Idahomies

Darren and I are now Idahomies! (Thanks Britt for that new word :)) Darren started his new job at Taylor's Crossing Public Charter School last Monday, and was a bachelor for a week while I stayed back in California getting everything worked out with our apartment and school. We moved out of our Turlock apartment the day before he left for Idaho, and had everything in my grandparents' garage in Hughson for a week.

Thursday afternoon Darren's dad came down with a moving truck and we packed everything up and headed up to their house for the night. We drove away bright and early Friday morning and rolled into Arimo (where Darren's grandparents live) about 10pm. It was so nice to see Darren again, and so nice to be done driving! I tell ya, Nevada is a useless state. It seems to never end.

Saturday morning we headed up to our new apartment in Ammon, and moved everything in. Darren did an excellent job apartment searching and I love our new apartment. I'll love it even more when it's all unpacked (we're still in boxes) and when we have a bed and washer and dryer.

It's been an adjustment the past few days and it's so stinkin' cold, but I feel like this will be a good experience for both of us. Darren is loving his job and I'm so glad he found it.

I'll make sure to post pictures as soon as everything get's put together :)

We're Moving!...Again

Yes, folks. We're moving again! Good thing we never completely unpacked from our move 6 weeks ago, because we are packing up as I type and are out of our apartment this Friday.

Where are we going you may ask? Well, the lovely state of Idaho!

Darren was offered a part-time Spanish teaching position at an Idaho Falls charter school, and will be teaching 6-8th grade Spanish and one period of high schoolers. It was an opportunity that we couldn't pass up so we are heading out. His first day is the 18th, so he leaves this Saturday. I'll follow him up on the 23rd with his parents, and big thanks to Darren's dad who will be driving our moving van.

While we are sad to leave family and friends, we know that this is a great opportunity that will open doors for us in the future. We will also be just 30 minutes from my brother and his new wife, so it will be fun to spend time with them!

It will be a big adventure for us, and one that will be FREEZING for me in the winter, but I hope it will be a fun one. We are both excited for this new chapter of our lives to start.

We'll continue to keep everyone updated on our lives through our blog (and, if you notice, I'm finally all caught up!!).

'Til next time, from spud-land.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

On September 28th, Darren and I went to one of Darren's favorite places on the planet:

  

AT&T Park in San Francisco, and we got to see the Giants play the Arizona Diamondbacks! Darren had been wanting to go to a game ever since we moved back, but we just hadn't gotten there. With the end of the season drawing near he knew it was now or never for this season. We looked online and noticed that all of their remaining home games were on days that Darren had to work. No bueno.

Well, Darren decided that the small issue of having to work wasn't going to stop him. He asked around and found someone to switch days with and got it all approved and we were set. We found stinkin' cheap tickets ($6 each) and were so excited.

We left early Tuesday afternoon and got dinner on our way into the park. We weren't early enough for batting practice, but we got to watch everyone warm up and enjoyed the cooler air up at the top :)

The game started off a little hairy, with the Diamondbacks going up 2-0, but our Giants came back and won it 4-2, putting themselves up 2 games over the Padres (whose score we watched all night on the wall) and in great position going into the last weekend of the regular season.

 

It was so fun to have a night out with Darren (this is extremely rare with his schedule) and see a great baseball game. If only post-season tickets were as cheap ;)

Next up: Move 2.0...apparently we didn't move far enough the first time

Move 1.0 & New Apartment

On September 7th, just the day after our trip to the beach, Darren and I moved out of my grandparents' house and into our own apartment in Turlock! We appreciated my grandparents' hospitality and willingness to let us stay there, but we were ready to be on our own again.

We found a simple one bedroom apartment right across the street from campus, so it was perfect. It took us a while to unpack and get settled in, but here are some pictures from our place! (I spared you all our bathroom and bedroom. You all know what a bathroom looks like, and our bedroom is the only place we still have yet to completely unpack.)

Living room when you walk in the front door

The rest of our living room (Thanks Jenny!!!)

Dining room/Kitchen

The rest of our kitchen!

We love having our own place, and love the proximity to school and work for both Darren and I. It's been fun to make it our own and put everything together.

We can't thank Darren's dad and brother Eric for helping us bring everything into our apartment. It was quite the warm day and they worked super hard!

Next up: Giants Game & Move 2.0

The Beach...again

On September 6th Darren's family went to New Brighton Beach. It was a much better beach experience than when my parents were here, bummer for them, and we all had a great time. The water was FREEZING at first, but I got acclimated soon enough and had a blast boogy boarding with Darren and watching everyone else. I didn't want to even attempt it at first since I had never done it before and could picture myself tumbling head over heals in the water, but when Jenny got up and did it (she was 6 months pregnant at the time) I figured I could too! It was so fun. I did NOT love the sand that ended up throughout my bathing suit from washing up on the beach, but a quick rinse before we left and a shower that night fixed everything.

I wish I had some pictures, but we forgot our camera in the parking lot and were too lazy to walk back up and get it. Haha. Darren's mom has some so I'll have to steal some from her and add them in a while. It was nice to have one good beach experience before the summer ended :)

Next up: We moved!...into town

Happy Belated Birthday Chuck

So, back in August, the 24th to be exact, our beloved Chuck hit a huge milestone:
 

It was a monumental occasion, if I do say so myself. Chuck has been in my life for 5 years and has been a great car. He got me to Utah and back once, Arizona and back twice, and then just recently to Utah, Idaho and then back. I have doubled his mileage in the short amount of time I've had him, but he's paid off and a great automobile.

Well, he was...

On this exact day, Darren and I took a trip to the temple to do a session. As mentioned before, he'd had boughts of overheating, but we'd learned to manage them. So, we managed it that day as well. On our way back home we got pretty hungry, but we knew that stopping could be hazardous so we did quick stop at a taco bell and got back on the road. Well, apparently the heat and turning 150 was too much for Chuck to deal with in one day and he just wouldn't cool down. We turned the heater on full blast on the freeway and he wasn't having any of it. Luckily Darren's parents live off the freeway so we stopped by their house and they gave us a lift home while Chuck cooled down in front of their house.

One radiator later Chuck is doing considerably better. He hasn't gotten that hot since then, and should only have to have one more procedure before being completely better. Apparently the radiator wasn't a big enough birthday present and he now wants a new water pump. Oh, the things we do for those we love...

Coming up next: The beach!!