We Made It!

Well, me made it here to Moscow, ID. Actually, we came Friday, but as you can guess, it's been a little crazy since then. So far we really like it. VERY different than San Diego, but we expected that. It's a really small town, but it's kind of fun. We like our new place too. It's a two bedroom!! The first time since Jessica was born! I'll post pictures as soon as we get a real internet connection, as opposed to this "stolen" wireless.

As I mentioned before, we sold most of our big things back in LA, so we've been on constant lookout for furniture. We're close to being ready. We have an inflatable mattress for us (which is actually really comfortable). We'll hang onto that for a while - until we find a really good deal on a real mattress. Jessica is in her pack-n-play and totally content. We bought a card table and chairs for the dining room. Luckily there's a Good Will close by, so Michael got a TV stand there. And here comes the funny part - we got a TV. No, not just any TV. We got a "half of our furnishing budget" TV. Michael is beyond excited for football season to start, so we had a compromise a while back - if we got into Idaho and saved the money there, we could get a nice TV and maybe Direct TV (and thus BYU football). Let's see if I can get this picture of the TV to post.
Wow - it worked. Cool. Anyways, Michael is loving it. The only problem is that we just have rabbit ears right now, so we don't get a whole lot of channels, not even NBC. So it's been kind of annoying to miss track on the Olympics, but we're surviving. :) We feel pretty dumb having a nice TV and no couch, but it's in the plans still.

Michael is off to orientation today. He figures he'll skip out on most of it. He doesn't feel like he really needs to go to a class on "what to expect from law school" or "law school study habits." He's kind of experienced there. But he'll get his ID card and all that.

Like I said, we'll post more pictures of our place later (once it looks a little more complete).

Jammy!!!

This is Jan Jorgensen. He plays football (very well) for BYU. I used to be his biology tutor. Nice guy - really. He's actually not as weird as you'd think looking at this picture. When I first met him I thought his name was Jam. Don't ask me why, but I did. So that's what I called him - over and over. He was so nice he didn't even mention it. While Michael and I were in San Diego, BYU held a fireside with the football team. Let's just say that Michael thinks Jan is cool, really cool. Like, he kind of idolizes the boy. :) So when I offered to go up with him after the fireside to say hi, he was just a little (ok, like a LOT) excited. It was pouring rain and we were stuck outside for a while trying to get in. I suggested leaving a couple of times, but I could tell the thought of leaving without meeting his beloved "Jam" vexed Michael greatly. SO we waited and finally got a chance to meet the man himself. Michael still talks about how he "actually got to touch Jan Jorensen!" Now with the start of football season just a couple of weeks away, Michael couldn't be more excited about seeing his good buddy every week. What can I say... my husband is cute. So here's to BYU football and our pal Jammy!

LA Trip Recap

Wow! I am a slacker. This trip happened end of July, but I've been busy with... I dunno, life I guess. :) As most of you know, Michael was accepted into the University of Idaho as a visiting law student for our last year of school. So we checked out what it would cost us to move our stuff up from our storage unit in SD. It was seriously going to be like $2500 +. We were shocked! So we came to the conclusion that we just needed to sell all but the necessities and try and fit our life into one car load. Crazy, I know. But we pretty much just have second-hand type stuff for the most part, so the decision wasn't really that hard. We drove the car down as far as LA, where Michael's parents live, and then the boys went to SD to get everything. I feel REALLY bad that I didn't come too and say goodbye to all of you in SD, but I really didn't think Jessica would deal with another car ride after 14 hours in the car already. I promise at graduation in May I'll make connections! That night we sorted through everything and then did a garage sale/Craig's List sale the next day. Whew!! I am so glad it's over. It was surprising too how easy the sorting process was. I think we were both prepared for it, so there was seriously no drama and disagreements about stuff. That was nice. The next day Michael drove all of our things back up here to Idaho and I stayed and played for a week. FUN!! I had missed the beach, so this was needed. We flew home a few days later, much more relaxed and refreshed.

Jessica LOVES bath time - especially in Grandma's big tub!

Michael's day to try out his new surfboard

The ward was having a Pioneer Day party while we were there.
Aren't the hats hot?

Jessica LOVED celebrating her Papa's birthday. He let her help blow out the candles and everything. She still asks for "Happy Birthday Cake," and one of her new favorite bedtime songs is "Happy Birthday."

Fun at the beach!

Jessica discovered Grandma's lipstick and was having a blast putting it on us. Silly girl! And yes, that should say "S.W.A.K." (sealed with a kiss), not S.W.A.C.K. (which Michael and I decided means "sealed with a crusty kiss."

We Are All Enlisted - Mormon Military Spouses

My sister is amazing. I am always in awe of the things she does/has done/plans to do/puts up with, etc. Her husband is in the military and she decided there is a lack of good online resources for LDS military spouses - so she's trying to do her part. She just started a blog called We Are All Enlisted (http://weareallenlisted.blogspot.com). She's just started out, but she's working on discussing things like, How do you really do food storage when your always moving? Do you bless a new baby/baptize you child if the father is deployed? Stuff like that. I encourage everyone to have a look, especially any military spouses. I can't really pretend to understand all the struggles, etc that go along with that situation, but I know she'd love comments and contributions from those of you who have "been there."

Merry Christmas!!

In August?! Yep. Michael had a REALLY good Christmas this year. We were in LA a couple weekends ago in order to grab our stuff from good old San Diego. We realized it would cost us like $3K to move it to Idaho, so we just did our best to sort and sell. But anyways! Christmas...

Since Michael's parents knew he would be far away from the ocean come Christmas time, they decided to get him his present early - a new surfboard!!!

To say we were surprised is beyond an understatement. He was one happy little boy in a candy store. I'll post pictures of the rest of the weekend (including surfing picts) in a while.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Jessica's Prayer

We are in the middle/end of a super crazy weekend.  But I'll get to that once I'm back in ID (I'm in LA right now).  I just had to write really fast about the sweetest thing Jessica did tonight.  We were saying a prayer before she went to sleep.  I started out, "Dear Heavenly Father..."  And she just randomly decided to take if from there:  "Thank you for Daddy, and thank you for Carly, and thank you for money, and thank you for Carly.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."  SO CUTE!!  Her Aunt Carly had just been playing with her, helping her put money in a bank.  I love how her sweet little mind works!

My Favorite Sites

I just thought I would share some of my favorite web sites with everyone. Most are already listed under my links, but here they are anyways.

Bakerella I just recently discovered this site. It has some really fun and creative baking ideas. Desserts mostly, which is of course the most fun. She has one recipe for this Reese's cake. I don't even know if I could do it justice describing it. Check it out because it looks amazing!!

She Does Hair I'm so looking forward to using this one when Jessica gets a little more hair. OK, she probably already has enough hair, just not enough patience to sit through me really doing her hair. The site just has some really fun and creative do's for little girls.

Blue Dandelion A friend of mine from SD makes these awesome hair bows and stuff. They make me want to be more creative and crafty.

SugarDoodle This site has some great ideas for church related things. I know Primary people who use it every week for sharing time. :)

All Recipes There are a ton of places like this online - just good all around recipe sites. It's just nice to have a place to be able to go and figure out something quick, healthy, or just fun.

I would love to hear from all you all out there about some other places that are fun/useful/whatever.

Hales Family Reunion

This past weekend the three of us (and Michael's younger brother) made the 10 hour+ drive from ID to Lake Tahoe. It ended up being a super fun event, complete with boat rides, hikes, good food, and lots of cousins. Jessica loved all of the attention.

Playing at the lake

Getting a ride from Grandma

The boys making the jump

Playing in the sand

Jessica, Papa, Tyler, and Emma

Jessica loved playing with Michael's cousins.

A BIG Popsicle - she was in heaven

Jessica, Tyler, Papa, and Emma

So proud of herself as she walked through the water.

Jessica is in time-out at the lake for throwing sand. :)

Jessica and Michael

Cousins - Emma, Tyler, and Jessica

I don't know if you noticed or not, but yes, Jessica really does have 3 swimming suits. I'm not sure why a 2 year old needs 3 swimming suits, but I guess that's besides the point. Thanks Grandma for ALL of them! :)