Attention Friends and Family

We need more blog friends. I am still relatively new to this whole thing and want to know what everyone is up to, but don't know how to locate people. Help us be more blogger social! Thanks :)

Bitter Lamentations of a Frustrated Young Lady

What is wrong with this world? I find myself asking this question more frequently as time passes on. From irresponsible drug addicts having babies and naming them things that are synonymous with drug lingo to State-run departments that completely FAIL to understand the importance of customer service. Just because you are backed by the government and have a small percentage of going under does not mean you need to abuse the general public with a smirk of pride that you work under the powers that be! This screams privatization, don't you think? Examples of my recent disgust in these institutions are the DMV and unfortunately the library. When were such impractical and petty policies implemented? Good heavens! I just want to read a classic to better my mind so I can help better this degenerate world!

Second frustration: People preparing to celebrate the Easter season, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our REDEEMER and SAVIOR, by going out the night before on "Fat Tuesday" and getting hammered into oblivion. Is this truly the best possible way to get out all your carnal desires in preparing for a "holy" journey, symbolic of the temptations Christ went through for 40 days and 40 nights? Irony is dripping all over this concept. Interesting that people release in such a fowl way to set themselves up to worship the most miraculous act of sacrifice and love known to mankind. What a shame it is that there is blatant ignorance of the fact that what people are doing in preparation of their thanks and alms-giving to the Lord is what actually caused Him to suffer.

Pull your heads from the buckets you are drowning yourselves in, people. Life is simple yet fragile and needs to be esteemed with the utmost regard. Think about your actions and their implications beforehand and what you represent. Stand for something true, just and uplifting!

Birthday Celebrations and Other Shenanigans

It was my birthday on January 26 and I am now 22! It may seem like baby years for some, but to me it feels so old! We had a fun, simple day together- I got a pedicure and we had dinner at PF Changs (which regrettably made us a bit sick). Don't mind the birthday cake. We got a bit hungry and ate 3/4 of the Funfetti cake the night before which resulted in having only 4 candles because there wasn't much room left on the cake. Who needs an accurate amount of candles anyway? The wish is still good, right? Right. We also celebrated with Ginger and James and that cake was a bit more official. When we arrived at their house we got a celebrity welcoming from the kiddos. They were screaming at the top of their lungs and nearly knocked us over as we came through the door. It was the greatest greeting I have ever received. We love living near them and enjoy the time we get to spend over there!

We have had the opportunity to explore AZ a bit better in the past few weeks! Last week we hung out with a few of the Tbird students that Matt went to Costa Rica with and went to dinner at an out-door mall type area called Westgate with some friends from our ward. The next night we went to the Coyotes hockey game with a company that Matt is working with. It was my first hockey game and needless to say, I LOVED it! What an exciting sport! Unfortunately there were no glove-throwing fist fights but maybe next time.

Other than that, we are just working and studying, the same old routine we all go through.

Superbowl was fun today and Matt is very thrilled about the Saints victory. Go Reggie Bush!

Happy 2010

So we pretty much stink at updating our amazing blog. I'm sitting here in Costa Rica on a Sunday morning with nothing better to do. Here's what has been happening since October (our last post).

For me, the rest of the USC football season was a total disappointment. Top talent, great head coach, and really crappy assistent coaches. This is probably a topic Abbey definitely wouldn't address, but it is a necessity and one of the biggest parts of my life. I received horrible news while here in CR, Pete Carroll is leaving. Sad, sad day. Life goes on.

The rest of the year for us was rather uneventful with school and everything. Abbey did very well at school and I had an average first semester at Thunderbird. I've enjoyed the international experiences that I've had, and met lots of interesting people.

We enjoyed Halloween and Thanksgiving with Ginger's family. They have been so good to us and have given us so many meals! They are a lot of fun to be with. I saw Ginger's real crazy side when the kids went to be early one night and Brady taught all of us to play Texas Hold Em'. She's almost as goofy as Abbey!

After finals ended, Abbey and I went to Disneyland. It was a great way to enjoy the holidays. It wasn't over crowded and the whole park was decorated for Christmas. Abbey fell in love with the place and immediately wanted to purchase season tickets for next year. Maybe down the road once we have some money and we'll think about purchasing some season tickets.

We went out to Chi-town for Christmas. It was a ton of fun and we went downtown and played Beatles rockband for hours. We watched a ton of movies and ate lots of junk food as well as some good home cooking. Abbey and I didn't get to celebrate New Years together because she had to return for work and it was cheaper for me to fly to Costa Rica than from Phoenix. Other than that, life is good!

We Are Still Alive

Hello, Blog. We have not forgotten you exist, we have just been a bit preoccupied with other demanding tasks. Where do I even begin to update everything we have done in the past month and a half!?

Our move went well and we are so grateful for all of those that helped back in the beginning of August. We live in Archstone Desert Harbor in Peoria, AZ now. The apartment is cute and a HUGE upgrade from our old place, however our neighbors are a bit more questionable. We are in an amazing ward and we had to speak 6 weeks from the first day we moved in! It went well and gave us an opportunity to introduce ourselves to everyone. We have made friends with a few of the younger families in the ward but we still haven't been assigned our callings yet!

Matt is loving Thunderbird, however he gets tired of being one of the few who can speak English fluently. He is learning a lot and is is becoming superior to us less educated beings as he, "has to read Newsweek, the NY Times, and TIME magazine on a daily basis to keep up on the market flow and business direction of our economy". He works at the Alumni call center and is one of their best collectors (of course).

I am working at Ann Taylor Loft and get crazy people yelling at me or PMSing women telling me what to do. OK, it really isn't that bad but being stuck in a estrogen packed store 25+ hours a week can be a little draining. I really like it though. I am one of the sales leads (even though I am their youngest employee) and the discount is AMAZING!! School at GCC is going well. I am taking Pilates, Yoga and Chem and am doing well so far. Just found out that I got a B- in my online Algebra course! So relieved that ship has come and sailed! Phew!

Matt and I hang out with his mission buddy Baldo and his wife Lauren quite a bit. They are a lot of fun and we had numeorus pool parties with them for the last bit of summer.

It is finally cooling down here! Love that I can wear a light jacket now instead of sweating 5 seconds after stepping outside.

Every Sunday we go out to James and Ginger's house for dinner and hanging out. Camri, Troy and Bode are hilarious and we have had a blast hanging out with them. They ask if we can make cookies everytime and love to dance. They are the happiest little children ever and we like getting to know them better.

Dianne and Aunt Janice were out here this weekend as they helped Grandma Murray move down here for her winter "Snowbird" season. We got the VIP tour of the Monte Vista community and think that we should buy one of the little houses. Some of them are so cute! It's like one step up from every girl's dream play house. Anyway, it was fun to see them and watch General Conference at G-ma's place.

I have nothing left to report. So long for now, Blog.

Toll House Cookies Rock My World

Erin Tobin just gave me the most delicious ice cream cookie in the world. Thanks, Erin!

Our Lives in July

So much has happened! Where do I begin?

Matt and I went to my sister's house in Idaho for the 4th. It is tradition to go to the town parade and festival. We barbecued, played with fireworks and relaxed.

Last weekend we had a trip to Salt Lake and went to visit the Sandlot house and field. Matt was like a giddy little boy, it was so cute! We will post the pics later, we are just super lazy right now. We also went around temple square and hung out at the History Museum. We ate the Pi, which is supposed to have the best pizza around but I got sick. Not a fan really.

My mom and dad have had 2 barbecues this month and have been quite the party throwers. We have had all the cousins up here and have just hung out, catching up with everyone.

Matt was accepted to Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, AZ! YAY! He is going to be getting his Masters of Science in Global Management. The program is basically covering finance, accounting, entrepreneurship, etc. and Matt would like to work internationally. I will be going back to school to continue my pursuit of a nursing degree. Woo hoo! We have a very exciting life ahead of us!

We just barely got approved for our apartment in Peoria, AZ. It is cute and we will get awesome tans sitting by the pool! My sister, Ginger, was so sweet to drive an hour and a half to go check it out for us and hooked us up with a sweet deal! Thanks, Ging!

I am a little nervous because we don't have jobs but it will all work out. I think I might apply to Nordstrom. Usually the super trendy, fashion-type scare me but I figure it would be a great way to make commission, especially in Arizona. Why not try something new? Anyway, we move August 8th and Tim, Matt's dad is helping us drive down. It will be fun to see him.

My brother Todd came to Utah for a long weekend so we have been up in Heber all weekend. My sister in law, Caren, invited us to her Mom's birthday party up at Heber Valley Girl's Camp, a notorious church camp here in Utah. We did the challenge course zip-line (which I thought I was going to fall off of getting across the 25 foot high wire!) and then went canoeing and volleyball. Caren made tin foil dinners and it was an all around good time. Matt went shooting and golfing with my brothers, Todd and Tyler, so he had an extremely active day. Later on that night, Matt, Todd, Tyler, and I had a 2 on 2 volleyball match. I think Matt and I are going to start playing volleyball a bit, so we can throw down in our next family match.

Mom made her famous roast dinner today. Yum, yum, yum! Everyone is now watching the Sandlot, again, so I better go be a good family member.