2. We got new jobs!

Once we got to Arizona, we hit the pavement, and started looking for new jobs. What we saw from here in NH, painted a lot different picture than when we were out there. Since there are so many people who live in Mesa, what would look like a lot of open job opportunities here, really wasn't when you realized that you were competing with a much larger job pool. The really great thing about Mesa, Az was the high LDS population. There were so many more opportunities for networking, and the various wards had a lot of workshops to help people to improve their job search. After a lot of prayer, and fasting, we were both blessed to be able to find new jobs. Everyone in our new ward was shocked. They weren't the best jobs, but they were just enough to get us through. I got a part time job doing home care for the elderly, and Nick was able to get a job as a telemarketer. The best part about this was the Nick's job was literally right across the street from our apartment, so he was able to walk to and from work, so that I could take the car to be able to drive my clients around as needed. (THANK GOODNESS FOR A GPS!) The worst part about our new jobs was the fact that I worked in the morning, and Nick worked in the evening, so we weren't able to see much of each other.

To supplement our income a bit more I applied to the local Deseret Industries. Again, everyone was shocked that I was able to get in so quickly, as many people had to wait for months to even get a call back from them due to the fact that so many people were out of work in the area. The best part about this, was that the DI pays for you to get extra education so that you can get a better job. I wasn't able to get a job in a facility like I was in NH because the regulations were so different, even if I had the experience. In Az I would have needed a caregiver's license, and then a medication certification, and then a manager's license, to be able to do all the same things that I was doing in NH. Of course, all those things cost a decent amount of money, which we didn't have at the moment.

I really wish that there were more DI's around. It really is such a wonderful program, and a wonderful place to work for. It teaches people how to be good workers, and gives them the tools they need to be able to best look for a new job. Part of the requirements for working there are that, during your working hours, you participate in the Career workshop that the church sponsors, and that monthly you participate in other various workshops which are taught by your supervisors. I don't have enough good things to say about this part of the Lord's works.

Us getting these jobs in the middle of one of the hardest hit places during this recession, and my being able to further my education, was something that really testified to us that we were supposed to be in Arizona, which was something that we struggled with. We felt strongly going out that this is what the Lord wanted us to do, but there was still that tiny part that was afraid, "Well what if this ISN'T what we're supposed to do?" We're not saying that everything went perfectly smooth, but we were definitely blessed by going out there.

So, just to put this out there...contrary to what some people think, we didn't move back because we couldn't find jobs. :)

1. We Moved to Arizona

So, as previously stated, on May 15th, 2009 we packed up everything that we could fit into our new car and drove across country. Anything that didn't fit into our car we basically got rid of in one way or another. We had a few boxes of things which we planned to have shipped out to us once we got settled, but for the most part, if it didn't fit, it wasn't really that necessary. It's amazing what you realize you can do without when you need to fit your entire life's possessions into 32 cu. ft. (Yes, I actually looked it up!)

Here are a couple of pictures of just how crammed our car was.

There was so much weight we were afraid that the tires were going to rub on the wheel well!

-Thankfully that didn't happen!






Did I mention that we planned to SLEEP somewhere in there? Here's how that looked.






























I didn't have too much of an issue with finding a comfortable position, but Nick on the other hand-especially where he's so tall, definitely didn't get the best sleep. He's a trooper though! Even though he didn't sleep all that well, he still drove the majority of the trip. Nick gets car sick really easily, and gets terrible headaches unless he is driving, not only that but I had also come down with a terrible sore throat. We almost thought I was going to have to stop by a hospital to check to see if it was strep or not, but with ibuprofen, chloraseptic sore throat spray, and lots of fluids, I was able to make it through. It finally started to get better once we were in Arizona.

I can't say we slept in our cars the whole trip, we did rent a hotel room one night in the middle of the trip to try to catch up on some much needed sleep. It probably was the best sleep we had gotten in a LONG time. At least it felt that way after sleeping in the car for the past few days. Plus, we were able to SHOWER! I don't think I ever realized how good it feels to feel clean!

A little slice of Heaven on Earth!
























With any good road trip, we had some good laughs, listened to lots of great music, talked a whole bunch and took some funny pictures. I'll post some of the best ones here.

One of the most exciting things about a road trip across country is the time changes!

We didn't go through too many major sight seeing places, but we did see the The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.

We did take a little detour and visit the Kirtland Temple. But we forgot our camera! So here's a googled image :)

And this one is for Mike and Ariane, We thought we needed our own Sonic photo. :)

There were some hilarious billboard signs on the
way. This one is pretty simple and straight forward.

Other memorable ones, which we were unable to get a photo of were, "Hitchhikers may be escaped convicts." and "Do not drive into smoke." Both of which were in Oklahoma.




A famous moment from our trip out there was THE WORST rest area EVER.

At first you see the tepees over the picnic tables and you think, "what a great idea, it will protect you from the sun while you're eating" or "Aww how cute!"

You decide pull in. Then, like any normal person who's been on the road for a few hours, the first place you head to is the bathroom. That's where the real horror begins. (We just had to take pictures, it was too ugly not to)

Never mind the 80's pink and black decor. You step into the ladie's room and you're met with cold, hard, stainless steel, The toilets look like they came straight from an airplane. To top it off- Yep! You got it, CURTAINS instead of doors for privacy.

The Men's room, also suited with the lovely pink and black decor, was equipped with a urinal that looked like a cereal box. When they flushed there was blue water that looked like a waterfall rushing down the back of it.

All this AND MORE can be found in the lovely state of:
(This is Nick's "unhappy" face)

Onward with our journey! We went through Texas, (Who's rest area was in stark contrast to Oklahoma-It was the BEST rest area we had seen the entire trip!) and then onto the long haul through New Mexico- This is what we saw for HOURS...NOTHING!
















We made it to Arizona that night, and decided to spend one more night at a rest area in the car. (We had another 3 hours to drive from the New Mexico/Arizona border to Mesa) This is the sign that greeted us.

We never saw any, but that's when we knew "We're not in Kansas anymore."

We were finally in Arizona! We were so excited to be on this great adventure, and to Finally be done with all that driving!












We drove for a total of: [To be updated once I find where I put my notebook of the trip]

LIFE IS CRAZY!!!

Well after being chastised during Sunday school (Thanks Brother Perkes! :) ) for not updating my blog, I decided to get to it! So much has happened in the past 6 months that it's seemed like such a daunting task to write it all down. In brief:

We moved to Arizona
We got new jobs
I got a calling
We left our jobs
We moved back to New Hampshire
We're currently living with Nick's parents
We're currently a part of the Derry ward
We both have new callings
We got new jobs
Nick is back in college for Accounting
We got a second vehicle
Nick is currently looking for a different job
We're trying to save up to get a place of our own

WHEW!

I'll try to keep posting and expand on each of the above items, add photos and all that good stuff,plus add anything new that I can think of. but for now, let's just say... LIFE IS CRAZY!!!

New car!

The last thing we had in mind for our trip out to Arizona was to purchase a new car. The plan was to take our Civic across country and hope for the best.

Last Wednesday we took our car to get checked out just to make sure that it would get us out there-nothing fancy. The repair guy told us that ultimately we would need about $800 total to get it to be able to reliably get us out there. Under normal circumstances, $800 isn't too bad in car repairs (that was including a labor estimate) but seeing as our car was 10 years old, with over 200,000 miles..it was time to look for something else. Nick and I both knew that it would just be a matter of time before it completely died on us, plus we would rather not dip that much into our savings before heading out there, particularly not knowing when we'll get jobs. So we prayed about it, and both felt that we should look for a new car.

We stopped in a few places, and found nothing in our price range, and then on our way home, I said, "Hey let's check out Key Auto Center up in Somersworth, I've never been in there"

When we told the dealer what we were looking for, he nodded his head, and said, "Well, I have this great 2008 Kia over here with less than 8 ,000 miles" We were both shocked, particularly since we wanted something with around $150 a month for a car payment. We must have asked him about 5 times, "are you sure this is in our price range?" We test drove it, and I loved it right away. It takes Nick awhile to warm up to something new. (He's not a big fan of change) His biggest complaint when we were test driving it was, "I don't like how the steering wheel feels on my hands" -Don't worry, he loves it now that he's had a chance to warm up to it :) Long story short, we were able to purchase the car with only putting down $100, which allows us to have more in our savings for moving out there, and for the next few months until we find jobs, and the car payments are about $180 a month. So it all works out beautifully! We are thrilled and now are even more excited for our big move.

And of course Nick's parents tell us after the fact that they had an impression a month or so ago that our car wasn't going to make it out there. About a month or so ago they offered to buy us a van, but we declined because at the time we didn't feel like it was a need, and we really don't like the idea of other people making such large purchases for is. We were so afraid that they would be upset when they found out that we went and bought a car anyways-instead it was just the opposite, they were thrilled!

Here's some pictures of what the Rondo looks like-I just grabbed them from online, but ours is the same color and everything so you get the idea! I like to think of it as a mini-mini van :)

We're Moving!

This post is a little out dated, but we've been busy as you can tell! Nick and I are moving to Mesa, AZ. We'll be heading out on May 15th, and driving across the country.

Nick and I both felt an impression that we needed to move, quite a few months ago, after researching different places and praying about them, we both felt that the Mesa area was where we should go.

Mesa is about 45 minutes outside of Phoenix, we're not sure if we'll definitely end up in that exact city, or one of the outlying towns around there, here's a little map of the area we're looking at.

"The plan" is to get a short term lease on an apartment until we get get settled into new jobs and check out the area more, and then purchase a house in the next 4-6 months while the market is still low.

and let's not forget the beautiful Mesa temple! (hehe I had to post a picture of this, because it is quite beautiful!)
We are very excited, this is a very big adventure for us, and we can't wait to see where our lives will take us!

It's been one year already?!

Saturday 3/21/09 was our One year anniversary! I will have to post some pictures later, as I said before, we haven't been able to find our camera in a few weeks, so we took some pictures with our phone, and we still need to upload them onto our computers.

Nick and I each took off 4 days from work to be able to spend some time together to relax. Our lives have been so busy lately with work, church callings, Nick's school, etc etc. that we just needed to take a break.


We started our weekend on Friday by going to Adagio Spa and Salon in Barrington for a couples massage. The place is wonderful, and just what we needed. With the couples massage, you get a half hour in the Sauna before your massage, which felt really nice on my achy muscles. (my back has been sore from work) It was very romantic, and just perfect for celebrating our first year together.

That night we went out to my favorite place for dinner -Panera! :) and had some great soup and sandwiches. MMMmmMM! I am so happy that they built one in Dover. No longer do I have to drive 30 minutes just for some great soup!

Saturday, we of course had the top of our wedding cake, which was absolutely delicious! I had forgotten how good it was. We had a strawberry cake for our wedding cake (my favorite) We decked out the occasion, by me putting on my wedding dress,-or rather, just barely squeezing into it. lol it was definitely an "I now officially need to start losing some weight" moment. We used the toasting glasses we used at our wedding, as well as the cake sering utensils from our wedding. It was a nice way to remember the day we were married.

That evening we went out to the movies to see Knowing, an AMAZING movie btw. very suspenceful, but the ending was beautiful and had what I like to think of as a subtle LDS theme to it. I don't want to ruin it, so I won't say anymore than that. Except GO SEE IT :)

After the movie, we headed over to the Olive Garden for dinner. Besides the hour long wait, it was very nice. I recommend the Chicken Carbonera. It was fabulous! Nick's choice...not so good-lol. He doesn't remember the name of it, but it was some shrimp over angel hair pasta. Thank goodness for the salad and breadsticks!

We also spent the weekend watching our new favorite show, The Ledgend of the Seeker on my laptop, as it doesn't play on TV until about 1am around here. :( Needless to say, we're all caught up! The show is based off of the Terry Goodkind, Sword of Truth novels. Nick has read a ton of them and absolutely loves them, so when he heard that they were making a tv show out of it, OF COURSE we had to watch it! :) It really is a great show though. Think of it as, LOTR with a different plot line. I hope that it becomes more popular so that they will keep up the series. There are 11, VERY LONG, books in the series, so they have plenty of material to go off of! :)

All in all, it was a great, and most of all, RELAXING weekend.

-pictures to come!

Relief Society Birthday

Last Tuesday, was the annual RS birthday. This year we had a wonderful spaghetti dinner, and the priesthood all served us, complete with aprons and everything. Travis Park DEFINITELY won for best dressed! You know you've got a great husband when he will willingly put on an apron like that!-Go Mandy!

Afterward we had a service Yankee swap, which I thought was a great idea. (And I get to go out to lunch with Heidi) It was great fun, and it was nice to have a reason to get out of the house! The priesthood even serenaded us afterward! What a great group of men we have!

We haven't been able to find our camera in a couple of weeks, so I stole these pictures from Mike and Ariane's Blog :) -THANKS GUYS!!

The Amazing Cake that Sister Brown made. "Give Said the Little Stream"

The dinner. Mandy's(the one on the far left) husband was the one in the beautiful red apron.

The Service Swap!

The men singing!-lol I crack up everytime I see that apron!