Just another cleaning tip!

Hello again. Today marks another semester "first day of school" today.

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What I thought would be an easy 6 credit-load, has turned into a moderately time-consuming 10. Oh well! I'm excited about my classes and happy to be back in the Snow building.

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Alright, here's my spring cleaning tip.

When I clean houses, probably 90% of the time this part of a kitchen appliance is disgustingly dirty. I even forget to clean it in my own kitchen and notice it when I do a deep clean.

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Here it is:

It's the very top of the dishwasher where this nice lady's right hand (well, thumb) is touching.

So hurry and grab a dishcloth with dishsoap and wipe it off really fast. Check the entire door and inside the dishwasher and wipe it down if it's looking scary, also. If it's covered in yellow (which is VERY common), a magic eraser will take it off the easiest.

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There you go! Happy Spring Cleaning (if there is such a thing).

Oh, the blessings!

So, for all of you that have known Dustin and I the past 6 years have known that things haven't been super easy. Dustin has had 7 jobs in 6 years and we have lived in 5 different States. Just when things were starting to get good, another company would go out of business or would lay off 1/2 of their employees. For 6 years we have wondered when we were going to get our "lucky break" only to realize that nobody really ever has a lucky break. There will ALWAYS be something--medical bills, unemployment, moving, or disappointment. That is one thing that the entire human race shares- trials. They sure make you appreciate what you have.

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So here is the good news: We are negotiating our final price for our new house! Hopefully everything will go through smoothly. We thought it was a long shot to get it, but as of yesterday, Fannie Mae just lowered the price by a whopping $20,000. As long as there are no other offers, it should be ours soon! We feel so fortunate to have found this foreclosed home in a good neighborhood right in our frugal price range. After saving up for a house 4 separate times, we finally have something to show for it.

On top of that, I completed my 17 credit load this past semester with a 4.0 and received my letter from the Dean congratulating me. They were all generals and were very time consuming and difficult. I have learned so much, though. This hopefully will help me get a couple more scholarships for Fall semester. I have 7 more days off until Spring semester begins. I've lightened my load to only 7 credits though. Lillie will be attending the highly-accredited preschool up on campus and Jack will go to his "preschool" (daycare) for just 6 hours a week.

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Dustin finished inspecting all 580 rental units and houses in just 3 weeks (on top of his regular 40-hour-per-week workload) and earned his bonus of new tires for his truck. Apparently those rubber wheels for trucks are a tad pricey, so it was very much appreciated! He has been working between 65-75 hours each week. His boss even let him have today off and told us to go out and do something as a family to make up for lost time. We went up to the foothills to go shooting and then took the kids to Leo's Place. It was a perfect day to go, they just had the playland power washed and sanitized last night. We had a wonderful day relaxing. Dustin polished the night off by going on a long bike ride.

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Tonight is my last day at work. I put in my 2 week notice 2 weeks ago (obviously...) and am very emotional about this change. I've worked there for just over one year and have really grown close with the other ladies there. It has been a very peaceful job and I know I sound like a broken record, but the spiritual strength I've gained has far outweighed the monetary benefits. I will miss vacuuming the Celestial Room at 1AM by myself. I will miss being around coworkers who lift my testimony and are in the same situation as me.

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Our tulips are about to bloom, our grass is turning green, our children are beautiful, and life is just good! I know there will always being some sort of adversary in my life- but with the strength of the Lord, my Savior, I can cast those burdens aside and get through it. I love my family, and feel so blessed to have married Dustin. It has been wonderful sharing all these things together and learning together. We've spent years on our knees crying and asking why, and now we're starting to understand.

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"Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; Where thou diest, will I die" (Ruth 1:16-17).

Time spent with David Archuleta=bliss

Okay, so we had no idea that he had been singing in the MTC choir at the Saturday Afternoon Session of Conference until we got home at midnight, but Dana made the point that at least we can now say that we've seen him sing!
Saturday was so nice! Dana and Leah picked me up early in the morning and we all drove down to Salt Lake City to watch Conference. Leah turned 8 last week, so she was pretty excited to be old enough to go. We were a tad late, and were seated during the opening prayer, but it was still wonderful to be there. I always get much more out of conference when I'm there in person. This was my third time going, and it was another neat experience. I have a list of talks I want to watch again and again.

We spent the day walking around the new City Creek (incredible, and huge) and waited in line to go to the Deseret Book Ladies' Night. We got our free gift, lots of free chocolate and cookies, and entered the drawing to win one of 10 ipads (I'm not getting my hopes up). We also met some "celebrities" like John Bytheway, Gerald Lund, and got to hear Mercy River singing. There had to have been thousands there--I can only imagine the revenue they get from that 2 hour time frame.

We walked around temple square, sat on the grass for a while, and enjoyed being in 75 degree sunshine. The flowers are full grown and beautiful. Leah loved all the fountains and kept asking for more and more pictures by all the flowers. It was a perfect day!

We ended the night by eating at Olive Garden (of course) and got to Idaho Falls just after midnight. It was nice to be able to spend the day with my sister and niece. She's always been like a mother to me. Even though I despise Idaho's weather, climate, roads, public schools, and overall scenery (no offense...) it's worth it to live here because of her and other close family members. It was a wonderful way to end the semester and was a very relaxing, uplifting day.