Our First Week

Philip started his job today at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). He seems to think he'll like it. He said he sure got spoiled at Bell with his own cubicle. Here they put all their interns in a conference room, but they give them a little more freedom with the resources they use (ex: if they prefer to program using a Linux operating system, etc.).

After he got home, we went out and got his computer a new wireless card. It looks like I will be using Philip's computer until we decide on a new computer for me.

Yes, I will have to get a new computer. Philip and I have been researching what could be wrong and it looks like my type of laptop has a history of the graphics card overheating and frying the motherboard. I'm hoping we can save my pictures and documents. I would really hate to lose them. :( I think I will veer away from the laptops this time and look into a desktop. I am leaning towards the HP Pavilion Slimline. Either that, or Philip said he would build me a computer.

The weather has been pretty crazy so far. Friday the wind was blowing at 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph. Basically, it wasn't a good hair day. Saturday we had snow and then it got sunny and then it got windy and there may have been some rain and more snow mixed into that. I don't think the weather could make up its mind that day.

Yesterday, we road with John and Ellen to meeting and went by the grocery store to get ingredients to make lunch. Philip and I made them black-eyed peas with kale and sopapilla cheesecake. They had never had black-eyed peas before and really liked them. We also introduced them to Arriba! fire-roasted salsa. After lunch, they showed us around Idaho Falls. We walked a two mile walk around the falls and then we drove around for probably two hours. John was showing us all the great bike routes. He took us up into some of the nearby hills and we got to see one of those giant windmills up close. They were a little intimidating especially seeing how big the blades are when they pass us on the highway. We also saw a bald eagle! It dove down and caught a fish in the river next to the road.

I also finally got some pictures uploaded onto Philip's computer of our second day of driving and some of Idaho. So here they are!

Philip at the wheel

Snow banks in Wyoming

Beautiful mountains

I think our car looks so pretty with the mountains behind it

This is outside the trailor when it started snowing Saturday

Surprisingly enough this is what it looked like 10-15 minutes later

And then it looked like this maybe an hour or two later

Some geese and goslings taking a swim

Lots and lots of goslings!

I really liked this Corvette's paint job

The Idaho Falls of Idaho Falls, ID

Super crazy windmill. Whenever I see these, I think of Don Quixote.

Home Sweet Home

Well readers, we have finally reached Idaho Falls. It is quite different than Texas. I think the most notable difference is the brilliant green grass. Oh, and then there are the mountains off in the distance that remind me I'm not in the plains anymore.

On Tuesday, we climbed a mountain with Aunt Jan and Branson. Well, I climbed half a mountain. I started feeling a little ill due to the altitude so I stayed behind to see if I could find any elk antlers. During my trek, I was unaware that high above me the other members of my party were keeping an eye on me and thought I must really be feeling sick because I was headed the wrong direction (they were under the impression I was going back to the car). I sure fooled them. :)

On our way to Idaho Falls, we went through the Teton pass. That was really cool. The mountains were beautiful and still had quite a bit of snow on them. Apparently they had had snow just a week ago. Philip checked the weather for the rest of the week and we may be getting some snow this weekend. And he told me I wouldn't need winter gear. Ha!

We are staying with John and Ellen Christensen for the summer. They are really great people! Our first night they had us over for dinner and we had pancakes! It made me feel right at home. I love breakfast for dinner! John is an avid biker and reminds me of my dad. Ellen is so warm and hospitable. Philip and I have really enjoyed getting to know them so far.

Yesterday, we went to Fred Meyer which is a grocery store that carries the Kroger brand. It was like a super Walmart or Target. It had everything. We stocked up on food and I bought some warmer socks. I made beef and black bean soup for dinner in the crock pot. It was pretty good. We brought it over and shared some with John and Ellen after Bible study last night.

Our home for the summer is a very spacious 5th wheel trailer. I couldn't believe how much storage there was in it. And my clothes only take up half the closet. I was very pleased with myself about that. :)

We found out on Tuesday that Philip doesn't start work till Monday the 24th. So we have several days to do whatever we want to do. If the weather starts to look a little better, we might go to Yellowstone for a couple days.

And for the bad news...it appears that my laptop has taken it's final breath. For some reason it is totally dead. :( Philip is trying his best to fix it. I tried to boot it up when we got moved in and the lights went on but didn't turn on. The fan would start up but shortly after die. And then it would stay on but there were no other whirrings of the hard drive or anything. And the screen stays blank. We're afraid that it overheated and melted something which really stinks because I really need a computer this summer and I have tons of pictures and papers on my laptop that are needed. We will just hope for the best and cross our fingers we can fix it.

With that said, I haven't been able to upload any pictures lately. Hopefully I'll get some posted soon. :)

Much love to everyone from Idaho!

Migration North ~ Day 1

So a lot has happened since my last post. We finished packing!! You don't realize how many things you have when everything is put away. And then you start packing and the drawers and cabinets seem to magically refill themselves. With all of our large furniture gone, we had to improvise:

Philip helped out a lot with packing. He even volunteered to pack himself. ;)

We are currently in transit to Idaho. We left Plano, TX this morning and are staying at a Holiday Inn Express in Colorado Springs, CO. I'm anxious to see what the city looks like in the daylight. My mom said it is a beautiful city.

A brief recap of our trip so far:

As we were heading to Wichita Falls, TX, we stopped at Catfish O'harlies and had, well, catfish. ;) It was really really good!

It started raining in Dalhart, TX (close to the Texas/New Mexico border), so we decided to stop and grab dinner at a Dairy Queen. The rain dispersed fairly quickly so it had stopped by the time we were done. As we were getting back on the road we saw the most vivid rainbow each of us had ever seen.

New Mexico was very flat with some random mountains here and there. I decided to get a little creative with my photography and take a picture of the side mirror to see some of the mountains and low lying clouds in the background. I think the bike wheel gives it a nice touch too. :P

The final picture is our first glimpse of the Rockies! They still have snow on the top. Soooo pretty!

We really do have such a beautiful country. I'm looking forward to the second day of driving tomorrow. :)

Night ya'll!

School's Out for the Summer!

I'm done!! I made it! Whoop! :)

Exams are over and I'm getting really excited about my summer. Philip and I are planning to climb a mountain. I've never climbed a mountain before, but it sounds like fun! I'm looking forward to see the view from the top.

Even though exams are through (for me at least), we still have lots to do before we're ready for Idaho. Our apartment is starting to look weird. All of our big furniture is stacked in a corner of our living room to be put in the Uhaul and shipped off to storage. It kinda feels like we just got here and now we're moving out. Has it really been a year already? I asked Philip if we could take our couch with us because it is so comfy, but he said it wouldn't fit in our car. :(

So finally packing is my main priority. And I get to decide on all the cool clothes and shoes I'm bringing with me! Just kidding... I am going to try to be grown up about all of this and pack responsibly. ;)

I am all signed up for my summer school classes via internet. AND...I have a whole bunch of books I want to read for fun.

Guess I better get started on my list!

Toodles!

Howdy!

The idea to start a blog came from discussing with Jenise how we were going to keep each other up-to-date on all the "happenings" of our summers. Many of you know I will be spending my summer exploring the northwest with Philip. We will be living in Idaho Falls, Idaho where he has an internship with Idaho National Laboratory. This blog will be about the life of a devoted wife and companion and all the trouble I get into on a daily basis. ;)

This journey begins at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. It is dead week this week. Finals looming around the corner. The end is in sight! The to do list for this week includes: 3 minor papers, 1 major paper, 1 dinner with the new choir officer board, 1 board meeting with the choir officer board discussing our international trip, 2 finals to prepare for and take, 1 progressive dinner, 500,000,000 boxes to pack, and a partridge in a pear tree. :) I've been told where there is a will, there is a way. I'm counting on that! Thankfully, there is homemade ice cream in the freezer to get me through all this...just kidding.

Let the journey begin!