Our New Home!

A lot of new stuff has happened in Justin and I's life so far this year. In April I started a new job at Madison Memorial Hospital here in Rexburg. I work in the Med/Surg department and love it! Because it's a small hospital everything all goes to the one Med/Surg floor. This allows me to work with a wide variety of patients. From pediatrics, to post-op, to orthopedic, to cardiac and so on. I love the variety and the opportunities I have to learn about so many different areas of nursing. Because I had Charge Nurse experience at my last job I work as charge nurse now as well. Luckily at this job a few nurses switch off working as Charge so we all get a break from charging and get to work the floor which I prefer.
My enjoyment of the Rexburg area went up greatly now that I enjoy my job. This sparked Justin and I to seek a slightly more permanent residence here to finish out school. We were hoping for a single family home but after searching we realized we could get a lot more bang for our buck with a townhouse. Finding a place we liked and making an offer all happened really fast but buying it took forever it felt like, although I know it wasn't all that long. We finally closed on May, 31 2012. We didn't move it for about 2 weeks though because we had the entire house repainted. The previous colors in the home were ugly browns and tans which are not Justin and I. And there were a lot of scuffs that we'd have to repair. The carpet was also pretty dirty so we had to get that all deep cleaned. The home was a foreclosure. This made for a great deal on the price but not so great when it came to the cosmetics of the home. Justin and I thought it was worth it to put money into the place right from the beginning so that we could make it more our own not to mention have it look nice! We hired someone to do it for us cause there's no way we had the time or equipment. It was fun at first but then there were some mild nightmares that I won't get it to but that make me leery of hiring someone ever again. I love what we did to our home and it was so fun to see how similar Justin and I's tastes are and then to see what we had to compromise on. I learned new things about Justin as well, such as, Justin is very specifics about the toilets he likes. We ended up getting new toilets installed and a couple ceiling fans.
I have some before and after pictures to share!...

Here's the before shots!...

Justin and I in our dining area with paint choices behind us, the one we chose is the second in from the right.

Our kitchen area

Dining room again

Kitchen area

 Downstairs half bath

Front room area facing front door

 Front room looking at kitchen  

Front room again

 Master bedroom looking at the closet door

 Other half of master bedroom

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Now the Middle Stages

Kitchen in progress

Justin putting together the toilet

Getting rid of the ugly color on the stair wall

 Rachel's children Keely and Edgerrin helping me unpack the kitchen

 The kitchen/dining area

.......

And now the after photos!!!

The Kitchen! It's hard to tell but it's a light yellow on the two corner walls. Our kitchen colors are yellow and aqua. We're attempting to have a country feel in our home.

Another view of the kitchen

Dining area looking towards the front room

 The frontroom looking towards the kitchen area

Another view of the front room

 More of the front room

 Our downstairs half bath. We had beads board put up in both bathrooms. Having it white on the bottom allowed us to do a brighter fun color up top, we chose an aqua blue.

 Master bedroom. Justin promised me when we were first married that when we bought our first home we could get a kingsize bed. He kept his promise and we love it. I don't know how we ever slept on a smaller bed!

 Another view of bedroom looking toward the closet.

 Master bathroom. We also did aqua with the beads board up here. There's a wash bowl area and then a separate tub room. It's been so nice to have a bigger bathroom with double sinks.

 Tub and toilet room

 Justin wanted me to make sure that I got a photo of his bidet in here. This is Justin's pride and joy. He had to have his tall and elongated toilets along with a bidet. The bar of the bidet swings under the side of the toilet.

 The upstairs hallway area

 Our guest bedroom. We love having people visit and we're so excited to have an actual guest room now instead of people just sleeping on the couch. So anyone wanting to come to Rexburg we have a place for you!

 The office, Justin has claimed this as his room since I've essentially decorated the rest of the home.

We painted a soft grey throughout the house except for the yellow in the kitchen and the aqua and beads board in the bathrooms. All of the trim, doors, and ceilings are white now and we got the carpets cleaned. Although ultimately I'ld like to get new carpet through out the house. We had ceiling fans installed and then of course the infamous toilets and bidet. There's a list of things Justin and I want to get for the house but we got the basics done and that's good enough for now!

In June, Justin had been applying at a company a mission friend of his works for for an internship for next year. They ended up interviewing him and hiring him to start a job there right now. He started in the middle of July. He was working for the forest service this summer again and enjoying that but the opportunity of the new job actually in his field of accounting was too good to turn down, even if it is a pay decrease initially. Justin's been really enjoying the new job and is excited about applying everything he's learned so far in school. There's potential of this job turning into a real accounting position once he graduates and that's also a reason we decided to buy a home because we were aware of this possibility. Arizona is definitely the place we want to settle down but we have a lot of opportunities in Idaho right now so we may be here a few more years then we originally planned. We both graduate at the end of next year and then Justin is getting his Masters at Idaho State University at a campus in Idaho Falls. That program is a year and a half. So we'll be here at least 3 more years. If the job works out for Justin which we're expecting then it may be more like 5 years that we're up here. Just depending on the kind of job opportunities we can find for Justin back in Arizona. It's just not practical to move straight after school if we both have good jobs in our chosen careers up here. Once we find an equally good job back in Arizona then we'll make the move!
We'll enjoy this adventure in our life for now even if it's freezing cold more then half the year here and I miss everyone in Arizona.

Summer so far!

Justin and I have been loving summer. Despite how horrible the winters are up here in Idaho, the summers are fantastic! We started our summer by going down to Arizona for my sister Marie's wedding. We were able to spend almost two weeks home and it was amazing. Especially because at that time in May, it was actually still snowing in Idaho. I was busy the whole time visiting friends and family and helping prepare for the wedding. The only bad part about the visit was I was incredibly sick the entire time. I fought to have energy, had to sleep often, and always had to have a box of kleenex's with me. I managed to love my time there anyway. Not to mention, it's always nice to be around your Mom when you're sick. They just know how to take care of you! (Disclaimer, Justin also took good care of me, he got me drugs and made sure I got enough sleep!) Some of the usual family activities when I'm home is play lots of card games, croquet, swim, and shopping! Me and my 3 sisters were able to go shopping one day and find clothes for my sister getting married to wear on her honeymoon. They went to Jamaica! The wedding was beautiful and turned out so nice! It was fun to be a part of a traditional wedding and walk down the isle and everything as a bridesmaid!

The Bridesmaids

Marie and my Dad

Marie with her new husband Mark!

Since we've been home, Justin and I have been trying to keep our weekends full of fun. Justin got a job this summer working for the Forestry Service, most specifically the Fish and Game. He goes out to rivers in the southern Idaho area and shocks fish, then the capture them and take census on the fish, and put them back. It involves a lot of hiking and packing a ton of equipment. Then wading through water sometimes full of debris with 50 lb. packs on their back, and then shocking, collecting, and counting the fish. He enjoys the labor and working outside, despite the hard work. He's able to work with a friend of his which makes it nice and he gets along well with the rest of the crew. The only bad part is, because the work about 2 hours south of Rexburg, Justin is gone Monday through Thursday, and they stay in a house during the work week in Soda Springs. It's hard having him gone so often but I'm getting used to it, and I try to keep myself busy, especially with work. Although my hours at work have been cut lately which makes that harder. So when I don't have to work on the weekends Justin and I like to keep busy having fun.

We've gone shooting a couple times recently with different friends. We go out to a forest area about a half hour away have a picnic. It's been really fun. The second time we went we actually brought a dutch oven out and Justin made dutch oven pizza, one of his specialties!

Boys during their Clay Pigeon Competition

our friends Ephraim and Danielle, and their dog

Shooting trip with friends Megan and Andrew

Clay Pigeon competition again

Me and Megan

Andrew

Something else that has been so fun this summer is my little brother Nathan visited for almost 2 weeks. It was so so so much fun having him up here and we had a blast! The weather was perfect while he was here, usually sunny and in the mid 70's. He was here for my birthday which was a special treat. I'm now 26. I admit, it's scary being closer to 30 then 20. I had an ear ache and sore throat for about 2 weeks before my birthday. My sister Marie called the morning of to wish me happy birthday. I told about my aliments and she said I should go to the doctor and get an antibiotic to take care of it. I know, it's been two weeks so why didn't I think of it, not to mention I'm a nurse. Well I grew up not going to the doctor and just getting over things in time so that thought never occurs to me. So I took her advice and went to the urgent care since it was a Saturday. I had a ear infection and he prescribed me an antibiotic. The ear ache and sore throat were gone 2 days later. We went straight from the doctor to Fat Cats, one of the only places to do things in Rexburg. It's a bowling alley, arcade place, miniature golf, and theatre. We had a coupon for bowling, miniature golf, and pizza. So Justin and I and then Nathan, my sister Rachel and her two kids, and cousin Kate and her husband Nate all came and we golfed and bowled. It was really fun except for that I kept guttering the ball until I got back into it and so I had a horrible score. As a birthday present to me, Justin arranged to have me record a song with a friend of ours, Ephraim (who we went shooting with). He used to work in the music business in LA and has recording equipment. So from Fat Cats Justin took me over there and I recorded the song, Already Gone. It took about 4 hours and it made it a bit harder with my sore throat, but Ephraim taught me to sing lighter, which was way easier on my voice. It took me a while to grasp singing soft and light though cause anyone who knows me knows that I love to belt out a song!... I tried to post the song on here, but I couldn't figure out how to get it on.

After the recording Justin bought dinner for us and Ephraim and his wife. Then we went back to our house were more friends met us and we had cake and ice cream. Justin arranged for another friend of ours whose an excellent cook to make "Better then Sex" cake which was delicious. It was such a fun day and Justin and my brother Nathan totally spoiled me. We went out later that night and Nathan bought me a dress I'd been eyeing and a clock he noticed we needed in our kitchen!

The next weekend, Justin, Nathan, and I went camping for a night in Jackson Hole. It was so pretty there and we were able to just relax and enjoy nature. Our camping spot was right next to the snake river so we played down there for a while. We played lots of frisbee and what was the most fun was playing frisbee golf. We also toured around the town of Jackson Hole and went for a a scenic drive. When I was a nanny I went to Jackson Hole with the family. We stayed in Teton Village which is the resort area for the rich. It was so fun seeing the place again and bringing back those memories.

I think I should invest in one of these!

Nathan, I think he totally pulls off the cowboy thing!

Downtown Jackson Hole

Snake River

Skipping rocks on the river

Frisbee

Ahh, whittle Naffin sweeping

Getting ready for breakfast

Teton Mountains

Buffalo

Teton Village, the hotel I stayed in is on the right.

Most recently, this last weekend, Justin and I went down to the Salt Lake area to visit. We went down on Thursday and spent Thursday and Friday with Justin's cousin Vanessa and her husband Drew in Provo. We always have fun playing games with them and staying up late talking. On Friday they took us to breakfast and then we walked around BYU campus. Justin had never been there and I hadn't been there since EFY about 9 years ago. I forgot how nice the campus is. Not to mention big compared to BYU-Idaho!

On our way driving from Provo back up to Farmington where my brother Benjamin and his family live, Justin and I stopped by IKEA for fun. While there we found our dream kitchen that we hope we can replicate some day. Justin and I always love visiting my brother in Farmington. They have a large beautiful home and a fantastic view of the mountains. When Justin and I were first married we lived in their ward back in Arizona for almost 2 years. We grew close to Ben and Megan and their kids and so it's always a treat to visit and spend time with them. Justin and Ben always play some kind of world conquering game when we're over there that lasts about 5 hours. This trip was no different. After an incredible BBQ that Megan prepared for dinner the boys played their game that lasted until about 1:00am. Saturday morning there was a parade for "Farmington Days" that we went to. Local town parades are always the best we had fun seeing all the local businesses and LDS stakes that were represented!

At the Parade, Justin with Megan and Spencer and Will up front

My nephews Will and Mitchell

That's right, there was a Hurst in the parade!

For lunch, Justin and I went down to SLC and met up with Justin's very first mission companion or "Poppy" as Justin calls him. During lunch the guys had fun catching each other up on their lives since the mission and reminiscing all their old memories. Afterward, Justin and I went down to temple square and enjoyed walking around.

That night, Justin and I went out to dinner at a BBQ place Ben had gone to and wanted to take Megan. From the outside the place looked like a biker joint but it was nice inside and the food was incredibly good. After, Ben and Megan took us for a drive through the "Avenues" of SLC where some of the first homes were built in Salt Lake. The homes there were so beautiful and had so much character. We saw the governors mansion which was incredible looking, it is all so beautiful in that area. And, we drove by the SLC cemetery where so many of the prophets are buried. The cemetery is so massive so we decided next time we come to visit we're going to find a map of the cemetery and find the prophets grave sites! We had frozen yogurt for dessert to finish off the night. Justin and I had a perfect weekend and can't wait to come back!

Justin and I left Sunday afternoon and got home at 6:00pm. Now it's Monday and I had to say goodbye to Justin this morning and I'm working tonight. Back to life I guess!