New Job!

I feel like I bounce around jobs a lot. Why is that? Probably because is the last three years, I have had five jobs. Woof.

And now I've done it again.

But this time, I'm in love. I am a cook at the MTC. It's fantastic! I only have to make two meals a day, and the clean up is a breeze. I work with great people, and we have a lot of fun together. I am excited to see what happens in the future with this job.

In other news, Thomas is now fully into the swing of school and work. He is taking a lot of classes, and sometimes I worry that he has taken on more than he can handle. But he is an incredible person. He does such a good job, and is so smart! I am so proud of him, and how much he still seems to do for me in between all the other things he has going on.

We also bought a car! We got a Ford Fusion, 2011, and she is beautiful! We named her Penelope. So far she is the best car either of us have ever driven, and I am grateful every day for the climate control, the heated seats, and the interior lighting. Thomas is just happy it syncs with his phone. And that it has a V6 engine. He likes the "zoominess" of it. Let's just say we're hooked, and love that we were able to find such a great car for a price we can afford.

We are still going strong with our Foodist diet, and are loving the variety of veggies we can get at the local farmer's market. Speaking of which, I want some ideas for something you would buy at a Farmer's market. I would like to start a business next summer and need ideas for things to teat/perfect so when the next season starts I can be ready!

I guess the last update is that I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday to get a second opinion about my infertility. I don't have high hopes of finding out that I can have children, but I'm not ready to close that door forever without a second opinion. Thomas and I have also been looking into adoption, and are excited to pursue that in the next year or so. Wish us luck! 

Update

So this post is thanks to Anne Trent, a lovely gal I worked with once and liked so much I decided to be friends with her and bother her with randomness and go lingerie shopping with her. Fun times! She probably is going to read this tonight, so Anne, this one's for you. You little creeper you.

So. School has started again! Thomas is just settling in, having now been to all of his classes and shuffled a few things around. He has a comfy 16 credits, and we have decided that to get out of Provo faster (which we are both a big fan of...) he will be going to school year-round. As much as he hates school, we hate staying here more. Not that Provo is particularly bad, but it's just...a stepping stone. And the sooner we can move on, the sooner we can get on to real life!

Really I just want to find the house of my Pinterest dreams. Go ahead, judge me.

As for me, I am still working at Tho Old Towne Grill in Provo. I am a line/prep/pastry chef, and I like it. Although, I recently interviewed for a position at the MTC, and I REALLY hope I get it. It would be awesome to work at the same place as Thomas, and the pay and hours are better. Which would be awesome. It seems every time I try to branch out from kitchen jobs I end up right back where I started, and Provo/Orem doesn't have childcare jobs. Mostly because everyone stays home with their kids. Which is awesome, but I miss my toddler class from Colorado. I wish I could do that same kind of thing here.

Speaking of kids, I know most of you are probably wondering why I haven't had any of my own yet, as you know I want kids NOW. Well, there is an easy answer for that. I am messed up, and most likely can't have children naturally. There is  a small chance I could do some intensive fertility stuff, but that is incredibly expensive. So for now, it looks like it will be just Thomas and I for a good while.

Strangely, when I found out it would take a miracle for me to conceive the old fashioned way, I was upset for only a little while, and then I was overwhelmed with peace. I felt very strongly that this wasn't something I needed to worry about, and I am content to wait for the Lord's timing.

In other news, My parents and younger brother Westin are now all safely in Saudi Arabia. They just took their first trip to Dubai and had a great time seeing all the craziness that is indoor malls in the Middle East. I am insanely jealous of their adventures and can't wait to go on a few with Thomas. I have been obsessed with cooking shows lately (go figure) and want to visit all these amazing restaurants around the country and the world that they visit.

Also, on the note of food, I have decided to become a Foodist. If you don't know what that is, go and get yourself a copy of "Foodist" by Darya Pino Rose, and your mind will be blown. It literally changed the way I look at food and health. We now eat a LOT of green things in our house, have pedometers, and actively go to the gym six times a week. I am loving it! I also switched to soymilk, which has been awesome, and take vitamins. Hopefully this new job will pan out and I can actually afford the vitamins I want (I have expensive taste, okay?).

That is just like me, wanting fancy vitamins.

To be fair, I want a lot of fancy things, but I control myself because we are saving our money for adventures. Which are also fancy, in a different way.

Okay, so there you have it! The update on our lives!

P.S. I am hosting a dinner this Sunday, I will post on it. If I don't have a post up by next Tuesday, feel free to text me and remind me that you need me to write on my blog so you have something interesting to read while procrastinating doing more useful things with your life.

The Lowdown

It seems that it always takes a while for me to write a post, so I might as well stop apologizing, as you are well used to it by now. Luckily, I have mono, and thus I have large amounts of time to spend doing nothing but updating this blog. Yay! Kudos to those of you who have read over the years, I used to be much better about posting. I guess I used to have more to say. Or just more that I thought was interesting. Anyhoo, here we go again.

Since the last time I posted, several months ago, Thomas and I have taken a couple of vacations, so we'll start there. In May we took a road trip out to California for almost two weeks. Thomas was excited to show me his mission and I was excited to show him the Bay Area and my Grandparents home in Morgan Hill. We drove out to the Bay Area first and spent four wonderful days with my Grandma and Grandpa Loutensock at their gorgeous home on a lake. We spent quite a bit of time with the Bassetts as well, my Aunt and Uncle and their five kids in San Jose. We saw the Muir Woods, the Warf, Boudin Sourdough factory, and Ghirardelli Square. It was a blast! After spending time there, we drove down to Santa Maria, stopping for a couple of hours at Solvang, the adorable little Ducth town. It was fun and reminded me of Germany a bit. In Santa Maria we had dinner with a friend of Thomas's and then continued down to Simi Valley in SoCal to see the Syewarts, some of Thomas's best mission friends. While there we went to Venice Beach, Ojai, Thousand Oaks for sushi with the Maynards (more mission friends), and Santa Monica with my best friend Casey and her adorable daughter Amelie, after which we ate some amazing authentic ramen at an asian food court. All in all, we had an awesome time and look forward to going every year we are in school, as it is close and we have friends and family who will graciously open their homes to us!

After we got home, it was business as usual. Both Thomas and I are working hard and enjoy spending time at the local rec center where we swim, work out, and play racquetball. Thomas has become quite the racquetball player, and luckily the Joe half of our friends Joe and Mindy loves to play and has an extra racket! Happy day! Mindy and I keep busy with Korean dramas while they are playing, and have a great time laughing at the absurd story lines and heartfelt musical numbers.

Last week Thomas's family went up to Yellowstone to camp and check out the park. We decided to join them. We drove up, stopping for a brief trip down memory lane as I showed him around my Alma mater in Rexburg. We camped just outside of West Yellowstone, a place I well remember visiting with Casey when we stayed at her Grandparent's cabin in Island Park during college. We toured the smelly pits of clay and the sulphuric glassine pools of Yellowstone, not forgetting to see 'Ol Faithful on the way. We even saw a bear and some deer!

It was a blast camping with The Tingey clan, and we were sad to leave them.

On Sunday of last week, tragedy struck. I came down with Mono. Ick. So for the foreseeable future I will be limiting my escapades severely, including work. Unfortunately, I got mono the week of my grandparent's 50th anniversary celebration here in Utah. I was supposed to spend as much time as possible gallivanting around with family I haven't seen in years and having a grand old time. Instead I did three small outings where all that was required was sitting in a chair and trying to stay awake. I was glad I got to do that much, as my Mom and youngest brother are leaving for Saudi Arabia in a week. We at least got to say goodbye and good luck. I love my all of my family so much, and I am very blessed to have gotten to see so much of them lately. I know as my parents start out on this new adventure that they will be a blessing to all that they meet, and that they will make that part of the world a brighter place.

That's it for the "what we've been up to" update! I will probably be writing again soon, as this is really all I have left after Hulu runs out of fun things to watch.

Rainy Day Post

So...It's not actually raining, but since I have a cold and I have spent most of the last two days moping around, I thought it was an appropriate title.

Lately life has been pretty normal. Thomas finished up his third semester at BYU in April, and despite going to Colorado for his brother's mission farewell in the middle of finals, he passed all of his finals with flying colors.

The trip to Colorado was a ton of fun, and we both enjoyed seeing our families. We drove down on a Thursday morning and spent the remainder of Thursday and all day Friday with my family in Colorado Springs. It was kind of a goodbye visit for me, as my Mom and younger brother Westin are going to be moving to Saudi Arabia (hopefully) soon. Thomas took Westin to see the new Tom Cruise movie on Friday morning, and I went downtown with my Mom for some QT. We went to the awesome german store for some sentimental imports, walked around Tejon street, and even got a parking ticket! ;) It was great to see them, and we had a really nice time hanging out.

On Friday night we drove down to Florence and spent the rest of the weekend with Thomas's family. On Saturday we hung out and ran a few errands for the farewell party. On Sunday we went to church and listened to Jon's great talk, then went home after church and helped with last-minute prep for the party that afternoon. My Mom and brother both came for church and the party, so we hung out with them for a bit before they headed back to the Springs. We headed back to Provo the next day, regretfully. It was such a great trip!

Life in Provo is uneventful. Thomas is working full-time at the MTC for the summer, and I am still at Old Towne Grill serving and making desserts. We are looking forward to going out to California at the end of the month, so stay tuned for a more interesting post in June!

Spring!

It's finally warming up here in Provo! I am so excited to take advantage of the warm weather, riding my bike to work, going on walks, going for picnics...I plan to fully take advantage this year!

As far as updates, there aren't many. I am still working at the restaurant as a chef and server. Thomas is still working at the MTC and just signed a contract with a startup as their back-end programmer.

We have been doing some fun things lately, though. Thomas had the chance to go with a friend to Virgin, UT to go mountain biking a few weeks ago. He had a great time, and while he was gone, I hung out with a good friend (who happens to be Thomas's friend's wife, Rachel) and have some good girl time. We got pedicures, dyed our hair, and just chatted. It was a great weekend!

This past week we went and walked around Park City, which was also fun. It was a cute little town, and we enjoyed just strolling around looking at overpriced souvenirs together.

We are planning on going home to Colorado in a few weeks for Thomas's brother's farewell, which should be fun. And in May we have a road trip to California planned, and I am so excited to go!

So...that's it. Not super exciting, I know, but hopefully I will be a better updater in the future.

Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes

Well, for those of you who o not frequent Facebook, my parents are moving again. This time they are going back to a place we have already lived in, but they are going to be living in a different city. They are moving to...(drumroll, please)...Jeddah, Saudi Arabia! It is a coastal trade city on the Red Sea, and is probably the most Western-minded city in Saudi. I am very excited for them, as this is a dream opportunity for my Dad, and my youngest brother, Westin, never had the chance to travel outside the US and will enjoy the opportunity to do so now. My Mother, I am sure, will be just fine, although I question whether she is as excited about this as my Dad and brother. Living outside the US has never been an issue before, but now that all but one of her children are living out of the house and are not going to accompany them to Saudi, I think she will miss being close enough to her only grandchild (as of right now) to see him almost weekly. Once more grand kids come along, I wonder if that will be difficult, living somewhere that is extremely difficult to visit, and being limited to one vacation a year to come back an see everyone here in the states.

I know that no matter where my parents are, they will thrive and enjoy the new experiences, and Thomas and I plan on making at least one visit to Europe in the near future (meaning the next three years...) and that would be close enough to Saudi that we could conceivably meet up somewhere. I am excited to see all the adventures they have overseas, and I am glad that I had experiences with Saudi Arabia when I was a child so I know that despite what you hear on the news about the Middle East, I know they will be safe.

As far as Thomas and I go, nothing much to report. We are still trucking along here in Provo, and Thomas is a few weeks into a new semester, which he informs me is going to be a good one. I am doing more and more in the kitchen at work, and got a new chef coat that actually fits me. It is also pink. I like to make sure everyone knows that, as the only female chef in the restaurant, I am going to make my mark and make very sure nobody forgets that I am a girl. And that I am also awesome.

Until next time!

I know. I fail at blogging. And there really is a lot going on at the moment, so I can't use the "lack of content" excuse. So if you're ready for an update overload, we'll get started!

I guess the last time I updated was before Halloween, so I'll start there.

For Halloween, Thomas and I hung out with some friends of ours, Brant and Rachel. They are some of our favorite people, and it was a fun time. We ate dinner in a pumpkin, chatted, and then watched a movie. The movie was horrible. I spent the entire film trying to make my head disappear into my husband's chest. It was tragic. But on the bright side, I did get to wear my Dirndl! Yay!

On to November...much of which I don't quite remember, just because it was a long, long time ago. And also, I don't pay attention.

But, some highlights from November are-

1. We totaled our car on the way to Thomas's grandparent's house. We hit a deer, and yes, it did die. So did our car.

2. Since we only had one car left, I decided to find a new job closer to home. So I now work in Provo at a restaurant. I quite like it!

3. Thomas started a new job on the side doing web development for a start-up company in Oregon. so far it's been going very well! Thomas is enjoying it, and I am happy he is having fun.

4. I attended a friend's wedding the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was amazing, and Tyane was a beautiful bride! I was only in Seattle for around 48 hours, but it was a blast!

Then we have December.

At the beginning of the month I was transitioning from my job at Thanksgiving Point to my job in Provo. It was working double shifts for a while, which was horrible, and Thomas was studying for finals, so we were super busy. When things settled down, Thomas was taking his finals, and I started exclusively waiting tables. Which I am great at, by the way. ;)

Thomas got to go and spend a few days with some mission friends in California for a mission homecoming of one of his close friends. He had a great time, and I barely survived without him. Needless to say, I very much prefer to have him home!

For Christmas, we went home to Colorado for a few days. It was a short trip, and we had a lot of fun. For the first few days, we were in Colorado Springs with my family. We ate some great food, spent some quality time with my nephew, who is the cutest nephew to ever grace the earth, and caroled out hearts out on Christmas Eve. I loved it! Thomas suffered through the caroling, but he had a great time as well. After caroling and opening a few family gifts, Thomas and I headed down to Florence, Colorado for Christmas with his family. we got some Christmas Eve pajamas and did a bit of sibling bonding with the Tingey clan.

On Christmas morning we waited for Grandma and Grandpa Goff to come over, and then opened presents. The rest of the day was super lazy, and wonderful. We just ate some Christmas ham and lots of Christmas cereal. (One of the funny coincidences that Thomas and I discovered when we got married was that both of our families give "junk" cereal in the kid's stockings, and that is basically lunch and dinner on Christmas day.)

The day after Christmas we also spent with the Tingeys, and then headed home on the 27th. We had a great time in Colorado, and look forward to visiting a lot as we finish up school here in Utah.

When we got home, we had a relaxed new year, and celebrated by kissing....at 12:03. Oops.

We are looking forward to what 2013 will bring, and already have lots of fun things going on! Thomas has a new semester of classes, and he is getting excited about all the possibilities that are open to him right now. I am excited about all the possibilities that we have for the future, and I'm excited to share them with you!

I won't make it a resolution, but I hope to be more diligent in the future about blogging.

We'll see.