Banana Bread

Banana Bread has always been a hot commodity at my house growing up and you were lucky to get one piece!  But now that I am married I don't have to share with anyone because Dev (supposedly) doesn't like it.  He said it was okay this time. :)  and we cooked it in our stoneware dish.  We got it as a wedding gift, and Devin loves it.

here's our stoneware.

and the baby banana breads!  

Car wash!

On Saturday we washed all of our cars with Derek and Janel (and Jane and Andrew of course:)  I forgot how much I like washing cars.  We only did it every once in a while when I was little.

Jane helped!

 Dev cleaning the truck.

Made it.... barely!

Our first week of school is over!  Only 15 more to go..  I am taking this computer systems class and the first chapter is literally how to turn your computer on and then the second chapter it teaches you how to read binary and how to tell the difference between a super computer and a microcomputer and I'm having a hard time focusing.. Devin on the other hand loves school.  He already has the first 4 weeks of English homework done(on accident!  they are spreading out 1 essay into 4 weeks and he just did the whole thing.)  Here's Devin doing his school work

 and here's me doing mine:)

Oh the things we do for a job!

Today I got to go to the hospital and get everything ready for when I start working
(hopefully this week!) I got to do a drug urinalysis.. at least they didn't sit there and watch me like they do in the Military.  Then a very nice lady named Janine went through a mountain of paperwork for me to read and sign.  Literally there was like 50 papers.  And she sent me home with a bunch :)  But I'm not complaining! I'm super happy I have a job!  Then I got a TB test done. I swear I have had so many of these...  But oh well.  Then I got my voucher for my uniform! I had to go to Scrubs and Beyond to go order them.  I'm pretty excited though. New scrubs?? definitely happy.  They are black and they have the Gilbert Hospital name embroidered on the shirt.  And I get to go back Monday and get my TB checked out and get my orientation started!  I am so exited :)

P.S. Devin didn't get notified for the rest of the Chandler PD stuff...  :(  sad, but he's already all over looking at some different jobs and getting applications in!  And now we have school so we're busy anyway!

Ya, sure!

Today me and Devin got to babysit for Derek and Janel ( they get to go away for their 6th Anniversary!) We took the first shift today. We started things out with Little Caesars, Then we played outside with Jane. Andrew was sleepin'. Then we put on George for Jane. Devin fell asleep and Jane laid on top of him to color and ended up falling asleep too!  it was adorable.  I took pictures:)

Then when they all woke up we played upstairs with all of the fun toys. Well Devin, Jane and Andrew did:)  Mostly Devin of course..  They played restaurant, store, rock band, T ball.  I got some good pictures!  

Gilbert Hospital.. again!

So I accepted my fate..  I lost that opportunity to have an awesome job because of my license deal.  My day got 20 times better when Sister Adamson called and asked me to teach her primary class on Sunday. I am so so excited. Any way.. we went over to Derek and Janel's to work out and to eat dinner with them and I had a missed call and a voice mail from Michelle, a charge nurse from Gilbert Hospital. She asked me to give her a call back so of course I did!  I got a hold of Bobbi, another charge nurse and she said that she wanted to give me a conditional job offer!!  that I could be hired as long as I got my license within 90 days!!! I talked to the AZ board of Nursing and they said it would take maximum of 9 weeks(and I already have 1 week behind me.)  so I'm good to go!  and I have a job again!  So Human resources from the hospital is going to call me so I can get my drug test done and TB test and then I can start orientation and learning Phlebotomy I am so excited:)  So I got a job. Lost a job, and got a job again all in one day!

Gilbert Hospital

So I went and turned my application to Gilbert hospital on Feb. 23 and then the DON called me on Mar. 1st to have an interview!  On the 6th!  Which is today, so I went and I got the job! Hooray!  So now all I have to do is get my license transferred from Utah to Arizona.. So I called the board of nursing in Arizona and they said that it will take 2-3 weeks to get in the system its been one week so far.  and then they have to do a background check by sending me a fingerprint card and it can take 4-6 weeks...  So I just called them back and told them I would see if they needed anyone in 2 months!  I'm kinda sad...  That would have been really fun to work in a hospital!  But when I think about it perhaps its meant for this to happen, Because we should be moving either to Chandler or Maricopa(crossing my fingers for this one!:) so then I would have to either make the long commute or get a new job.  sigh...  we shall see!  Maybe getting my license will be faster than they say. 

First day of school

I was excited!  Till it actually started, then I remembered how much I missed English...  not one bit!  Devin loves it though :)  Just kiddin'..  He tested out of English in every other school except this one so that's kind of a let down.  Our semester ends June 24, not too bad and we're full time students!  Devin is doing Criminal Justice and I'm just getting my generals done.  I am definitely going to have to check and make sure that if we were to transfer these online school credits that they would be acceptable. Like ASU, I figure if they'd take them them we're safe.

Chandler PD update

Devin went and took his first test yesterday. A written exam. They said there ended up being 600 applicants!  But good news, there were only 420 people that showed up to the first test. So that raises our chances!  :)

Here's what we're up against.

730 Miles Later

          Utah       to      Arizona

We moved to Arizona on December 12&13. Devin drove the U-haul with the Jeep behind it and I drove the truck all 730 miles. It took us about 14 hours, we got a really early start and then of course we had problems with the Jeep and ended up having to completely take apart the drive shaft...  Thank goodness my dad knew how too!  and now Devin does too:)  We drove to Devin's friend Andrew and his wife Lanae's house to stay the night before we moved into the apartment. Andrew and Lanae are awesome!  they are really good friends to us. December 13th we went over to our new apartment building and we didn't know that it was a one way street... so we drove the U-haul in and we got stuck...  And we found out that my jeep didn't survive, we parked him out in the back and haven't driven it since:(  We tried driving the U-haul out into this field that was out behind the apartments to make a loop and turn around annnnnd.... of course it was raining!  downpour of the century! And it had been raining for 2 days.  We thought we could wait it out, we asked 'Suri' (Lanae's iPhone) and it said it would be raining till Sunday...  it was Tuesday.  So we ended up call a tow truck and we got it all figured out. It was a crazy day, but we kept going.  We had Michelle and Bruce, Derek, and Andrew and Lanae helping us move our things from the U-haul to our upstairs apartment.  We had no power and it was freezing!  So we put our bed together by candlelight and snuggled close, haha it was terribly romantic. Then the next day the rain stopped we got our power going we got some food, things were definitely looking up(except the cockroaches that we are now living with, and no matter what we try and do they will not go away..) but now that that is 3 months behind us I can actually laugh about it, I was not in a laughing mood then..  We have since added a couch to our humble abode(a nice couch if I do say so myself) and a hand-me-down TV! very exciting, and I put up pictures so it's not half bad:)

Chandler PD, here we come!

Candidate for Chandler Police Department

Yes, that would be my husband. Today it all begins! They are testing his skills by giving him a written test today and to pass he needs a 75% or higher.  He's shooting for the high 90's though..  I think he's going to do great!  We should get the results in a couple days.
The next step is the PT test, on March 10th. Which Devin is going to do Amazing.  It's a 1.5 mile run in a minimum of 15:00, Pushups minimum of 19, and situps minimum of 31.  The push-ups and situps aren't timed so he can just do as many as he can, at the last test a female did the most and she did 89 or 91.  So I am feeling REALLY confident for Dev.  He'll do awesome, him and Derek(his bro) have been working out quite a bit lately. Then after those 2 tests they are going to narrow it down to 40 candidates(from 500!).  I am not worried about Dev at all..  he'll make it easy.
The next step is an Oral Board, they just interrogate you with a million questions and decide by your answers how awesome you are.  Also while they are doing that they do a huge background check.  Devin looked at it ahead of time, its 40 pages long!  They will know everything about Devin.  Then if he passes that he moves on to the Commander/Chief interview and a medical examination. Then they narrow down the 40 candidates to 2!(they said maybe 4, but we'll see.)  After they pick the 2(or 4) they'll send them to the Academy, a 19 week mini basic training.
I'm really excited to see how Devin will do, I have total confidence in him!  I know he is going to do amazing.
Here we go!

They say that in the Army the women are mighty fine.

  2 Year Anniversary

Today 2 years ago I enlisted in the Army Reserve.  It went by really fast and so so much has happened in those two years. Kind of crazy to think about!  I went to BCT, twice! I got engaged and married, I moved to a different state. So maybe not so much:) But a few really big things, and as far as I can see there will be more!

Ai Shiteiru

Everyone loves a good love story...

I was 13, just moved into a new house, school, ward, city. And I was getting ready for 8th grade.  (Don't be scared... this is just a necessary part of the story!) Meanwhile in Chandler, AZ the soon to be love of my life was going moving to Utah!  Hooray for me:)  He was trying to get out of it and stay there, which I don't blame him he was going to be a senior, who wants to move when they're a senior? But he talked to his bishop and thank goodness he had an awesome bishop and he said he should stick with his family and go to Utah so he did.  I saw him for the first time in church, yep he moved right into my ward!  And then we went to Youth Conference together well we just happened to be there at the same time...  and we got it on video.  How romantic huh:)  My mom was the young woman president and she was head over heels for him.  She thought he was the most awesome boy that she had ever met.  (I remember teasing her about it. :)  Then.. He finished up school and joined the Army National Guard.  (Governor Huntsman actually swore him into the Army! Gotta brag about my boy)  He went to basic in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri.  Then while I was getting into high school, Dev got called on a mission to Tokyo, Japan!  The perfect place for Devin to be going.  He was there from 2007-2009 and my family religiously sent him letters for the whole two years (did I mention my mom loved him?:)  He still has all the letters.  Then when he got home I was finishing up my junior year and he decided he wanted to go to Iraq.. So he did:)  He deployed with the 141st MI Batallion as a Human Intelligence Collector(35M). And he's a linguist.  Ya he's super awesome. And of course we sent him letters and packages.  I even took initiative and sent him some fun things:)  if only I would have known that he was the love of my life... I would have bombarded him with letters:)  So, while he was in Iraq I enlisted. In the Army Reserve.  And I went to basic in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. Same place as Devin!  Cute huh:)  He got home in April and I got home in June and the day after my 19th birthday(June 12th) He came up to me in church and oh man.. I am pretty sure I turned bright red and it didn't help that Joe was in the back ground giving me a big thumbs up..  Doing me a real solid!  Any way.. Devin asked me how training was and what I got on my weapons qualification..  I beat him by 2! haha..  so he said we should go shooting sometime. Of course I said that would super fun but I didn't really think it would happen... you know I thought he was way out of my league and old.. :)  love you dev! So I just felt reeeeally cool that he even talked to me.  Then on July 5th, I was passed out and my mom came and woke me up and told me Devin was there and I should come down and talk to him.  Uh, you don't have to tell me twice!  So I got his number, ya you heard me right :)  He didn't have his phone with him..  And he said he would take me shooting(and he brought us fresh strawberries.  I know he's amazing.)  So then.. I sent him and text and he called me a couple weeks later while I was at the movies with my friends and we tried to plan a date. But I had work, he had family stuff...  Then he shows up at my house again!  and we were both going to this financial class for my dad's work and we were going to go shooting after that!!!!!! So July 24th, the official day that we went on our first date. Shooting:)  He drug me through a marsh in the middle of nowhere Utah and then we went to another place in Mantua and it was perfect.  It was grand and then he bought us buffalo burgers on the way home.  They tasted like..  cow burgers.  and we went to my house to eat them and we destroyed a wasp nest!  pretty intense.  Then he left to go out with an old missionary friend and that was the earliest we would ever part ways again:)  Then we were inseparable from that day on and the only time I didn't see him was when he went hunting... Then on September 7, 2011 Devin got a call from some contractors saying that they were going to Afghanistan and they would be leaving like soon..  So Devin told me the whole story of what would happen, he was going to be gone for a year! :(  But no worries. He had a plan, a splendid plan, that we should get married!(He officially purposed with a ring on September 13, 2011) Of course I was all over that so we wanted to get married the next day but..  everyone told us it was okay to wait.. so we planned it for Veterans day 11/11/11.  Perfect.  Then we ended up not waiting anyways. We got married on 10/23/11 and it was still perfect:)  then we had a grand reception and left for AZ a month later and so far I have loved every minute of being married to him.