It keeps going. . . and going. . .

Winter is back this morning with an additional inch of snow, just after we cleared the last bit it sent our way. . . ah well, I knew spring was too good to be true.
The following are pictures I think I haven't posted before. If they're re-runs. . . sry.


I wasn't sure if I had included this one, or a similar one before. These are my children's toys. The big one is for the big boy, the little one is for the tiny thing.


Princess dress, the umbrella she purchased for herself, and snow, nothing could make her happy.
The video I'm including is from an email I received at work a few weeks ago . . . at least it was using mattresses and not cardboard boxes.



This is the video from last week: Puzzle Magic. I took two videos, but this one is the cutest. The first one was five minutes before when she still had about 1/2 the sky left to finish.



So one last thing that my little girl did this week: she helped her daddy move some heavy stuff into the basement storage with no complains so she earned enough allowance this week to purchase the next item on her list, a purse. It's brown with a purple/silver design on the sides. It's way cute, but already too small for the many toys she wants to cram inside. :)

As for Jason, he's having a much better week than the last post. He has regained some of the hearing in his ear, though the doctors said it could be a month before it all comes back. We also got the hospital bill. $800!. I was shocked and asked for an itemized bill. Most of the smaller charges were actually more reasonable than I expected for an ER visit, so I didn't fight the room rental charge which was more than 1/2 the cost. I wanted to ask for a copy of their financial statements for last year to calculate the actual cost of a room for 2 hrs, but I stopped myself.
He also talked with his advisor this week, who is a teacher in his new career field. (I love that the guidance comes from people who actually understand the field and goals). Jason was told that he's on track and doing all the right things. The man also knew of the Master's program that Jason is considering and mentioned another within the same school that is also gov't funded. In exchange for 2 years after graduation they pay for all schooling (Master's program) and give a living allowance. So Jason now has a few options to consider. He's excited.
Lastly for him we finally got to an eye doctor now that we're on a vision plan through my work.
He wanted contacts, so now he has to wait for them to order them (because his prescription is right in the middle of the two they stock). I'm excited that we're finally getting his broken glasses replaced. Tape just isn't meant to hold glasses long-term :)

As for me this week was great. Every time I ran out of work I was given a project which required thought and research so I've been enjoying it.
I feel bad for the intern though. He was hired for audit, but they got the audits done in half the normal time this year, so he's been doing tax. Every time he makes a comment to me I can't help but laugh.
"I don't understand check-tapes! I didn't even include this number and it still balances!"
"Um, it should be on there. . . unless there is an overall loss and then it wouldn't be deductible."
"Oh, well there was a loss."
"Well, there ya go, but it should still be on your checktape and then backed off at the bottom as a carry-over to next year."
"oh."
or
"It's so frustrating. The last few returns they've given me I can't finish! I don't understand why they're giving them to me when I can't finish them!"
"Well, actually, that's one of the major reasons for us. As we enter and list what items we're missing it saves the reviewer time and effort and costs the client less in the end. Most clients don't give all their information the first time around."
"Oh"
Listening to him parrot things I said in my first few years I just have to give a shout out to my old boss who patiently explained all of this to me and taught me the process of a normal firm. That's one thing my company doesn't spend very much time doing. They give two days of training and then whatever feedback they deign to mention, but there's so much they don't say or just fix on their own because it's faster. Steve was always very nit-picky and would send things back for minor changes, or would print off the corrections and write notes and put them on my desk. At the time I found it bothersome, but I now understand and am grateful for it.

Amazing

So first I have to gush over my daughter. This week she's done some amazing things.
1) Fully potty trained at night. There was a bit of a fuss over the fact that she can't have a glass of milk at night anymore, or a cup of water, but she actually woke up yesterday and went potty at 4:30 am and then went back to bed.
2)We couldn't find any "challenging" puzzles in her age group - because every one we bought for her she can do in ten minutes flat, so we went to the next age group up . . . 6+
Well we assumed she wouldn't be able to do them, one they were 100,300,500 pieces and two they were a lot smaller than she is used to. Well we were wrong. The day we brought it home she had already done one of the 100 piece ones, the next day she did another one and the third day she started on a 300 piece. Granted she doesn't like to do these ones alone, but all we have to do is sit there and hand her pieces or just talk to her. The second puzzle she did was 1/2 done before I even started helping. (she found all the unicorn pieces and the sky).

She's amazing. The other thing she did which made me all squishy inside was on Sunday at church Jason was using her doodle board to write out words and she was guessing as usual, but then he wrote Mom and she said "mmmmm . . . mom!"
It was cool.

This last week was also my birthday week and it was fabulous. I worked like normal and then on Saturday I stayed home and Jason and alisabeth gave me my presents early. I got two books in a series I've been reading and an Apple/Peeler/Corer/Slicer which I've wanted for a long time. Jason and Alisabeth had a blast with that one while I read :)

Sunday (the actual day) I was invited to dinner by a co-worker and he made us enchiladas and amazing chips and dip and we had a great time. I also learned how and made my first "real" cake with a fondant top and cut out fondant letters/shapes to decorate it with. It was pretty basic, but I was pleased with the results. So we had that after dinner.
They also have a 3 year old son, so Alisabeth and Aiden had a good time playing until they both got tired.
The night ended with a band as we had to be rocked out of the snow because Jason parked on slush which froze back up around the tires. It was great.

Then Monday at work I got a delivery of flowers from my mother and they sat proudly on my desk where everyone in the office could jealously admire them :)
I also got a package in the mail with a new I-pod from my mother and a few computer games.
All in all it was a great week for me.

Jason the other hand has had a pretty lousy one. Besides finding out that we had missed the last gas bill from the Tucson house, and a medical bill for Alisabeth, and a bunch of other financial issues he was sick most of the week. That culminated in an intense ear ache which was bad enough on Sunday that he had a hard time enjoying himself at my party. This morning at about 4:30 he woke me up and we decided that he should go to the ER. The doctor described it "as if a bomb had gone off in his ear."
He was given a shot in the butt of antibiotics, some oral antibiotics, ear drops and off-brand vicodin for the pain.
On top of that we had to get the cats on antibiotics because whatever Baggera brought with him when we adopted him still hasn't gone away so most of our household is currently on drugs. It's great.

I have a few videos and pictures to post, but I need the camera, so that will come later.

This week in reruns.

Can I just say I love doing taxes. I was given the opportunity to help a friend and man it gave me such a sugar high that I can't sleep right now, so you benefit!

I love taxes, but I've found something that tops it...
I love audits.

I am in the middle of my first audit ever. . . mind you I didn't take the audit class in college because I heard they didn't teach you anything except how to read audit reports and I wanted an education in how to be an accountant. . . Poor Spencer, my trainer, and the lead on the project, is teaching me the ropes, but I think I'm catching on. (It helps that unlike tax I'm not expected to know anything, so the phrase I recently coined when Spencer comes to talk to me is "start at stupid and go from there.").
We get up every morning in order to drive the 1 hour to Blackfoot where we spend 11 hours pouring over, through, and around the books of a company to make sure they're documenting, billing and recording correctly. It is THE PERFECT job for someone who just really needs to be beyond type A. In life I spend hours creating excel spreadsheets which give me statistical and analytical data which I use in a variety of ways. At work I now play with spreadsheets which were specifically created the same way. I pour through files and data logs, generate "random" samples of work-types and categories and then I put it all together in an understandable and cohesive package so that anyone could read and understand whether or not the company is doing what it should be. How perfect is this job for me??
The down side? I still have to deal with people who don't truly have a clue what they're doing, but this was a great first experience. This company has no clue, but they're generally happy to listen to us explain it and once they understand they most often agree. I did have the controller tell me there was no way we were getting what we wanted in one situation, but it turned out to be a moot point because the million dollars worth of expenses had been put into a different category than usual and really weren't an issue after all.
As for Jason and Alisabeth they are thriving as well. She's happy as a lark every day and Jason has got a routine that keeps them both alive and smiling. He's been amazingly supportive of my 12 hour days and has done everything and more to ease my stress levels while I'm at home. Plus he listens to my insanely long stories about what I did at work.
Lastly, Jason and Alisabeth met me in IF yesterday so that Alisabeth could use her hard-earned allowance to purchase her princess dress.
I was terribly worried because unlike Tucson we don't have a "Disney" store here. I thought about going to Walmart and getting one of their dress up outfits, but I knew what she was looking for and that wasn't it, so we headed to the mall.
Inside we headed straight for the department stores (with a few detours to look at the play areas and toys).
She went straight in and Jason led her over to the toddler section where the dresses were on sale and within her price range. I looked in the children's dresses and gasped in surprise. There was a whole section devoted to "Cinderella" brand dresses and they were also the requested color. So after trying on a size 4T dress which fit snugly I convinced the complaining and not understanding child to come and look at the bigger-bigger dresses. Finally she agreed with a sulk to try on this one:

It was also on sale. . .
I've decided not to comment on parents who spoil their children for a while.
She's happy as a lark, as seen in the fact that she posed for about 20 minutes in it. I think we're going to bring them both to Boise with us this weekend and let the girls dress up and be princesses. I know Alisabeth will love it and I'm pretty sure Paige will too.
So guess what size this dress is. . .
You'll notice the bottom is folded under, but it's only folded about 1.5 inches. . .




Come on, take a guess. . .




Size 7. Yes, my 3 year old daughter fits almost perfectly into a size 7 dress. Yes it's tall, and yes when the bow is tight in the back it gathers slightly, but seriously, this is just wrong. (There were no dresses between the 4T and the 7, so my choice was big or wearable for 6 months or less. . . I chose big.)

I hope your coming week is as awesome as mine was.

So cute it deserved it's own post

As requested

I was reminded that I haven't posted a picture of our little angel in a while, so here are a few of the ones Jason has sent me at work.



We had a good week. I'm starting to get back into the swing of life. My co-workers are great and I'm really enjoying it. The other day we went out to lunch and I was in my high heeled boots and worried about the 3 inches of ice. Gallantly, our intern Matt took up a defensive position nearby in case I slipped so that I wouldn't land on my butt. That's just an example of the great people I'm surrounded with. If we're not laughing and joking we're working together perfectly. I love it.
School for Jason is still on hold. Even though they said they would have a decision in 6 weeks it has been 2 months and they still haven't had a chance to even look at his application. He's frustrated, but honestly it's not as though he was going to start any time soon. The earliest is April anyway so we're just trying to be patient. In the meantime he's researching and preparing contacts for several agencies he wants to work for when we get out of school. He's set his sights high and knows he's in for a challenge, but we're confident that he can do it.
We figure if he can start talking to the recruiters when he's done with his first semester that will give him plenty of time to shift class focuses to where the jobs want him to be + it will get his name in the ears of potential employers when the time comes for internships and final employment. We're doing a lot more research this time around and I have a feeling it will pay off in the end.
He's also adjusting well to being a stay-at-home dad. They've gotten in a good routine including an hour of pre-school a day. He makes up a sheet of letters and words and she traces them, then they sound out the words and then go on a treasure hunt around the house for things that start with the day's letter. When she's done she gets a giant star or some other shape on her page to say she's done an excellent job. She loves it.
The other day he made up the sheet while she was eating breakfast then left the room for about 10 minutes. When he came back she had finished breakfast and moved to the other table and was tracing her letters.
We also got to go to a birthday party today. It was at a pizza place with a HUGE play room for the kids. It was the birthday of my co-worker Spencer's newly adopted son. He just turned 3. There were a ton of relatives and friends there to support him and it was great to see. Alisabeth had a blast with the 3 level climbing gym. The arcade was cool too, but she got bored pretty fast with the train that didn't go anywhere. I was glad we were invited to go.
The other thing we got to do this week is Bountiful Baskets again!! We ended up having to drive to Idaho Falls to get one though because all 3 Rexburg sites were filled by the time we signed up Tuesday morning. Guess they go fast. (Don't listen to this next sentence) I wish I were still a stay-at-home mom because I would be totally willing to open up another Rexburg site. If they're filling up that fast I'm sure the demand is high enough for another site.
Anyway, we're excited. Relief Society had a food storage activity and I volunteered to make polk-a-dot soup which is lentils and carrots. It turned out really well and I enjoyed it a lot. They also had a mexican lentil dish that was awesome. It just made me aware again of how much is out there that we're not using. This woman who was teaching worked for a few years to develop a "densely nutritious" meal plan which she calls A Dollar a Day for 30 days. She has literally gone to stores, priced things out and based on nutrition and daily needs has formulated 3 meals a day for under $1. That means our monthly food budget could be $120. The food and recipes have a lot of flavor too, which I was surprised about. She talked about all of the foods on the shopping list and why she chose them and how to store/keep them and life expectancies and all kinds of information. It went so far over time it was laughable, but most of us were ready and willing for me. (I was one of the only ones who brought my child, so for me and the other mothers it was a bit long, but I was still VERY interested to learn what she knew.)
All in all it's been a great start. We're happy in our home, getting used to our roles, preparing for our future and enjoying the present as much as we can.

Tour of the New Townhouse

We have good neighbors (the one set we've met so far.) They have a 4 year old, so Alisabeth spent about an hour over there today.
We almost lost our cat the first week. He got lost, but the day we got home was the day our neighbor called to let us know he had seen our cat at the front of the complex (about 1/4 mile away).
Come and enjoy the tour.

White

So, since we won't have a lot of access soon to internet and probably won't get another update opportunity in the next few weeks I figured now would be a good time to put in an update for all who are dying to know.
I survived the trip up to Rexburg!
It was actually wonderful weather. All the prayers made the difference. There was a light dusting of snow on the roads Saturday morning when I left Provo, but beyond that everything was beautiful. I am glad I made the choice to drive during the day. I left Friday morning before the sun was awake. Jason was wonderful and got up with me and made me eggs while I finished the last few details. I drove all the way to some random spot above Phoenix before I realized my GPS was being stupid and hadn't plotted the correct route, but it was impossible to change things at that point, so I drove an extra hour. Then later I sped past a waiting officer and realized that I didn't have proof of insurance. He was kind enough to wave the ticket since I wasn't too far beyond the speed limit, but he did write the $950 ticket for not having insurance. Have no fear, I've already taken care of that :)
Those were the only incidents.
I got to Utah and had Jason call my friend who was going to let me spend the night and about thirty minutes later she called and apologized profusely for forgetting and being out of town, but she had already done all the work to find another mutual friend that I could stay with, so I ended up staying with her and her five roommates for the evening. She even cooked enchiladas for me!
I got up a little later the next day and finished up the four more hours to Rexburg. It was nice. I felt good, like slipping on a cozy sweater (minus the warmth said sweater would have provided). I went to the store first to get the few items I would need for my lunches and then continued to the home of JR and Karen Hayes where I would be staying.
How do I know them? I don't. I know my boss who knows them. Apparently they have provided short-term housing to over 100 people/families in their time. They have built 5 houses over the years and in each one they have almost a full house downstairs where people can stay. I have my own kitchen, bath, bed, living and dining room. There is even a door to the outside, but it faces the back. I don't use anything but the bed and bath, but it's nice to have my own space when I want to escape.
They are extremely nice and so far have fed me 4 of 4 days I've been here. They are retired and serving as missionaries in the area. They host addiction classes through the church for various problems from eating disorders to pornography. Pornography is their main area though and they love to watch the changes in the lives of those who learn to overcome whatever is holding them back. He deals with the men (usually the ones with the problems in this case) and she deals with the wives (also struggling with the effects).
They also serve weekly assignments in the temple, he is a sealer and she works wherever they need her.
On top of that she just had knee surgery and is still recovering. She's walking but it's often painful. I help as much as I can with the household things.

As for work, it's a blast. My first two days were a lot of orientation and training remembering how to do everything, however at the midpoint of the first day Jeff walked in and dropped three giant files on my desk. . .
It took me a lot longer than it probably should have to get the first one done, but there was a lot involved including entering and reconciling the last few months of bank statements, so I didn't feel too bad. Today was nice too, although I ran out of things to do about mid-way through the day and ended up begging work from anyone who had any. Eventually I just moved around the desk/office they had set up for me and called it a day. I started facing the wall and in an office that provides a walk-through to other areas and I ended up facing out so now I can comment on anyone walking through :)
There are a LOT of people I don't recognize. Most of the older staff are familiar, but the younger staff seems transient. Everyone they offered a job to when I worked for them last is gone and in their place are strangers.
Everyone is still friendly and it's still an awesome place to work. I am salary now, which is an interesting change, and I'm still struggling to figure out what to sign up for (insurance/other), but it's all starting to settle. I even got my key today so now I don't have to stand outside in the cold for ten minutes every morning.
Today was also the first morning that it snowed. It's been warm and melting the last few days, but last night it dropped about 3 inches and this morning I remembered what it was to scrape my windows :) I even nicked my knuckle on the ice and it stung for most of the day.
The upcoming week will bring a lot more change. next Wednesday I travel down to Salt Lake to catch a plane to Tucson, then catch a plane to Florida where Alisabeth, my mother, and I will spend a week. After that Alisabeth and I will fly back to Salt Lake and drive the rest of the way with Jason who will have moved into our new house while we were gone. It's going to be exciting.
The one great thing is that Alisabeth doesn't miss me at all. Yesterday Jason handed her the phone and she started saying something like "when you get home. . . " Jason stopped her and said "That's mommy."
Alisabeth went, "huh?"
"Ask her who she is Alisabeth."
"Who are you?"
"I'm your mommy."
With a surprised and disappointed voice she said, "Oh." then immediately handed the phone back to Jason.
She thought I was Nana. Ah well.