it's fall!

What a great month we have had!
We had an AWESOME time at the breaking bad event. Aaron Paul was hilarious, and he gave us a signed copy of a magazine he was on the cover of.

That episode was definitely THE episode to see in a theater, and I'm so glad I won those tickets!
Then the next weekend I finally finished a project I have been working on for a while. I got a little brown vanity at the auction for $4, and I sanded and painted it, and turned around and sold it for $75

This past week was so awesome! Friday at work these showed up, Jared is so awesome :)

Nicole came out Friday night, and she got to spend the weekend for us. We went to the farmer's market, the main street auction, and out to eat at Fork downtown. Then when Jared went to the Priesthood session of conference, Nicole and I went birthday shopping.

Sunday I woke up to this!!

I have been wanting a cruiser bike since we moved here, and Jared picked the perfect one! He woke up at 2 am and blew up 30 balloons and put up the banner, and set out chocolates and candles and made it look perfect. I was so surprised!
We had a low key day at home, and we played Settlers of Catan with Nicole. Sadly I she had to leave that night before all of our friends came over for a little birthday celebration.

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful life, and so many people I love! I LOVE my birthday, and it was another wonderful one :)

Party and Rexburg

Last Saturday night we had a big shindig at our house with a bunch of people from Jared's work and their significant others. We had about 15 people over and it was so much fun. I didn't know most of them, but it was so fun meeting everyone and getting to know new people.
We did a cookout and ate outside (in our newly FENCED backyard!!!) on our new patio furniture, then we played minute to win it games (Thanks Vanessa! We played mostly the same ones we played over Christmas!), and then sat around and visited as the sun went down.

This is the first time we have really had a party like this, and it was so fun! We will do another one soon!

 

This week I finished my second crochet blanket, I made this as a "happy going to college" gift to my sister. I love this one way more than my first one, and it went SO much faster!

Also this week I put some more blonde in my life.

Thursday I left work a little early and headed over to Rexburg to meet my parents and Nicole and to help her get settled at school. I helped her unpack that night, then we went back to Idaho Falls, where we were all staying.
Friday we went to Wal mart for school/apartment supplies and groceries for her, and then I helped her get her ID Card and she was off to her "get connected group" and to take BYUI by storm.
This was the first time I've been back to Rexburg since we moved away last April, but when I saw the temple all lit up from the highway, I may or may not have teared up a little. Boise is definitely our home, but BYUI gave me my sweetheart, so a piece of my heart will always be there.
We went out to dinner all together Friday night, and said our goodbyes, and mom, dad, and I headed back to the hotel, and left Saturday morning.

It was a quick trip, and I wished I could have stayed longer, but I'm so happy Nicole is off to a good start and I know she will love it there.
Plus I had to get home and get ready for this.

I won tickets to a live stream of tonight's breaking bad downtown at the Egyptian theater, hosted by Aaron Paul, who plays Jesse Pinkman. We Cannot WAIT!!!

Weekend in Kennewick

About a month ago, our friends Kailey and Jeff were over and we were talking about Labor Day weekend, and how we should go on a trip together! After talking and trying to plan a few different things, I stumbled upon this awesome hotel called the Clover Island Inn, in Kennewick Washington, just 4 1/2 hours away from us. I booked it, and hoped for the best, as none of us had been there before. The hotel is on "Clover Island", this little arm of land that juts into the columbia river, it is so cool!

We all left Friday right after work, and got up there about 9:30.
Saturday, we got up and drove 5 minutes to Pasco, where there was a big open air farmer's market. It was fun, but really it was about a 10th of the size of the Saturday Market in Boise. Pasco was like a "little Mexico" and had so many shops and stores, all in Spanish. Jared was loving it. We went into this Mexican bakery, and the style was just like in Mexico, Jared said, just cleaner. They had so many pastries and sweets, you just took a tray, and went up and down the aisles picking what you want, and at the end you pay for it and they bag it for you. Every thing was just 50 cents a piece!

We headed back to the hotel, and found out they had cruiser bikes to take out for free, so we all hopped on a bike to explore Kennewick. They had a really cute downtown area, we went into this really cool antique shop. Then we ate lunch at a hole in the wall diner called "O'Henry's", which was so stinking delicious, I still want to go back!

That afternoon we went down to hang out at the pool and enjoy the gorgeous view of the Columbia River, and I took a wonderful nap, which I never get to do.

Saturday night we drove to the third city in the Tri cities area, Richland. In a huge park they were having the "Tumbleweed music festival" all weekend, where a very eclectic huge group of musicians play all weekend long and there are booths set up, and it's all along the Columbia river. 
The evening was gorgeous and we sat down to listen to some French and Greek music, ate some overpriced Thai food for dinner, and ended the day with some ice cream.
Sunday we woke up and went back down to the pool to play some Settler's of Catan (our recent favorite game!) Then we headed back to Richland to kayak the river!
I wish I would have remembered my waterproof camera. We were out for two hours, and we had a blast. The kayak company gave everyone these water guns and we would paddle up to Jeff and Kailey and do "drive by" shootings. We kayaked all the way up and around a huge bridge, and it was really a perfect day.

Sunday night we ate dinner, and went on another bike ride right at sunset. The weather was perfect, and such a relief from scorching Boise. We all talked, and laughed, and felt completely relaxed.

Monday we got up, packed up, and headed home. We had such a wonderful time with our great friends and were rested enough to get back to work.
Thanks for the great weekend guys!

My job, and other things

I have fallen in love with my job. My 90 day mark was this past Wednesday, and though absolutely unbelievably busy, I'd much rather have that than be bored to death at work.
A lot of people who come in to the office ask me if I get bored just greeting people, or if "they have me doing other stuff to keep me busy" HA! One downfall to the job is having the appearance of a receptionist, even though being one is about 8% of what I actually do. So yes, I sit up front at the St. Luke's business and administration building, a building of almost 600 people. I am the only "receptionist", but there is so much more!
Here are my responsibilities:
I receive bankruptcy notices for patients, and have to set accounts into bankruptcy status. This includes updating those accounts when they are "discharged" or "dismissed". You would be shocked at the amount of bankruptcies, and that is only in St. Luke's patient base. I also download these huge reports that list bankruptcies and deceased and have to put them into spreadsheets, then complete those.
I receive death certificates and deceased lists from the hospitals, and make sure accounts are fully in deceased status. Along with this I sometimes receive requests for "claims against the estate", and have to fill out this very official looking form saying how much the deceased person still owes, and mail that to several people.
I receive billing requests from attorneys needing bills for their clients in personal injury law suits. After verifying everything is legal, I compile those bills and send them to the attorneys. I try to create the best relationships with the attorney's and their paralegals because you do not want to get on their bad side. They can be no fun to deal with.
I mail out county assistance bills for the county department. Basically people that can't pay their bills and fit other qualifications can apply for county assistance, and there is a huge long process which includes their bills being sent to their county. There are a LOT of bills....
I order supplies for my group of about 20 ladies, from office max. I have definitely developed a "thing" for office supplies.
I submit maintenance requests for people all throughout the building, whether it is for a leaky faucet, or a hornet's nest. I guess along with this, I really have to know everything that goes on in the building, which is so much easier typed than done. I am constantly getting information on the goings on, and it is sometimes a nightmare to keep track of!
I get all returned bills and address changes. This pretty much could consume my life. I have hundreds and hundreds of addresses I have to change, and people I have to investigate to try to find their correct address. That is one thing I feel like I can never catch up on!
Then there are my receptionist duties. I greet patients that come in with questions about bills, and get reps to help them. I notify people when meeting attendees and interviewees arrive. I make coffee and cocoa for the front lobby, and people turn in Financial assistance packets to me.
If this seems like a lot, it is. It's really a two person job, but I have been alone for almost 2 months. I have changed a lot of what my position does, and I feel really good about it! I'm all about efficiency, and it has been quite the puzzle to iron out some of the processes.
BUT I love it. Even though sometimes I feel like I am drowning, I do love it. I finally fell comfortable with people at the office, especially my department (patient financial services). I am trying so hard to learn as many names as possible, which is quite the feat. I love most of the interaction with patients, I meet so many interesting people every day.
This job has really helped me meet myself if you will. I have a lot of responsibility, and I've gained a lot of confidence in what I can do. I've never really felt that before, and it makes me think "what else can I do?" Something I've never thought before. It is a great feeling to realize what you can be capable of. Also, as a side note, in high school I always said I wanted a job where I had to dress up pretty every day, and I got it! It is so fun to dress "businessy" :)
People really are wonderful though. On Friday, there was a huge meeting in one of my conference rooms, and it was catered. The lady so graciously brought me and absolutely delicious and beautiful lunch, and even though it was delicious, it was so nice to be thought of.

So that is more than you probably ever wanted to know about my job, but this is for me too! Years down the road I want to remember what I did :)
Other things from the week, I FINALLY finished my first crochet blanket that I started back in April. I pretty much didn't crochet at all in May, so really it took me about 4 months, only crocheting a little at a time. The sucker is HUGE though! I don't know what I was thinking! It is bigger than our queen size comforter! here is a picture. Disregard the poorly made bed, I just put it there to show the size and the pattern :)

Lastly, our friends Shea and McKay just bought a house, and moved in Friday night! Jared helped them move (I was going to, but I have stress fractured my foot! Long story....but sometimes it is slightly hard to walk on it...) But yesterday I wanted to do something fun for them to congratulate their home ownership, so I made them a "welcome home basket". It included a fleece blanket I made, a decorative "R" for Rogers (their last name), a candle, hand soap, and some goodies from World Market (I ADORE THAT STORE!), all in a pretty basket. They deserve more! We are so excited for them!

Garage freezer

I got a new toy. I haven't been this excited about something in a long time. I found a little beat up freezer on craigslist for $75, and I snagged it. I am SOOOO excited for this garage freezer. Every time I opened my freezer above my fridge I would want to beat someone up, and this feeling would only get stronger after I had to dodge frozen bags of chicken from falling on my feet because the stinking tiny freezer was overflowing. So now I can STOCK up, something that truly warms my soul.

 In other news, along with paving roads and laying plots behind our house, they laid the foundation for the house right across the street from us today. I feel so bad for the guys working in this 100 degree weather, but this house will be up before we know it. They sure work quick!

We have had a great time hanging out with our friends lately. It is so nice to be settled here and though we don't have family, to have people who we love here! Our friends Shea and McKay and their daughter Penny are very close to our hearts, and Jared adores little Penny. Just check out these pictures and see how Penny feels about Jared.
Look at her caress his face!

 In other news, I have been doing a skin challenge, put on by my favorite lady Cara from the blog Maskcara. You have to drink 1/2 gallon of water a day, wash your face every single night, and moisturize morning and night. See the whole here: Soapbox Challenge. I've already noticed a little difference in my skin, and it's nice to stick to a routine.
Also we are doing fruit and veggie bingo through my work. Each week they send out a bingo sheet, and you eat a serving of the foods, and mark them off, and report your "bingos" at the end of the week. I really love my job.

Though, at my job, in the past week, two different people were carted off in the ambulance. A lady had what she thought was a heart attack last week, and today, I had to call 911 for a different lady that was having severe abdominal pain, and both times the paramedics and firemen storm into my lobby, and it was all very intense. 
We are loving life, but mostly loving each other, we just wish we had more time together! McKay calls us "DINKs" Double Income No Kids. Which is true, and nice, but working 10 hours a day each sure keeps us busy, and exhausted.