It's Exhausting, OK?

Gotta Roll with the Punches...

I'm just hanging out here in our dark hotel room in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Figured it would be a good time to throw a little update out there.

Monday, April 26

7 AM: Drove off into the sunrise. 

Sounds romantic, I know, but have you ever tried to drive INTO a sunrise? I was cursing myself for not wearing my contacts, which means no sunglasses.

Okay, so later on when I was driving I rested Kirby's sunglasses over mine. Probably looked ridiculous, but it saved my eyeballs.

We drove for 12 hours on Monday. Emily was a champ. It didn't take us long to realize that one of us would have to sit in the back seat with her. The screaming, you know. But once we got all the stuff from one side of the car up in the front seat, it was pretty easy sailing.

Uh, I mean, driving.

One of my favorite parts of road trips is watching Kirby sing to the radio. 

Good grief it's windy in Wyoming and Nebraska. Could have blown me right away if I wasn't so agile. :)

We stayed in Grand Island, Nebraska Monday night. We got there with just enough time to shred, jump in the pool to cool off, and relax in the hot tub for a couple minutes. Emily was screaming (happily, this time) and giggling as she watched us swim. We have a suit for her, but we haven't gotten any swim diapers yet, so we haven't been able to introduce her to the wonders of the pool.

Get this--Emily slept straight through the night. Glorious.

Tuesday, April 27

Tuesday wasn't too eventful. Just drove. and drove. and drove. and drove.

Ready for the eventful part?

Our car died.

But don't worry, it was only "mostly dead."

We pulled off Interstate 24 for a potty and feeding break around 8:00pm. 

We had about 60 miles to go to Clarksville, Tennessee. 

As we pulled up to the stop sign at the end of the off ramp, the engine just turned itself off! And we couldn't get it to turn back on. 

Thankful Thoughts:

1. I am so glad we pulled off the highway when we did! We were on a nice quiet road instead of a buzzing highway...

2. The car died right across the street from a Chevron. Well, I had to jog about 1/4 of a mile to find the road that went UP to the station, but close enough.

3. Jogging at a lower elevation is lots of fun.

4. Steve--the tow truck guy--was super cool and had a fabulous accent. Also--southern hospitality? LOVE. IT.

5. Thank heavens for AAA. We got a membership on Thursday. Figured it was a good idea, and my grandpa volunteered to pay for it. 

THANK YOU, GRANDPA!!

(End of thankful list)

We didn't shred last night. We were exhausted. It takes so much energy to remain optimistic throughout a crisis! 

Everyone here loves Emily. No surprise, of course, but she gets so much more attention here!

This morning at McDonald's, all the workers were spoiling her rotten with all the attention, and she got a free toy to suck on and throw repeatedly on the floor! :)

Oh yeah, right. The car. Stranded. That whole situation.

Kirby just got a call from the repair shop and our car is going to live! Turns out the timing belt didn't actually break, the teeth had just worn off on a foot's worth of it. 

Why is that a good thing? 

Well, if you have what is called an "interference" engine and the timing belt breaks, there is a very good chance that there will be damage done to the piston heads, which means the situation gets extremely expensive and crazy ugly very fast. As in, need a new engine block bad and ugly. Most Mazda Proteges have interference engines. Turns out ours doesn't, so it wasn't a risk anyways. But we thought it was. And it coulda' been.

So yeah. An expense we hadn't planned for, but we'll suck it up and make it work. We're on vacation, after all! 

Uh, I mean, we're on our way to a very important job. It just feels like vacation to me still.

So what's on the menu for today?

Driving. Once we get the car back. 

We'll set our course for Orlando and just stop when we feel like it.

And tomorrow?

We'll be in Florida, baby! 

Turns out we could be living anywhere from Tampa to Orlando, as Kirby will have clinics to visit in both cities. 

Jason--our fabulous boss man (this is what Steve the tow truck driver referred to his boss as, and I have now adopted the terminology)--has found us some apartment complexes and houses to look at, and I can't wait. It will be so nice to be settled and back on a good healthy schedule. 

Oh yeah--and not eating junk constantly in the car.

I have taken pictures, but we need to pack up and get ourselves checked out now! 

Stay tuned for more of our adventures, as I am sure they will be plenty!

And to my family--I love you and miss you like crazy. Come visit soon. Once we have a place to live, of course. And are actually in Florida. :)

BOOYAH!

Well, folks, it has been an eventful week thus far! Let's start from the top. 

Monday--weighed in at 159.2! Yeah baby! I made it! :) 

And today? I got a Caribbean Passion Jamba juice--and my face didn't explode!

... at least not yet ...

Lemme 'splain. I found out in elementary school that I was allergic to strawberries, so I haven't had any for a long long time. In high school I tried to rationalize that the zit-like rash I got around my mouth was worth it for this delightful smoothie.

It wasn't.

But I decided to see if I'd outgrown the allergy. And today seems to confirm that! If I explode, though, I'll be sure to letcha know... :)

FLORIDA

 Yup. That's where we'll be this summer.

Found out Tuesday night, and we'll be leaving a week from Monday!

Yup. Less than two weeks to figure out how we are going to relocate our family for four months. 

It's going to be fabulous, though! I can't wait. It will be very much out of my comfort zone, and I'm going to have to grow in ways I've never had to before! PAH!

We are looking for housing in and around Tampa. 

Let's just say that the 500/600 dollars spent per month on a two bedroom apartment in Provo suddenly doesn't look so steep! ;) But hey--the internship is paid, at least, so we'll be just fine.

We are so thankful for this last minute opportunity! We've been on pins and needles for so long with all this internship madness that the fact that we have one hasn't really sunk in. Let alone in FLORIDA!

Can't wait!

Birthday Fabulosity!

Kirby and I love our April birthdays. And we love having them six days apart. 

It's kinda like a second Christmas! 

We love surprises and we love giving each other gifts. 

And... yeah. We like receiving gifts, too!

This year, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to get Kirby. 

I wanted it to be thoughtful and unique. 

But above all, I wanted it to be something he would NEVER GUESS.

Cause he's so stinkin' good at figuring surprises out!

And I succeeded. 

How do I know?

Cause I already gave it to him.

Once I have acquire a surprise, it is extremely difficult for me to wait.
Plus--the longer I wait, the more likely Kirby is to figure it out!

So without further ado...

Remember this? Kirby's change jar?

Well, it's been officially replaced by this bad boy!

Boo.Yah.

Not Quite There.

Insert sigh of frustration.

I can't quite seem to bust through my last pound and a half. 

I'll hit 161.6 and then bounce up a pound or two before going back down.

Over. And Over.

But I'm not giving up. Oh no. The game is on.

My fabulous friend Amy loaned me Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. 

Yup. Time for the hardcore.

Tried it tonight. 

Pretty darn awesome. 

I love how there are three levels of intensity, and the workout is only 20 minutes. 

And get this--wanna know how awesome my husband is?

He did it with me tonight. :) 

Fabulous.

Remaining 1.6 pounds--you bettah watch yo' back!

The Recipe

This is for you, Natasha! :)

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. butter or stick margarine, softened

Turns out it matters how you soften your butter! Don't microwave it! 

If your butter is too soft your cookies will be too flat! :)

1 t. vanilla

1 large egg

(I used 2 medium eggs, because it was all I had...)

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 375. 

Beat sugars, butter, vanilla and egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). I needed to add extra flour. This is where the trial and error comes in. Too much flour means cookies that don't flatten out enough. Too little will also cause super flat cookies. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Actual time will vary depending on your oven, so be vigilant! Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Want some? :)