Jobs...Jobs...Jobs

In the past, I have been extremely blessed with my employment status!

My very first job, was at an embroidery shop in North Ogden. I walked in, filled out the application, and started the next day.

My second job, also known as my most recent position, was at LDS Business College. I was a scholarship recipient and I didn't even have to apply! They emailed me, asked me to send a resume, and called me in for an interview. I was so blessed to have my job at the College because it was the perfect position for me, and I was blessed to know some amazing people!

So... As you can tell, my experience job hunting has been extremely limited to NONE.  This last week has been... A roller coaster. I had an interview at one bank, for the teller position, and they seemed really excited to hire me... Monday I got the call saying I didn't get it. It has only been since last Wednesday that I have been applying, but two rejections has been hard! Oh well, just another opportunity to get a position that better fits my personality!

Job hunting is hard, but I admit, its a wonderful opportunity to rely on the Lord and to grow in many ways! Currently the most noticeable growth has been around my middle... But that's a story for a different day!

The weather here has been amazing! If it rains today, it will be the second rainy day in the last week and a half. I love the oxygen-filled air, the warm sun on my face, and the green grass outside the window!  I am becoming quite the bread maker! Four loaves since we got here, qualifies me for this title!

More updates later!

Love,


Justin & Mitzi

Hogle Zoo

Justin and I decided that it was our turn to visit the animals at Utah's Hogle Zoo.  Here are some of the cute animals that we got to see:



Mountain Goats



Goose

Justin (just kidding! He just wanted to be in a picture!)

Prairie Dog

Suki's Other Family (Spider Monkey)

Swan... Big Feet

Camel with Arthritis

Baby Zuri and Mom

Tarzan

My Hand wasn't Big Enough

Look how long my tongue is!

Human Simba Cub

Sea Turtle

Nap Time

Justin's Hand was Close

We had fun! Seeing animals always makes my day brighter!

Second Haircut

Its always cheaper to cut your own hair right?? Sometimes, I wonder. Especially when I cut Justin's hair and he is as wiggly as a two-year old! This is a picture of him right after I finished trimming up the back and he would not hold still. No he isn't on drugs! He was just being goofy.

My mom taught me how to cut his hair about four months ago. It is the most stressful thing I have ever done! I worry so much about getting it so perfect that it takes about an hour and a half to finish the haircut, but it always looks good in the end!

Here's how worried I get.... Every time the hair starts to grow over his ears he always tells me that its time for a haircut and I magically get sick the first day he wants one. The next, I have to go to the store. Once its been three or four weeks later, I finally break down and do it! It is quite a wonderful experience having someone trust you with their looks!

Here is Justin after the haircut. Look how happy he is! Doesn't it look good? I love how accepting he is of my insecurities (aka... his trust with my haircutting skills.) I am in love with every minute of my life!

What I'll Miss about Utah

The past few weeks I have taken it upon myself to pay attention to all of my surroundings and realize how wonderful Heavenly Father has made this world for us. There are several things that I will miss about Utah and I've even come up with a few things that I will NOT miss.

NOT Miss:

• Dry Climate
• My hands, feet, legs, face, every part of me that gets smeared with lotion several times a day will not miss this cycle. The humidity in Missouri should keep my dry skin somewhat at bay. 
• Low Oxygen
• Not only will my lungs relax and start to breathe properly, my body will also start working a little more efficiently! I have asthma, and with our thin air it makes walking outside and especially exercising outside very difficult. 

WILL Miss:

• Family



Vernon, Utah Reservoir

• My side of the family is mostly here in Utah. We have some in Texas, Oklahoma, and Oregon as well. I won't be here in person, but in spirit the family parties are being attended!
• Mountains
• I love the mountains! There are so many opportunities in Utah to go hiking and mountain biking. It is even fun sometimes to go hunting (not the killing part though).
• Camp-outs
• I'll miss the family camp-outs and the fun four-wheeler rides with dirt-filled hair. 
• Desert
• Yes... I'll miss the desert. I love exploring and seeing all the cool artifacts left by the Indians and the Pony Express routes that Dad used to take us on.
• Temples in Close Proximity
• It is such a blessing for us to have temples wherever we are. I think sometimes we take it for granted how close we are to the Lord's House. In Missouri, we will be able to attend the temple once a month until the Kansas City Temple is completed. The closest temple is the St. Louis Temple. 

There are a lot of things to miss, but there is so much to learn and so many ways to grow through experiencing different atmospheres!

Dreams

Do you ever feel like you were born in the wrong decade? Does the music you listen to grate on your nerves? Do you ever think that it would be wonderful to live in a world without all this technology and distractions?

These are often some of the thoughts that cross my mind on a day to day basis. I always wonder what it would be like to experience life as a pioneer. We can all be pioneers in our own little ways. We can be the first in our family to attend a college. We can be the first in our family to buy a new car. We can even be the first in our family to create a new recipe!

However, this isn't the pioneer I was talking about. I have been taking a Church History class this semester. It seems that the more I learn about the pioneer life in the 1840's the more I want to be one of them! It would be so amazing to be able to farm on miles of land, making our own flour, creating our won living, building our own houses, etc. See... I was born in the wrong decade; Century even!

It would be so wonderful to raise animals, to eat and to play with. The beautiful horse rides through the Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, and Utah valleys. Even being able to swim in whatever creek or river you wanted just because you could would be so much fun! Interactions with indians, both good and bad, could have some amazing results!

If only we could be so independent and self-sufficient today... Oh well! I can dream can't I!

Achieving Balance

Everyone has their trials. Some have trials in heartbreaks and others in physical disabilities. Ours seem to exist in apartment problems, homework and sleep! Some days it feels like these three things dictate our life's. The equation for balance that I like to consider consists of three questions.

1. How much time do you spend devoted to religious activity?
2. How much time is spent with your spouse?
3. Are you happy with the activities you preform in your day to day existance?

After careful consideration of these questions, it is then appropriate to find ways to to alleviate stress by taking steps to balance out your life. Sometimes this includes watching less television, waiting for a spouse to eat dinner, and maybe even smiling at a stranger or passerby!

I promise that the more you do in the service of your Lord, or whatever thing/person you feel most important in your life, you will become happier and more excited to wake up every morning! An effective way that I have found to balance my life is to attend the temple at least two times a week. By doing this, I have been putting the Lord first and honoring my own personal goals and promises. Everything seems to fall into place and the arguements of a newly-married couple become less and less and the honor, love, and respect for each other gros more and more each day!

Is it time for you to consider finding balance in your life?

Utilities on the Up & Up

Imagine for a minute living in a huge house with all your favorite amenities. Ranging from a heated pool, hot tub, jacuzzi in the master bath, big screen tv, central heating and a/c, washer and dryer, dishwasher, latest fridge, and an electric oven. Now, imagine that electric bill. Pretty high huh, maybe close to $200 a month?

Now imagine a one bedroom apartment. Imagine it with an older fridge, a stove from the seventies, a water heater that is not even in the unit, and a LCD tv and a wii, finally, wall heaters. Living in a small apartment such as this, in an older building with pretty solid walls there is no need to use the heaters unless you are losing heat through the windows. To combat this, put a piece of cardboard between the two window panes and you find a lot more heat stays in your apartment. So... With the heater breakers turned off, everything unplugged but the refridgerator and tv, what do you think your electric bill would be now?

Try...$121.

Not even kidding. This was our electric bill for January. We have had some problems with our fridge freezing food, and not even getting cold. After numerous fixes it is finally working how it should! A tub with a constant stream of hot water leaking no matter how tight you have turned off the faucet may cause the water heater to continuously heat water as well... No one told us that! After loosing tons of groceries to the bipolar fridge, and lots of wasted hot water, our bill kept moving higher and higher. After further investigation, we were able to reduce our rent due to our problems with the appliances!

Thank goodness for understanding power companies!

Next bill...<$50 would be appreciated!

Hope you are all having better luck!

Stress Relief

Its that time again where it feels like everything you do is working and then something is thrown in your face that is new and you have to learn to deal with it. It always seems like right when we get our priorities straight, they are thrown way off balance and what/who should have been first, without even realizing it, ends at the bottom....Again.

This happened today! Justin and I felt impressed to attend the Draper Utah Temple on Saturday. We spent 4 hours in the safety of God's house. A day as spiritual as this particular Saturday could not stop our spiritual progression so we continued through church on Sunday! After spending a beautiful day learning of the gospel and spending time with Darin and Jolyn and the kids, we got to come home and rest. The worries of the next day (Monday) were placed at the back of our minds and all we focused on was rejuvenating our bodies just like our spirits had been rejuvenated.

And then Monday hit.... After sleeping through the alarm, rushing to get ready, nearly being late to class, it was almost too much! About five minutes into class, Justin & I noticed that we were five assignments behind in one of our Accounting classes and four assignments behind in the other! What a mess! The adversary sure does know how to get in our way when everything was/is going so well. After my last Accounting class of the day, I normally get to sit down to lunch and get my mind in check for the work hours ahead of me. Keep in mind.... its Monday.

Today already started off on an interesting foot, so of course, lunch was going to be different too! As soon as I stepped foot into the office I knew something was up and that I just needed to start working. From that point on, it felt like the world stopped turning and everything that was running smoothly before suddenly stopped! And all the things that were moving with the world, fell in piles on the heads of those directly associated with getting these processes done. The week of tuition deadline is always the hardest for people in the finance department. I don't think some of the students realize how much goes on behind the scenes!

When the processes to run checks quit working and we had hundreds of checks to work on and tax forms to get out, I ended up working an hour later than I have ever been scheduled. With deadlines coming up and lives outside of work to focus on,  my life just got harder!

So... My stress relief today has been focused on Crocheting with our Suki on my lap, and watching TV dramas that have characters with lives harder than mine! Oh boy.... Get ready for a great week of school, work, religion (THE most important), and last but almost as important as religion, spending time with my best friend.

I love you Justin!!

Have a good week everybody!

Hobbies or Habits?

Each one of us has our favorite things to do everyday. Some like to read while others like to cook. When do our hobbies cross the line to a habit? Do we do it everyday? Once a week? Do we work on our "hobby" while our spouse is in the room? Do we use this time to better ourselves or to just take up the empty time in our everyday lives?

These are a few questions plaguing my mind today. Everyday I like to walk home from work, sit on the couch and watch a TV show. Sometimes I'll do dishes, exercise, play with Suki, or even cook.  Yesterday, I decided to watch a TV show, cook, and... Do the dishes! Would my watching a TV show be considered a habit or a hobby? I believe it has become a habit. Reasons Why: I do it everyday, I manage to perform other tasks while watching it, and I still have time to take advantage of having a spouse and an adorable kitty to play with!

Did it start as a simple hobby? Yes... I used it to calm down and relieve stress for the first couple of weeks. Now it has become an everyday thing and the stress-relieving meaning has now flown out the window. Its not as easy anymore for me to slip into the show's character's lives as it used to be. I don't forget my problems, I don't let the time slip by quite as easily either.

Take my advice. Watching TV can be fun and entertaining at first. But after continuous use, it just becomes the noise in the background while you focus on other things. Do we really want all that noise in our lives? Can you feel the spirit as your constant companion while you are watching TV or playing video games? I believe these distractions make it harder to feel the comfort offered to us when we allow these worldy influences as a constant. Do we spend as much time making a habit out of scripture reading as we do everything else?

What is your priority? When does it go from hobby to habit?

Sushi Mania

Reasons I love Simply Sushi:

• Delicious Sushi at an inexpensive price.
• Fun sushi chefs that talk to you while you are eating!
• Deliciousness that I can't get enough of!
• Fish on demand!
• Food that fills my stomach!
• Something that Justin and I can do together.

Justin and I are sushi lovers. We used to go all of the time! Simply Sushi is the restaurant of our choice because you can have all you can eat sushi for a small price of $19.99 a person! We had made a goal to wait until April 14 (graduation day) to go again because it is so expensive. However, just four weeks after setting the goal we couldn't stand it anymore! I have this insatiable craving for fish all of the time and last night, Justin had it too. But now we will do it! From now on, we will not go to Simply Sushi until April 14! Last night was our last trip and we WILL stick to it! (I'm working on my self-discipline and will-power if you couldn't tell!)