Back in the 'Burg

After a long summer we have returned to Rexburg to finish school at Brigham Young University-Idaho. Though it was nice to be away for a while, we have missed this little town. It is a lot of fun to be back were we can spend time with Matt on the weekends. A few weeks ago we all went to the ice caves for the first time, it was a long drive but so worth it! We went with Matt, his roommate, and their dates; it was a lot of fun! After seeing the pictures though Sara was disappointed that no one told her how funny she looked with the headlamp on!

One of the best things about being back in Rexburg is being in our wonderful apartment! We love having room to stretch our legs out, and feeling safe to walk around barefoot again.

We have made a new goal to try to ride our bikes to school while the sidewalks are still clear of snow. We have both stuck to it and are amazed at how little we drive our cars these days. Tim the handyman husband even made a custom bike rack outside our door to keep our rides safe from the elements!

Luckily our neighbors don't mind that it is also right outside their door. Actually, we feel really lucky this semester that there are quite a few couples in our ward around the same age as us, also without children, that we can befriend and look forward to getting to know better.

As far as an update goes, we are both keeping very busy with work and school. Sara is back at the dental office where they have moved into a brand new building and she loves it. She looks forward to one final (hopefully easy) semester come winter, and graduating in April. She babysits whenever she gets a change, and has gotten an early start on her old lady social life by joining a monthly bunko group. One of these days she will get the sewing machine from Tim's grandma tuned up so that she can get started on that jean quilt she worked so hard to cut squares for.

Tim is working again as a teaching assistant on campus. This semester he added a pre-dental cluster to his Landscape Design major and Spanish minor, so he is working hard at the new challenge of diving into chemistry again. He has been playing as much tennis as he can, and was able to get in a few days of golf before the course closed for the winter. Hopefully he will get out fishing again too before the river freezes over! ;)

Spokane September 2009

Prior to driving to Utah for all the wedding craziness, we spent a few days in Spokane, Washington. Tim and his dad Robert were able to take some time to install a new drip system for the Stevenson's front yard. It was great for Tim to get to put to use some of the things he's learned in the landscaping industry, and Sara was very proud of his handiness! :)

After the wedding business was through, we returned to the Stevenson home to spend another week with that side of our family. Tim's older brother Jake and his girlfriend Theresa were here visiting from Taiwan, so it was great to be able to visit with them. We had fun doing a Taiwanese hot pot, and Stevensonese roll party among other things.

Sara decided to take on the task of cutting up the old jeans to make a quilt, and lucky for her everyone else joined in to help. Sara is very good at making big messes at her mother-in-law's house! :)

We also took the opportunity to get some new family pictures while we were all together, and what a good lookin family it is! ;)

Kaitlin's Wedding Week

Sara's little sister Kaitlin got married August 29th in Logan Utah and we were able to go. We left Portland earlier that week and made the journey to Utah. It was wonderful to be able to share such special day with the new Mr. and Mrs. Brandon and Kaitlin Beckstrand. We were able to meet some of Kaitlin's new family (she is marrying into a wonderful family) and Sara's parents and younger siblings came down from Alaska as well. We really love whenever we get to spend time with our relatives in the Salt Lake area.

After all the wedding craziness was over we were able to relax with the family, play games, and have airsoft wars with the cousins! It was really hard when we had to leave and Sara's family went back to Alaska, but we just look forward that much more to seeing them next time. That's the price you pay when your family lives in North Pole Alaska!

A quick update...

Tim accepted an internship offer with Pacific Landscape Management which took us to Portland Oregon for the summer. We are living in Sherwood, a small town about 30 minutes from downtown Portland. We rent a studio apartment from a woman who responded to our housing "wanted" add on Craigslist. It is definitely small, and I fight a constant battle with our numerous roommates (ants, spiders, millipedes, rollie-pollie bugs, mildew, etc.). We will definitely be happy to return to our apartment in Rexburg, but for now it is at least a cheap place to live.

I am working as a volunteer intern at LDS-Family Services. I love my various projects, ranging from painting a play therapy room, to using my internet search skills to find individuals we have lost contact with (such as birthparents or adoptive couples) and send them letters and pictures that have been sitting in a filing cabinet for 5+ years.

I still have yet to find a job that produces a paycheck...

Every weekend is a 3-day weekend for us. We enjoy exploring our new surroundings, bike-riding, camping, hiking, and playing lots of tennis :). We really love the area that we are in, perhaps if things work out we will come back here after graduation!