New House # 3

Carl and I decided to buy another new house. The new house is down the street from the one we currently live in. This will be the 3rd house we have bought in the past 4 years, and the 3rd house we've owned in our ward boundary. What can I say...we love our ward!

The nice thing about New House # 3 is that it really is a new house. We are buying it from the developer so we get to pick out our flooring, lights, appliances, everything. House # 2 is currently for sale which is sad in a way because it has been a good house too.

Hopefully our house A.D.D. is over now and we will live in New House # 3 for more than two years. Here are a few pics of the inside. I will post more pictures as progress is made in the construction process.

Spirit Lake

I spent the weekend at Spirit Lake in the High Uintas with my dad, Cheryl, and the family. All six kids were there (Chrissy, Mandy, me, Nate, Ronnie, and Casey) with our families except for Carl. He had to go to Arizona this weekend for a simulator trip and we missed him. The lake was beautiful and we had a great time. It rained on Saturday so we spent a lot of time in the lodge playing cards, but it was nice just to spend time together. Me and Grandma Massey

My 4 Minutes and 7 Seconds of Fame

Today I made an appearance on "Studio 5," a local TV show. I spoke about sunscreen, which isn't a super exciting topic but an important one I suppose. Check it out:

Life on the Other Side

I have had several people ask me what I've been up to since graduation, how my boards went, etc. I did pass both of my board exams and ended up doing fine, which was a huge relief. My license posted a week after taking my second exam, so I am officially a pharmacist now!! I received my license on Friday the 13th (of June) so hopefully that is not an omen for the future of my career. I'm not superstitious so I'm not too worried. I work about 20 hours a week at Taylor Drug, the pharmacy where I interned, and work one shift a week at a pharmacy in Tooele. I also recently signed up to be a fill-in pharmacist for Target--if you work at least one shift a quarter you get the employee discount so how could I pass that up? Here are a few of the other things going on since finishing school:

The day my license posted Carl and I went to Salt Lake to visit my sister Mandy, her fiancee Josh, and their baby Gabby. We had a great little summer BBQ outside. It makes me sad that Mandy and I have lived so close to each other for so many years, but still only see each other 2-3 times a year. Hopefully now that school is behind me I will be able to spend more time with her. Isn't Gabby a beautiful baby? I took piano lessons for a couple of years as a kid and have always wanted to get back into it. Carl bought me a new piano about a month ago and I have been taking lessons from my neighbor Heather. Heather is great to work around my work schedule so I can take a lesson every week, even if it isn't on the same day each week.

We also recently sold our townhome (finally!). It was on the market for almost 6 months and I have to admit it was a very stressful process. If we could do it over again we would do it much differently, but you live and learn. Our townhome was a great little starter home for us and I will miss it, but only just a little.

During the rest of my spare time I am still working on my goals of maintaining a spotless house 24/7, becoming a gourmet chef (that likely won't happen in this life or the next), and going to the gym more than once a week.

Carl is staying busy with work and the army. He is working on becoming a pilot-in-command (PC) with his guard unit now that he has a little extra time. They are in desperate need of PCs and even asked if he could take 2 weeks off of work so he could get all of the requirements done faster. His thoughts were "hmm...after taking time off of work for Woodbadge, scout camp, and to maintain my flight minimums, if I had 2 weeks of vacation time left I would spend it cruising the Mediterranean with my beautiful wife, not doing army work."

Maybe someday we'll take that Mediterranean cruise...

I Think a Pedicure Sounds Nice

Two days after Carl came home from Scout Camp, I left for Girls Camp (and people wonder why we've been married for 7 years and still haven't had kids). We had Stake Camp this year and I was assigned to be assistant leader over a group of ten 15-year old girls. Like Carl, I really enjoy spending time with the youth, but I DO NOT enjoy sleeping in a tent. To say the least, I am not a "happy camper." Despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements and the mosquitoes, Girls Camp was a lot of fun this year. We went to Bear Lake and got to swim, canoe and kayak, along with all of the other typical Girls Camp activities. At least I have a year to recuperate before next year.

Scout Camp 2008

Carl spent the week of June 23rd-28th in Moab at Scout Camp with the 16 and 17 year old boys in our ward. The weather was extremely HOT but they had a good time. They got to mountain bike, repel down a 150-foot cliff (see picture below), hike, and river raft. Carl enjoys spending time with the youth in our ward and I think he is a great role model, although I suppose my opinion is biased.