Hosers

Guess where I'm going. I'll give you a clue (other than the title of this post). While deciding how to name this place, they pulled letters out of a hat. After each letter was pulled it sounded like this, "C..ay, N..ay, D..ay." CANADA! With this socialized health care stuff, I thought I should go check it out with our friends up in the attic.
Ok, that's not why I'm going there. I am am going to a conference on biomedical treatments for autism. I'll be gone Thursday-Monday. I am excited although I think it is completely RIDICULOUS that Delta charges to check baggage. Isn't that kind of like charging for tap water at a restaurant? Gay.

Home Sweet Home

I am finally posting pictures of the place I rest my head at night.

Let's start with the kitchen. The basket-thing on the wall was given so graciously by mom. It not has some fake pomegranites and pine cones in it.



And the living room. Bookshelf/TV stand-IKEA. Drapes- Brittani's, then Talon's, now mine. Couch- the previous tennant left it for me along with the TV. I happen to enjoy both very much




My teeny tiny bathroom. I love my shower curtain (Uraban Outfitters clearance). And peek in the mirror and see if you can spot the picture hanging on the wall. I got that in Egypt and absolutely love look at it each time I have a "moment to sit".



And last but not least, my beautiful bedroom furniture. I can't think of a more perfect graduation present. I LOVE my bed. It is so comfy. The bedding will hopefully change one of these days, but I hate thinking of how dang much it costs!





So there you have it! It ain't much but it's what I got. I love having a place to call my own. If you drive by an LDS church building and notice the "Visitors Welcome" sign missing, come looking for it at my place.

V-Day

Yes, I am a month behind on blogging. Everyday I tell myself I will sit down and blog, and everyday I don't sit down and blog. Today is our lucky day. I am going to blog. Before the details fade, I thought I would blog about Valentines day/weekend. Nathan loves to plan spoiling me and holidays are just the occasions to do that. I have never really cared for or against Valentines because I always know a fabulous piece of Native American jewelry is coming my way from Dad. (Which by the way, THANK YOU Dad for my beautiful necklace!) I tried convincing Nathan we should cancel Valentines presents this year but he wouldn't have it. Starting the Friday before Valentines we kicked off the weekend of love by trying out a new restaurant. We love food (me obviously more than him and his bean pole-ness). We tried our luck at a new place in Provo called Communal. JACKPOT! It was to die for! It is a small storefront place on University Ave. and the claim to fame of this place is that they buy most of their food locally. The inside has a rustic/modern feel and the atmosphere is different than any place I have eaten before. Now for the food: If you could take a bite out of the corner of Heaven, it would probably taste like the flap steak, pot roast, mashed potatoes, and mushrooms Nathan and I ordered. Just thinking about it right now makes me want to run back with a ten gallon bucket and ask for ten gallons of mashed potatoes alone! It is a little pricey, but definitely worth every penny.
Now for Saturday. Nathan and I went to Salk Lake just to play. We didn't know what we would do or where we would go, but we just like Salt Lake better than...well...Provo. Let's face it, who doesn't. Right as we pulled into town we spotted an antique warehouse and decided to check it out. Do you hear the chorus of angels? I have always had a thing for antiques and this place was literally stuffed to the brim! And not with the crappy nic-nacky stuff. Purely furniture and books, and old window panes. A few hours after walking in the door, Nathan and I emerge back into the natural light with no purchases. Someday....
On the actual day of Valentines, we cooked dinner together and just relaxed. Below are pictures of the fudge, and book Nathan gave me. my other present is a Jazz game which will be posted when we go.

Weak of stomach

Is there anything worse than being sick? I HATE it. Yesterday I had some training up in Salt Lake (aka. class for 6 hours straight). A few of us at the class grabbed some Chinese food at a little hole in the wall during our lunch break. I am wondering if that is what did me in. I felt fine all day until bed time. I got home from babysitting my favorite nephew in Utah when it felt like a knife had been crammed into my stomach. Nathan more than happily finished my Oreo Mcflurry for me and I went to bed. So much for going to bed. I spent the night downing Emitrol, taking bathes, and watching chocolate covered cinnamon bears come out the wrong end. By 6 am I was ready to die. Poor Nathan got a call from me way too early in the morning. I cried about how tired and thirsty I was. He immediately popped out of bed, went to the store and grabbed coke, ginger ale, Gatorade, popsicles, and saltines for me. He came over and played mom by comforting me and getting me back to sleep with a little coke and some aspirin. He studied while I finally drifted back to sleep. What a man!

In the new place

Ahhhh.... It feels so good to have a place to call my own. I've felt a little displaced since the end of student teaching. Wow! That was over two months ago. I got my own teeny apartment and have been settling in. Mom and Dad go me bedroom furniture and it arrived this morning. My bed is gloriously comfortable and although my room is no master suit, the furniture fits in just right. Nathan and I went to IKEA today to find a bookshelf/TV stand. We got one and brought it back to my place, took it out, and realized I would have rather had the white one. It looks like we will be headed up north again soon! While I have most everything put away, I am still working on the last few things. As soon as everything is settled I will take pictures and post them. Until then, enjoy the worlds cutest salt and pepper shaker that Talon and Annie gave me as a house warming gift. LOVE them!

Lovin what I do

Have I told you I love my job yet? Well if I haven't let me tell you, it beat the pants off of your job. People bow in my presence. Of course I in turn get on bended knee in return. We then take part in a ritual called playing. Yes, I play for a living. Blocks, puzzles, balls, you name it. So far I have been doing a lot of orientation stuff and home visits meeting a few of the children I will be taking onto my case load. I was able to attend a special therapy offered using horses. I was in heaven.
I really like the other people that work at Kids On The Move and am already falling in love with the little ones I will be working with. I feel so lucky to have snagged this job.
Let me tell you a little bit about my "perks." My salary requires that I work a 40 hr. work week 230 days a year. That means I get lots of time off. A week off in June, SPRING BREAK (just making up for the ones I didn't get in college) and no worries about working holidays. While I should be working 40 hour work weeks, they hours are flexible. That means I can work a bunch of hours and save the hours I have gone over to not work some hours on different days without taking time off. I get money each year to go to a conference of my choice... there is one in Disneyland coming up...
I have to drive a lot to do the home visits but I get paid for my mileage. Right now I am watching videos on autism at Talon and Annie's. I'm in my PJ's. Yes, this counts as work. My obsession with autism has lead me to read and hear all the information in these videos, so I'm multitasking ;)
Oh! And I finally got an apartment. I move in Tuesday. It is a little one bedroom and one bathroom but it has a dishwasher, washer and dryer, disposal, free cable and internet. Most of all, it is clean.
A special on a documentary done by a boy with autism is one. Gotta go.

Apartment Blues

I HATE apartment shopping. It stresses me out beyond belief. I especially hate apartment shopping in Utah. With BYU's two mile rule it drives prices up. You go outside the two miles around BYU and it gets even more complicated. Suddenly nothing is furnished and I think to myself "Wait, when between graduating college and getting a job was I supposed to suddenly have furniture?" I did find one apartment I fell in love with but housing apparently is so competitive, I have to fill out an application and hope to get picked! How do you make yourself stand out on a housing application? Do I write a cover letter? "My objective in applying for this apartment is to acquire a place to sleep at night and maybe cook some meals." So here I am, stressing about how much I am going to spend on rent, how suddenly insignificant my belongings have become, and wondering why washers and dryers don't grow on trees.
Now I am understanding other peoples attractions to "alternative lifestyles". Examples:
Carnival workers a.k.a. Carnies: Living out of the back of a U-haul and seeing the country one dinky town at a time is sounding pretty good right now. "My house ain't got heated floors but if you drive fast enough with the back hatch open you get a nice breeze coming through!" (not a quote from a movie, just a scene that played out in my head.
Hippies: Yeah, eating dried fruit, stringing beads on willow branches and selling them out of the back of a van sounds like a pretty sweet set up right now. Organic cactus juice anyone?
Strippers: Yes, strippers. I love to dance. I love high heels. Might as well make some money while I'm at it. Wouldn't it be nice to have money being stuffed into you instead of coming out your nose? I'm afraid I'd have to give up eating to get a job at any of these joints so I'll give up on this dream.
Well, the saga continues and life gets stickier. But don't be surprised if you receive a house warming party invitation in a month and I have forgotten all about my apartment blues.