AZ Trip- Day 3

Today started out bright and early at 3:30 this morning. Ashton's mission buddy, Woodard and his wife (Woodard is his last name. It's just what we call him) visited us. Now Woodard lives in Provo and we were hoping to see them when we went through Provo. Ashton got a hold of him and found out they were headed to Phoenix! Well, they passed right through Campe Verde, which is where we were staying the night, and stopped and said hi. We met at Dennys that was right across the parking lot for us. It was fun. We spent a couple of hours with them in Dennys and then they headed back to Phoenix. What are the odds of that happening? It was good to see them and to know that they are doing great. After our 3:30 extravaganza, we headed to the Grand Canyon. We drove through Sedona. It's a town a lot like Jackson Hole. It is surrounded by a lot of red rock and many of the buildings were built out of it. It was really pretty. The next town we went through was Flagstaff. The drive there was so pretty. The leaves were turning, there was forest everywhere, and beautiful red rock. Here are some pictures of our drive... Then through Flagstaff we caught part of Route 66. Ashton was really excited. This stretch wasn't that exciting though. Our next stop was the GRAND CANYON!!! It is absolutely amazing and it is huge!

Also at the Grand Canyon there were some ruins. They are called the Tusayan Ruins. They were pretty neat...


We've had a lot of fun so far and tomorrow we are playing in Page, AZ and Lake Powell. Thanks for checking in!

AZ Trip Day 2

We're in Phoenix!!!

They have pretty crazy freeway system...

Phoenix is really different. There is hardly any grass and the grass they do have is practically dead. They landscape with rock/gravel and cactus (of course)!

Today was also the big day. Ashton had his interview. He said he thinks he did well. They will let us know in 2 weeks if we are in, wait listed, or not in. The interviews went from 7:30 till about 11:30. I met Ashton for lunch and then joined in on the campus tour. During lunch Leigh and Ashton went and played basketball. Big surprise, I know...

Here are some pictures of the school:



Then we took Leigh to the airport and headed to Camp Verde.
Right across the parking lot of our hotel, is the world's largest Kokopelli. It's the iconic South West figure with crazy hair and a flute. It is a fertility god (among other things) of the Anasazi/Hopi. Hmmmm... Maybe it's luck will rub off!

Well, tomorrow is another day packed with fun. Thanks for checking in!

Arizona Trip Day 1-The Big Drive

Here are a few highlights from our trip:

Tuesday night, we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Hansen's house. It was freezing!!!


We left early Wednesday morning (4:00 am)and began our long journey to Phoenix. On the way, we bought gas for $2.67 in Wells, NV, almost hit a huge jack rabbit, and saw a lot of desert. A lot. Here are some pictures from the way down in the car:


I thought that this picture looked like a scene from cars. Just imagine these hills as the front of old cars. Cool huh!

We also drove around Area 51. This is the only alien thing we saw...


We then drove through Las Vegas and over to the Hoover Dam. We didn't stop. They don't have pullouts and we would have had to pay to park anywhere. We could have parked behind it, but that's all we could have seen. We really just wanted to get to Phoenix and there was still about 4 hours ahead of us. There was also a lot of construction going on around it. It looks like their adding bridge that will bypass the dam. It looks amazing.

We also saw a lot of cactus (suprise, suprise). I just got this snap shot from the car. Again, we just didn't stop much. It is pretty cool, the whole side of a mountain will be covered in brush and then the really tall cactus instead of trees. On our way back when we're officially tourists and not here for business, we'll get better pictures.


Well, now we are just chillin' in our hotel. We found Leigh (Ashton's friend who has an interview too) and they are both getting there suits ready for the big day tomorrow. It's exciting!!! Thanks for checking on us!

Automatic Actions

As you know, I ride the bus every day. Every day we cross the railroad tracks, twice. Every day we stop at the railroad tracks so that we don't get mashed by a train (not that there is ever a train, or that the big flashing lights and arms aren't enough to warn ya). So today as I'm driving home in my own car, I stop at the railroad tracks. There is no stop sign, it's just the railroad tracks. They weren't even the same railroad tracks that the bus stops at either. It is amazing what we just do without thinking isn't it? My body just knew, stop at the railroad tracks. When I realized what I had just done, I laughed hard. Then I laughed harder when I realized that Ashton did the same thing and I got after him for it. Oops! Sorry honey! To bad you weren't with me for this one!

I've been tagged

Shauni tagged me on her blog so I guess I ought to do it. 7 weird things about me. Hummm...where to start...
1. I hate touching things with pruney fingers. It creeps me out. I especially don't like touching hair with pruney fingers. It is so gross!
2. I like ketchup on my tacos. My family thinks it's nasty, but it is really good.
3. I don't like to take a bath. I prefer a shower.
4. I eat peanutbutter with my pancakes. Ashton thinks it is awful.
5. I can't touch raw meat. I put baggies on my hands before I touch it. I suppose I should invest in plastic gloves. They would fit better than baggies.
6. I sleep diagonal even though I share a bed with Ashton. I think it came from growing up, when our dogs slept on my bed. I slept diagonal so I would have room. Little toy poodles take up a lot of space!
7. At work, I can't use the restroom if someone is in the same hallway as the bathrooms. Even if they are walking away from the bathroom and won't even know I'm there. If someone is there, I act like I forgot something and turn around. I guess I have a "knowing-she-has-to-pee" phobia or something...

So there you have it. 7 weird things about me. Let's see, I tag Mom, DeeAnn, Curtis (since Shauni tagged Crystal)Erin, Ashton, and anyone else who would like to do it.

Little Miss Matched

This post is mostly for my dad. For my birthday, he bought me these socks called Little Miss Matched. It was a packet of 3 socks that didn't match. They are a lot of fun. He also said that I wouldn't wear them to work because they were so crazy. So I did and I even took pictures to prove it...


Everybody loved them! It was a lot of fun.

Oh, update on our oven. It still doesn't work. He came out and "fixed" it, but what ever it was that he fixed wasn't the problem. It still doesn't work and we are waiting to hear when they're coming back out.

When Things Go Wrong...

About a month ago, our stove stopped working right. We called the site manager, and a week later the Sears man was scheduled to come out. We are at work and school all day, so we gave our manager permission to let him in. That day, we get a call from the manager, "I was just wondering if the Sears man ever made it out to fix your stove. Let me know what's going on".
Me: "Uh,we aren't home. You said you would be there to let him in."
Site manager: "I did?"
Me: "Yes."
Site manager: "Oh, umm, well, I was just calling to see if you were home because I haven't seen him yet". (nice cover up)
Me: "No we aren't home. You are letting him in".
Site manager: "Alright".

So eventually he comes and decides that he needs to order a part to fix it. The part wouldn't be in for another week (a Tuesday) and nobody can come out till the Saturday after to fix it. Ugh!

So I called the site manager agian on Thursday to make sure the Sears man was still coming out.
Site manager: "Oh, he said he was coming out on Saturday?"
Me: "That is what you said. I'm just calling to find out when he is supposed to be here."
Site manager: "I said that?"
Me: "Yes."
(Sound a little familiar...)
Site manager: "Oh, umm, well, yes he is coming out. Are you going to be home to let him in? If not, I will be able to."
Me: "Yes we will be here. Do you know what time he will be out?"
S.M.: "No."
Well, I stayed home all day today. He didn't come and he didn't come. Finally, I called the site manager. No answer. I called her cell phone. No answer. We needed to go grocery shopping so I was seeing if she would be here for the last 2 hours of waiting. Still, no answer. Finally we got a hold of her and she is in a wedding. A wedding!!! What happened to "I will be able to "!?!

Finally he comes. He waltzes right in to the kitchen, looks around, and asks where the part is. The part. I thought the Sears man would be bringing the part.
Sears man: "The part gets shipped to the customer's home."
We didn't get a part!
So he calls the site manager. No answer. He then goes back out to find out where the part got delivered. It didn't get delivered. Nobody told UPS which apartment number to deliver it to!

So, we wait. Again. The part should be in my hands on Tuesday and Sears should be out either Wednesday or Thursday if the site manager doesn't mess it up. So now I am still with out an oven!

Grrrrrrrr!

Then our windshield got a huge crack in it. We called our insurance and they arranged for a company to come out to where ever our car was to fix it. It took 3 times of them coming out before it got fixed. The first attempt: the windshield company came out expecting and able to just fix the crack, not replace the windshield like our insurance had told them. Second attempt: We had to leave the car unlocked and pay them $100 dollars right then. Nobody told us that! The car was locked and we weren't there. Third attempt: Ashton just skipped class to be there and nothing went wrong.

All I can say is that when something goes wrong, I want to be the one to fix it. I hate leaving it up to somebody else. It is always a mess!

Interview Date

We now have a date and time for Ashton's interview. It is October 23rd at 7:30 am. Bright and early! We are going to leave either early Wednesday or late the Tuesday before so that Ashton can get a decent nights rest before the big interview. We'll probably stay in Phoenix. After his interview we want to play and make a vacation out of it. We'll play around Phoenix for a while then we want to go to the Grand Canyon and up through Utah on the way home to see our friends that live there. It will be a lot of fun! If anyone knows of things to do in Phoenix or around Phoenix let us know. So now the big preparations are underway. Who knows this might even include getting Ashton a new tie or something to where with his suit. So if you see any ugly polyester ties (the uglier the better) around while your shopping, let me know that too. They are hard to find and the DI up here, oddly enough, has none.

Arizona, Here We Come!

Well, we finally got an interview for pharmacy school! We got the e-mail today that Midwestern University in Glendale, AZ would like to see Ashton for an interview! We are so excited. This isn't our #1 school, it's just the back up, but we have been waiting to get an interview for a couple of years now, and we finally got one! We're thinking the interview might be mid-October but aren't sure yet. We'll keep ya posted though!

Presidential Candidate

Hey everyone. So I thought you might need some help deciding who to vote for this November. I think this guy is worth looking into :)