So...its been about a month or so since I have been gone! :( But, I will be back on December 15th!!! Yaye! I will be flying in to Salt Lake City!!! I am so excited to come home, but then I am so sad to be leaving beautiful Florida! Can't I have home and Florida all in one?

Thanksgiving was different this year! I don't remember having a Thanksgiving with my dad in a really long time! So I am glad that I was able to be here for that! It's also kind of weird but neat that everyone's big meals are so completely different. I mean from my moms in Utah and my dads in Florida...very different though the turkey is the same! I love my moms candied yams and Jeanne's (dad's wife) sweet potato casserole!!! mmmmmmm... they are both delicious! Though the casserole might be a little bit healthier...:) Jeanne also made stuffing with apples, and can I just tell you whatever else she did to that stuffing made it superb! It was SO yummy! Just talking about it is making me hungry! There are so many things that I love about the differences that when I actually get to make a turkey...I can combine all the awesome things that I have learned from both families.

The other day I went to the beach...Pensacola beach, and I was surprised to see so many people swimming and wake boarding. The last time I went was when I had first gotten to Pensacola and there was no one on the beach! I did have one goal while I was at the beach though...to find a whole sand dollar! I didn't find one, though I did find a lot that were broken up in a million little pieces. Guess I will just have to go back...

I think that Florida might be the place that I would like to live someday! Don't know when but I really do love it here. The weather is about the same as St. George, Utah but add 100% humidity! Plus you are so close to water everywhere! If dreams do come true I can't wait for mine to...

Florida update...

So I have been here in Pensacola/Gulf Breeze, Florida for three weeks now! I have updated and improved my resume as well as submitted it to the Keystone Internship Program! Yaye for me! I have also been applying my guts out for any and every job I think I can do! So hopefully I will at least get an interview with one of them...? who knows though!

Still working out! I am pretty tired though! Will weigh in tomorrow to see if all this working out has done anything! (cross your fingers)

Went and saw 2012 last night! It was pretty good although there are so darn many "the world is going to end" type movies that it didn't seem that much different! It did have some awesome special effects as well great cinematography though!

Ooh! I also bought my return ticket home last night! I will be officially be back in Utah on December 15th!!! For all those that miss me o' so much! :)

I am enjoying the time spent with my dad greatly! Sometimes I feel like I am a little girl again and think I am going to get in trouble for some stupid things that I do! I sure used to be timid! It seems that it hasn't gone away! My dad is going to Disney World this weekend...and no I am not going! Bummer... It's OK though! He better bring me a souvenir though...lol! It will give me a chance to get better acquainted with little Gulf Breeze and the beautiful water!

So I made it...last week that is! Sorry I didn't post sooner!

Florida is wonderful...The weather was overcast the first couple of days but is slowly getting warmer! The sun is out and there is a slight breeze...truly tranquil. I am only about a mile and half away from the water and about 5 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico!!! Can you believe it!

The water is sooo clear you can see the bottom and the sand is white! So pretty!!

Last Friday I went and got a new pair of running/walking shoes! And I walked a mile and a half that day, as well as saturday! However on Saturday, I got this huge blister about the size of a quarter! Man o man did it hurt! Sunday I went walking on the beach and made sure to walk in the salt water to help it heal faster! Since it hurt to put my shoes on, on Monday I walked around the block a couple of times in Flip-Flops!!! That hurt my calves...but I am sure it worked them! Yesterday I decided that my blister shouldn't hurt anymore and attempted to walk a mile to the gym and was successful!

My new routine...walk a mile to the gym, work out for 30 minutes and then walk back a mile!!! Pretty good plan I think!

So what is in store for me in florida during my visit...

My dad wants to take me to the Naval Museum
Go boating-where I can attempt to water ski! (Yeah right-couldn't do it when I was 12 so I doubt that I can do it now! But I am willing to try anything)
Eat lots of Fish!
Walk-a lot!
Go sightseeing
Get a job???

That's all I can think of right now but I am sure there will be more things coming up in the future. There is also Thanksgiving...this will be my first Thanksgiving with my dad in way tooooo many years! I am excited to spend the holidays with him and Jeanne!

On my way...

So I am at the airport in SLC, UT waiting...

My flight to Denver, CO was cancelled due to bad weather! :( However, I was put on another flight that is non-stop from SLC to Atlanta, GA! Yaye...

Leaving home was really difficult, especially because I don't know what is going to happen! I am excited to spend time with my dad!! I am ready for whatever is next...will update when I know more!

what's new...?

So not a whole lot has happened in the last couple of months. Though I do expect some changes in the near future...

I have been asked to do a little three tiered birthday cake for one of charlie's friends at school for Thursday this week. Next week I have a wedding cake to do!!! Yaye! I have posted pictures of a miniature version of it as a trial run to see what it would actually look like all together on Facebook as well as BonsaiBakery.blogspot.com.

Fall break is this upcoming weekend and we will be going up to Provo to hang out with our family and celebrate my birthday with them-even though it is on Tuesday. On Sunday Charlie is going up to Snowbird for a week long training about using different ways to use technology in the classroom. So I will actually be heading back to St. George Sunday. It will be interesting being here all by myself for a whole week...

Among other news, Charlie and I have decided that I will be going to Florida. Pensacola, Florida to be with my Dad for a while. Since the job market isn't great down here, we are hoping that my Dad can help me get my resume in order and send it off to the Keystone program-which I am still learning about-they have a paid internship and then hopefully I can get an awesome job with the Federal Government. Will have more info once I talk more in depth with my Dad.

For all of those that are just soooo excited about me leaving...I am hoping to leave October 28th.

Oh...I am almost forgot-I finally got my Degree in the mail!!!!!!!!!! :)

What's new in life?

Not much has been happening though I sure do wish something would! I am still jobless! I don't understand why though! I mean I have skills that would land me a fabulous job, but have had no such luck!

Last week I learned that Charlie's terapbyte that he got for his birthday this year, is broken and cannot be fixed unless I pay like $500! To make matters worse...all of my pictures of cakes that I have made through the years are gone! GONE!!!!!! I am soo heart broken! So my goal is re-create the cakes that I have inadvertantly lost!

On a good note...I went and saw "Julie & Julia"! Sooooo good! Totally inspiring. So I have decided that maybe I should do something like that. But with cakes??? I have also wondered how people come across other people's blogs if they don't know someone who knows someone who knows you??!!

Mystery Cake

Fondant flowers

Dwindling Days

You ever get so tired of doing nothing that you are completely exhausted?? Well, I kind of feel like that today! Though I wouldn't quite say that I have done nothing but I sure do feel like I haven't done much!

I am currently making a cake!! Yaye! I will hopefully finish it tonight and will definitely post pictures on both blogs. You will be in for a surprise! Some may even recognize where it is from, and if you do know where it's from...you will receive a cake of your choosing-on me!

My Garden

Watermelon

Squash

Green Beans

Tomato

Goals update

So a little while ago I posted some goals that I had wanted to achieve. Here is my progress:


Lose Weight: ......................................
Start Couponing: cutting coupons but forgetting them when we go to the store! Doesn't make sense does it!
Get good Job: no job yet-not even a bad one.
Pay off Debt: not even close! Working on it, slowly $1 at a time.
Start Bonsai Bakery Business: .......in the process-trying out homemade cake recipes that are to die for.
Take pictures: Charlie has been using the camera for one of his classes so, no pictures for me. Plus I don't like pics of myself-you know when you don't look good!
Travel around St. George: working on it. Love Sand Hallow, Charlie goes fishing at a lake that I don't remember the name of, we would like to go camping there. It's on my list.
Exclamation addiction: Still have it!!!!!!
Stop drinking ...what....no... I ... can't.....bu.......on......oh....come.......on!!!
Become organized: Getting better. Charlie went through a lot, so now I have no idea where things are. Now I have to go through everything again so I can get rid of stuff I don't need or use. Anyone is welcome to come on by to see if they want anything!
My little Garden: I will take pictures and post them tonight! It's soooo cute.


Charlie and I started playing Tennis! Yup TENNIS!! I actually kind of like it-and no I don't wear the cute little skirts(YET). One day! Hopefully this will help with Goal numero UNO!

Will update everyone how the goals are going or not going!

It's been a while!

The summer is quickly coming to an end :(! I have been looking for a job since I graduated and have found: 0 jobs. I had an interview yesterday for a part time position at Snow Canyon High School and have another interview for Riverside Elementary on Monday. That's about it! All summer long!!!!!! I am so sick of applications I can't even spell my name right!

So, other than that life has been good. We went to the July 4th festivities in St. George and saw these so cute puppies, shih-tzu of course, I fell in love and if we were allowed to have another dog I wouldn't have hesitated! They were only $200 bucks for a GIRL!! Girl dogs are so much more expensive then boy dogs. But, when we buy a house I am totally getting another dog!! I love Sihpo to death and I think he is bored with us and needs a friend to keep him company. Sihpo goes on little slumber parties to his friends house. Yes he has a friend. His name is Bruce. It's quite funny because if we say "Bruce" out loud, Sihpo gets really excited and you know he knows what you are talking about. He is THE CUTEST dog EVER!

Ok so I have rambled on long enough about my baby! Mom is coming back from California! Dad is coming to Utah-back from Iraq! School starts the 13th of August! I have no job! Ok I think I got it out of my system.

Charlie just got offered to teach Summer School until school starts. How cool is that! I am so excited for him! That means a little more mula coming in! We can always use the mula!

Summer time!

For part of the summer, Charlie and I have decided to spend about a week-I know not very long-up in Provo with our families since most of the trips we take are only on the weekends. Trust me these trips create havoc for the next week! We never feel rested because we always have someone to see or something to do or always something...

We are leaving Sunday, June 7 and coming back June 14.

On June 14 Charlie's sister Kimberly is having her son-Maximus-blessed. He is absolutely adorable! I would take pictures but our camera is ill and is currently in the shop. I am frustrated because there are some monumental moments coming up this weekend that I will unfortunately have to fore go! Bummer!

Will bring 35mm but may take a while since I need to get the pics developed! Wow-I don't know many people that have one of those these days!

I am in the PAPER!!

So while at Sand Hollow State Park, a reporter from the Spectrum-the newspaper down in St. George-stopped us as we were about to get into the water. So I decided to answer her questions and if you click on this link- http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20090526/NEWS01/905260327/1001/NEWS/Diving+into+summer
-you can read all about me!! The article was published on May 26. Charlie is the one that found it by Googling me!

Future Goals

After posting about Memorial Day I just realized how out of the loop I really am!!!

Here are some future goals:

Start couponing!
Lose weight (I think everyone has this goal!)
Get good job!
Pay off Debt!!
Start Bonsai Bakery Business!!!!!!!!!
Take Pictures!! Lots of them!
Travel around St. George-who knows how long we will be here!
Quite putting an exclamation point after every sentence!
STOP DRINKING DR.PEPPER!!!!! (don't know if that will happen, maybe when pigs fly?)
Become organized! (yeah right)
Maintain my little garden!

These are just for starters! Will probably add more to the list later! I think the list is actually more like a mile long.

Memorial Day

Yesterday we went on a little adventure to Sand Hollow State Park in Hurricane!! I wanted to do something different then normal! Sitting and watching TV or going to a movie seemed boring and monotonous! So, Saturday I decided that this holiday was going to be different. I told Charlie and at first he was like "what? why?" but then when we got there he started to change his mind.

We brought Sihpo along with us, which was kind of interesting! I had never thought to bring him to a lake before because I thought that dogs were not allowed though in previous years at various lakes I had seen people bring them. Not long after we arrived other people with dogs start arriving so I didn't feel bad.

We unpacked our towels and chairs and tied Sihpo to the cooler with his leash! It was time to go into the water! It was a little cold at first but felt good at the same time! When I was about half way in I decided that it was time for Sihpo to get in the water for the first time. The only water he has ever been in was the bath. I didn't know if he could swim but I thought the only way to find out was to throw him in. (Not literally!) I grabbed him and started wading through the water. When I was about half way in, I lightly dropped Sihpo into the water and low and behold his legs started going crazy!! He was ultimately FREAKED out!!

I picked him and his little legs kept going like he was swimming! It was hilarious!! He did NOT like being in the water so when I was holding him, legs thrashing he scratched me up a bit. I set him in the water again and he immediately started for the shore! I followed him and hooked him back up to the leash! He wanted to be with us but not in the water so when Charlie and I were in the water he kept running for us, pulling the cooler along with him! He did the same thing when he saw other dogs! I can't believe what an adorable and funny dog he is!

After putting Sihpo back on the leash I went back out and decided that I wanted to attempt to swim-on the floaty thing-to the farthest free standing rock by the buoys! It took me a while but I did it. When I got back Charlie looked me over and was like-"Do you know how long it took you?", I replied "Yup, A LONG TIME!" He pointed out that I had obtained a lovely rash on my chin! I was laying on my stomach on the floaty thing and my chin rested on the pillow so when I pedaled with my arms my chin would scrape the pillow-hence the rash on my chin!

Charlie's skin is pretty sensitive so he was constantly putting sunscreen on. The only place that he even showed a hint of color-his elbows!! That'll make for a nice tan line! Me on the other hand wanted to get some sun so I wouldn't be so ghostly white! I did put on a little sunscreen so that I wouldn't burn too badly-I received a nice little burn that is now turning into a itty bitty wanna be tan! I have to burn like 20 times before I remotely show that I have even been in the sun!

So that was our lovely adventure at Sand Hollow State Park! This was I think our first excursion around St. George by ourselves. The only other time we have gone anywhere was with John and Angie-Charlie's sister and brother-in-law-and that was to a little hike by the "Dixie" painted rock and to the Gunlock reservoir! So in the year and a half that we have lived here we haven't done much! This summer I hope to change that! Since we don't have a lot of money, there are plenty of things to do around here!

Memorial Day FUN at Sand Hollow State Park

This is the rock that I swam to on the floaty thing!

Before Sihpo entered the water!

After the water!

Graduation May 1, 2009

Graduation May 1, 2009

It's HERE!!!! Finally!

Graduation is tomorrow!! I am super excited. I have one more final tonight and I will be done!! With my Bachelor's anyway!

This semester has been so stressful for me. I tried to juggle way too many things from 18 credits, Charlie, Jordan, and work. It was a bit much. I am happy to have made it through though! I don't recommend to anyone to take 18 credits their last semester!! They might die!

My next step is to get a job! I am going to apply to the Library Science Master's program at Emporia State University. The next cohort starts next spring, but who knows what will happen this year! Will keep everyone up to date!

Gots to go take my FINAL Final!!! YAYE!!!!

Presentation Jitters are GONE!!!!

I presented my thesis this afternoon! I don't think that it went as well as I would have liked it to, but what ever does. Charlie came in like 5 minutes after I started and I totally lost my concentration and I am sure my face turned about 20 different shades of red! I think I was doing fine until he came in and then I started freaking out because that was the first time Charlie had ever seen me do a presentation!

So when I graduate, which will be next FRIDAY!! my new task will be to look for a job full time!! I am hoping to get on with the school district but the way things are going I am not so sure. There is another option, there is a new Charter school opening in the fall and they are hiring right now so I just need to get my application in there!! ASAP!! It sucks that I procrastinate!

Presentation Jitters

I am so scared to present a week from Thursday! My big thesis for the capstone for Professional & Technical Writing. My paper has nothing to do with my emphasis but that's what I get for taking classes and trying to graduate from Dixie State College. Yippeee!

My paper is "Analyzing Style and Themes in Jane Austen's Lady Susan"

Many don't know or are not aware that Jane Austen actually has 7 completed novels, Lady Susan being the 7th. It will be interesting when it is all said and done. I will post more about it later this week.

Bad news!

So I was suppose to get my braces off Friday, but...my lovely job decided to change my schedule so that I would not be able to go up to Sandy this weekend!! Bummer! But, I do have some good news! The braces will be coming off-just not on the 10th as planned! I will be getting them off on April 20th, so it will be one day shy of 4 years and 6 months...No Joke!!! I cannot wait!


I finally got my graduation letter! I was soooooo excited to get it, I mean I thought I was doomed not to graduate! 25 more days! I can do this! I have to right??

Update

I have been quite busy these last few weeks and haven't had time to post, until now! I have less than a month until I am done!! Wahoo! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Next week-dun dun dunnnnnnnn-I will be getting my braces off on Friday, April 10--Jordan's birthday! So I will be done with braces for now! I might get them back on in a couple of years, who know's!! I am really excited. As a lot of you know, I met Charlie a week after I got them on in October 2004, got them off for our wedding for two weeks and got them put back on, and now I will be getting them off for longer than two weeks!!!!! Yaye for me.

Update on Jordan-

He took the GED, passed 2 out of the 5, went back to the school where he was told that he could just test out of I think 5 tests and using his hours that he worked to cover elective credits and he would be done with his high school!! So far he has passed everything!!! Good Job Jordan! He only has five math worksheets to finish and he will be done!! With EVERYTHING!

Charlie also found out that Jordan didn't have to go to college to become a firefighter, which if you were there you would have seen tears rolling down Jordan's cheeks and a wide grin stretching from ear to ear!! He immediately got up and gave Charlie a HUGE hug!!! He couldn't stop thanking him!

Stressed Out!

I am officially counting down to the day I graduate with My Bachelor's Degree!!! Wahoooooooo!!! There are 71 days left!

Jordan's first week

This week started out quite interesting! Jordan officially came down to live with me and Charlie. He was registered and on his way to completing his High School Diploma!! Yaye!

Life has been a little hectic! I have been working about 35-40 hours and have 18 credits worth of school! I feel like I am ready to explode! And on top of that, last night a student at the treatment center that I work at decided that he didn't want to listen and attacked me and then a little bit later attacked the other staff because I told him he wasn't allowed in the rec room where they watch TV. Pretty pathetic!! Plus they are all over 18 so that means they do it again I get to call the cops!!!!!!!

In the meantime, I started looking for a job that would better fit my personality! And my major! I was looking into the Alternate Route to licensure, but because the economy sucks I don't know if they are going to do that for the next school year?? I am going to apply anyways! What's the worst that could happen? They tell me no? Rejection can be a big motivator! Either way I need a job that is more career oriented anyway!

Pretend Babies

So I saw this on another site and thought that I would try it as I am a curious person!! Tell me what you think!

My boys!!!

In case you didn't hear or believe there was snow in St. George, UT.