A Culver's Nerd

She got to be a "Nerd" tonight as they were serving Cheese curds, or rather, Cheese Nerds. 

 

Yard work and Trampoline

We have lots of yard work to do...this is what we have done so far. We dug a hole for the trampoline and we hired someone to put in our sprinklers. We have planted 9 trees and a 40X20 foot garden. We have brought in 34 loads of dirt with 12 yards a load. We have also put in curbing and plants and rock in the front yard and all around the side of the house. It's been a lot of work and we still have a lot of work to do before it's done! 

Then we have to paint the house and the trim too! So it's going to be a busy summer!

Baby Megan

So I know this might be a little weird to post about other people's kids, but this little baby has stolen a piece of my heart! Her name is Megan and I babysat Megan and her two sisters, Hannah and Mariah several times this summer while their mom was working. It was great to be able to make a little money while playing with this adorable baby! Ryan and I are done having kids we believe, and I sometimes miss the baby stage, so it was the perfect combination. I got to watch Megan sometimes and then I got to give her back when her parents came. ;)

She is such a sweetheart and such a good baby. Isn't she a doll?

Even the girls fell in love with Megan!

We can do Hard Things.

Putting in your own yard, is a lot, I mean, A LOT of work. I had no idea. We bought 14 tons of soil/dirt for our yard, as we had some holes and really uneven areas in our yard and we wanted to raise those spots. Well the soil we received was so full of rocks, we had to sift through all of it! One shovel scoop at a time. So two months later we finally were able to plant grass seed. What a nightmare. haha! It's all done and over with now and my arms are buff-er (is that a word) than ever before! (Anyone want to arm wrestle? I'll take you down! ;)

 I thought I would share before and after photos....just so we (Ryan and I) can always remember how cool we were... I mean, how much work we did together. :)

This is before the side vinyl fence was put in. All the weeding was done across the yard before I took pictures.

All our lovely weeds on one side of the house. 

Weeds pulled and dirt pile sifted through...

 Even Ryan's muscles grew which, I thought would be impossible as they were so enormous already! :)

Look, grass!! We did it! There are still lots of patches that didn't grow as well and we are getting lots of weeds too, which I guess, is normal. But it's looking better! We hopefully will have a functional backyard by the END of summer...yay!  (Just a note to anyone ever buying a new house... Have the builders put in the backyard!!) It was a lot of hard work, but yet, in a strange way it felt good to work hard. Weird, huh? Thanks to my parents too, for coming down one weekend and helping us.

Our New (temporary and permanent) Home

First of all, Ryan came home from work yesterday and showed me this:

   If you can't tell what it is by looking at it, it's a doctor's prescription pad. And if you look closely Ryan's name is officially on it!! I know it's probably silly to be excited over, but silly nonetheless, He and I were doing a little victory dance in the kitchen together when he brought it home to show me! He can now write prescriptions!

Anyone in need??

Haha...JK!

    Obviously, we are stoked that he has a job. And a good job, for us. It took us a bit longer than most of his classmates to find a job. We kept praying and tried to be patient and have faith that we would find one perfect for us. And I know that through our patience and faith we found this job. It's in a rural area with many lower-income families, and also a high percentage of Spanish-speaking people. Ryan will be able to use his Spanish and help many that can't afford health insurance and have no way of paying for their medical bills. The job is great in another way too, in that it will pay back all our student loans! (Of course we have to commit to 4-5 years and if we come to love it here in Greenville, we might permanently call it, "home" and then convince our family in Idaho, Colorado, and Utah to move here too ;)). What a tremendous blessing! I have such a strong testimony of the importance of praying for the things your family is in need of, in order to bless not only your family but to use it to bless others around you. Although, we don't know very many people yet, we have felt that this is the place where we need to be; to grow, to learn and to meet new friends. Hopefully we won't have to learn anything too hard!  hehe. ;) But if we do, I say, "Bring it on!"...kidding, kind of. lol!

Sorry to get off on a spiritual tangent, (I just couldn't help it) I am just so very grateful for the many blessings in my life, for my testimony, and the gospel of Jesus Christ, that sometimes I just have to shout it!!! (This is me shouting!)

Anyway, off to tour our new "temporary" home...

 Front door area

 Front room and view of kitchen

 Another view of front door and hallway to girl's room.

 Living Room with our new couches...or new to us! Thanks Wendy and Jerry!!

 Dining area and kitchen

Master bathroom...attached is our room, but it isn't the cleanest right now, so you will just have to imagine our room and walk in closet. :)

 Girl's bathroom and there is also a laundry area just next to this bathroom.

Girl's room.

Yep. That's it. Our whole 950 sq. ft. home. It's going to be a little bit of an adjustment to get used to, as our old home was about 2,600 sq. feet. But home is where you make it, right? We will be living here for the next 6-9 months and then hopefully buying a house!