February 2010

You would think with all the down time I have, I would be a better blogger. Here's what's been going on in our neck of the woods:

On February 4th, my studly husband turned the big 23! Funds at our house were a little tight from moving, rent, down deposits, rental trucks, etc. I had so many great ideas of what to get Jase (he never buys anything for himself) and wanted to get him something great sooo bad but we just did not have the money. Birthdays are a huge deal to me and always have been. My mom made our Birthdays so special growing up and I inherited her love. I felt so sad, really, really sad that I couldn't get Jase a present. I decided to buck it up and make do with what we had. :) I spent some time the day of his bday making him a homemade birthday banner, and scraped up enough money to buy the fixings for his favorite meal. Our apartment is too small for our kitchen table, so we took the legs off and have been storing it in the coat closet. I dug it out, and layed it on the floor (just the table top:) and decorated it as cute as I could. I even bought him a Mt. Dew and made him gift certificates for a back rub, dinner, a movie, and coveralls which he desperately needs. I think he enjoyed his little dinner and cake, and overall it was a pretty good b-day for him. :)
The Decorated table on the ground

All of his "presents" and cards from home

This is his homemade banner



We have been in Ulysses for one month already. Can you believe it? Jase works four weeks, six days a week, 12 hours a day, and then he gets a week off. I have been looking forward to his week off since the day we got here. He was definitely ready for a break. We decided to go to Denver, which is about five hours from Ulysses, and stay for a few nights. We had such a great time. We don't get to see each other very much since Jase works so much and this little vacation was very much needed. We left on Monday and checked into our hotel and then decided to try a Mexican Restaurant that we both had heard a lot about, Casa Bonita. They have live entertainment while you eat, gun shootouts, divers that jump from the top of rocks into a pool, singing, dancing, etc. It was a fun experience!






On Tuesday we walked around a few of the malls and went to see a movie. It is amazing how much we have missed being in a big city, with so much to to. We enjoyed a steak from Outback Steakhouse that we have been craving for four weeks, and Jase even took me to Olive Garden on Wednesday. We decided to go to the Temple on Wednesday, and it was a lot of fun. We had a fantastic trip.

Life In Ulysses

Well we officially live in Ulysses, Kansas! It is SO different here then anything we have experienced before. Ulysses is a very small town, literally in the middle of NOWHERE! :) It is so flat. I have a horrible time figuring my directions out (not that I was good before) because I have always used the mountains as my guide. We have been here for two weeks now and we actually like it so far. Jase is working an outrageous amount of hours, which will be good for the paycheck, but not so good for me. There are literally no jobs here. I have been around to everything. There is a dollar store, Alco, a few grocery stores, and then three or four fast food places. No one is hiring. So for now, I spend a lot of time on the phone with my family, work on my classes, and watch way too much T.V. Jase seems to really like work so far. He has been working about 12 hours a day, six days a week! He is very exhausted when he finally gets home and wants to relax and watch T.V. I, on the other hand, am so dang stir-crazy from sitting around all day, I want to go do something!

The people in Ulysses seem very nice. We went to our ward for the first time last week and we honestly felt like celebrities. EVERYONE came and introduced themselves and made us feel very welcome. We have already ate dinner at two different families houses. It's truly amazing to me that no matter where you go, the Church is still true and a ward family still exists. It honestly has been a great experience so far.

It's amazing how everything has seemed to work out for us. We have had a few setbacks, and have felt very stressed at times, but The Lord has definitely had a hand in our lives the past month. We ended up renting a Penske truck to bring some of our stuff out here with us, and I am SO glad that we did. For a while we considered packing the car full and calling it good, but I would really be crazy if I didn't have a bed! We had to take the truck back to Amarillo, Texas because that was the closest location to Ulysses. We ended up driving through six states in two days, and let me tell ya, it was enough driving for the next six months! We drove from Idaho, to Wyoming, through Colorado, down to Kansas, to Oklahoma, and then to Texas! It was really a fun experience though. It has been so much fun experiencing new things, especially together.


This is the sun setting on the way into Ulysses. Beautiful.



Enjoying the loud, bumpy Penske ride!


Driving through Oklahoma!


TEXAS!