Gratitude

I had a GREAT Christmas! It was so much fun to be home with my Mom, her new hubby, and Tyler! Christmas Eve I rode home with Brandon, it was great to catch up with him and we had a great time talking and catching up. Then, after I got home, my friends from Orem called and sang Christmas carols to me and my mom. It was great! It is so wonderful to know such great people. Tyler came over to Moms house for Christmas eve, and we stayed up and talked long after everyone had gone to bed. I really enjoy being so close to home, especially after being gone for so long. It really makes me appreciate the simple things like being home for Christmas, and late night chats with my brother (did you see that Tyler, I appreciate you :D).

Christmas day was great. We got on webcam and opened gifts with Jenna and Reilly, and then Rods daughter and her family came over. It was sweet, she gave us each the card game phase 10 and some peanuts, haha, me and Tyler played Phase 10, and even got Mom involved, and I bet you didn't know that card game was a contact sport :D, well, it is with my family haha. That night, I went to pick up Brandon, and we were going to stop by and see our friend Brooke who is on leave from the Army, but we didn't get ahold of her in time... So, we headed back, right into the snow storm. It was nuts, we had to pull over to the side of the road because we couldn't see. We drove about 10 mph all the way to Scipio, but were lucky enough to be able to drive 40 on the freeway all the way back to Orem. It snowed pretty bad the whole way. Luckily we took my car, thank goodness for AWD! :D Anyway, I am grateful for the chance to catch up with Brandon and Brooke! I know this is the billionth time, but it is SO nice to catch up with old friends!!! LOVE IT!

Today I took my final exams! I aced both of them, and will get As in each class. YAY! I did some post holiday shopping :D went on a date, and has movie night with a bunch of friends. It was a blast! I am SO grateful for my friends here. They are such good people, and I am so blessed to have them in my life. Thanks everyone for being AWESOME!

Last but not least, I am SO grateful for the Lord and his Atonement. Some of the conversations I have had with a few people in the past little bit has really opened my eyes, and helped my testimony grow. I am amazed at the power behind the Lords love for us, and I am so grateful for his hand in my life. I have had a rough few years, and certainly made huge mistakes, but now, as I straighten my life out, I can see the blessings pouring out, and my heart is so full of love for our Savior and his sacrifice for us. There have been some very hard times even in the last few months, but I know, that the Savior has felt how I feel and he understands, and that makes all the difference in the world. I know that the Atonement is real, and through it we can be forgiven of all our sins, and for that I am most grateful. I know that with his help I have made it through the rough times, and with Him I can make it through anything.

I want to thank everybody for their help, thoughts and prayers, and especially the Lord for blessing me with such great people.

And then some...

What a month!!! Life has been so crazy, but so great! Where do I start? First of all, I LOVE my job. I work with GREAT people, and it is a GREAT company, and every day I don't go more than thirty minutes without laughing. I could not ask for more. Well, actually, I do drive 45 miles for work each way, and that is a little rough, but it is also great time to just think (which is dangerous sometimes, when I think that is haha). It did however take me two and a half hours to get home last Friday in that huge snowstorm... YUCK Anyway...

I LOVE where I live! I am in the GREATEST ward ever! There are some awesome people in my ward, and the ward here is an 'older' ward, which is great, I guess the average age is 25 :D. I am making a lot of new friends. I am so grateful to have such awesome people in my life. I would name names, but I don't want to leave anybody out, just know that I appreciate you! I do have a fun experience... One Sunday at ward prayer I met a guy who served his mission in Korea! We talked forever about anything and everything Korean, and all the fun stuff that we miss. It was totally awesome to be able to have a conversation about it with someone who actually knows what I am talking about. Just like with the Army, it is great to meet soldiers, I can speak about the Army without having to explain every other acronym. :D LOVE IT.

I HATE the COLD!!! People, it sucks, I know you know, and I know it is going to get colder, but that doesn't mean that it is not freezing now!!!! I just got so used to the year round warm in Hawaii my body doesn't know what to do in the cold. I came home from work one day, and this is what my lawn looked like....

The people that live below me shovel my sidewalk, LOVE THEM.

Foxy has to have a special patch of grass shoveled just for her to do her business, that dog is so spoiled...

OH, I have another friends story!!! On Sunday I met up with an old friend from high school! I love catching up with people, and he came over Sunday and we watched movies and played Wii with my other GREAT friend Desiree. It was so much fun to catch up, and tonight, we are going to drive back home together, to keep company and have someone else to push the Santa Fe if it gets stuck hahaha, jk. It is supposed to be really yucky weather and it will be so nice to have the company!

On that note... I am SO excited to be able to go home for Christmas! This will be the first Christmas I get to spend home with my family (minus Jenna) in five years! Jenna is stuck in Arizona, but it will be great to be around my mom and Tyler! I cant wait!

Speaking of Tyler, he is probably going to be moving in with me. I am going to start taking bets of how long it will take for one of us to kill the other hahaha. We have a great relationship as long as we live apart, it will defiantly be interesting, plus it will be great to have him around to do the man work haha. Brothers.....

Anyway, that's about it for now, nothing too exciting, but I need to do my homework (blech) and get packed to head home. I wish everybody Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!!! To my battle buddies in Iraq, you will be home in one month! I love you and miss you! God speed!!!

Jules

Veterans Day

I just wanted to give a shout out to all my soldier friends and family!!! Thanks for everything you do!!! I miss you all, especially those in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, I miss the Army, and in some ways wish I was still in, and fighting with you. To all you I served with, God Bless you! You are my family, and I pray every day for your safe return home. God speed, and I hope one day we meet again. Here are some old military pics I dug up, enjoy the memories!

Saluting the troops as they fly off to Iraq

Dark Marco and Hernie :D BALLIN'

P-I-M-P

Combat Commo!

Catching up with Julie...

So, I have lots of new stuff!!! I have been slacking on my blogging a bit, so here is a catch up...

Halloween.... So, Halloween is probably my LEAST favorite holiday... Not sure why, and I am not going to go into the many things that irritate me about it right now, but I did end up going to a party with my cousin Jenny, and I EVEN dressed up lol, I have no idea why I decided to even go but my costume turned out pretty cool... Remember those troll dolls? The ones with a jewel on the tummy, and if you rubbed it it was good luck? Well, I decided to be one of those. I got a nude color leotard from a dance store and put it together. I decided to be a beach troll since I didn't want to be a naked one hahahaha... so here is a picture :D

So, I got an AWESOME job!!! I start Monday the 17th. i will be doing technical support (computer stuff) for L-3 Communications-Communications Systems West. L-3 is the sixth largest defense contracting company in the country, and they have locations worldwide. I am SO excited, and lucky to have gotten this job. The job is in Salt Lake City, so, looks like I will be moving again lol. I don't mind, just have to find a place now... Anybody know of any good places to rent in Salt Lake county that will let me have my dog?

So, I got a new (used) car! I ended up getting a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe. I LOVE it! It only has 14,000 miles on it, and it is AWD (great for the commute to SLC from Orem in the winter). I got a GREAT deal on it! I am glad I did my research on it first, I went in there with stacks of papers I had printed off about the car lol... It was great! I ended up getting it for $4,000 less than suggested retail. :D Anyway...

All in all life is getting much better. It is so much fun to be able to catch up with old friends, be within driving distance of family, and I defiantly can see the Lords hand in helping me get my life back together. As bad as things have been, they are getting better, and I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life. There are a few people I have been meaning to catch up with, and if you want to catch up with me, just let me know, I love to see people I haven't seen in years!!!

BTW, it is SO COLD!!! I am going to have a hard time in the winter... BRRRR

Ever have a day where you just feel like you got run over by a semi truck???

Well, yesterday I actually did... A semi truck trailer plowed right over the top of my car, oh, and btw, I was in it... So, most of you know, I am accident prone, and long over due for a near death experience hahahaha... here is the latest adventure... :D

So, I was driving on my way to work, (good old Payless btw, I am long overdue for a 'catch up' blog, maybe in the next few days I will get around to it...) and I was in Payson, at an intersection getting ready to turn right. I was following a diesel truck, who was in the straight lane, so I got into the right turn lane, and started to turn, when the semi truck (pulling a flat bed trailer) started to turn too. He was STILL in the straight lane, and just turned! Not straddling the two lanes, no blinker, no brakes, just TURNED! RIGHT FROM THE STRAIGHT LANE!!! Now, I drive a little ford focus, not exactly a good match for a HUGE TRUCK, needless to say, I lost... The trailer smashed right into my car, and shoved it right up onto the curb.

All the time, I am in the car with a trailer headed straight for my head (drivers side...) and all I could think was 'How the heck am I going to get outta this mess!" Seriously folks, totally life-flash-before-your-eyes experience! My left arm is sticking straight out towards the drivers side door, like hey, if the trailer hits me, maybe I can stop it with my arm, lol, ever read Twilight? I was totally gunna have an Edward-saves-Bella moment... Seriously, luckily the truck stopped, one more foot, and I would have been stuck under the trailer...

So yeah, at this point I am totally freaking out, and all I can think is GET ME THE CRAP OUTTA THIS CAR! Too bad the drivers side door is under the truck... I had to climb out the passenger side door... I was shaking like nobodies business... Anyway, nobody got hurt, not even a scratch for me (LUCKY, AGAIN!)... but my car has definitely had better days... It is in the shop now, and I will find out tomorrow if it is totaled. For not, I have a SWEET rental car, all at the expense of the insurance company :D There are so many more details to this story, but I am sure as things happen, I will fill you all in. (Yes, there is going to be a battle :D) So, for now, I am still alive, and one more straw has been added to this camels back... Life sure is rough sometimes....

I will post pictures when I get them uploaded :D NIGHT!

Julie

House, Job, Car, and Everything in Between

So, it has been a long time since I have posted. There has been so much stuff going on, I have barely been able to keep my head on straight. Here is a brief run down of what my last few weeks have looked like, and the new challenges that lie ahead....

So, my last post left off with me looking for a place to live. Well, I found one. It is a house in Orem near the University Mall, the story of how I got it is crazy... First of all, let me start with a story... The day before I found the place I was listening to the radio and they were talking about how 666 is a sign of the devil, and that 333 means God is trying to tell you something. I had never heard the 333 thing before, but found it interesting... anyway back to the story... I had been looking for a few days, and made a few trips up to Utah County from my Moms house in Elsinore to look at a few places, but the places I looked at really just weren't right... I was getting a little discouraged, and instead of driving all the way back to my Moms house, I stayed at my Grandparents house in Payson. My Grandma asked if I had looked in the local newspaper for places to live, and I hadn't, so I decided to give it a try, but didn't have very good luck until the last place. It sounded perfect for me, so I made the call. It was just about everything I was looking for, and I was excited to look at it, so I asked the lady when she was showing it, and then she gave me the address. Guess what the address is? 333 East blah blah blah. Wow, so, needless to say, I LOVED the house, and moved in a few days later, just thought it was funny how I never heard the whole 333 thing until that same day, anybody else ever heard of that?

So, I love where I live, it is a cozy little place, now I am just waiting for my furniture to get here :D I sleep on an air mattress, and that is pretty much it for furniture in the house. Fun. I live close to my Grandparents, and my cousins, and I am having a lot of fun hanging out with my cousin Jenny (she is actually my fourth cousin...). My mom and her mom were really close growing up, and it is fun to be able to be so close.

I picked up my car in Los Angeles on Monday, and that whole bit was an ADVENTURE! I will start from the beginning....

I got two plane tickets (one for me and Jenny) for 8:00 in the morning to fly from SLC to LA. We dropped off my rental car, and checked in for our flight. We didn't bring any checked baggage since we were not making a long trip, and just had our carry-ons. So, we got through security, and were looking for our gate, and couldn't find it. We were flying United airlines, and the only flights to LA were for Delta... weird... so, we went to the United ticket counter and asked the attendant where our gate was. She took one look at our tickets and said "This flight is for 8:00 PM." We were at the airport before 7 am, and they let us check in and everything, all the time for a flight that was more than 12 hours away! I was SO upset, they wouldn't refund our tickets cause we had already checked in, and I had to get on that early flight to LA. United had no other flights leaving and the VPC (place where I pick up my car) closes at 4pm. We were stuck!!! So, I went to the Delta ticket counter (inside the terminal) and asked if there was any way I could get two tickets to LA on the Delta flight that left in 45 minutes. Luckily for us, there were two seats left, right next to each other... :D I had to fork out 400$ but at least we got on an 8:00AM flight... nuts... I still have our United tickets that were never used.... haha, life....

So, we got to LA and everything went pretty smooth. I got my car, and we headed off to Vegas for the night. We had a lot of fun there, we stayed at Treasure Island Hotel, and saw Cirque De Soleil Mystere. It was AWESOME!!!! I have pictures, to post later.... We left Vegas the next day, after going shopping of course, and our next stop was in St. George to see my favorite friend Melanie. It was so much fun to see her and her little baby Trevor (Oh, and Everett too haha). I love it when I get to see Mel, and luckily, I live a lot closer, I may have to make monthly trips to St. G. :D

Oh, I forgot one very important detail.... When we were driving from LA to Vegas, I got a phone call, from Teleperformance, the company I was supposed to start working for in a few weeks. Well, it turns out that Dell is re-negotiating the contract it has with Teleperformance, or something like that, and they cancelled all new hires and training indefinitely. What does that mean for me? That means I do not have a job. It's funny really, I get everything settled in and start to get comfortable, and BAM, there you have it. So, Julies Job Hunt is on again... It's just now, I am limited to Utah County.... Yup... So there is my life in a nut shell, I will keep you posted....

Night!

I got a job!!!!!

So let me tell you a good story....

As you all know (and thanks for the support btw) I have been looking for a job. I have let everyone I know know I am looking, checking out job websites and such, not really coming up with anything good. My Uncle works for a company that I talked with, but they didn't have any positions open beyond basic reception jobs. I was getting a little discouraged, but keep putting in resumes and stuff.

So, I have a cousin, (actually she is my 4th cousin or something, more like best friend...) her name is Jenny and I have known her my whole life, anyway.... ever since I found out that I was moving to Utah, I had the feeling that I should call her. It is such a coincidence that I had her number anyway, but that is another story... I kept telling myself that I would call her later, I was sure I was going to call her, but I just kept putting it off.... Well, I finally called her Tuesday. She manages two Payless stores in Utah county, and while she couldn't provide me with the job and income I needed she had JUST hired a guy part time that is the Human Resources manager for a company called Teleperformace. She had no idea what the company did, but she instantly thought of him. She told me that she would talk to him that night, find out what he did, and ask him if he was hiring....

Well, she talked to him, and the first thing he asked her is "Does she know anything about computers?" BINGO! So, he gave her his work number, and told her to tell me to call him the next day, which was Wednesday. I called Wednesday, and he told me that the were hiring Dell Technical Support Technicians. Sweet. I have five years of experience working DIRECTLY with Dell products (thanks Army). So, he asked if I could interview the next day, of course I jumped at the chance, so I went up there Thursday (oh, to Lindon btw, North Orem/Pleasant Grove for those that don't know) and had two interviews, I really impressed the guy that interviewed me last, and the offered me the position!!! It was SO AMAZING!!!

Everything just fell together so nicely I just know that I am supposed to be doing this. I look at all the things that happened and it is just awesome. I start working at the end of October, which works out nicely too. I have to pick up my car in LA at the end of this month, then the Army has to deliver my household goods by mid October, it is great cause I have time to find a place and get settled in and not have to rush anything. I can focus my time on finding an apartment out near Lindon/Orem/PG and get my stuff moved in, and visit old friends that I haven't seen in forever.

So, my house/apartment hunt starts next week, if anybody that lives in that area knows of any good places for rent that will let me keep my small dog, got ahead and leave a comment. Anybody that wants to catch up with me, also comment, I have some time to travel around a bit.

I need to work on my Arabic accent. LOL I figure I have lots of bad karma coming my way, I used to give Dell Techies such a hard time lol. I don't believe I have EVER talked to an American Dell Tech Support person... I didn't even knew they had them lol. I LOVE it!!!

Home in Utah

I left Hawaii Saturday night. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Even Alan leaving for Iraq was easier than this, I knew he would come back to me. Now, I will probably never see him again. I know it is for the best, but it sucks still... Foxy was great all through check in and security, but she threw a fit in the airport. I was having a hard time waiting for the plane, and just cried. Once on the plane Foxy calmed down, and was fine throughout the whole flight. We got through baggage claim, rental car and everything and Foxy was so well behaved, it was nice.

We drove all the way from SLC to Elsinore where my mom lives. We stopped in Payson to see my Grandparents, and Foxy did well with them. She just sat on my lap and slept through the whole car ride. We got to my moms house around 12:30 in the afternoon, and have settled in rather nicely. My Moms dog is not a fan of Foxy, and sometimes we have to interfere in their getting to know each other, but other than that things are going well. I have sent out a few more resumes, and this week I am just going to get settled, and start my school work before setting out on the road next week to follow up on my job applications and resumes. The hardest part for me is not knowing what I am going to be doing, or where I will be. I feel like I am not secure, life is an open book right now....

BTW, it is COLD! It was like 5 degrees today, my goodness I was freezing! I do not know if I will survive a winter in Salt Lake County, or where ever I will be, I may have to look further south, like Saint George or Vegas... I might never unthaw... :D and it was only 65! wow.

Anyway, I will keep everyone posted on my status, also my blog will be undergoing a serious makeover, for obvious reasons... I will have to take that on later...

Until next time...

Julie

Aloha Oe'- Farewell to you Hawaii

On Friday the movers cam to my house to pack up all my furniture to send to Utah. It should be there before October 15th, so that gives me plenty of time to find a job and a house :D. The movers were there from 8 am to 4pm. It was a LONG day! I lived on the second floor and so the movers put really thick cardboard down the stairs so they could just sorta slide stuff down it. It looked fun, and the little 5 year old boy, Markus, that lives below me asked me if we could ask the movers to leave it there when they left. So.... I asked, and they left it. Here are some pictures of the moving day fun :D...

Me and Markus

Markus doing tricks :D The dog at the bottom is foxy's puppies daddy...

A few days before moving day, all the puppies left. It was sad to see them go, especially Lola, the girl, she was my favorite. I think the puppies look like beagles, especially the brown and white one. Here are some picture of the day they left.

All the puppies lying together, Lola is the one on the right.

Me and the puppies.

So, the night before I left, Friday, the same day the movers came, me and my neighbors we to my favorite Mexican restaurant on the North Shore. There is this sign that I always wanted a picture with, but never took one, so we stopped so I could take a picture. :D I look frumpy from moving all day, but I HAD to get this picture lol.

So, that is my last times in Hawaii. I want to say thank you to everyone there that helped me out. Specifically Dani, my favorite German, my neighbor, she is the reason I still have my sanity. Rusty and Lala Rueckert, such good examples to me, you helped me to stay on the right path. The only LDS friends I have in Hawaii, Thank you! Kelly Dodge, she got me my first job after getting out of the Army, we are good friends now, and I am so grateful to you for being my friend and knowing that I can help you helps me, hang in there girl, life can get better. Thanks to my Waialua ward Ohana, my family away from family. Everyone else that helped in Hawaii, I cant name everybody, but thank you so much for helping me get out safe and sound. God Bless you!

Update

So, here it is. I will be home on the 31st! I am fortunate enough to have the Army to take care of me. Many of you know that I just got out of the service in May. When Soldiers leave the Army it pays for all their household items and vehicle to get back to their home of record, and pays for their plane ticket. While I obviously didn't use mine when I got out, I am within the six month window the Army allotted to use my benefits. So, I take my car to the docks on Thursday, they pack up my house on Friday, and Saturday I am on a plane straight to SLC to arrive Sunday morning, all on the Army's expense. Fabulous. They didn't pay for Foxy (obviously) but the lady booked a flight for me straight from Honolulu to SLC, no layovers, so it would be easier on her. Fabulous again. I am taking her in the cabin with me as a carry on since it is only a six hour flight. (Yes ONLY six, it sure beats the twelve hour flight from Korea!).

So, Sunday morning (the 31st) I fly into SLC and will rent a car at the airport and drive to my mamas home where I will stay for a few days so Foxy is comfortable before I embark on my journey. Then I am going to job hunt, not sure where I will start, probably Utah or Salt Lake County... In about a month my car will be in Los Angeles, so I will have to drop off my rental car at the SLC airport and fly to LA and road trip to Utah. :) I am excited for that, the farthest road trip you can take here is two hours and you will lap the island. :D

All in all things are good. Alan and I are being civil, friends even, and while nobody ever wants to get divorced, I know in my heart that this is right. I have no regrets, and I know that now I am a better person than I was two and a half years ago. I see Alan and I keeping a friendship. It's hard, but I have been through some tough stuff, gotta have the bad times to enjoy the good...

So, here are some random thoughts that didn't seem to fit anywhere in the above post...

In my separation orders, they Army didn't specify my home of record. The guy at the travel office told me that I could have my stuff sent and fly anywhere I wanted. :D I was thinking of taking it down under and going to Australia haha. Wouldn't that be an adventure. :D

Aside from divorce being the reason, I am excited to be able to live in Utah. For the past five years, I have missed 99% of all Thanksgivings, Christmases, Birthdays, Fourth of July's, Weddings, Babies being born, Bridal showers, baby showers, reunions, you name it, I was gone. Well now I can be there for EVERYTHING!!! Just in time to get settled in my house and a job before Thanksgiving! Perfect!

I spent $350 at the Aloha Swap Meet today getting all the stuff I told my self i would get before I left Hawaii, including a Ukulele. Oh yes, I even have a book to learn how to play it. haha. I am a dork I know, but I want to learn! :D

I got my I got my letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs today! (This may not make sense to a lot of you, but bear with me, I don't want to bore you with the details) When I got out of the Army, I filed for compensation from the VA (Dept of Veteran Affairs) for the injuries I sustained while in service. The VA will compensate Veterans monthly for the rest of their lives based on blah blah blah boring.... so, I got my letter, and the VA found me 50% disabled. Sweet. This gives me $799 per month til I die. (I have to go to yearly physicals...) So, I really didn't expect that, but there were several things that each got 10% ratings, and combined, I am half broken. Nice. Kudos to the Army. It's weird though, I don't feel 50% disabled... (yeah yeah insert your smart alec comments here)... Just by looking at me you wouldn't think anything was wrong. That's one of the perks though I guess. The Army has been good to me...

So, that's about it for my ramblings. I hope to see most of you soon, and I am still catching up on email responses. Bear with me. Thanks!!!

Julie

Grateful

So, I just wanted to thank everyone who has emailed me in response to my last post. I am SO grateful to you all, and I am going to sit down and take the time to reply to everyone, but it may be a few days. I just want you to know how much I appreciate it. It is so much easier to deal with the hard times when there are good people around to turn to. Thanks for being my friends!!!

Julie

Help...

So, I had this posted earlier, but somehow it got deleted... hmm... Anyway, this is my story. I really am not one to post too much personal information online, especially rough stuff, but I felt that I should post this email that I sent out to my family. To sum it all up times are rough right now, and I need a little assistance to get back on my feet. I know that through faith and with the Lords help that I will be alright. I know I have some wonderful friends and an awesome family and I thank everyone for your support already.

"So, I have a problem, and I really need some help....

So, to make a long story short, my husband is tired of being a Mormon and wants to be single again and live up the single life. We are getting a divorce. This is especially hard for me because I am across the ocean in Hawaii and cant exactly pack up a U-haul or whatever. So, the Army will ship my vehicle and furniture to Utah and I have enough money saved up to last me a few months, but after that I am in trouble, and I was hoping to pull the family card for help.

I need an apartment that will let me keep my little 8 lb mix breed dog. She is fully house broken, and pretty quiet. I also need a job. My expertise is computer science/computer user support. As you all know, I just got out of the Army after almost five years of service, so I am pretty universal. I have 60 credit hours of college that do not fit into a degree along with various military schools and training. I am currently enrolled in school pursing a Bachelors in Information Technology Management. I realize that I am pretty limited with my lack of education, but I am a quick learner, determined, and adapt very easily. I really just need a job that can give me about $25,000 a year or more. I also need to find a job before I find an apartment for obvious reasons.

I am not picky about where in Utah I live or what the job is, I just want to be in Utah, and be able to keep my dog. My Mom is going to keep Foxy (my dog) at her place while I roam the state trying to get settled, but I may need some places to stay during my travels so I do not have to fork out money on hotels.

I am not sure when I will be flying in, hopefully within the next two weeks or so. I just need to get out of here as quickly as possible. Please, if any of you can help me in anyway I really need it right now.

You can email me back at this address julieb03 [at] yahoo [dot] com Thanks!"

Julie

Where's my personal jet pack?

So, I get bored at work, after I have checked my email a million times and looked at every bodies blogs another million times, I get to thinking (scary I know) and here is what I came up with today...

I am sick and tired of waiting for the personal jet packs we were promised when we were kids! All those black and white films I saw in school of what the future would be like included personal jet packs! It’s years later and even our cars still require that we steer them!!! (also a lie from those films about the future).

The only “big” invention of the future we’ve gotten so far is the segway. It’s just a stupid scooter! They had scooters in the 60’s! “Ooh! You can stand on it!” they say. You can stand on a regular scooter too duh!!! "Yeah, but, it won’t fall over no matter what!” A scooter is only three inches from the ground! Falling over was never my primary concern. I am sick and tired of sitting in traffic four hours! Twenty years after the promise of a personal jet pack that would fly you anywhere in a minute, I am still sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. But, I thought, just hang in there, SOON, they will have personal jet packs, FOR SURE by the year 2005. Now here it is 2008! It’s the twenty first century dude!

To the inventor of the Segway, and Bill Gates who I'm SURE had something to do with it, you should be ashamed of yourselves for trying to create a big stir about the segway before it came out by saying stuff like: It will change the way we live. THAT led me to believe: PERSONAL JET PACK!!!! Never, never, never claim that a scooter will change ANYTHING!!!! When we can fly to work, THAT will change the way I live. When we can eat candy and drink soda and still lose weight, THAT will change the way we live. When I can get a human being on the telephone at the DMV/Cable Company/Bank THAT will change the way I live. -- NOT a scooter! And stop trying to make it seem cool to have a Segway. IT’S NOT.

Dick Tracy (written in the 1930’s) had a flying Jet pack, not a scooter, it FLEW!!! In 1930!!!That’s before we had microwave ovens and penicillin, and organ transplants. 78 years ago! I want my personal jet pack! Where is my personal jet pack??? Everyone, if you email congress and tell them to quit throwing away money on science and funnel it to flying jet pack research, We can make this happen!!!

PERSONAL JET PACK!

Breaking Dawn Disappointment...

So, I finished reading Breaking Dawn yesterday. Overall I was a little disappointed with it. **SPOILER** It seems like after Bella became a vampire she lost her whole Bella "essence", I mean sure some things were obviously going to change (vampire DUH) but it seems like it was a whole new much less interesting character. I don't like the fact that Jacob imprinted on Nessie (weird...), I was very shocked when Bella got pregnant (very weird...) I mean, it seems like Stephenie Meyer was trying too hard to get everything in there and in the right order, get married, then have babies, then live happily every after, it really didn't work so much for me (the girl is only 18...).

So yeah, it was a young adult book, with lots of young readers but it felt like that fact was restricting the story from developing. I was also disappointed with how everything ended up so happily ever after. Everybody got what they wanted, no exceptions. There was no battle at the end, no final stand down, everybody made it out alive (except the snitch, but she was such a fleeting character it was not a big deal). I am just saying a little sacrifice, hard work and suffering would have made it better, THEN the happily ever after. Have the main characters give one final fight to be together, then be happy because they have each other after surviving everything else despite their losses. That is what we have come to expect with the series, and the final book was a let down for me. I do however still LOVE Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. Wish Breaking Dawn could have kept up.

Anyway, any other readers feel free to share your thoughts, I am interested to know your take on it.

Breaking Dawn Release....

So, I am anxiously counting down the milliseconds until Breaking Dawn is released at 12:01 a.m. tonight so that I can rush to the Waikele Borders and buy it as quickly as possible (I have it reserved in two locations :D). In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up buying the book at midnight and then staying up reading it cover-to-cover before Alan wakes up at 6:55 a.m.

Admit it! I know a lot of you are doing the same thing!!! You're out there, I know it, I read your blogs :D. (Side note: Can you imagine how insane Borders and Barnes & Noble will be in some parts of the country [read: Utah/Arizona] when Breaking Dawn is released? My conservative estimate is that 143 Borders Associates will be killed and another 815 injured.) If you know any Borders/Barnes & Noble employees, you may want to advise them to increase their short-term disability and their life insurance policies ASAP. It's going to be a blood bath...

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!

Sticking up for Utah

So.... I was browsing through blogs one day, and found one that a guy had written putting up the defense for Utah. I could not resist writing my own "I'm from Utah SO WHAT?!?!"/"Leave Utah Alone Blog" Being Active Duty Army, I have lived a lot of places and met many different kinds of people from just as many places. More often than not when the "Where are you from?" question is asked, my answer if Utah sparks another round of questions, "Are you Mormon?" usually being the first... Some of my favorites are:

-How many wives does your Dad have?

-Do you double the population of Utah when you go on leave?

-Where are your horns?

-Do you use electricity in your house? (for some reason some people associate us with the Amish...)

During my years living outside of Utah, I have endured endless torture :D and have been on the wrong side of several jokes and humor. It is really very frustrating at times, and I can never seen to come up with a good come back at the right moment. So, you all those who have decided to make jokes at my/Utah/Mormons expense, here is your comeback!
I realize that most of you reading my blog are born and raised Utahns, but for those few that aren't let me start with a few points.....

-Most people recognize that Utahans are regular, normal, good people who generally live the gospel, though you will always have a few who do not in a sample size that large.

-Many people have no ill will toward Utah or Utahans, they would simply prefer to live somewhere else.

-A small number of people have very negative perceptions of Utahans and went as far as calling them judgmental, hypocritical, and vain. (Ouch!)

-Several of those people have noted that the people who have labeled Utahans as "judgmental" and "hypocritical" are coming across as...well...pretty judgmental and hypocritical. (It is hard to call somebody judgmental without sounding judgmental. Did that make me sound judgmental? If you said, "yes", please stop being so judgmental.)


I have never really understood why there are some people who lived in Utah and had so many negative experiences with church members. I do not doubt that these experiences were real for the people who lived them. The majority of people who tend to disparage "Utah Mormons", as they see it, are not born-and-bred Utahans. Most of them lived in the state for a few years during college or a for a short job stint and then left for other, more exciting places. You know, like Missouri or Wyoming. While some anti-Utahan comments left me with a bad taste in my mouth, the discussions helped me realize why a small number of people disliked living among the Saints in Utah. It all comes down to one word: Expectations.

Several of the people who were critical of Utah used phrases like, "...and I expected great things...", "...my expectation (of Utahans) would be extremely high...", and "...I was disappointed in people who should have known better." If nothing else, I have learned that non-Utahans have pretty high expectations of Utah church members. While I understand why the expectations are high, my experiences with the Saints in Utah have been generally positive, as have my experiences in Korea, Hawaii, Arizona, Missouri, and Georgia. The Utah ward that I grew up in was comprised of just 900 people and nearly every family was active and sealed in the temple. If I had to guess, I would estimate that the level of active families probably approached 95%. The vast majority of my male high school friends worthily served missions and are married in the temple. Maybe I am naive, but I truly believe that the majority of Utah Saints are great people who do their best to live the gospel. This holds true for members of the church in every other place where I have lived. Are they perfect? Of course not. Those of you who are so critical of Utah, please let me know when you find a religion or a state where everybody does everything right all of the time. It is probably a wonderful place, like Disneyland. But this is just my subjective opinion.

I did a little research to see if there is any objective data to shed some light on Utah, and here is what I found:

-According to WebMd.com, Utah has the lowest reported use of marijuana, tobacco, alcohol consumption, and underage drinking (i.e. they tend to live the Word of Wisdom).

-According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Utah has the lowest rate of unwed mothers, lowest teen birth rate, and highest percentage of married-couple households (i.e. they tend to live the Law of Chastity). Utah also has the highest birth rate and lowest percentage of working mothers in the country.

-According to Forbes.com, Utah is the most generous state in the nation (i.e. people pay their tithes and offerings.)


-According to Adherence.com, Utah is the most Christian state in the nation. (I cannot vouch for the quality of this website, but I thought it might be relevant to include.)

-Regarding member missionary work, I have heard repeatedly that Utah missions baptize more converts than any other missions in the United States but could not find any recent, credible stats to back this up. The most legitimate statement I could find was from Elder Thomas S. Monson in 1977 when he said, "It is not insignificant that the Utah Salt Lake City Mission leads all English-speaking missions in effectiveness and in total convert baptisms." (i.e. Utahans have ample opportunity to share the gospel and appear to do it effectively.)

-According to ESPN.com, BYU's football team has the nation's longest winning streak at 10 games and may have a chance to go undefeated this year and earn a BCS bid. (So what does this have to do with the topic? Nothing. Just thought I would throw that out there.):D

In other words, there may be more people in Utah who live traditional Christian values of morality, temperance, charity, proclaiming the gospel, and sweet college football than any other place in the country! Take that, New Jersey! You too, California! This is obviously debatable, but there is a lot of evidence to support the argument. But still, the key is expectations. Many of you may have read that and said, "Of course Utah ranks high in those areas, it is supposed to!" If you had that thought, there is nothing that can be said that will convince you that Utahans are by and large faithful, good people. Again, are they perfect? Of course not, but who is?

Now, the objective downside of Utah:

-According to Forbes.com, Salt Lake is "America's Vainest City" as measured by the number of cosmetic surgeons per capita. However, the author is quick to note that the number may be high due to the U of U's School of Medicine, which offers residencies in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Just another example of how the U of U is tarnishing Utah's good name! (Kidding. Kidding. Only a joke. Don't send the hate mail.)

-According to the Deseret News, Utah normally ranks among the highest amount of bankruptcies per capita. The article does point out that this may be a function of larger families and lower incomes as mothers stay at home to raise children instead of entering the workforce. (i.e. it's not like most Utahans are declaring bankruptcy because they cannot afford the payments on their Porsche and winter home in Hawaii. :D) As individuals, we are all imperfect whether we are Utahans, North Carolinians, Brazilians or Connecticutters (I made that up, but it sounds good). Because of our universal imperfection, we should be very careful in our judgments of others, whether they be individuals or collective groups of people. We will make our experiences in life, as wonderful and positive or as miserable and mundane as we want them to be regardless of where we live.

So, this concludes my ramblings... I may have gone off on a tangent or two, but hey, I am from Utah, and dang proud!!!

Puppy Update

I know I know, I have been telling everyone for the past week I am going to post puppy pics here, well, I am finally doing it! I put together a slide show...

So, story time. We came up with temporary names for the puppies so we knew which was which. 'The Girl' is the first one born and the only girl. (Update: The Girl has been claimed by a friend who has named her Lola...) 'The Fat One' was the biggest one at birth and came out second. 'The Runt' was the tiniest and came out third, and 'The Fourth One' well, he came out fourth. The Big One and The Fourth One look similar so The Fourth Ones nails are painted red to distinguish the two :D.

So, now it gets confusing. The Big One is now the second smallest, The Runt is the fattest, weighs the most and has white spots. The Fourth One is the second largest and cries a lot, and The Girl is still a girl :D, and now the smallest.... Yup...

It has been so much fun watching them grow. They opened their eyes about a week ago, and can hear now too. They are 'walking' and starting to growl and play with each other.They can climb out of the little kiddie pool I have them in, and this weekend we are going to have to find a more permanent arrangement...

So yup, that's the update. They all have homes now except The Fourth One... We are keeping The Runt, and The Big (small) One, and The Girl have been claimed. Any takers? Rusty and Lala? I KNOW you want one.....

Alone, again...

Being alone is part of Army life, and alas, I find myself alone again. Alan was sent to the mainland for training for three weeks. While I do not think that being apart from my husband is something that I will ever get used to, it is definitely something that I have learned to deal with. I learn to keep as busy as I can, and to surround myself with good people. I can finally get to that project that I have been putting off, or visit that person I have not seen in a while. Moreover, I think that being apart makes the time we are together more valuable. Although I hate Alan being gone at all, especially during those fifteen month deployments, it is the life we have chosen and I would not change it for anything in the world. You may have your Prince Charming, but mine wears combat boots!

Finally puppies!!!!

What an eventful night we had last night!!! This post will be especially long as I won't spare any details!!!

I worked all day yesterday, and at the last minute, I was asked if I could stay and manage the computer lab that would turn my 8 hour day into a 13 hour day. I agreed, as I always love to have more hours, and was prepared to have a long night. Not long after Alan brought my dinner to me, the guy I was filling in for showed up and told me I could stay or leave, and I decided to go so I could spend the evening with Alan. Well, I am glad I made that choice because soon after I got home, foxy went into labor.

I had only been home for about an hour. It was a little after 7pm and Alan had just walked across the street to check on his work schedule. I was reading my book, and looking out for foxy (she had been in her whelping box all day, and was panting, and wouldn't eat). I saw her stomach tighten up real tight, and I knew that it was a contraction. I called Alan to tell him we were going to have puppies soon, and got my neighbor up here quick.

Foxy started pushing at 7:21pm and when we didn't see a puppy come for 10 minutes, me being the worry wart I am called the emergency vet. I explained what happened, that she had been pushing off and on for 10 minutes, and nothing was coming out, and the vet told me to wait for an hour to an hour and a half then if she still wasn't pushing out puppies to bring her in. So, not two seconds after I had gotten off the phone a puppy started to appear, FEET FIRST! You know me, I called the vet again. :D The vet said to watch her and if she hadn't pushed it out after a while to bring her in. I felt silly calling the vet so much, but hey, better safe than sorry right?

So, It was about 7:50 and by this time, the first puppy had two feet and his tail out of Foxy. Me and my neighbor were worried and decided to try to pull it out. (Alan still hadn't gotten home by this time.) So, as foxy pushed, we pulled, and together, we got our first girl puppy.

While we were waiting for the next one, Foxy's motherly instinct took right over, and she started bathing her new pup and letting it eat. It was pretty cute. When foxy started to contract again, we knew it was time for another, and got ready for number two. Well, guess what? He was backwards too!!! We first saw his paw, and knew we were going to have a problem. The first one was hard to pull out, but this next one had MUCH LARGER PAWS! We were worried...

Foxy just kept pushing, and when we saw two paws and a tail, and she was trying to push out the rest of this big puppy, we had to get to pulling again. This time I was scared. This puppy was much bigger, and I kept pulling and he wouldn't come out, I was so scared that I was going to crush this baby puppy that Alan had to take over, and wouldn't you know it, we finally pulled the big one out! (Thanks to Alan!) This one was a boy, and came about two hours after the first.

Me and Dani (my neighbor) figured we had a good break before the next one so we decided to clean ourselves up. While we were washing our hands, the men shouted, "Oh my GOSH!" Me and Dani rushed into the living room to see what was wrong, and there on the towel was number three!!! Number three was a boy, and the runt of the litter, I guess that after pushing out the big one, the littlest one just slipped right out, about five minutes later!

We took some time to clean each one after they were born to make sure they were breathing and didn't have any fluid in their noses or mouths.

The vet told us to expect three, but foxy still had a little lump in her tummy. It wasn't moving, and foxy didn't contract or push for about 45 minutes, so we got up and cleaned the little swimming pool we used as foxys whelping box, and got all clean linens, washed up foxy, and got everything clean and situated.

Well, right after we had finished cleaning foxy and getting clean towels in foxys box, more fluid ran out of her, and she started contracting! What a surprise for us! NUMBER FOUR!!! He cam out head first, and foxy was SO tired, Dani had to push on her stomach when she contracted to help the last one out! Another boy!

We were so surprised that Foxy had four puppy's! She is SO skinny, and I am a little worried about that, but she seems to be eating a lot, and we have a vet appointment tomorrow, so I will have to bring it up. So, all four puppies are alive and well, we have three boys and a girl! It is fun to watch them move around, and foxy is being such a good mother! We are so lucky to not have had any problems!

All four puppies and mommy sleeping after a long night!

Alans promotion

Alan finally got promoted today! He would have gotten promoted last week, but there were some problems with his promotion orders (shocking I know...) Anyway, Luckily I had work off and was able to promote him and stick on his new rank. It was awesome, and Alan really deserves this new path. I am very proud of you Alan!

After putting his new rank on, I got to punch him in the chest over the rank (It's customary :D)Together after the ceremony, Sergeant and Mrs. Burns
The first soldier Alan made do push ups as an NCO :D

Fourth of July Fun!

The fourth of July was fun, Alan had to work (of course) but I took off with some friends and headed over to Schofield Barracks for the celebration. Billy Ray Cyrus preformed for about two hours, it was awesome, I was too late to get close to the stage, but they had this screen set up so those of us without binoculars could watch the show :D It was definitely fun... free concerts, one perk for putting up with the Army... :D

After the concert, they had this really neat ceremony (I guess they do it often at military posts for the 4th, but I had never seen it...). The brought out 50 soldiers, each one carrying a state flag, in the order of when they became a state, then went through each state, and fired a canon after the state was announced. It was TOTALLY awesome! 50 cannons, 50 states, and each time a state was called, people from that state cheered, so, naturally, when Utah was called, I let out the biggest scream and 'woot woot' I could, and in a field full of a few thousand people, I was probably the only one :D but don't worry, you could definitely hear me :D

My neighbors came after the concert to watch the fireworks, and it was fun to watch with them. They have a 5 year old son, and he was rocking out those glow stick things... yeah so, here are some pictures...

Billy Ray CyrusMe and Dani, rocking the glow sticks... :D

I love the fireworks with the palm trees in the background :D
I love this picture, with the palm tree shadows and the fireworks...

More and more pregnant every day...

So, no puppies yet. Foxy is getting huge though! Her belly gets bigger
and bigger every day. Last night and this morning, I could see the puppies kicking her belly! It was so cute!!! I just sat there for a LONG time with my hand over her belly just feeling the puppies kick, It was the most amazing thing ever! I get such a kick out of it! She will hopefully go into labor soon, the way she is growing she may not be able to push the puppies out if she gets any bigger... Poor foxy, I almost feel bad for her, she is just so tired and lethargic, she cant even jump up on the bed or the couch anymore, and she waddles everywhere she goes, it is adorable! Anyway, we are just waiting to have puppies, I will keep you updated!

Julie

Twilight Saga

I am in LOVE! I had heard about this book, or series rather, just browsing through peoples blogs, and had seen them in book stores, but I didn't really have any interest until my friend Melanie told me I HAD to read them. Melanie HATES to read, and I knew if she liked the books enough to read the whole series, there had to be something about it. So, I bought the first one, 'Twilight', in the airport on the way home from Utah, but hadn't taken the time to sit back and get into it until a few days ago. Once I got started I could not put it down. I have since ordered the 2nd and 3rd and have the 4th on pre-order (it gets released on August 2nd :D). There are four books total in the series, and ladies, it is TOTALLY the most AWESOMEST, AMAZING novel EVER! I cant wait to start the second one.

So, add that to my list of obsessions, I am never going to get anything done until I have read all these books :D

~~Jules

http://www.twilightnovel.com/

Tagged... again, but different!

I got tagged again, but this time it is something different. Thanks Stephanie!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was 13, hmm I was living in Utah, so probabley riding horses and being an obnoxious new teenager :D

2. Five things on your to do list today:-
-Make it through work
-Do a couple loads of laundry
-Watch the TV shows I recorded on DVR while I was on the mainland
-Study for Network+ and...
-Cook dinner? sounds good...

3. Snacks I enjoy:-
Otter pops, pop corn, pop tarts, lol... and crackers :D

4. What would I do if suddenly I were a billionaire?-
You know how in movies, you will see people in a room full of money just throwing it all around up in the air and money is flying everywhere? Yeah, I would have to do that.

5. 3 bad habits:-
Drinking Red Bull, cursing (I AM getting better though :D), and being a couch potato.

6. 5 places I've lived:-
Hawaii, Korea, Georgia, Missouri, Arizona

7. 5 jobs I've had:-
-Burger King (whopper flopper)
-KMart (checkout/cashier)
-Denny's (waitress)
-U.S. Army (Computer Geek)
-Education Center (A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a little computer work).

8. 5 things people don't know about me:-
Wow... again? hmm...
-I only eat the purple, green, and pink otter pops, (our freezer is full of orange red a blue ones :D)
-My hair is naturally blonde and my eyebrows are naturally dark (IT'S TRUE dangit people still think I dye my hair...)
-I got married in Seoul Korea
-When I was in the Army my combats boots were size 5 extra wide (flinstone feet haha)
-I beat the game Jewel Quest and all the bonus levels TWICE :D

I tag:
Kelly Dodge
Jenna
Nancy
Kaylee
and Lala

Sergeant Burns

MY HUBBY MADE POINTS!!!

Military Promotions 101:

In the Army, all promotions to Sergeant and above you have to earn, all others before then are automatic. I will not bore you with the details, but essentially soldiers have to go to a promotion board, where they earn their 'promotable' status. Then they have to meet a certain number of points which vary by MOS (job) and month. Soldiers earn points by doing various things such at pt, weapons qualifications, college, military schools etc..., and when the number drops below how many points you have, you get promoted. Promotion points are published near the end of the month, and soldiers who make points get promoted on the 1st of the coming month. *breathe*

So, last month my hubby missed the cut off by only 6 points! It sucks when that happens, and he got really discouraged. He has been promotable for quite some time, but the points for his job have always been high. He has worked hard to earn more and more points, and this month he finally made cut off!!!

He was sleeping this morning as I was getting ready for work, and I checked to see if July's points had been posted. I got excited as I saw they had and checked to see if Alan made it. The points for MPs were posted at 575 and Alan had 591! He made it by a long shot!!! I was SO excited and started screaming ALAN!!! YOU MADE POINTS!!! ALAN WAKE UP, YOU MADE IT!!! Imagine the wake up that Alan got :D It was fun to see his reaction since he has been waiting a long time for this!

So, I am SO proud of Alan and he definitely deserves this long awaited promotion! He gets promoted on the first, and don't worry my blogger fans, I will definitely be posting pictures of the ceremony! CONGRATULATIONS BABY!!!

Julie

Vet appointment, irony at its best!!!

So, before I left for the mainland, I scheduled an appointment for pre-surgery to get our dog Foxy Spayed. She came out of heat weeks ago, and we were tired of dealing with the mess during that period of time. Now, there is a dachshund that lives in the apartments below us, and him and foxy are good friends. They play together, poop together, walk together, and such. Clifford's (the dachshunds) owner always talked about the two dogs making babies, but I was never really a big fan of the idea.

When I was in Utah, Alan told me that he thought foxy was pregnant. I asked him why and he said that she was getting a big belly, and her nipples were growing. I didn't want to believe it and attributed the signs to her getting older and coming out of puppy-hood. Well, when I got home one look at her and I believed him. So, ironically enough, foxys neuter appointment turned into a pregnancy appointment. Come to find out that foxy will have babies in two to three weeks. The vet thinks there is three in there, but we will know for sure on the 2nd when they give her an ultra sound.

The picture on the left is her normal size, and on the right is what I cam home too. So, looks like we are going to be Grandparents! I am excited about it!

My trip to the mainland

Aloha!

I am back on this little island and had quite the adventure on the mainland, this will be a long blog, with lots of pictures, you are warned!!!




First I flew into Tuscon, AZ to make a 12 hour road trip to Utah with Jenna and baby Reilly. I LOVE little Reilly, and he is SO dang CUTE!!! Here is my first picture with him at a gas station in Tuscon... He was tired, hence hiding his face :D


So, we headed towards Utah, and put good use to my GPS,
even though I had driven the route many times when I lived in Phoenix several years ago, it was fun to use. I got to drive all the way from Phoenix to home, and it took 12 hours between food/gas/feeding baby breaks which is not so bad at all. During the trip, me and Jenna had lots of fun, I told her how CUTE Reilly was every five minutes, all the way from Tuscon to Phoenix :D. We talked a lot and got to catch up on lots of things, we listened to music we had from High School, and even changed the words to several songs. It was great, I would have never imagined me and my sister confined in a small space for so long would turn out so good!

The night before the wedding, we all went to the park where the ceremony would be, and then dinner. Here is a picture of me and my brother and sister. We got along so well, my brother and I played rock band a few nights, and we kicked butt! We played with his girl friend, and roommate, but me and Tyler were the only ones rockin' it on expert! WOOT WOOT! I like Tyler's girlfriend Melissa, and told him that if he messed things up with her, we would get rid of him and keep her :D It was fun.



The day of the wedding was amazing. My mom had a small ceremony at the park, and I got to see most of my moms side of the family that I had not seen in years. I also got to catch up with a distant cousin I had not seen in forever! Her name is Jenny, and we are only a few months apart in age. It was awesome to see her too! My cousins had all grown, and it was SO much fun to see everybody again. Before the wedding, they blessed Reilly, my Grandfather gave the blessing, and it was a wonderful moment. Anyway, here are some pictures of the wedding and blessing...














The day after the wedding my brother, his girlfriend, roommate, and my sister went paint balling. We had fun! My sister and I didn't bring any shoes that we wanted to get dirty paint balling so we went and bought cheap keds from wal-mart, here is a picture of us in our not so camouflage shoes :D




















As soon as I got cleaned up from paint balling, I took off to St. George to see Melanie, who is by far, my best, truest, most constant awesomest friend. I love Melly the most because it doesn't ever matter how long it has been since we have seen each other we always pick up right where we left off. When I last saw Melly, she was newly engaged. Now, she is married AND has a new baby name Trevor! When I visited he was 11 days old. It was fun to meet him, and here is a picture of me with Melanie's new addition. I always forget to get pictures with her though :( Maybe next time!!! While I was in St. George, I got to visit an old friend and his new wife. Kelly grew up just down the street from me, and I have lots of memories with him, most of which consist of scooping poop from horse corrals. :D It was AWESOME to see him again, we visited for several hours and time sure did fly! It was fun to get to meet his new wife as well, and it was funny because they lived only one mile away from Melanie! I also forgot to get a picture with the two of them... I suck at this game :D


It was sad to leave, like always, and it will be almost a year before I will be home again. This time with Alan. I spent the night in SLC with my Aunt and Uncle and their kids, who grew up WAY too fast, I remember when the oldest was born, and now he is 14! WOW, so there were three boys and two girls, and the boys all kicked my butt in air hockey, AND in a racing game on PlayStation. It was a blast! I miss those guys!!! Well, that is about it for my short trip to the mainland, and here are some more pictures of my new nephew Reilly, and just in case I forgot to mention it, HE IS SO CUTE!!!!!