happy april fools day

Last week I planned a little activity for courtney after she got home from work. I ... well ... maybe you should just watch

The quarter endeth

well, the second quarter officially ended today. I finished with four more classes at Eastern Washington University. I got placed for my practicum, I will work at SCAN, a parent and child support place in Spokane, I'll have to drive or bus in three days a week, but it will be OK. This weekend Courtney and I will drive down to Pasco to spend some time with her family, so we are looking forward to that.

I just finished taking a social work with groups, social work in a diverse society, bio-psycho-social aspects of social work, and an interviewing skills class. I don't have any grades back, but I did well on all my assignments, so I expect high marks. I'm not sure what classes I take next quarter, but I have them both on Mondays.

We've been keeping up on the office, survivor, and the amazing race. we've both filled out march madness brackets, I picked conn to go all the way, but I don't remember who Courtney chose, winner get a movie rental from blockbuster.

I'm working my last day at the copy center on campus, and it was alot of fun to work there, I'm sad to be leaving it, its a good job with good co-workers and a good boss. unfortunately my schedule will simply not allow me to keep working here. Courtney is still working at the daycare and works with babies most of the time, so that is less stressful. My laptop gave us a scare, it now has a colored line that runs right down the middle of the screen, but otherwise it seems alright.

The social work classes are cool, I've learned alot of neat things in them, the practicum will be a good deal of work, but the future looks bright. Our car is working flawlessly, for which we are very grateful. the cold weather has finally subsided here in Cheney, although the snow is not entirely gone, it is supposed to be in the 60s next week.

I hope all is going well all over the rest of the world where my family and friends are planted. I think about all you guys often, and I miss ya. I'm going to try to post a bit more often that every three months, so everyone else can know what's going on with us.

The Case of the Toyota

Just a little news about our faithful little Toyota. I went out one day to pick up Courtney from work and the car's alarm light was blinking madly, and my tiny remote would not unlock the car.

My key would not unlock the doors either. I was locked out and could not open the hood to read the owners manual, and I had the key!! I called Courtney and she got a ride home, and after tinkering for a few more minutes we gave up and called AAA.

They showed up 15 minutes later and got into our car with surprising (and disconcerting) ease. Once inside we popped the hood and something had gone wrong with our battery. They gave us a jump from their portable battery, and recommended that we check out our electrical system and get some new keys cut from the dealer, since ours were worn down almost smooth. (they still worked in the ignition, but not the doors). After close inspection I determined that I left the lights on after I last used the car. (I never leave the lights on)

but this is only half the story, the AAA guy says Toyota will cut new keys if you have all the right paperwork (which we do). So I scooted down to the Toyota dealership in Spokane and requested a new set of keys. After the clerk disappeared in to the mysterious "back" for some time, he returned with two new keys that resembled the ones we had but much newer and shinier, and he gave them too me free of charge. Probably because I looked very much like a poor college student with a junky old car. All's well that ends well I suppose. Go Steelers

Winter Wonderland in Cheney

So winter has finally hit Cheney. We were hoping to avoid it until after Christmas, but no such luck. Everyone and their dog has told us about how awful winter is in Cheney, but we didn't believe them until we saw the craziness for ourselves.



We are trying to remain positive though; at least, we don't have to go to work since we cannot move our car. They have shut down the day care and the copy center until farther notice. But we have to call everyday to see if we will be needed. It's kind of fun to stay in our apartment sipping hot chocolate and eating whatever we can find in storage. And we have decorated a little bit. The garland wouldn't stay up with scotch tape, so much for those commercials that say scotch tape can handle anything. But at least you can see our cute little Christmas tree.

Oh What Do You Do In The Summer Time?

I think we should report a bit about what happened during our summer, since we weren’t the most faithful bloggers during that time. In April I graduated from BYU in Marriage, Family and Human Development and had to leave my early morning BYU campus job. I had already been rejected from one grad school at the time, and no word from the other, so we prepared to bunker down in Provo for the long haul. I found a new job supervising mentally handicapped teenage boys that included three graveyard shifts during the week, and Courtney continued to work making missionary nametags. I discovered several activities to help me stay awake during those night shifts that included watching many movies, playing video games, and reading Clive Cussler.

Then I received an acceptance letter from Eastern Washington University, and so we began to get things in order to arrive in Cheney Washington towards the end of September. The imminent move and high gas prices made us put all our grand vacation plans on the back burner, so we had a few picnics and watched 4^th of July fireworks from the grounds outside the Provo Temple.

Mid august arrived and Courtney and I left our jobs in time for the Andersons to come down, for the second time that summer, see Michel Anderson graduate and then caravan with us back to their house. We had everything packed into boxes and Mama Anderson meticulously packed our over-large truck. We then made the trek up to Pasco where Courtney and I were going to be in limbo for a few weeks until our new apartment was ready in Cheney.

We had a wonderful time with the Andersons. Conner and I played many games of guess who and worms, and we designed a few killer roller coasters. We tagged along on a trip to Silverwood amusement park and rode every ride in the park before it started to hail on us. We puttered around most of the rest of the time, we got to see the new house and read a few library books; I finished the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and started The Count of Monte Cristo. Courtney and I celebrated our first anniversary by going out for dinner, swinging on swings and eating blizzards and year old cake. It was pleasant not having to work and being able to spend time with family, and Courtney and I felt that that passed for a wonderful vacation.

But all good things must come to an end, we packed up all our belongings (again) and drove them all up to Cheney. Two new ward members arrived to help us move in, so we made them carry all the heavy stuff to our second floor apartment. After a day or two of steady unpacking we were pretty much settled in, and we spent our time orienting to the town, searching for a job for Courtney and watching movies and playing games.

Courtney celebrated her birthday last week and the Andersons came up to party with us. We played a rousing game of apples to apples and guillotine. But the summer that seemed so long was bound to end, classes started again, and Courtney found a job working at a local day-care center that she is trying to like. So in answer to inquiries, we had a wonderful summer and are looking forward to another great year.