Happy November!

So, I've received enough reprimands from friends and family that I'm making the time to write a new post.  I will admit that it has been TOO LONG since I last posted, so I apologize to any of you who have checked our blog in the last 10 weeks to see what's going on in our lives.  A lot has happened actually, so I'll try to fill you in on a few things.  We're settled into our cute little home and we are loving having our own place.  It cost quite a bit of money to get things up and running, but we've come to realize that it's not cheap to set up house.  Dad helped us get a REALLY nice shed set up out back, so we have more room to put storage stuff.  School had already started and I had a full-time job by the time the shed got here, so our 2nd bedroom still contains quite a few items that still need to go in the shed.  We've just been so busy that we're literally unpacking a box here and a box there when we have time.  Other than that though, we love our home.  It's nothing fancy or big or grand in the Better Homes and Gardens sense, but it is HOME to us.  One of our favorite items is the wood-burning stove in the living room.  This puppy can heat up our entire home in no time at all, and it stays warm as long as there are embers still smoldering.  The previous owners left some firewood from last winter, which gave us the heat we needed for about a month.  We've gone without firewood for a couple weeks now, and we sure do miss having a fire.  We have a furnace, but it is SO MUCH CHEAPER to keep the furnace off and keep a fire going.  The place where we were told to get firewood actually ran out of wood, so we're now looking for ads in the Classified section of the paper:)  That's how much we love using our stove!  It's awesome! 

As for Ross and I, life is busy.  Ross' school schedule definitely keeps him sticking to a routine, and he's been involved in several concerts and recitals already this semester.  He'll be performing in Handel's Messiah in December, as well as Opera Scenes later on this month.  Kris Ciesinski is his new voice teacher, and for those of you who haven't heard of her, just Google her.  She and her husband, Norman Bailey (who Ross worked with during last semester's opera "The Magic Flute" by Mozart) have "retired" to Driggs, ID, but they both teach lessons on campus.  They had opera careers in Europe for over 20 years, and they are a huge asset to BYU-Idaho.  Kris has really whipped Ross' voice into shape and she expects a lot from him.  It can be tedious for him at times because she is very demanding, but his voice sounds better than ever and I am extremely proud of him!  Ross was actually going to school full time and working 20 hours a week, but we figured that the best thing for his/our future is for him to totally focus on school (and keep his 2 scholarships, one academic and one vocal) and leave the working to me.  I got a job as a Paralegal at Lexington Law Firm (which has nothing to do with music, I know), and I'm working 10-6 Monday thru Friday.  I was amazed at the lack of jobs here in Rexburg, so I was forced to take this job so we could pay the bills.  It's not a bad job, but it's definitely not my dream job.  I'm just not the kind of person who does well chained to a headset and a grey cubicle for 8 hours a day... so I decided to remedy the situation.  I am starting the Graham Music Studio, where I will teach beginning, intermediate, and early advanced piano and voice lessons.  My USP (Unique Selling Point) is that I will be a traveling teacher.  I will actually travel TO my students instead of having the parents chauffeur them to me.  My mom helped me put together flyers and business cards, which I've been handing out on a frequent basis.  I have quite a few prospective students already, which is exciting!  I've realized that the hardest part will be starting since I work all day, but my evenings and Saturdays are free, and that's where I'll start!  And I'll be setting up either a blog or a website for the studio once I have some time (and some help from my tech-savvy mother), so I'll keep you posted for when I get that up and running!  But for now, I'll continue working at the Law Firm until I get enough students, or until something better comes along :)  

So I'm fully aware that I need to post photos, but I haven't uploaded any new ones since we moved back to the 'Burg.  I promise that those will be up soon!  My favorite part about blogs is the photos, so I know how important it is for you all to see what's happening in our lives.  As for now, this will be a purely written post.  I guess people will want to REALLY see pictures when there are growing children, which we don't have yet, but I'll still get some up for those of you interested enough to look at them. 

Life is still great, Ross and I are blessed beyond measure, we are still madly in love with each other, and we are happy.  There are ups and downs like usual, but I couldn't imagine a better partner to take along for the roller coaster ride:)

Happy November!!!

*T