holy smokes its almost the end of may!

yikes i haven't been here for a while. well, things are going pretty good. zach & i have been mountain biking a bit. sometimes if we can & he is available, we ask dad (smith) if he wants to come. it is a lot of fun and if we hit the right trails, reichael can come too. she loves it. and it is great exercise for her, and well us too.

not too much has been going on around here though. may has come and gone almost too quickly. work is going alright. there are busy days and not busy days. i need to find out what is going on with the scheduling though cause i am only scheduled to work 3 days a week. YIKES! i must admit it is nice to have more time for biking and laying around the house, but at the same time, i need to make sure the bills get paid so we can continue to have a place to live, food to eat, and a jeep to drive.

talk about gas prices...they are super scary and fluctuate way too much in my opinion. inflation...poop on it!

zach continues to work for marketsource as an hp rep, but he is also looking into working another job as well as getting back into school. hooray and blah all at the same time. i am so glad i am done with school for now. i might go back once i am an empty nester, but who knows... and that is a long ways away.

time is flying by for sure, but seeing how we are thinking about 4 maybe 5 kids... and if we have them all out of the house by 21 at about 2 years apart... then the math adds to be... okay i can't think it in my head so i'll have to pause: but it doesn't matter if i pause cause you'll continue reading along and it won't matter :) oh yeah and the starting to have kids.... well, its a ways away. and thanks to zach, it would be 31 years once we started having kids. and that is a long ways... i'll be in my 50s maybe 60s... and we are so done with this for now.

don't get me wrong, i want kids... i just don't want to think about how old i'll be. next month i turn 26. not that big of a deal, but zach turned 27 so he is way closer to 30 than i am. he is trying to get me freaked out about being closer to 30 than to 20. really, i don't care. i just don't want to think about me being 50 or 60 something right now.

i posted pictures on facebook of our apartment in la verkin as well as a bike ride we went on today. and i am thinking i need to get off the computer since rei rei is jumping on me and panting in my face. that is usually a sign that she needs out to potty or she just wants to be center of attention. and here i'll leave today, hopefully to be back faster than last time. so most likely, i'll see you in june. ha ha ha :)

fun with 2 cool kids

we had 2 cool kids come stay the night with us sunday. lincoln & shaunie. they had the easter break so we had them come sleep over. it was a lot of fun. zach & i were sneaky ninjas and started the night off with a pillow fight....that we totally won. then we told ghost stories. some were really scary, but others were only scary until the punch line.
after that we decided to lighten the mood and watched "support your local sheriff" i thought for sure we would all fall asleep, but as soon as the movie was over, lincoln, shaunie, and i were still fairly wide awake. so we stayed up talking and then finally around 4 o'clock, we all went to bed. i woke up at 7 and got zach up so we could run to the store and buy bacon. breakfast was made and the kids were woken up. after dishes, we decided to go into st. george to the mall.
we walked around for a while and then finally shaunie & lincoln decided what they wanted to buy. shaunie got earrings, a necklace, and a very cute shirt. lincoln got a shirt and a spitfire sticker. then it was lunch time. so we stopped at arctic circle and pigged out. we had a fun day with them. when we got home, lincoln & i played through a duet that we are going to perform sometime. it was then time to take the little ones home so they could get the things done they needed to.
zach & i then took reichael out to the park & stopped by mom & dad (smith)'s house on the way back. they had chili and offered us some. it was delicious! and after the wonderful chili, we topped it off by going to yumz. it is a self serve frozen yogurt place. really good! and thanks to mom & dad for providing us with dinner & dessert. it was really yummy & as always a fun time out with you two :)
i am also going to blog a bit about zach's birthday. it was kinda a lame one since we both worked. i did, however, make 2 cheesecakes from scratch. he wanted strawberry cheesecake instead of regular cake. and i am such an awesome wify & put sparklers on 1 of them for his candles. it was awesome and the cheesecake didn't taste that bad either. in fact, i am going to go have a piece after i finish with this blog. and that would be now cause it sounds better than typing... :)

golfers...

my day yesterday was quite interesting. with the weather outside being overcast, i really didn't want to go into work. i wanted to go back to bed. but alas, i got myself up and dressed and all off to work. i decided to stop in at maverick and get a mtn dew live wire (the best ever cause its orange with caffeine). needless to say, i almost guzzled the whole thing on my 30 ish min drive to work. *i haven't had soda for almost a month too, so i was really not wanting to work*
i got to work, and yippee, had clients... no "on call" today. i hate on call cause i don't get paid. i just sit and wait to get called in. but i guess if i just sit there, i don't get paid either. whichever way, i have to have clients to get money.
so both of the bosses were there and they were both in bad moods...really bad moods. it was kinda funny. cause they should be stressing about the place and all the "behind the scenes" stuff going on. (they had 5 therapists leave in less than 2 weeks, and might have 4 more walking out in the next 2 weeks and they so far had only hired me to replace all the ones who left) well, i looked at the screen that tells us when and who our clients are, and low and behold, there is a new therapist. she comes in after me so i won't get to really meet her until after my first 2 clients, unless i get more... which i did.
well, the newest therapist was late. and she was storing her extra linens in one of the couples rooms. and i don't know if she washed after each session cause i only saw her waiting right outside the door each time i was in the hall waiting for my clients. and i watched her walk in on a client disrobing cause she didn't give them enough time before she just walked in. needless to say, i hope her day today will be better or she won't be having this job too much longer. she already had 2 clients complain against her too. poor thing. but she gave me weird vibes. i just don't know if it was first day jitters, but i wasn't like that on my first day. yes it was a little crazy, but i was also on time and watched everyone else in the hall and such.
so on to my clients. boy oh boy.... all but 1 were yappy. every single one of them wanted to talk. so i just let them. it was a little weird cause most people fall asleep, but not these ones. all of them were in because they have a golf tournament tomorrow (today) that they need to relax and work out the sore muscles from practicing on the green. i felt like i was a birthing coach too cause i had to keep telling my clients to breathe slowly in through the nose and out through the mouth so i can work a little deeper. breathe, breathe.
one client was talking about opening his own spa. he offered me a job when it is finished. it was kinda funny cause he was talking and talking and the suddenly snoring. it was funny, but it was also a relief. my hands worked magic. yes! so after i got done with that client, he was still in la la land and took his time coming out of the room, but it was ok cause it gave me a chance to get a business card (massage envy's but i wrote my name & number on it) so he can call me when the spa opens.
and my next 2 clients were also golfers, and wouldn't stop talking. they didn't fall asleep though. but the funniest was my 77 year old man. he was wanting a deeper massage, but then found out he didn't really like deep. so i switched to a more swedish massage style. he asked me what the strokes were called. so i was telling him as i was working the muscles. this is petrissage, this is effleurage, this is feathering, this is petrissage again. he would tell me oh yeah i like that one or oh not so much on that one. and when i had him turn over he was almost in la la land.
well, then i finished working his legs, and moved up to his shoulders and neck. he then opened his eyes and said to me "i don't know how to put this, and don't take it wrong, cause i don't know how else to put it, but that feathering stroke is, well, kinda turning me on. i think i am going to ask my wife if she wants to get in the whirlpool with me when we get home."
HOLY CRAP!!! what do you do with that?! it took me by surprise and all i could say was "ok" but my brain was screaming "la la la la la, too much information, i don't want to know that! just shut up and enjoy your massage! la la la la la" he did leave me a pretty good tip, and i think they might join and become frequent clients. who knows. i just hope he is silent the next time he comes in for a massage so i don't throw up on him.
thank goodness for my last client who was silent. she wasn't a golfer though. oh, and i forgot cause a lot happened at work yesterday... but the new girl has a uniform. i still don't. so i had to give the one boss crap for it. he didn't take it well. and it wasn't until he realized i was totally joking, that he tried to make up for it and said that i looked professional and beautiful in all black. what a jerk, but whatever. he is just stressed and needs to learn how to manage things a little better cause he is going to find himself without therapists soon if things keep on the way they are. oh and they are completely redoing the shirts, so that's why i don't have a massage envy shirt yet. and that was my work day. CRAZY!

poop

well work is going alright. i only get paid though when i actually work on clients. my schedule isn't quite set yet, but it is getting there. i still don't always get booked either. so sometimes i sit and wait for people. it gets very boring. the other therapists are all pretty cool people. i am still trying to get names with faces and keep them straight. i know it will come eventually. reichael is doing much better. she has an autoimmune disease. they treat it with steroids. most likely she will have to have shots or pills for the rest of her life. but at least medication is working. reichael still is having digestive issues though. i was woken up an hour ago by her jumping on our bed to inform me she pooped. usually she lets us know she needs out, but i guess since she has diarrhea, she just went. it smelled awful and i managed to step in it. i hope that it will be better once the bleach water dries. i cleaned it up. yuck yuck yuck. i almost threw up too. whatever am i going to do with babies? zach is looking for another job as well as getting back into school. his hp job is going great, but he isn't getting enough hours to support us. i am worried about bills. but i guess as long as we have faith and pay tithing, the Lord will provide. i am still wondering what it is we are supposed to do down here. all in due time though. i need to figure out what i am getting zach for his birthday or what we are going to do. if we want to go out & eat or if i should actually attempt cooking a meal. we both will have to work that saturday, but i guess it just depends on what zach would like. anyway, i should try to get back to sleep again. i fell asleep just after midnight and was woken up at 2am, cleaned up the diarrhea, and tried to sleep again, but tossed and turned. so i got up and am still feeling like i should be sleeping, but i'm wide awake. blah blah blah. i guess its good i am not scheduled for today. but i did work yesterday & am really tired. i just can't get comfortable and my allergies make it hard to breathe. oh well. whatever.

i got a job

okay so the family vacation was tons of fun. we just went to st. george and stayed in the world mark there. it was really nice. the world mark is like a time share for those of you who don't know. there were 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, and 2 kiddie pools. and if you are rich enough, the presidential suite has its own hot tub on the deck. it was great to spend time with all of zach's family and we just played games and ate and swam and hiked a bit too.
well, i guess the biggest thing that has happened since my last blog was that i got a job. yep, that's right. i went in for a practical on tuesday of this week and they put me to work on wednesday of this week. i also worked thursday and today (friday). i won't work again until wednesday. i got a request and they decided to schedule me to fit in the request. plus i think i get a few more dollars when someone requests me specifically. so i am now working at massage envy in the pineview plaza. i get paid when i give massage.... so everyone come in and request me.
reichael is doing much better, but she is still really sick. the vet thinks it could be seasonal allergies or some other autoimmune disease. he gave her a shot of steroids and sent out for a biopsy as well. we should know by tuesday exactly what is making our puppy sick.
we are all moved in to our new place and we got the internet today. (that's why i am blogging) and zach bought me a desktop computer so we both can work in the office (our second bedroom). it will be really nice once we get all the extra boxes and stuff out. i can actually do massage here at home again. and we have an extra bed that someone can come visit. hint hint... family you can come visit zach and me :)
zach got his hp packet today so he can actually work tomorrow in uniform and not just sunday best. he will still be in a white shirt, but it has hp on it. and he will have a name badge as well. i am still waiting for my uniforms. i will be in black or tan pants/capri which i have to provide but massage envy will get me t-shirts. they are in the middle of a uniform change, so i get to wear my school uniforms for now. good thing i kept those.
i am also still waiting for my massage insurance packet. techinically i am not supposed to be working without the proof that i have it, but where everything happened so quickly and i explained what happened, they understand. i just have to get it to them as soon as i get it.
so life here in la verkin isn't so bad. i love having family so close. i think things are finally going in the right direction with us. we just need reichael to get better and everything will be great.

the things going on

we got everything packed in the horse trailer and the back of dad (smith's) truck. i am quite surprised it actually all fit. where and how did we accumulate so much stuff? oh well. zach & i found a place to live down here in la verkin. it is actually a place that zach's uncle owns and rents out. it is a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, washer & dryer place. it will be nice not to have to haul the laundry to the laundromat. we have been living with mom & dad (smith) for the last 2 weeks. and on monday we will be moving just up the road from them. i think i might go over today and clean up the place to amber standards. i don't think it has been lived in for a bit. when we turned on the water in the shower, it came out brown for a few seconds. don't get me wrong, the place was cleaned after vacancy, but i just feel better about cleaning it myself and knowing that i was the last one to clean.
zach is working today. he had a conference call this morning and then went to meet his boss over at the hotel. his boss lives up in slc i think. he just came down to take zach around to the different stores he will be working at and introductions and the such. so i am just hanging out doing laundry and taking care of rei rei.
she got a bacterial skin infection. it was about a month ago that we first noticed it, but we didn't know a vet or have the money for a vet. well we got our tax return, and when her sores spread all down her one side and her leg & ears, zach took her to a vet he knows down here. she is on a broad spectrum antibiotic. if it still isn't better by tuesday, we take her back to the vet. hopefully she will get better. she put herself to bed and won't come out unless we make her. usually its just to potty and eat a little bit. i think i will try and take her for a walk later today. just to keep her moving. the first pill we gave her made her throw up. after the second one, we walked her around a little and she did much better. i think she just needs rest and the antibiotics will do the rest. well, i am going to go to walmart with mom (smith) now so i'll leave this blog here and tell about our family vacation on the next one.

we are moving...

holy cow another whole month gone.... i am really getting bad at this whole blog thing. well, lots has happened. first off, i think the biggest one is that we are moving to la verkin and then perhaps st. george.
zach got a job as an hp rep for the st. george area. he will have only a set schedule of 10 hours at the best buy in st. george, but he will also have others stores that he will spend some time in throughout the week. zach is also going to look at getting a second job.
i am hoping to transfer to an associated store down in la verkin, hurricane, or st. george. just for right now. i am still working on getting my license. yes yes i know it is taking forever. well, i will explain down the blog here so just hang on.
if i can't transfer to another associated store, i will try my very best to look for something i can do to keep an income coming in. there are just too many bills for me to not work. when we get our bills under control, we can rack them back up with children.
my license.... well, i finally just took a day and went to apply for my massage license. i took the completed application to my school so they could fill out what they needed to. well, they threw away my entire application and printed off one of their own. they assured me that this was better and that i didn't need the whole thing. i was an idiot. well, i went to take my application in and the building was closed. government buildings are closed on fridays. blah. so i took another day and went to turn the application in. this is all in salt lake mind you. so i paid my fee, and turned in my application. earlier this week, i got a letter. my application has been denied. why.... well because it was incomplete. go figure! so i had to take yet another day and go turn in the part my school office people threw away. now hopefully my application is complete and will be processed in the next week or two. but we will be at a new address then, so i will still have to wait for the mail to be forwarded. blah blah blah. what is wrong with the office people?!!!
ok so really a lot of what has been going on with us has only been going on the last 2 weeks ish. we went to brian regan live in logan. mona & esther got us front row seats. it was a pretty funny show. the drive back was not so fun....it was a blizzard... and i am so excited to be leaving snow behind for a while. warm weather, my tan, warm weather, no more snow, i am just a bit excited.
and well, maybe that's all that has really been going on.... we have been busy packing up what we aren't using or going to use in the next week. our official move date is march 7.
my parents are going to bring the massive horse trailer down for us to hopefully fit everything in. my in-laws are going to bring a truck as well, and i am so grateful that family is willing to sacrifice to help us move.
rei rei is confused about what is going on. she keeps looking at all the boxes stacking up and then she gets this look on her face. it is kind of a sad look, but also a 'what have i done wrong' look. i wish i could read her mind. she is such a fun dog. zach and i decided that we are going to spell her "full" name reichal. (people kept reacting funny when we said her name is rei rei) (not that we really care what people think of us) so we decided that her full name will be reichael. we are allowed to spell it funny because she is a dog.
well, i am excited to be leaving ogden. i will miss most of the people here. i am scared, but also happy about the whole situation. i think we are needed in st. george and that might be why zach couldn't get a full time job here in ogden. i will miss my young women. they are good girls with so much to offer. i hope they all know that. it will be hard telling them that it is my last sunday with them on the 6th. (we have stake conference this coming sunday) i am still not sure why i was put in the young womens, but i have enjoyed being there. and now i really must get to more packing.