Spring in California

Mike and I are back for another summer in sunny Sacramento. I was a little bummed to hear that Pinnacle chose the same location two years in a row, because I enjoy being in a new place and exploring a different city. We moved about 15 miles south of where we were last year and so far I really like the area. However, moving to a new place automatically makes me unemployed again. I think I speak for most when I say that job searching is absolutely dreadful. I feel desperate applying for jobs that I normally wouldn't do. I will keep you posted on when and IF I get hired somewhere. Mike on the other hand is doing well with selling so far. I was a little worried with all the recession news that people would be reluctant to buy an alarm, but that has proven to be wrong. Apparently during the Great Depression door-to-door salesmen were quite successful despite the collapsed economy. Who knew?

By the way, I don't know about you but I feel like the news is beating a dead horse with this whole Swine Flew...excuse me...H1N1 disease. I heard a statistic today that we are more liking to die from Sal manila than H1N1. All this hype was caused when VP Joe Biden said he wouldn't set foot on a bus or plane because of the risk of contracting the disease. Not a very smart thing to say considering airline companies are already hurting in this economy. Doctors (who I trust more than politicians) suggest just washing our hands more frequently and keep living our lives.

Ok, enough about that. More importantly, Mike's sister, Sarah and her husband Austin, finally had their sweet baby girl named Emmry Catherine Wiley. Before we came to CA, Mike and I took a quick trip to Denver to see our families.

Also, one of my best friends Michelle married Sterling Ercanbrack on April 10, 2009 in the Salt Lake City Temple. Michelle and I have been friends for about four years and were roommates in college. When we lived together Sterling first asked her out with a note and roses in a Mason jar. So cute. They are a beautiful and fun couple and we were lucky to be witnesses at their temple sealing. Congratulations Newlyweds!

One of my favorite part about weddings is all the little bridesmaids. They are so cute and I bet they are all thinking, "I can't wait until I can be in a princess dress and marry my handsome prince!" I know I did when I was little.

The rest of the picture are of our apartment in Sacramento. Mind you, we are using rented furniture and the decorations are minimal because we could only fit as much as we could in our two cars. Oh, I failed to mention that I am officially done with college classes! I just have student teaching to do, which I will complete next winter in Rexburg. I will walk in graduation after I student teach. Its crazy to think that I will never take classes at BYU-I again. That chapter in my life is over. However, I will still be living in Rexburg for another two years *cringe* until Miguel finishes. Whatever...that's life I guess.

This is Mike's incentive wall. For each sale he gets to peel off a star. About every five stars there is a treat like lunch at Chipotle or In 'n Out or whatever. A couple days ago he got a golf bag which he was pretty excited about.

Lastly, I almost forget to post this too. We just had our One Year Anniversary on April 26th. We celebrated by going to Chevy's -one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and spent most of the day with our friends at the pool. Overall, I would give the first year of our marriage five stars. Complete bliss.

Got to love the self timer. It took us about five times to take this picture and we still didn't get it right. Oh well.

What Goes Around definitely Comes Around

I just have to share this story because it is the perfect example of that phrase, "what goes around comes around." So here what happened.

When Mike and I lived at an apartment complex in Rexburg we decided it was worth the extra ten dollars a month to have a reserved parking spot. Anyone who has lived in Rexburg knows that you don't want to have to park too far away from your place when it is -10 outside and blowing snow in your face. Ever so often we would come home and our spot would be taken by someone else, so we would write a kind but firm note and attach it to their car.
We didn't ever want to tow people because it is like $100 for making the silly mistake of parking in the wrong spot. Plus, Mike loathes the tow guy and would never want to get him more money than he deserves.

Well, after so many times of our parking spot being taken by someone we decided to write a pretty mean note to car owner. The note went something like this: _____please move your POS car_____Next time you do this we will tow you_____. You get the idea. It wasn't very friendly. (the blanks aren't swear words but are just more threatening words.)

Then we came out to our car and a returned note read: Dear Angry Car Owner, Sorry your life is so terrible that me parking in your spot ruined your day. I will make sure to not park in it again. from: the POS car.

After reading his note we felt pretty stupid for freaking out over such a silly thing. We then promised ourselves that the next time we saw his car we would write a letter of apology, which we did.

The car owner then wrote a sweet note back thanking us for apologizing to him. We felt so much better about ourselves and were able to sleep at night again.

So here is when the story goes full circle. Two days ago Mike's younger sister, Lauren, called and said, "Guess who I am hanging out with? (Then she handed the phone to her friend who said) The POS car."

Moral to this story? Yes!

We are going Private

Hey friends. Mike and I have decided to make our blog private so we don't get any creepers stocking us. We only want to allow our friends and family, which all of you are, to view our blog. I am sure you know what we mean. Anyway, if you would please send me your email and I will make it so you can still view it.

Oh yeah, we are boycotting Chris Brown from our playlist. We don't support jerks who hit women. Rihanna, you can do so much better! If I hear Britney's "Circus" song one more time I am going to karate chop my computer....so she getting the boot from our list too. Sorry Brit....its nothing personal.

my email is Dea04006@byui.edu

Bloom Where you are Planted

So I realized I haven't done a post in a while. The reason being is that Mike and I have just working, going to school, and all that comes with it. Next month we will be moving to Sacramento for summer sales so I am sure we will have some more blog worthy items. We do have some exciting news though......Mike's sister had a baby girl last night and her name is Emmry. She was a a little more than a month early and weighs 5.lbs 6 oz. You thought I was going to announce that I was pregnant huh? Lol. Not anytime soon but we do want to have a baby sometime in the near future...one to two years down the road. Anyway, we are really excited to have a new edition to our family. I am planning to fly back to Denver sometime in either May or June to visit the family and see little Emmry.

Some other great news is that I will be done with college in 3 weeks! Holy cow college has flown by. I can't say it has been easy streets, but it has been enjoyable. I have realized that it doesn't matter if you live in a frigid cold and windy place like Rexburg, but happiness is truly about surrounding yourself with good people who share the same hopes and dreams as you do. Now, I am not going to lie, the winters in Rexburg can make you boarder line suicidal if you aren't careful, but as long as you stay active both spiritually and physically you can thrive anywhere. My mom once told me, "No matter where you go in life make the best of the situation and bloom where you are planted."

I have to admit it makes me a bit nervous leaving the comforts of college life and venturing off into the real world. But wherever the road of life takes me I know that Heavenly Father will guide my footsteps. Life is truly full of twists and turns when we least expect them and that's why it is important to enjoy the journey.

As I read many of your blogs I am so impressed at how so many of you willingly accept changes in your lives and see them as growing experiences. Many of you have recently given birth to beautiful babies, are serving missions, getting married, recently married, dating, going to school, starting your careers, struggling with illnesses, among many other things. You may not realize what an inspiration you are to me and other fellow bloggers. So, I just wanted to thank all of you for allowing me to read your heart felt feelings as we take this journey called life.

Your friend
-Leslie

Lettin' the CaT out of the BaG.

Zenna dared me to write seven things about myself that people might not know about me. I would have Mike do it but as you can tell he never posts anything so, its about me this time. Here goes...


1. For those of you that have have the pleasure of being my roommate;) you know that I take into consideration every thing that I eat. Well, times have changed and I now enjoy all kinds of foods including cookies, cheesecake, nachos, soda, ice cream, candy, pop tarts, chocolate, and whatever I feel like. Being married to Mike has changed the way I eat because I can't put him on a diet. Guys need meat in every meal...something I never even thought of when I was single. He usually always has a sweet tooth and I can't deprive him of that, so if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Now I just enjoy about everything I want but just focus on portion control. I have found that I don't think about food as much as a used to because I was trying so hard not to eat them, and eating is more exciting! How 'bout that!

2. I absolutely love cats, however I am allergic. Mike, on the other hand, is crazy about dogs. Every time the subject of cats dogs comes up it always results in us arguing over getting a dog or not. You can probably guess what side I am on. I tell Mike I MIGHT consider getting a dog when we can afford to send it to obedient school, have a big backyard for it to run and play in, and our youngest kid is not crawling on the floor where the dog sits. I think that's pretty fair. Oh yeah, and I do not want to pick up or ever step in dog poop in the backyard!

3. I love a clean house. There is something therapeutic about cleaning the toilet.... Well I wouldn't go that far, but seriously the feeling of a clean and well organized house makes for a better, happier life.

4. I love to read. Yes, I have read the Twilight series...and loved them! I also read tons of history books because my major is History Education. One of my favorite stores is Barnes and Noble. I could spend hours there searching through shelves of books. Sometimes, Mike and I go to Barnes and read after eating out. You know you have been married for a while when you go to the bookstore on a date!

5. Something quirky about me is that I rarely cross my legs at my knees. Stuides show that crossing your legs causes varicose veins, so instead I cross my ankles which apparently is more lady-like.

6. You know how there are those people who NEVER had an awkward stage??? Well, I was definitely not one of them. My awkward stage lasted from the 5th grade to my junior year of high school after I got my braces off. I pretty much went through it all...zits, bad posture, braces, bad haircuts, too much eyeliner and sparkly eye shadow, dorky clothes...you name it. Its a wonder I turned out normal...at least I think I have...

7. If I could be anywhere right now I would be at the beach with Mike...any warm beach where the water is calm and clear. There is nothing better than spending the entire day at the beach soaking in the sun, swimming the waves, snorkeling, taking long walks, and sitting on a chair just watching the waves crash on the sand.


I am tagging a few of you to do this honesty thing:

1. Melissa Poulson
2. Stephanie Marcum
3. Mellissa Hill
4. Vivian Burrup
5. Lindsey Marlor
6. Breanne Bush
7. Chelsea Heidorn

Red=LoVe

Last weekend my good friend Lindsey took pictures of Mike and I for a contest she is entering in for one of her classes. The theme was "Red,red red." We had so much fun taking professional pictures. It felt like we were taking our engagement photos again. Lindsey has a blog of all of her photos at Lindsphotography.blogspot.com

Busy Bodies

So, we haven't gotten around to doing a post this month mainly because we haven't done anything blog worthy. Mike has been busy taking online classes, playing basketball, working out, and selling alarm systems. For the past two weeks he has been in sunny Miami with a group of guys selling. Two weeks is a loooong time to be without your other half. Before he left I got really sick, mainly a terrible sore throat and fever. It was extremely hard to be sick without him there to take care of me. Thankfully we have sweet friends that were so kind to help me out:-) My "sexy" cold voice is no longer sexy, but just plain annoying. I can't sing at church and speak in a sweet voice to babies. I know...that sounds lame but doesn't everyone make their voice a little higher when talking to little babies? Anyway, with Mike being gone I have discovered how much I really do need him in my life. I don't want to get too mushie, but I noticed how much he makes me laugh everyday because I haven't laughed much since he has been gone. I have absolutely no desire to cook if I can't enjoy the meal with him. I haven't done one load of laundry, have only worked out once in two weeks (which is totally not like me), and the car is on E. You are probably thinking I am a total slob but really I have just realized how incredibly happy Mike makes me. Thankfully he is coming home Friday night and as you can tell....I can't wait! Back to normal, happy life.

Besides from my lonely two weeks without Mike, I am trying my hardest to graduate this April. I am only taking 12 credits but I might as well be taking 20, because they are all senior level classes that require tons of time. Its all good though. I am can do this for three more months. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.