It has been WAY too long...I hope you like reading novels

Didn't we just celebrate 2014 as the new year?

That's what it feels like to me

To say or write 2015 feels odd and yet it feels like I've been saying it forever

It's a weird feeling

Christmas break was amazing

It was so nice to be back in Utah and be with family and friends that we haven't seen in ages

While we were there we took family pictures

We ate at too many restaurants 

We sang family songs

We got my ring cleaned 

The Hubster visited his favorite massage therapist, after which he was very sore and happy

(he's a weird duck and likes pain)

We spent lots of time with my family

We heard my nieces sing along to Frozen pretty much perfectly

(I hope you can see this video...)

We got to see quite a few friends

(albeit not as many as we wanted to)

We went and saw the new Annie and The Hobbit

(both of which we enjoyed)

We spent lots of time just staring at the mountains

We met new babies that we had only seen pictures of

I read a LOT, which was nice

The Hubster didn't touch work once and I didn't touch school once

(both of which were very much needed)

Mama Smurf helped me sew new pillows for our couch

We made and decorated sugar cookie bars with some of my nieces and nephews 

(one of my new favorite recipes....it is to die for)

We caught up on sleep 

(VERY important)

All in all it was a very good trip

We survived the drive both ways

The way to Utah we stopped in Lexington, Nebraska to get a few hours of sleep

Although I almost wish we had just gone straight through

So on the way back we did just that

We just wanted to get home to our bed and to our house and be done

And then something crazy happened

Wait, wait, wait

We need to give you more information first

Once upon a time, just before Thanksgiving, Hubster got an email from a recruiter about a position working with a company back in Utah

(the same company I talked about here...that he wanted to work at since before we moved to Iowa)

He hates recruiters because, typically, the jobs aren't steady and you're not as valued as a regular employee

You're the first to get a pay cut, the first to be let go, etc

But this time he really felt like he needed to talk to this guy

They exchanged emails back and forth, and just after Thanksgiving he had his first interview with Pure Storage

It was just over the phone, but he felt like it went well

But if you'll remember from the previous post, we thought that first interview went well also

A few weeks later he had another phone interview and he was very pleased with how this interview went

When they found out we would be in Utah for Christmas they took advantage and had him come in for a face to face interview

At this point he felt so good about how everything was going that he was quite convinced he would get the job

But we were convinced we would get it last time as well, so there was no way I was getting my hopes up

We were hoping to hear by Christmas so we could have it be a Christmas present of sorts

We had it all planned out

We purchased an ornament with a sink full of dishes on it and we were going to give it to my parents telling them that we had brought home the kitchen sink and they would have to help us bring home the rest

But we still hadn't heard by the time we left, so we didn't say anything

We didn't want to raise expectations for anyone

We went back and just 9 days later, I was walking on the treadmill, just minding my own business, when Hubster told me he had some news

And what was that news, you might ask?

WE GOT THE JOB!!

So, you know, nothing big :)

We got the job, he got a raise, and he had to start in 3 weeks

On February 2nd

*sigh*

Oh boy, we can never do anything slow and easy

It has to be ridiculously crazy, fast-paced, and complicated

So, we sent the padres the ornament along with a poem (I'll share that in the next post)

Papa Smurf smiled, Mama Smurf cried, and our world turned topsy-turvy

We requested the help of one or both of the padres and Mama Smurf agreed to fly out and help us for 4ish days

And let me tell you, that help was exactly what we needed

We wanted to travel to the Nauvoo temple while she was with us since it's only 3 hours away, but there was a storm that might hit on Saturday, which is when we were going to travel, and we still had a lot to do, so we didn't risk it and stayed home and packed some more

Yay?

We did get to take her to a friend's house for dinner, which was a nice break, but other than that we kept her very busy

But she was a miracle worker, I don't know what we would have done without her

She left on Monday, the day the trailer was dropped off at our house, and we loaded it on Tuesday with help from our ward, which was GREATLY appreciated

We loaded everything but the cleaning supplies and spent all day Wednesday cleaning and trying to gather everything that was going in our car

(next time we do a big road trip/move, we need to have a bigger car....Hubster's is way too small for that)

I wanted to be all done on Wednesday, but it just didn't happen

So Thursday morning we got up at 6:00 so we could finish cleaning, pack and lock the trailer, turn in our keys, turn in our cable box, pick up my medical records, and fill up our water bottles for the trip

By 1:00 the car was full of gas, we had lunch ready to be devoured, and we were on the road

And we both said "Didn't we just play this game?"

We decided to drive straight through, no stops

I'm pretty sure that wasn't the smartest idea we've ever had when you take into consideration the fact that we woke up at 6:00, but we just didn't want to stop

We just wanted to be home

And we got home at about 6:00 in the morning

Taking into consideration the time difference, a 25-hour day

And boy were we tired!!

We crashed for 5 hours and got up for the rest of the day

But that meant we got to go to a play (Aladdin) that my niece and nephew were in

(nephew was Iago, niece was a member of the town)

(The little ones with Papa and Mama Smurf...Papa Smurf was "scared" of Iago)

They did a wonderful job!! It was a ton of fun

And....we've just been trying to settle in since then

My sister is letting us stay with her family until we find a place (where we stayed before we moved to Iowa, ironically)

Our trailer showed up on Tuesday, we unloaded it Wednesday, and they came and took it away on Thursday

It's been a bit of a whirlwind week

We have a lot of our stuff in the storage unit and we're still going through some boxes trying to decide what we need for however long we're staying with them

It's kind of crazy, we've been gone for a year and yet it feels like nothing has really changed at all

We've just fallen back into rhythm with life in Utah and it's been a decently smooth transition

I don't love the fact that we had to pack up our whole life in less than a month, it makes going through boxes complicated, but I'm grateful for this new adventure we're beginning

The timing of all of this has been miraculous...but I'll discuss that in another post

This one has been in draft mode since....the end of December, so it needs to be done

And I need to go through boxes and try to organize our crazy life

But don't worry, the Oreos were saved from going into the storage unit and are sitting in our kitchen

At least I know I have the important things