Oregon Trip: Getting There (Day 1)

When Scott and I got back from Boise, we went straight to work. We worked our 40 hours in four days so we could be ready to leave again on Saturday. We worked late Friday night, then got home to finish all the laundry before our trip. Saturday morning we got up and packed before my dad took us to the airport. On the way we stopped for an early lunch at The Olive Garden. I'm not a big fan of Italian food, but the soup, salad and breadsticks are so great! We arrived at the airport with just under an hour before our flight and met up with Julie and Landon.

We all arrived in Portland at about 2:00 pm and waited about half an hour for the rest of the Millers to arrive. After meeting up with the family we went to pick up our car rental - we had reserved two separate cars for the eight of us. Dave came back from the counter and announced that we instead had rented a 12-person van. We were all skeptical, but it turned out well!

From the airport we drove to Applebee's for dinner, then on to the Portland Temple for baptisms. Our time there was great! It was nice to have the whole family together in the temple and we performed baptisms with members of a Spanish Branch from the area. It was exciting to run things in another language, especially because it was easy to understand what was being said. After finishing up at the temple we jumped in our party bus and made the two-hour drive to Depoe Bay, Oregon. Depoe Bay is the smallest harbor in the world and is located between Newport and Tillamook. At first I didn't realize what the smallest harbor meant, but I'll post a video later of why it's a big deal.

We arrived at our beach house around 10:00 pm. Our house was perfect for the eight of us - each pair of us had a room with Scott and I in the separate carriage house over the garage. We had a hot tub on the back deck and were located a block or so from Bella Beach. So perfect! After hauling in the luggage a few of us drove back to Lincoln City to buy some groceries for the next few days. After family prayer and scripture we all headed to bed.

Keepin' It Real

Thank you to Scott's Uncle Jim for this post. He wrote this on facebook and I couldn't help but share.

Jim's Status: "I have no idea what the expression, "Keepin' it real" means."

After a few comments from others, Jim wrote this:

"I see now. There should be "Keeping it Real" subtitles. For Example when people say:
The check is in the mail = I have no intention to pay you
You get this one, I'll pay next time = thanks for lunch, sucker...
It's not the money, it's the principle of the thing = it's the $
...let's just be friends = let's be enemies
Don't worry, I can go another 20 miles when the gauge is on "empty." = put on your walking shoes
I'll call you later = have a nice life, or not, I don't care.
I've never done anything like this before = I always do this"

Boise!

The weekend of the 12th we made a quick trip to Boise - so nice and much needed! We planned to go Saturday morning but decided to stay home to pack our apartment. At about 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon we were bored and a little overwhelmed with all we had to do so we decided to leave it all for a few days and head to Boise anyway! We arrived Saturday night and drove back Tuesday afternoon. We had such a great time! Scott was able to spend a day with his friend Andy since we won't see him for a while, we saw The Last Song (after I finished reading the book of course), and we watched movies and played games. All in all, a great weekend trip. Below is a photo of Janelle, Melanie and I with our ice cream "dirt cups". So delicious!

Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was very eventful. Scott and I were to church early as he was the ward organist today. Although Scott isn't an organ player (piano skills really aren't all that transferable) and he played the piano while the primary children sang for the mothers. Also at church today we were both released from our callings in primary. It is nice being in primary and serving in the ward but we are glad to have some "time off" to go to Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society before we move.

After our hour at church we drove to Springville for Parker's blessing! Parker is the newest addition to the Combest family (Misty and Zach). It was a nice meeting - very different to be sitting with the whole family (including five small children) rather than just Scott and myself.

After the blessing we all went to visit Grandma Eastland and she was able to meet Parker for the first time. Below is a nice picture of her holding the baby. We had some light snacks before making our way to my mom's house for dinner. I got to play mommy today by watching Misty's two older children Gage and Hailie for most of the day as well - fun for me, and a break for her! I even got to deal with Hailie not making it to the potty in time...not too bad when you love the kid. :)

Des Moines, Iowa!

As you may know, Scott will be attending Des Moines University for medical school! He starts school the first week of August and we are excited for our new adventure. We will be moving out of our apartment by the end of June and staying with my parents for a few weeks before driving to Des Moines.

I have also been looking for things that we can stop and see/do on the way to Des Moines, although there isn't much when you're driving through Nebraska. I think we'll stop to see the Winter Quarters Temple, especially because that will be our temple district when we move! It will be strange not having a temple only ten minutes away, but I know that we are still very fortunate to have one only a few hours away. We will also be living only three and a half hours from Nauvoo and I am excited to be so close!

Now I feel like I am rambling, but I just want to tell the world all about our upcoming adventure!

Manti!

On Saturday I didn't have to work and Scott got off early, so we did something spontaneous! We packed a bag and drove to Manti! We grabbed dinner when we got there, then went to the temple. Instead of driving home at night in the rain, we stayed the night in a motel and stayed up late watching TV (we forgot what it's like to have cable and a TV). Overall, it was the best temple date ever! I have never been through a live session before and it was wonderful. The temple is the most beautiful I have seen and I can't wait to go back. Sometimes I forget how peaceful it is to be in the temple and have time away from the world. Here are some pictures from our overnight adventure.

Busy Week, Fun Trip

After a very busy week at work Scott and I were able to escape! Monday and Tuesday were regular work/school days for us, then we ramped it up with 10 work hours on Wednesday and 13 work hours on Thursday. We put in the extra hours because it was so busy this week, and it sure didn't hurt to make up lost hours from the weekend! Friday morning Janelle, Scott, and I jumped in the car and made the drive to Boise. I was the driver (I love to drive) and we only stopped once because we can't quite make it on one tank.

We arrived home (Boise) around three in the afternoon and spent some time relaxing with the parents before going to the high school talent show that Melanie was in charge of. Most of the acts were fun to watch, but being in the atmosphere made me realize how glad I am to be out of high school. Don't get me wrong, I loved high school, but I am glad to never go back. After the show we went to IHOP. So delicious.

Saturday we spent time relaxing and doing some homework, made a trip to Costco and went to Melanie's soccer game (her team won!). After the game we hustled home to change for the adult session of Stake Conference. It was a nice session, and I enjoyed the messages shared. After the session ended we had a late dinner at Applebee's. So great! We even ordered a dessert to share, then we home for a Star Wars movie party. We only made it through the first movie before going to bed for Stake Conference in the morning.

This morning's conference session was nice - I love to hear my father-in-law speak. After eating lunch we'll head home so we can all get to class tomorrow. A quick trip, but totally worth it. Overall, it was an enjoyable trip.

Summer Time!

I know that it isn't summer yet but as our boss says, "it is vastly approaching". Scott and I are both Data Entry Supervisors at APX Alarm in Provo and the summer season is a big deal to our department since the company has been built on a summer sales program.

In the past our department has been run by one manager, six supervisors, and twelve team leaders but this summer we are trying something completely different. We now have five supervisors managing the department as a group, and instead of reporting to the manager we go straight to the director. Each supervisor is going to be responsible for a personal area of the department (hiring, staffing, morale, etc.) as well as roughly 20 employees through the summer. I am very excited for this new opportunity as I will be able to take on some bigger responsibilities and have the chance to have a greater impact on the people, department and company.

My personal area is hiring employees and staffing our department accordingly. I have never been directly involved with hiring, so I am excited to be able to add this to my resume. Over the past few weeks I have been constantly preparing for our recruiting open house meetings - so far, the work has paid off! Our first meeting was on March 18 and everything was great! Our call floor was incredibly busy all week because it was Spring Break for UVU and a lot of salespeople went out for the week, but we were able to keep a few people off the phones to help interview and direct people at our meeting.

Things will only get busier at work as the semester comes to an end, but I am so excited for sunny days and warm weather!

Staycation!

I have been itching to go on a vacation, especially while looking through photos of our trip to Nauvoo. It was so great to spend a few days in a new place - it made us feel really grown up. :) Well a few weeks ago our close friends asked us to house sit over the weekend, and we couldn't help but say yes! They only live down the street from us, so it's not far and we decided to call it a Staycation since we were staying so close.

We had a great time living the high life. We had a second car and a garage to park in, not to mention a house (with an awesome APX security system) and a sweet little dog! Needless to say, we now want a Scion (the "second car") because it was amazing to drive, and we want a cuddly little dog too! Neither of these things will join us for a while (if ever) but it's fun to live a different life for a few days.

Kid Quotes

I'm sure this will be the first of many posts to come, but kids really do say the darndest things! Here is last Sunday's highlight:

Teacher: I'm almost an old lady.
Child: I'm almost an old lady too!
Teacher: You are?
Child: Yeah, I just turned four!