Army vs Marine MMA Fights

My momma sings the National Anthem at all of the MMA fights for the local MMA organizations in Denver.  The event scheduled for Saturday (the 10th) was the Army vs Marine fights.  They were raising money for the Wounded Warrior project, and everyone who fought represented either the Army or the Marines.  For this particular event, Jeff (the guy who is in charge) wanted both the National Anthem and America the Beautiful sung.  My mom thought it would be boring to hear the same person sing two songs in a row, so she invited me to come sing America the Beautiful with her so we could mix it up a bit.  It was really fun, and really nerve-wracking all at the same time.  I haven't sung in front of that many people in a LONG time!!  We were treated to VIP passes for the day and got to eat free burritos and all kinds of other awesome stuff.  It was wonderful to see people come and support the project.  Over $2000 was raised in the four hours we were there.  It was also wonderful to be able to sing a song that was about a country that meant SO much to the people who were there!

Neal and I in our "VIP" spot

Mom and I getting ready to sing

Singing America the Beautiful

Probably the only time I will ever stand inside an MMA cage

So much to do, so little time

It feels like it has been forever since I posted.

I started new jobs a couple weeks ago.  I'm now the Conference Coordinator for Front Range.  It's a part time job, so I'm also serving at the Candlelight a couple nights a week.  The coordinator position at Front Range is really quite enjoyable.  I even have my own office!  According to Neal, I'm a big girl now!  Hahaha. 

Serving is also fun.  I've made quite a few friends in a short amount of time.  I seem to have a nightmare about serving every night after I serve.  I'm still trying to figure out why this is happening...everything can go just fine when I'm actually serving, but when I go to bed I have horriffic visions of everything that could possibly go wrong.  I think Neal finds them rather entertaining when I tell him about them, and they SEEM silly, but when I'm actually dreaming them, they scare the heck outta me!!!!

I have my "Truth-Verification" test tonight for Fort Collins dispatch.  Kind of like a polygraph test.  As long as I pass (which, I don't see why I wouldn't...I didn't lie in my interview) I only have the psych test and the drug test left!  I'm very excited, and we're hoping I get the job so we can discuss other "areas" of our lives ;)

It's that time again at the Candlelight: Tech Week!  So, Neal will be living at the theater (basically) until Saturday.  We got "Anything Goes" tore down last night, and they're putting up Oklahoma! for the rest of the week.  It's sure to be a great show.  I'm grateful this week because I actually have friends to hang out with instead of chilling at home by myself (which generally leads to a fight between Neal and me, as well as mild depression for me).  I'm grateful to the two ladies who've invited me over later this week!

No real big updates on school stuff - Neal's still plugging away at classes this semester, and so far doing really well. 

I found out one of my very good friends is having a little boy.  I am SO excited for her and her husband :)  They will be great parents!  I also found out one of my other friends from high school is having a little girl.  Congrats to him as well :)

Well....I think that's about it for now!  Short and sweet!

I passed!!

I had my oral board review for Fort Collins dispatch center last Friday.  I was very nervous for this interview because this is where I was told "you don't have enough life experience" last time I applied for the position.  On our way back from snowboarding yesterday (Tuesday) I received a phone call from one of the supervisors saying they had decided to continue on with my hiring process!  I am SO excited!  I received a call from the officer who does the integrity interviews today, and I go in Friday for my integrity interview!  I also had an interview with USBank today for a teller position.  The manager who did my interview said she would definitely be contacting me to set up my second interview.  I am so grateful and excited for all the opportunities that have been given to me!

An update on schooling choices

Neal and I have been doing some more research on sound schools lately.  Why?  Because as AWESOME as going to Manchester would have been, we both feel its probably a bit unreasonable.  We would have to prove that we had the funds to pay for not only school, but our all of our living expenses for the 18 months we would be over there before we could even get a student visa.  Add in figuring out how I was going to get over there and stay (legally), we just don't know if its going to happen.

I started poking around some more, and found two other schools that had programs similar to the one in Manchester.  The first was in Minnesota, and similar to the school in Manchester, when Neal graduated he would get a diploma, not an actual degree.  Then I found a forum where a kid had been talking about "Columbia" in Chicago.  After doing some searching, I found the College of Columbia in Chicago.  This is a private arts school that not only offers a sound program, but a BA in Audio Acoustics.  How awesome is that?  We would be able to use financial aid (unlike England), and would be a whole heck of a lot closer to home!

We're still praying about it and discussing it, but both of us feel a bit better about Chicago than Manchester.  We're currently waiting on information from both schools so that we can more effectively make our decisions :)

It seems silly that we're this excited....

Ok.  It seems silly that we're this excited.  You would THINK we were having a kid, right?  But no.  The real reason we're so excited?  We bought a brand new bed frame....for $200.  Did I mention its king size?  And gorgeous?  Yup.  We put it together last night (boy, that was an adventure...I even discovered something that I need to work on in the process of putting the bed together)!  It was super, super fun, and now we feel less "ghetto" because our box springs are actually sitting on more than just the floor :)

Our first holiday season...and some other stuff.

Our first Christmas together was wonderful.  We spent our Christmas Eve with my family at my grandparents house.  We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner which consisted of meats, cheeses, shrimp, and other finger foods.  The missionaries from my grandparents' ward were there, and they enjoyed the presents that they got.  I was so excited to get the Teachings of Thomas S. Monson book that I have been wanting FOREVER (just ask Neal...I mentioned it everytime we went to Deseret).  I also got a wonderful book by President Eyring.  Neal was excited to get some tools that my grandpa recommended for stage work.  We then took the elders home, and went home and watched a Muppets Christmas Carol (classic) and then opened one present each.  They were presents that we knew about already (I got him a pair of Vans he wanted, and he got me a pair of Reebok Tone-Up shoes).

Christmas Day was also quite fun.  We opened presents just the two of us Christmas morning.  It was quite funny because we both bought coats for each other.  So, Neal now has a new Carhartt work jacket, and I have a new plaid pea coat.  Our "pet possum" Maximus got us the movie Evan Almighty.  Church was absolutely marvelous.  The choir sang beautifully, and Neal's grandma spoke.  She did such a good job!  The spirit of joy was truly there, and you could see it in everyone's faces.  I also had a special moment with a lady in our ward (she gave Neal and me a compliment that absolutely made my heart soar).

After church we went to Neal's parents' house to open our presents from his side of the family.  We were given a lot of emergency prepardness items, which made me happy.  I've really been thinking a lot about food storage and emergency prepardness lately, so the gifts were perfect.  We then had a delicous dinner at Neal's aunt's house.  His uncle made some delightful sweet potatoes, which reminds me that I need to get the recepie for it!  After dinner we went down to my parents' house and enjoyed time with my family, Tommy, and Kayla.  My cousin Josh was on leave for Christmas, and I didn't think I would get to see him, but to my surprise, he was sitting on my parents' couch when I got there!  I was so excited to give my family their gifts, and it definitely seemed like they loved them!  We got all eight Harry Potter movies from my parents, which was super exciting!  Neal got a pair of gators for hunting, I got my traditional Christmas collectable Barbie, and my siblings gave us Iron Man (which we were also very excited about).

On Monday, we were able to hang out with Michael and Taylor Stones!  What a fun, fun, FUN evening!  We talked, played dance games on the Wii (including Michael Jackson...booyah!), ate pizza, and taught their family the game psychiatrist.  While playing the Wii, we discovered that Neal has a hidden talent for Wii dance games!  He and Michael also did this hip-shaking, Shakira dance, to which Taylor and I appropriately cat called.  It was QUITE entertaining.  It was so much fun to hang out with another married couple, and to enjoy playing and goofing around.

On Tuesday, Taylor had her baby shower at the Stones' house.  That was well good.  (PS.  That's not bad grammar...that's a British term).  This past week was the first time Taylor and I were able to actually hang out as friends.  The food was delicious, and I got some WONDERFUL pictures of Taylor.  She's super cute, and I can't wait for her and Michael to be parents.  They will do such a fantastic job.

We also left for our late season hunting trip on Tuesday.  It was kind of strange to just have my dad, my brother, and me up there...usually there are more people than that!  It was hard to be away from Neal for almost six days, but I survived.  This year was the weirdest year hunting-wise I've ever seen.  We didn't even get a shot at an elk.  That NEVER happens.  I have never come back from a late season hunting trip without my tag filled.  I guess Neal and I prayed for what we needed, and we didn't need an elk!  Luckily the deer I shot this year was REALLY big, so we were able to get plenty of meat off of that.

We came back from hunting on New Years Day.  Neal came and picked me up from my parents' house, and after I had showered and other such things, we went to his brother's house.  We had delicious brinner (breakfast and dinner...aka breakfast for dinner).  Robin got these cute little pancake molds for Christmas, and so we made Christmas pancakes (I got the hang of how to use them after about the fifth one).  We then watched Pirates of the Caribbean #4, and got to play with Ben.  Neal looked at me and told me we weren't allowed to have one yet.  Humph.  Hahaha.

Tech week for Anything Goes started at the Candlelight on Monday.  They are doing tech week differently this show, and honestly, I rather like it.  Neal's home at a decent time every night, and he's not as stressed as he usually it.  The set is beautiful, and the cast is amazing.  Quite a lot of talent on one stage!

Ok, now here's the big news.  I had to put it last to get you to read to the end :) hehehe.  Neal and I might be moving to.....*drum roll*....Manchester, England!  That's right!  Back to Neal's mission.  We were searching for sound engineering schools for him on the web, and discovered that he used to walk right by this school!  It is going to be a very exciting and scary road, but we are rather excited!  We're waiting on some information from the school, and after that it will be on to researching visas!  Updates will be posted on here :)

Thanksgiving: a week of gratitude

It's the holiday season, and I'm SO excited!

Our first Thanksgiving as a married couple was, to say the least, interesting.  Everything was normal until Neal went snowboarding on Wednesday while I was at work.  It has been unusually warm around Colorado for the last couple of weeks, and Wednesday was no exception.  Because of this, Neal decided he was not going to wear his helmet.  Now, usually he wears his helmet no matter what, but since he hasn't had any accidents, he wasn't worried.  Well, you can guess where this is going.  He called me about half way through the day to say he had come off a rail, landed, and then caught an edge.  This caused him to fall down and hit his head, HARD, on the snow.  He said he felt a little nauseous when he first got up, but that he felt ok.  However, by the time he came back to pick me up from work, he had a severe headache, was sensitive to light, was VERY groggy, and was feeling nauseous.  Yup.  He had a concussion.  So, for the rest of the evening and through the night, I woke him up every two and a half hours.  Thursday morning he felt a little bit better, but still seemed to be moving slow.  He's all fine and dandy now, and back to his normal self.  I am so grateful that nothing worse happened to him, as it very easily could have.  I know my prayers that he would be safe while snowboarding were answered.

We spent Thanksgiving day with my family.  I cooked my first goose, and took it down for dinner.  I was so excited and proud of myself!  We ate all kinds of yummy food, hung out with family, and then went home and......drum roll please.....set up our very first Christmas tree!!!!!!  I was so excited.  Neal has been so kind, loving, and has laughed quietly at me just a few times over this holiday season (I get REALLY excited!)  Our tree is very cute, and is already beginning to get a pile of presents underneath it.  One of these presents is one I bought for Neal that I am very excited about.  I can't post about it now though, because generally he reads these posts!

On Saturday, Neal, Shauna, Angela, and I went to the temple.  On kind of a tangent, I, very unfortunantly, found out today that the Denver Temple temple matron was killed this morning in a car accident.  President and Sister Baer were close friends of my grandparents, and any prayers would be greatly appreciated.  Ok.  Back to Thanksgiving week.  The temple was wonderful, as it always is.  I also got to have my very first IKEA experience.  I'm in love, I'm telling you.  If we ever buy a fixer-upper, I can tell you where we're going.  That evening, I took Amber to see Scrooge at the Candlelight.  It was a wonderful production, and we enjoyed it immensly.  If you're going, I highly recommend the chicken.

Yesterday (Sunday), we went to the Spotts house after church and had a pirate night.  We played Pirates Cove and Life: Twists and Turns (which Neal and I ROCKED at).  I made some buffalo chicken, and Steph made some rolls and we had yummy buffalo chicken sandwiches.  It was a very fun evening, and the de-stresser that I think many of us were in need of.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and hope you're looking forward to Christmas!

Our cute little Christmas tree :)