3 jobs all at once!

I got a job! Woohoo! I am a "research assistant" in the Library of the Music Special Collections department. Basically, its a fancy title for me just scanning & cataloging lots of music in various forms. I also have the job at the MTC watching missionaries clean. What's nice is that I get to choose my own hours, so I don't have to be tied down by an employer like Sam's club that makes you work 5 hour shifts no matter what. The only crummy thing is that there's only an 80% chance that I will get to keep this job next semester. I really hope I can keep it by then. If not, oh well, I'll just start the interviewing process again!

Last night I packed all of our un-opened wedding presents into the car so that today when I get the keys I can just drool over them as I put all our pretty dishes, pots and pans, and other appliances into our new kitchen. I can't tell you how long I've dreamed of doing this. For some reason, that's the most exciting part of this week for me. I couldn't sleep I was so excited. I love to host guests, and to be limited in that respect has been not my favorite.

It's been frustrating, though, because although we are supposed to move in today, the lady who is moving out is supposed to give us the keys has NOT called us or answered her phone all weekend OR today. So I am just a little peeved because I am working 60 hours starting this week and I need to know ahead of time so I can plan when I can drop stuff off. I really don't like getting my hopes up for no reason.

My mom had to give Ginger away because she became allergic to her. :-(

Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers. - Homer Simpson

Today is my birfday! We had a great weekend...I wish I took pictures. This is definitely something we need to work on. I took for granted the fact that my dad is the photo-man. I leave the picture taking up to Richard since he's the one with the camera---but lately I've learned that I need to become the family historian. So I've been trying to write in our little journal on Sundays to update our lives. Time just goes by SO quickly! I just can't believe it!

One of the ladies, Jan, at the Beehive Home made me this cake during her shift! She is so sweet.

So Saturday (yesterday) Richard sneaked around all morning buying me a birthday present/ flowers with his sister Natalie. I thought he was at work. I was in Midvale getting my weddnig ring re-sized for the up-teenth time (sigh). Anyway, he ended up getting me some really soft pajamas, super cute. And his sister gave me a coupon for "sewing help on one project from start to finish". I am very stoked about that! And to top it off his family got me a gift-card for JoAnnes! So I will get to learn some sewing after-all!

Then at night we (Richard, me, Natalie) went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner with Dani & Todd & Nicholette (and Vivian) Millecam and Chris & Kristin Manning & Taylor. That was super fun, I'm so grateful everyone was able to come and celebrate. It was nice to enjoy some STEAK!

My parents had a birthday party at my grandma's today because it's my mom's birthday tommorow. I wish I could have been there, one of my favorite things to do is to go to my Grandma's house to have dinner with the whole family. My cousin Hannah has been in the hospital and I think that she is home now, getting much better. They don't even know what happened yet. Oh! And my parents got a puppy! It's a Cavalier or something strange like that mixed with a Bichon.

This is cute little Ginger. She's ADORABLE.

This week I had a couple interviews, one to be an equipment manager at BYUbroadcasting and another to work at the MTC. The BYUbroadcasting one fell through, but I got hired on-the-spot at the MTC! So I am very excited to be bossing the sister missionaries around and telling them what to clean on Saturday mornings. In the summer I will be doing it every day, but until then just 6am to 10am on Saturdays.
We also got the managing position at our new apartment complex, so this is fantastic! We will get $80 off our rent a month, which will definitely add up. It's only a 4plex, so it's not too much work to begin with enough to justify no rent at all.

The title of this post has to do with one of Richard's video game songs. I thought it was hilarious.

We each have a bajillion tests this week. I'm kind of scared.

Apartment shopping

It feels like we are finally starting our LIVES! (In a way...)
We are getting our 'own' place, and Richard and I are really excited about it. We have only shopped a few days, and some great opportunities have shown up. We are probably going to get an apartment on 750 W 440N ish in Provo, which is near a bus stop that goes straight to campus.
It is really nice, we felt really good about it. We even are the top 'choice' they claim to be the managers of the 4plex. This would make rent $505 a month! That's super cheap compared to other 2 bedroom apartments that we've seen in Provo that are not nearly as good of quality. (Some one bedroom apartments that are old and poorly maintained are at least 640!)
It's bitter-sweet to leave the Beehive home, but I feel like it's time. I am nervous to look for a job that will fit with my school schedule, but I believe I will find one. We have saved enough that if I don't get one this winter, we will survive just fine. I just really need one this spring/summer to save up for the next school year.

So Yay, we will be putting a deposit down tonight via online. We are waiting to hear whether or not we have to pay for the last week in November. I really hope not, seeing as we won't even LIVE there until January! But hey, that's the way things work out sometimes. Finding a place in late December sounds impossible.

I'm so glad we decided not to live in the remodeled victorian home. It turns out to be way too run-down for our taste. But it was quite charming, just needs some fixing up before it can be deemed 'liveable' in my opinion.

Emails are an easy way to record your life

Mom,
Sorry it took me so long to respond!
Yes Richard JUST got the gift cards right after you sent the email, that was good timing. You were so generous! Wow! Thanks so much. He is really excited to use up the target gift card because I used all the ones up from our wedding myself (oops! I wanted frames!) And plus I am grateful you gave us a restaurant gift certificate so we can go on a date :-)

my add in---> Richard's birthday was October 5th! We went to Thai Chili Gardens (even though the last 3 times we went out to eat, we went there...*sigh*) and enjoyed some curries. I was kind of sick that day, so that's about all we did. I bought him an evolution-running DVD. He loves that sort of stuff.


I am SO excited about my classes next semester! I figured out finally how to fit all my classes in next semester without having to do some in the spring. It turns out a lot of the education classes only last half a semester (they are block classes), so even though they are about 2 hours long, I can take a lot more of them because I can take half before Feb 24, and half of them after Feb 25th. I was worried that I would have to go to school this spring, but thank goodness I don't! So I can make money and not get too burned-out. Plus, I actually get to learn how to teach, instead of taking all these ridiculous biology classes that (in my opinion) are a waste of my time. Plus, I am DONE with all of my generals finally. No more religion classes, no more history or English classes...just education and a couple biology classes.
Hopefully I didn't confuse you with all that mumbo-jumbo.

--->YAY! EASY LOADS OF CLASSES FROM NOW ON (mostly)!

I think I feel alot better about our beehive home situation knowing that we are going to move out before next fall, and also knowing that I have all summer to find a new job and work. We have actually saved a lot of money so we should be fine. We are planning on going on a cruise (we got a free cruise with our cookware) after we quit this job. That will be a lovely break/reward.
There is light at the end of the tunnel.

-----> we are officially moving out of the nursing home before next fall! YAY!!

OH! One more thing!
A lady (Myrle) this week broke her ankle (the same one who has had gangrene and is still healing from it---she has always been so hard to deal with) and Valoy has finally told her family to find a new home for her. Myrle's daughter has been spending the night every single day this week until they find her a new home. So yay! Now we don't have to find her on the floor in the mornings and clean up her diarrhea in the middle of the night!

---->Once Myrle moves out, there will be no level 2 ladies anymore! This means we can go to bed at 8:30 if we really wanted, instead of waiting up until 10:30 to give people pills. I would never go to bed at 8:30 anyway, but that just shows that we will have peace at night instead of stress. Myrle would always ask us for pills over and over, sometimes as late as 12 am. Thankfully, she is leaving, so this won't ever happen again. She will be placed in a care home that will take much better care of her because they will be awake all night to take care of her diarrhea, falls from broken ankle/gangrene toe/ dizzyness, and her continued alzheimers.

.....

Love,
Kristine

"This Marriage"

I found this piece written by Eric Whitacre. He is an amazing choral/ band composer.
Watch this you-tube video and read this lyrics while listening to this gorgeous piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzGkcZaCK_0&feature=related

It is very touching.


May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk,
this marriage, like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade
like the date palm.

May this marriage be full of laughter,
our every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
a seal of happiness here and hereafter.

May this marriage have a fair face and a good name,
an omen as welcomes the moon in a clear blue sky.

I am out of words to describe
how spirit mingles in this marriage.

Our latest crazes

So, Richard has his little 'kicks' of new, innovating technology...and recently he has decided that ignoring the innovations of running shoes is the best idea, based off the book "born to run"; it answers the question :

"Why does my foot hurt when I run?" Basically, the answer is because everything we have been taught about running is wrong. The thing that causes the MOST injury to athletes is the fact we are even wearing shoes in the first place. Our bodies were made to run, barefoot.

A runner that is famous for running barefoot, Barefoot Ted, has a blog here. As we all know, with our dirty roads and the fact that our culture isn't accustomed to running barefoot, there has been an innovative running shoe invented called Vibram five fingers. These are basically gloves for your feet, so you can run in the cold, outside, wear them in water...basically wherever. Richard and I tried some on the other day, they were pretty awesome. The only downside is that they are $80 on average, so we are waiting for newer versions of the shoe to come out before we actually purchase some.

The author of this book was really first interested in this barefoot thing when he discovered this tribe in Mexico called the Tarahumara. Here is what he says:

"Then I meet the Tarahumara, and they’re having a blast. They remember what it’s like to love running, and it lets them blaze through the canyons like dolphins rocketing through waves. For them, running isn’t work. It isn’t a punishment for eating. It’s fine art, like it was for our ancestors. Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain. And when our ancestors finally did make their first cave paintings, what were the first designs? A downward slash, lightning bolts through the bottom and middle—behold, the Running Man."

Anyway, this tribe will run up to 70 miles a day. With no injuries. It's insane. It's because their stride is great due to the fact they wear very thin-soled sandals that they make from leather. They don't need these dumb cushion-y running shoes that make you land harder on your heel, and therefore ruin your bones. No, they run with shorter, lighter strides. Rich and I went to a running shoe store this past friday, and the worker had read this book as well. He loved the theory so much, that he even had a friend who could take your running shoes and shave off all the cushioning to help correct your stride, while still wearing a running-type shoe. Of course, I can't tell what store this was because they could get sued for telling their customers to alter their running shoes in such a way. But I was really glad to see that someone else knew of this important concept of running with as little cushioning as possible.

Another one of our 'latest crazes' is the book series "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.
Basically, it takes place in the future US, but now it's become this corrupted country called "Panem". It is divided into 13 districts, and 12 of them have to fight over food. The way they do this 'fairly' is the Capitol randomly picks two children (ages 12-18) from each of the districts to fight to the death in a hugely televised arena. Whichever child wins, their district gets food for a year.



It's pretty sick, but awesome. And the sequel just came out, so Richard and I rushed to the book store to use our precious gift-certificate this weekend. We LOVED them both. :-)