nights.
The next morning we woke up bright and early and made our way to 6 Flags!! The park was just like in the movies. As soon as those front gates open... everyone comes running through them screaming and racing to get to the rides before everyone else. I sat there laughing my head off at the madness and Derek insisted that we run like the rest of the crazy people so we start running through the park! Being the intellectuals that we are.... Derek and I ran to a dead end of the park, and had some women following us. Haha... so out comes the map, and we ran to the closest ride available!! Our first ride that we rode was called Goliath, and that rollercoaster was MASSIVE!!! It was a lot of fun, and we got some pretty fun rides in for the morning. Finally we decided we were going to pass out if we didn't get food in us pronto.. so we bought a $9 dinky little chickin finger with a few dinky fries. Ya... it's a little bogus that they overcharge but when you're starving you have to buy it. After lunch the rides were ridiculously long and we spent most of the time just waiting in line. That sucked, but we were able to see a couple of shows and they ended up being really good. Finally, we decided to ride one more ride before we were going to go back to the hotel. We waited in line for over an hour, and right when we got up to the gate to ride... they had technical difficulties and told people where to exit if they wanted. I was not too happy to hear this, and I was very freaked out about riding a ride after some technical difficulties. Luckily after about 15 minutes they solved the problem and thank goodness it was only a sound problem. Well... it was definately a good thing that we stood in line b/c this ride was RIDICULOUS!! I have NEVER screamed so long in my life!!! The ride takes you up the hill backwards and upside down. You then hit a little dip so it throws you forward, and then all of a sudden it flips you backwards and you go plummiting head first to the ground!! The seat itself turns 360 degrees, and it makes for an insane ride. Derek threw out a few choice words here and there... but who could blame him?! HAHA it was so crazy and so much fun, it topped off our day!! After we went to the park we went out to eat and a cute little 50's diner, and had a nice relaxing time at the hotel.
The next day we went downtown L.A. and did some shopping. If you have never been to downtown L.A. it is a lot like Mexico with some bargain shopping and some pretty awesome deals. There are also some of the scariest people that I have ever seen and I thought that we were going to die a few times! I saw so many bums, and druggies, and gimps, and some crazy stuff!! We also had to make 50 u turns, we got lost a few times, and.... we were lost trying to find our car!! I began to hyperventilate when we were lost trying to find our car, and we are walking aimlessly down the sidewalk when all of sudden a guy in front of us is screaming at some guys behind us, and yup... poor Derek and I were stuck in the middle of this fight. I thought that we might get shot or beat down to the ground, but luckily they ignored us and just went straight for each other. After being lost for about 30 min we found our car and I finally felt safe!! HAHA this made me very grateful that I do not live in the slums in the middle of all the crime! We had a pretty enjoyable time shopping, and I found quite a bit of good deals... however Derek did not which is sad, but he still enjoyed himself!! There are some pretty interesting people in the world... but they are very entertaining I will admit!!
Overall we had such an awesome anniversary!! It was not relaxing in anyway, but it was a blast and I laughed my head off!! Thank you Derek for planning an awesome trip and for being my everything!! Happy Anniversary!!

On our way to L.A. Derek is in deep concentration driving.


here are some pictures of a few of the thousands of windmills off of the highway in California.




On our way home! Derek once again with his mad driving skills!!

NEW JOB=STRESS!

Well.... now that we have been back in Arizona, things just seem to be pretty crazy!! We got home, and I had 2 more interviews. I got hired on the spot at one job, and then a few hours later the other office called and hired me. I took the job that hired me on the spot b/c they seemed to be more reliable. They didn't pay as much, but they didn't suck at communication quite as much as the other office.
I now work as a Physical Therapy Tech at Physicians Physical Therapy here in Chandler AZ Monday Wed and Fri, and I work at the Mesa clinic Tuesdays and Thursdays. So far... it has been VERY hard! haha. I work with some therapists who are very intimidating and act very superior. They are impatient about training, they are hard to ask questions, and it sucks being the new guy. This job has been such a challenge b/c it is so much knowledge to obtain!! I get a run down on Anat and Phys every day, but I honestly know that this job is going to be so great for me in the long run!! I have already learned so much, and I feel like I'm turning into a toughy slowly but surely haha. THe whole system is run by computers, so it sucks having to pull all of the patient's programs and notes up by the computer. It's really hard learning the Physical Therapy lingo, and figuring out how each therapist abbreviates it differently than the others. I am working for 3 different Therapists and they all work very differently. I then have to figure out what the exercises are by deciding how the therapist abbreviates, and show the patient the correct way to do the exercise. I have to spot them and make sure they are doing it correctly and I run them through each routine. I then have to set them up to the e-stim, ICC, High Pulse, or Ultra Sound, and then at times I set them up on ice, or heat packs. Sometimes I have to print out home programs for the patients through the computer... and for some reason, I am still very lost on this part! haha. I keep up the cleanliness of the office, fold and do laundry, santize the beds, and much more! This job is basically all of the duties that a Physical Therapy Assistant performs, minus a few details. It also sucks b/c I don't have the schooling so it is very hard to catch on to all of the medical terminology and information I must obtain. I know that I will get it... but it will take a while. All that I can do is to try my hardest! I really am learning a lot, and I am so thankful for this oppurtunity! I hope that things start to look up, and that I can start to feel comfortable with what I am doing!

Our trip back home!

Well... things are so super crazy here!! I have been having job interviews for 2 different physical therapy offices, and it has been difficult deciding which job to take and what not... but I think I may have it figured out. I will know by tomorrow what I'm doing I hope.
Anyways, Derek and I went back to Idaho Falls for the weekend b/c we had 2 weddings and this was our last chance to go home before we started work and school! So we left Wednesday after I had a job interview, and we got back to Idaho at about 2:30 a.m. Yes, it definately was so much fun!!! Thursday we went to Derek's good buddy Ren's wedding! It was a lot of fun, and Derek was able to see a lot of his friends! The ceremony was awesome, and we waited for Derek and the other groom's men to get their picture taken outside of the temple for about 2 hours it was a litte bit ridiculous. They had a dinner that night and it was so much fun seeing everyone!! After the dinner, Derek and I went to hang out with our good friend's Ryan and Sydni Pasley!! We have so much fun with them, and we can relate at almost every level it is a little bit ridiculous! We laughed our heads off with them until almost 4 in the morning and then we decided.. WOW we should probably go home and get some rest.
Friday Derek helped my mom set up her new Pilates machine which was so awesome, and then we all took turns on the machine! haha it was so much fun, but gosh it was an amazing work out! After playing around on the machine, my old roommate came over to pick something up from my house. It was great seeing her and we had a good talk, but then Derek came and got me and told me my dad had just called and was in the hospital. My dad's heart has been hurting him lately, and friday morning when he was at work the chest pain got very intense and his left arm went numb. He called his doctor and told him the symptoms and his dr. told him he'd better go to the hospital. Well my dad being the man that he is, drove himself to the hospital and very calmly told the E.R. people that he thought he may be having a heartattack. yes... this was 9:30 in the morning, and then we didn't find out until 3p.m. We all got in the car to go see him. We got in the room and he shook his head. haha he hates attention and being the center of anything so he said PLEASE DON"T MAKE A BIG DEAL as soon as we walked in the room. Haha he's so awesome I love him!! He did not have a heartattack they knew that for sure, b/c he did not realease the enzymes... or whatever they're called. Anyways they kept my dad overnight at the hospital and had to run a lot of tests on him. We left my dad for a bit and went to a family get together for my grandma's birthday who passed away. We were able to say hi, eat really quick and then we were on our way again. My mom went back to the hospital, and Derek and I went to Ren's wedding reception. We got there just in time for the dance, and we had a great night with all of our friends! Once again... we hung out with Ryan and Sydni until the wee hours of the morning.
Saturday Derek and I went over to the hospital after they had run the stress test and another test on my dad. We got there and had a nice visit, and then the dr. called my dad and told him some of the things that were wrong. He has very high blood pressure, and glucose resistent, which is very close to being diabetic so I guess with those things it mimicked a heart attack. There is something wrong with his liver and there were a lot of other things but I just don't want to say b/c I don't know the details about it so I'm just not going to talk about it until we know everything for sure. They had my dad come in Monday.. which is today, to basically have a check up and get to the bottom of it all. I am not sure if they found out anything new... but that is the basics of what I do know for sure. I am soo glad that my dad is out of the hospital, and that he is doing well!! He is the biggest health nut I know, and everyone gives him grief for it, but honestly he has to be. He has a lot of heart problems and many other health problems that run in his family, so he has to take such good care of himself. If my dad wasn't the maniac health nut that he is.... I honestly don't know if I could say that he would be here, or else he would be pretty sick otherwise. My dad works out every single day, he has run 2 marathons and 2 half marathons. He eats healthier than anyone I know, and he also knows more than anyone I know!! I admire my dad so much and he truly is a hero in my eyes!!!
So my dad is doing well, after he got released from the hospital, we went to another wedding reception for some of my dance friends from college. They had a very casual reception, and had some random dance numbers while people were mingling. After we congratulated them, we went to Derek's cousin's house and she cut and colored my hair. My heck it took 4 hours, but she did a pretty good job. I have blonde and red highlights, and she thinned the crap out of my hair!! It is so nice for Arizona weather, and for that I am grateful. After that we drove to the Olive Garden and met Ryan and Syd and his parents to eat. We ate SOO much and Derek and I felt pregnant afterwards haha. Once again... we went over to hang out with Ryan and Syd and laughed and watched movies until the wee hours of the morning!!
I am so grateful for the oppurtunity that we had to go back home!! I am so glad that my dad is doing well, and I'm grateful that he is my dad!! Derek and I are so happy that we have Ryan and Sydni as friends and we enjoyed every second we were able to spend with them!

We made it!!!

YAY!!!! We made it to Arizona!!! We finally have the internet, so the least I could do is keep you all updated!! We made it about a week and a half ago on Friday the 17th at about 7:30 p.m. We had the longest drive ever, and a few minor difficulties while pulling the trailer with all of our stuff but slowly but surely we made it to our new home! We were exhausted but got all of our stuff inside by about 10 p.m. After we had brought everything in, Derek's mom and 2 of his sister's dropped by. They were down in Arizona b/c they went to the musical Wicked and decided to see how we were doing afterwards. I was really sick and exhausted so I wasn't much fun but it was really good to see some of his family.
It was so much fun the first couple of days that Derek and I shared together. We spent the first day unpacking everything and finding a spot for it all. It was a little difficult moving from a house to an apartment and there isn't a whole lot of storage space in here, but somehow we got all of our crap unpacked! Derek loaded a closet outside on our porch chuck full with crap. The next day we went to our new ward and everyone was so friendly and we finally felt as though we were at home after we went to our new ward. It was so crazy b/c we walked into the chapel and there were only about 50 people in the chapel. Our ward is only 35% active, so that means there are only 100 people that are active in our ward. There is such a high demand for missionary work here and it is completely different from Idaho Falls! It is a big wake up call to me and it has made me observe what I truly believe, and I have studied the scriptures like crazy since I have been here.
It was so much fun decorating our new apartment with Derek!! We have been having a blast on our own, and I finally feel like a newlywed!! haha. It sounds weird I know, but when we were living in Idaho Falls there was such a safety blanket and I never truly felt like I was on my own. I have grown with confidence since I've been here, and Derek and I have learned to rely completely on each other!! This has been an adventure and so good for us! His brother Raylon is living with us and he got here last Wednesday. He is gone a lot of the time, but it is a little bit weird for me I'm not gonna lie! I like having it just Derek and I, but Raylon is a lot of fun, and he knows the area so he has helped us out a lot!
The heat here is a little bit ridiculous, but I would way rather take the heat than the cold!! The hottest it has been is about 117 and it's so ridiculous that at 10 p.m. it's still 100, and by 9 in the morning it is already 100. Ya, it's crazy but this is how you cope with it. 1. Have A.C. in your home 2. Walk quickly to your car 3. Crank the A.C. in your car 4. Rush into the store where the A.C. is blasted. If you follow these steps.... the heat is manageable.
It is tough being so far away I will be compeltely honest!! But I do know that Derek and I are here for a reason... and that we have grown a lot even just over the week and a half time span.
This is cheesy... but this was the first meal we made in our new apartment!! Chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy!

Also very cheesy... This is the first watermelon I have ever picked out on my own and man was it super juicy and delicious!! Nice find I must say!!

We are so lucky, we are only 10 minutes away from the Mesa temple. It is such a beautiful temple and we have already had the oppurtunity to visit it twice!


Here is a picture looking into our kitchen. These pictures were taken in the midst of all the boxes and before everything was unpacked!!

This is our dining room and loooking into a peak of the kitchen

This is our bedroom... don't mind the mess, just keep in mind this was in the middle of unpacking!

Here is a picture of our bathroom sink... and you can see a little bit into the actual bathroom part of it just inside of the door.

Well... I still haven't taken pictures of our apartment completely decorated and unpacked but I will for sure do that soon!! I also have pictures of Raylon's room and the extra bathroom but I'm not going to post them!! Anyways I miss you all!!

Like I said.....

As I've said before.... our plans are always changing!!! Derek and I just spent the week down in Arizona talking to schools, looking for jobs, and looking for apartments!!
We went to Arizona in the month of February and absolutely fell in love!!! We decided we really wanted to move there someday, but the timing was off at the moment. I searched and searched for schools with a Physical Therapy Assistant program, but only found one in Arizona that was $24,000 dollars for a year and a half. That was bogus, and we decided maybe we weren't supposed to move down to Arizona at that time.
We gave up on the Arizona idea, and we decided to just apply at ISU b/c ISU has the PT Assistant program for me. Well we got accepted, and we thought that that's what we would do and then we'd move to Arizona afterwards! Well.. after 2 crummy advising sessions, and the PT Assistant program looking like it would be a flop... we decided to look into Arizona one more time!!
Well... one night after an adivising session... Derek decided to look online. Within 5 minutes he had found a school in Phoenix Arizona with the PT Assistant program, and it was about $1,000 dollars cheaper than ISU!!! A burden seemed to be taken off of our backs, and we knew that we couldn't pass up this oppurtunity!!
The next day my visiting teachers came over and talked to me about the importance of change. They basically told me everything I needed to hear, and they summed up everything that I was going through!! Coinsidence... I think not!! The most important thing that I need to remember through this all is that Faith and Doubt do not co-exist! If Arizona is supposed to work out, then it will work out!
Derek and I decided to shoot for the stars and try and make Arizona work out!! SO I got a week off of work and we went down to try and make it all come together. Well.... you know if you're doing the right thing when everything gets super hard and things start to fall apart! haha I swear I was such a mess on this whole trip! First it started out that I got really really sick on the way down, and with my sinus pressure, and the elevation change, my hears got popped and I couldn't hear and I thought my head was going to explode! I had to spend the first day in bed, and I seriously only got out of bed to go potty and when it was time for dinner. I haven't been that sick in a very long time!! Next... Derek got sick and we were both pretty crummy. Our AC stopped working in the 110 degree heat and when we got to the school we were miserable and caked with nasty sweat! Then... we went swimmming one day and I got the worst sun burn I think I've ever had!! I was achey and in so much pain, and my sunburn was purple it was so bad!! I had an interview the next day and any time I would talk I would start hacking up a lung, so I didn't talk much during this interview... probably not the best thing in the world. My face was also bright red from my sunburn so I was a little embarrassed. I definately felt like such a mess!! Now.... to top everything off, I stepped on a hornet and got stung on the bottom of my toes!! I know you're thinking... don't be a baby, this is just a sting... but this is not just any ordinary sting!! Half of my foot swelled up, and my toes look like sausages!!! I can't walk on my foot, I can't bend my toe, if I put my foot down all the blood rushes to it and it hurts like the dickens, it itches soo soo bad and I feel like a wreck!!! HAHA it's ridiculous all of the stupid little things that happened, but we knew that if it's meant to work out it will work out.
Enough about all the silly horrible things that happened, there was a lot of good in the trip! I talked to the school and got everything straightened out. I am currently waiting for my transcripts to transfer, and then I will be admitted into the school!! I had a job interview at an amazing Physical Therapy Facility. It is at a Sports Medicine therapy place, and so this business focuses very much on the exercising components of Physical Therapy. I was so excited to hear about this b/c doing the exercises one on one with the patients is my absolute favorite part, and this is what I would be doing!! This office does not hire PT Assistants, so the Technicians basically do everything that an Assistant does. This experience would be awesome to have, and it would help me so much in the future and when I would be in the program. It was awesome b/c the Physical Therapist emailed me back and forth one day and he helped me out a ton!! I am currently waiting to see if I got the job b/c he had 2 more interviews after me. I am really nervous b/c I was hacking through my interview and I didn't talk as much as I normally would have, but whether I get the job or not I can find some type of job to make it work while in Arizona.
Derek and I also found an apartment we really like!! It was in the exact price range we wanted, it has barely been remodeled with brand new appliances and counter tops, it has a really nice gym with a dance studio inside :), and it was basically everything we wanted!! Only problem is that we don't have jobs yet so we haven't applied for the apartments yet b/c we need to be able to prove that we can afford to live there.
We found awesome oppurtunities, but everything still isn't quite in place yet. I know that whether we get the apartment or not, or whether I get the job or not that everything will work out!! I was very stressed the whole time we were there b/c I wanted to leave with a job and an apartment, but we didn't quite leave with either. The last day Derek and I were at complete peace b/c we knew that whether we got it or not, something else will come along and we will make it work.
I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father. I am thankful that we were able to recognize the spirit prompting us to go to Arizona, and I am thankful for the comfort I have of knowing that whether Arizona works out or not, we will be where we need to be.

The newest edition to our family!

YAYY!!!! On Friday, Derek and his cousin Shelley drove down to Utah just past Salt Lake and bought a new car!!! It's a sexy little thing if i do say so myself! We sold my Chevy Cavalier, and we now have a Volkswagen Jetta!! We really just wanted a 4 door, and my chevy was acting like it wanted to poop out, soooo... lucky us, we found this car! It's a stick shift, so that has been a lot of fun learning how to drive it. hahaha oh man, Friday night, I was on a hill and had a melt down b/c there was a car behind me and i didn't want to roll backwards into the car behind me. I had a tramatic experience driving a stick shift on my own when i was 15, and I'd rather not talk about it, b/c i don't think it's really necessary to embarrass myself on my own blog. Anyways, it's been hilarious learning! It kind of reminds me of the movie The Notebook when Noah is teaching Ali how to drive a stick. Yes... never a dull moment at our house and I absolutely love it!! I will say I am doing much better with driving a standard, and all is well!! Yay for new cars, yay for Shelley driving Derek to Utah, yay for Derek buying the car, and yay to the man who sold us the car!!

Happy Birthday to me!

So... once again a year has come and I have turned one year older! I am now 20, no more teen years!! My birthday was a lot of fun! It actually started out on Saturday, when my brother came home from college. Derek and I went out to eat with my parents and Karl, and we went to Texas Roadhouse, my fav!!! Yummy I can't resist the steak and yummy mashed potatoes, and let's not forget the yummy rolls they bring out to begin with. After the family had stuffed their bellies full and could hardly walk, we went over to my parents for cake and ice cream, but had to wait at least an hour until we were ready. So my mom brought out the cake and was walking every so cautiously not to let the candles blow out, so I was sung happy birthday to by all men which i thought was just hilarious. Haha, after all my mom's carefulness, a candle still ending up burning out.
The next day, my sister came home from Salt Lake, and Derek and I went over to my parent's house once again to eat yummy cake and ice cream. I will tell you people, that my mom makes some very yummy chocolate cake, and even Derek has told me that the best chocolate cake hands down is definately my mom's! After we ate, and sat around and talked for a bit, we went over to my Grandpa Hansen's and talked with him for a while. We came back over to my parent's house, and Julia's friend came over so we played some card games and watched Keeping up with the Kardashians.
Now for my real birthday!!! Monday rolls around and believe it or not... I officially turned 20!! Derek took me out to breakfast at Perkins... which I also can not resist! After breakfast he dropped me off at work, and they had made a cake for me at work. My manager was begging me all morning to please eat the cake, b/c she really wanted some but the rules are that the birthday person has to eat the first bite. Haha they initiated this rule b/c otherwise, the birthday person was not getting any cake. After work I came home and Derek pulled me right back out the door. We ate at Dixie's Diner and then we drove down to the greenbelt to feed the ducks. I have never seen such a big swarm of ducks and geese, but they were surrounding us everywhere, and they were eating it out of our hands.... hahaha and not to mention out of Derek's mouth!! I recorded it on Derek's phone, but I am very sad to say that I can't get it onto this blog :(. I must say that you people are truly missing out b/c oh boy was it rad! After feeding the ducks we went bowling... ya don't worry about it, I totally dominated! They actually let us bowl for free b/c they had to change our lanes and we only bowled one game. That was a very nice birthday present I must say! Things like that just don't happen everyday! After we went bowling we rented a movie and watched it while cuddling on the couch! I must say that I absolutely love being married and I am so thankful for Derek!! He made my birthday the best birthday ever!!!! haha Derek bought me some buckle pants and a bright yellow shirt from aeropostale. He actually gave this present to me 2 weeks ago b/c he absolutely could not stand the anticipation, and he does not do well with surprises apparently. haha! :) Thanks for reading this long blog and I'm sorry the video didn't work, and I'm sorry I slacked on pics! haha

Church Calling

So here I was having a lazy Saturday morning and I had just gotten done working out when the doorbell rings. Well low and behold it is the second counselor from my ward, and he came to ask me if I was interested in a church calling!! Haha well I'm pretty excited but I was asked to work in the primary, not as a teacher, but with the young girls in primary every other tuesday. I will be one of the Achievement Day leaders and I'm so excited! I loved achievment days when I was growing up, and I hope that I can fulfill my calling to the highest potential! I'm looking forward to the oppurtunity of getting to work with the young girls of my ward!

What we're doing

Well.... Derek and I are always changing our plans!!! We were planning on moving to Texas for the summer so Derek could install security systems. Too much happened that we knew that moving to Texas was not the right thing to do at this time, so we decided not to move! I am now back at my old job working for Access Point, and I work with kids with developmental delays, most of which are autistic. I love my job but I will tell you this... it has some very tough days!! I will give you some examples such as being bit, having a table thrown at me, being attacked, shoes kicked at me, pencils thrown at me, and of course the cleanings of kids having messes in their pants. In the end it is all so worth it to me and I love these kids with all my heart!!! My heart reaches out to them and I dearly want the best for them!! These kids are so awesome and it's hard to leave them completely once I have gone home for work, they are always on my mind.
I am also teaching dance at Let's Dance with my sister in law Amy. I love these girls they are so awesome!! Right now I am teaching technique to the competition team and they are such a delight to work with. They are all beginners but I love watching them when the light clicks on and they finally nail something that they have been working of for weeks. We have gone to 3 competitons and they have done very well! They have one competition coming up in May which will be very tough but it will be a great experience for them.
Derek is still working in Wyoming and he enjoys his job as well. It is really slow right now..... which seems to be the trend in our economy. Something that has kept Derek happy is our new boat!! Derek got a boat from Utah and he gutted the whole inside, and built seats, inside walls, did some painting, and did a bunch of wiring and things with the motor. He has taken it out and test driven the boat, and he can NOT wait until summer so we can enjoy our time together and go boating!!
Life is such a blessing, and lately I have been happier than ever!!! I love where we are at in life right now, and I love being a newly wed!!!

Our Life!

Derek and I were married on August 15, 2008. Our love story of how we met is a whole other story within itself, but basically we were dance partners and we dated for just under 3 years. We are currently living in Ammon Idaho, and Derek works in Wyoming every other week drilling for natural gas. It is difficult being apart from each other for a week at a time, but we are extremely grateful that Derek has a good job! I love Derek Dawson more than anything in this world!!! Being married is the best thing ever, and I can't wait to spend eternity with the man of my dreams!!! Families are eternal!!

First Dance

Cutting the Cake

I love him!

Fresh out of the temple!!!