Silver Bells in the city

Every year just before Thanksgiving, Lansing does a really cool parade in the dark just like at Disneyland. The whole town participates in it and it's really cool! There's Christmas music playing and all the high schools around dress up in uniforms with lights and poinsettas. We really had a good time. The only thing I wasn't a big fan of was the 100,000 people all crammed into about 3 blocks to see the parade. We live only 2 blocks below the parade so we just walked thank goodness cuz the traffic was a nightmare! The best part was after the parade when they did a count down and lit the huge Christmas tree infront of the Capital building and then did fireworks. They were really pretty I wish my camera would have gotten better pictures.

Best Job Ever

I literally have the best job in the world! Basically I ship out large quantities of spelt products, and to do that I have to schedule semi trucks to come pick it up. Well lots of different trucking companies are vying for my business so they bribe me. And when I say bribe I mean big time!

Krista and I got 2 free tickets to a Detroit Pistons game. We got hooked up with 2 seats in a suite, all the drinks and food we could eat, free trinkets, and VIP acess to everything. We even won a pizza from Domino's. They chose us out of the audience cuz we were screaming the loudest. People were so mad cuz we already had free food and they still chose us.

Car Shopping

You know you never realize just how fast everything could be over. Unitl recently, I really didn't notice all the small things that we are so lucky to have everyday. I'm so grateful to have a wonderful husband that's working so hard to make a better future for us. I'm blessed to have a job that can support me and my little family as we live so far away from home. And, more than anything I'm glad that our Heavenly Father is watching out for us everyday, even when bad things happen, I have to realize they could always be so much worse.

Last week on our way home from church, we were driving when out of nowhere this kid comes up and T bones us on Brandens side which then throws us up over a curb and into a tree. The tree was only about as wide as a circle you can make with your hands, but it didn't move an inch or even make a mark on the spot where we hit it. Our truck on the other hand... was totaled. We are very lucky that no one was hurt, and thank you to all of the friends that stopped to check on us and offer help and support, we really appreciate it.

Our insurance co. was wonderful to us, and now we get to go pick out a new car. Now to decide which one we want. So many to choose from! I want something cute, Branden wants something safe.... unfortunately those fall under two very different categories. So we went to the dealerships all around and looked for something perfect and....

HELLO BEAUTIFUL!

It's a 2010 toyota corolla S, and she's just perfect in everyway! We got her with only 7 miles, and I got to take her around town last night (might I add she is quite fast). I'm the luckiest girl in the world! Branden says this can be my car when we get another one because I've fallen in love.

Tony Hawk

The other day Branden decided it would be nice for Tony to have a hair cut since it's relatively hot here in Michigan at the end of the summer. I wasn't really that fond of the idea, but of course, I got talked into it. Poor Tonado got a really bad whack job. We just used the razor I cut Brandens hair with. I decided not to do that again. He's gonna need his fur soon it gets stinkin cold here! 2 weeks later I came home to this:

Dear Mommy,

I have been undergoing chemo therapy that's why I've lost all of my hair. I'm still fun.

Love,

Tony Toyger

That's the note that was taped to his bed. Tony was bald again! Except this time, Bran decided to style it. So he gave him a MOHAWK (up his back) and a lions tail (he shaved the whole tail except the tip he left furry). My poor cat. He doesn't mind though. And now whenever Tonado does something that makes Branden mad, he has to blow it off cuz he made Tony a "Bad A" and he can do what he wants. The picture doesn't do it justice. He's got a furry head and legs but that's it.

Not so bad...

So I guess Michigan isn't as bad as it seems... or at least not when we get out of it. A week or so ago we went down to Kentucky with Brandens friend Adam from his school and Adams cute wife Erin. We got to experience tail gaiting like never before. You think you know what it is until you go down there. Holy cow people take that stuff very seriously! We were literally there 6 hours before the game even started and the place was packed with fans celebrating. Branden learned a new game called corn hole. (you throw a bean bag at a board with a hole in it... I'm sure there's a point to it, I just didn't figure it out.) It was a very popular game. Literally everyone around us had a game goin and when we weren't using ours someone else would come ask to play on it. Must be a Kentucky thing? Honestly if we couldn't move back to Utah, I wouldn't mind living there though. It is a very pretty place and the people are friendly. I miss that.

The game was awesome. I've never been in such a big stadium before. What I wouldn't give to have cheered for a school that had a good sports team and that kind of crowd support. Makes me miss tumbling so much. It's been 9 months since the last time I did a back flip. Yes I can count the days. (It was on a beach in Cancun. Big mistake cuz i kicked sand up in my eyes.)

Last night we went to Octoberfest with those guys again. $17 gets you a "free" mug, 3 tickets, and all the americanized polka music you can handle. It always makes me laugh when people check Brandens ID. He's 29 and his license has his picture from when he was 19 it expires every 11 years and it's laminated so you can't get it wet. It looks fake. No one every believes him. And then there's me. I still look 17. They always double and triple check my ID.

Anyways we got lots of apple cider and Branden did a few jigs. (I sincerely hope our children get my sense of coordination and not his). It was a good time.

Bradshaw Camping

Before we came out here to Michigan, we made one last trip. This time we drove to Idaho to go camping with my Bradshaw family. It was quite the expedition getting up to where we finally made camp. There was no where available in the whole stinkin mountain! Eventually after several hours of driving around in the middle of the night we found a spot that was big enough for all of us to set up our tents. 30 minutes later we were all in bed and dead asleep... Until the bears came to our camp ground. Apparently no one else heard it except Bran and I. I just knew we were dead. I didn't sleep a bit the rest of the night. Branden says they were just deer but I know otherwise. Thank goodness Kent came up the next day and set his tent up on the other side of ours so that we weren't the end of the line of tents. (That way while the bears ate him I'd have enough time to get to the car. Sorry Kent..) We had a ton of fun being very lazy but I think the greatest thing about our camping trip had to be the sling shot Branden bought before we went up there. (Which by the way they insisted on checking his ID to be sure he was above the age of 16 haha) The kiddos played with that thing for hours, and Branden spent quite a few himself helping them shoot pop cans. Chase was quite the pro by the end of the day so we sent it home with him to practice. Your welcome Kieth and Jody. I've got a ton more pictures from this trip but I'm gonna start another blog for them so family hold on a sec.

So much to do... and yet

Don't you just hate it when so much time has gone by since you last blogged and there's just so much to catch up on, and you have so much time to do it...and yet, you so much just don't want to? Yeah that's about where I'm at.
Here's a little bit of an update: we're back in Michigan. Branden starts school today. I was hoping to be able to too, but we got up here too late. Maybe next semester? At the moment I'm stressing about finding a job. Lansing is on a hiring freeze because of GM shutting down and laying off like 21,000 people. Everywhere I go people just laugh and say, "yeah leave an application." I've learned that means "Where are you from you kiddo? Mars? Of course we're not really hiring."
Anyways since I've been up since 5 when the GM plant decided to switch on the jet engine. No really it sounds like your standing behind a rocket taking off. Gotta love this town with the police keeping you up all night with their sirens, and the rocket ship switching on every morning I'm predicting a bunch more of these random writings. Hope you enjoy I thought they were funny.
-I wish my GPS had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
-There is a great need for sarcasm font.
-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.
-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.
-How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.- Was learning cursive really necessary?
- Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
-Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said
-While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
-MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
- Bad decisions make good stories.
- Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem.
-"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.- I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? ), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away? (MOM I DEDICATE THIS TO YOU!!)
-I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
- I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
- Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it
-I wonder if cops ever get ticked off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

Summer's End

Here's a few fun things we did our last days out there in Abilene. The Gladiator games were a big hit. Probably the most memorable of all the days was the watermelon challenge. Brandens team was fantastic starting out, but ended up losing it in the end. It was pretty close though. We left before they did the winners games. Branden's team took 2nd so he would have gotten to do the diving for dollars again. All in all it was a very fun summer. We're gonna miss everyone out there.




Also Branden got a letter from one of the head hanchos of APX the other day.


Branden,

APX Alarm would like you to know what a difference you are making in the lives of the families that you have protected. One of the families in whose home you set up an alarm system had the following emergency:

Homeowner says that her 87 year old mother is having chest pains. The operator gets a medical dispatch started and then continues to communicate with her. The mother can be heard struggling to breathe and groaning from the pain. They say that she is conscious but the pain is getting worse. Once she lets them know that the ambulance is on the way they instruct her to go ahead and disconnect as there are several family members on the premises. 3:15

You truly made a difference in their life. Keep up the hard work and know that what you are doing is more than just miles of walking and hours of hard knocking—you are saving lives.

Brenchley!



Isn't that cool to know that selling alarms really does make a difference?

Guess what this is? Just a baby rattle snake on the sidewalk right next to the doors of the hotel we stayed in. Jeff Strong (Brandens boss) wanted to catch it in a box, there was a huge crowd around the little guy. They were keeping it around by hitting it with their hats. Probably not the smartest thing to do huh? It would have been better to kill it but there was some dink wad we didn't know who kept saying "it's illegal it's illegal". For some reason he thought it'd be smarter to leave the dang thing around the doors where anyone could get bitten. There's a lot of children around there too!

We're pretty excited to get back to school now. It's been a long and a short summer. Branden's gonna start up anyday now. I'm gonna begin again in January. The only thing I'm worried about is finding some kind of a job. We're hoping for something really close to the apt so I can walk just incase Branden needs the truck for something. With GM laying off 21,000 people out there the economy is goin down fast. Last time we left 35% of the population was out of a job. I can't imagine it's any better now. We're keeping our fingers crossed though.

Welcome to Nowhere

Welcome to Abilene, TX. Population- well that depends if you count the farm animals or not. A city, well noted in country songs you hear on the radio, that's full of hotels and windmills. Oh and at the moment about 3 different alarm security companies reside here. Just our luck. Someone in our office snitched our plans to move out here and so the other genius companies decided to go to. What is that? Why the heck would you wanna follow APX or any other company to try and sell the same houses? It just doesn't make any sense.

Living out of a hotel has its ups and downs. Free oatmeal and waffles for breakfast and nachos and tuna fish sandwhiches for dinner... At least the company while eating it was good :) The maid service was great. They even cleaned up Tony's messy toys. All in all it's been not so bad except for the crickets. There's a hole in the wall outside that leads directly to the vent to our room. Everynight the crickets wake up and join in the chorus that lasts til the sun comes up again. It's so ANNOYING! The first night it happened I wanted to call maintainance, but Branden being the fix it man decided to take matters into his own hands. We didn't have bug spray so febreeze had to do. I swear he sprayed 1/2 the can into the vent. It worked for a while, thinking we choked them out we turned out the lights and went back to sleep. Then the AC turned on. Every ounce of febreeze in the vents came out at once. We couldn't breathe. The next day the ridex guy came and opened the vent to suck out the little buggers. Things went well for a night or 2. But, nothing lasts forever and they're back again. Only 3 more nights and then they'll be someone elses problem. We can't wait to come home again!

Big Bite Pizza

So just before we moved out here to Abilene, the reps wanted to go out to dinner. It's a proven fact that Colby can eat more than anyone we've ever seen before. At the BBQ's he eats multiple steaks and hamburgers, so they came up with a genius idea to take him to the Big Bite Pizzeria to test his skills. Here's the deal: If you can eat 4 sandwiches with everything on them they'll give you back your money plus name a sandwich after you. They already had the name picked out "Phat APX 09" The only thing is they really mean everything. Fries, mozzarella sticks, sand which meat, the works. Seriously this thing weighed like 2-3 pounds. Things started off good, he got through 2 like a champ. But, about 1/2 way through the 3rd time was running out and he was very full. He didn't end up finishing it, but we all had a good time anyways and the rest of the guys helped him finish what he couldn't. Gross...

Then the next day we packed up and left. My heck we have a lot of stuff. It took us about 6 hours and it never ceases to surprise me how we eventually fit everything into our truck. People made fun of us for using all of our tie downs, come alongs, and ropes; but really there's no other way to do it. I wish I had taken a picture of the truck finished but here's a few of the packing progress. Oh and Tony... being grumpy as always.

After we get everything really tight in the back, we put the mattresses on top and pull the tarp over everything and secure it down. Such a PAIN!

That's our back seat packed to the roof.

Here's Tony. Moving stresses him out.

Our new place. We have so much stuff you can barely get around. I don't know how great this hotel thing is gonna be...

Things I'm gonna miss...

So we're almost out of here. It's gonna be so sad... but at the same time we're used to packin up and moving at the drop of a dime so bring on the hotel. It's an extended stay one with a tiny table and a mini kitchen. There's gonna be complimentary breakfast which I plan to take full advantage of. They're gonna hate us by the end of the 1st day. There's like 50+ people goin, we're gonna clean them out daily. I'm gonna take enough to eat all day long.

Anyways- since we're leaving this awesome apt and city, I thought I'd put in some pictures to remind me of them down the road. So here it is the best parts of Round Rock all summed up.

The fact that this is the "famous" round rock but there is no significance whatsoever just that it's round. Hilarious... It's just a stupid rock in a puddle of muddy water.

The stupid way people make fences out of stacked rocks. I mean seriously what is that?!

My beautiful pool :(

Going to the city baseball games every sunday and being afraid of getting hit in the head by a foul ball.

But there's also a list of thing I won't miss:

Everyday being over 100 degrees! No matter what time of day it is.

The fact that there's a cop at every turn and they only pull over people from out of state.

And last but certainly not least! Texans pride in the state. Outside of Texas it's a joke "don't mess with texas" but here it's the law!

Texas is so hot hot hot!

Happy 4th of July! What a fun day, and yet so incredibly long! Branden went to work early in the morning and I went to work... yay... Afterwards though we went out to eat at Fudruckers. We literally had the entire restaurant to ourselves. Which is probably a good thing because they're so slow. They say good food is worth waiting for but really did we have to wait for them to kill the cow too?

So last week for the incentives the boys had to get like 50 sales on saturday which they easily did. Anyways, instead of getting a bbq they got to do diving for dollars. I ended up getting to do it too cuz one of the older guys didn't want to. Imagine this $600 gold dollars thrown into a pool and 35 guys plus me diving for them. It only lasted like 30 seconds but wow that was fun! We got about 30 bucks or something. I imagine this is what a pirate feels like.

You can see me and Branden in the left corner most the time. It's like a feeding frenzy in there!

Bon voyage!!

Fun fun fun trip! It was so nice to get away from work for a bit. We got to visit Jamaice, the Cayman Islands, and Honduras. (Well I didn't cuz I got sick- but Branden said it was great) Honestly though, from the second I left for Florida at 3:15 in the morning, I just wanted to go back home and be with Tony Bologna. I missed him so much the whole trip. I was worried he would climb under the kitchen cabinets and get stuck or be naughty and tear up the furniture in which case Branden would teach him to fly right off the 3rd floor balcony. Thank goodness he was an angel.

So now we're applying for Law Schools out in Idaho. We really really wanna get in so we can be closer to home. We miss our families very much. Even though the school is still 8 hours away, it's better than 26 right? Plus michigan was a hole. Literally. We really have been praying hard that we don't have to go back to that apt ever again. It's not sanitary! So everyone keep your fingers crossed for us. We'll know probably around the beginning of Aug.

All the live long day

Poor Branden had a long day today. It's like 95 degrees outside, and the humidity is almost 100%. Texas is a real treat sometimes. After a day of working Branden comes home eats dinner brushes his teeth, and is out cold in about a half hour. He's a good daddy to "Texas Tonado" though. Tony misses his daddy and can't wait for him to come home and play... or sleep.

Hey Y'all

So here we are in Texas now... Lots of cowboys and swine flu. But really this place is great compared to Michigan. Our new place is beautiful. It feels like a home and we don't have to worry about the ceiling falling down or the sink spittin up anymore.
Tony was an absolute angel on the drive. He literally slept all 20 hours. (Thank goodness cuz I was afraid if he was a pill Branden might have thrown him out the window somewhere in Arkansas. Which by the way is a boring state to drive through.)
My job rocks. I sit in an office all day long where I can read, watch tv, play on the internet, whatever. Literally I'm gettin paid to be lazy. Branden's out there workin hard though. I feel bad I've got it so easy. He's doin good so far. We just need someone with good credit to come along. I swear he could sell shoes to a fish if the opportunity came along. He's gonna be such a good lawyer!

First things First

I don't exactly know what i'm doing at the moment with this whole blogging thing so bare with me for a moment :) just thought i'd like to start this whole thing since i'm out here in east egypt aka michigan "land of the never ending snow and unfriendly people". no but seriously- it's not like utah. you don't know your neighbors, you don't talk to strangers when you pass them on the sidewalks, and you never go out alone. secretly.... we want to come home...