The Carpenters

The Macklins come to Cali

2011-11-03T13:32:00.000-07:00

My family came to So. Cal for their annual vacation and to visit us, of course. They spent the first 3 days in Oceanside. Josh and I drove down to spend the day with them Sunday. We ate yummy fish and chips on the pier then hung out at the beach. We had Brooklyn Boyz pizza for dinner and it was awesome! We played games and had a great time. My little sister and her friend LOVED G.V. and kept him very entertained.

Monday we went to Knotts Berry farm but unfortunately Josh couldn't go. On the drive there I was helping my dad with directions on my iphone and it said to take the 4o5 so we got off and my dad asks " So what are we looking for?" and my mom responds "I just saw a park and ride sign back there so we're probably really close...oh wait, nevermind, I'm a dork!" haha She was thinking theme park and rides not the metro. So funny! we all had a good laugh. She's so stinkin cute! We ate our traditional breakfast at the chicken restaurant there because my grandma loves the free little biscuits that they give you. There was NO ONE in the park and we walked on to every ride. We finished doing everything we wanted to do by 1, had lunch at the same restaurant and then went on more rides. I couldn't keep my eyes open and fell asleep on the train ride. My dad and I sat with my grandma and people watched. Celebrity sighting: We saw CHUCK LIDELL, the famous UFC fighter, there with his wife. at the end of the day they dropped me off at home and headed back to oceanside for a couple more days.

I had a really busy week with work, which I needed, so I only got to play with them monday and friday. Thursday I worked and then Josh's mom and sister came into town and dropped off something out our house and picked something up but they locked their keys inside and couldn't get back in so they ended up staying the night. we had dinner at Red Robins and then I went to stay in anaheim with my family. They headed up to Solvang and Friday we went to Disneyland all day and had a blast. It was super busy, unlike Knott's so we didn't get to do as much. It was nice to spend the day there with them. Josh came over and spent the night friday night. My parents were so sweet and got us our own condo. It was silly because we both left super early for work and only slept there but it was nice to have our own room. Josh would of had to sleep on the couch if they hadn't. Saturday I worked until noon and then went back to anaheim to see them but since it was their last day at Disneyland they decided to stay at the park until close and I can't go on weekends with my pass. Josh volunteered at Care Now LA. They brought in over 70 dental chairs and had volunteer dental professionals work on patients for 4 days straight. People starting lining up on monday to be seen thursday! he had a really amazing experience and got to do a ton of work. He loved it so much he did it again sunday morning.

Saturday night we had a super fun halloween party at my friends house. They have one every year and go all out. They do costume and pumpkin carving contests and have lots of games and treats. We wanted to go all out this year and step our game up because last year we didn't try very hard at all and did something last minute. I had a friend who made a bell costume last year out of an old prom dress she found at the thrift store. She died it yellow and made a sash for the top. It was perfect so I borrowed it and then another friend made Josh an incredible Coggsworth clock costume out of felt. My mom helped me make GV the cutest little footstool costume so we could all go with the Beauty and the beast theme. We didn't win the costume party but we did win the pumpkin carving contest. We carved the Beast. We're pretty much amazing, I know.

Sunday my parents brought my grandma to stay with us and we went to lunch and Josh's aunt, grandma, and cousin came to meet us to pick up some stuff. Josh missed out again because he was volunteering but it was nice to see everyone.

My Grandma stayed with us an extra week and was Josh's patient in the clinic. He got to do some work on her and clean her teeth so that was good for both of them. It was so fun having her here. She spoiled us and fattened us up. We played games and watched movies and spent some good quality time with her. I wanted her to stay longer but we had to take her back. I'm thankful that she was always willing to be "our guinea pig" as she puts it.

It was a crazy couple of weeks but it was so much fun. I loved having so much company and gettting to spend time with our families. We don't get to do that very often so it was a special treat!

Meet G. V. Black

2011-09-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

We got a PUPPY!! Josh went to San Franscisco and while he was gone I picked up the little guy. We had been talking about it for years and I have been obsessing about it for the last several months. I finally decided to take the plunge! Josh thought that the dog was super cute and said that he wanted me to be happy and that he would support my decision. He is an 8 week old maltipoo (1/2 toy poodle and 1/2 toy maltese) We named him G. V. Black after the founder of modern dentistry. Nerdy, we know, but we LOVE it. We call him "Geevee". He is a very good puppy and is pretty much crate and potty trained. The first couple of days were rough for all of us as we tried to figure this all out but its getting better every day. He sleeps in his crate very well and only cries a little but we just say "no" and he stops right away. He is getting so good at going potty on his pads outside and we put him out and he will go right away and then give a little bark to let us know he's done then sits patiently and waits for us to open the door and let him in. He is shy and will only go if we don't stay out there with him. He is playful in spurts but he sleeps A LOT since he is still just a baby. He is so sweet and cuddly and he is just the most adorable little thing ever!! He is like a little teddy bear. He loves to be held and scratched and he likes to play with our toes while we eat at the table. I am a little overwhelmed with having someone else depending on me and I don't have any idea what I'm doing so its pretty scary. I feel way bad that we have to leave him alone while I work and Josh has school. He does fairly well. Some days a lot better than others. We leave him in the kitchen with every thing he needs and we put some music on for him. I know he gets lonely and bored but he will get used to it hopefully! I have been second guessing my decision to get him but then he cuddles up to us and he is learning so fast and I just don't think I could get rid of him now. We'll just all have to make it work!

The Job Hunt

2011-09-19T15:39:00.001-07:00

So I have an amazing job at the best office every other saturday. But unfortunately it's only a half day twice a month and that just doesn't cut it financially so I'm still on the prowl for something else. I have been very blessed to have 3 different things pending. I had an interview last Friday in La Habra and then a working interview at the same office the following Tuesday. It was a little chaotic but I liked the Dentist and his treatment philosophy and the office was new and nice. Then I had an interview in Redlands on Wednesday and one of my favorite teachers works there part time also. the interview went pretty well and I have a working interview scheduled for next Friday. I also have an interview lined up at an office in Claremont very close to home that will be a great opportunity for growth from starting as a temp to eventually up to 3 days a week.

I also got a job at Western University, Josh's school, as an adjunct faculty. I will be facilitating an inter-professional case study group but only 4 times this semester and then some more next year. So things are going really well and I'm so excited to have so many opportunities. It is a little overwheming trying to decide which job to take and how to juggle all the days I already have as a temp and then part time jobs at different offices but I have faith that it will all work out just perfectly.

The Big Five-Oh

2011-09-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

My daddy just turned 50 on Sept 16. I was able to go spend the weekend with him and my mom in Vegas. I ended up working friday from 7-2 and had to get up at 5 to get there. I then drove 4.5 hours straight from work to Vegas. I got there around 6:30 and we went to a yummy Italian restaurant for dinner. I was super boring and just went to bed when we got back to the room. The next morning they had a meeting and I took my time getting ready and took a bath in the huge Jacuzzi tub. I laid out on the balcony and wished that I could play in the lazy river. We started the day with a buffet at the Silverton and then enjoyed looking at the fish and ducks at bass pro shop. Then we went shopping and they spoiled me as usual which was nice considering it was his birthday not mine. But I'm not one to complain about gifts. Then we went back to the room and watched football and ate snacks. We only saw the first few minutes of the Utah vs BYU game but it was glorious to behold. I'm sorry to all you BYU fans but I do love Utah! We got free tickets to a comedy show at the RIO and we decided to have another buffet there first because I love the rio buffet. They have all you can eat gelato and who doesn't love gelato? SO after gorging myself for the 3rd time that day I was feeling super sick and miserable as we watched the 2 shows there at the rio. The free show in the shops was very naughty but the floats were fun and the beads were nice. Then I just went back and went to bed again. So it was a very relaxing and fun weekend with my cute parents. I'm so lucky to have such awesome parents. They do so much for me and Josh and I don't know what we would do without them. Happy Happy Birthday Daddy! I love you :)

First Job!!

2011-08-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

I finally got a permanent job!! I absolutely love the office, the staff, and the Doctor. He is a newer dentist and he started the office from scratch so its pretty small. It has all new state of the art equipment and its super nice and comfortable. He is very friendly and values my opinion. He doesn't try to upsell and he cares a lot about his patients. I don't feel pressure to sell or to push certain things which means a lot to me. I only work there every other Saturday from 8-1. This is the first time he has ever had a hygienist and since his office is still slow he is building up to more days. Its not much but its all mine! I am just thrilled to work there and can't wait until it is more days.

I've been working as a temp hygienist for the last few months and was staying pretty busy but then things got pretty slow. I am signed up with 4 different temp agencies now and I've got my resume on several sites. I've applied to hundreds of jobs and taken my resume around to several offices around my house in about 8 different cities. I've networked with dentists at josh's school, Dentists I've worked for, people in our ward, friends, classmates, co-workers.... I've tried cold calling and online things. I called all the temp agencies again and reminded them I'm still looking and that I'm ready to work. I called all the offices I dropped my resume off at and checked on the status of openings and also sent them updated resumes. I'm doing just about everything I can think along with a ton of praying!

August has not been good to me and so far I've only worked 4 half days. I was laying in bed one morning feeling very discouraged and I just started praying and pouring the desires of my heart out to the lord. I felt a little better and I got up and started getting ready when the phone rang. It was the Dr. I had just interviewed with and he offered me the position! I was so happy I was stumbling over my words and probably sounded like an idiot. The doctor actually laughed!

I worked my first day last Saturday and it went so great! It was a little wild but we are getting things figured out and everyone survived. I felt good about my first day and I know I did my best so that's all I can ask for. Check out the office website if you'd like here http://www.healthysmilesfcd.com/

I know that if I just keep doing the best I can and staying true to my faith, God will provide a way. I know that the right job is out there and that he will lead me to it when the time is right. I'm trying hard to be patient and enjoy the time I have.

Josh and I have had some fun times together since we've both had very open schedules. It is nice to be able to see so much of each other now. We have great friends and there is so much to do here. It has been super hot so we've just kinda hung out at home and its been awesome. I'm so in love and we are so happy. I love my life and i'm grateful to be where I am. I am excited to see what the future holds for us.

The Dominican!!

2011-08-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

We went on a week long trip to the Dominican Republic. It was an all inclusive resort for adults only right on the beach. It was so beautiful and we had an amazing time. I'm not a fan of the beach but I LOVED the beach there. the sand was soft and fluffy and felt more like baby powder than sand. The water was the most spectacular turquoise blue and was so warm with gentle rolling waves. there were tons of palm trees and cabanas around the beach and everyone was so relaxed. Some old ladies were so relaxed they decided to go topless (not pretty!).

We spent most of our time at the pool when we finally rolled out of bed around 10 or 11. Most days we woke up too late for breakfast but a couple times we called in room service. The pool was huge but it was super hot. Almost not even a relief from the heat. It was so sunny and nice up until the last day we were there. Tropical storm Emily came through and it rained most of the afternoon and all night long into the next day.

We ate so much and got to try some new interested things. We had fun going to the different fancy themed restaurants at night but just ate at the snack bar or buffet during the day. We went para-sailing and on the banana boat one day but mostly just laid around or played in the pool. Everyday this crazy guy Ramon or a lady named Yannette would do water aerobics and play music for a few hours. They were good dancers and were funny and entertaining. She said they call her Yannette, la negra sucia. Which is the dirty black lady. and I was talking to her and we were joking around and everyone said my nickname should be la wera sucia which is the dirty white girl haha. at night we would hang out in the lobby and play games or listen to music or we would go to the shops or the club. The resort was huge and we didn't ever even have to leave. We decided to just do planking in random places. We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the rest and relaxation. Most of all I just loved being able to be with Josh so much. I'm still so crazy about him after all these years. I just can't seem to get enough of him so it was pure bliss to be with him every minute of everyday for 2 weeks.

We went with Martha and Gus and another couple Larry and Cindy. of course Josh and I didn't get a ton of pictures. Larry and Cindy had a nice camera and took a lot but we haven't got them yet. I'll post more later.

Our flight home got delayed due to a mechanical issue and then we missed our connecting flight from Miami to LA so we ended up having to stay in Miami. luckily it was their fault so we stayed for free and got free breakfast and dinner. It was nice to have an extra day. We have never been to Miami and we wished we would have had more time to see the city. It was really cool when we flew over though so I'm sure we will go back.

Visitors

2011-08-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

a couple weeks ago Josh's Dad came into town while he was driving truck and we were able to have him stay the night with us. We got ice cream at Handels and then went out to breakfast the next morning before taking him back to his truck. It was nice to see him and to get to spend some time with him.

Then a few days later Josh's uncle, who also drives truck, came into town and he stayed with us a few days also. I took him to the mall so he could get some new clothes for his trip to Disneyland with his 3 cute kiddos. Then my parents came and he had to go back to his truck.

My parents stayed for almost a week and we had so much fun with them! we went to Mormon dodger night and watched them play against the Washington Nationals and then we went to San Diego to see the temple and the Mormon battalion in Old Town San Diego. We ate dinner at the Old Town Mexican Cafe and it was DELICIOUS. We had a very special day as a family there and I'm just so excited about it. Then Sunday we had a nice quiet day of church and then a yummy dinner with our friends Martha and Gus. We went to dinner at a restaurant called "the boiling crab" where you order seafood by the pound and they bring it too you cooked in an amazing sauce in a bag and you eat it right off the table with your hands! it was a mess and we were all covered in it by the end but we finished it and it was soooo good! We went shopping and they spoiled Josh for his birthday (belated but it didn't matter) and then we headed up the mountain to Big Bear to stay for the night. We hung out and ate mostly and just enjoyed the fresh, cool mountain air. When we got back my mom made home made tortillas and my dad made Chile Verde. We went to Gus and Martha's and they had carne asada and rice and beans and we shared a big Home made Mexican feast. I miss their cooking and our big family dinners so it was nice to do it at least once while they were here. We were supposed to go to the beach but I got a job interview and so they ended up leaving early. I was super bummed that I didn't get to say goodbye again. I just kissed them all goodnight and didn't know they wouldn't be there when I got home the next day. I Love them all so much and it was so fun to have our family around us. After they left we started packing and cleaning up the house to get ready for our trip to the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC!

(I carry my camera around everywhere and of course we have our phones but I am so bad at taking pictures. I feel bad I don't have more. I didn't even get 1 of Rick! )

Harry Potter

2011-07-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty much in LOVE with the Harry Potter series. I've read or listened to all the books and I own every movie and watch them over and over. I usually don't like fantasy stuff but for whatever reason Harry Potter is my FAVORITE! I love the stories and the heroism and the love interests and friendship and magic and everything about it. I think the movies have been done so well and they have created such a beautiful "magical" world. I would love to go to Universal Studios, Orlando and visit their Harry Potter world. I know I'm a dork! the past couple of weeks leading up to the 8th and final movie, I watched all the movies consequtively and I fell in love all over again. Every day when Josh came home he would find me intently watching one of the movies. I read the last book earlier this year so that I would know what happened. I couldn't wait to see the final movie and I wanted to end the series by actually reading a book. We went Friday to see Deathly Hallows part 2 in IMAX 3D. It was incredible! the movie was fantastic and I am pretty bummed that its all over. I can't wait for it to come out on DVD so I can watch it whenever I want. So now you know, I'm a dweeb and I have an obsession with Harry Potter. If you haven't seen them, you should!

4th of July

2011-07-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

For the 4th this year we went to Bolsa Chica beach with some of my girlfriends from hygiene school. We had a lot of fun playing volleyball, smash ball, playing in the waves, eating, laying out and having a bonfire and s'mores. It was beautiful weather and there actually weren't that many people around. We didn't feel crowded at all. We were able to watch fireworks from all over. We could see Disneyland's fireworks, Huntington's, Long beach's and at least 12 other cities. It was amazing to have them going off all around us. Then as we drove home they were bursting up from alongside the freeway. I was overwhelmed with patriotism and pride in our country. I'm just so thankful that we live in such a wonderful country and that we have so much freedom. We are truly a blessed people and I'm proud to be an American. God Bless the USA! Happy Independance day to all :)

Action Zip-Line Tours

2011-06-30T15:07:00.001-07:00

We got a groupon for a zipline tour in Big Bear Lake. We went up with our friends Zack and Kendall. I was so scared at first but it was so much fun! we had a great time. there were 9 different ziplines and it was not enough! we could have played all day. Josh was going upside down and spinning and doing lots of fun things and i was too scared until the last one and I went upside down for a few seconds and it was so fun! i'm bummed I was to chicken to try it sooner.

Josh's 25th Birthday!

2011-06-30T14:48:00.000-07:00

Josh Turned 25 on June 25th! we went to San Clemente for the weekend and stayed in a funky little surf motel called Inn at Calafia Beach. It was super cute. We had our friends Jeff and Andrea and their 2 kiddos come and stay with us. Josh and I ate at a really good restaurant on the pier called Fisherman's Restaurant. The fish and chips and the clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl are so so good. We watched the surfers while we ate and enjoyed the nice cool weather. Then we went for a walk along the beach and drove around searching for the perfect spot to play. We found a locals area and got directions how to get there. It was perfect. Then later when our friends came we went to a Hawaiian restaurant and had some really great food there as well. We played games for the rest of the night and the next morning for Josh's birthday we went to the beach.

He built a sweet sand castle that I didnt' get a picture of and played in the waves on our boogie boards which I also didn't get a picture of. I'm so lame! I had a nice long nap and was so refreshed and so sunburned! For dinner that night we went to a Chicago style pizza place and had a buffalo chicken pizza and a pesto pizza.

Andrea and I told the guys we had to go get the baby's food from the car and we snuck over to a bakery and bought 2 expensive yet small cupcakes to surprise Josh with. We stopped at the store to get ice cream sandwiches called It's-it's (2 oatmeal cookies with ice cream in the middle and all dipped in chocolate). Jeff snuck in and got candles and a fire source and we met back at the room and went into the bedroom to light the candles. It was a big mess! The flame lighter that he bought was too hot and melted the "happy birthday" candles that he bought ( each letter was 1 candle) and since i only had 2 cupcakes we tried getting them all on there. So we finally got them all lit and walked out singing and the fan blew out all the candles. Josh was really surprised and when he started eating the german chocalate cake cupcake i got him he made a funny face and set it down. It was so gross! I was furious that I wasted all that money on a nasty cupcake but it was the thought that counts.

Sunday we came home and went to church and afterwards we had a bunch of our friends come over to have cake and ice cream. I tried using the candles again and they still got blown out right away and I burned my finger. They went right in the trash after that! So many people came and crammed into our little apartment. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends here. It makes being so far from our families a little easier because we have people to count on here. I was going to take a picture when everyone was here but i thought i'd eat first and then i forgot and people started leaving. I suck at running the camera. Oh well!

Happy Birthday babe! Love you so so much!

Zions!!

2011-06-30T14:43:00.001-07:00

Fun San Diego Get- Away

2011-06-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

Josh took me to a super nice golf and spa resort near San Diego to celebrate getting my license and him starting clinic. We drove down the Pacific Coast Highway which goes alongside the ocean and through all the little beach towns. It was really laid back and beautiful. We went to the San Diego Temple and did a session. I ran into a Sister Missionary there that I have known since middle school. We got to chat for a bit and she told us to check out the Mormon Battalion in Old Town San Diego so the next morning we decided to do it. We ate at a really yummy restaurant called the Old Town Mexican Cafe where they had ladies up front making fresh tortillas all day. The food was sooo good.

After lunch we walked up to the Mormon Battalion and saw the presentation. The church has remodeled and made it really really cool. as Sister Haggerty put it " it's like Disneyland, Harry Potter, and the gospel all mixed together!" and she was totally right. It was so well done. we had a great time there watching the video and pretending to be in the battalion. Josh got to dress up like a solider and we got to mine for gold outside. It was a really neat experience. If you have a chance to go to the San Diego area it is a must see!

June 2011

2011-06-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

June was pretty busy for us. the last week of may first week of June we were back in good ol' Cedar for memorial day. We had a great time visiting with our families and friends. WE went to Zion hiking, and went to look for cool rocks with my parents out west of town. Mostly we just gorged ourselves on all the yummy food that we can't get in California.

I got my hygiene license while we were in Utah so when we got home I was able to start working. I don't have a permanent position yet but I've been doing temporary things and that has kept me pretty busy. It's nice to get a paycheck! I almost cried at the end of my first day really working as a hygienist and they handed me my check. I was so excited to finally have a career. I'm a professional RDH now and I couldn't be more thrilled! I've been working hard to find a job but things are pretty slow. Everyone wants experience and It's all about who you know so its been tough. I'm hanging in there and things are getting busier. I have faith that everything is working out just how it is supposed to.

Josh started his first semester of CLINIC! He's been seeing patients and actually getting to practice dentistry. He is nervous still but he's doing awesome! He's such a good Dentist already and he's getting better everyday. I'm so proud of him and all his hard work and accomplishments.

MAY 2011

2011-06-30T14:04:00.001-07:00

Our friend's little girl had to get her tonsils out so we watched their adorable baby boy while they were at the hospital. Once she starting feeling better we went to Disneyland and went on all the rides she wanted. Love those little kiddos and their parents!

We went to a restaurant called "The Boiling Crab" where you choose from a list of seafood and sides and they cook them all together with your choice of seasonings and then bring it out in a big bag and set it on the table and you eat it all with your fingers . It's pretty fun and DELICIOUS, so we decided to make our own. That's what we came up with and it was just as tasty!

We went to Newport Beach with some of our friends and spent the day lounging around. I'm starting to really love the beach (I hate sand still but its getting better).

Hiking

2011-06-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

I regularly go on a 5 mile "hike" near our home which we lovingly refer to as "the mills hike" because it is at the top of Mills ave. But to break up the monotony of that my friends and I have taken a couple trips to close by hikes.

Eaton Canyon hike: This is in Alta Dena and was about 8 miles. We heard there was a waterfall so we set off to find it. We went right instead of left and ended up on the top of the mountain. So of course we had to get back down so that was about 6 miles out of our way. however it was beautiful. The view was awesome and it was a pretty intense climb which always makes you feel good. So finally we found the waterfall after having to go back and forth across a pretty large stream. The waterfall was so pretty and so worth the long walk.

Deep Creek Hot Springs:

My friend said she heard about these natural hot springs near Hesperia that she wanted to go to. They are non sulfur pools so they dont smell. its about an hour drive to get there and then a 2 mile hike to the pools. We had heard that sometimes people would go naked there but figured that we would be safe on a wednesday morning. We were WRONG. I've never seen so many "members" in my life and hope to never have that experience again. It was so incredibly gross. When we first got there we had to cross a large river of snow melt to get to the cascading hot springs. you hold onto a rope and make your way across. Well right when we get there we are greeted by an extremely friendly and oh so naked older man who followed us and explained the names and temperatures of all the pools. We made it to the top pool where luckliy everyone had clothes on and they showed us a secluded little pool right on the edge of the stream that was a mix of river and spring water so it was not super hot. WE made our way to that pool away from the nakedness to lounge in the sun in peace. However our naked friend deciced to come on down with a shovel and try to dig our pool deeper while still naked. We told him no thanks please leave so he did. we wanted to lay down so we swam a short distance to some flat rocks and laid out. The water was so cold and we were screaming and shouting and being silly girls and a bunch of naked guys came running to watch. So awkward! then the old guy starts digging away at our pool making it all muddy and flapping his business around. So Josh asked him to go and we went back, got our things and headed home! unfortunately we were behind 2 naked gay guys who did the entire 2 mile hike, uphill, bare naked except for their shoes and their back packs. Can you say Chaffing? So we had to keep stopping to let them get ahead so we wouldn't have to stare at their butts. It was a beautiful area and the pools were so nice but I don't think we will be doing that again.

April was full of comedy!

2011-06-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

We went to see a funny comedian for Martha's birthday but I can't remember his name now. Thats what I get for back blogging. all the comedians that night were super funny and we had a great time.

There is a comedy club near our house in Claremont that we usually get free or super cheap tickets for. We went to see a guy named Jeff Dye with my friends Monica and Tommi and it was HILARIOUS!

Some friends came over to out house to watch general conference and eat yummy food. It is so nice to be able to hear from our latter day prophet and other leaders of the church. We were spiritually fed and definitely physically fed as well. We love our friends who are now more like family and we love our faith. I am so proud to be LDS and I love the gospel more than anything.

The girls and I had our first beach outing together and enjoyed some much needed sunshine after all those months cooped up at school.

Josh's mom, Stephanie, came to visit for her birthday and we went temple hopping together. We went to San Diego just the two of us and then Josh was able to go to the LA temple with us the next day. Both were absolutely incredible and I'm so happy that I am able to enter into the lord's house and to serve there.

It was also my 23rd birthday this year! Josh and I went out for Sushi with a group of friends and then came back to our house for cake and ice cream. So many people came and I didn't get to take a picture of all of them. I'm so lame! but it was fantastic and I'm so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family.

February and March

2011-06-29T16:13:00.001-07:00

RUNYON CANYON, Hollywood, CA. Josh had a convention near LAX so me and my good friends from school met up to do a little hike in Hollywood. Celebrity sighting: Sue Sylvester from Glee. Sorry no picture :( i'm no paparazzi people!

We went bowling with some good friends.

Then we went deep sea fishing out of Oxnard on a boat called the Gentleman. We left our house at 3:30 am and drove over 2 hours to get there. I took some motion sickness pills before we got on the boat however it did no good. after only about 10 minutes on the boat I started getting sea sick. The fact that everyone on the boat smoked except for us did not help the situation either. I went into the little cabin and slept with my head down on the table. When we finally made it to our first fishing spot I fished for a while, caught a few red snapper and had to go back to put my head down. I slept pretty much the whole day and was only awake to throw up which I had to do over the side of the boat because the bathroom was DISGUSTING and made me have to vomit even more. however we did make quite a killing between myself, Josh and our friend Jed. We went home and josh and jed cleaned the fish and we had the most amazing fresh, homemade fish tacos ever! well worth the sickness.

Martha and Gus always have tickets to cool things. We got to go to the Lakers game with them and sit court side once and then they took us to our very first Dodgers game. They are huge fans so of course they also hooked us up with the gear. It was way fun hanging out and watching a real life professional baseball game. The first one I'd ever been too. A few weeks later we went to an Angels game but I cant find pictures. Thanks Martha and Gus!!

The Results Are IN!!!

2011-04-23T09:50:00.001-07:00

I PASSED!!! I got a 97.5% on my clinical boards. I am positive I just forgot to do recession all together which was a max of 2.5 points. OH WELL! I'm so happy to be done with it all. It is such a huge relief to know that I don't have to go through all that again. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to support me and encourage me to do my best. I know that I wouldn't have been able to do as well as I did in my schooling if it weren't for My loving Heavenly Father. When I felt that I had done all I could do and studied as much as I could I would pray and put it in the lord's hands. It worked! Now I just have to send in my application to get my license and take a law and ethics exam and wait for my license to come!!! In about a month I will officially be Sara Carpenter RDH :) In the meantime I will try to continue to enjoy my time off of school and work. I have been reading like a mad woman and exercising a lot more. I've re-organized and re-decorated my house and spent some time with my friends. Life is good!

Dental Hygiene Clinical Boards

2011-04-03T16:30:00.001-07:00

I took the western regional dental hygiene clinical board exam at Phoenix College on March 17th and 18th. My sweet mom drove all the way from Cedar City to Upland (6 hours) picked me and my friend up and drove 6 more hours to Phoenix so that we could study all the way for our anesthesia exam. She brought yummy snacks and got us rooms and drove us wherever we needed to go and helped us keep our sanity. We got there Wednesday night and figured out the route from our hotel to the college and located the exact building for our test. We decided to stop at this Mediterranean place for dinner and had some delicious food. We were on 15th and our friends were staying on 56th so we just headed right on up and couldn't figure out where in the heck we were. After an hour of searching, being unable to reach our friends and my poor friend Brinja coming close to tears we finally figured out that we were on 56th STREET and we needed to be on 56th AVENUE or vice versa I can't remember now it was too traumatic. We saw some drug deals and some people doing drugs and we were pretty sure we were going to die before we ever got to take our exam. We found our friends and got all our paperwork organized and got ourselves prepared for the next day. Brinja and I were taking the anesthesia exam and our friends Monica and Tommi were being our patients. First thing Thursday morning we had a written anesthesia exam. If we didn't pass this exam we would be unable to take the clinical portion of the anesthesia exam that afternoon. Luckily we both passed and went on to give the 2 injections. I passed right away but ended up having to be Brinja's patient too so she could re-do one injection (which we were pretty sure was a scam for more money but none the less she passed the second go round). Then we finished just in time to go change and come back for orientation that lasted FOREVER. So all the other girls taking it from my class were going in the morning and mine wasn't until the afternoon. I went with them anyway for moral support and waited nervously for them to find out if their patients had been accepted. Luckily everyone's patient did get accepted so we didn't even need the 2 back up patients we had. I went next and my patient was accepted as well. Finding the right patient was the most stressful part of the whole exam because it had to be so specific to what they wanted. ANYWAY, I was praying the entire weekend that I could stay calm and that everything would be ok. I felt really good about everything and felt that I did the best that I could do for my patient. I was frantically trying to get my papers together and get my patient turned in on time and was having some struggles doing so but I was able to get her there before my time limit... I think. So then once I finished we got some dinner and drove all the way back to Cali.

A few days later we were getting all our stuff together for our application for California licensure when I suddenly realized I had forgotten to chart recession at all! I freaked out and for 2 days was completely inconsolable. I finally broke down and emailed WREB. The nice lady explained that I would only be deducted 2.5 points not 25 points. SO needless to say, my freak out was for nothing.

Now I wait. It's been over 2 weeks now and I still have not heard anything. I'm sure that it will be fine but its just so nerve racking waiting for the results knowing that there's nothing else I can do.

Once I get them I need to have the scores sent to the state of California and then I will send in an application packet with all the necessary information. Then I wait some more for them to send me a packet explaining how to apply for the state law and ethics exam. I then need to register for and take that exam and wait for those results to be sent to the state as well and then the will first post my license online and then up to a week later I will get the official license in my hand.

My goal is to have my license by my birthday. I will keep you all posted!

Class President Address

2011-02-06T22:03:00.000-08:00

This is the speech I gave at the pinning and awards ceremony.

Well we made it! We persevered through all the exams, practicums, papers, presentations and patients. We fulfilled the requirements and passed the classes. We have completed the national boards and are graduating from dental hygiene school. We will ALL pass the clinical boards in march and will be licensed hygienists by summer! What a journey it has been these past 16 months. We came in as strangers and now here we sit as a family. The bonds of friendship we have formed with each other are bonds that will last a life time. We have been through so much together. We’ve seen marriages and separations; pregnancies and deaths; joy and pain, moments of trials and moments of triumph. We have always been there to support each other and build each other up when we needed it most. I know that I have learned something from each and every one of you and have grown to become a better person because of it. I am honored to have been your class president these last two terms. I don’t know how much I was able to do for you all but I you have done more for me than you will ever know.

I was thinking back to the first time we took x-rays and it took us hours just to take an FMS. And when we thought there was no way we would ever be able to tell the working end on a gracey or how and where to use it for that matter. And then watching the instructor find 8 pieces of calculus on a quad we thought we had done great on! I was thinking of all those times when we thought that the instructors should just give us a break and give us credit because we were close enough. And as I thought back to all the experiences that we had where we thought we would never get it and I realized how lucky we were that our instructors didn’t give in. I would like to take a moment to recognize all of our wonderful faculty. Thank you for never giving up on us and never giving in. I am grateful that you never lowered your standards so that we would rise to the occasion and become the competent clinicians we are today. I hope that as we go out into the world that we will continue to strive for excellence and that we will never settle for less than our best. I am sure that if we look at a situation and say “what would I do if I were being graded on this?” we will be much more likely to make the right choice.

Now as we graduate and move on to the next stages of our lives, some of us will go on to become educators or researchers. Some will further their education to get their masters or PhDs or even go on to Dental school. Some may choose to do alternative practice or extended functions. Some may become leaders for our profession at state and national levels. Many of us will be perfectly content in private practice. But no matter what we choose to do after we leave San Joaquin Valley College, we can all make a difference in the lives of those around us.

I would like to share one of my favorite little stories with you.

“One day a man was walking on a beach at low tide. All the way up and down the beach, for as far as he could see, there were starfish washed up on the shore, left to die by the receding water. As he walked along the water's edge, he saw a little boy bending down, picking up the starfish, and throwing them back into the ocean.

As the man approached the little boy he said, "Why do you waste your efforts trying to save these starfish? Don't you see that what you are doing doesn't matter, since there are too many starfish for you to possibly save them all?"

With that the little boy bent down, picked up a starfish and hurled it back into the ocean. Then he looked up at the man and said, "It mattered to that one."

My hope is that we can all strive to treat each of our patients with this in mind. I hope that we can be someone they trust and depend on and that we can make a difference to them. I’m sure we won’t be able to change the lives of every patient we come in contact with but you never know what a kind word, a friendly smile, and words of encouragement may mean to someone.

As we move on to the next stage of our careers, let us not fear change but embrace it. We must not run from adversity, criticism, and uncertainty, we must learn from it. We cannot grow as professionals and improve upon ourselves until we have faced some challenges. I encourage you all to ponder what you believe in, ponder what you stand for and to find the courage and strength to stand tall and defend that no matter what situation you are faced with. If we make up our minds now what kind of a dental hygienist we want to be, we will have a much easier time achieving it. Like the song says, “you’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.”

I know that all the opportunities and experiences we have had both clinically and academically here at SJVC will ensure us a long and successful career in dental hygiene. I am proud of my emeralds and I look forward to seeing the great things we will all accomplish in the future.

Wherever life takes us and in whatever different directions we may go, we will always be the Emerald Class of 2011 and we will always be a family.

A Four Hour Appointment

2011-02-06T22:02:00.001-08:00

This is the poem I wrote for graduation. Read it while thinking of the theme to gilligans island.

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale

A tale of a hectic day

It started on the clinic floor

With no time for delay.

Frazzled senior clinicians

And flakey patients too

30 students set out that day

For a 4 hour appointment, a four hour appointment

The session started getting rough

The patients getting tossed

If not for the efforts of Ms. Leon

All requirements would be lost, requirements would be lost

The day turned ‘round and the chairs were full

The duties all tended to

A few code 3’s and re-eval

A perio maintenance or two

No suction, no light, no anesthesia

No instructors in sight

we just may be here all night

So this is the tale of the Emerald’s clinic

we’re here for a long, long time
we had to make the best of things,
It was an uphill climb.

Ms. Bejarano and the faculty

Did their very best,
To make the students competent,

There was no time to rest!

So here we are at graduation my friends

We’ve passed the tests and trials

We’ve done our best, we would not rest

Now see our Emerald’s smile!

I'm Free!!!!

2011-02-06T21:23:00.000-08:00

I just graduated from Dental hygiene school January 28th, 2011. I was the class president so I gave a speech at the pinning and awards ceremony. I also wrote a poem for the class to the theme of Gilligan's Island that another girl presented. I think it went pretty well. My family and Josh's family were both able to come for the ceremony which was fabulous having them here. My dad sang "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts, it was so sweet. I got the 4.0 award, deans list, and perfect attendance award. I was also recognized as one of the 5 students out of 30 to score over 90% on the national boards. It was a long, difficult 16 months but I was able to successfully complete the program. I am now just looking for a clinical board patient. I am taking the WREB in Phoenix this March. Then once I'm done with that I'll take a California law and ethics exam and then....I can finally put the letters RDH behind my name and get a real job! I don't know what to do with myself with all this free time. I've been reading books for fun and working out a lot more and hanging out with my girl friends (3 things I rarely if ever got to do while I was in school).

Josh is preparing to take his first round of national boards and finishing up his 2nd year of dental school. He's doing really well and is staying busy. He's involved in student government and is the CDA rep for his class. This position is one of the most prestigious because they only have 1 person for the whole 4 years. He gets to go to conventions and vote on new laws and stuff and they pay for everything! He gets pretty spoiled.

We were able to go home for christmas this year and spend time with both of our families. It's so nice that we are only 6 hours from them. I wish were able to go more often. We had a fantastic holiday.

Things overall are going so well for us and our families. We feel so fortunate to be able to pursue our dreams and educations. We have fabulous friends and families that are so supportive and helpful. We love our ward and our apartment and are very comfortable here. I am LOVING this California winter. It's been in the 70's and 80's most of Jan and Feb. I was even able to lay out before graduation! Hopefully I'll be better about blogging more than once every 4 months now that I'm done with school but you never know!

Since the Last Post....

2010-09-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

Josh's 24th Birthday!

Josh was able to go home and visit his family for a bit while I went to school because our breaks never coincide. Then he and his dad came back and we went fishing with his uncle down by San Diego and caught a bunch of blue gills and catfish. Then we all went golfing too. Those Carpenter boys love the outdoors!

Lake Powell!

Our families went to lake Powell camping for a long weekend. We found a great little spot back in a private cove and we had a blast. My little sister was able to meet up with her friend there too so they were off playing in the water and missed this photo-op. It was nice to have a relaxing vacation with both of our families. We are so blessed to have such loving and fun families.

School School School

Josh and I have mostly just been busy with school. He started his second year and so far is doing awesome! This year has been a lot better than the first. I have been plugging along and preparing to take the national boards. The exam is 8 hours long and all on the computer. My class will be taking them on Dec. 3rd. Very scary but I think that I will be just fine. We started seeing patients 3 days a week and had a ton of requirements. It was very challenging and stressful but I got through it and I feel like I have really improved. I finished up my 3rd term of dental hygiene school and now i'm on break again. I pulled off a 4.0 again so that was really exciting! Twice in a row! Being the President has been another added challenge but I think that so far things have gone really well.

Weddings!!

My friend Cindy from school got married and we were invited to the ceremony. It was such a pretty wedding and we had a great time. They are a cute couple and have been together a long time so I was glad to see them finally tie the knot.

Other fun things:

we got to go home to visit a few times and see Chase and Mckenna's new baby Brody and Danica and Derek's new house.
We've been to Disneyland a couple more times which is always a great time. We saw the new World Of Color show and were not impressed. It was actually a little miserable but we had fun being together.
Josh was in a movie called Lies at LAX with his buddy Mike.
We've had lots of fun dinners and outings with good friends. We have met so many nice people out here and are so grateful for our ward and all the amazing young families/couples that we have the honor of calling friends. We have so many people that are going to dental or med school too and are in the same situations as us and its just nice to have people to count on.
We had lots of birthday parties to go to lately for our friend's kids. Scouts 1 year, Audrey's 4 year and a few others. Most of our friends have at least 1 friend some have 2 or more so we are getting pretty baby hungry.
We went to a magic show in Santa Monica called magicopolis which is pretty funny. After we ate cookie ice cream sandwiches at a place called Diddy Reese! they were super cheap and really yummy.
VISITORS: Josh's uncle Che stayed for almost a week. A guy named Kyle from SUU came and stayed the night so he could interview at Western. He dropped Josh's name and the interviewers were really excited about that because they all just love Josh. How could you not right? Josh's cousin JD and his wife Kayla are going to stop by to visit on their way home from SD and then Josh's parents are going to come visit too. We love having family and friends come stay with us. If you are ever in the area give us a ring. California weather is always amazing and we're super close to all the fun things around here.
We've been to the beach, Magic Mountain, Redlands temple!! (Not all the same day
Our stake changed the ward boundaries so we got a whole new primary because all but 4 of our kids went to a different ward. Our Primary president is in Tunisia which is in Northern Africa, for 3 months so the other members of the presidency and I have been trying to keep our heads above water and get things all figured out. So far we are doing ok but its been a heck of a ride. Because I'm the 2nd counselor I'm in charge of scouting and I have to do a pack meeting activity next week.

Life is good! We are extremely blessed and are so grateful for all that we have been given in our lives. We are very busy and there is a lot of stress but we also have a lot of fun. We are doing well and are just as close as ever. We have really learned to cherish our time together since we see each other so rarely anymore. We are starting to feel really comfortable here and are really loving it.

I will be going home to visit our families and friends and to pick up my grandma to bring her back to be my patient. My parents will be coming in the middle of Oct. for vacation in Oceanside and Anaheim. I'm so excited that they are coming and I can't wait to see them all.

New Responsibilities

2010-06-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

Today I was voted as the Class President for our senior year of hygiene school. I am so excited for this new responsibility and challenge. I was the VP before and now my very good friend Cindy is my VP. I also started a new calling in the presidency of the Primary at church. I was called to be the 2nd counselor. The Primary president told me that the bishop suggested me and she knew the moment she heard my name that it was right but she fasted and prayed and felt for sure that I was meant for this position. When I was set apart, which by the way is one of my most favorite things about the church, The 1st counselor told me that the impression came to the bishop on the stand as he was looking out over the congregation and he wrote my name on a piece of paper and passed it down to them. They unanimously agreed but also prayed about it and felt that I would be perfect for the job. I was overwhelmed with emotion and my testimony has grown so much. It means a lot to hear such sweet things them. I am so grateful to be a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I'm grateful for the power of the priesthood and that my husband is a worthy priesthood holder. What a wonderful blessing it is to know that we can be together forever. It is going to be a busy year ahead between school, church, and family but I know that the lord will bless me as I serve him by serving those around me.

Term 2 Break

2010-06-06T15:09:00.001-07:00

After dinner at planet hollywood. We went to the Ultimate variety show there. It was really fun!

Me and my daddy hanging out in the condo. It was soo nice to be with them for the weekend. I love them soo much!

I gave an orientation speech for the incoming class at my school and helped them get settled in a little bit before I headed off to Vegas for the weekend. I think the speech went pretty well. A guy came up to me after and said " Great talk, I felt like I was in church, you are mormon right?" haha it was so funny. He was a member as well and his sister is going to my school now. Then a bunch of other people said how good it was and that they were inspired so I was pretty excited.

Me and a bunch of girls from our ward got together and had a fun girls night at cheesecake factory. It was nice to relax and chat and just hang out with them all. I rarely get to do that because i'm so busy with school. I also was just called to be the 2nd counselor in the primary so that's going to be way fun but super busy too! I hope I can handle it all. I'm sure the lord will bless me, he always does ;)

This was me on my way to hang out with the girls. I haven't been able to fit into those jeans since high school and I got the shirt and shoes when I went to LA with my friend Kendall over the break also. We visited the fashion district which was soo much fun.

I got together with some of my good friends to play at the pool with them and their adorable babies! It was very nice. They are all so cute and fun.

My new hair cut! Not the greatest picture but it looks good in real life and I love it!

After Getting my hair done I went to Disneyland with my senior buddy from school. She is also a member and one of the cutest girls I know. She has the best personality and is so much fun. I just love her to death and I'm so glad that She picked me to be her buddy.

This was at the salon in a fancy robe they made me wear. It was so nice there I felt so pampered.

Josh and I in our twinner shirts! We're so cute, I LOVE him so much. I'm super sad that He gets the summer off and I have to go back to school. I have to clean his teeth so I can see him more.

Josh's mama eating dinner after we spent the day cruisin around souther California seeing all the sights.

Josh and His dad doin dishes. They looked so cute making the same faces while they washed. It was so nice to have them visit us. We miss our families so much but we are enjoying our lives here in Cali. We have made some wonderful friends and are doing really well with school. I can't wait until the next break! Hope yall enjoyed the updates because it may be another 4 months until I do it again but I'll try to be better.

My 22nd Birthday

2010-06-01T15:34:00.001-07:00

Josh is such a sweet heart and he always goes out of his way to make sure I have a great birthday. This year he spoiled me a month early with a memory foam mattress topper for our bed. It is sooooo comfy, I love it! Then our printer was having issues so he gave me another early birthday present of a brand new cannon printer. It's wireless so we can print from anywhere in the house. Super cool! Then on my birthday he made me apple cinnamon pancakes and gave me a nice set of storage containers for the kitchen so we don't have to use old cool whip and butter containers. Then he gave me a super cute brown sparkly VAIO lap top. It's so nice, I can't believe how good he is to me. He is so cute too, he can't wrap very well and the gifts were to big for a bag so he wrapped it up in one of my quilts haha. I love this guy. Then we spent the rest of the day at disneyland after I got out of school and ate a fabulous meal at Cheesecake factory including some yummy cheesecake. Needless to say I had a wonderful birthday. My parents were able to come down the week before my birthday and they spoiled me too taking me shopping for a new dress, new shoes, and a new straightener and giving me some money to buy more clothes when I finished the diet. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful family.

Josh at The Cheesecake Factory. Don't know why he's making this face but I love him!

My yummy low carb sugar free cheesecake.

My delicious breakfast he made me. apple cinnamon pancake with sugar free syrup.

His lovely wrapping skills.

The storage containers he got me. The printer he gave me is in the back ground on the desk.

My new laptop!!

Sportin the Minnie ears at Disneyland. I got out of school at noon so we spent the rest of the day at Disneyland playing

Pictures

2010-06-01T15:02:00.001-07:00

Josh and I getting our groove on at the banquet. I look like a creeper haha

I promise we were not drinking. We don't need alcohol to be this crazy!

All dressed up fancy. We LOVE our new clothes and we got amazing deals on them too

Dinner. Don't know what Josh was looking at haha. oh well he's still cute.

Alex and Mike. Josh's friend from school and his girlfriend who is also going to dental hygiene school.

Nichole, me, and Cindy at the SADHA convention in LA

Home made sour dough bread I made.

We went on the "its a small world" ride right before the fireworks show and we got a boat all to ourselves for a private cruise around the world. It was super cute and when we came out, it was dark and the fire works were going off right behind us. It was magical. We are so lucky to live so close to our favorite place. We have so much fun together there.

Standing in front of the Castle at Disneyland.

A not so good picture of us at Magic Mountain. It was so scary! The roller coasters there are definitely thrilling. I had my fill for the rest of the year though.

Brinja and I practicing our skills on our typodont in clinic lab.

Some of the girls in my class at our end of term 2 pool party.

Josh, Brinja and I at the oxygen bar at the CDA convention

Me, Suzanne, Ashley and Tania at the Senior's graduation.

Me and Susan, a girl from Josh's class, at the banquet for the end of their first year of dental school. We were excited about our twinner dresses.

Recent Happenings

2010-06-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

Well a lot has happened in the last 4 months since I updated our blog so I'll do a quick recap in case anyone cares! I finished up my second term of dental hygiene school and managed to get a 4.0 this time! I have made some really great friends and we have so much fun together. We saw patients twice a week and learned soo much! I am now a senior and will be giving a speech at the orientation for the incoming junior class. I am going to run for president in the next couple weeks so we'll see what happens with that. We start preparing to take our national board written examination this term and will take it at the start of our 4th term. I graduate in January so i'm looking forward to all the new and exciting things we are going to learn and the more challenging cases i will see in clinic.

Josh is just about done with his first year of dental school! He is going to be done the day I go back to school so we don't get to have much of a break together but oh well. He was planning to go to officer training this summer but got put on the wait list. He is going to be off until August so he is trying to find things to keep himself busy. He is hoping to build a bathroom vanity to sell and i'm hoping he will remodel our master closet :) He has been doing really well in his classes and has passed all of them. His instructors are extremely impressed with his hand skills and constantly praise him for how well his preps and fillings look. They have even told him that he would pass the boards right now with them. I'm so proud of him and his hard work. It is challenging and stressful but Josh is doing great.

We were able to go to the California Dental Association's annual convention together a couple weeks ago and got lots of free stuff. It was cool to see all the new and exciting things that are happening in our professions.

We have been able to go home a couple times and our families have been out to visit us also. It's nice that we live so close that we can see each other often. His parents just spent the last 6 days with us and we had tons of fun seeing the sights and shopping. I am going to meet my parents in vegas after I help out with the orientation on friday and then its back to school for me monday.

Our lives are crazy busy with school and our church callings but we have a lot of fun and are enjoying every minute of it. We know that this is where we are supposed to be and that we are doing the right thing. Our faith in God continues to grow as we learn to count on him more and more through our trials. We are so blessed to be members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and are overwhelmed at all the blessings in our lives

HCG Diet

2010-06-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

Josh and I took on the HCG challenge. It was probably one of the hardest things we have ever done but we are so glad we did it. I don't think we would have made it if we hadn't done it together. I didn't even want to do it but Josh needed to lose the weight for the army. I am so proud of us for sticking to it and following through. We both feel great and are so excited for our new healtheir selves. I lost about 23 pounds and Josh lost about 35. We lost several inches every where and had to buy a bunch of new clothes. I was having a hard time finding pants I liked so I took them to be altered and they look and feel great. We had fun shopping and rewarding all our hard work. It was a big life style change and although we eat pretty much what we want again, we are eating healthier and are more concious of our weight and what we eat. I have been exercising more regularly and trying to get into shape. We are glad that my mom and dad were so helpful and got us going with the diet, getting us all the stuff and then supporting us through it. They both did it as well and lost a bunch of weight and look FABULOUS. They were our inspiration. Thanks guys!

3 Year Anniversary! ( 5 months late, oops!)

2010-06-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind on my blogging! Our anniversary was Jan. 6!! We have been together through so many big important things in our lives and we are excited for all the more things to come. We had a lovely sushi dinner after a long day of school. Josh bought me a gift certificate to get my hair done at a fancy salon in Pasadena that i'm going to finally use tomorrow. I have always been crazy about Josh and I didn't think I could love him any more but I just can't seem to get enough of him. I love him so much and don't know what I would do with out him. He is so good to me and we have so much fun together. We are definitely best friends. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful eternal companion and I couldn't ask for more. I thank the lord for him every day and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us. Happy belated Anniversary babe :D

Catching Up Again!

2010-02-01T13:43:00.000-08:00

SO this is our pictures from before Christmas through New Years Eve. It was so nice to go home and we had so much fun. It made us miss Cedar even more though. It was probably harder to come back to Cali after going home for the holidays than it was to move here in the first place. Enjoy the photo fest! I'm still working on posting pictures from our 3rd Anniversary.

I finished my first term of dental hygiene school and I started seeing patients in the clinic this week. Things went well and I am doing great. Josh is overwhelmed with the amount of information he is getting but he is very active in his class. He just became the vice president of the pipeline to health careers program for the youth of Pomona and he's been really busy with that. He is also going to run for Executive President for student government over the entire university. Its a big job but he would do great and he's looking forward to that.

We bought Season passes to DISNEYLAND and have been several times since the beginning of the year. We LOVE Disneyland so much and have had a blast playin there with our friends. It is a nice break from reality and studying and the everyday stressers of life.

Christmas at the Carpenter's

Rockin out

aww precious, He had a new, bigger diamond in her original wedding ring and had it resized for her.

Shelcy's B-day/Christmas presents from us

after all the excitement of opening presents. Josh's mom just gave us big boxes with coupons for stuff in them and the amount of money that stuff was worth so we could shop for ourselves.

Grandma and Tess opening Christmas Jammies

Dad, practicing his excited face since he bought his own pajamas

Me and Tess were twinners.

showin off their cool stuff

Me and Crysta got to sit and chat for a couple hours while the boys played basketball. it was so good to catch up. I miss her

I went to lunch with Kenzie and Jarica at Brad's for old times sake.

Josh and I wearing the shirts that Shelcy bought us for Christmas. We went to St. George shopping for her birthday.

Sister in laws. So cute!

Celebrating Shelcy's 20th birthday at our family's favorite restaurant....NINJA!

Josh and 16 of his good friends from high school

Danica and Derek on New years Eve

The Bulloch Clan

Harley and Danica.

Kenna and Chase (expecting baby #2 we are so excited for them! Congrats guys!)

Andi, Darci and Colby. cute little Batty Fam

RoCk BaNd!! Chase on Drums, Josh with the vocals, and Colby and Derek playin guitar.

Snugglin'

Tess and Chewy

Mom and Tesser

Josh- he's a rocker through and through

Mom and Dad Carpenter

Tess and Dad, I don't know what she was doing hahah. I promise we didn't drug her.

Briggsy boy showin us his cool four wheeler. He's soo big now!

Cindy and Brinja. Some of my good friends from hygiene school.

Josh's new dental clinic at his school.

Visiting his Great Grandma Carpenter. She's so sweet

Josh's new building

We are still alive!!

2009-12-05T22:12:00.001-08:00

I haven't blogged at all since I started school as I'm sure you have noticed. I have been taking pictures but haven't had a spare minute to put them up. So this will be another mega post that is super long! SORRY

Josh is doing well in school. Things are very busy and fast paced and they pack A TON of information into a short amount of time so he has been pretty stressed lately. I am doing really well in school right now as well. It is a lot of work with studying and practicing with the instruments and trying to remember all the steps to go through with patients and the stuff from class for the exams. We have finally learned how to use all the tools we will be using next term in clinic. We start seeing patients right before christmas to do x-rays and then at the first of february we will start seeing patients and doing actual cleanings!! We work on each other every week in the clinic and practice the new instrument from that week. We have clinic 2 days and one day we were the clinician and the next day the patient. Both days are equally scary! It's been very time consuming and very stressful trying to keep up with it all. I just got voted in as the class Vice President so I'm excited and nervous about that added responsibility but it will be a fun challenge I'm sure. Josh is also in the student government at his school, he is the technology rep. so he just makes sure all the computer stuff is working right. He is pretty settled and has made some great friends.

We are starting to feel more and more comfortable here in California. It is beginning to feel like home. It is still hard to not see our families at least once a week but we are hangin in there. They have actually been down to visit us several times so it has been nice. We are going home forChristmas too and I'm so excited!!! We have almost all of our Christmas shopping done and have been finding some great gifts for killer prices.

Our ward is very friendly and we are getting more involved there as well. We were just called to the activities committee together so it will be fun to work with each other. I've been trying to do as much as I can to get familiar with the members and start to really feel like they are family. Right now a lot of young couples are moving in because of school so it is great for us! It is a little far away but not to bad. There are 2 other LDS churches way closer but for some reason we are in a building on the other side of town. Our last to wards were so close we could walk so it is a bit of a change.

We have tried a lot of new food and are loving the diversity. It is kind of cool to have every store you could possibly think of and every type of food you could ever want just blocks away. In any direction we go we will run into pretty much anything that we want. I hate the traffic but i'm totally used to it now. I feel fine driving in it and I'm not scared anymore so that is a big bonus!

So here is a summary of some of the fun things we have done since I last posted. Pictures to follow shortly!

September: I went to the LA county fair with a friend right before school started. Josh and some guys from school joined a city basketball league and played every Thursday for a few months.

October: I started Hygiene school on the 5^th! Halloween we went to the Sushi Cruise for all you can eat sushi with a group of friends. Josh's mom and sister came to visit for a few days and then after they left my parents stopped by on their way home from palm springs. It was really nice to see both of our families! its nice that we are so close.

November: Darci and Colby came with the Bullochs to go to Disneyland so we were able to go have dinner with them and catch up for a while. I went to Twilight with a friend from school, tried Indian food for the first time, and then went out for ice cream. For thanksgiving, Rick and Stephanie came and we made our first Thanksgiving dinner by ourselves! It turned out great, everything was delicious and nothing burnt. My family sent us some goodies to remind us of home. Then we went to lake arrowhead to see some of Josh's cousins and that night went to Mission Viejo for some ice cream. We met up with one of Rick's cousins and her family and ordered the zoo from a place called Farrel's. It was 30 scoops of ice cream with all the fixins and it was like 8 pounds. there were 9 of us and we finished it off no problem haha.

My little sister just turned 11! I can't believe how fast she is growing up. She is such a sweet heart and she is a special young lady. She just got rid of all her toys and her little kid bed and moved into my old room. She got a big queen size "big girl bed" for her birthday since she is so mature now. It will be fun to see how she decorates it and makes it her own.

MMMM sushi!!!

Me and Josh with Darci and Colby at cheesecake factory!!

first day of hygiene school! Scary! our class is the Emeralds, because of our pretty green scrubs that we all wear every day!!

LA County Fair

Ice cream a the fair, If you think I look really tired its cuz I was. I didn't realize my eyes looked so weird until now haha.

Alex and I. (Josh and her BF Mike go to dental school together and she is going to school to be a hygienist too!)

Josh made Turkey and Dumpling soup with the left over turkey. It was as good as it looks. He is an amazing cook!

Josh played in the annual Turkey Bowl with our ward. My camera ran out of batteries so I didn't get any of thanksgiving weekend with his parents. Stephanie took a lot of pictures and I need to steal them from her!

Alex and I at girls night out.

In the theater waiting for Twilight to start. TEAM JACOB!! haha

Me, Cindy's friend, Cindy. She is my good friend from school. We have a lot in common and have grown really close since we met at orientation. She is a sweetie. Her friend was very nice too but I'm terrible with names. Oops!

So I know the pictures were all backwards but I'm to lazy to change it around. Hope you enjoyed them update and that everyone is doing well and is happy and healthy! Love you all. Have a wonderful Holiday season.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (Truck)

2009-10-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

These are the pictures to supplement my last post about hitting the fire hydrant with Josh's truck. I'm really sorry babe, thanks for being so sweet and nice to me even though I'm sure you were REALLY MAD!

this is the good side of the truck. Not even a scratch!

This is the bad side, Little dings and scratches from trying to get it out of the snow (Jake and Heather were there to witness the big scratch right in the middle haha)

The big OOPS!!! Dang fire hydrant! came out of nowhere!

The ugly side of the truck :(

Josh helped!! This is the dent he put in it coming down the face of the mountain in the snow 3 days after he got it. This poor truck has been through a lot and we have unintentionally beat it up. But luckily, it still runs great and gets us where we need to go. Not to mention, it has an amazing air conditioner that keeps us cool in this HOT California weather. So, I think we will be keeping this good ol' truck around for a very long time. Lets just hope that was the last of our little mishaps.

A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place!!

2009-09-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

Small view of the mountains from our balcony. They do remind me a little of home :)

Table and chairs out on the patio.

Dining room table. I just love this table cloth!

Guest Bathroom, The blue bucket was in my grandma's garage and I asked her for it and now it was the inspiration behind the whole bathroom! Thanks grandma

The star Josh bought me for my birthday because he knew how much I loved it when I saw it in the window of the store. What a cutie pie huh?

Guest bathroom.

living room

Shelf in the living room

Living room

Kitchen

Dining Room

Laundry room

Guest Bedroom! This bed is sooo soft and comfy. You should all come visit really soon!!

Office /guest bedroom

Hall way. These are wedding pictures from my mom's parents (top left) My dad's parents, (top right), my parents, bottom left, and Josh's parents(bottom right)

Master Bathroom

Faith in God includes Faith in his timing... in master bath

Master bedroom. Our new king size bed I got an awesome deal on thanks to Craigs list and the new Bedspread I bought at Ross for $34. Same one at walmart was $99. I was excited.

more master Bedroom. Gotta love the hampers.

Since we moved to Cali back at the end of July we have been living in a small one bedroom apartment with most of our things still in boxes stacked from floor to ceiling in the dining room. We had all our furniture crammed into it and it felt like we were living in a storage unit. It was actually a very nice apartment for the price and the location. We lucked out. It had a great master walk in closet that I loved and will miss and also a huge tub in the bathroom that was very cool. It was nice for a temporary thing but was not working very well because we have WAY to much stuff! I am a neat freak and my OCD was getting the best of me. Josh told me to take pictures of it but I was to stubborn and said I didn't want to remember it. So you will just have to take my word for it and use your imagination to visualize how uncomfortable I felt there. So now that the house fell through and we found this other apartment I feel much better that I know where I will be living for the next 4 years and don't have to stress anymore. We decided that renting, although its more expensive, makes more sense right now.

I am sooo happy to finally have a place to call home. We got all moved into our new apartment, unpacked, and even decorated!! My mom and grandma came to help me and we went shopping for a big cupboard to put in the dining room for more storage because the kitchen had hardly any. I had no where to put half of my dishes and forget about the food storage! So we found a really nice one at home depot that matched the kitchen really well and was a great price and exactly what we needed. My mom and I put it all together and then my grandma helped me put everything away in it. It worked out just perfectly! My grandma also bought us a little butcher block for some added counter space so we have more room to work. We made the not so great kitchen work for us. Then they helped me get a few little things like curtains and towels and stuff so that we had everything we needed and the house would feel like a home. My mom decided to just do an early Christmas since we needed the help now. After they left, I was able to get the last of our things unpacked and put away and now this apartment feels like home.

Some little things to update about....

The day after we moved in, we were going to take the uhaul back and had brought down a load of empty boxes to throw away. Josh had backed the truck in for me because he knows how bad I am at it and told me to just put the boxes in the truck and follow him to the uhaul place. So meanwhile, I'm thinking about what mess the apartment is and how there isn't enough storage to put all our things away and am completely overwhelmed. I had no clue where the dumpsters were and was trying to look around for some so I could stop and empty the truck out and just started driving and turning towards what I thought was the trash. All of a sudden there is this awful sound and the truck is bumping around so I assumed I had hit the curb like I usually do and just kept going. Well then I snapped out of my funk and realized that wasn't a normal "curb" sound so I stopped and backed up. I looked over at Josh who had a horrified look on his face. I started driving towards him and he looked at the side of the truck and threw his hands in the air and turned away. I threw the truck into park and jumped out and ran around to see what had happened. The passenger door s were all mashed in and there was a big yellow mark all the way down. I had hit a huge yellow fire hydrant :( Thats what I get for not paying attention to what I was doing. I felt so bad I just couldn't stop crying. I was all worried about the truck, the apartment, money, school.... that I just couldn't control my emotions any more. I called my mom and was hysterical. That is when she decided to call my grandma and drive down right away. She is such a sweet heart. I am so blessed to have such a kind, thoughtful mom. She is such a good example to me and is so beautiful and strong and loving. I appreciate her so much and am just so lucky to have such a close relationship with her.

Change of Plans

2009-09-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

This whole home buying experience has turned into a huge nightmare. It was just one thing after another going wrong. We have been dragged through the mud and back and have jumped through many hoops getting the lender all the information they wanted and then when that wasn't enough we did more. It has been pretty much out of our hands and in the hands of the title company. They have had a MONTH and still haven't found the people they need to sign off so that they can clear the title. Obviously, if the title isn't clear, we can't go forward and they still haven't shown us that they are even capable of clearing it. So after much debate, stress, prayers and careful consideration we decided to give them 24 hours to perform or cancel escrow. That was last thursday night. Friday the title company said they would drive to the people and have them sign it and have it done by Monday so we gave them until Monday and still nothing....Today they hadn't even found the people yet, let alone finished the paperwork so it could be submitted to the lender. We told the mortgage broker and the real estate broker that we wanted to back out and cancel escrow. Hopefully the seller will sign the paper quickly so we can get our $2000 back ASAP. We searched for apartments on line and looked at some where Josh's friends live. We liked a few of them but narrowed it down to 2 and finally decided on an apartment in upland. It is in a new community that is "luxury apartments" it is like a resort. There is an amazing property with great landscaping and a huge pool and spa, a big fitness center, and a club house with a gourmet kitchen and a theater room available. We are bummed that we spent all this time and effort on the house just to find out it wasn't going to work but we know that it wasn't meant to be. We did everything in our power and it just didn't happen so we feel comfortable knowing that it was just not supposed to be. Thank you all for you love, support, and prayers on our behalf. We still have a guest bedroom available when yall want to come visit! We would love to have you.

Love,

Sara and Josh

Family Vacation

2009-09-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

The Macklin Family came over labor day weekend to bring our washer and dryer and BBQ to us and to bring my Grandma. They left on labor day and my grandma stayed with me to keep me company while Josh studied for a big test. Her and I had lots of fun just the two of us shopping, playing games, and eating! It was great bonding time for us that we haven't had since I was little. My parents and my little sister came back that Sunday and all but poor Joshy drove to Anaheim to stay in our condo down the street from Disneyland!! We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at Disneyland. My aunt Cookie and uncle Donny were able to surprise my grandma by coming all the way from Salt Lake to spend the 3 days with us at Disney. Josh came to go to dinner and spend some time with the fam on Tuesday night after school. He had his test that Monday and then helped a friend from school move. It was my dad's birthday on Wednesday and we ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant, La Casa Garcia's on Chapman ave in Anaheim, just down from Disneyland. Thursday we spent most the day at Knott's Berry Farm. A lot of the rides were closed but it was still fun. There was hardly anyone there so we went on all the rides as many times as we wanted with out even having to get back in line. Friday we headed out to Oceanside to spend the weekend in another condo on the beach. It was harbor days there with local businesses booths and stuff on the pier. There were live bands and all sorts of yummy food and cool things to look at, not to mention some free stuff. Josh hitched a ride with a classmate who lives near oceanside and spent the weekend with my family. They crammed us into the van and took us home on Sunday and then headed back to Utah. It was so much fun getting to spend time with them and to get a little bit of a get-away. I am so glad that we decided to move to California so that we are close enough they can come over so much and spend time with me. They have done so much for us and we are very lucky to have such wonderful family. I miss them so much but i'm grateful for the time that I was able to spend with them this month. Thanks a ton guys for all you do for us!! We love you!

Me and my grandma (dad's mom) outside a Basque restaurnt. Embracing our heritage ;)\

Grandma's first time EVER on Splash Mountain at Disneyland out of the 50 years she has been going there.

me, grandma, mom, dad, tess, aunt cookie (dad's sister), Uncle Donny

Uncle Donny and Aunt Cookie! Such a fun surprise, I'm so glad they came. I wish that their kids and my dad's other sister, sandra and her family could have come too.

Saloon show at Knott's Berry Farm.

Whirl Winds!

2009-09-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

Well Yesterday was supposed to be our closing date.... yet we are still waiting for the loan underwriters to finish reviewing our information. I called the mortgage broker EVERY day and asked how things were going and if I needed to get her any information. Every day she would assure me we were fine and on track and that it would all happen fast. Well we submitted our papers 2 weeks ago and she calls and says we need letters saying our student loans are in deferrment. But josh's school had just started and they hadn't sent out the letters yet and I was just barely accepted into a program so we had to scramble to figure something out. Well it ended up taking us an entire week! So that put us just right on schedule but we needed everything else to go fast or we wouldn't be able to close. Well then after another week with the underwriters, they decided the papers we gave them on the student loans weren't good enough and they wanted something straight from UHEAA on Josh's loans. So he and the broker called back and forth all day trying to get it figured out. So now we are thinking that was the last of it and after we turned that in they would give us final loan approval and we could order the documents and sign this week still. NOT A CHANCE!! Today I called first thing in the morning to make sure they got the paper they needed. Well all Hell had broken loose over the title. The title report that our real estate agent and broker received was clean but the report the Mortgage broker/underwriters got from another source was not clean. The house has sold so many times in the last 6 months it sent up red flags. But the wierd thing was it just kept switching between 2 people back and forth. Then the bank forclosed on it when they only owed like 20,000 and then 3 months later is was back in the same name as before the foreclosure! So bizzare! So no one could understand what was going on and they suspect some fraud so they have people from all sides of this thing trying to get it worked out. I have been waiting patiently all day to hear whats going on... So if the title is not clean like we thought, we won't get the house because its to much of a risk. So everyone please cross your fingers and keep us in your prayers that it will work out this time!! I keep trying to remember the saying "Faith in God includes faith in his timing". But I am getting so stressed out. Not to mention that we don't know yet how we will pay for my hygiene school and I have to pay $16,000 in 1 month.

the army has not paid us yet either. We have been calling and trying to get things figured out and now everything has gone through and is good to go. The school has sent the army and invoice and we should be reimbursed by the 15th. We are hoping we will get his sign on bonus and the stipend for august and september. What a nightmare right?

On top of all of that we are still trying to get buy on our savings and they are dwindling rapidly. Josh is very buys with school and studies all the time! We have been trying to do fun things on the weekends and get to know more people. We are making friends and getting more comfortable living here. We know things will all work out how they are supposed to and we will be fine but it is sure scary waiting for them to fall into place!

My family is so sweet and they are coming down this weekend, even though we aren't closed on the house as planned. They are bring their old washer and dryer for us which will save us so much money! They are also bringing our BBQ ( Josh is having withdrawls, the george forman just isn't cutting it). Then my Grandma is going to stay with us for a week and next week my family is coming back down for a week long vacation to celebrate my Dad's birthday. We are going to Disneyland for 3 days and then to Oceanside for the weekend on the beach! I can't wait to see them! This has been the longest we have been away from our families ever!

I found a sweet deal on craigslist to buy everything in a storage unit for $700. It has a king size bed and box springs with the frame, an executive desk, 2 executive chairs, filing cabnits, a table and 4 chairs, and a bunch of other little things. I am so excited! I am supposed to be going to look at it soon and hopefully we can move it right on in to our new house!

Sorry for such a long post but just thought you might like to know whats been going on.!

Disneyland!

2009-08-19T21:46:00.001-07:00

White Coat Ceremony

2009-08-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday August 8^th was Josh’s white coat ceremony for dental school. In the morning there was a combined convocation for a few of the colleges where the deans of those schools spoke and the president spoke and they gave some encouraging words to the students. It was so cool to hear them talk about the future of health care and the wonderful providers that this class will become. Josh is going to be part of something huge and it is very exciting to see the beginnings of that. Then at 11:00 the individual colleges broke off and did their own white coat ceremony. This is a tradition that medical schools/dental schools do to give the students their sense of belonging so to speak in the health care community. The white lab coat is a reminder of their responsibility to the thousands of patients they will serve throughout their careers. Josh’s class has 12 different countries represented and over 14 different states. They are an extremely diverse group and I think that it is going to be a very interesting 4 years and will help us gain a tremendous amount of life experience. Doctor Bill Tenpaz was the key note speaker. He was the president of the ADA and also was part of many dental organizations including his own successful practice. He gave a very inspiring speech about being the right kind of dentist. He said that the oppurtuntity to have this quality education is one thing, but it is the responsibility of the students to get the most out of their educations and to make it mean something. He also said that how you handle dental school is a blue print of how you will handle your career. Tenpaz talked about how important the dental field is in the overall medical community. There are many diseases that manifest themselves in the mouth that a dentist can recognize and make arrangements for it to be dealt with further. It really gave us a sense of responsibility and pride for our career choice. He also urged the students to get involved in their communities and to share their abilities and talents with those around them. He gave them a word of advice to apply to their careers “ Don’t be the first and don’t be the last”. Also, he said to remember that what really matters is your family and your reputation and that it is a privelage to practice, not a right so they should be respectful of that. Where much is given, much is expected. He urged to have goals and to dream big but also to enjoy the journey. “If you have a lot in the bank but nothing in your heart, you have nothing.” I was so proud of Josh, to see him receive his White lab coat with his pin and everything was just so emotional. He has worked so hard to get to this point and I know that he is going to be a wonderful Dentist. He is already a wonderful husband and a great friend, and a good person. This is going to be a lot of hard work and require a lot of sacrifice and dedication but I know that he can and will do amazing things. I love you Josh, keep up the good work babe!!

This is Colby, Josh, and Jeff. 3 of the 4 LDS dental students at western

President Pumerantz

Dean Koelbl of the college of dental medicine

Dr. Joshua Carpenter

Dr. and Mrs Carpenter

The Down Low....

2009-08-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

Santa Monica

Our friends Matt and Crysta came last weekend for her brothers little legue tournament. We got to play with them one day and we had so much fun. We went to santa monica beach and played in the waves. Then we went to dinner at In-n-Out Burger and ate it at our apartment. After we went to the hot tub for a while and visited. It was so nice to have them over. It makes us feel less homesick when we have company! So if anyone comes to So Cal you better give us a call!!

This is me with the Santa Monica Pierd behind me.

House Update

Everything is going really Well with our house. We got the appraisal done on time and it came in for $5,000 less than we offered but the sellers just accepted the new price no problem. Then we had the inspection done and there wasn't anything to major so that was a relief. Things are just moving along really well and I think we are on track. We are set to close on September 2. There was a lot of bugs so I am definately going to have it sprayed very well before I even start to clean! My mom and dad are so wonderful and they are nice enough to come back to help us move AGAIN. I dont' know what we would do with out them. They have been such a help to us through this move. I'm so grateful to have sunch great family. Our new ward is amazing! The people are all very very friendly and welcoming. I think every single member introduced themselves personally to us before sacrament meeting even started!!! There were several young couples in the ward and they were all so nice! There were also a few students that are going to the same school as josh so that was cool!. We are so blessed and are just overwhelmed with how perfect things are for us. All of our dreams are coming true and we are just excited to reach our next goals and see what the future has to hold for us.

This is the main Bathroom

From the side ard looking towards the back yard to the gate. Our property is the one on the right.

This is the hall closet right outside of the bathroom and this picture is from inside the 2nd bedroom. There is also one more room but it doesn't have a closet so it isn't technically a bedroom. We will use it as our office.

stairs from Kitchen to the hall. ( the laundry room is to the left of this picture and so is the 3/4 bath)

This is part of the kitchen. The purple cupboards will be painted white before I even put my stuff in them FYI. all the cupboards and appliances except the fridge go on this same wall. There is a dishwasher, a drop in stove, and a built in oven all included and we got a free fridge from Josh's army recruiter when we moved to Cali so we are all set. On the same wall as the stairs there is nothing so eventuall we will add some more cupboards and maybe some counter space.

This is the master bedroom. Both bedrooms have 1 normal door and then a small door that only has a handle on the inside. Really strange but whatever! They have pretty good size closets too so that will be nice.

This is the other bedroom.

LUCKY!!! :)

Josh has got to be one of the luckiest people alive. He is always winning prizes, giveaways, drawings, raffles, and lots of other stuff. He was listening to the radio on the way to school and they said to call in to win a prize. He called and of course got on the air with Ryan Seacrest!! Ryan sang a song and Josh had to finish the line. He didn't know the song so he just guessed a word that rhymed and it was right!!! He won 4, three day park hopper tickets to DISNELAND!!! I was soooo excited I couldn't even breath!! we have been wanting to come for so long. Every time we came to disneyland it would get worse. Now that we live here we have been itching so bad to go but just couldn't afford to buy tickets with both of our schools and the house and everything else that goes along with just living!! We are going to go tomorrow for the day. I will post lots of pictures when we get back.

Newport Beach

2009-08-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend our friends Dallin and Krista were here visiting from Utah. They wanted to meet up saturday and go to the temple. The San Diego temple was closed for cleaning so we decided to go to Newport Beach. The temple was breath taking. It looked like an old spanish mission. The inside was glorious and beautfiul. It was so much fun to serve the lord there. Josh and I have never been to a different temple besides the St. George one so it was a treat. It was funny because when we got there, they told us we should have made a reservation. I didn't think there would be that many people there but there wasn't one parking spot and the workers told us there were 9 weddings! It was a very pleasant surprise. Then afterwards we went to lunch at a fun little local cafe called Cappy's that was right across from the beach. Then we went down to the beach and played in the water and some beach volleyball. It was very relaxing and a much needed get away before our very hectic and exciting week!

Dallin and Krista

It was really windy and we had the spray sunscreen so when i tried to spray it on his back most of it blew away instead of spreading evenly. This is the very sore result. Sorry hun :(

Home at Last!

2009-07-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

We found out this morning that one of the offers we submitted last week was accepted. It was the house that my family and I had liked the best. The home is in Ontario and It is 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms 1749 sqft. It is a lot more home for the money and it is more of what we were looking for than the other home we were going to buy. It is very clean and nice and has brand new carpet and paint. I don't think it needs any work so we are very excited. We drove by it today and checked the time from there to our schools. It took 10 minutes to Josh's and 20 minutes to mine. Still very easy and not a bad drive. It is great timing because i will still have a month before my school starts so I can get us settled in. We are hoping that all the loan stuff will go more smoothly this time now that we know what to expect. Thanks for all your prayers so that we were able to find such a perfect first home.

Updates!

2009-07-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

We are all moved in to our new apartment. We tried to unpack as little as possible so when we get a house it will be easier to move again. The Macklins spent the weekend here and helped us unpack and get settled. They were so much help and it was really nice to have them here. We all went looking at properties friday night and saturday morning to see 12 overall. We put in offers saturday night on most of them. We heard today that we just need to send a few more pieces of information and we have one!!! It was the one that my family and I liked the most. It didn't have the most ideal back yard for josh but its the biggest one we saw and also one of the cheapest. We are so excited and are hoping that this time things will go quickly and smoothly. Also I sent an email to the dental hygiene school verifying our new address and asurring the advisor I was still interested. Less than an hour later I got a phone call from her saying that she wanted to set up an interview for next friday!! I am so excited. I keep trying to go over the things I want to say in my head. I hope that I do well. I want it so much I'm sure I will be fine. So far things are going well here. We like our apartment and are looking forward to getting our house! Keep us in your prayers and we will do the same for all of you. We miss everyone already and can't wait for some visitors!

The Enclave at Town Square

2009-07-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

When we found out we couldn't get the house we scrambled to find an apartment. We called the one that we had planned on living in before and could have still got it but with a 1 year contract and that was too long because we are still really hoping to get a house. I got on forrent.com and searched for our price range then did a lot of calling to see if they did month to month leasing. We found a really good deal on some nice apartments in Chino. The girls we talked to on the phone were so sweet and friendly and made us feel comfortable in moving in without even seeing the place. It is a little scary but we feel like it will be ok. We have 5 more offers in and are working on 4 more so hopefully we will get one of them here soon. We are leaving Cedar on Thursday the 23rd and driving half way to Chino with the Macklins. Then friday we will drive the rest of the way and unpack sort of. Josh and I are determined we will find a house so we refuse to unpack everything and decorate. Stubborn? Maeful for my family and all they are doing for us to get us moved. I'm a little scaredybe, but we are trying to stay positive. I'm so grateful for our families and all the help they have been throughout this process. I am really kind of scared to move away but we are excited for the new adventure. We hope that most of you will get a chance to come see us while we are there the next 4 years. Love ya all!

Bad News or Maybe a Blessing in Disguise

2009-07-10T20:15:00.001-07:00

We found out today that the sellers decided not to drop the price on the house. They said that the appraiser was wrong and they found different comparable properties to justify their price. We just both felt that it wasn't worth that much money because it needed A LOT of work just to get it up to code and then the kitchen and bath needed to be updated and there wasn't a laundry room. We liked it and were hoping it would work out so we could be in something before school started. It just doesn't feel like a good deal and we are sick about losing all the time and money and effort we put into this deal but we feel that it was meant to be. We are looking for apartments that we can rent month to month until we get a house. We are already working on 3 more offers so hopefully we will find something else that is better very very soon. We also found out that the army isn't going to pay for anything until he has been in school 30 days. We are starting to really panic now because we are out of money and were really counting on the stipend and the bonus to get us through. I'm sure we will figure something out. We are full hoping that if we keep living like we know we should that we will be blessed and things will work out how they are supposed to. We have been very lucky in life so far and we know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us. "Faith in god includes faith in his timing." that quote has got us through a lot lately. Thanks Neil A. Maxwell. So everyone keep praying for us and thinking positive thoughts for us and hopefully we will get something ASAP!

Back Blogging.

2009-07-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Uncle Lin's Birthday!
At the end of May we went to my uncle Lin's 60th birthday. He is my mom's oldest brother. He dresses up as Santa every year and does christmas parties for different people. instead of getting paid by this pizza place in Park City they just gave him over 200 pizzas for free. So we had the party there and all my mom's brothers and their familes came and we had a mini family reunion. It was so nice to see everyone and to get to visit before we move. My little sister and my Cousin are the same age and they had so much fun together. They are just the best of friends even though they hardly ever see eachother.

Lin and his kids (Lin, EddieLynn and Cason (Casey's baby), Todda, Casey, Quinton)

Me, My Tessa, Josh, My mama

Tess and Maggie

Maggie is always muggin for the camera so she is on the left then my mom, Bruce, Thad ,and the Birthday boy.

Summit Canyon
Around the middle of June we went for a drive up Summit Canyon to have Hobo dinners with Chase, Kenna, Danica, and Derek. We all drove together in Josh's truck and just visited about old times and dreamed about the future. We had so much fun together and realized how sad it was going to be when we all start moving away and doing our own things. The area is so beautiful up there and we enjoyed being outdoors. It was actually pretty cold for being so late in the year andit SNOWED!! The boys went rabbin huntin afterwards and us girls just stayed home and chatted. We love our friends so much and are really going to miss them. :(

Danica and Kenna covered in Snow!

Donna, Me, and Kenner bean

Me and Joshy

just an example of my amazing photography skills.

Our delicious and gigantic hobo dinners. mmmm

Derek and Danica

Chase and Kenna

Me and Josh again

The girls

Road Runners Game
Chase and Kenna were able to get us some VIP seating right down by the dugout at the St. George Roadrunner's game. Danica and Derek came too and we all got to hang out again. Josh sang "I am Woman" By Helen Ready , a song none of us had ever even heard during a break right out on the pitcher's mound. Derek has an Iphone so he looked it up on youtube and josh was listening to it over and over so he wouldn't sound silly. He did a good job and we won 2 free apetizers at Outback steakhouse. He is so brave. We all had a good laugh. Then Derek got to do a golfing thing and won a cool coupon pack. After the game we all went to dinner at Made in Brazil, a new Brazilian steak house in St. George. It was a little expensive even with our 1 free meal but it was really yummy and a lot of fun. Josh talked the waiter into giving him free desert for his birthday even though it wasn't for a couple weeks still and the waiter talked Josh into singing "i am Woman again. We laughed so hard we almost peed in our pants. It was a great night and we had so much fun with our best friends! Thanks guys!

Derek golfing for a prize.

Road Runner mascot with Josh and Briggsy boy

The dugout

getting ready for the singing of our national anthem

Danica and Derek

Briggs and Me

Joshy and Briggs. He was sleepy.

The happy family. They got a road runners shirt for briggs and had the players sign it.

Briggs and his mama

Josh's 23rd Birthday!

Josh turned 23 while we were stayin in Cali. I had to work all day so we couldn't go to Disneyland like we planned. Instead we fiound this great deal at a comedy club called the Ice House. You and a guest get in free on your birthday so we decided to go to that. It was a lot of fun. There were 5 different comics and they were all really funny. One guy was the creator of the Chapell show and another guy was pretty popular and had performed for the troops and stuff. I can't remember their names but they were good! Marie Callenders was having a special on whole pies for $6.99 so I bought Josh a coconut cream pie and surprised him. It was nice to spend the day together but we missed our families. Happy belated Birthday Josh!! When we got back to Cedar we hurried and changed our clothes and went up to Panguitch lake to do some camping with Josh's family for a couple days. His Grandma Noza and Poppy were there with Che and his 3 kids. Shelcy and DJ were also there with Rick and Stephanie. We went fishing and had a campfire and had lots of fun. The kids went snipe hunting with Josh and made a lot of noise. They thought they were pretty funny with their fart machine in our window. Steph smacked me right in the face trying to figure out what was going on, I wasn't thrilled. Josh says i'm an onry old woman haha. It was fun to spend some quality time with the fam.

Me and my baby

Poppy and Grandma Noza

Shelcy hates pictures but I got her anyway.

Chelani and Chaz and che's belly

Chelly and DJ

Rick and Stephanie. Aren't they cute?

Joshy and his whale, i mean trout.

Standing outside the Ice House after the show.

taking pictures before the show

Joshy with his birthday beads

Swimming Instructor!!!
While we were staying in California house sitting for Janet and Cary I was able to work for them teaching swimming lessons at the highschool pool. They own a company called Foothill aquatics and they have year round swim teams and do private and group lessons and stuff like that. They do summer swim lessons through the city and one of the girls that was going to work for them was going to Hawaii for a family vacation and they needed an extra person. I was so excited because we were going to be there for 2 weeks and were going to be missing out on our jobs here so it was nice to have an income. I taught the beginners and a couple advanced beginnner classes. It was so funny because I have never had formal swim lessons so I didn't really know what I was doing but I learned fast and had a good time. The first few days were hard because the kids were all scared and crying and SCREAMING. I thought i was going to have to cry myself but then they finally came around and ended up just loving it. One little boy that had been so terrified he just screamed and cried the entire 30 minutes for the first 3 days told me on the second to last day that he loved swimming and he wished that he could spend all day with me at the pool. It was so rewarding to watch them improve and gain confidance and get excited about swimming and learning new things.
one day we did a safety lesson outside of the pool and I accidentally left this poor little boy in the pool. He was kind of slow and couldn't get himself out so another teacher got him out. I was so mad at myself and the mom complained so the next day I apoligized to her and he told me in his little funny speech impetiment voice " um teacher will you not leave me in the pool today? Cuz yesterday you did and I couldn't get out so you need to help me today okay? haha it was so cute. Well that same day a little girl told me she had to go pee after she already had her life jacket on and she was wearing a 1 piece. I thought she was just trying to get out of jumping in so I told her no and she just started peeing down her legs right there on the side of the pool. It was really sad and I felt soo bad but I just tried to pretend it didn't happen and made her jump in anyway and then just splashed pool water on it. haha gross I know but I was new and didn't know how else to handle it!! Then, to really top it off, this little boy got scared and said he was going to throw up but his teacher was like "you are just fine don't worry you aren't going to throw up" well guess what, he did. right next to me. I was so sicked out I almost threw up too. it was horrible. That was really a bad day but 1 bad day out of all of them was pretty good. I had a great time. Hopefully I can do it again when we move there.

Some of the kids said really funny things, these are just a few that I remember...
" Umm excuse me, is that life gaurd Michael Phelps?" (obviously it wasn't but it was still hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing)

" My grandma is taking me to Mixed Berry Farm for her birthday, I love the roller coasters!" (for those of you who aren't familiar with Southern California, there is a theme park called KNOTT'S Berry Farm he just got confused. Sooo funny)

A little girl brought a blow up fish to play with on Friday fun day and told me "Guess what I named it!? Sara, after you, and I pretend she is a swim teacher" It was so cute I just melted.

4th of July weekend at Quail Creek!
We went to the lake twice over the weekend and played on the Carpenter's boat. We had a blast! We wake surfed, knee boarded, and wake boarded. Josh and I both did 360's on the wake board and Josh and shelcy both surfed with out the rope. It was our first time out this year so we were excited that it came back so fast. Thanks Rick and Stephanie for the fun time!

Josh mid 360 on the knee board.

Josh wakeboarding.

me playing in the water with Alexis

Me surfing, i'm to chicken to let go of the roap.

Josh surfing with out the rope!

Our American Dream is A Nightmare!!!

2009-07-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't updated our blog FOREVER. I always take the camera and plan to do some blogging but then never get around to it. So.. Here is the new news on the house...

We went to California and looked at it in person and had an inspection done. There was 1 page of stuff that needed to be fixed to make it "code" and they inspector said that was pretty good for a house this old. So we had a contractor do a bid on it and it was $40,000 to have everything done. So our agents told us that we would ask for a $5000 credit and they approved that. Then we went to stay for a couple weeks to house sit for Janet and Cary and get things taken care of with the house. While we were there we discovered that the Crazy Cat Lady is our backyard neighbor and she thinks its fun to feed all her cats in other people's yards. Not to mention that she was letting them live in our basement. So we put a board over the stairs and we went back and it was moved. So we screwed it down so she couldn't move it and she KICKED OUT THE SCREENS TO THE VENTS! We couldn't beleive it. I was so upset I just didn't know what else to do except cry. So we told our agent and she was able to have the owners get rid of them. I also called the police and gave them her name and address and told them what was going on so they said they would patrol it.
Next the sellers were getting anxious because our lender was taking too long and hadn't had the appraisal done yet so they told us to get a new lender and we did. Low and behold the new lender wasn't able to do the type of loan we needed because his office didn't do that anymore so we went back to our original lender. She got the appraisal back and it was for $121,000 when we offered $168,000 so it was back to the drawing board to pretty much start negotiations all over. The sellers were a little bugged by the low number which is completely ridiculous considering they bought it 4 months ago for only $87,000. So we are just waiting to hear back if they will take that price for it. We were supposed to close on the tenth and we signed papers June 5th so it is just taking way longer than we had hoped. We are keeping our fingers crossed and trying to stay positive that the deal will work out. We have put it in the lord's hands and are praying that whatever happens we will be ok. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers and hopefully between us all we will witness a miracle!

Our First Home

2009-06-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

We finally got a house! They accepted our offer on Wednesday and on Friday we signed all the papers for our loan. Our agent called and said we open escrow on Monday and we should close 30 days from then. It is a super cute little old house in Pomona less than 1 mile from Josh's dental school. It is 14 miles from my school going the opposite way of the bad traffic so it shouldn't be bad to get to. The house was built in 1895 but has had A LOT of work done to it. They are getting new carpet right now, just painted, and are replacing all the door knobs and stuff. it is just under 1100 square feet but has a 9000 square foot lot. It has a detached garage that says it can be used as a guest quarters so we aren't sure what that is all about. From the pictures and from what we have heard it sounds perfect. We were getting so nervous and didn't know what we should do and then we heard that we got this house. We feel like it must be meant to be. We are going to go down either next week or the week after to sign papers, get inspections, check it out and get everything taken care of so we can move in! Josh's birthday is the 25th and we are going to be in Cali so we are probably going to go to Disneyland. We are just so so blessed and are truly grateful for all that we have. We are thankful for our loving heavenly father and recognize his hand in all things. We are still praying and trying to be sure that this is the right house but we both feel really good about it. Hopefully all of you will come visit us. You always have a nice, clean, FREE place to stay in Cali and you can't beat that! Thank you all for your prayers in helping us to get into a home before school started. What a wonderful life!

THE QUILT

2009-05-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

Sara decided now that we are done with school and bored out of our minds that she would take up quilting. Her mom gave her a bunch of old levi's so she decided for her first quilt she would make a levi rag quilt. Now most people when they first start quilting might try making a baby blanket just to get their feet wet and practise a little before they move on to bigger quilts. But not my Sara. She decided to make a CALIFORNIA KING sized quilt. So we got online and found the demensions for the quilt and found out that it was 110 inches by 96 inches. So then she started cutting. It took a bout a week to cut 265, 8 inch squares out of old levi's.

And here they are all laid out.

It is huge!! Now most people for their first quilt would be satitsfied with a normal plain back side of the quilt perhaps a good plaid pattern but not my Sara. She did some searching online and found a levi quilt with an American flag pattern for the back and she had to have it espesially since it is memorial weekend and all. So we went to walmart and bought some red, white and blue material for the back side. She then cut out those and made them into an amerian flag.

Here is a close up of a couple of the red and white materials

Here it is all sewn together.

So she has got the backside all sewn together and as I type she is sewing the last row of levi's together. And she just started to cut out the levi's last Saturday. She is freaking amazing.

I will post more as it comes along.

Family Photos

2009-05-24T12:06:00.002-07:00

Our parents wanted to get some family photos taken before we left so here they are! A very nice lady that Stephanie works with took our pictures and then Josh edited them in photoshop.

The Carpenters

The Carpenter Girls

Mom and Dad Carpenter

The Macklins

Mom and Dad Macklin

Macklin Girls

Tessa Boo

I really like the black and white with one thing colored!

SUU Graduation

2009-05-07T10:21:00.000-07:00

Well we did it! We finally graduated from college. Both of us got a Bachelors in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. I did it Magna Cum Laude (which I guess means that I had pretty good grades). The day was made even more special because the keynote speaker at the morning commencement exercises was President Thomas S. Monson of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! He gave the most amazing speech about learning from the past, preparing for the future, and living in the present. It was a very humbling experience to be so close to the prophet and to hear him speak to us on such a personal level. We feel so privileged to have the opportunities that we have had while at SUU. We feel that we did get a quality education and that we built many lasting friendships with the faculty and with our peers. We were very close to many teachers at SUU and we will miss our interactions with them. It will be strange not to head back to the halls of the Science building come fall. The school is actually adding on to the current science building so after this summer it will no longer be the way we remember it. We had a lot of stress and frustrations over the years but also a lot of joy and rewards because of our diligent efforts. We will definately miss the blooming trees along the sidewalk of the science building and the beautiful aroma they gave off. The campus truly was beautiful and we were very lucky to live in such a magnificent part of the world. We are moving on to bigger and better things and are looking forward to what the future has in store for us but there will always be a special place in our hearts for our alma mader Southern Utah University!! GO T-BIRDS!
After graduation Rick and Stephanie had a great BBQ at their house and so many of our close friends and family came from near and far to be there for us. They were all so supportive and helpful to us and we feel so blessed to have the families that we have. There was good food and good company and we had so much fun. Thanks Mom and Dad Carpenter for the fun night!
We also just want to thank everyone who came to celebrate this important day with us. To our parents, thank you so much for all your sacrifices, love, support, and friendship as we were working towards this moment, we could not have done it without you! We love you so much!

this is our most favorite teacher, Rachel Smetanka. She is the most amazing person and we love her!

This is us with my family right after we graduated! (Tess, My daddy, Mama, me, Josh, and Grandma Macky(my dad's mom).

Here we are with Josh's 2 grandmas, Grandma Noza(stephanie's mom) and Grandma Carol(Rick's mom)

here I am with the Dean of the College of Science, Robert Eves, and one of the SUU trustees getting my diploma.

Josh shaking hands with the trustee after getting his diploma.

(I have lots of cool pictures but for some reason it won't let me upload them so sorry its boring!)

Birthday Weekend and Unlucky 21

2009-04-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

I remembered to take the camera with us on all our adventures but forgot to use it so this will be kind of boring. Friday My mom and Josh had a big yard sale and then she made my favorite dinner and cake. Saturday her and I got up early and went to St. George for the day. We went shopping and got some cute summer clothes and an outfit for graduation and my interview for hygiene school. Then we went out to lunch and to costco and after that we both got hour long massages. We came back to cedar and were going to get our nails done but decided we will wait until this week so they will look good for graduation. We went out to eat at brad's for dinner and then her and my dad bought me this super yummy German chocolate cake from the lady who made our wedding cake. They lit the candles and sang happy birthday and then my mom and I worked on some craft projects for my interior design final. Then sunday morning (my real birthday) Josh brought me breakfast in bed and we just spent some quality time together. Then we got ready and packed for Mesquite. We drove down and thats when the bad luck began. I put some money in a slot machine and lost it all, put some money down on red and lost that too, played bingo 3 times and got really close but never won. I was seriously bummed and sick that I had just lost all that money! And to top it all off, while I was playin my $5 from the virgin river rewards card, my flip flop broke and they were the only shoes I had. We were right next to the gift shop so we went in and there were only some ugly green ones for $15! I was very depressed and cried most of the night. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who was super patient and sweet. My parents came and had dinner with us there and then we went to the liquor store and bought some grenadine(fruity flavoring for Shirley Temples, our favorite!). We stayed at the Eureka hotel and the room was really nice. We had fun spending the whole day together. Being 21 isn't all it was cracked up to be!

Me and My mama at the end of a long and very fun day!

My beautiful and delicious birthday cake. Thanks Mom and Dad, and Thanks Liz for making it!

Graduation Surprise!

2009-04-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

I received a letter in the mail from SUU today. It says " we are extremely proud of your academic success and are pleased to announce that you will be designated as graduating with honors at the Southern Utah University Commencement on May 2, 2009. In recognition of your academic excellence, the university will provide you with a medallion. The medallion is to be worn around your neck with your commencement gown so that those attending the ceremony will recognize your outstanding achievement." I am pretty excited, I wasn't really expecting anything so it was kind of a shock. I am so happy to be finishing up and to have this behind me. I'm working on applying for hygiene school right now. I got the application in the mail and got my personal statement written and am working on getting all the letters I need. I think its coming together really well and I have a good feeling about it. I'm looking forward to my interview and hearing back. There are 30 spots so I'm counting on one of those seats! Thanks to all our friends and family and all your love and support as we have been working to achieve our goals. We love you all and are looking forward to seeing you in a couple weeks!

"Faith in God includes Faith in His Timing" -Neil A. Maxwell

2009-04-13T21:21:00.001-07:00

We spend the weekend dreaming of the house we found in California. Our real estate agents got us pictures and we showed our families and envisioned all the things we could do to fix it up. We prayed and prayed and could just hear them telling us we got it....
Today they called and said we didn't, but we are the back up offer so if anything falls through with these people, we got it. So there is still hope but we are definately bummed :( I had just called to give my parents the news and was talking to my mother in law stephanie while I thumbed through the Desert Book ad. I found a page of cute quote stuff (my weakness ) and found the best quote by Neil A. Maxwell, "Faith in God Includes Faith in His Timing". What a perfect lesson for that moment. I needed to remember that and know that God has a plan for us. We are so blessed and have been give so much thus far and we know that things willl work out. They always do. The lord is still trying to teach me patience. Keep praying for us. If this house doesn't work out I'm sure there is something better out there. Anyway, Just wanted to share that with you all. Hopefully you were as touched by that thought as we were. Love ya!

Jazz Game!!!!

2009-04-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

We had the opportunity to go to the Jazz vs Golden state game yesterday with Danica and Derek. Danica's little sister's dance group was dancing before the game and we got a good deal on seats. We got there at 5:30 and were able to watch the players warm up. Then we got to sit court side and watch them dance. While we were waiting we walked over behind the basket and Ronnie Brewer was signing autographs. We had bought jerseys before the game and Josh had his. So he took it off and was waving it around and Brewer saw him and was like "hey, do you want me to sign that?" so josh tossed it to him and he signed it on the number! There were so many people and we weren't really close so we didn't think we would get it but we did! What a nice guy! so then after the girls danced, they met 2 of the Jazz dancers and then we were all walking to the elevator to go up to the nosebleed section and someone said "Hey look its president Monson!" So we all turned and ran back and low and behold there he was in the flesh close enough to touch! Josh said "President Monson, We are graduating from SUU this month!" and he said in his usual manner "Oh I'm going to be down there" and Josh patted him on the back and I said "we will see you there!" hahah I was in shock and couldn't come up with anything better to say. Everyone got off the elevator to talk to him and then when he got in no one got back on we were all just too astonished. It was pretty amazing I can't even describe how cool it was. SO then the jazz lost and were totally disappointing and just walked off the court with 10 seconds left! what losers! But after the game we were waiting for Shannon to find her shoes and we saw Thurl Bailey and Pace Manning doin the post game show. The producer told josh and derek and a bunch of other people to go in and they got to be on TV! Josh was all decked out with his jersey and head band and stuff. He was the loudest one! So then we were just hangin around watchin them and during the commercial break Thurl waved us over and we got to shake his massive hand! I was so retarded I just had this cheesy grin on my face and shook his hand but couldn't say a word! Derek found out he was related to Pace. so they were all talking sports and family and what not! it was unbelieveable. Then when we were walking back to the hotel, Matt Harpring came flyin around the corner and almost hit us in the cross walk! and as we started walking another Jazz player pulled out and gave us 2 beeps! Josh swears it was Ronnie Brewer so we will just say it was. It was pretty much the most amazing day ever! We had such a great time!

Here are some pictures, not really in order but bare with me here... it's taken 3 days to post this haha

Danica and Derek and here cutie pie little brother Dane

So stoked for the Game in our sweet new jerseys

Paul Millsap and Brevan Knight warming up

Kyle Korver warming up....mmmhmmm

Jazz vs. Golden State

Shannon and Dance Magic showin off their moves

PRESIDENT MONSON!!!! YEAH THAT PART WAS FOR REAL!

The backs of our sweet jerseys...Before!

AFTER!!

Me watchin the boys warm up! How cool

Joshy on cloud 9. Can you tell he was excited?

Ronnie Brewer signing Josh's jersey!

that guy, Pace Manning and Thurl Bailey!

Totally bummed that the Jazz got whooped at home :(

Josh and Derek right before they were on TV! Joey Decker is the cute one in front # 47 it was his 16th birthday! He is so funny!

Update

2009-04-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

We went to California last weekend for some job interviews at BUCKLE and we heard back this week that we didn't get them :( but while we were there we started the paperwork for a lease at these really nice apartments across from the mall we were going to work at. They are really close to my school and it was in a good location so it was convenient for josh to go to school to. They are called luxury apartments and they really were so nice. They had all the appliances including a dishwasher and a washer and dryer so that was exciting. They had a big pool and a nice gym and they were gated. Our apartment was a really cool floor plan and has a garage. It also had a view of the pool and the mountains. So we were stoked that it was available (it was the only one they had left and 3 other people came in wanting it while we were signing papers...pretty darn lucky)
Then when we got home we got an email from a real estate agent about the most perfect little house. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a 2 car garage, and its 1300 sq ft. It was built in 63 and there haven't been any improvements since then but its only 130,000 and that is the cheapest thing we have found that isn't a trailer or an empty lot. We were pre-approved for a loan and then submitted an offer that was 5,000 over asking price and showed proof of $20,000 down. there were so many offers already with in the first day that they are closing it today at noon. Our agents said that since we have such a big down payment and are offering over asking that even if someone else offers more or the same, we would still get it because of the down payment. So everyone keep your fingers crossed and pray really hard for us that we will get it. We need all the positive energy we can get!! We will keep you updated and let you know what happened.

New Couches (almost)

2009-04-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

When we moved into our apartment my sweet grandma decided that she would give us her old couches so that she could get some new ones that went with her decorations better. The couches were still like new because it was just her at home. They are really comfy and in great shape but they were white with splashes of color and looked really dated and then they got these balls and josh would pick at them and toss them on to our dark blue carpet so it looked like the floor had lice or something. We couldn't afford to get new couches so we looked around and found a good deal on couch covers. They are a brown microfiber stretch kind and they fit really well. It changed the whole room and they are really comfy and nice. We are so excited. We are pretty happy about our investment and it saved us a bunch of money.

we were so excited to put them on we forgot to take before and after pictures so just take our word for it that they were ugly!

Pine Wood Derby!

2009-04-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

The scouts usually are the ones who have pine wood derbies but their dads and brothers and uncles usually take over and do all the work anyway so in our ward the Elder's Quorum decided to have their own. Josh and Derek have been working on it for a few weeks making it perfect. Josh made a really long dragster and a little cool one. He had a lot of fun but didn't do so hot. He pretty much got worked. He took 8th out of 10 the first go round and then 10th the last time. oh well. He had a great time and Josh is so easy going that He didn't mind.

Josh with his two sweet cars

Josh and Taylor gettin ready to race!

Josh's car winning one race against the BYU car. (no wonder huh!)

He won the Best design award for the "limo" (thats what everyone was callin it)

Isn't it a beauty?

Rachel's Birthday Cake!

2009-04-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

This week was our very favorite teacher's birthday (RACHEL S). I made a sheet cake using my aunt Cookie's yummy recipe and then Josh and his buddy JD decorated it. Rachel is a really outdoorsy kind of person and she loves mountain biking so they decided to draw a bike on it. They actually did a really good job. She loved it! And it tasted amazing if I do say so myself.

Do It Yourself Crafts

2009-03-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

In my interior design class my teacher always shows us clips from a TV show called Studio5. One episode had Jennifer Heslop on talking about how to take old junk from a salvage yard and turn it into something really clever and cute. Danica and I thought it was so cool so we are planning a trip to Salt Lake to go to George's Salvage yard like she did in the show. SO since I had been thinking about sprucing up some old junk to turn it into a treasure I had a great idea. I had taken this little shelf from my grandma's garage and put it in my kitchen but it was just plain wood and a little dull. I was doing dishes the other day and I decided I would try out my crafty skills on this shelf. I think it turned out pretty darn good considering I am not very good at making things look the way I imagine.

here is the supplies I used. Craft paint, sponge brushes, sand paper, scrap book paper, modge podge and clear acrylic paint.

BEFORE

AFTER

The Dash

2009-03-22T15:14:00.001-07:00

I was reminded of this poem today and I though I would share it with all of you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth...
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars....the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard...
are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile...
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read
with your life's actions to rehash...
would you be proud of the things they
say about how you spend your dash?