A Whole New World

I love the way my nieces belt this disney song out at the top of their lungs, "A whole new world..(humming cuz they don't know the words, then...) A whole new world!!"
I wish they were here with me now to make "a whole new world" sound that exciting and help me be so enthusiastic about it. We're moving to New Hampshire. New Hampshire! That's 2,300 miles away from Ogden, Utah!
Although it is a long way from home and we will only be able to bring our clothes with us, I am SO happy Paul got into Physical Therapy school and it brings us closer to being done with school.
School starts for Paul on Aug. 29, yes, we only got 5 weeks notice. That puts things in a crunch. I've told my new boss that I will be leaving, and Paul only has to work 2 more weeks of those awful graveyard weekend shifts. WAHOOO!!!!

This is where we're going, Concord, New Hampshire.


And this is what we look forward to doing.

Making out here on New Years Eve along with thousands of other people.


Going to Niagra Falls


Seeing this lovely lady.


Wathching people do things like this at the beach.


Paul is looking forward to seeing the Yankee Statium.

And so many more tourist attractions we can't miss.

So, New Hampshire won't be so bad. It will be an exciting, fun filled 2 years of our lives!

Walking on Sunshine

Caleb is walking! He has been so scared to let go of anything but I knew he could do it if he got the confidence. On Wednesday Caleb got the confidence. He went from refusing to walk to loving it in minutes. Now he walks clear across the room smiling and sqealing with delight. He is a proud boy!



AND...
We finally got our diplomas. And if I can just brag/vent...I graduated cum laude but I didn't know it at graduation so I didn't get a cord to wear, so lame! But when I got my diploma yesterday in the mail, Paul noticed it says cum laude on it, so even though I didn't get to wear another cord at graduation I get to brag about it on my resume.

Tornado

I can't move fast enough.

This is what my bathroom looks like...


And this is the Kitchen...


And this is how the toys stay most of the day...

Nicely organized and in place.

And this is the tornado (aka Caleb Clark)...

In God We Trust

It's easy to get discouraged about our country, the sins being committed are unbelievable. It's almost impossible to have faith or hope for our leaders, those voting for them, and even the speeches given to us promising things that will never come.
I find myself just thinking about what our country is becoming. And my only solution is to not become involved. Not a good one. I'm wrong. In many ways I'm wrong. There IS hope for our country, there IS peace, There ARE good leaders, and there IS something I can do.
This is an uplifting paragraph I read that President Hinckley wrote about. It gave me hope that our country is good, we are still looked up to despite all the bad, there is good here, and let's all focus on that.
"With tears in his [tour guide] eyes, this man poni9ted to the home from wich he had been disposessed. And then he said with deep emotion, "You belong to the greatest nation on the face of the earth. Yours is the only nation that has been vicorious in war and never claimed any territory as a prize of conquest. Your people have given millions, even billions, to the poor of the earth and never asked for anything in return. Rather, even after coming off as conqueror, you ahve poured yet other billions to revive those who had been your enemies in bloody conflict.""
Yes, we are a good country. We give, we lend helping hands, and often we don't ask for anything in return. It doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with those fighting in Iraq, for example. There are men and women sacrificing their lives and families. They will come home tramatized, and completely different people in many ways. We didn't go over to get posession of Iraq, we went to help.
Remember we have a good country.

The first of many

Caleb had his first camping experience (and many more to come)this week and LOVED it. Despite the rain, mud and racoons we had a blast.

This ring of dirt around his mouth never left, even though I washed it off multiple times...I admit, I don't know what he ate most of the time...ok all of the time. I do know at one point he had a slug in his mouth, but I guess it didn't taste good because he spit it out quickly.

The chipmunks were so friendly! And great entertainment for Caleb.

Puddle jumping.






Need I say, Caleb loved being outside all the time. He's all boy; he enjoyed exploring, eating anything, and getting very dirty.



Some fun in the sun from earlier this summer.





Caleb can do all of pat-a-cake now.

Unplanned

HA you all thought I was going to say I'm pregnant. Well I'm not, but I got a job, and it was not planned.
While Paul was searching for jobs online he noticed the Weber County Health Department was hiring in the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) department. I've always thought working for WIC would be a fun job. I haven't been looking for jobs, nor did I want one. I love staying home with Caleb and I thought since me working wasn't an absolute necessity, I wouldn't. Although me not working meant we would struggle financially, be unable to go on many outings for the summer, no saving for Paul's schooling, and many other things we both felt it was worth it.
Well, the Lord had a different plan, and it will take my faith to follow. I applied for the job because I didn't want to close any possible doors and becuase it has always been a job I was interested in doing. A week after turning in the application they asked for an interview. Two hours after my first interview they called for a second interview (it was a decision between me and one other applicant). I was to come in the next day to present on a PowerPoint that they had, I had 15 minutes to study and prepare before teaching it to my future employers.
Well, I was offered the job the next day. It was bittersweet. Pros: I only have to work 24 hours/week, I get to teach nutrition, it's better pay that I've ever had before, and it will give me experience in the workfield for when I work while Paul goes to grad school, and most of all it will double our income (that tells you how little we've been making). Cons: I have to leave Caleb 3 days a week for 9 hours.