This really is the best picture I could find of us. Sad that it was taken a year-and-a-half ago. It is so hard to get both of us into a picture these days. Either we are on someone else's camera, or we have to get a stranger to use our camera (and please not drop it in the mud that is so prevalent around here) to take our picture and then who knows how good it is. We may be far away or way to close or have our eyes closed; the stranger doesn't care. Maybe I should get us both dressed up and actually pay someone to take our picture again, but maybe I should wait 'till my hair grows out enough to be manageable.
It has been a very quiet day around here. The mailperson hasn't even come by yet! I miss her/him so much. We did get our rent bill though, so at least that was something. The one dozen divinity puffs haven't really done their job of cheering me up yet either, should I try a dozen more?
I guess I do have a point to this post today. I hate waiting to hear back about an interview. It could be this week, could be the next. Should I apply to a few more just in case these fall through? Should I call again just to be pushy? Should I email another thank you note? Than there's the whole "do I accept right away or leave them hanging a few days while I wait to hear back from someone else," dilemma. Oh year, and I am so tired of people giving me their advice about jobs. I appreciated it when I started this whole mess, but now I have pretty much heard it all and I just have to say, "tried that, yup, tried that; looked there but thanks anyway." Maybe this stems from having new home and visiting teachers ask me about my life yesterday and then proceed to give me all their advice, because basically my life is a mess right now, can't you tell? No offense to the teachers, I know they meant well and only wanted to help, how could they know how I was really feeling anyway?
I think telling someone you still don't have a job is as bad as having to say "no, I am still not married." It's not like it's a one way thing here! I'll be the first to admit that I could be working harder at it (well, I won't be the first but it will happen eventually). I still have a small glimmer of hope that there is something out there for me to do, but the glimmer is fading fast.
I also wanted to pay tribute to my sister-in-law. She has been such an example of faith and hope to me. Just when I thought that my trials were too hard to keep dealing with, she has to deal with probably the biggest trial of her life. And what does she do about it? She reads her scriptures and tells us to have faith and keep praying. She keeps her cool and deals with the situation as best she can; she keeps trucking along. She doesn't get angry or bitter. She recognizes the good in people and sees life from a new perspective. I am so proud of her. She is stronger than any of us knew she was. Thanks for helping me understand what is really important and helping me appreciate the things that I do have even more.
31 March 2008
23 March 2008
Trip Around Lake Erie
Spring Break was upon us and we had to get out of Rochester. So we just got back from our adventuresome trip and here is our slide show. Sorry there is no popcorn provided (but feel free to get a snack; you may need it). Also, these are not chronological, it being really tedious to move pictures around a lot in this editor.
Cleveland Botanical Gardens
It turns out that most of the gardens really are outdoors, and closed during the winter but we did get to see their greenhouse-ish Biomes and their bug collection. There were lots of little kids there and we felt kinda dumb that we were there by ourselves, as adults, no we didn't bring any kids. But we had lots of fun and the butterflies were great. Brad's fav was the leaf cutter ants.
This is a very cute tortoise in the Costa Rica Biome
Butterflies were loose in the Madagascar Biome, it was like walking right into the tropical forest, very neat.
Great Cloud Forest Tree
In Cleveland we did a lot of walking and my socks kept getting eaten by my shoes. So here I am pulling them back up again, but look at the neat building behind me. The campus was pretty cool and there were lots of students walking around all bundled up. Oh, yeah, this is also were we lost our camera case. Brad took out the camera to take some pictures and he thought he put the case in my purse, but a little while later we were looking for it and it wasn't there. So we backtracked and looked around, but it was lost. So sad. We were glad is wasn't the whole camera though.
Niagara (Twice)
On our way out West we stopped in Niagara. Because it was very foggy we wanted to just stay on the USA side and then maybe come back through on our way home, but before we knew it we were on the road through the check point and over the bridge. We tried to turn around; we pulled into an employee parking lot but they said we had to go across there was no other way. So, we drove around lost in Canada for a while, couldn't tell up from down because of the fog, and certainly didn't see any waterfalls. We made it back over the bridge determined to come back on our way home.
Our second trip was much more rewarding! We got good parking and a great view. It was crystal clear. It was like being in a totally different place, the only thing we recognized was the streets. It was cold but very beautiful.
At the end we saw an exhibit of all the people and their crafts who had gone over the falls. The first was a woman in a wooden barrel! I was impressed.
We watched this chunk of ice break off and float away (Spring has sprung!)
Cleavland so called Bed and Breakfast
I wanted to find a fun B & B to stay in and this place looked good on-line. Turns out is was pretty weird. It is really an apartment complex where there are long term residents but they have turned some of the rooms into nightly B and B's. The interesting part is that most of the long term residents were old retired people. So it felt like we were in an old-folks home. The breakfast turned out to be pretty shabby, we brought our own bread to make toast. We heard some old ladies talking at breakfast, one lady exclaimed, "I'm getting to the point where I have to wear something special just to keep my panties dry!" We had a very good laugh about this.
Old-school bathroom fixtures made for an adventure.
My favorite thing about the place was the elevators. They were diamonsish shaped and completely mirrored with crazy wallpapering on the bottom half. So old!
This is a picture out our car. I think this was on our way to Ann Arbor. It rained or snowed on all of our travel days. We were very lucky to make it to our destinations without any accidents. One morning we left at about 10:30 and passed maybe 10 cars and trucks on the side of the road in awkward angles or off in a ditch. We were glad we had waited so long to leave, the roads were getting better every minute as the sun melted everything.
Historic Kirtland
In Kirtland is was cold and wet all day as well, but still fun. The Temple is really neat. It is owned by the Community of Christ. There were four of us in the tour, so we got to go all over and ask questions. The tour was great. It is really a special place no matter who owns it.
Some great Sister Missionaries let us through the restored buildings of Historic Kirtland. Again we had a private tour, we love missionaries but sometimes there were a little long winded and we had heard a lot of the stories before.
This is the sawmill where the saints cut their own wood because no one would sell them planks.
This is the ashery where we learned a lot. I think it belonged to Newel K. Whitney, and he gave it to the church so they could use it to make money for the temple. They take ashes from hardwood trees and run water through it. Then they boil the water off and a black, tar-like substance comes from it. They would sell that for money and it is used to make lots of things including soap and gun powder. Cool huh?!
The Whitney store was really amazing. It made me want to live in a small farm town somewhere with only one store. It was like Walmart of the 1800's.
We also liked Ann Arbor but we didn't get any pictures of it. We stayed with Jordan and Pam, friends from Spanish Fork. It snowed the whole night we were there. We tried to take our car when we went out for dinner and we couldn't get it up the hill. So we traded it for our friends' truck. We tried to go to the Museum of Art; after paying to park and walking a few blocks in the blizzard, we realized that it was under construction and closed! All well, we went home and watched a movie instead.
It was a great trip. We desperately needed some time together and a road trip did the trick. Now it is back to school and back to looking for a job. I am feeling better about JoAnn's now that I have an insider helping me out, so I will try that one again. Wish me luck!
Cleveland Botanical Gardens
It turns out that most of the gardens really are outdoors, and closed during the winter but we did get to see their greenhouse-ish Biomes and their bug collection. There were lots of little kids there and we felt kinda dumb that we were there by ourselves, as adults, no we didn't bring any kids. But we had lots of fun and the butterflies were great. Brad's fav was the leaf cutter ants.
This is a very cute tortoise in the Costa Rica Biome
Butterflies were loose in the Madagascar Biome, it was like walking right into the tropical forest, very neat.
Great Cloud Forest Tree
In Cleveland we did a lot of walking and my socks kept getting eaten by my shoes. So here I am pulling them back up again, but look at the neat building behind me. The campus was pretty cool and there were lots of students walking around all bundled up. Oh, yeah, this is also were we lost our camera case. Brad took out the camera to take some pictures and he thought he put the case in my purse, but a little while later we were looking for it and it wasn't there. So we backtracked and looked around, but it was lost. So sad. We were glad is wasn't the whole camera though.
Niagara (Twice)
On our way out West we stopped in Niagara. Because it was very foggy we wanted to just stay on the USA side and then maybe come back through on our way home, but before we knew it we were on the road through the check point and over the bridge. We tried to turn around; we pulled into an employee parking lot but they said we had to go across there was no other way. So, we drove around lost in Canada for a while, couldn't tell up from down because of the fog, and certainly didn't see any waterfalls. We made it back over the bridge determined to come back on our way home.
Our second trip was much more rewarding! We got good parking and a great view. It was crystal clear. It was like being in a totally different place, the only thing we recognized was the streets. It was cold but very beautiful.
At the end we saw an exhibit of all the people and their crafts who had gone over the falls. The first was a woman in a wooden barrel! I was impressed.
We watched this chunk of ice break off and float away (Spring has sprung!)
Cleavland so called Bed and Breakfast
I wanted to find a fun B & B to stay in and this place looked good on-line. Turns out is was pretty weird. It is really an apartment complex where there are long term residents but they have turned some of the rooms into nightly B and B's. The interesting part is that most of the long term residents were old retired people. So it felt like we were in an old-folks home. The breakfast turned out to be pretty shabby, we brought our own bread to make toast. We heard some old ladies talking at breakfast, one lady exclaimed, "I'm getting to the point where I have to wear something special just to keep my panties dry!" We had a very good laugh about this.
Old-school bathroom fixtures made for an adventure.
My favorite thing about the place was the elevators. They were diamonsish shaped and completely mirrored with crazy wallpapering on the bottom half. So old!
This is a picture out our car. I think this was on our way to Ann Arbor. It rained or snowed on all of our travel days. We were very lucky to make it to our destinations without any accidents. One morning we left at about 10:30 and passed maybe 10 cars and trucks on the side of the road in awkward angles or off in a ditch. We were glad we had waited so long to leave, the roads were getting better every minute as the sun melted everything.
Historic Kirtland
In Kirtland is was cold and wet all day as well, but still fun. The Temple is really neat. It is owned by the Community of Christ. There were four of us in the tour, so we got to go all over and ask questions. The tour was great. It is really a special place no matter who owns it.
Some great Sister Missionaries let us through the restored buildings of Historic Kirtland. Again we had a private tour, we love missionaries but sometimes there were a little long winded and we had heard a lot of the stories before.
This is the sawmill where the saints cut their own wood because no one would sell them planks.
This is the ashery where we learned a lot. I think it belonged to Newel K. Whitney, and he gave it to the church so they could use it to make money for the temple. They take ashes from hardwood trees and run water through it. Then they boil the water off and a black, tar-like substance comes from it. They would sell that for money and it is used to make lots of things including soap and gun powder. Cool huh?!
The Whitney store was really amazing. It made me want to live in a small farm town somewhere with only one store. It was like Walmart of the 1800's.
We also liked Ann Arbor but we didn't get any pictures of it. We stayed with Jordan and Pam, friends from Spanish Fork. It snowed the whole night we were there. We tried to take our car when we went out for dinner and we couldn't get it up the hill. So we traded it for our friends' truck. We tried to go to the Museum of Art; after paying to park and walking a few blocks in the blizzard, we realized that it was under construction and closed! All well, we went home and watched a movie instead.
It was a great trip. We desperately needed some time together and a road trip did the trick. Now it is back to school and back to looking for a job. I am feeling better about JoAnn's now that I have an insider helping me out, so I will try that one again. Wish me luck!
15 March 2008
Beware the Rides of March
Here's a picture of Rochester in March. We've actually had some really nice days.
This has been a busy week in New York. We got a new governor, Hannah finished our taxes, I finished another course in school despite my simean crease, we did a 180 on the freeway, we invested in a double-wide stroller at the scout auction, and we replaced our car stereo that was jacked 6 months ago.
The class that we just finished in school was all about genetics and biochemistry. My genetic claim to fame, originally pointed out by my sister who shares the unique feature, is my right-handed simean crease.
Apparently only 5% of the population has a crease in their palm that extends from side to side.
Compare this to my boring left hand with its common discontinous creases.
Last Saturday while traveling to Canandaigua, we hit some ice on the freeway. Our speed at the time is now a matter of controversy; we were going somewhere between reasonable and 75mph, perhaps closer to the latter. Anyway, while changing lanes I lost control and we slid 180 degrees. Fortunately the cars behind us were far enough back that they were able to slow down before catching up. When we stopped we actually ended up in the lane we started in (just facing the wrong direction). With our 2 friends, there were 4 of us in the car; needless to say, we are very glad that everyone is ok. We are confident we were protected in answer to our prayers for safety.
So despite the snow and ice, our car* is still in one piece and Hannah and I enjoy driving:
Our stake held an auction to raise money for Boy Scouts last night, and Hannah and I had some twitchy hands. We got tons of cool stuff. Our best buy was this double-wide stroller. We bid on the stroller figuring that we could clean it and sell it on Craig'sList, so we thought it was funny when we got lots of questions about when our twins are due.
Finally, with our tax refund, spring break, our intact car, and our new stereo, we'll be heading to Kirtland and Ann Arbor for a few days. Thanks to Hannah for working out our taxes and planning a great trip. Stay tuned for pictures from OH and MI.*Please note that car in picture may not actually represent a '97 Accord.
22 February 2008
Ned's Wedding in Utah
I am trying out this slide show feature for the first time so forgive its faults. As most of you know, Hannah went to Utah for her brothers' wedding and left Brad home alone for over a week. She was welcomed home with roses and gifts and a homemade coconut cake!! Not to mention all the work done around the house. Brad didn't miss her or anything ;) So now we are reunited and very happy. These are some snap shots of the luncheon and reception. Don't worry, unlike some musically untalented people, I am not aspiring for photographer fame. So it's a good thing they had a professional photographer. The kids are super cute!
17 February 2008
Brad and Will Smith
Actually, I haven't yet seen this movie, but I have an idea of how Will Smith feels in it. Minus the gun, dog, and life-threatening mutants. Being alone is the pits. Hannah's in Utah for a wedding, and I'm really glad that she got to go, but every day she's gone life gets more and more boring. I can make food ok (not as well as Hannah), but it's a lot more fun cooking for someone else than just for myself. I'm glad that we get to talk on the phone daily--makes me want to write the A.G. Bell Estate with a big fat thank you card. I also now have a better idea of how Hannah must feel when I leave for the Air Force. I was gone for a whole month last summer, and it'll be two weeks this summer. Interestingly, while we were dating (and engaged) we were separated for 3 months, during which we used the phone a lot.
The house is quiet enough here that I've even thought about getting some birds--even though it was me that pushed to get rid of our last ones for being so noisy.
11 February 2008
Record Cold Morning!
I don't know if this means we have bad insulation or too much humidity or just really cold air outside our windows, but this is what we woke up to this morning. Granted, the window are aways wet with condensation, but now they are frozen; on the inside! I just had to take a picture and give everybody a taste of the East.
The temperature reads 6 degrees this morning, with 58% humidity and wind.
Gotta love it! I told Brad to bundle up and I plan on staying inside (don't know what to do about the planned grocery trip).
In other news, Brad is pretty busy, but he manages to do the dishes every now and then and I am very appreciative when he does. I have been reading Dean Hughes' Children Of the Promise series and enjoying it immensly. Our friends two doors down are moving. We are pretty sad to see them go, but hopefully they will have us over more often to their "much bigger apartment" and maybe we will still be friends (j/k we love you guys). They will also be in a different ward now that the boundaries have changed. We are all anxiously waiting to hear what callings we will have, considering we were all released yesterday. It's pretty exciting around here. I leave tomorrow for Utah to attend my brother's wedding. It makes me happy to see him so happy. Poor Brad will have to fend for himself in all this cold. That's it for now!
The temperature reads 6 degrees this morning, with 58% humidity and wind.
Gotta love it! I told Brad to bundle up and I plan on staying inside (don't know what to do about the planned grocery trip).
In other news, Brad is pretty busy, but he manages to do the dishes every now and then and I am very appreciative when he does. I have been reading Dean Hughes' Children Of the Promise series and enjoying it immensly. Our friends two doors down are moving. We are pretty sad to see them go, but hopefully they will have us over more often to their "much bigger apartment" and maybe we will still be friends (j/k we love you guys). They will also be in a different ward now that the boundaries have changed. We are all anxiously waiting to hear what callings we will have, considering we were all released yesterday. It's pretty exciting around here. I leave tomorrow for Utah to attend my brother's wedding. It makes me happy to see him so happy. Poor Brad will have to fend for himself in all this cold. That's it for now!
27 January 2008
Winter Projects
Hannah's been busy making dresses. Aren't they great? She leaves in a few weeks for Ned's wedding, so it's nice that she's gotten the brown one done. We have a pretty good system worked out so I can study in the living room while she sews in the kitchen.
School's been pretty normal lately--kind of busy. At scouts we're making these cars. I actually didn't do too much with this one; it was made by the Cubmaster and put together by the boys.
School's been pretty normal lately--kind of busy. At scouts we're making these cars. I actually didn't do too much with this one; it was made by the Cubmaster and put together by the boys.
15 January 2008
Brad's Winter Beard
This is for those friends of ours who may have missed the beard; since it only made it to the second day in Utah that's probably most of you.
(sorry they're not the greatest pics)
(sorry they're not the greatest pics)
Christmas in Utah
As a tradition we perform our own rendition of the Nativity on Christmas Eve. Ten years ago it was us kids who half-heartedly dressed up and read the lines. But now the grandkids are old enough to read and the rest of us are very grateful that it is them and not us anymore. We love to watch and listen.
We spent a great week at the Carters just hanging out and loving the flood of family that comes and goes. Then we spent a week at the Hyatts teasing the teenagers and messing up the kitchen. We really loved seeing everybody and especially having someone else cook for us (thanks moms!)
You can see how enthused my siblings are about me taking pictures.
Mary, baby Jesus, Joseph, and a lamb.
Around here they have a hard time believing that Santa comes only on Christmas Eve, because all the gifts are already under the tree!
Christmas Morning!
We spent a great week at the Carters just hanging out and loving the flood of family that comes and goes. Then we spent a week at the Hyatts teasing the teenagers and messing up the kitchen. We really loved seeing everybody and especially having someone else cook for us (thanks moms!)
You can see how enthused my siblings are about me taking pictures.
Mary, baby Jesus, Joseph, and a lamb.
Around here they have a hard time believing that Santa comes only on Christmas Eve, because all the gifts are already under the tree!
Christmas Morning!
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