A No-Go for Idaho

Well...

We didn't get in to ISU.

Oh well.

Just helps me see that Arizona is really where

we are supposed to be.  It will be good.

A long way from friends and family, but 

a good time to grow closer together and rely on each other 

more and more.

Plus it's warm there. :)

When I Grow Up...

Can I just tell you that today I made my very first loaf of homemade bread!?

I was so excited.  I love, love, LOVE homemade bread.

For our wedding, we got a bread-maker from my dad's sister's family

and the first time I used it, about 2 1/2 years ago, my bread looked like this:

Complete disaster.  

Well, I'm one of those people who gives up entirely after one failure

so, the bread-maker has been sitting on top of my cabinets for about 2 1/2 years.Until today, anyways.  Turns out I was not using the right kind of flour OR yeast. So my amazing mother-in-law (who is like homemaker-supremo) gave me some yeast and

her grandma's bread-maker bread recipe.  I was scared to try it out.

But, luckily, it didn't turn out to be a disaster like I thought it would!

I would take a picture to show my accomplishment, but

we already ate half of it and I don't know where my memory card is...so,

you will just have to imagine a nicely formed loaf of warm, fragrant, white bread...

mmmmm.

So, that was a little side note. Now, about why I'm writing today.

As you may know, I am now half-way through my student teaching.

That means in two more months, I will officially have

my bachelor's degree, and possibly a career.  

That means I will be making more

than minimum wage, and I will be able to afford nice things.  Like boots.

I have never owned a pair of boots.  

Well, snow boots, yes.  Dress boots, no.

I just can't bring myself to spend $40+ on a pair of shoes!!  

Why do they have to make them so stinking expensive?  

Let me explain why I NEED a pair of boots.

When you are a student teacher, you have to wear professional clothes.

When you wear professional clothes, you don't usually wear shoes 

that cover your entire foot.

When you student teach in Idaho in the winter, you walk through the snow

in flats, and then your feet are wet and cold all day long.  Not fun.

  So my birthday is coming up, and I wanted some boots.

I didn't care how expensive they were, I was getting some.  

I had a pair in mind that I had tried on at Target that were only $35.  Not bad.  

I was going to talk my mom into getting them for me for my birthday, 

and I'd even chip in 15 bucks 

so she wouldn't have to spend that much on me. 

 So I hopped on-line to see if they still had them in stock.  

That's when I stumbled upon these:

Hello!! Best part about it? They are on sale for $15!  

Haha, now that I have a pair of boots, 

I need some jeans to wear with them.  

So pretty much all day today I have been looking for some cheap 

skinny jeans, but to no avail. 

I can't bring myself to spend even $20 on a pair of jeans.  

So I'll just have to deal with all the boot-cut ones I have now.  

That means I have to make a few pairs of these:

source

Some cute boot socks made from old sweater sleeves.  I was almost headed to the D.I. 

as soon as I rolled out of bed this morning to get started on them, 

but I took one look out the window

and didn't care to brave the full-blown blizzard outside.  

And the boots won't be here for 2 weeks, so I've got time. Plenty of time.

So, why do I want to grow up you ask? 

My mentor teacher is always buying things.  Because she can afford to spend a few bucks here 

and a few bucks there.  

She's always telling me about the books she picked up

 from Barnes & Noble 

because they'd be a good addition to the classroom library, 

or how she's going jeans shopping after school.  

When I grow up, I'll be able to buy a pair of boots for $40 

without worrying about how we are going to eat for the next week.  

It will be great.

Here's another side note.  Brennen had his interview at ISU yesterday.

He said it was one of his favorite interviews that he's done

and he felt really good about it.  

The only problem is that he doesn't like

the school and he doesn't want to end up working in Idaho.

I know that I have been talking up moving to Mesa 

and getting out of this state,

but secretly I'm rooting for Meridian.

I know, I know.  

Call me crazy for wanting to spend the rest of my life in

this lone and dreary wilderness.  

But it would just work better with 

getting health insurance 

and do other things we are planning for this year.

Not to mention it's only 5 hours away from home instead of 15.

Well, we'll see next week if we got in or not.  

If we did, we have a big decision ahead of us--one of the biggest decisions 

we've had to make as a couple. 

 Welp. It'll be the first of many, I'm sure.

Updates

Things around here have been kind of wild.

We all know that Brennen has had about

7 or 8 interviews for P.A. School, 

and we were all done with that, right?

WRONG.

We got 2 more this month!

ISU finally decided they wanted to give us a chance,

and we got an interview to a school in California.

We won't be interviewing in California, which is a-o-k by me

because cost of living there is off the wall.

So. ISU.

Brennen is going to the interview on the 22, and we will 

find out if he got in by the 27.

The only problem with this is, 

I DO NOT WANT TO LIVE IN POCATELLO.

Ew. I have never liked Pocatello, and when 

I have been down there to take tests and such,

campus has been awful.

It's a college town, just like Rexburg, and I really don't want to have to 

deal with that for another 2 years.

The good news is that they accept 60 students each year to their program.

30 go to Pocatello, and 30 go to their campus in Meridian.

Choices, choices, choices.

It would be nice to live closer to home.

But, we'll see what happens.

Proof

Look! Proof that we are, indeed, ALIVE!

This is what Brennen has been working on for his Grandpa

Remember that one time...

So.

Remember that one time

I said I don't blog sometimes except to let people

know that we're still alive?

Well, this is one of those times.

.....................................

That explains what life has been like for the

last month or so...

I've been student teaching for over a month now.

And I absolutely LOVE it.

I love what I do :)

Brennen's been just kind of hanging around,

waiting for school to start.

He's been looking for a job, but pretty much gave that

up when his grandpa offered to let him help restore 

an old car for his brother.

So, here we are. Just chillin. :)

The Land of the Living

Well, hello there,

bloggerworld.

Yes, we did drop off the face of the planet for about a month,

but never worry,

it is only because our lives are so INCREDIBLY boring, 

I can think of absolutely NOTHING worth informing 

friend and family about.  

Well, other than the fact that yes, indeed,

we ARE still alive.

2013 marks a year of change, change, change.

Brennen graduated from BYU-I in December with his 

Bachelor's in Emergency Services.

The smarty-pants graduated with a 3.88 GPA, too.

I also "graduated."

I technically won't get my diploma until May or June

because as of January 2nd, I am officially a 

"Teacher Candidate"

a.k.a. a Student Teacher.

Which means that I had to quit my job at the plasma center.

Which also means that Brennen now has to find someone

who will hire him for 6 months...which is nobody.

There are 2,000 extra students on campus this year, and guess what?

There are NOT 2,000 extra jobs. Talk about competition.

As for me, I'll just be teachin the little ones in the meantime

This semester of student teaching goes from 

January 2-April 30--That's almost 3 weeks longer than the 

original semester.  Well...4 days down. And only 76 left to go.

Well, hopefully 2013 will bring about some positive changed in our lives.

A big move, 

a career change, or career beginning, rather.

Possibly a change to our little family too!

Haha, well, let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

But a little enthusiasm goes a loooong way :)

Hard to Believe

• It's hard to believe that Brennen and I will both be walking in graduation in two days. It seemed like just yesterday I was in my first college class.
• It's also hard to believe I'll be quitting my awesome job at the plasma center in three weeks and start student teaching 2nd graders!  
• It's hard to believe we'll be leaving cold, icy, windy Rexburg for sunny, warm, beautiful Mesa in just 6 months!
• It's hard to believe that in 6 months I will no longer have to put up with this kitchen:

and I will soon have this kitchen:

Source

or something like unto it.

• It's hard to believe that in 6 month's we'll be graduating from our little, subsidized, 30-year-old apartment to a newer, cleaner, bigger townhouse.
• It's hard to believe this will be our last winter with snow (pffft).
• It's hard to believe when my children go to college, they'll say "I'm from Arizona"
• It's hard to believe that we're moving on and growing up so quickly.

But...

I'm excited to start this new adventure.

Excited to live somewhere new.

Work somewhere new.

I mean, look at this:

Source

And it's only 20 minutes away.
Hard to believe, I know.