what a week!

Holy wowzers.  Okay, so the past 10 days have been absolutely C-R-A-Z-Y!!!  We ended up making a totally impromptu decision last Monday (August 11th) to pack up and leave Albuquerque a few weeks earlier than originally planned. Sales had taken a dive, we'd just purchased a home (with Dad's help), Ross' brother Chris was graduating, and it was my mom's birthday later on in the week, so it wasn't like we didn't think things out first... and now we're VERY happy about the decision.  So, after making the decision Monday, we packed all day Tuesday and were out of the apartment by 7:15 Wednesday morning.  After stopping for a Cracker Barrel breakfast, we hit the road and pulled into my parent's driveway in Alpine, Utah by 6 pm.  We spent the rest of the week hanging with family (it worked out perfectly because Ross' parents were in town for Chris' graduation) and we waited to be approved to live in the community where we'd bought our house up in Rexburg.  They do background checks and contact the referrals we put on the application, so it takes a couple days.  Anyway, it was a fun time for us to just relax and be with family.  We weren't expecting to hear anything back from the community until this last Tuesday or Wednesday, but we packed everything up on Monday to have it ready just in case:)  Well, I guess I should say that I worked mostly with my parents and Theresa, Ross' mom, to pack up since Ross woke up around 4:30 am with the stomach flu.  He helped us organize some things as we packed them, but the poor guy just wasn't doing well that day.  Our hard work paid off though, because we got a call from the community manager on Tuesday morning saying that we were good to go!  We finished up a few last-minute odds and ends, and we hit the road!  Mom and I got to our new place just before Ross and Dad pulled up with the horse trailer (yes folks, we packed all of our belongings into my dad's clean, scrubbed out horse trailer, AND we live in a trailer park... no worries, I have pictures:)).   Two guys showed up 5 minutes after we started unloading, offering to help us unload and mentioning that they're our neighbors and that we'll all be in the same ward.  Within an hour, we had EVERYTHING unloaded!  It was fantastic!  Unfortunately, mom and dad had to head back home as soon as they could, so my hopes of having my mother's ever-efficient help were shattered.  We hugged, they left, and the unpacking began!  To make a long story short, I'll just say that we've been working hard for 2 days and we STILL have a lot to do.  Oh yeah, I guess we were set back a day because I woke up yesterday morning with the same stomach flu that Ross had on Monday, so I was down for the count.  I'm still feeling a little weak from a complete lack of nutrients, but I'm feeling MUCH better than yesterday.  Thank goodness those things only last 24 hours.  

So, there ya go.  That's what our life has been in the last week and a half.  Once we get things a little more organized, I'll get some pictures up.  For now, just imagine LOTS and LOTS of BOXES... 

But really, life is good:)

*T      

BIG NEWS!!!

Okay friends and fam, I'm sure by the title of this post you're wondering what in the HECK the big news is.  Just to get things straight right from the start, we are NOT expecting any additions to our family in the next 9 months... so you can breathe easy now:)  However, with the help of my wonderful and oh-so-helpful father, we will be moving back to Rexburg to live in a HOME... OUR VERY OWN HOME!!!  We're homeowners!!!  Ross and I did the numbers a while ago, and although our rental situation was great back in the 'burg, we would've spent A LOT of money renting for the next 2.5 years and would've received NONE of it back in the end.  So, we started looking around, getting our feet wet as to what real estate was like in Rexburg.  We also talked to some friends of ours who work with Ross, and 2 of the couples live in manufactured homes.  To make a long story short, we found a practically perfect home in a great community where 2 friends already live, and 3 other couples (also good friends) are looking to buy!  Now, it's not the Taj Mahal, but we don't NEED the Taj Mahal right now... and I'm not sure we ever will, for that matter.  Anyway, we are so happy with it, which is kinda crazy because we haven't even seen it in person yet.  However, we were in touch with the previous owners quite a bit (a young married couple as well), and we (myself, Ross, and my interrogative, anal, LOVING father) feel that we are getting a deal and that this will be a great starter home for us.  There have been several recent upgrades to the home, and we feel confident that this is an awesome way to start out our married lives in the quaint college town we love:)   

So obviously LOTS has happened in the past week... but buying a home is just the start!  I'll post more pics and stories of our adventures to Santa Fe when it's NOT 2 am, and when I'm a little more coherent... 

LIFE IS GOOD.  We are so blessed... 

*T

Memories!

Okay friends and fam, I'm not usually one to pass on forwarded emails or texts, but this is kinda cute.  No obligation... just a fun thing for us to share if ya have a moment:) 

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together.  It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, just write anything you remember. 

2. Re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave you a memory.  If you leave a comment, I'll assume you're playing the game, and I'll come to your blog and leave a message:)  

*T

Ross' mad drum skills... (ahem)

HILARIOUS, that's all I gotta say.  

Life in Albuquerque!

Wow, it's been TOO LONG since I've posted!  Thanks to Maddy, my dear little sis, I've been commanded to post again.  I finally figured out that Macs make blogging a little trickier, so I added my photos FIRST this time instead of typing up a huge long post and then losing it all when I add my photos.  Anyway, we are LOVING Albuquerque.  Tucson was nice, but it seems like such a dry, HOT, distant memory now.  We literally live in the foothills of the majestic Sandia mountains, and the vibrant sunsets here turn the mountain face the most awesome shade of pinkish-orange.  The Albuquerque LDS Temple is 1.7 miles from our FRONT DOOR and, although not the largest temple ever constructed, it is still a beautiful House of the Lord.  Our ward is so nice, and I don't know if I've ever seen more babies in one congregation (which does NOT help with my baby hunger!).  They have announced at least one new birth a week since we've been here, and there are still more to come.  Give this ward 5 years and their Primary's gonna be HUGE!!!  Anyway, we really are loving our temporary little life here.  Ross' sales have stayed consistent and I've been able to be more social with the other Pinnacle wives, which has been so much fun.  It's fun to get together with them and go to lunch, have a movie night, or just have girls to chat with.  We love our husbands, but sometimes we just need to have girl talk!    

In just the weeks that we've been here, Ross and I have enjoyed hiking, taking the Aerial Tram to Sandia Peak, swimming, and are SO EXCITED to go to Santa Fe in just a few days!  It's only about 55 miles up the freeway, and the world-famous Santa Fe Opera was just too tempting for us:)  We looked into what opera's they're doing this season, and when we saw that Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" (The Marriage of Figaro) was in production, we decided that it was a must-see.  Ross is just excited about the opera in general, but I had the opportunity to actually study and research pieces from the opera for one of my classes last year, so I'm stoked!  We've heard only great things about Santa Fe, so we figured we needed to take advantage of being so close to such an enchanting city.  New Mexico is, afterall, the "Land of Enchantment"!  Can't beat that!  Here are some pictures from our adventures so far:  

Saying goodbye to Tucson... I must say, the sunsets there were spectacular! 

Standing at 10,000+ feet at the top of Sandia Peak. 

The Aerial Tram here is the longest in the world. 

I must say, watching the sunset over Albuquerque makes for quite the romantic evening ;)

      Nighttime in Albuquerque on the 4th of July.

We have some amazing thunderstorms here (it's monsoon season), and they almost always hit late-afternoon.  With these storms comes some really intense (and awesome!) lightning, and I've seen more rainbows in the past month than I have in the past decade I think.  So beautiful!

So, needless to say, life stays pretty exciting and there are always things to do.  We are happy, healthy, and still very much in love!  Life is great!

*T

PS- yesterday (July 31st) was my ONE-YEAR mark!  I've been home from my mission for a year now!!!  Sheesh, I'm getting old!