My next wish..

I was reading a book yesterday that was based in Boston, and suddenly I got this urge to visit there. I've always wanted to, because it's very historic and a seemingly cool city.. After all, I did apply to Boston University for grad school.

Then, I got this great idea--Graham and I should go on vacation there next year during the fall season!

First, we plan on staying in Boston for about 3 days.. Go to a Red Sox game, see the beautiful city and its sights, and so on..
















Then, make a trip to New England--most likely Vermont--to see the leaves just turning fall colors and to go sightseeing. I love autumn leaves, and I've always wanted to visit there..













Last, go to see some church history sites, like Palmyra, Hill Cumorah, etc. Hey, we're in the general area, so why not?













So, I got really excited tonight about this future vacation and have been looking at several websites for the best deals on flights, hotels, activities.. We can fly to Boston, non-stop, for $350 each (including taxes) on JetBlue, which is sweet. I also found a sweet deal for a cute bed & breakfast in Vermont on LuxuryLink for 3 nights, meals, etc for $325, which again is amazing. So--anybody else in for the ride?

Tired

So yeah.. I'm tired this weekend from working full-time and being a full-time wife and hostess. We had our first overnight visitors (Graham's cousin and girlfriend) on Wednesday, and a little dinner party on Friday. I love cooking for people and playing hostess, so if you are ever thinking of visiting Seattle for a weekend, we would love to have you!

Anyways, let me tell you about random events in our lives:
--Graham got a job! I told him he has to earn his keep, so this is good. Plus, he is making almost as much working part-time here as he did working full-time in Portland. He's a job coach for handicapped people at the same hospital as me. The funny thing is, some of the workers in the kitchen thought HE was the handicapped person. They were all, "Are you the new worker? You're doing SUCH a great job!" They figured it out sooner or later, but it's still funny.
--I finally started writing nutrition notes in my patients' medical charts. Yay. Also, I get to take the RD exam as soon as I want.. which will probably be early October. I just need to start studying seriously.
--Graham and I bought our first vacuum. You know your life is not exciting when you are excited to use your vacuum for the first time. It works really well.. especially for a $60 Wal-Mart special.
--We decided not to buy that couch/fold-out bed thing for our second bedroom. The room is pretty small, and it wouldn't fit in there very well. I'll post pictures of the room sometime. We still want to buy an entertainment center for our TV, but we have to wait a bit until we actually have money. Suck.
--I am going to San Diego in a week and a half, and Phoenix in a month.. and I'm not paying for anything! Graham's going to be translating/interpreting for general conference in Utah when I'm in Phoenix, so he won't miss me too much.
--It stormed pretty bad here this week. It was raining so hard that many drains overflowed, and the roof of the HR building at the hospital caved in. Pretty sweet. The thing that sucked was that morning was pretty nice, so I was like, I don't need this umbrella. But, when I left, it was like a monsoon outside. Thanks Brem Brem weather!
--We are going to Las Vegas next year in June for a friend's wedding (Graham's going to be in the bridal party), so all of you friends there--especially you Alexis--you just might get a glimpse of or visit from Graham and me.

So yeah, Graham and I are doing nothing this weekend, and so far it has been FABULOUS. And one more thing.. I get paid for my holiday Monday. Sweet.

Lazy Blogger

So everybody..

I have been so lazy that I've only been online at home a couple of times this week. Every night I come home from work I'm so tired that I cook dinner, watch some TV and go to bed. That's it. Working full-time sucks.

Anyways, work is actually really good. I like the dietitians at the hospital, and so far it's been pretty interesting. Plus--I get free food. I love that.

We've made several friends since being here, because there is a Navy shipyard here in Brem Brem, which hires engineers straight out of college.. So we have many young engineering friends here in town, which is really strange since Graham wants to be an engineer. So yeah, we've gone camping with them and hung out a couple of times. That's really nice since we had like no friends in Portland besides family.

We went to Lincoln City on the Oregon coast this weekend for a Hall family reunion. We drove 5 hours Friday night to get there at 9:30 PM, and we left the next morning at 10 AM. It was short, but worth the drive.

So... that's about it for now. I'm working full-time.. Graham got a part-time job as a job coach for mentally handicapped people, and will be starting school full-time in the end of September. I'll post again when something cool happens or when I have more energy.

I'm a working girl..

I've started my job as a dietitian at a Medical Center in Washington.

And I think I'm going to love it.

Bored

Ok, so I have a bunch of random things to talk about, so I'm about to give you all a glimpse of what's been going on in my head.

--I love diet soda. I used to occasionally drink regular Dr. Pepper or Pepsi, but the occasional drink soon turned into a bi- or tri-weekly event. So, I've been trying to see how long I can go without regular soda. I went without one for a week and a half, and I caved yesterday and had some Pibb Extra. It was way too sugary for me, so I'm even more appreciative of my 24-pack of Diet Pepsi at home.
--Speaking of being appreciative.. how many of you have ever had to live without something you consider to be essential.. like a dishwasher, garbage disposal or a washer/dryer? Anyways, I've had all of those things my whole life, so I've always taken them for granted.. But after living in crazytown apartment complex for 8 months without all of those things and moving to our condo WITH all of those things, I am totally grateful (and "seriously so blessed!!") to have those things. I wanted to cry when I turned on the garbage disposal.
--Speaking of being seriously so blessed, I am obsessed with that blog. It makes fun of newlywed Mormon blogs, and I love it. I wish the anonymous author would post more than once a day. I've been bored this week.. so I've randomly surfed blogs, and most of the Mormon blogs I read are just like it, only real. It makes me laugh.
--Speaking of Mormons.. I have this Mormon hymn CD in which all of the hymns are instrumental that I listen to sometimes... and I love it. I know it's totally unlike me, but it soothes my soul and has helped me through stressful times.
--Speaking of stressful times... We are low low low on money. We have not been paid in over 3 weeks, just got back from vacation, had to pay our 1st month's rent + a large security deposit, and are living by our very last dollar. I expected to get my sign-on bonus on Wednesday, but it's not coming for another week or two. SUCK. So, we are trying to be extremely cheap... Examples: I'm making homemade tortillas tonight instead of buying a pack. I took a couple free apples from Employee Health at the hospital. We drove an hour home from Seattle yesterday instead of taking the ferry to save a couple of bucks. We only walked around Seattle--no purchases except our lunch. Usually such long and extended window shopping for me would result in some kind of impulse purchase, so I'm really proud. I actually had a lot of fun just window shopping with Graham.
--Speaking of being cheap, we are jacking our neighbor's wireless internet until someone notices.. or until we get a virus or something. We also just had our dish satellite installed today (no payments for a month!) and found out that we have had cable THE WHOLE TIME. We were GOING CRAZY from having nothing to do and being home all day and we had cable all along! Damnit! (Sorry--it deserves a swear word.)
--Speaking of swearing.. I despise Northwest drivers! I know that everyone will complain about drivers wherever they live, but it's different here. They apparently are so relaxed that they are content with driving 5 mph BELOW the speed limit!! I don't know about you, but the speed limit is just the bargaining point for speeding. 55 mph on a highway means >60 mph.
--Speaking of the Northwest, we are so spoiled here with the summer weather. It's been between 70-85 degrees here and absoutely beautiful. We don't even need the a/c or house fans! I better enjoy it while I can before the rains come. Boo.
--Speaking of beautiful.. I got complimented the other day that I have beautiful dimples. Isn't that weird? They are a muscle indentation in my cheek. Maybe she meant I have a beautiful smile? I don't know.. Dimples make me either look younger or like a Cabbage Patch Doll. I've also gotten lately that I look really young. A pedicurist thought I was 16-18 years old, and my landlord asked me how I old I was when I said I was married. Do I really look THAT young?

Anyways, I start my first real job on Monday! I'm excited/nervous/scared... and I hate to admit it, but I really don't want to work full-time, but hey.. what can you do?

Good 'ol Brem Brem

So Graham has this thing that he nicknames stuff by repeating it.. Like a shower is a little "rinse rinse" or if I want a shoulder rub it's called a "rub rub".

So I want to call our town.. "Brem Brem". I'm retarded.

Anyways, we're here in our condo.. Eventually I'll post pictures, but it's not too impressive right now. We are unpacked already with picture frames on the walls, which IS impressive.

We have an amazing view of the water from our living room and from the kitchen. I can chop vegetables and look out at the Sound. I love it.

Yesterday, we were bored and randomly took a drive out to "Scenic Beach Park" to watch the sunset. It was seriously one of the most beautiful sights to see the sun set behind the Olympic Mountains and cast its rays on the Sound. We were in awe of the sight and wanted to live there forever.

We are strapped on cash, but might take the ferry for free to Seattle tomorrow to escape our boredom and to explore a bit.

So yeah--all of you are invited to come visit! It's beautiful and we have a lovely condo for you to stay in!

Moving

Graham and I are moving today to Brem Brem, and we won't have internet for a bit.. so this will temporarily be my last post for a while.

Oh, and good news.. Remember my episcleritis?

Well, I got blood work done to see if I have a common autoimmune disease, like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.... and the results all came back NEGATIVE! So that is great..

As to the cause of my episcleritis, that is currently unknown..

So anyways, have a great week!