Our First Christmas

We've been so excited because we bought and decorated our very own Christmas tree. We took pictures of it last night and wanted to share it with everybody. Also, after several tries, we took a picture of us in front of the tree. We hope you all had fabulous Thanksgivings, we did, and we hope that everything goes well for all of you while you're nearing the end of semesters or finding new jobs (good luck Kurt!) or moving cities or just enjoying life moving forward. We love you and are thankful that you all are in our lives. Eric tells me all the time how glad he is that he married into this family and I have to agree with him that we are pretty spectacular. LOVE YOU!

I know it's a little blurry, but this is really the coolest of the pictures.This is an ornament that I bought in Park City...I just like it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you a day early. Dad has taken the day off of work and Jim has the day off of school. Jim has asked a couple of boys to come over today and play video games, so we're hanging out here, making sure the house doesn't burn down. There will just be the 3 of us here for dinner tomorrow. I'm sure some of you will want to know that we're not having spinich lasgna. We're having a pork roast instead. Anybody can have turkey! I heard on the news that some of the stores and malls around the country are going to open on Thanksgiving Day. I can't believe they haven't thought of that before. Look at all of those wives who have nothing to do while their husbands watch football. Anyway, whatever you're doing I hope that you enjoy it. We're excited to see Kurt when he comes up to interview.

Job stuff

Well I've got a bit of job news, so I thought I'd share.

Creative Solutions called a couple weeks ago saying they are very interested in having me back. So I sent in the official application documents and am now trying to coordinate an interview. I talked to the HR guy today, and apparently the department that they are looking at placing me in is going through a management change, so they were kind of waiting until that is over. It was pretty exciting news, though, because the department in question is not the one I worked in before, but one I wanted to move to.

I'm also going through the paces with this other company in Adrian called Brazeway, who's job posting I answered. I've done a phone interview with them that went quite well, and they told me they'd like an in-person interview/meet the team members. But I really want to try getting the two interviews in the same trip, to save on taking time-off and plane tickets, so that's what I told the Creative Solutions HR guy. He said if I was going to be in the area, they might like me to come in anyway. He's getting back to me on Monday. Brazeway is quite anxious to get me in to talk to them, so that interview is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 29, depending on if I can get the other one lined up.

To tell the truth, I'm not that excited about the Brazeway position, especially after hearing that Creative Solutions is looking to put me in the department I wanted to work in when I was there before. The kind of work I'd be doing at Brazeway doesn't seem that interesting, and I don't think it would put me in a better position to get more interesting work in the future. But I'll do the interview just to make sure, and it's better to have more options than fewer.

BIG decision

Good news! Jason got the call today, he has been invited to attend BOTH schools- The Ohio State and Southern College of Optometry!!! Now the big decision has to be made, where to go? I think I will list the pros and cons, and would love to hear your comments!

OSU pros:
1. Big public school, lots of amenities and things to do
2. Only four hours from family!!
3. Great football (for Jason)
4. Well-known for all academic programs
5. Incorporates a business management program into its 4 year curriculum (this is the biggest draw for us)

OSU cons:
1. Big public school, less friendly
2. We HATE Columbus, ick
3. Facilities are somewhat old, in need of updating
4. More expensive, less opportunity for scholarships

SCO pros:
1. Great, new, state-of-the-art facilities
2. Small, private school, very friendly, people know your name
3. We like Memphis, Tennessee is beautiful and warm
4. Good, southern cooking!!
5. All the college does is optometry, very specialized
6. Cheaper tuition, more opportunity for scholarships
7. Financial aid is more flexible

SCO cons:
1. Far from family (11.5 hours away)
2. No business classes, only online resources for help

After much fasting and prayer, we'll make our decision. It may help to wait until after the OSU vs. UofM game this weekend, as well! :)

morning sickness blues

I really shouldn't complain, I've been SO healthy and feeling great. My only pesky symptom has been acne. But today? Ick. Today is another story. Needless to say, I'm going home--somewhere where I can, if need be, puke in private. Thanks for listening.

Well, we've been "penciled" in to close on Wednesday. But we still haven't had the "clear to close" statement from the lender yet so that could change. We're (especially me) are starting to become a little impatient. But I know everything will work out the way it's suppose to.
We had a lady from our ward take some family pictures for us. She does photography as a hobby and we think she did really well. I thought I'd put them on the blog for all to see.

I couldn't get all three of them off of the CD. I don't know why. But I have this one. I'll work on getting the other two soon.

answered prayers

I'm so excited that I just have to share this experience with you. In June Wayne went to our Aunt Inez's house in Las Vegas and video taped her telling her life story. She is the youngest of my Dad's brothers and sisters. She also told about her sister, Cora, who died in 1965 and never had children. I typed up the interview and asked Aunt Inez if she would send me some pictures to go with the stories. She finally sent them last week, and many of them were very light. I scanned them into the computer, inserted them into the interview, printed and copied them, and a lot of them were really washed out. Last night as I was praying I told the Lord of my problem with the pictures, and immediately came into my mind what I should do. I had the impression to take the printed copy and tape the actual picture over the picture that the computer had printed and then photocopy that. It worked really well, I'm so happy. I was afraid that I was going to have to take some of the pictures out of it because they were so hard to see. I grateful that the Lord answers prayers and has blessed me in my efforts to do family history.

Update on house

Well we still don't have a closing date, but our realtor said that it will probably happen early next week. We went ahead and got a storage unit on Saturday and moved out most of our furniture. Our realtor advised us not to just in case the deal falls through, but we felt it was better to be safe than sorry. It will allow us to move out more gradually than if we had waited. We actually got quite a bit done, more than I expected. Charlie's dad, sister, Hannah, brother, Les, a set of missionaries, and our mom and dad came to help. We had a full house, but having all those people sure helped things move quickly. We pretty much only have some boxes, our beds and appliances left, a lot of which will go over to Les and Jocleyn's with us. Yes, we are moving in with Charlie's sister, Jocelyn, temporarily. They have 3 bedrooms that they don't really use and this will give us some extra time to take time to be picky as to the house we will buy next. With the market being so great for buyers, we really want to take advantage of it. We have several prospects that we like, but we really want to make sure we buy the best one for our family. We also want to make sure we end up in the right location too. We're hoping for a little divine guidance on the matter. Our goal is to be in a new house by Christmas. We figure this will be a good transition time for our kids to start at a new school and Charlie will have a couple weeks off of work so he can help us move. I don't really want to do it by myself. So hopefully I'll be able to show off my new home to all of you who make it our for Christmas. I better go. Jaxson is having a fit because I won't give him any Halloween candy. He loves candy so much, it drives me crazy!

Picture disappointment

Mom wanted me to let all of you know that our internet filter is not allowing us to view the pictures you post to the blog. I can't find a way to disable the filter for a short period of time to allow us to view them either. Don't stop posting them, just be aware of that and don't be disappointed that we are not oohing and ahhing over the ones you post. We'll keep trying to see what we can do.

I was not able to post my Halloween pictures the last time I tried but I'll give it another shot right now. I can't see the pictures but I get an image that says they might be there. Hope you like them (if they are really there).

Creepy

Here's that other picture Heather mentioned. I think it looks pretty cool.

Lazy, lazy life

Hey all,

We don't have anything exciting to post here like the rest of you. No pregnancies, no houses selling, no school prospects. We are getting plans set up for moving home and it looks like December 18th is the magical day. I'm done with class the first week of December and I'll be moving with all of our junk at that time. Hopefully Kurt will have a job back in Michigan and will be coming with me, if not he'll stick it out in NC a little longer until he can get a job lined up. So we're just wrapping things up here. I've been feeling better lately which makes both of our lives a lot more pleasant. The pumpkin carving has been about the most exciting event in our lives in awhile, sad to say.

Kurt did buy a graphics tablet last weekend and has been making amazing pictures with it. Pencil drawing seemed to be frustrating him but he has just taken off with this graphics pad. Here's a picture of "purple man."

He's also working on a "creepy" picture that you really have to see when he gets done. Very cool. I'll make sure he posts it when he's done.

One more

Yesterday we had one more secondary application come to our house...it was a straggler because it came in the mail where every other one has been online. It is the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. So we have recieved 6 out of the 7 applications that Eric sent out. It makes the odds a lot higher too...always a bonus. Not much else to report, life is just moving along. Medical school is our next big step, so we're just sitting back and enjoying the first year of being married. We hit 4 months on Oct. 30 for those of you who want to know and it really is getting better all the time. School is going well for both of us and we are liking our ward the more we are in it--definitely a good thing. We missed the Halloween Party because we had to go to institute (long story) so now we've got a big bowl of candy. I take some to work everyday and give it away, so I guess I'm doing the world a favor. We are both really excited to hear Hillary's great news and also that the Hair's will finally have a little one soon...well, I guess 9 months. We were wondering also when Kurt and Heather were planning the make the big move back to their roots and how that is coming along. And we want to make sure, Mom and Dad or Jimmy, that we get a full report of the show-we know it opens soon-and how it all went. Well, that's all for now, we love hearing from you. Eric checks the blog everyday- although he never wants to write in it- and tells me all the news when I get home from work. We love you and hope that all is well. Hope to see most-if not all-of you in the near future if/when we come for interviews. Ciao!

Just in case some of you outside of Utah have forgotten what we look like. We took this about a month ago when we went on a Sunday drive into the mountains (Mom I took pictures of the mountains just for if you want to see them, let me know). Sorry it's a little blurry, my camera sucks and we had to hold it. ENJOY!

The house appraised for the right amount!

Just wanted to quickly let you all know that the house appraised for $81,000. Now we are just waiting to find out if the lender will for sure give the mortgage and then what our closing date will be. We are so happy! Things are moving in the right direction.
love you all and thanks again for the prayers!
Hillary

I AM PREGNANT!!!

Yes, it's true, Jason and I are expecting a little one. Yay! We're very excited (except Jason is a tad bit worried about the financial side of everything) and are trying to do what we can to keep this little babe healthy.

I found out on Saturday and, by my calculations, I am just 5 or 6 weeks along. My due date should be about June 29th. I know, I know, it may be too early to tell everyone, but I can't contain it! Good luck to Kurt and Hea
ther as they start this adventure, as well!

Oh yeah, Hillary, how are the house plans coming along? What's the situation with that?