Amanda and Derek

Life Update

2011-11-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

Our announcement t-shirts

My fifth grade class on Halloween - I was a basketball game

Halloween

Our pumpkins

Ok! I am really bad at keeping up with this thing!! Hopefully I will have more time soon.

SO! Here is the update:

Derek:

Derek is doing great. He is in his second-to-last semester at school. He is doing well (as usual). At this point he has been applying to lots of jobs and consequently he has been having lots of interviews! We were in Utah last weekend for an interview he had with BD medical. We are going to Austin, TX on Thursday because he has an interview with National Instruments - they are flying us both out! Then he leaves again next Wednesday for Ohio because he has an interview with Honda! We have been extremely blessed so far! We will see if anything comes from it!

He just registered for his last semester in school and among other things he is taking Bowling, Archery, and Weight Lifting. It should be pretty difficult.... :) His internship from the summer called him last week and asked him to come back. He was a hard worker over the summer and they felt the void! So, he will be working a couple of days a week. We are glad for the opportunity because we've got a baby coming! He will probably work till Christmas. He is still tutoring when he has time as well.

Amanda:

I have been student teaching in the 5th grade for the last 3 months! I only have a week and a half left! I can't even believe it. I have been going to school for the last 16 years of my life!! It is about to end! Student teaching has been WONDERFUL! I have the best class. I love my students and I have learned so much about myself as a person and as a teacher. It has been nothing short of a blast.

Oh yeah! I'm pretty sure anyone who reads this already knows, but I'm pregnant! I will be 24 weeks tomorrow! I am progressively getting bigger and it has been sooooo much fun!! I have had a wonderful pregnancy so far. I haven't ever been sick, I feel really great. As I get bigger my back has been hurting a little, and today my hips felt like they were about to pop out but that is just recently!

Derek and I were called to be Sunday School Teachers in the Marriage and Family Relations class. We had the same calling in our last ward so we know what we are doing! yay! We are extremely excited for the Holidays. We are spending Thanksgiving with my family here in Idaho and then we will head to Farmington for Christmas! It will be great!

Baby Whipple:

Our baby boy has been kicking up a storm. He knows how to move! I have been able to feel him for about a month now. Derek can feel him move too! It never gets old. It is so wonderful to be able to feel him moving together. I know that Derek feels more a part of the pregnancy now that he can feel our son moving too. It gets more and more real as his due date gets closer. February 28th doesn't seem too far away considering we've got the Holiday season to get through. After that its just 2 months away. We have started to buy things here and there for him. We've got some clothes and other random things. There is a lot to buy for someone so SMALL! We just got a cradle off of Craigslist today for 20 bucks! Worth it! We won't buy a crib until we know when and where we are moving after Derek graduates in April.

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks

22 weeks

24 weeks

We Are Still Here!

2011-07-03T17:53:00.001-07:00

I know it has been a LONG time.... a really long time.... almost a year but we are still around! Life has been busy! I am going to start updating my blog regularly so that people can know what we are doing with our lives! At this point in our lives:

1. We are living in Idaho Falls for the summer - with my parents (to save money). We made a little home in their library downstairs so we are surrounded by books!

2. Derek is doing an internship for a company called CH2M which is working to clean up nuclear waste out at the INL site. He gets up at 4:30 every morning and works 10 hour days but he enjoys himself. It is nice that he is not selling this summer. We actually get to spend weekends together! This is our first summer not selling and it has been an awesome change.

3. I am working at Play It Again Sports here in town! I sell sporting equipment all day and go home smelling like rubber. I am learning a lot about sports. It's a fun job. I have the best bosses. I got really lucky. I work Tuesdays-Thursdays 12-8. It is the perfect job. Derek works Mondays-Thursdays so we have three-day weekends together!

4. So far this summer we have had lots of bbq's (Derek is awesome at grilling), we took a vacation to Las Vegas/Mesa/Farmington, we went camping, we went to the drive-in, we go on lots of dates, we work out every day, we are eating healthy, we watch lots of movies, we are reading lots of books (a current favorite of ours is Dean Koontz - Odd Thomas series) and more! We are having a really good time.

5. We are taking an online class together (Teachings of the Living Prophets) so that takes up some time. Derek is taking another class online, and English class which has kept him pretty busy. It is awesome for us to be able to learn about the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve together.

6. It was pretty chilly for the first part of the summer up here but it finally warmed up! Now it is almost too warm haha! Last week the air conditioning was broken in the store that I work in! It was like sitting in an oven. It was sooooo hot! But no worries, it's fixed how.

7. Derek and I have been watching Boy Meets World through Netflix which has been lots of fun! It brings back lots of memories of my childhood!

8. At this point in school - I am student teaching starting August 29th here in Idaho Falls! This means that I will graduate in December!! I am so excited and ready to teach! I had great preparation the last two semesters. Derek has only two semesters left and so he graduates in April! After that we will see where Heavenly Father needs us to go! Derek takes the GRE at the end of this month which will help him get into grad-school so we will see!

This is just a quick up-date. I will follow up this post with more details and some pictures (once I find them!)

We Went to Farmington for the Weekend!

2010-06-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

Don't be scared, we are actually really nice people... We are just awesome at baseball...
Oh yeah... I hit this one so hard, it broke though the netting on the other side and hit a car... ok, not really... I actually think I missed this one.

Hot. He is really good hat hitting.

Just before I took this, Derek was sitting in the same position as Warren with his mouth open as well.. So that was the purpose of this picture but oh well!

This is Tyler opening some of his gifts. I love how all the little kids are gathered closely around him.

This is all the men who are related to Tyler that went to the baptism, which means that we are related to about half of them..

Like I said, he is really good at golf.

Awww we are so cute :)

Eh, close enough.

Derek, going in for the put... he shoots, he scores!! Dalin, was extra talented at holding the flag ;)

We went to Farmington over the weekend to go to Derek's cousin's (Tyler) baptism. I almost couldn't go because of work but I wasn't scheduled so I got to go! I am so glad I got to because it was SO much fun. It is always really fun when we visit Derek's family. Plus, the weather was beautiful so it was a good weekend all around. The drive from Denver to Farmington is only about 350 miles but its through the mountains so it took us 7 hours! It was a beautiful drive though! We got into farmington on Thursday night and we stayed till Sunday morning. On friday, Derek, Dalin, and I went golfing! That was exciting. I am better than I thought I was but still not good. Derek was awesome at it! I am glad that Dalin came with us, he is a cool kid. It's always fun to get to know him better. I am glad that I have such good brothers/sisters-in-law!! So, we were out in the sun for a few hours... I didn't put on sunscreen, thus I got a little crispy. After golf, we went shopping with Derek's mom. That was fun! we found some great deals on clothes. That night, we went to Golden Corral for dinner and we watched a movie as a family.

The next day was the baptism! It was a great program. Tyler is so cute. He was so excited and happy to be getting baptised. Eight is such a great age! Because of the baptism Brandon and Crystal were in town as well and it was great to see them! Brandon gave a great talk on baptism and you could tell Tyler looked up to him so much. Derek and I sang a duet ("I like to look for rainbows...") together! That was the first time that Derek has sang in public and he was fantastic! It was awesome to sing with him! Derek was a witness as well. After the baptism we all went to Tammy and Rusty's (Aunt and Uncle) house for lunch and to celebrate Tyler's birthday. We socialized a bit and enjoyed each other's company. Derek has such a great family. Unfortunately Rusty fell off his roof and broke a few ribs! That was terrible. I hope that he gets better soon. Other than that it was a great day!

Derek and I went to the batting cages that night and then everyone that was there for the baptism went to the "Too"-Tah to watch a movie. Its an old theater that people can rent for a couple hours to watch a movie. So, we got to hang out with Derek's cousins a bit more. After that we went back to the house, watched another movie, and then went to bed.

Like I said before, we love to visit Derek's family. They are great people and I feel extremely lucky to have them as a part of my life.

Finally: An update on recent events...

2010-05-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

Ok! We have arrived to present day! Derek and I are living in Denver for the summer. He is selling pest control again. We love it here! He is doing well selling, We have an awesome apartment, the community we live in is beautiful, I have a job at Aaron's Brothers Art and Framing... Life is good! We almost didn't come out but we are glad that we did. Dan and Sarah are here as well! After only a month of living here we have decided that this is a place that we would love to end up in someday. We have callings in our ward (Nursery) and we are loving life!

We found this thing at a gas station on our way to Colorado.. We had to buy it. It was the biggest hot dog we had ever seen. We were laughing so hard!! We only had a couple bites.. it was merely for the experience (and the picture).

Derek's birthday was on April 30th so we had a party at our apartment. We had a bbq with Dan and Sarah and we had cheesecake! YUM! Wyatt helped Derek blow out his candles. Derek is now 24! He is so old!

Isn't she adorable??? Nana bought her a sailor dress and she looks like a little angel!

On Mother's Day Sarah asked me to take family pictures of them! They turned out really cute. Especially when Wyatt was happy! Aren't they a cute family??

Last Sunday, Derek and I went and visited Red Rock Amphitheater! It was amazing! There are 380 steps from the bottom to the top and we climbed them all! Apparently lots of cool concerts happen here. It was totally worth it and the view from the top was INCREDIBLE!

And, this is the view! That is Denver on the left. WOW! It was amazing.

And there is us, striking a hot pose for the camera. You can see the stage down below. On May 30 there is a concert here featuring Styx, Kansas, AND Foreigner!! How cool is that?? Dang...

Tutonka... This is a cool picture with the sunset in the background... "Oh give me a home, where the Buffalo rome...."

We went to this park that overlooks a valley and the mountains beyond and we took our little grill and had hotdogs and SMORES! Mmmm.

Happy Easter! Welcome Home Shawn!

2010-05-22T11:09:00.001-07:00

SHawn served his mission in New Jersey and my parents went and picked him up. They spent a few days touring around NJ and NY. They came home on Easter! So, we went to the airport and picked them up with signs. It was so fun to see Shawn again! He is all grown up! It is crazy! So, he got home and we went back to the house where we had dinner ready! A bunch of people came over to welcome him back and we had a big barbeque. It was great! After everyone left the Easter Bunny came and hid all out baskets in the backyard. We had an easter egg hunt which turned pretty violent toward the end... just kidding! Haha but our Easter Egg hunts are pretty extreme sometimes.

Uncle Chip and Aunt Kris came up with Grandma and Grandpa Davis! It was good to see them.

The Easter Hunt damage..

This is probably my favorite picture. Derek and Shawn were after the same egg but shawn got there first. Derek was a little sad.. haha you can see Shawn laughing in the background.

Love.

Like I said, the Easter Bunny goes to extremes. Derek had to climb the tree to get his basket. You can see it at the top of the picture. Last year, my dad, I mean, the easter bunny... buried Dan's basket so that all you could see was a sliver of the plastic covering.

INTRODUCING: Bella Farrer! This is Dan and Sarah's second beautiful child!! She is such a peach!

Mine was in a tree as well, although not as high as Derek's was.

Friends, School, Valentines... In a nutshell - LIFE!

2010-05-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

Came flew down to Utah for the weekend to go wedding dress shopping, so of course, I drove down to be with her. It was an AWESOME weekend. It just girls. Tammy's sisters, mom and I. So we went shopping and we giggled a lot. Tammy and I got to go on a date which was wonderful. She is getting married in June and I get to be up there with her!

This is when Wyatt accidentally threw a paint can down the stairs at my parents house... It was so funny in a horrifying way. He followed it down the stairs and so there are little foot prints. He also put his hands in it, so there are permenant hand prints on the carpet by the TV. My parents wanted new carpet anyway.. this gave them the opportunity to justify spending the money.

THis is the scooter that we bought at an auction... We did not intend on buying it, but apparently, when you raise the paddle... you have to buy things... that is a lesson that I learned from that experience. This picture was taken the night that we sold that scooter. I really wanted to keep it but it doesn't make any sense to own one when you can only ride it in the winter.

For Valentines Day, Derek and I drove down to SLC to go to Tucano's Brazillian Grill. That is our Valentine's tradition. This was the fourth time we have been together including the time we ate there for our wedding dinner. They have the best food!! When we got back, Derek surprised me with a bouquet of 50 mini roses. I didn't realize how much I love those flowers until I had them. It was a gorgeous bouquet. I made Derek a giant sugar cookie heart and I attempted to write everything I love about him on it but I wrote too big... Oh well! It's the though that counts.

I am an Elementary Ed major at school and last semester I had the opportunity to be in a 3rd grade class. It was the best experience I have ever had. Our teacher let us teach almost everytime we were there so we got a ton of experience. My partner Lindsay was awesome. We got to teach a unit on Reader's Theater. This picture was taken after the performances at the end. All the kids were so cute. It made my conviction to become a teacher even stronger.

Brandon and Christine Potter are our really good friends up at school. Whenever we go on a double date with them, we have a blast. Christine and I were roomates my first year at school and her and Brandon had been friends then even before they started dating and so we have known them for a long time. We are so comfortable around them... we are lucky to have friends like them! The top picture is when we made cookie monster's at our apartment... WhenI say monster, I mean monster. I made an entire batch of cookies, split it in half and they ate one half and we ate another. I have never eaten more cookies and ice cream in one sitting... We were sosick afterwards. The picture below that one is at my parents house in the back yard when we got together and roasted hotdogs and made smores. That was awesome. Mmm. We made them with good chocolate so it was even better.

And this picture is just of our main room in our apartment. It was taken from the kitchen. It was a good apartment. We were sad to move from it.

Caribbean Cruising!

2010-05-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

Every night we had a towel animal on our bed. They were all so cute!

This was game night with Homeshield. We have a panoramic feature on our camera so this is kinda a result of that but it didn't work well...

Derek got a plaque because he has been in the company for two years

This is us the last night. We got every dessert... don't worry, we shared.

This is the main lobby of our cruise ship. Pretty huh?

THis is the night we watched the cowboys play.

Our ship, the Carnival Destiny.

Our ship is on the left. I thought this was a cool view of the dock.

HAHAHA!! He looks like a little boy!

Derek sacrificing me to sun god with an umbrella... It was a wet day.

Derek using his tracking skills. We were following the foot prints of some unknown Myan mummy...

We stopped off at this beach on our way to the ruins. It was windy but it was lovely!

Us in the back of the lovely jeep we rented. Brrr.

Ummm.... I couldn't help it. This was at the pier in Cozumel

We did this a lot.

Dinner with the captain! Don't we look good! By the way, we didn't really eat dinner with him, that's just what the formal dinner is called.

Virgin strawberry something. It was delicious. Especially the creamy stuff at the bottom.

This was a Kermitt's Key Lime Pie store, and that is Kermitt himself. Hitting on me!

There were a lot of these trees on Key West. they are the COOLEST things ever. I have never seen anything like them! I want one in my front yard

Riding the scooter around was so much fun! Although it didn't have ffot pegs and so I had to hold my legs on there. They got tired after a while.

COOL!

This is at the port of Miami right when we got on the boat!

This was our second cruise together and it couldn't have been more different than the first. We left from the Port of Miami like we did the last time but this cruise stopped in Key West, FL and Cozumel, Mexico. The destination wasn't the only thing different about our cruises. While we had good weather on our first day in Key West, it rained the rest of the time. That didn't stop us from having fun though! In Key West, we rented a scooter and drove around the entire key. It was soooooo FUN!!! The weather was perfect. we drove down the coast, we visited the southern most point in the U.S. That was weird. We saw both the tourist parts of Key West and the residential parts. I'll tell you what.. I wouldn't mind retiring there. Mmmm. We saw all the statues and the little shops lining the streets of the town. We also got the original Key Lime pie! WOW that was amazing. Mmm I swear I can still taste it. It was a beautiful day. That night we had a nice dinner with the captain. We got dressed up nice and had a really fancy dinner. It was delicious. The desserts were incredible. Of course, I would remember the desserts the best... :)

I believe it was that night that we watched the cowoys play out on the big screan on the top deck. That was so much fun!! the ship had a few ice cream machines that were always on, so that was good, we hit that up probably too much than was needed... Oh well! its a cruise! We slept well that night and woke bright and early the next morning to rough water and rain, LAME!! But, we were determined to have a good time none the less. When we got to the port in Cozumel we docked next to another large ship and walked to the tourist area where we met up with everyone in our group (Homeshield). Because it was raining we decided to rent a jeep with another couple and we got a map and started to drive around the island. It was the nastiest vehicle I have ever been in... There were no back seat seat belts so we had to hang on for dear life. My window leaked and so I was the only one in the car who got wet, which meant I was wet for the whole day... But, it was AWESOME! We stopped by a little beach to check it out. Then we made our way over to some Myan ruins that we hiked around for a couple hours. That was COOL! It was amazing to see all the ancient huts and roads and stuff.. for real, it was pretty weird to know that people actually lived there hundreds (if not thousands) of years ago.

After that, we made our way back through town (the creepy parts as well) and we found a restaurant that someone suggested that we go to. So we did. Umm... yeah, it was amazing mexican food (duh). We bought a couple souveniers and then made our way back to the ship!

The next day was called "Fun Day at Sea" because we had to make our way back to Miami and it takes a while. So we slept, and ate, and explored, and ate, and slept... There were a couple activities going on around the ship but nothing to extravagent because it was still cold and rainy. I got a little sea sick which was unfortunate but oh well! The waves were huge and that boat was rockin that is for sure. That night we had a big homeshield game party where we were in a tiny room and we played mafia with cards then another game with dice and money that i dont know the name of... It was fun. We ate some more food.. duh.. and we watched a movie on deck again (not sure which night this was but it wasn't raining) I can't remember the movie but it was good!

Basically, the cruise was incredible, despite the rain. It was a great experience! We spent the whole semester of school catching up (mentally) but it was worth it!

Missing Pictures :(

2010-05-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Well, now there is a break in pictures... unfortunately, I tried to use the memory card that we had in our old camera in our new camera (which should have worked) and it corrupted the memory card! I cried for about a week. It still makes me sick to think about how many pictures I lost. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... Everything was on it. I am still SO sad. So, that is the reason there is a large break in the picture updates. We were in Idaho Falls for Thanksgiving, and Mesa/Farmington for Christmas, plus we went to Las Vegas to visit Clarke and Bethany who were there with my parents. It was a wonderful Holiday season.

Baby Ashley is Born!

2010-05-19T17:29:00.001-07:00

Derek is so good with babies... look at his face... He is in heaven.

In October Derek and I traveled down to Mesa for Ashley's (Brittani (Derek's Sister) and Tyler's baby) Baby blessing. That was amazing. She is a beautiful baby. That was a wonderful trip. All of Derek's family was there which is always so much fun. We went shooting with Brandon and Crystal. That was an adventure. Plus it was so warm!! We love Mesa so much. We wouldn't mind living somewhere where it is warm year round... So, yeah, Ashley is gorgeous and she just gets more and more beautiful as she gets older! I am so glad we got to go down for her blessing.

The Start of a New School Year.

2010-05-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

So the Fall started off with a bang! Shortly after we got home, we drove down to SLC for my grandpa's 80th (I know, he's old!) Birthday! Most of my relatives on my mom's side were there so it was awesome! It is always a good time when the Davis side gets together. It was even cooler because it was a surprise party for my Grandpa. My mom made an awesome video of my Grandpa's life - which, regaurdless of the captions, Grandpa kept up an on going narration :). The food was catered and delicious. It was awesome to see my family!

We went to the state fair a couple times which is always a hoot. The Boy Scouts have a very popular booth where they sell "Tiger Ears" which are giant scones. We volunteer to help them make and sell the tiger ears. It is great! A part from the fact that you smell like fried dough for about a week and the clothes that you wear are ruined forever... We went to the fair again to walk around. We found a petting zoo that was quite fun. Contrary to what it looks like, it was really hard to get that picture with the llama. We had to be stealthy because every time you get close it runs off.

The next two pictures were taken when my family went on a rafting trip on the snake river. Derek and my dad got to fish, and we got to have an adventure. Wyatt was pretty mad that he had to wear a life vest though. That's the beauty of having a dad that works for the Boy Scouts, we get to have all sorts of fun trips like that.

Then, on Labor Day we went to a scout camp and went canoeing, fishing, and shooting. That was also an adventure. It was nice weather, and it was nice to spend time with my family. Derek is quite the fisherman. My dad taught him the correct techniques on how to fly fish which Derek picked up really quick. I tried fishing for a few minutes... I got bored... So, my mom and I laid out on the dock for a while. When Dan and Sarah showed up we all got a kick out of Wyatt taking a swim in the water... They took his diaper off which was a mistake because apparently he had to go number 2.... Oh well! Haha it was a great holiday!

Road Trip Home From Chicago

2010-05-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

After we packed up our car in Buffalo Grove, we left for home. I had been planning our trip for about two months before it actually took place. We drove up through Wisconsin so that we could drive through La Crosse where Derek served part of his mission. He showed me different things that he remembered about it and we actually stopped by the apartment that he lived in when he was there. That was a lot of fun! It is a beautiful town! We then drove across Minnesota and through South Dakota till we arrived in Rapid City. We stayed in a hotel and the next day we went to Mt. Rushmore! That was so COOL. The Dakotas are pretty boring for the most part, but once we got there, my opinion changed. The area around Mt. Rushmore is gorgeous! We were there on a random day of the week and we weren't there during tourist season so there weren't many people there. It was totally worth it. The trip home was long but we love road trips so we had a blast. Once we got close to Idaho we drove right along the Grand Tetons which was majestic as you can see. We then stopped by a gas station that sells square ice cream and then we were home! We had so much fun.

I'm Not a Teenager Anymore!

2009-08-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

LOVE!!!

I just like this one because he has happy face stickers on him but he was not happy at all hahaha

He wasn't really asleep... but isn't it cute??

Dan rockin the guitar while Wyatt was on the chair drums!

We got really into it...

I forgot to make a wish!!

OH yeah baby!

Derek and Brandon are close... Brandon was rubbing his back.

Wyatt was amazed by these glasses. Everytime I put them on he would come up to me and get close so he could put his eyes up to them too.

The stuff my mom got for me! haha

Well, my birthday was yesterday. I am officially out of my teenage years. They were good. We had a really nice weekend. Derek came home early from work on Saturday and we went shopping up at the Gurnee Mills Mall. That was nice, I got a couple of shirts. Derek couldn't wait to give me his birthday gift...five chick flicks. We have none and so that was the perfect birthday present. He got me, Twilight, Mama Mia, Australia, Dirty Dancing, and Bride Wars. PERFECT!!

We then went to an Early Dinner at TGI-Fridays where we got yummy steak. After that we went shopping for the Sunday BBQ that we had with everyone yesterday. Then we went to a ward party at the home of the people I babysit for.That was fun, I found out that the lady I babysit for trained a lot of the professional dancers on Dancing with the Stars when they were young! She also babysat Benji - the winner of So You Think you Can Dance Season 1, and she knows all the ballroom dance choreographers on SYTYCD!! She Also competed against Mary Murphy! A judge on SYTYCD. So that was fun to find out!

After that Derek and I went and got cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory to go so that we could take it into a movie... We got home to check movie times, but we decided to stay home and watch a movie that we had. That was perfect. we got to relax in our PJ's and eat cheesecake while watching Mama Mia. That is how I know Derek loves me. He watch Mama Mia with me. He would never even dare any other time, but he knew I really wanted to watch it! So, we did! He actually laughed a couple times. I think he secretly enjoyed it. I definitely did! I love that movie.

Yesterday, at church, I taught the CTR 6 class in Primary and they sang to me in sharing time and gave me a pencil with the Primary theme on it. That was so fun. Primary kids are too cute. As soon as we got home, we went to work on making my birthday cake. (My grandma's recipe for peach cake, which is more like peach pie.) That was a process, we had to peal like 12 peaches and cut them up and stuff. But it was fun. I opened the box that I got from my parents. They sent me a box with 20 little presents in it. I had to open them up in order. haha I got stuff like, play dough and flashing party glasses, and gum and crayons haha. she put a little note on each one explaining why it was in there. It was fun opening it, I laughed the whole way through.

Then we took a nap while watching Iron Man. About an hour before Dan, Sarah, Wyatt, Christine, and Brandon came, Derek made Guacamole (holy crud yummy.) and he put the hot dogs and Brats on our little grill. I made a fruit dip, and I cut up a huge platter of fruit (strawberries, kiwi, bananas, and pineapple) And I made a veggie tray. You know, to buy a Veggie tray at the store is like 13 bucks. Its so much cheaper to make your own.

Then everyone came and we ate! We made authentic Chicago Dogs! yummmmy. We ate for a while and then when everyone was stuffed to bursting we played Guitar Hero. That was fun. They all sang to me and we ate the cake, which was amazing. Then Derek started popping balloons with the lighter.... haha he is such a guy.

It was a great birthday. There is nothing better than being surrounded by family and friends. Derek made sure everything was perfect.

Illinois Pictures!!

2009-07-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

OK, So here are most of the pictures of our time here so far! There are a ton but they are great! They are actually out of order but thats ok! They go from most recent to most distant. So, enjoy!! Don't forget to read the update below!! it goes along with the pictures!

We went with Dan and Sarah to find a beach a couple sundays ago. It was really pretty. We spent about an hour here relaxing and playing around. IT was a great evening.

We've been golfing a lot lately. This miniature golf course is amazing. Its something like one of the top ten miniaturegolf courses in America?? Something like that. Its called Par-King, It is amazing and fuuuun!!! We have been twice now! The one below with the glow in the dark, was more expensive than this one and ten times more lame!!!!

We went into Chicago on "free museum day" only to find that theline for the aquarium was a 2 hour wait! Right when we got out of the parking garage to walk over there it started pouring. I mean, cats and dogs... We sprinted toward a big tree for shelter... We were all soaked, including Wyatt. haha we decided not to wait in the rain for two hours so we went home....

Wyatt LOOVES Derek.

Derek was a good sport about it. He isn't the biggest fan of musicals... but I will break him in slowly. I think Jersey Boys was a good start!

The six of us, Mom, Dad, Dan, Sarah, Derek, and I Went and saw Jersey Boys!!! I have wanted to see it since i was a Junior in High School!! It was everything I dreamed it would be!!

My parents came and visited for a week and we had a lot of fun! My dad and Wyatt are best buds. This is at the end of Navy Pier. It was a nice day.

Unfortunately, Derek couldn't come with us on the days we went into the city because he was working, but, this is me on Navy Pier.

I thought this was a funny picture..

There are a lot of sea gulls around because of the huge body of water that is located right next to the city... aka Lake Michigan..

The Sears Tower... they actually just changed the name to the "Willis Tower" which is totally lame because no one will ever think of it as the Willis Tower because its been the Sears for how many years? Anyway, it's huge.

It seriously is a gorgeous city with the river running through it.

We were on a topless bus (more about that below). The background is an enormous sculture version of the "American Gothic" painting by Grant Wood.

This picture was taken from the inside of the big kidney bean in the picture below. IT is the coooolest thing ever!

It's gorgeous, you can see the entire skyline when you stand between this and the buildings beyond.

We took a bus tour with Derek's Uncle and Aunt, Liz and Kelvin and cousins Chantz and Kylie. IT was amazing. we saw the whole of downtown Chicago.

This was our first time riding the Metra train! It was fun! Its definately the best thing to do to get to downtown Chicago. Its cheap on weekends, about a third of what it costs to drive and park in a downtown lot. And its fun. AND you don't have to deal with traaaffic!!

This is the station closest to our apartment that runs the Metra on weekends. We have one right by us but it only runs on weekdays. But this one is only 5-10 minutes away!

Pretty cheetah.

We went to the zoo!

Derek was becoming one with nature.

We like taking Sunday strolls when the weather is nice.

Update!!!

2009-07-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Apparently I am pretty bad at this blog thing... You know how I can tell? Derek is the one reminding me that I need to update it! It's not like I don't have time its just that, well, I forget. So here I am! Its been 2.5 months... So here goes nothing!

We are living in Buffalo Grove, IL. It is a nice community to live in so we are comfortable. We are only a half hour from downtown Chicago!! We have gone into town quite a few times and it never ceases to amaze me. It is a gorgeous city, we are very lucky to live near it!

We love our ward, everyone is super friendly and willing to make us a part of their family! The bishopric is great and we feel at home when we go to church so that is a good thing! Derek is supposed to go to the mission prep class to participate and help in the lessons that Dan and another sales guy teach. He has also taught the class and he does an excellent job! I am in charge of the Bulletin (program for sacrament meeting) and the monthly ward newsletter along with my Friend and old roommate, Christine Potter, whose husband is also out here selling. That is a fun calling. It really makes me feel a part of the ward because I am in constant communication with the bishopric and other ward auxiliaries. Also, for the next 3 weeks I have been asked to sub for a couple primary classes! I subbed for Sharing time a couple weeks ago and right after got a storm of people asking to sub their class. Last week and this week I will teach the 11-year-olds and then August 2nd (my birthday) I will teach the 6-year-olds! It is really fun! primary kids are a hoot, it also gives me good practice for when I will actually be teaching my own classes! Derek joined me in my class and the kids were all very taken with him. Of course most kids are (he's gonna make such a good dad someday!). We gave talks a couple weeks ago on Recognizing the promptings of the spirit. We both did great according to each other!

We have been trying, whenever our bodies will allow, to get out of bed in the morning and run or work out in some way. We were good there for a while but then we started sleeping in... We just need to work ourselves back into that habit. We miss the convenience of a free gym and are definitely looking forward to having one in the fall.

We hang out with Dan, Sarah and Wyatt basically every weekend so that is fun. Wyatt is getting so big! he is definately not a baby anymore. Sarah and I hang out more than every weekend. We are usually trading off cars because Dan and Derek need it more than we do! For the first part of the summer I was just hanging out literally doing nothing of consequence except for keeping Derek healthy and the apartment clean. I applied to about 5 jobs all of which didn't want anyone looking for temporary employees. That was frustrating and a little disheartening. I talked to my relief society president and told her that if there is any work that needed to be done or service or anything I could do to make myself useful to let me know. She got right on that and asked if I would be her weekly babysitter! So I have been babysitting for her for the past couple of weeks and that has been going really well! MY original intent for that money was to buy a new computer with it because mine stopped working BUT Derek my amazing husband decided to look at it a couple of nights ago and guess what I am using right now to write this blog?? yeah. my computer. He is amazing.

So, I guess I can't say that i have been doing nothing. I absolutely love to bake (don't worry I haven't gained a pound since we got out here, Derek...hasn't gained a lot...he is stiiilll hot) So I have been trying out new recipes. My latest success was Baklava!!!!! It was incredible! We went to the taste of Chicago on the 4th of July and we had some so we decided that I should try to make it! We shared it with everyone and they all liked it so it was a success!

Derek has been doing a great job selling. He a really good salesman and he works really hard. This job isn't easy and so he comes home tired every night and we hibernate after lunch on Sundays. we have really enjoyed living in Chicago but it isn't hot enough for there to be a huge bug problem, but Derek is doing well regardless. Also, people here in this area all have something up there butts and Derek has been kicked out of so many areas because he is a solicitor that it is starting to get ridiculous.

last month I was doing laundry when I got a call from a local number. So I picked it up thinking it was going to be the Bishop or something and it is the chief of police in a village about 45 minutes from here and he said that he has Derek and Brandon in custody and I was to hurry out there and pay 100 dollars each to get them out or they are going to jail. Ridiculous right?? Nice looking guys in white Polo's and khaki shorts.... hmmm.... So obviously I was freaking out I told the office not to take them to jail, and I borrowed Sarah's car because Derek drove that day and "hurried" to go get them. I sped, thinking the whole time that if I got pulled over I would tell the officer that another officer told me to hurry so what was I supposed to do?? So on the way I called my mom to have her calm me down because I was shaking like a leaf.. I pull up to this hokey police station (which I passed the first time because it looks like a barn) and I knocked on the door. I walked in and there are Derek and Brandon HANDCUFFED to the wall!! I said, "I promise they aren't dangerous officer" and he chuckled. I gave him the money (cash only hmmm) and he let them go. Apparently he pulled up right as Derek was walking back to the car, Brandon was already inside. He had Brandon get out and he did a full arrest he was yelling at them being a jerk not listening to a thing they were saying (they got permission the day before to be there) and he had them put their hands on the car and and cuffed them and took them away! I mean talk about strange... maybe he was bored or something. I doubt an officer like him has a lot to do when there is only one street to police. When they were waiting for me to come the officer was on the phone with a buddy talking about their up coming golf trip.... We laugh about it now, especially since we got reimbursed by the company for the 200 bucks we spent getting them out.

The thing about this situation is, this never happened when we were living in Fairfax! Derek never ran into police troubles. There were threats but nothing this bad. We will probably go back to Fairfax next summer. Its warmer there anyway, more bugs.

Oh! We have now been married a year! Well, since June 7th but still! Its cool that we aren't new newlyweds anymore. It is true what they say though, your love grows more and more each day. even through all the habits and oddities that we didn't know each other had on the day we got married.

My parents came to visit at the beginning of June. That was really fun. We toured around Chicago on boat and on bus and on foot. (Derek and Dan couldn't come but luckily Derek and I had already done a bus tour with his aunt and uncle). The last night they were here we went and saw Jersey Boys on Broadway in Chicago! I have always wanted to see it and it was amaaazzzing!!!! That, Derek and Dan could come to. Derek was a good sport about it, not being a huge fan of musicals, so it was delightful!! It was a blast having my parents here. we can't wait to see them, and Derek's parents in September!

We have ridden the Metra Train into Union station twice now and that is an experience. Its cheaper and easier than driving and parking. The last time we did it was the 4th of July when we went for the Taste of Chicago. It's a festival tradition that Chicago has had for thirty something years. They block off like two city streets by Grant Park and line them with booths of food. local restaurants come and bring some of their menu items. Its free admission but menu items cost a certain amount of tickets so if you want food you have to get tickets from a ticket booth! 12 tickets for 8 bucks! It was great. We had a lot of interesting tastes.

Like I said before we have had a lot of chances to see downtown Chicago in many ways. IT is a gorgeous city and it is really cool to learn its fascinating history. I know I am forgetting something but when I remember I will write another post!

PICTURES WILL BE COMING SOON!

Its been a while!

2009-06-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

Well hello! its been a while since the last time I posted anything! life got busy and I forgot! So here I am to catch up on the last three months.

The end of school was really busy. School was as hard and as rewarding as ever. Derek and I both finished with straight A's! We are now both juniors. We found out that we will be graduating the same semester so that is cute. We started moving out about a week before the end of school so that by the time we were done with our finals we only had the cleaning to do.

After we moved out we were off! The last day of classes we drove straight to St. George, arriving at 2 in the morning! we stayed there and the next day we drove to California (stopping in LV to eat lunch with my grandparents). Our first year anniversary was two months from then but it is in the middle of summer and Derek woundnt be able to take time off work so we decided to take a trip to Anaheim to go to Disneyland, California Adventures and Universal Studios early! We had an absolute blast! the weather was perfect the whole time and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Well, Disneyland was really fun! It was fun remembering things that we did there when we were kids. I had always wanted a turkey leg and I found out that Derek had too so... we got one! yummy! We really enjoyed it haha obviously! The park was packed full of people but it was easy moving around with just the two of us. My favorite ride was space mountain! It was so much fun!

Universal Studios was a blast! It was cool taking a tour to the actual studios and seeing where they have filmed movies or are filming movies. It really is magical! It makes the movies seems more cool to know that you have actually been there!

After our excursions in Anaheim we decided to skip over to Laguna Beach because my grandparents were there for a couple days at their bach house. So, we spent the day with them!

THEN we drove to vegas and spent a day there with Dereks parents. After that we drove back to St. George to spend a few more days with them. That was really fun. It was a really good time hanging out with them because I knew we wouldnt see them for another few months. His parents are really good to us and it was nice to spend time with them. It was fun being in St. George because I had never spent time there except for when I was born. we went hiking and we even read a whole book while we were there we were so relaxed.

After our long road trip, we headed back to Idaho Falls and we stayed there for a couple days with my parents. There we celebrated dereks birthday early so that I could be there for it (He was going to sell early while I stayed behind). We had fun and relaxed for a couple days. Then we packed all of our stuff for our move to Chicago in our lovely car. We took a detour to brandon and Christine's (my old roommate) wedding. Then we drove to casper to meet up with Dan and sarah, and Derek and Dan took off together. I didnt see him for 2 weeks! it was so hard. Sarah and I hung out in Casper and Vegas together until we were able to meet up with our husbands in Illinois!

There is a First Time for Everything!

2009-02-22T09:13:00.001-08:00

So, for a while now, Derek and I have been on the look out for a new car. We love ours but it is waaaaay too small. For Derek's job we move a lot in the summer and so we need a vehicle that is able to hold all our stuff. So we have been looking around for the past month or so and we haven't found anything that really had caught our eye.

This past weekend, we went into Idaho Falls to do laundry, and we were supposed to be meeting some friends at Red Robin. We had a little bit of time so we decided just to do a little looking in the hour that we had. On Woodruff there are a few car dealerships right in a row and so we went to them. We went to the Nissan dealership and found a couple cars but nothing that really stood out. So, we went to another one and found a few cars that we liked but they were way out of our price range. So, we moved on. The last one we went to was called Stone's and we looked around they had some good cars Derek went in to check the price of a Jeep Compass - he had been looking at some compass's online and so he was curious. It was a 2007 and so Derek was expecting something pretty pricey the guy walked out with him and told him its about 13,9 and Derek was suprised and thought that was a good deal! but then the guy said, oh it's priced wrong at 10,9......we would give it to you for that.

Derek came back to the car where I was sitting I could tell something was good... He told me the news and we test drove it... everything went well, it was exactly the size for the price that we were looking for. It only has 21k miles on it!! I wasn't trying to be too excited because it seemed way too good to be true... We test drove it over to dad, he approved, we showed it to mom, she approved, we called Warren, he approved.... So, WE BOUGHT IT! don't worry it wasn't a whim or anything. But with the money we put down on it, we only have to pay 155 a month... We are both pretty ecstatic about it, and our old car (nissan sentra that derek got for 6k because it was priced wrong at 1/2 off..) is going to Derek's parents.

So, here she is: our new 2007 Jeep Compass!

With plenty of cargo room!

Life in the fast Lane

2009-02-22T08:44:00.000-08:00

We had presidents day off and it was also Valentine's Day so Derek and I went down to Utah friday night and had our Valentine's day early. We went to Tucano's (best food ever, especially their cheese bread...its not cheese but its not bread...yum). Then we stayed the night at Liz and Kelvin's where Derek suprised me with BEAUTIFUL flowers (made by Liz herself).

The next morning we got up, got some chic-fil-a and started our travels to Farmington, NM to surprise Terri! it totally worked! She called us when we were a couple hours away and Derek didn't answer, on purpose. He called her back when we were sitting outside her office and told her happy Valentines day... Then we (Derek Warren and I) walked in. Everyone at Terri's work was in on it too, so one of her coworkers called out, "Terri, you've got more flowers!" and she came walking up and saw Derek and started to cry! YAY! Success! so, the trip went well. We had a really good time. We hung out with family all weekend and we even skipped tuesday's classes so we could stay an extra day.

These are the roses Derek got me. They are beautiful, they smell beautiful, Derek is wonderful.

Derek was watching a movie on my laptop and he couldn't see the screen so... he made a makeshift movie theatre. Thats my engineer for ya!

Aren't we cuuuuute??? Don't worry, we were parked whenI took this.

Nothing in life is certain except for death and taxes. Luckily for us taxes at least come easy because both derek's parents do them.

He forgot to shower. he he he
Sassy didn't want us to leave... and we didn't want to leave either. :( But! we'll be back!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2009-01-11T18:26:00.000-08:00

Well... Here we are at a youth dance in Idaho Falls... We meant to go to a single adult dance for a while and we ended up here. We walked in the doors and there was a full blast of BO. sick. But we made the best out of it and it was actually a blast! We just went for the last half hour of the dance.

YAY!! Tammy flew in the day before and so she and tyler Pender as her date came with us to the festivities. It was so fun having Tammy with me!

Ummm... I dont remember why they were hording balloons... But they were. Shortly after this picture was taken I popped Derek's balloon. Don't worry he let me.

Well, Tyler actually told us he was going to kiss tammy on the lips so we were gearing up for it but all she got was this cheek kiss... which is really nice considering they are only friends.

Dan and sarah kissing passionately. It was fun having them with us at this dance! I have so much fun with Sarah!! and dan of course :)

Happy New Year!! this was my first ever New Years kiss. it was a good one! He is such a good kisser! MWA! I think we scarred a poor little miamaid...

You can't see it but dan brought his ballroom dance shoes. They were dancing circles around everyone!

What can I say? He's a hottie! I really like his hair in this one... it was cut shortly after though. The people at the dance liked it so much they were literally crowding around him screaming and crying.

Me and my best fwend!!!

What can i say? I got into it. It was a last mintue outfit. actually... I wore that dress to two homecomings and my senior choir banquet! haha He loves me.

We went to denny's after the dance and we got seated and we our rude waiter came and took our orders... Then we didnt see him or our food for an hour... we asked another waiter about it and she freaked out and told us thaqt she would check it out. She came back with the manager and we were told that our waiter forgot to put in our order and then he left... haha so we were at Denny's about and hour and a half longer than we anted to be.. but it was still fun!

Happy 2009 Everyone!

Recap of the Last 3 Months...

2009-01-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

OK This is a Recap of What has happened with me and Derek from about Thanksgiving to Christmas! It has been a long time since I have updated this so I hope you enjoy!

We went to Farmington/Mesa for Thanksgiving break and we hung out with the whipple side of the family! We had a great time! It was fun getting to know derek's syblings better because being so far away from them we dont see them as often! the dog in the picture is Titan, Brandon (derek's brother) and his wife Krystal's American Bulldog. He is a giant puppy. really fun. And we both love dogs so it was a good time.

For christmas Brandon and Krystal took us to a Road Runners Hockey game in downtown Pheonix! it was a blast! I have never been to a hockey game before so I really got into it. We even got to see a fight - which apparently is why most people go to hockey games...

Terri wanted to get family pictures taken so this is Derek and I at the Mesa temple. Ahhh, November in Mesa... waaaaarm...

This is one of my favorite family pictures that were taken.

BACK TO REXBURG

This is on a double date with Brandon and christine (my old roommate) We had a good time. This is at the cocobean cupcale shop yum yum.

CHRISTMAS BREAK IN IDAHO FALLS

This is Wyatt - Dan and Sarahs beautiful son. Derek was serenading him onthe guitar.

When we got back from Thanksgiving break, we decorated the christmas tree at my parents house. This was really exciting! it was derek's first time to experience our weird but totally awesome Christmas traditions of disco Christmas music. It was a wonderful time.

Isnt he adorable. I found that most of the pictures on my camera were of my nephew but how can you pass up this face?

We went bowling at the Rex in Rexburg with Dan and Sarah! FUN!

The is me showing off my moves. I probably got a strike or something... ahem.. We totally got to bowl for 2 bucks (for four people) I think the guy behind the counter was confused.

Sarah Showing off her sweet skills... She ended up taking off her shoes and slipping everywhere but it made it a little more exciting.

Derek is actually really good at bowling so he WAS showing off his sweet skills. Ans, he probably DID get a strike or something.

Now onto Christmas Eve. We decorated gingerbread houses that Sarah and I Slaved over (baking) the day before. It was really fun and the next day we found that Santa had put blue ribbons on each of them.

This is the finished product! good stuff eh? It turned out pretty well! We watched Elf while doing it so that really helped boister the Christmas spirit.

One evening Derek and I got the strange notion to go play in the snow. Clarke and Bethany were coming in a few weeks and Clarke really wanted to sled and so Derek and dan decided to start building a sledding hill in my parents front yard. So all four of us labored diligently a couple times and we made it pretty high! Then a warm front moved in and melted all the snow... the end.

before the snow melted, this was what it looked like.

We went to the mall and while we were at Barnes and Noble we found out santa was there! So obviously - with Sarah's permission - we put wyatt on Santa's lap! Awww

Shawn sent us really pretty earings for Christmas... hahaha

My wonderful husband on Christmas morning. Isn't he cuuuute? it was a good christmas. There is nothing better than spending time with family. Derek missed his family terribly but I was glad to have him with me.

Wyatt was in the thick of things... with wrapping paper on his cute little head.

Ok. This is sparkling cider... we all got our own bottle and our own giant glass. I don't like carbonation of any kind and as it turns out, ice makes cardonation stick around. yum.

Derek and I bought these glasses at IKEA while in Mesa and originally we just bought one for my dad but we liked them so much we bought one for everyone. They were only about two bucks.

To Christmas!

Aww me and my little buddy. He is really flexible.

Aww me and my hot hubby :) Derek was in the process of making homemade ice cream. It was delicious. especially with a slice of pumpkin pie. yum yum

I love the Holidays! Now that we are married, we have to trade off every year. So, next year we will be with the Whipple's for Christmas which will be really great. This Holiday season was especially fantastic because it was our first together. I am really excited to have more holidays with Derek and our future kids!

Bahama Mama

2008-10-08T18:31:00.000-07:00

Derek and I went on a Royal Carribean cruise over the weekend!!!! We had a fantastic time. It was really hard to come back to cold homework filled Rexburg. We would have definately preferred to stay on Paradise Island with... white sand...clear blue water....warm carribean breezes...sigh.... We want to go back sometime soooooon!!!!

We went snorkling, we built sand castles, we napped on the beach, we body surfed, we got tan... :) Snorkling we saw sting rays, and all sorts of tropical fish including a baracuda!! I got stung by a jelly fish...twice... that hurt pretty good, but its all part of the experience! We walked around downtown Nassau, Bahamas to all the shops they had there....There were multiple activities going on on the ship. There were lots of shows and dancing and FOOOD. yeah, we gained weight. we were even picked out of a huge audience to be players in a Love and Marriage game show! that was fun, and for the rest of the time we had people coming up to us wanting to meet us... haha

This trip was the first time that Derek had ever seen the ocean! At one point Derek buried me in sand and then threw peanuts on me and a whole flock of seagulls came and landed on me and started to pack... haha it was our first experience riding in a car that had the steering wheel on the wrong side!

Here are some pictures of our Bahama adventure! They are out of order but I got the good ones up there.

Labor Day, the Oldham Way

2008-09-10T19:17:00.001-07:00

On our roadtrip back from VA we dicided to make a pit stop in Baxter, Minnesota where my Aunt Laura lives with her awesome family. It also happens to be where derek was serving his mission when he started writing me!! We had a BLAST in Minnesota!!! It was an awesome break from the busy lives that we have! The Oldhams are the coolest family ever and we felt so welcome there.

We were there for four days and we did not want to leave. I can't even describe how much we love that whole family. While there we: went miniature golfing, played the wii, made smores on the fire, relaxed on the lake, went fishing, played water volleyball (fuuuuuuuuun), went on a double date with Doug and Laura, spoke at a fireside :), and just had a blast!! All of the kids (Madison, Nick, Oliver, Abby, and Lilly) are hilarious and talented in there own ways so that was entertaining in itself. We decided to make it a tradition, to go to the Oldham's every Labor Day, as long as they'll have us of course...

God Bless America

2008-08-18T14:54:00.001-07:00

We went to DC again to go see some more monuments and stuff. We made it to the capitol building and the white house! We had a plan to go see the Spy museum but when we got there we found out it was 13 dollars a person... so we admired the building from the outside... I couldn't resist getting a picture of Derek by the Office of the Solicitor General because no matter how many times he denies it on the doors, he is a solicitor. Derek did in fact feed a squirrel...It was a white house squirrel so we basically met the president (and that isn't a slight to Mr. Bush we support him fyi). This was a really really fun day and it was a lot cooler then the first time we went. Thank goodness.

Fun Fun Fun

2008-08-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

We went to an amusement park called Kings Dominion with all the summer sales guys on 8/11 it was a BLAST!! we were there for 12 hours straight running around. It has roller coasters and water slides so we got our fill of amusement for the day.

Where in the world are... Derek and Amanda?

2008-08-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

Life right now is basically work. We are living in Fairfax, VA for the summer for Derek's job. Last semester at school Derek was recruited by summer sellers to move across the country to sell pest control! I was all for it because everytime I traveled to the East Coast before I totally enjoyed myself. Living out here is A LOT different then just traveling but it is an expierience definately worth having.

We came from sloooooow Idaho to light speed Virginia so it has definately been a culture shock. People are flying past cops on the highway going fifteen over and the cops don't do anything! haha what is that about? If you go even two over on the stretch from Idaho Falls to Rexburg the cop jumps the median and races after you! So, thats cool.

Derek is rocking the selling world. He is now number 19 (selling wise) in the company which is really good since he is a first year rep. I tried it for three weeks buuuuut..... we did worse in those three together than Derek ever had... so now I am working at Linens N' Things down the street from our apartments so I can walk if I need to. Ever since I stopped selling, Derek has exlpoded -sad but true :)- and now its a race to the finish line (August 30). Derek and a good friend Andrew Browning are now selling partners because his wife Shandee also stopped selling even though she was good at it. So, the go around the greater Washington DC area giving people free bug inspections and selling them pest service contracts. They find anything from black widows (lots), to angry bees, to crazy ants... anything you can think of really.

Working at LNT for me is a new experience because I have never worked retail before. It is good work and good money and I work with mostly good people. All who smoke. yummy. I was offered a promotion in a sense after just three weeks of work but then they found out that I am leaving at the end of the month and so they couldn't give it to me. I have three managers who are cool and one who is psycho! I had a really bad experience with her and now I avoid her as much as possible. I figure she is just an unhappy crazy lady who likes to make other people's lives hell in order to make her feel better. Unless you, like her, are mexican (I dont mean this disrespectively) then she treats you like her own family! But because I am not, I get treated like poop. But! enough about her! Work is good, 9 dollars an hour is a lot better than the 5.88 I was making in ID so, I'm good.

Derek knocked on a guys door while selling and one thing led to another and we are now independant business owners a part of this business team called LTD. That takes up a lot of time but we have met a lot of nice people and made a lot of friends through it so thats good.

Other than work, we are having a blast! we watch movies together a lot (in our apartment since the movie theatre here costs $11 a movie!). We make dinner together. We take walks. We work out. We swim because our apartment is right next to the pool. Because we are in an extremely historical area there is a lot to do on the tourism side. We went to DC a couple weekends ago with Andrew and Shandee and we had an awesome time! we took the metro and toured around. We went to the Arlington cemetary and walked around there. It was a very sacred and beautiful experience. We saw Smythsonian Museums, we saw the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution... that was awesome! Another week we went to the Nation Museum of the Marine Corps. That was incredible. Its experiences like those that we love because we cant have them anywhere else!

My birthday was this past Saturday. It was so much fun. Derek made it perfect. He brought me flowers... Breakfast at work. We went to and AMAZING mexican retaurant called Rio Grande Cafe. yummy. We were out on a covered porch and it was the perfect evening even when it started to rain. very pleasent. We walked around the mall, playing basket ball at KB toys, looking at all the cool stuff in the Apple store... Then we went to go see Hancock at the movie theatre. That was the first time we had seen a movie by ourselves in a really long time. We walked into the teatre which was empty so we picked seats and then this other guy walked in and sat right next to us. What. He was a talker too. haha.

We are leaving here the 30th to go back to ID. We are planning a trip through Minnesota to visit his mission. We are really excited about it! We are staying with my Aunt Laurie and Uncle Doug who we love very much. We are so stoked to see them and to take an awesome road trip! It'll be cool because we go through about 11 states that neither of us have ever been to before. A side note, it is one of my goals to go to all 50 states in my life which won't be too hard because I have already been to about 35 or so.

Thats about it for now. If I missed anything it will be up in no time.

Amanda