My Project

A few days ago a friend from the ward called me and said that she was going through her garage and wanted to know if me and Nolen wanted to go over and look through it all before she got rid of it. We did and we found a cute little coffee table, the only problem was that it wasnt the right color, we took it anyway. While Nolen was at work one day i decided that i would make this table my project, so i went to Home Depot and picked out some Black-Semi Gloss spray paint. (if any of you are rolling your eyes because you know that spary paint wouldnt worked, i know that now haha i just thought i would take the easy way out.) The spray paint went on easy enough and looked really good. I let it dry and dry and dry. All through the night it dried. When i woke up i went straight to it, it still hadnt dried entirely so i took a paper towel and wiped it. It didnt ruin it, but the paint was rubbing off. Not enough to uncover what i cover up, but enough that if you touched the table you would get paint on your hand, and that wouldnt do. I had to tell Nolen my mistake and he calmly said, "that is why you ask the poeple that work at Home Depot what to buy." Needless to say my project eventually became his. Whatever though, right?!? Its not like he wants to relax on his days off....that would be booooring!! (sarcasm) He really wasnt in a bad mood about it and it only took an hr haha. That night i made it up to him though, we went out to dinner and a movie and had fun :)


Table Before:



Table After:





Nolen had another day off today, we didnt plan anything, but i got a call from a lady in the ward who needed a babysitter. She said she could bring her son to our house to make it easier and so we agreed. We got to act as parents haha. Jessie, the little boy, is 3 and sooo cute. He was not difficult or hyper, and there isnt much for him to get into at our house, but he gave Nolen a run for his money. Nolen was helping him with his lunch when i asked him if he was ready for one. He assured me he was good for about a year. I reminded him they dont come out at this age, but im not sure if a new born is any easier haha.


Life is good. We are still planning on coming home in Dec for Christmas and then at that time the we will head to the Temple. We met with our Bishop and he said that Dec was do-able although he isnt very quick to action. He says we need to attend a Temple Prep class but gives us no information on when the next one starts. I guess its up to us. :) No worries, since we want it we will get it!!

I talked to each family member yesterday and it felt good! Mom and Dad are great, Jerica is still working on her mission papers while attending possibly her last semester at GWC for a while, Aubree started her first semester at GWC and is a little overwhelmed but handling it well. She got an 83% on her first math test and was stoked! Amanda is overwhelmed already with her sophomore year, but what do you expect when you work hard to be a straight A student AND a track star. Elizabeth is doing well and is excited to have her 3 best friends in her 5th grade class. 3 of them just pulled off a surprise party for the 4th and she was excited it was a success! I love my family and miss them terribly but love that i am able to talk to them whenever! :)

MaD MoNeY

It has been pointed out that i haven't had a recent blog....sorry! No excuse, just being lazy i guess. But here is the update:

I have been here for a month now and have my feelings changed about being in WA?!? Not sure what I've said before (lol) but if you ask me now this is what i would say...i don't love it, i don't like it, i tolerate it, and even then those days are few. Nolen has been home for the past 2 weeks, i guess since they spent 10 months in Iraq they thought they could use a break haha. My poor husband has heard his fair share of whining and complaining...from me! More often than not i vocally express my distaste for where we live. For his sake i am trying to suppress my feelings, but am not very successful at it. Every time i meet someone new they ask me where I'm from. When i say SO CAL they look at me with wide eyes, impressed but confused as to why i moved HERE, all i have to do is say one word, MILITARY and they eyes go back to their normal size as they say.... "Ohhhhhhh". They continue to explain that their summers are sometimes nice and warm, but still nothing like CA. But that's not the problem. Rainy weather doesn't bother me one bit (well wait to get a better update of that during winter, i hear its supposed to be brutal this year) I tell them this and again they look confused. I explain to them i feel very isolated. Some agree, but most look at me like im crazy, they definitely stick up for WA saying, "there are tons to do, you have the mountains not far and the beach is only 2hrs away!!" NO WAY, ONLY 2 HRS AWAY?!?! Ummmmmmm thanks, but i grew up with the beach being 15 min away thanks...PS i hear the water here can give you hypothermia in minutes if your not properly prepared! but heck thanks, NOW i feel at home hahahaha. (I'm really not rude to them i promise) But from a CA's point of view there is nothing around me. Its forest, seriously, i never knew so many trees existed. And you know what trees and forest mean....little creatures! yuck! You can not drive 1 mile without seeing a new freshly hit/splattered on the ground road kill! I shiver and gag every time one lies in my path.....ITS SOOOOO GROSS! and you think that's bad, get this....Target (my favorite store) - about 20 min away! Costco - 25-30 min away! The nearest mall - 25-30 min away! Khols - 40 min away! So let me say this again...ISOLATED!

During a conversation with a ward member (from church) she expressed her love for WA. She swore to me that there were things to do here you just have to search them out. So she invited us to go down to Seattle with her and her husband to the famous World Market. We spent almost the entire day down there and had fun.




I decided i didn't mind WA as much if we could do something big every once in a while, and if you read on you will see we get that opportunity......

Every month Nolen and I get an envelope in the mail. Inside that exciting envelope is a check. Before i left for WA my aunt took me out to dinner and said that moving to somewhere new isn't easy. She wanted to help make it more enjoyable and that she has. She sends us a check every month and calls it "MAD MONEY". There is one rule to how we spend the money...her instructions included: "spend this money on something that will introduce you to where you are living. EX: The Space Needle. Find something that this state might be known for, and something about this state that isn't well known." It has been a blast.

This past Wednesday Nolen and I drove up to Seattle for the baseball game. It was the Mariners vs the Angels. How perfect, a piece of my home town in the new town. I had a great time. I consider this our first real date since he has been home.




On Tuesday we were told about the Northwest Trek Wild Life Park so yesterday we decided to take a drive and check it out.







It was so neat. They have a "FREE ROAMING" area for the plant eaters that you can take a tram through. Because it is free roaming they are "free" to go where they please, so for us on the tram it is a hit and miss for the animals you might see, but it also means the opposite...we had a few animals come right up to the window-less tram and, they were right there. haha







Once you have done the tram tour there are other things to see. They have bears, wolves, foxes, owls, beavers, and so many others. This Wild Life Park is NOT a zoo, meaning the animals are not in cages. They have acres and acres of free land to explore, but because the dangerous animals are not "tram tour" friendly they are REALLY hit and miss on seeing them. The wolves came very close to where we were which was awesome.




Once Nolen goes back to work and i get a job i think i will have less time to think about how much i dislike my surroundings here in WA. At least I'm hoping! lol I'm excited for our next month's "Mad Money" adventure! Stay tuned!!