Fun Times Coming Around

Jonathan had an AMAZING week last week!! He sold 15 systems! The week before he only got 5! He never had a day where he did not get a sale, and he didn't even have any days where he sold only 1! It was just wonderful! I'm so proud of him! It is definitely encouraging and makes the thought of the rest of the summer even better! It also makes us a lot more confident about our choice to stay out here for another year! It is really going to be a good opportunity for us and I am excited for this next year!! Jon also already has 2 sales today! He has not had a day where he didn't sale anything for the past 9 selling days! That is so awesome!

Jon also decided that since we'll have the extra time, he wants to extend our Italy trip in December. He said it would be cheaper if we left a week earlier and came back a week later due to the holidays. So, we have extended our trip so that we leave on December 14th and come back on January 14th! A whole month vacation! It is going to be absolutely amazing!! I am really glad that we have the opportunity to do this, to be able to look back on our lives in 50 years and know that we got to do something like this, we might not ever get this change again! We still need to actually book everything, but we have a lot of it planned. We'll fly to New York for a few days, then spend a few days in Paris and a few days in London before heading to Italy! We'll be taking the train all of the time, except for when we take a boat to the island. We'll be spending Christmas and New Years with some of the members that Jon knew on his mission. I am WAY excited for our trip and I'm planning on spending a little of time figuring out the best way to take pictures so that we can remember it all well!! We are also planning on taking a road trip sometime around Octoberish when we'll be getting ready to move so we can start working with a Pinnacle year round office. That's going to be really fun as well!

My family is coming to visit in a few weeks! They'll be here June 6th and I can't wait. We still aren't entirely sure what we'll do with them while they are here, but I am so excited to have them here! I really miss them! They decided to move back to Utah, which they hope to do by the beginning of July. I'm a little surprised that they decided to do that, but I know they'll be happier! I just wish they had decided that while I was there to enjoy them! Haha. But we have great memories down in Arizona that I wouldn't trade for the world!!

I'm having a great time out here in Elk Grove! It's so fun! The schedule is hard to get used to, but we work hard and play hard. School is going well. I should be done is a few weeks! I just hope that finding a job won't be too hard. Our kitties had a hard time getting used to being out here. Zephyr got real quiet and shy for a while and Asrielle could do nothing but wander around and cry for attention. They are doing better now though. I'm having a good time with the people out here! There are all amazing!! I've gotten to spend a lot of time with Ethan and Misty! I am SO glad that they decided to come out with us! We have so much fun with them! Misty is due to have her baby in 6 weeks! I'm way excited for them! I've also enjoyed spending time with the other wives and ladies! They're the greatest and I'm glad I get to spend the summer with such wonderful people!!

OH! And thank you so much Mom and Dad Peterson for fixing our laptop! I had spilled a drink on it last summer and lost everything we had on it! Including pictures of our first year of marriage! I don't know how he did it but Dad fixed it! We took it to professionals who couldn't do anything with it! Now, not only do we get our files back but the laptop works just fine! I can't wait to get it back!! I'm just amazed! I'm so glad they tried to fix instead of just giving it away to D.I. like we asked! You're the best!!!

So, lots of fun things to look forward too and I feel really blessed that they get to happen!

Time For A Change

I decided recently that I was really in need, or want, of a change. I really want to change up my style. No more t-shirts... okay, at least not for going out. I want to actually have some style. I want to have nice clothes that I look really good in. I want to do stuff with my hair instead of throwing it up in a ponytail all the time. I'm tired of looking like a teenager. I need to change my style so I can look and feel more my age. So, if anyone has any tips on how to dress stylishly, find good clothes, and change my daily hairstyle, I would REALLY appreciate it!!

Jon is doing really well. He sold 4 yesterday and was #19 in the company for that day! It was awesome! His first sale was just amazing! He sold it to a couple who just moved into a new 3-story home! The guy was pretty rich because he had a family member that worked at a company... I can't remember the company... It's kinda lame, because he never had to really work for his money, but still. It was a 45 point system!! And for those of you who don't understand how big that actually is, they usually give out between 5-10 points, so it was huge!! Jon got to charge them a lot of extra money and made at least 2 or 3 times more on that sale than a normal one! It was great! It also took the technician 6 hours to get it done!! And then to get 3 more... yeah, it was a great day for him!! Good job Babe!!

I am almost done with my medical transcriptioning program. I sat down today and figured how much work I have to do before I get to my final. I'm in the last stretch and have 165 more dictations to transcribe. That's a pretty big number to look at, but I split it up. I am hoping to finish with it by June 5th. My parents will be here on June 6th, so it's a perfect time. That's about 16 days, including today, that I have to actually work, so minus Sundays. So really, I only have to do about 11 a day!! That's awesome!! I can TOTALLY do that! I'm way excited about it and feel a lot more motivated to actually work! Wish me luck!!

Jonathan's 24th Birthday

Jon turned 24 yesterday!! It's always weird when his birthday comes around. The rest of the year he is only 3 years older than me. But during the summer he 4 (in numbers) years older. I'm 20 until the end of August.

I have always been bad at holidays. Any day that I have to get Jon something or celebrate in one way or another; Christmas, Valentines Day, his birthday, our anniversary, etc.... I just dread it. I never know what to get for him or how to celebrate. I am getting a little bit better though.

Jon came home from selling to find that I had decorated the house "The Office" style. I had decorations up, including pictures of Hilary Swank, the pervert Dwight poster, the H.E.R.O. lesson, the poster of Dwight (D- determined, W-Worker, etc), the Dwight Schrute Workplace sign, crossword puzzles, the diversity day cards, and, of course, The Office sign!! We bought pizza for dinner (from 'Alfredo's Pizza Cafe'). We had ice cream sandwiches, M&Ms, Altoids, tuna sandwiches, grape soda, and brownies. Yes, every single one of those things has to do with The Office! It was pretty fun and he got a good laugh out of it! We had our friends Ethan and Misty come over. They are fans of The Office too. We then watched the new episode of The Office. I'm pretty sure it was the season finale! 'Company Picnic!' Great episode! Anyway! We had tons of fun!!

I got him a few small gifts for his birthday, but we are having mail problems. I got everything off of ebay or the internet, and NOTHING got here for his birthday. It really sucked, but he didn't seem to mind too much. He'll get them eventually!

Anyway, I think I did a pretty good job this year! Now I need to start thinking about next year so I don't screw that one up either! lol!

Also, we decided to defer Jon's acceptance to medical school. We'll go next year instead of this year. In the meanwhile, Jon will get to stay with Pinnacle and make some really great money. The main reason we decided to wait was for the experience, not the money. It's going to be great to spend this extra time together to prepare in order for us to really enjoy medical school and each other. We feel good about it and are ready to start kickin' our butts working!!

Medical School/Pinnacle Dilemma

Jon and I are trying to decide what we should do. We got an offer that allowed us the choice to take a year off of school, which would mean that Jon could not only work for Pinnacle for another summer, but for the rest of the year in between as well. It's a great opportunity and we are not sure what would be best for us. We have made a list of pros and cons for both and have numbered them in order of importance.

Pros For Going to Medical School Now1. Jon would be a doctor faster.
2. We would have to move less and get to settle down.
3. Jon is already in 'school mode'.
4. Jon would be done selling.
5. It's a good time to buy a house.
6. We would be settled in before I got pregnant.
7. It is what we already had planned to do.

Cons for Going to Medical School Now1. We would unstable financially.
2. Our schedule would become busy more quickly.
3. It would be harder for me to find a job (in order to buy a house/condo).
4. We might not be in a position to buy a house/condo.
5. We might not get to go on our Italy trip.

Pros for Waiting a Year and Working for Pinnacle1. We would make more money and be financially stable.
2. Medical school has a rigorous schedule and it would be nice to have the extra time to prepare.
3. Jon would able to focus on school better because he wouldn't have to worry so much about money.
4. We would have a higher quality of life.
5. It would give me more time to find a job.
6. It would be great to have the extra 16 months to spend together.
7. It would be less stress to deal with right now.
8. We would get to go to Italy.

Cons for Waiting a Year and Working for Pinnacle1. Jon would have to sell for an entire year.
2. Jon might lose his Pinnacle fire, burn out, and have a hard time selling.
3. It would be longer until Jon is a Doctor.
4. Jon might not get the grant money that he would for this fall.
5. Jon might lose his medical school fire.
6. Jon might forget stuff he had already learned in school.
7. We would have to do more moving.
8. It would be longer until we would buy a house/condo.
9. We would have to move while I was pregnant.
10. We wouldn't know immediately where we would be moving.

We are still trying to decide what to do and we only have 1 more day to do it. So hopefully we can find an answer. Wish us luck! If you have any opinions we would be happy to hear them!

Graduation & Moving

Jonathan graduated from the University of Utah on May 8th, 2009!! He got a Bachelors of Arts degree in Spanish with a Minor in Chemistry! I am so proud of him! He worked so hard and, even when he hated doing it, he still made sure his homework got done, even though sometimes it meant he had to stay up until 4:30 in the morning to do it! I can't even begin to count the nights that I fell asleep on the couch waiting for him to be ready to go to bed! He is such a hard worker and I admire the way he always makes sure to do what needs to be done, even if he doesn't like it.

The day he graduated was fairly hectic. We had to be at the Huntsman Center an hour before the ceremony started. I decided to go with him rather than go with his family since they were going to be late. It turned out okay because I met up with Kira and got to sit with her. Erick was graduating too. The ceremony was long and pretty boring, but when I got to see Jon afterwards it made it all worth it. He was so happy and excited!! For lunch we went to This Is The Place Heritage Park and ate on a table in the pavilion. It was pretty windy and a lot colder than I thought it was going to be, but it was nice to eat. After that we went back to the Huntsman Center for the commencement or something like that, where he actually goes up and gets his diploma. That was long too, but a bit more exciting since Jon actually got to do something! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home and ended up only taking pictures on my phone and with Jon's parent's camera. Of all days to forget my camera.... *sigh* Oh well. I'll just have to get copies from his parents!

It was an awesome day and very exciting! We went on a date later that evening as a 'last date in Utah' kind of idea. We went to Settebello for dinner, drove past the Salt Lake Temple where we got married, drove past the park where Jon proposed, and parked up the hill where we could see the whole valley while we drank Sparkling Cider! It was fun and we got a chance to talk and think back on our time there! We have some great memories! For his graduation, Jon's parents gave him a large painting by Walter Rane called Jehovah Creates The Earth. Jon has always loved the painting and now it is the center piece of our front room. It's amazing and we love it!

The next day, May 9th, we moved down to California for the summer! We had breakfast with Jon's family and then headed out! The drive was a little harder than the past since we only had one car and barely enough room to sit comfortably. Poor Jon, he's so tall, he had to have his legs bent for the entire drive. He's such a good sport. I got lots of PEZ at a gas station! I love PEZ! SO yummy!! The cats weren't too happy to be stuck in their crates for so long, but they got used to it and slept most of the time. They even ate and drank some water, which usually never happens when we have to travel with them! We got to California around 8ish and had plenty of time to unload the car and go to the hot tub! We've had a good weekend! We're all settled in and ready to start the summer!! We rented a movie Saturday night as well. That was interesting! We didn't get a new release and it was still $3.00!!! We got so used to only having to pay 49 cents for a movie that we just couldn't believe it!! That's 6 times what we usually spend!! We decided we should sign up for Netflix rather than spend that much money! Haha!

On an unrelated note, we find ourselves suddenly in a dilema that we did not expect! We got an e-mail from the University of Michigan saying that if we wanted to, they could hold Jon's acceptance for a year so we could spend the next year doing whatever we want! We did not expect to have this choice. That means that Jon could work for Pinnacle again next summer, PLUS the rest of the year in between! That's a lot of money we could make that would help us be better off for medical school. We could get a nicer condo or house, live more comfortably, and have a really great time! On the downside, we'd be a year behind in Medical School then we planned to be. There are a lot of ups and downs for both ideas and we aren't sure what we want to do. Oh, and we have less than a week to decide! At the moment we are leaning towards just going to Medical School. We are planning to go to the temple on Wednesday and hopefully that will help, but it sure is a twist in our story that we didn't expect!

So, it's been quite the busy week, but we are WAY excited to finally be out here in California for the summer and to getting closer to Medical School!! Things are great and we couldn't be happier!!

Here a few pictures from the last couple of days:

Jon's last day of school (he decided not to shave until he took his last test) and me sleeping uncomfortably in the car with the kitties.

Jon in the grass in our front yard on the day we moved. It got really long! And my PEZ!!!

Jon with his Settebello pizza and the Welcome To California sign! Unfortunately the windshield was pretty dirty so the camera decided to focus on that instead of the sign! Lol!

Our Last Weekend In Utah

Last weekend was full of activities with people that we won't get to see for a while. On Friday we spent the day with Jon's family. We went to the aquarium then had a BBQ and played games. We originally were going to go to the zoo, but decided on the aquarium when Jon's brother, who used to work at the aquarium, told us that we could get a personal tour of the back end of the aquarium that no one gets to see. We were pretty excited about it. Unfortunately, the guy who said he would give us the tour wasn't there so we just walked through the aquarium like everyone else. We were disappointed but it was still fun and we got to see the new part of the aquarium that wasn't there last time we went. That was neat. We had a really good time with his family! It was lots of fun!!

On Saturday we spent the day with Erick and Kira!! They came over and we had chips, salsa, guacamole, and limeade while we played a game. None of us had ever played it but it was really fun! It's called Imagine If! It was really fun! Then we played Guitar Hero until we got all Guitar Heroed out and waited for 7:45 to roll around so we could head to dinner! We were all very excited for dinner and waiting wasn't very easy. Finally, at 7:35, Jon decided he was done waiting so we left 10 minutes early! We went to Happy Sumo for dinner!! It's the last time we get to go before we move and it was great!! We had to wait for about 20 minutes before we could be seated so we went to Buckle and tried on hats and shoes! When they called we practically ran back to the restaurant!! We tried a lot of new rolls and got a few of our favorites! Each couple got 6 rolls of sushi, which made 12 at our small table of 4. Our waitress asked us if we really wanted that much. It was kinda funny, and yes, we ate every bite!! It was so delicious!! After dinner we went to the Off Broadway Theatre for their improv show called Laughing Stock. It was really funny and we had a such a great time!! Saying goodbye to our friends was really hard and I almost got emotional, but it's so nice to know that we'll stay in touch and that just because both of us are headed off to medical school doesn't mean our friendship is over. We love them so much!!

On Sunday we had Jon's family over for dinner, including his sister Sarah and her husband Adam, and Grandma and Grandpa too. We made Mexican burritos! There was SO much stuff! We started cooking about 4 hours before everyone showed up!! We did the burritos Chipotle/taco truck style and they were SO good! Everyone loved them! We also made limeade again! We've gone through about 10 pounds of limes in the last week on limeade alone! We've made it almost every night! It's delicious!! We also played a new game called 'Would You Rather...?.' It was lots of fun! We were really happy to see Adam and Sarah, and Grandma and Grandpa too. We know we won't get to see them for a while either.

So, all-in-all, it was a really great weekend! We had lots of fun and got to see lots of wonderful people! We are moving in about 5 days and are way excited!! Also, I don't have to worry about people coming to look through the house anymore! The bank has had 3 offers for the house and are working on those, so it's officially off the market now! We were happy to let people through and it wasn't too big of a deal, but it's nice to have it over with too!

Video HQ

There is this fabulous movie rental store just down the street from us. It used to be a Hollywood Video, but then changed to a Video HQ. It's FABULOUS! You can rent movies for 49 cents a night!! And new releases are 99 cents a night!! Due to the extremely low prices, Jon and I go there A LOT!! We rent movies there at least once a week, sometimes more. You can't imagine the number of movies we have rented in the last few months. I'm really going to miss this store when we move. Not only is cheap, but since we go there so often at least half of the staff know who we are! I find that fact very satisfying! I like the feeling of being recognized by strangers. I suppose it's like the feeling of going to a coffee shop so much that the workers know what your 'regular' drink is. I really like it and I'm going to miss that as well. Jon and I have to decided to take advantage of this store as much as we can until we move! We're going to have a lot of at home movie dates in the new 2 weeks!

Buffets and Truckers

So, Jon and I went to Buffet City tonight for dinner. It's fairly new so we decided that we would try it. I forgot it was a Chinese buffet so that was a little bummer, but it was okay. Personally, I'm not really a fan of buffets. I'm not saying that there aren't some good ones, but for the most part, I think that if you have to cook food fast and in such large quantities so you can feed people as much as they want to eat doesn't equal good food... This one was about the same as most others. It was fine, but not great. They did have sushi though, so it was better, but still not great.

Anyway, so we were sitting at our both and the table next to us was full of a bunch of Truckers. Apparently they all knew each other and had planned to stop at this buffet to enjoy dinner together. It was really entertaining! They were the classic Truckers; a bit grungy looking, dressed in Nascar attire, talking in southwestern accents... it was great! They started talking about work and all the stops they have to go through. Apparently their connection to dispatch was being dumb and they were all pretty frustrated. "I can't be on the phone for an hour! I gotta drive!", spoken in a fairly heavy southwestern accent. It was really quite funny and made for a nice entertainment with our dinner! It was pretty fun!

On another unrealed note, Jon and I were talking and I randomly brought up last night's epidsode of House. Jon made a fabulous joke, but I have to share the background of the episode in order for you to understand. So, if you haven't seen that episode: **** Spoiler Alert ****
So the basic gist of the episode (or the part that matters for the joke's sake) is that House is planning a bachelor party for Chase. Wilson tells House that he won't go to the party because he always ends up doing something to embarress himself. House pretends he doesn't care and ends up planning the party at Wilson's apartment to force him to come. During the party, Chase is about to leave, mostly drunk, when the team convince him to have one more drink, a body shot on a stripper. He agrees and takes the body shot. Only she is wearing a strawberry body butter (apparently made with real strawberries). Chase is allergic to strawberry, very allergic, and ends up in the hospital.

So, this is what happened while we were talking.
Me: "House tried to kill Chase!!"
Jon: "Yeah! With a strawberry flavored stripper!" *pause to think* "It was House, in Wilson's apartment, with a stawberry flavorted stripper!" (Referring to the game of Clue!)

I laughed so hard! It was great!!

Michiganders

Jonathan and I got back from Ann Arbor last night. It was 81 degrees when we left and only 45 degrees here in Utah when we got here. Too cold. I thought it was funny because whenever we tell people that we are moving to Michigan they tell us how cold it is, yet it was colder here the whole time we were in Michigan.

We found out today that Jon is still on the wait list at Washington, so that puts us back at knowing that we are going to Michigan! It's a bittersweet thing. I decided that I really do love Ann Arbor. I wasn't so sure at first, but the longer we stayed there and the more I saw of it, the more I grew to love it! It's pretty humid there. I wasn't really expecting that since it's not on the ocean, I suppose it's due to the lakes or something. I heard opposite opinions about the winter. Some people said it was about the same as Utah, and others said it was absolutely terrible and freezing. I like the snow, but I don't like the cold too much, so I can't really win. I decided not to worry about it too much since I'll be working at home anyway and won't really have to go outside in the winter anyway. So, there you go. I get to see the snow and stay warm in my house. Haha.

We took a walk around one of the parks in Ann Arbor, it goes around a part of the Huron river. It was so pretty. We saw a lot of pretty birds that we don't see here in Utah, so that was cool. And, oh my gosh, they have SO many raccoons there!! I didn't see any live ones, but about every mile or so there were dead ones on the side of the road. No more dead cats! That's cool. They look pretty funny actually, I hope that doesn't sound mean. I'm sure you don't want me to go into detail about the roadkill. ;)

Anyway, I'm excited to be living there! It seems like a lot of fun and it really is very nice and pretty. The mall was really nice too! Sweet!!

A Turn Of Events

So, here we are in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is 'second look weekend' for the medical students who are thinking about attending the school next fall. Jon has only been accepted to The University of Michigan, though he did at least get wait-listed at a few other schools. So, naturally, we assumed this is where we would be. We have been looking around at a few homes with a realtor and have decided to buy a condo instead of a house. We don't have anything picked out yet of course, it's a long, stressful process.

It is beautiful out here, the weather is nice (at the moment), and I think we would do well here. The people seem really great and the atmosphere is exciting! Jon's Aunt and Uncle live a little less than an hour away, and that should be a good thing for us, and probably for them. No one on our side of the family really comes up to visit them as everyone else lives in Utah... I feel bad for them.

We recently found out that Jon might be able to get into The Washington University in St. Louis. We aren't sure yet but if he can, it changes everything! We might actually have more of a choice on where to go. Washington University has a higher rating than Michigan, but both schools are great! Jon likes Ann Arbor better than St. Louis (I've never been to St. Louis, so I don't know), but he likes Washington a little better than Michigan. Though he really loves Michigan as well. It's hard for me, because I've seen it here in Michigan and have seen a little of the school too, but I have no idea what St. Louis is really like! We are thinking that we are going to see who will give us better financing to help us decide. It's overwhelming. I don't know how I feel. I can't decide where I want to be, where we should start raising our family. I know he will do well at either school... There are just a lot of pluses and minuses to consider....

On another note, being here in Ann Arbor and meeting some of the people that Jon will be going to school with has been really fun and interesting and even a little sad. We went to a dinner last night with about 10 or so other people. Some of the people haven't started medical school yet (Mo), and there were a few people that were in their 1st and 2nd years of school (M1 and M2). It was such a weird feeling to be there. We had dinner and some people had wine. After dinner they offered out beers that are supposed to be really good. By the end of the night, everyone had had a beer except for us. It was such an eye-opening experience. I had heard a lot about the 'bubble' that Utah is in, and I really understood how much that is true last night. I like being outside of the 'bubble'! It feels real! I can't explain it better than that, but I like it!

Also, it really made me sad to be with other people here, even some of the married LDS couples that we met. It made me REALLY wish that our dear friends Erick and Kira were going to be with us, that we could all go to the same school. I am going to miss them so much and it really hit me so much last night. I am really going to try super hard to make sure that we don't loose touch. There are so many things I love about them, including the many ways that they are so similar to Jon and I. I love them so much and I am going to miss them dearly. We love you guys!

We'll keep you updated on what we find out on Monday. Until then, Ciao!!