There hasn't been much to report on the last few weeks. Since starting work I see a lot less of Brett which means we don't get to do as many fun things which means there isn't much to blog about. Additionally, my free time has been cut so I don't need to blog as often to keep me entertained. BUT... I know you are all dying on the inside because you haven't heard from us recently, so I decided to give a little update.
BRETT:
Brett finished umpiring for the summer. He went out with a bang by doing some state championship games! (that means he is legit!) Because it was a championship there were multiple games going on one right after another. He was a trooper and did it all afternoon and evening last Tuesday. I brought him dinner and watched one of the games. It was during this game that I finally saw first hand what happens when Brett makes a call some people don't like. You see, there was a runner who came home but never stepped on home base. Brett called him out, much to the dislike of the parents. I was sitting in front of a really vocal father who kept yelling at Brett. So what do I do? I turn around and yell back. "No sir, YOU are blind! Your son never touched the plate!" Okay, so that was a lie. The truth....I didn't do anything. I sat there quietly hoping that it would all be over soon. haha. So much for sticking up for my husband! whoops.
Even though baseball is over, Brett is still working diligently at the MTC. We had a little get-together with his work buddies the other night so that was fun. (minus the super spicy Mexican food they served) He is also playing on two intramural softball teams. He is their "big-hitter" and his experience in baseball is undoubtedly helping the team. Brett has also stepped up around the house and is picking up the slack that I've been dropping since starting work. Thanks hun! You rock!
KIRSTEN:
I'm literally thinking, dreaming and living my new job constantly! I'm loving going into work and I love expanding my knowledge base while I am at home so I can better help the students. I could live without the dreams though, since most of them are nerve wrecking. But overall I couldn't be happier with the job. The people I work with are great. We had a bon-fire the other night with the employees and I felt very welcomed even though I'm so new. My learning curve is finally reaching the climax which is nice. The first week was very overwhelming as far as learning new skills and trying to put them into practice while still remembering small details about the students so I could chart on their behavior. I came home with a headache every night. But this week has been smooth as butter and for that I am very thankful!
Other than work, my life is pretty routine. Since I don't have to go in until 1:30pm I still get to sleep in, keep updated on my blog reading (very important), and most days I get to see Brett for about half an hour before I run off to work. Oh the joys of having opposite schedules. Also, my brithday is in less than a week and Brett has already started spoiling me! Did I mention that I have the best husband??
Well today is the 24th of July. If you are in Utah or from Utah you'll know what that means. If not, what it means is that most people will get today off work. I say most because I still have to go to work and Brett actually picked up another shift for someone tonight, so he is working twice. Nothing like working on the holidays. But we both have tomorrow night off to play, so that will make up for it!
Enjoy your holiday/ weekend! And I'll try to be better at updating with shorter posts in the future. :)
Friday, July 24, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Back in the real world
Since getting married I've been on vacation, or at least that is how it has felt. I've been able to sleep in and play with Brett whenever he was not working. And I'm not going to lie, it has been nice. Sure it also involved numerous hours spent looking for job openings, dozens of e-mails with my resume attached (one of which resulted in my new (!) e-mail getting spammed. I now get 20-40 unwanted e-mails a day. yes, every day. Luckily Gmail has an excellent filtering system and I never have to see or deal with any of them), and more than a handful of interviews. Oh and then there was the boredom that was inevitable and the frustration with the economy and the moments of concern about my future. But even with all of that, my laid-back lifestyle was pretty dang good. I say "was" because it is no more. I am now officially a working woman again! Don't get my wrong, I was enjoying my "vacation" but I'm super excited for this new adventure!
I started yesterday working at a residential treatment center here in the state. I can't say too much without breaking confidentiality, but I will say this. I've spent all day reading 45 pages of the training manual (there are over 80 pages total) and I'm actually enjoying it! It is great to see all the values and principles I've studied being put into action. I'm far from experienced with implementing many of the techniques but I'm excited to get the practice -- hopefully not at the students' expense. Right now the position is just over part-time (about 25-30 hours a week) but there is room for advancement and as I said before, it will be great experience! I get practice interacting with the students, writing case notes, following their therapeutic intervention plans, and hopefully making a positive influence in their lives. Plus, they are always doing fun things. They have recreational therapy and other off-campus events all the time (ie: biking, fishing, movies, horseback riding, hiking, swimming, park visits, sports etc). And yes, I get to participate. Sure there are some downsides. One being that I work Friday nights and Brett works Saturday nights. But that's nothing that we can't work around....Tuesday night is now our official date night!
I'm just so excited and grateful. Once again, God's plan has surpassed everything I expected. :)
In other news...
I started yesterday working at a residential treatment center here in the state. I can't say too much without breaking confidentiality, but I will say this. I've spent all day reading 45 pages of the training manual (there are over 80 pages total) and I'm actually enjoying it! It is great to see all the values and principles I've studied being put into action. I'm far from experienced with implementing many of the techniques but I'm excited to get the practice -- hopefully not at the students' expense. Right now the position is just over part-time (about 25-30 hours a week) but there is room for advancement and as I said before, it will be great experience! I get practice interacting with the students, writing case notes, following their therapeutic intervention plans, and hopefully making a positive influence in their lives. Plus, they are always doing fun things. They have recreational therapy and other off-campus events all the time (ie: biking, fishing, movies, horseback riding, hiking, swimming, park visits, sports etc). And yes, I get to participate. Sure there are some downsides. One being that I work Friday nights and Brett works Saturday nights. But that's nothing that we can't work around....Tuesday night is now our official date night!
I'm just so excited and grateful. Once again, God's plan has surpassed everything I expected. :)
In other news...
- We finally got a desk for our bedroom
- Corn on the Cob is our new favorite side-dish
- I'm officially addicted to playing Mexican Train Dominoes online
- Yesterday was my dear mother's birthday (mine is in 2 and 1/2 ish weeks!)
- BYU now knows that Brett and I are married (another BYU success story documented)
- And we aren't dead yet.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Fourth of July Festivities
Food, fun and fireworks. What more could you ask for in a weekend??
The fun all started out on Friday when we went to the Oquirrh Mountain open house. We went with Susie and Steve (Brett's aunt and uncle who live in Sandy) and his Grandparents (who were visiting from Baker for the weekend). It was beautiful, both inside and out.
The Angel Moroni was recently hit by lightening and you can still kind of see that his arm is a little blackened.
Elder Perry was touring the open house at the same time we were. We saw him a few times inside the temple and then again outside.
After the open house we went to dinner at a place called Bonsai (?). Its one of those restaurants where they cook the food in front of you. Very fun and very yummy! The good eating didn't stop there though. I made a big breakfast for Brett Saturday morning before he had to go to work. And then in the afternoon we went with his family to Tucanos- a Brazilian restaurant that specializes in meat. All you can eat meat. YUM!
After we over-ate at Tucanos we all headed over to BYU's football stadium. Aunt Susie got us all tickets to the Stadium of Fire. (THANKS!). We were lucky to be sitting on the west side in the shade. I felt bad for the people on the other side (as shown in the picture) who were just roasting in the sunshine.
Last year for the Fourth Brett was out of town. Spending the day with him this year was much better!
The show started off with a fly-over. Thanks to all those in the armed forces that work so hard to protect us and especially those who sacrificed their evening to fly these awesome planes for our enjoyment.
Cami (Brett's cousin) was one of the Stadium of Fire dancers. We enjoyed watching her dance from a distance. Luckily we had binoculars that we used to pick her out of the crowd.
They flew a large American Flag by cranes. We learned later that this flag has been through a lot but that the only time it ever flew free was that night. It was quite the sight.
These helicopters made a couple of flyby's as well during the show!
SheDaisy was there to perform a few songs which I really enjoyed.
But the main attraction this year at the Stadium of Fire was... The Jonas Brothers! woot. Actually this was probably our least favorite part of the show but I just had to document it. And they did play a song "for the parents in the crowd". Brett and I got up and danced to that one just to show how old we really are.... closer to the age of the parents in the crowd than the teenagers. Well, not technically, but definitely when it comes to music tastes.
And what would the Stadium of Fire be without fire? Here you see the fire dancers...
And the fire trees...
And of course, the fire works! (The ones on the right are my favorite! They sparkle so much. Brett likes the loud ones.)
An additional fire display this year was the burning of the large American flag (as seen in a previous picture). It was worn out and custom dictates that the proper retirement of a used flag is through burning. They placed the flag in the large incinerator on the left which fueled the flame in the torch on the right. What a sight!
I happen to think that the Fourth of July is one of the more romantic holidays we celebrate. Hopefully you spend the whole day with the one you love and then you get to cuddle in close as you watch the fireworks. We definitely had a great day!
Hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend and were able to celebrate with family and friends. We enjoyed ours!
The fun all started out on Friday when we went to the Oquirrh Mountain open house. We went with Susie and Steve (Brett's aunt and uncle who live in Sandy) and his Grandparents (who were visiting from Baker for the weekend). It was beautiful, both inside and out.
The Angel Moroni was recently hit by lightening and you can still kind of see that his arm is a little blackened.
Elder Perry was touring the open house at the same time we were. We saw him a few times inside the temple and then again outside.
After the open house we went to dinner at a place called Bonsai (?). Its one of those restaurants where they cook the food in front of you. Very fun and very yummy! The good eating didn't stop there though. I made a big breakfast for Brett Saturday morning before he had to go to work. And then in the afternoon we went with his family to Tucanos- a Brazilian restaurant that specializes in meat. All you can eat meat. YUM!
After we over-ate at Tucanos we all headed over to BYU's football stadium. Aunt Susie got us all tickets to the Stadium of Fire. (THANKS!). We were lucky to be sitting on the west side in the shade. I felt bad for the people on the other side (as shown in the picture) who were just roasting in the sunshine.
Last year for the Fourth Brett was out of town. Spending the day with him this year was much better!
The show started off with a fly-over. Thanks to all those in the armed forces that work so hard to protect us and especially those who sacrificed their evening to fly these awesome planes for our enjoyment.
Cami (Brett's cousin) was one of the Stadium of Fire dancers. We enjoyed watching her dance from a distance. Luckily we had binoculars that we used to pick her out of the crowd.
They flew a large American Flag by cranes. We learned later that this flag has been through a lot but that the only time it ever flew free was that night. It was quite the sight.
These helicopters made a couple of flyby's as well during the show!
SheDaisy was there to perform a few songs which I really enjoyed.
But the main attraction this year at the Stadium of Fire was... The Jonas Brothers! woot. Actually this was probably our least favorite part of the show but I just had to document it. And they did play a song "for the parents in the crowd". Brett and I got up and danced to that one just to show how old we really are.... closer to the age of the parents in the crowd than the teenagers. Well, not technically, but definitely when it comes to music tastes.
And what would the Stadium of Fire be without fire? Here you see the fire dancers...
And the fire trees...
And of course, the fire works! (The ones on the right are my favorite! They sparkle so much. Brett likes the loud ones.)
An additional fire display this year was the burning of the large American flag (as seen in a previous picture). It was worn out and custom dictates that the proper retirement of a used flag is through burning. They placed the flag in the large incinerator on the left which fueled the flame in the torch on the right. What a sight!
I happen to think that the Fourth of July is one of the more romantic holidays we celebrate. Hopefully you spend the whole day with the one you love and then you get to cuddle in close as you watch the fireworks. We definitely had a great day!
Hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend and were able to celebrate with family and friends. We enjoyed ours!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Feeling Crafty?
Feeling crafty? I am! My only problem is that I have limited ideas, resources and skill. I don't have a sewing machine or for that matter a needle/thread. And although I can remedy the latter, I still don't know what to do. Any ideas? Help!
Here are some I thought of. Some are practical, some are not.
If I had a sewing machine I'd love to either make a apron
or a cute baby quilt. I'm not pregnant but this is just too adorable! Although I'm sure its also a lot of work.
Framed monogram letter. I'm thinking black frame, black fabric for the letter and a green background to match the living room?? This craft looks easy because its just mod podgeing fabric on cardboard.
Painted Wood Letters. It might be fun to paint big wooden letters to spell out SMITH. Obviously I'd make it look less kid-ish.
Framed bulletin board. I think this is a cute idea, I just don't know where I'd put it once it's done.
Hair ties. These felt based hair ties look easy enough to make. Although I would probably need to invest in a hot glue gun.
Cards. I could also really stretch my creative ability and make some cards. But that seems so daunting. I don't even know how to start!
Help?? Which one should I do first? Do you have any other easy and fun suggestions? Do you want to come over and have a craft party?
Here are some I thought of. Some are practical, some are not.
If I had a sewing machine I'd love to either make a apron
or a cute baby quilt. I'm not pregnant but this is just too adorable! Although I'm sure its also a lot of work.
Alas, since I don't have a sewing machine and I don't plan on getting one soon I have to stick to non-sewing crafts. Here are a few ideas I've had in that department, but I need more!
Framed monogram letter. I'm thinking black frame, black fabric for the letter and a green background to match the living room?? This craft looks easy because its just mod podgeing fabric on cardboard.
Painted Wood Letters. It might be fun to paint big wooden letters to spell out SMITH. Obviously I'd make it look less kid-ish.
Framed bulletin board. I think this is a cute idea, I just don't know where I'd put it once it's done.Hair ties. These felt based hair ties look easy enough to make. Although I would probably need to invest in a hot glue gun.
Cards. I could also really stretch my creative ability and make some cards. But that seems so daunting. I don't even know how to start!
Help?? Which one should I do first? Do you have any other easy and fun suggestions? Do you want to come over and have a craft party?
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Fresh air and room to move
One of the best parts of warm weather is the increased incentive to go outside. Fresh air is good for the mind, body and spirit. Brett and I joined a few other couples from our ward and went on a hike Monday night for FHE. We hiked to Stewart Falls which is up by Sundance near Mount Timpanogos. Maybe one day I'll be adventurous enough to hike Mount Timp. Until then, this hike was perfect. It took about 3 hours round trip and that included travel time and time at the falls to play around and enjoy to scenery. The weather was perfect and aside from a little run in with some stinging nettle we had no major incidents.
First day of July!
First day of July!
That means two things...
Happy Canada Day
and
It is my BIRTHDAY MONTH! 30 days and counting :)
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