Work Work Work

Here's a surprising thing about my new insta-family. When you go from a household of one to a household of four, there is so much more to do around the house. It's like the workload increases by.... four. Crazy, huh?

It is very apparent in the amount of laundry. Did you know four people use four times as many towels as one person? This is big news for most of you, isn't it? I'm also amazed at how many dishes there are to do. I could almost run the dishwasher every day instead of once a week like I'm used to.

We had a fantastic cleaning weekend. I wish I took photos of Zane and Isaac's room before and after. They were troopers; we all worked for over two hours. I think they were both pleased with the result. They've agreed to a weekly maintenance plan.

We also finished cleaning out the food storage/laundry room. This was a two week project. There was food (fruit?) that Rick's mother had bottled years ago. One of the bottles broke and the "liquid" inside stayed in the shape of a bottle. Whatever fruit and juice that was once in there had become one gelatinous mass. ick. Then there were the dead mice. Four to be exact. All at varying levels of decomposition. I won't even tell you about the mouse scat everywhere. There were also huge containers of wheat; we opened one of them and couldn't see the wheat for all the weevils. Now, all the infested wheat, bottled goo, mice carcasses, scat, and everything else are all gone. The room has been sprayed with Lysol from top to bottom. I'm going to give it one more scrub-down next weekend, and then I'll feel OK about moving some of our storage items in. Whew!!

Wedding Photos

This is long overdue. The CD has been found. However, uploading to blogger or picasa takes forever, and I already uploaded them on facebook. So to see wedding pics go here

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87160&id=642737952&l=301c6

and here

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93387&id=642737952&l=f7685

Super-Me!!

Here I am as a super hero. You can be one too by clicking here.

Thanks Afton, that was fun.

Stories from Utah Valley

I had planned on blogging some wedding photos this evening but can't find the CD. After blaming Rick for losing it in his organized mess of an office, I remembered he gave it to me a couple of weeks ago and I've misplaced it in the move. (Sorry Rick)

So instead, I share with you a Utah Valley experience I had this evening. Everyone in my house, except me- knock on wood, is sick. I came home from work to fix dinner and realized we needed bread and milk. I went to Macy's (Walmart is closer but that place makes me grouchy).

Being new to the area, I don't know the layout of Macy's very well. I prefer organic milk but couldn't see any in the regular milk section. I wondered if they had it in a natural food section. So I grabbed some regular milk, just in case, and sought out the nearest store employee. Here is our conversation.

Me: Excuse me, do you carry organic milk

Employee: What is that?

Me: Organic milk (as I point at my gallon of 1% hormone infested stuff)

Employee: All I can think of is Rice Milk.

Me: No, it's like regular milk, but organic. (again showing him what milk looks like)

Employee: (with complete confusion) I don't know what you're talking about. I've never even heard of that.

And then he just walked away. I completely stumped him. I wonder, is this a Macy's issue? Utah Valley? or just the employee? I was in a hurry as it was already 7:00, so I bought what was in my hand and came home.

Hi Everyone

I have nothing specific to say, just that I've missed blogging and I'm ready to come back. I keep thinking that I can't blog until I have time to sit down and go through all the wedding photos. That may not happen for a bit (maybe this weekend...maybe not). So, here I sit at my work computer, ready to go home for the day and I just was hit with the need to blog.

So... hi. I've been sporadically reading everyone's blogs, so I'm somewhat up on your lives. Here's the basic 411 on me.

Married-loving it

Hoping to have my condo ready to list by Friday (fingers crossed)

Things at the new (Rick's) place are shaping up and I'm feeling almost organized.

I'm commuting now from Orem to SLC every day. Not ideal, but not as bad as I thought it would be.


Actually, leaving my condo has been harder than I thought. I'm giving up the space that has been my space for the last 11 years. I've made it just how I want it, including my new kitchen. And now I'm just turning it over to a stranger who will redo everything anyway. I've also loved living downtown- as I've mentioned before. I do like the new neighborhood and it is nice to have a warm neighborhood feel instead of a sterile condo building. I will not miss sharing property with strangers! (People are crazy.) Also on the plus side- where I loved coming home and having my space, it is also nice to go home to people who are excited to see me. Rick is the cutest thing ever and usually has dinner ready by the time my long trek home is over. So, as I've learned over and over, life is trade offs. I gave up one thing for another, and it's a good thing.

I was talking to a friend the other day about how stressed I was with all this change coming into my life. When I moved back to Utah from Colorado in 1996, I freaked out buying my condo. I did not want to plant roots. I loved being able to pick up and go whenever I wanted. I thrived on change. Since that time, I have become comfortable in my life. Not many changes and not many complaints. Good job; good home; fun trips; great friends; steady, stable life. Last fall the idea of all this change freaked me out. Now that I'm in the middle of it, I remember why I loved change so much. It is invigorating. Nice to know I can get out of my comfort zone (more than just for a few weeks traveling somewhere new) and find joy in new things.

Alright- hopefully I'll get some pictures posted and the wedding wrap up on here in the next week.