New Job and Other News

Well I was able to find a job and have been working there for about a week and a half now. I help students register for classes at one of the local colleges, something I have been aiming to do for awhile. I finally feel like my schooling is paying off, which is nice since recently I had to start paying the loans back. :)

In other news, the movers came and picked up our stuff in Virginia a couple weeks ago and dropped it off a few days ago. Everything made it safe and sound with the exception of one cabinet. We weren't too attached to it, I just used it to put my pictures in, so not that big of a deal. So Matt has been living in our house for alittle over a week now with no furniture and not much cookware. Surprisingly he still has been cooking rather creatively actually. He has been trying to get rid of everything in our pantry before he leaves and has been making some interesting creations. For instance, he found Beef Stroganoff and some taco shells and decided to make beef stroganoff tacos. It sounds pretty disgusting to me but he seemed to enjoy it. Other than mixing and matching food items, Matt has been busy trying to get everything in order for his move. He has had the job of cleaning the house and the yard, on top of all that he has to wrap up at work. Luckily, he finished up his class a couple weeks ago, so that has freed up some of his time.

We are nearing the end of our time apart and I'm looking forward to seeing him in less than two weeks. I will be flying out to Missouri to meet up with him and then we will drive back together. Being apart is never easy especially around the holidays. Howevery, it has been easier than last year, mainly because our communication hasn't been limited this time around.

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! I hope you all are well and are enjoying the holidays.

Our Journey from Virginia to Utah...Part 1

On Tuesday, we all plied into the car to begin our road trip. When I say all, I really mean all, Matt, me, Roxie, my plants, clothes, and boxes filled with miscellaneous items, so as you can imagine it was a full car. Since Matt had to work a half day, I drove the first leg of our journey so he could rest up. Roxie had a rough start (I think she thought we were taking her to the vet) she cried for the first ten minutes but soon relaxed. Everything was going smoothly until we hit West Virginia when we hit a blizzard. It was lightly snowing and then all of a sudden I couldn't see five feet in front of me. Now being that I have spent the last three winters in a place that rarely even sees a hint of snow, I was a bit freaked out. I have become quite the wuss when it comes to driving in the snow; I lasted about another twenty minutes and gave the wheel to Matt. Of course, as soon as Matt started driving it was blue skies and sunshine! I got off the highway and it was a blizzard, Matt gets back on the highway, not even five minutes later and the sun is out in all it's glory. Anyways, we ended up spending the night in Shelbyville, Kentucky that night.

The next morning we left bright and early headed to Matt's brother's house in Missouri. This leg of the trip went pretty well and we got to their house about 2 p.m. It was fun seeing them and being able to spend at least a night just hanging out. We always have a good time with them, here are some pictures of our night in Missouri.


The next day, we loaded back into the car, not as chiper as the days before knowing we still had a long way to go. By this point my plants were looking pretty sad and I was just hoping they can make it a couple more days. We had to take a lot of back roads in Missouri to get back on the highway so we saw a lot of countryside and small towns. AFTER, at least six hours we finally crossed into Nebraska not exactly a better view but at least it was a different state. Matt's favorite state is Nebraska, don't ask me why it is so BORING to drive through. The picture above is what we saw for the rest of that day, as you can see it even bored Roxie. :) We called it a night in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

It took a lot of motivation to get into the car that fourth day, even though we were in Wyoming we still had more than 400 miles to go. We got into the Utah about 3:30 p.m. and Matt left the next morning to fly back to Virginia. Everything but the plants made it to Utah in the same condition they left Virginia in. My poor plants are in intensive care and its not looking good, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they pull through. It's nice to be out of the car and back in Utah and luckily we get a month break before we have to do the trip again.

USS North Carolina
Before Matt and I made the journey acrossed the country, we made a day trip down to Wilmington, North Carolina to see the ship Matt's Grandpa served on in World War II, the USS North Carolina. It was a total of ten hours in the car that day but it was well worth it the trip. The ship was amazing, we were able to go to all the different levels and see how the crew lived on a daily basis out at sea. We were even allowed down in the engine room. I had to include the picture of the crew's toilets because there was no privacy at all. It was basically a trough with some seats and a couple of partions for "privacy." Unfortunately, the ship was only open until five in the evening so we had to leave without the full experience. There was so much to see that after four hours on the ship we still weren't able to see it all. Regardless, it was a lot of fun to read the crew's stories and an amazing experience to be standing on the same ship his Grandpa served on.

Change in Plans

Last week, I was told that my company could no longer pay me and my last day would be November 14. Working in the real estate industry I saw this coming but was happily living in denial and praying they would be able to keep me until, at least, the middle of December. Well as we all know things usually don't go as planned and this definitely put a wrench in our plans. Our choices were either for me to find a temporary job for a month or for me to move back to Utah early. Matt and I have decided our best option is for me to move back early. Hopefully, I will be able to land a job before Matt is done and we won't have a period of us both being unemployed. So if anyone knows of someone hiring, let me know. :) I feel like I have a million things to do before I leave and I'm sad to say goodbye to some really good friends. It was a bittersweet decision because I am extremely excited to be home and see everyone again and at the same time sad that Matt won't be with me. It will be the second year in a row that we will be apart for the holidays and birthdays but I'm hoping it will be the last. Luckily, we will only be apart for alittle over a month this time and we will be able to talk to eachother whenever we want. Matt is taking a few days off to help drive Roxie and I back to Utah and then he will be flying out, basically as soon as we roll in. Then at the end of December I am hoping to be able to fly out to Virginia and help him drive back. This plan will make it so we are able to ride in the same car with eachother and keep eachother entertained. I'm looking forward to our road trips and seeing you all before Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!!

This year we had a pretty calm Halloween. We didn't get dressed up or go to any Halloween parties. Instead we carved pumpkins, watched scary movies and handed out candy. Last year I was only home for alittle over an hour but got a ton of trick or treaters, so this year I told Matt we had to buy lots and lots of candy. Well we had about 15 kids come to door and we have LOADS of candy leftover. I don't think I will ever hear the end of this one. Oh yeah I almost forgot Matt made a yummy Halloween cake too.

Three tags


Tagged by Krystal
Three names I go by: Amanda, Manda, and Babe
Three restaurants I love: Red Robin, Olive Garden, and Ruth's Chris' Restaurant (can't afford very often but it sure is yummy!)
Three trips to plan in the next year: Well the BIG one will be the cross country trip to move us back to Utah. After that I doubt we will be able to go anywhere big but I would like to go to Starvation to go boating and Matt's Grandparents' Cabin for some relaxation.
Three things I want badly: Matt and I to get jobs in Utah, a house, and to be debt free!
Three pets I have had: Curly, Bruno, Ziggy
Three things I did yesterday: Went to work, made dinner, and laundry (I know, I know....exciting!)
Three fears I have: heights, snakes, and having my car go off of a bridge.
Three things I plan on doing today: Work, errands, and more laundry...yipee!
Three things I plan on doing tomorrow: Work, Clean and watch The Office.
Three favorite holidays: Christmas, Halloween and the Fourth of July.
Three favorite beverages: water, cranberry juice and strawberry lemonade
Three things I can't live without: Matt, my family, and my cell phone.
Three people I tag: Erin, Lola, and Rebecca

Yet Another Trip to the ER

Take a deep breath, this is a long one.

The other day I came home with a horrible headache and decided to take a nap, so Matt and I laid down for about forty minutes. When we woke up my headache had eased but Matt had a full blown migraine now. He gets these every once in awhile and usually is able to just sleep them off but this one was different; it was extremely intense. He was throwing up a lot more than normal and he was unable to fall asleep due to the pain being so severe. I wasn't sure if we should take him to the ER or not, so I called to see if I could get into his doctor. Well, of course, the doctor had gone home for the day, so they connected me to the on call doctor. She said we needed to go to the Urgent Care on base, since he was active duty. So we packed up and headed to the base, once we got there we were greeted with an extremely small room packed with at least twenty people. There was a small check in desk that I nearly dropped everything off of because I am such a clutz. Once, I was finally able to pick up a check-in form and pen without dropping ten other things we went and tried to find a seat in the sea of people. Now let me paint you a picture, this waiting room was the worst I have ever been to. The seats and rows are were so close that your knees were literally touching the person seating opposite of you. It was like they wanted disease to spread faster. They had a tv on full blast, so everyone was talking over it just to be heard. Not the best environment with someone with a migraine; I felt awful for Matt. We ended up lasting maybe another forty minutes before calling it quits and decide this was hurting not helping the situation. We make it back to the car and I am determined to find somewhere else we can go. I get on the phone and call an urgent care center close to our house, they said they take our insurance but of course, they need a referral. So I spent about another twenty minutes on the phone trying to get a referral only to learn after a couple of transfers and hopeful representatives that his doctor would be the ONLY one able to issue one!!! In desperation I asked for the tenth time if there was anywhere else we could go and FINALLY someone said we can go to the ER at any hospital. GEEZZZ, if they would have said that about 3 hours ago we would be done with this ordeal by now. So we head to the hospital, check Matt in and began the waiting game again. Luckily, this waiting room was more spread out and the tv was much softer. Once, we were seen by a doctor he ordered a shot for Matt and wait to see if it would work. Luckily, he started feeling better very soon. After observing him for awhile, they released us but I'm not done with the night yet.

By the time we got out of the hospital it was late and we were starving, well probably more me than Matt. So I headed to chick-fil-a and pulled up at the 10:03, they closed at 10. :( So we went to Wendy's and waited in line for about twenty minutes to find out they were out of chicken nuggets! So we tried our luck at McDonald's and they were open and had food available! So after leaving the house at 5:00 we finally rolled into the driveway at about 11:30. We were so exhausted, I just hope we are done with the ER for awhile.

Who Needs Kids...Install an HVAC Unit

Not Really but I found the title amusing since Matt and I are getting so much joy from our newly installed central air. For those of you have not experienced the debilitating summers that living in Virginia with a window unit can produce, you might not fully understand our joy. However, if you have been to our house when it is summer and made it out alive you will probably share in our excitement. No more wearing a sweater and hiding under a blanket when it is 110 degrees out, because our living room is 55 degrees to keep the rest of the house at a warm 78 degrees. No more hearing Matt whine and complain because it's too hot. We finally can move around the house without taking off or putting on more clothes to account for the temperature difference. No more screaming over the deafening sound of the window unit, just to hear eachother. Oh yes we are soooooo very excited. Even though the summer is pretty much over the central air will still be nice in the winter. Before we just had baseboard heat and I don't think that worked very well at all. I always felt like I would lose a finger or a toe from frost bite because it was freezing in our house. So please join us in welcoming our new HVAC unit. lol.

Our Nature Walk

A couple weekends ago Matt and I decided to go to one of the local parks and stretch our legs. The day before we had been couped up inside all day due to Tropical Storm Hannah. It just turned out to be some wind and rain but we took advantage and made it a lazy day. The next day it was a beautiful day, so we headed out to Deer Park. We hadn't been to this park since we first moved here so we decided it would be fun to revisit it. We found a nature trail tucked away towards the back of the park, here are some pictures from that day. It was so green and tranquil that it felt that we were hidden in the country that is until we heard the train roll by which brought us back to reality.

Tagged

I am: a worrier
I know: that I can't plan everything, even though it drives me nuts sometimes.
I want: a house
I have: a wonderful husband
I hate: liars
I fear: spiders, snakes, and heights
I feel: like I am getting sick
I hear: the microwave and the a/c
I smell: tuna from my tuna sandwich
I crave: cake
I search: for jobs
I wonder: where life will take me
I regret: some of the choices I have made
I care: about my family, friends and Roxie
I always: have my cell phone
I am not: a public speaker
I believe: in Love
I sing: all the time. I am the crazy person in the car belting out at the top of my lungs.
I fight: when I feel passionate about something
I write: to keep in touch and record my thoughts.
I can usually be found: in the kitchen or living room
I lose: a lot when I play with Matt
I win: occassionally at Rummy Dummy
I wish: I could see into the future
I never: thought I would be living in Virginia.
I forget: to put on Roxie's flea medicine
I am scared: that I will never know what I want to be when I grow up
I need: to clean the bathroom
I am happy about: moving back to Utah in less than four months!
I tag: whoever wants to

Baltimore

This past weekend Matt and I went up to Baltimore with our friends Lisa and Pete. Lisa will be deploying soon and sadly we will be gone when she gets back. So we decided to have one more fun trip before she leaves. Just outside of Baltimore there is a Medival Times, you eat with your hands and watch a bunch of different knights compete. We went to Dave and Busters afterwards and the next day went up to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Here are some pictures of our trip.

OUCH!!

Yesterday, at Matt's physical therapy appointment he find out a bit more on his ankle. The first xray shows that the ligament ripped off the bone, taking some bone with it. Then the second xray which was taken about a week later, showed that the ligament had re-attached itself to bone. We are hoping that the bone cartilage when make its way naturally out, otherwise he might need to get it surgically removed. We just need to be concerned if his ankle catches everytime he moves it. Also he found out that it will probably be six months before he is completely back to normal. So it looks like he will be in physical therapy for a bit longer.

Updates

Matt is still having difficulty with his ankle; he is walking without crutches but those didn't last long anyway. He went back to the doctor who wanted him get more xrays done and start going to physcial therapy or physical torture as he refers to it. The physical therapists believes that he torn three of his ligaments; one completely and two partially. Luckily after two more xrays they determined that there are no bone fragments that needed to be removed. So hopefully, the physical therapy will help him get back to being able to achieve his dream of jumping down stairs without pain. :)

As for me, I just wrapped up my last final and am looking forward to some time off. I have decided to take a break and not take any classes during the fall semester. We will be moving back to Utah in January and this will give me some much needed time to get us organized; well that is the plan at least. I will be transferring to a university back in Utah to finish up my masters once we get settled. We are both excited to be moving back closer to family and the mountains. :) It will be nice to be around family for birthdays and holidays again. Although, it will be quite the adjustment since we have been on our own for so long. We have endured both positive and negative experiences these last four years but looking back even the negative ones have made us stronger. The military life has given us the opportunity to see a lot of this country and meet so many wonderful people that we never would have otherwise. They have been our family, while we have been away and will remain life long friends.

My New Do

My highlights needed some definite help, so Friday I headed to the salon. I wanted to get my hair cut but I wasn't really sure how short to go. It has been so hot and humid, lately, that my hair usually ends up in a ponytail, anyway. Normally, I am not very brave when it comes to my hair but I ended up cutting 6 inches off! It is so much lighter now but I'm still getting used to it. Here is my new look, let me know what you think. :)

ER Visit Number 2

Last weekend, Matt was trying to set up a new wireless setup for our house. Once, he was done I asked him to put some security on it, so he was running back and forth between the downstairs and upstairs. He landed wrong on his bad ankle, it looked awful, so I was sure it was broken. We loaded into the car and were off to the hospital, again. People are going to start thinking something with as many times we have gone to the hospital, in the last month. The doctors did some xrays and discovered he had sprained his ankle, so he was laid up for a few days and just recently has been able to walk around more.

ER Visit Number 1

A few weeks ago, Matt and I were eating at our favorite restaurant. Matt decided to try something new; he went with clam chowder and a sandwich. As most of you know Matt has a pretty severe peanut allergy, so we are normally very careful when trying new things. Since, there were no warnings on the menu, we felt it would be a could choice. Anyways, everything was fine until the ride home, Matt started having some problems. I was pretty sure he was having an allergic reaction but he kept saying maybe it was just bad clam chowder. After we got home, I immediately called the restaurant to see if there were any peanuts in the clam chowder. I have never heard of people putting peanuts in it but hey, I am not a fan, so what do I know. After staying on hold for what felt like forever, for the manager to look in the ingredient book, he came back to say that meal was not on the allergy friendly menu. So, I hurried and gave Matt some Benadryl we waited to see if he would start feeling better. About five minutes later, we were off to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing. Luckily, it wasn't a huge reaction, so they gave him some pills and observed him for a couple hours but all was well.

Fourth of July

This year for the Fourth of July we went up to Washington D.C. to celebrate. Everyone told us we would be stuck in traffic for hours but amazingly we got there in 2 1/2 hours! It probably helped that we stopped in Springfield, which is about 13 miles from D.C. and rode the Metro in. I am a huge fan of the Metro, it is so convienent, you just hop on and it takes you all over the city. No sitting in traffic or trying to find parking, it's great. One of Matt's friends from high school was vacationing in D.C. that weekend, so we met up with him. It was a lot of fun to see him and be in our nation's capital for the fourth. We weren't very good at our time management skills, so we didn't make it to the National Monument for the fireworks but we did watch them from the street. The picture above is a fountain that is by the Art Museum, Matt and I sat here for awhile because it was so relaxing. The picture to the right is at one of the metro station that had the steepest escaltor! Here are some random pics from our trip.

WHALE WATCHING EXPEDITION 2008

Since, we have been here I have wanted to go whale watching. During the winter months humpback whales are often spotted off the coast of Virginia Beach, so I did not want to miss out on such a rare opportunity to see whales in their natural habitat. So finally a couple weekends ago we made plans to go down there with our good friends Josh and Amber. We planned to go on the boat that would be leaving at 3 pm. Due to wind conditions we found out at 10:30 that our boat was being cancelled and if we wanted to still go we would have to go out on the boat leaving at noon. We were supposed to be there about 15 to 20 minutes early which meant we needed to leave ASAP. Well none of us were ready but Amber and I decided to at least give it a shot. Matt and I didn't even get on the highway until alittle after 11, so it was looking pretty doubtful that we would make it before the boat left. We made remarkable time and it started to look promising until we got off the freeway and hit every red light there. Luckily, we made it there about 11:50 and I ran to go stand in line for tickets while Matt parked the car. I was so impressed that we all made it down there in time to load onto the boat. The boat ride was alittle bit rough and it caused a lot of people to get sick. It lasted about two hours, sadly we didn't see any whales but we did see some dolphins.