Still Rollin' With the Punches

Okay, let me first start off this post by saying,

 I have never been more relieved in my life than when we finally made in back to Utah.

We definitely have had a crazy summer and 

I put about 10,000 miles on my car in just a 2 short months. 

It is a very long story so I will give the short and sweet one.

So as you know Chad and I were working with a security company, installing alarms. 

We originally were suppose to be sent to Chicago, but got put in Pittsburgh, PA. Which to us wasn't a big deal, we were kind of bummed we weren't going to Chicago, 

but still going somewhere neither of us had gone. 

The summer in Pittsburgh started out a little rough, with our housing not being in the nicest area, come to find out that Pittsburgh is just an old town all together and is pretty rough around the edges. Our office started out great but slowly started to decline in how many jobs all of the techs were getting. So as a team we decided that it would be best that Chad and I move to another office. 

That is when we got transferred to Abilene, Texas. 

So we packed up our cars and drove the 30 plus hours to Texas. 

Poor Carl was not loving the long drive. 

This office in Texas stayed in hotel rooms because the team moved around to many different areas that aren't exactly close. So, when we arrived to Texas we were suppose to have a room ready for us but there was some miscommunication and it wasn't ready. 

We had to bunk with another guy in his room. 

It made for a very awkward night.

 After that our car broke down, which hasn't been first time
so we were about ready to just drive it off a bridge.
 We luckily have the best insurance in the world and they towed it to the mechanics for free and we were able to fix it. 

A few other things happened as well, and after a week of being fed up, 

and not really making anymore money than we did in Pittsburgh, we both decided it would be best for us to go back to Utah.  

I think I cried because I was so happy to see mountains again. 

We packed up our cars again and hit the road again. 

This drive was only a short 16 hours that we were hoping to just bust out in one day. 

But of course that didn't happen. 

We were in the middle of Santa Rosa, New Mexico. If you have been there you know there is NOTHING there. Literally nothing. Well just our luck the Honda's clutch goes out. 

Once again I will tell you we have the best insurance in the world and

 they towed our car for free to a mechanics. Sadly we didn't want to spend any money fixing that car because well we only spent $900 on it and it had over 250,000 miles.

 So we called the mechanic and he bought the car from us for $100. 

It was definitely a deal on his end. 

Anyway so we put everything that was in the Honda into the Hyundai and kept trucking along, on our way back to Utah.

It was a preeetty cozy!

We of course didn't make it in one day and spent the night in a small town in New Mexico. 

But that next day we finally made it back to Utah.

 I seriously could not stop smiling and I think I told Chad that 

I was so happy to be in Utah like 50 times. 

No joke. 

We are currently the biggest mooches in the world right now living with Chad's parents.

 But they are so sweet and so willing to help us out. I don't know how Chad and I got so lucky with such awesome families that would seriously do anything for us.

 It makes me tear up just thinking about it. 

The next few days were filled with job hunting and interviews. We luckily both got a job, at the same place if you can believe that.

We don't mind it, it makes the days more fun.

We are both happy, and so grateful.

  

Because how else would we have been able to see so

 much of the country without these kinda of jobs. 

We just get roped in every time.

But all in all we definitely had an adventure, and here are a few pictures to prove it.
 

I am in love with all the old buildings in Pittsburgh.

This right here my friends, is the best pizza that was ever made. 

 We saw a lot of really crazy things, but this by far the the scariest.
This cat belonged to an old lady we installed an alarm for.
 I screamed a little when I saw it.

 We watched the world cup at Costco

Carl was so tired after having to pack everything up to head out to Texas. 

We celebrated our last day in Pittsburgh with Pirmantis...

 Chocolate....

the best milkshakes ever...

and a Pirates baseball game!

It is such a cool stadium.

This picture was after we picked our car up from the mechanics and had one of the more stressful days I have ever had. Don't be fooled, that smile was forced.

 This picture makes me cringe.
 Chad sent it to me when we was installing an alarm at someones house.
 Yes that is a pile of stuff.

 From the 4th of July. I am SO! happy to be here in Utah with family.
 I don't think I can say it enough!

We hiked Mt. Olympus, for the first and last time.

We were kind of tired.

My beautiful best friend Majerle got married a couple weeks ago,
 and I had the opportunity to be a bridesmaid. 

 

And now we can go on double dates all the time! 

Woo yay for marriage!! 

The Real Burgh.

Well, we made it to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. 

The only word I can think of to describe this place is old. 

I really don't think this town has been boomin' since the steel production days.

This last Sunday we took a stroll around downtown Pittsburgh. 

We met the nicest people. They come off a little rough around the edges, but once we get them talking it's like we have known them for years.

On a side note...

Mother's day Chad surprised me with this little monster. 

We named him Carl, but I think he thinks his name is kitty.

He falls asleep when Chad holds him in a ball.

Chad said he never wanted to own a cat because he doesn't like them. 

Now I don't ever get to hold Carl because Chad wants to cuddle him.

He sleeps under our head, or really close to our body so if we move at all we roll over on him.

Back to talking about Pittsburgh. 

We have really enjoyed this job so far. Mainly because we are able to spend all day together, talking with, and meeting all sorts of new people. And exploring a new place neither of us have been to. 

We have really developed a talent for rapping, and makinng up our own songs. Because well our radio doesn't work all that well. 

We have come up with some pretty great songs about cream of corn chowder, and how full we are from dinner.  

I tell Chad I have a big forehead, so in this picture he covered it for me. Thanks babe.

 

Just look at the background in this picture ^.

Pittsburgh is a beautiful place.

This right here is our apartment building. Its very old and has a lot of spiders in it. 

Story time: So a few weeks after we moved in there was drug bust, and kids held hostage in our complex but a couple buildings down. It was on the news and everything. Whenever people ask where we are from we just say,

 "did you hear about that drug bust in Baldwin? Yeah well we live in those apartments."

Don't worry though, I am with Chad all day long and don't ever really go anywhere by myself, especially at night.

One of the many spiders I was talking about. I know they are HUGE!

We found this one on our car. Yikes!

So one thing about Pittsburgh we have noticed is there is pizza EVERYWHERE! 

This pizza however, we were standing in line at the dollar store and a delivery guy walked in with about 4 pizzas and said, 

"Hey uh we made too many pizzas and we are about to close does anyone want one?" 

Chad was the first to raise his hand, and there you have it free pizza. 

We had to take a picture, and isn't he just such a hunk?

So the saying in Pittsburgh is

"You can't get there from here."

Meaning, it takes forever to get anywhere here. The roads here are CRAZY! 

Seriously I don't know who designed the roads here, but they definitely wanted to make it like a maze, and make sure you weren't able to make it to your destination.

That road in the picture, for example has 9 stop lights just within about a mile.

Another fun fact about Pittsburgh is there are more hills here than San Fransisco. 

And yes we have 2 manual cars, it makes for a fun drive.

This little house right here in this picture is home to the best pizza on the planet. 

Seriously I have never had better. I could eat here every single day of my life.

It's probably a good thing its about 40 minutes away or I would be chubs!

This is a new place full of all sort of new adventures for us. We have already made so many fun memories, and grown closer just from problem solving and figuring out tough decisions. Being out here has taught me a lot about me as a person, and also more about my Chad. 

He is always the first person to say something nice about someone, and is always very uncomfortable when others are talking bad about someone he knows. He is the most genuine, sweet, simple, and kind hearted person I know. I am very grateful for an example and husband like him. 

I also would just like to say, I love being LDS.

 You can travel anywhere in the world, but the church stays the same.When I walk into the church building every Sunday I feel like I am at home.

Rollin' with the Punches

Man, these last two weeks have been the most stressful/best/hard/busy weeks ever. Seriously. Annnnd this blog post is really long, so I apologize.

So, to start this post off I just want to say how much I love Chad. We have been married for a whole year now. It does not feel real. It flew by so dang fast. But to celebrate this wonderful year we have had, my dad was kind enough to let us use a week of his timeshare by Huntington Beach. Guys, it was the perfect location/ I love California. We first, drove to Las Vegas, because I have been dying to see my sister and her cute family for the longest time and this seemed like a good opportunity. 

This is her new little boy, Beau. He has the most contagious smile, I have ever seen. I loved seeing them and I wish we lived closer to each other!

After Vegas, we headed to California. It wasn't that bad of a drive, only 4 hours, but with no AC that drive can feel a lot longer. It was fun though, we listened to all sorts of comedians, and sang all sorts of made up songs to each other. So it worked. 

California is so beautiful, the people are nice, and the weather is perfect. 

We went to this cute diner that my dad recommended, it was yummy. 

And here are 2 pictures just because.

Chad looks miserable, but he was having a good time I promise.

We tried to get into the Price is Right, but we had line tickets instead of priority, so we had to wait in line for 2 1/2 hours just for them to say "Sorry we don't have room."

But hey it was okay, we met some really cute old ladies standing in line behind us, and of course they just thought Chad was the cutest thing ever. 

Oh Chad and I made shirts, here is mine. Not too fancy, in fact it looks pretty ghetto compared to what other people had been wearing.

That says #Hamilton

As you can see, my creative part of the brain isn't all that creative.

The next day we went to the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. Okay first off I haven't been to Disneyland since I was, I think 10, and second Chad is a seasoned expert of Disneyland, so he had to teach me all of his ways. It was a blast. We went on about 4 rides the whole day, well if the teacups count as a ride. It was spring break so the park was PACKED! We made the best of it though, going on a ride, then eating something, then going on another ride and eating something, and so on. The food is expensive but it was delicious. 

This was the first ride of the day, the little train that took us to the park. Chad was ecstatic. 

Waiting in line can be pretty boring, so we took pictures.

 We had to get a picture with the castle.

Despite what my face looks like I really did have fun.

We then ended the day with a picture and a churro. 

The drive home we stopped in Vegas again, and Chad had the opportunity to try gambling. He won $30 then decided he wanted more and lost it all. He felt bad, but hey now I know that he won't be gambling anytime soon. 

When we got back to Utah, our days consisted of fixing cars, saying goodbye to family, doing laundry, and packing things in the car. 

I got to see Sami before I left, she's been such a blessing to have in my life. 

I had a complete break down Wednesday night after receiving a phone call that we have to leave earlier than we thought. But I wasn't ready to leave, I wanted to stay with family, and it was that one day of the month that tears just pour out of your eyes and you just can't stop it. Everything made me cry. I felt bad, I was a ball of stress that was going crazy. But luckily I have Chad. He just sat and talked with me, trying to make me laugh and reminding me of why he loves me. Then he turned on our song and just started slow dancing with me. 

It calmed me down, and I realized, no matter where we go I will always have Chad with me, 

and my family will always be there for us.

Then him and his dad gave me a blessing. I am just so grateful for him, and for family. 

 We are so lucky and blessed to have the families that we do. 

We drove up to Rexburg Friday, so that we could train some more, and also so that we would have a big group to drive out with to Chicago on Sunday.

Yesterday our team lead got a fairly big surprise phone call.

This company ended up combining the Chicago and Minneapolis office, so now they want us to go to the Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania office.

 So now that is where we are headed for the summer. 

 I was stressed out of my mind yesterday. 

But I feel better about everything today and I am excited for our adventure this summer.

So here's to change, and trying to roll with the punches.