I love to read. Most recently, children's books because of how clean and innocent, and how really fun they are. My most recent find is that Gail Carson Levine has written more than just Ella Enchanted. Dozens of cute fairy tales are part of her collection, and all are just as good as the last. It's made me remember my childhood fascination with fairies and mermaids and all things mythical and wonderful. I remember loving to sketch all these creatures. I realized that all of that is behind me now. I don't draw anymore. I don't think about writing a novel or anything not school-related. And on a slightly different note, I don't play my flute anymore. What kind of a person have I become?
I watch TV daily. I go to school. I read. I work. Looking at that, you wouldn't know I like to write, imagine, sketch, design...I'm not really sure what I'm getting at. I just wish that I could do so much more of what I want to do. And I suppose I still can. It's just the matter of getting into a design school or declaring a major and them accepting me. I hate the fact that you can't get into a program without being "good enough." Like me trying our for BYU school of music. I did not get into the program because I wasn't good enough. It doesn't matter that that was what I wanted to do, I simply wasn't good enough. It's just frustrating. Anyway, I hope to eventually do something that I love, and that others think I'm good at.

So, Josh and I are doing well though. We are in the process of getting approved for a loan to buy our first little place : ) I am extremely excited to start decorating. We've already bought couches to fit the living room (since the one we currently have is upholstered in a sixty's, velvet floral pattern and pretty tiny). And I'm already picking out tile and rugs and all kinds of things to put together. It makes me so happy : ) That's the update on our loving life.

And we have school starting to your left...

Alas, yet another semester of school. I am excited to get it over with... Two religion classes and a Strengthening Marriage and Family class puts my self-analysis levels to boiling. Perhaps I am to figure out more of who I am this semester. That sounds like a good thing right? On the one hand, I am taking the first half of the New Testament (which is basically about Christ's mercy), and on the other hand, the first half of the D&C, which is totally directed towards this generation and how we need to fix our lives before the Lord comes. Again, one hand, mercy, the other, damnation. But both extremely beautiful books of scripture I might add. It will be a challenge to keep focused on both of them. Another challenge: classes at the Salt Lake center are not so big. This leaves me not being able to sink into the background like I so often do. Well, you get what you pray for. I think this is going to help me with my confidence in who I am, not to mention help my testimony grow.
Josh has also just started school and loves his English Science Fiction class. He's been into writing lately and has started a little novella based on one of his favorite video games, Fallout. It's a post-apocalyptic story about a kid who leaves "The Vault" (said vault being protection against the outside world which is filled with all manner of mutated creepy things) on a quest to find his recently disappeared father. Needless to say, the story so far is quite entertaining. Yeah, we're kinda nerdy : ) but writing is one of the best ways to express yourself, and I'm proud of Josh for doing that.
What else is going on in our lives...we are both searching for jobs. The fall semester has not been too kind to us so far money wise. It just slips away so fast. Basically, I hate money. That's all I have to say.
I want to express one wish: Josh and I living in a small town in a comfy cottage that, right as you walk in, you feel at home. You can smell that chocolate chip cookies have recently been baked, and the spring breeze coming from the open, airy windows only wafts that fresh baked smell a little more until you find you're at the kitchen table and have eaten three of these delightful treats. Josh could be found watching a football game or reading the paper, and I could be found in my crafts room, painting something not for sale, but something Sarah wanted to paint, no matter the mess of a painting it is.
In my wish, you can see that there are no jobs, no school, no stress. Don't we all wish for that? But if that was all we had, would we know that my wish was good? Would we see it as something desirable, or would we wish for something more? I believe the stresses in our lives have a purpose. They let us realize the bad from the good, even though all we might want is the good. Hopefully, ten or so years from now when my wish might be attainable, I'll look back and know that Josh and I worked hard for what we got. We earned it.

Catching Up!

So, Josh and I have been extremely busy lately!! He's been working FULL days. And that means we get up at 8:00, leave at around 8:45 for the office, he has his meeting with the rest of the guys, and he's gone until 9:00 that night. :( needless to say, I do not like having him gone for that long. He's working hard though, and it's almost the end of the summer! Yes, we're coming home soon! We leave August 23rd. But wait! We are taking the long way home...Josh and I have decided to take a trip to Southern California! We will drive 6 hours to Los Angeles with all our stuff in tow, and look around where Josh used to live for a few hours. Then we'll travel further to San Diego where we will stay with one of Josh's friends and have a few little adventures-maybe go to Sea World! I love aquariums...although I'm not quite sure that's what Sea World is called...hmmm. Anyway, two days later we'll continue up to Utah! Vegas might be a stop along the way since we will have driven for so long already. Anyway, we have some busy but fun weeks ahead!
Update on the last month:
Lake Tahoe was great. We got to know the members of the team a lot better, and in some cases, decided we didn't like some of them as much as we thought. Our room had two full size beds. And the married couples were supposed to get a room to theirselves...makes sense I think. But one of the team members decided to stay with us in the other bed. Just him. haha. woowwww....what an experience. Let's just say I didn't sleep well with all the snoring coming from that side of the room. (I am thankful Josh has not yet developed this unfortunate sleeping habit...)No hard feelings against the guy. I just wish he had decided on a foam mattress placed outside so no member of our group would have to suffer through his loudness.
I think everyone enjoyed the fireworks display over the lake pre-sleeping time though. We all had perfect seats on the balcony, and the rest of the night was filled with good food, fun people, and rolling-on-the-floor-laughing games.
Let's see, in between then, my family came to visit and we had such a good time in San Francisco and enjoying the beach at Half-Moon bay. It was so good to see them! We made them all fit in our small apartment miraculously. haha.
My birthday was this past week! And oh how fun birthdays are :)
Josh and I started the day waking up to someone from a landscape company taking a sledgehammer to a shrub right outside our window at 8:30 that morning...so we didn't end up sleeping in all that much, but it turned out to be a good thing since we had a busy day ahead. Josh brought me a few of my little presents in bed :) so fun. And then we went to the grocery store to get a few toppings for our crepe breakfast (bananas, nutella, and blueberries!) If you have not tried nutella and bananas on a crepe, you MUST do so. Oh goodness it was so delicious. We got the idea from a crepe company in San Fran we saw at Pier 39. We both got ready and headed out to Monterey Bay! I love that place. (Thanks Lindsey for the suggestion!) We went to the aquarium after making a stop at an outlet mall, and just enjoyed the views and the beautiful weather. We got to eat on the balcony of a restaurant that overlooked the ocean, and ended the day by stopping on the side of the road to watch the sun set :) perfect birthday. Thanks hubby love :)

So I decided it would be a good idea to keep a little journal of Josh and my adventures on this blog. Just to keep my family and those of you who actually read this updated. So far, typing this has been slow! My "c" button isn't working too well...so if I'm missing one somewhere, you'll know why!

Last weekend on Saturday, Josh and I went to the beach at Half-Moon Bay and it was gorgeous! (funny fact: close to that beach, there's another place called Los Banos...yes, the bathrooms! haha) I wish we had taken pictures...but we forgot the camera as so often happens...it was our date night and the plans changed a lot because another couple and their friends were involved. Not a bad thing really, but still it threw off everything. Needless to say, because the plans changed so much Josh and I stumbled upon a cute little Mexican restaurant in the town. I don't know what it is about trying out new restaurants, but it always feels so romantic! Yeah, the chairs were dirty, and the tables were laminated and the legs folded under like cheap patio furniture, but it was cute. They served us apple soda in glass bottles and juicy burritos. Yum.
Since we decided to stop for dinner, our later plans were further jumbled. We were supposed to see Transformers that night with the group of friends, and ended up arriving at the movie theater late and still in swimsuits and cover-ups...haha. Josh didn't look too bad, but honestly, I would rather not go to the movies in my swimsuit again...
Pippin just farted. gross.
This weekend the plan is to go to Lake Tahoe. Should be interesting. 30 people are going to be there because someone invited another team from Reno. bleh. but hopefully we'll make some new friends. And I know we'll have a great time.

These two little trips have been among many that we've already had or still have yet to take! We've been to Las Vegas, Santa Cruz, the Oakland temple, and Berkeley. We still have a lot to explore around California too! This next week we're taking a trip to San Francisco! Amazing.
So, my conclusion: California is a perfect location for little getaways.

New Blog

This is actually a new account for me! Somehow, I ended up with two, but I will most likely be using this one now, if ever! My other one, Sunshine and Smiles, Laughter and Love, is still active. Don't really know how to delete it...anyway, Lindsey, I know you're the only one who may stumble across this note or my blog for that matter! So enjoy.