My Daring Adventure

So yesterday I decided that I had enough and I was going to go up to Grand Junction to see Eric. Now this was just as much for him has it was for my sanity. You see when he left on Friday he took only enough close with him to last the number of days he planned on being there, which was three days. Well he was required to stay until today so needless to say he was out of clothes as of Monday. Now this has happened once before, when he was stuck unexpectedly in Price, Utah for FIVE Days with only the clothes on his back. So as any good wife I decided that I would never let him go without clean clothes again. So Sunday after he was needing to stay until Monday I made a decision that if he was not coming home Monday I would go to him. So when he called me at work and told me that he had to stay another day I knew what I had to do. 

I came home and within thirty minutes I had enough shits, pants, underclothing and socks to last him three more days. I download my map from map quest, packed a couple changes of clothes for myself and off I went. The trip was pretty uneventful until I hit the rocky mountains. Now our car though little is very mighty and handle a lot. So when it started to snow a little I wasn't worried. But then I started in on the narrow mountain roads. At first I wasn't too concerned I just slowed down and took my time. But then came the warning signs for avalanches and falling rocks and I become more concerned. Now sign don't usually concern me but when the length of road that was within the avalanche area kept increasing with every sign I wasn't so sure what to think. Along with the fact that I could see a few boulders that had been moved off the road. 

Then the roads became more icy and snowy. So I slowed down even more. I said a silent pray and even began to sing just to help my nerves. But then came down hill curves. And won't you know it Sir Issac Newton and his law of gravity began to work against me! No matter how hard I tried I kept gaining speed. Even with all of this I was fine until the car skidded a little too close to the edge of a cliff. Then the panic rose in my chest. I had to keep repeating to myself, "Eric is worth this, and the Lord is with me." Finally after a very tense hour I came out of the mountains and was extremely grateful for the divine intervention on my nerves. But then my harrow adventure almost seemed pointless when Eric called and told me that he was coming home Tuesday and that I could just go home! 

Well I made it very clear that I was not going back through the mountains and I had come this far and was not turning back! So he admitted that he wanted to see me and so I continued my journey. I finally made to Grand Junction around eight that night and was so grateful to be with my husband again but I was also extremely exhausted. 

I have decided that while the mountains are beautiful with snow I will wait until summer to go through them again. Also I think next time I will let Eric drive and I will just enjoy the scenery. So next time you are in a pickle of a driving adventure just remember your destination is worth it, no matter what the destination is!

Separation may be here again

So, I have a little bit of bad news, Eric may be leaving me for a month. No we are separating by choice. Because the oil companies here in New Mexico have pretty much shut down for the winter, he has to head up to Grand Junction. This is so he can get all the experience he needs before his break out session the first week in April. Now it would not be so bad if it were not for the fact that I have grown really fond of having him around. That and because we are in the process of building our first home (pictures will follow soon). This is a hard prospect partly because we have already dealt with seven weeks apart. I know we can make it through three more weeks if we have to, but I really hope we don't have to. 

The old saying that distance makes the heart grow fonder is BULL. All it does is make you yearn for the person and be unable to sleep. All I can wonder is how have so many couples done it in the past. I know we are blessed to have the communication tools we do, but still it is no fun. But just like everyone else we are taking a hit too. SO if you could find the time to add us to your prayers, we would greatly appreciate it. What we need to for the weather to continue to be warm and for the economy to be a little better so the oil companies can hire Eric and his co-workers to come and measure their wells. Otherwise at least pray that I wouldn't go stir-crazy from loneliness. Have a great week-end.

Funny thing happened on the way to the dentist

So Monday Eric and I had our long waited dentist appointment. It is long awaited because Eric has reschedule it twice. So being the brilliant person I am, I made arrangements with Eric for him to pick me up at the house at 1 o'clock and we would drive over the the dentist. Now usually I try to map-quest our destination but this time Eric claimed that he knew where the dentist office was. So off we went. Now remember we have never been to the dentist here yet and I was so nervous all I could remember was the dentist's last name (that should be enough if we get lost, right?) Wrong. First the dentist office we thought was our dentist was not. Then we found out that there are three dentists in Farmington with the last name of Thompson. So after much instance and badger Eric we went home and picked up the information and use yellow pages.com on Eric's phone to find the dentist office. Well to make a very long but hilarious story a little short, all I will say is that yellow pages LIED! We were so incredibly lost, which is not hard to do here because many streets just end without warning. Well after 45 minutes of being lost I just couldn't take it any more and just started laughing. Eric did not think it was funny at all. He knew where Dustin Avenue was and he was going to find it.

Well I decided that since the direct approach was not working maybe if we just enjoyed the drive and stopped looking for the dentist maybe we would find it. Well it worked! only we were an hour late for our appointment so we had to reschedule. Now here is where I have decided my husband likes the dentist about as much as my mother (who is known to bite her dentist, they not put her to sleep for their own safety). I was ready to take the next available appointment and just get it done. NO! Eric wanted to reschedule it for his next days off, which are not until March 23rd! So we did and took the new patient paperwork home to fill out.

As we were leaving we realized that we had passed the office at least three time while being lost for it was right next to the junior high that we were debating over with it was a junior high or high school. I know, I know. We are nuts. But hey at least we are secure enough to laugh at ourselves. So the next time you get horrible lost just stop trying to get un-lost and you might surprise yourself. I know we did. 

Romantic Moments

So if you all can not tell we are back in New Mexico. I will tell you all that when we arrived home it was cold and there was snow and ice everywhere. At first we thought we were still in Utah but after a couple of days of sunshine, we realized that we were back in New Mexico. So here is the real story of what we have been doing since we got back.

First, we have been putting our finances together so that we can finally....build a house. I know, I know we last told you that we were going to buy but we found that we can get more for our money by building and we can stay in our ward! So we are working on getting started building by the first March so we can move in by August. We are so excited that our big Valentine's day even was choosing the lot that we wanted. Eric is really excited because it a nice lot in a nice neighborhood where a police officer lives down the street. I know to all of you that is not a big deal but for Eric it is wonderful. He worries about me all the time when he has to be gone for 10 hours or more on the job. Personally I think I should be the one who is worrying just because he out in the middle of no where but he says he is fine.

The other big news is that we have brand-new washer and dryer! Now for most of you again not a big deal right but if you have a washer that sounded like a train every time you tried to wash something you would want a new one too. When the guys can to install them they found that the drum of the washer was completely separated from the rest of the machine. So it was only by the grace of our heavenly father that it was still working. The new set is really nice and even play a nice little melody when the load is done. Eric thinks it is just a way to make you want to do laundry more. He may be right. The thing I love the most is that I can wash all his dirty jeans at once! Now if I could just get him to get rid of the jeans with holes. Any suggestion?

Well that is all the changes but now I have to share a really romantic moment (OK it is a romantic moment to me). So yesterday at church Brother Perkins asks Eric and I to help in Primary since the CTR 6 teachers were missing. Well we jumped at the chance. I was just sorry that I could only help for an hour. ( I had to teach Relief Society the last hour) So we went to sharing time and wouldn't you know it Eric seemed even more handsome sitting among a bunch of kids trying to keep order. When I had to leave him with six boys and one girl to teach I was afraid that would be the end of our discussion of kids. He did admit that for about two minutes after I left to go teach it was complete chaos. But he said he really enjoyed himself and still wanted to have as many kids as possible. This was a really sweet moment for me mostly because I have only ever seen him with little Brielle Webb and the Perkins kids. So is closing I just have to say I am really looking forward to the day that Eric is a father because he is going to be great! 

So I think I have amble enough. In closing I would just like to wish all of you a wonderful week and hope that you all have sweet moments that make you smile!

Divine Intervention

So yesterday we finally made the trek up to Logan to see all of our dear friends from college and housing who are still there. Granted we were unable to see everyone. (too little time and too many wonderful people to see) But we had a blast with those we did see. 

The real adventure was the drive home. I had promised I would drive all day so I had the joy of driving through the canyon back to South Ogden. Now I know all of you who have driven that stretch are think bad idea. Well you would be right. It was snowing at the mouth of the canyon and it got heavier the further in we went. But I kept calm, thanks to Eric and my heavenly father and slowly but surely we made it through. The amazing thing was we did not slide or skid very much at all. 

So then all we had to do was drive 17 miles on I-15 and then about 5 miles on I-84 and we would be back at his parents. For the most part it was rain and sleet (rain mixed with snow) on the freeway. But I still took about 20 mph slower than the speed limit, which turned out to be a good idea. Since almost every car that passed us skidded off the road or lose control for a little while. So we were the tortoise in the infamous race of the tortoise and the hare. And would you know we got home in just about the same amount of time as it usually takes! Talk about divine intervention.

I am just grateful for the Lord's hand in small things like this for we were able to make it through some of the most stressful driving I have ever done without much trauma. I will say I ached all over by the time we got home due to the tension my entire body felt. But as usual I will focus on the positive and not the negative. 

Happy winter driving and remember slow and steady will win the race!

Greetings from South Ogden

OK, so if you can't tell we got to Utah safely. It was an entertaining trip, mostly because we spent a lot of time reading The Tale of Despereaux out loud to one another. Now before you think that we were driving distracted, the passenger was reading it aloud to the driver. I have to say, I am greatly impressed with my husband's ability to do voices. I was actually scared of the villainous rats just because of the voice he supplied. But other than that it was pretty uneventful. 

So far we have seen both families (well everyone but my brothers who have extremely busy schedules) and our friends in Wyoming (Mindy and Spencer Allred) along with going through the Draper Temple. We still have friends in Logan to see and brothers to have lunch with and Olive Garden to go to with my parents. But even with this busy schedule it has been a very nice and relaxing trip. We have missed our friends and family. 

While New Mexico is now our home we still have friends and family that we really want to keep in touch with. So all of you who we have not seen yet and may not be able to see this time, please let us know and we will make sure we take a trip to where ever in the World you are and see you. For seeing and catching up with friends makes our day!

From these visits we remember why you are all so dear to us and you each help us with difficulties that we are facing or will soon face. Not only that but you just warm our hearts. I do have to say that even with all the warm fuzzy I am really cold and looking forward to going back to sunny Farmington, New Mexico. So in closing please keep in touch all of you, for you each have a special place in our hearts! 

Technology: Is it really our friend?

So Sunday Eric got a call where he had to go out on a job in the middle of the Apache reservation at 1:00pm. This meant that not only was he going to miss the Superbowl but church as well. He was really upset partly because he would not be able to sit with his little buddy Connor Perkins during sacrament. So before I had to take him to the shop we did everything we could to make sure Eric had some Sunday worship and peace. But as we were leaving Eric made a comment that he really didn't want to listen to Alex's music on the way there and back. So me being so intelligent (insert laugh here) thought it would be great for Eric to take the ipod nano with him. 

This is significant because I basically use it for work and the really long trips to Albuquerque and Utah (3 and 7 hours respectively). So Eric has not really used it, but I love LDS music and have a very wide selection on the nano. With that Eric agreed to take it. Well yesterday after I got up I saw the nano laying on the table near the door so I picked it up to take a charge it for work the next day. However when I tried to maneuver it all I got was a white screen. At first I thought I did something but it was like that from the moment that I picked it up. I tried everything to make it work charging, hooking it up to my mac, nothing. So after discussing it with Eric we decided we could afford to purchase a new nano from Apple. Eric was kind enough to say that it would be his valentine's present. So I purchased a very nice new, blue ipod nano with 8GB of memory. This one will change songs if you just shake it a bit. I was so excited. 

Well then this morning as we were getting ready for work, Eric, being his inquisitive self decided to see if he could get the old nano to work. And would you know it, the silly thing is working again. It had no charge but it was working! Well apple is so effective that the new is already being shipped. Eric asked if we should send the old one back, but I stated that it was already on its way and it had more memory. So now we have to ipods, which I think it is good because then Eric has one to take with him on jobs and I have mine for work. Meaning if one malfunctions it is the technological skill of the owner. 

Oh technology is amazing and yet full of headaches at the same time! Have a great day and remember if you are a friend to technology, it might be a friend to you.