We have been in St. G now for almost 6 weeks (well I have anyways) and we are starting to settle in. We are slowly getting unpacked. The garage is still stacked with boxes but at least now the pile is somewhat less chaotic and we are making some headway.
We are still adjusting to the 100˚ heat and to life in the desert without to much difficulty so far. We haven't turned off the AC since we moved into our little place, and we are learning that we do just have to accept the fact that we have to just share some things with the bugs.
A few days ago Kim had her official welcome to the desert. She found a small scorpion in the house. It was about 2” from tip to tail so it wasn’t very big BUT was still a scorpion. She tried to smash it with a shoe but those little devils are tough and are hard to kill. Corben ended up smashing it with a heavy wood block. Neither of them had the stomach to scrape up the carcass so they left it for me to clean up when I got home from work. Later that night as she recounted the event to me I made the comment that it could have been worse………”How could it have been worse it was a scorpion in the house?” ….”it could have been a snake…..now that would have freaked me out I hate snakes!
Now I thought that I was in a great place and that life just couldn't get much better that it is. My job here at DSC is absolutely fantastic, I love what I am doing and things are just going great, in fact just today as of about an hour ago I finally got an office. The communication faculty just moved into their new space, (since they are the new 4yr degree on campus someone decided that they should all be together in the same building as most of their class space) so now I have a nice big office with huge windows. I no longer have to carry my office in my backpak. Now all I need is some stuff to go in it. I have so little that it's still going to look empty after I unpack. I'll have to get some pictures and maybe some toys or something.
On to other bits of excitement........
Kim told me the news and pass around the cigars, we are going to have another baby. She is just about 8 or so weeks along and has been feeling like poop on a stick for lack of a better description. So moving has not been particularly easy on her but she is doing OK and things are only going to get interesting as we get farther along. We went to the first visit to the OB Doc today and so far everything is normal and good. It is going to be fun to see how Cooper reacts to all of this especially the farther along mom gets. Morgan was 2 when Cooper was born and one her first comments after he got home was " its too loud can we put it back" Right now Morgan and Cooper fight over mommy's lap so it might get a little hairy when they have to share mom with yet one more.
I will get some pics up of our new digs here as soon as I remember to download them from camera
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Well it has been 1 week now in the new digs. The garage is full and the storage unit is empty. Corben has settled into school and actually likes his teachers and his classes. Much to my surprize seminary is his favorite class. I wouldn't have held out hope for that one, but miricles do happen.
It has been just me and Corben here unloading. I can't say unpacking as we have only unpacked enough to survive. A few utensils, plates, cups, pans, some bedding, the TV and DVD player and the stereo, you know basic needs kind of stuff. The kitachen is full of boxes, the little room that Morgan and Cooper will share is full of boxes. Corben's room is mostly set up and I have set up my bed but thats about it for now.
We decided to wait for Kim to join us down here before attempting to set up to much especially the kitchen. But next week hopefully we will start to get more settled after Kim and the little ones join us in the heat.
Next week I will post pictures of our little house and stuff.
It has been just me and Corben here unloading. I can't say unpacking as we have only unpacked enough to survive. A few utensils, plates, cups, pans, some bedding, the TV and DVD player and the stereo, you know basic needs kind of stuff. The kitachen is full of boxes, the little room that Morgan and Cooper will share is full of boxes. Corben's room is mostly set up and I have set up my bed but thats about it for now.
We decided to wait for Kim to join us down here before attempting to set up to much especially the kitchen. But next week hopefully we will start to get more settled after Kim and the little ones join us in the heat.
Next week I will post pictures of our little house and stuff.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Living in a Box!
Well we have now moved. We have actually been here in St. George for almost a week now, and we are living in the hotel. It's not exactly a box but it sure feels like it. Kim and the kids left with grandma and grandpa on Thursday (Aug 8) to head back to Salt Lake for a few weeks to help out her mom, while her dad goes out of town.
Meanwhile I am still here in my "box" trying to get my ducks in a row in order to start teaching my classes. I feel a little overwhelmed with the teaching load I have been given. I am teaching Intro to Stagecraft, Sound Design and Scene Design this semester. The intro class is one I have been teaching at USU for 2 years now so that one is no worries, The other two are definitely not my strong areas but it will be OK, it will be interesting but it will be OK.
I'm trying to convince myself OK, I'm not sure it's working yet but time will tell.
The real estate market is outrageous there are 6000 empty houses in Washington County right now. Most of those are either for sale or fore-closures with enormous price tags attached to them Some of these are rentals but again most of what we looked out were way way out of our price range or really really dumpy. Here in St. George since it is the fastest growing community in the country right now and a college town, the rental market is fiercely competitive. You either live in a nice but compact space or a really crappy house for what most salaries down here can afford or you live well beyond your means and pay as much in rent as most people pay for a mortgage.
We finally did find a house to rent that will at least get us by for a time. It's a cute little town home 3 bedroom, 2 bath, small 2 car garage. We can't move in until Wednesday but what ever we have a place that we will be able to call home. We hope to be able to buy a house here by this time next year, but we'll see how reality goes I guess.
Meanwhile I am still here in my "box" trying to get my ducks in a row in order to start teaching my classes. I feel a little overwhelmed with the teaching load I have been given. I am teaching Intro to Stagecraft, Sound Design and Scene Design this semester. The intro class is one I have been teaching at USU for 2 years now so that one is no worries, The other two are definitely not my strong areas but it will be OK, it will be interesting but it will be OK.
I'm trying to convince myself OK, I'm not sure it's working yet but time will tell.
The real estate market is outrageous there are 6000 empty houses in Washington County right now. Most of those are either for sale or fore-closures with enormous price tags attached to them Some of these are rentals but again most of what we looked out were way way out of our price range or really really dumpy. Here in St. George since it is the fastest growing community in the country right now and a college town, the rental market is fiercely competitive. You either live in a nice but compact space or a really crappy house for what most salaries down here can afford or you live well beyond your means and pay as much in rent as most people pay for a mortgage.
We finally did find a house to rent that will at least get us by for a time. It's a cute little town home 3 bedroom, 2 bath, small 2 car garage. We can't move in until Wednesday but what ever we have a place that we will be able to call home. We hope to be able to buy a house here by this time next year, but we'll see how reality goes I guess.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Moving day is coming way to fast
Moving day is coming up on us way too fast.
Reality is going to punch us right in the face in exactly ONE WEEK!
We still have so much to do here before we can even think about getting to St. George. Kim has been packing since February and has eliminated alot of unnecessary stuff. We have taken several loads to DI and have filled the dumpster several times over but there is still so much stuff.
To add to the stress of moving we have yet to find a place to live in St. G. We have been down twice in the last 6 weeks and have left empty handed each time. Everything we looked at was either really really tiny or really trashed or way out of our affordable price range. If we were in the immediate market to purchase a home there is lots available but the rental market is really competetive and without being there to see anything it has been extremely difficult to find anything that meets our needs. We have been really spoiled here in Logan we have a 3 bdr. 2 ba. townhouse with almost 2000sqf of space. It is hard to go from that to a 3bdr/2ba 1100sqf shoebox. Almost everything we looked at was so tiny that it would be almost impossible for us to survive in for any length of time. But I guess we can deal with anything for a time. Hopefully we can just find an acceptable place that meets our budget constraints and then maybe we can all just suck it up and deal with the compact closeness until we are in a better position to be able to buy a house that hopefully meets our size needs a little better.
So we pick up the moving truck on Saturday morning and load withthe help of the elders and the young men of our ward and Monday I get to head down to St. G. I'll pick up my co-pilot (my buddy Spanky) in Utah County on the way through. We'll drive on to sunny southern Utah and find a storage unit in St. George where we will offload everything and then we will turn right around and head back to meet Kim and the kids in Salt Lake.
While we are in SLC we are planning on having a big BBQ smell ya later party at her parents house (i'll email details in a day or two) on Aug 2 then we load the kids up in the van and we all head south again. I know it sounds like a lot of driving but it seems to be the best idea we could come up with in order for Kim to not have to drive 5+ hours by herself with the kids. (Cooper is not a happer traveller)
So the adventure continues..... we are heading out on a wing and a prayer hoping that we aren't homeless for too long as we look for a place. As soon as we have an address we will gladly share it with everyone. Until then please keeps us in your prayers......we are going to need all the help we can get.
there should be a few recent pics for your enjoyment, but we seem to be having technical difficulties today so I'll try to get them hopefully in tomorrow.
Reality is going to punch us right in the face in exactly ONE WEEK!
We still have so much to do here before we can even think about getting to St. George. Kim has been packing since February and has eliminated alot of unnecessary stuff. We have taken several loads to DI and have filled the dumpster several times over but there is still so much stuff.
To add to the stress of moving we have yet to find a place to live in St. G. We have been down twice in the last 6 weeks and have left empty handed each time. Everything we looked at was either really really tiny or really trashed or way out of our affordable price range. If we were in the immediate market to purchase a home there is lots available but the rental market is really competetive and without being there to see anything it has been extremely difficult to find anything that meets our needs. We have been really spoiled here in Logan we have a 3 bdr. 2 ba. townhouse with almost 2000sqf of space. It is hard to go from that to a 3bdr/2ba 1100sqf shoebox. Almost everything we looked at was so tiny that it would be almost impossible for us to survive in for any length of time. But I guess we can deal with anything for a time. Hopefully we can just find an acceptable place that meets our budget constraints and then maybe we can all just suck it up and deal with the compact closeness until we are in a better position to be able to buy a house that hopefully meets our size needs a little better.
So we pick up the moving truck on Saturday morning and load withthe help of the elders and the young men of our ward and Monday I get to head down to St. G. I'll pick up my co-pilot (my buddy Spanky) in Utah County on the way through. We'll drive on to sunny southern Utah and find a storage unit in St. George where we will offload everything and then we will turn right around and head back to meet Kim and the kids in Salt Lake.
While we are in SLC we are planning on having a big BBQ smell ya later party at her parents house (i'll email details in a day or two) on Aug 2 then we load the kids up in the van and we all head south again. I know it sounds like a lot of driving but it seems to be the best idea we could come up with in order for Kim to not have to drive 5+ hours by herself with the kids. (Cooper is not a happer traveller)
So the adventure continues..... we are heading out on a wing and a prayer hoping that we aren't homeless for too long as we look for a place. As soon as we have an address we will gladly share it with everyone. Until then please keeps us in your prayers......we are going to need all the help we can get.
there should be a few recent pics for your enjoyment, but we seem to be having technical difficulties today so I'll try to get them hopefully in tomorrow.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
As one ends a new adventure always begins
Well we are coming to the end of the first chapter. We have been in Logan now for 5 years while going to school at Utah State University. This past May I finally finished my MFA in Theatre Technology, and of course it was then time to start looking for a job.
I actually started looking way back in November 2006. I sent out resume after resume and scores of portfolios of CD. By the time school ended I had phone interviews with 4 different universities looking for a Technical Dierctor, but no followup scheduled. With in a few days of my phone interview with them, I was invited out to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a second interview and to meet them as they showed me around and really tried to do a shmooze job on me. They made me quite a respectable offer but I ended up turning that down as it just didn't feel like the right place. turning down a job offer when there is nothing else on the line yet is really a gut wrenching feeling. You worry if you made the right decision, you worry and hope that there will be another job around the corner, you worry that the job around the corner will be at least as good as the offer declined.
I knew that I had made the right decision though, as there soon was 2 more very favorable interviews that both led to second interviews and finally (very comparable) offers on the table. I had to decide between going into the academic world of theatre or go pro. I had to decide if teaching was something I really wanted to do or do I want to just run a faculity. Both jobs had their pros and cons. The proffessional job was with Provo City's brand new still being constructed Performing Arts Center. This job would have put me compeletly in charge of the center. The other job was a brand new faculty position at Dixie State College in St. George.
Both offers came in on the same day and gave me 48 hrs to decide the fate of the rest of not just my life but the fate of Kim and the kids as well.
Well after much agonizing deliberation I chose to go to St. George. So we will see how this polar bear does in 110 heat.
I officially start July 1, but I really don't have to be there until Aug 10. It is a 9 month appointment on a 12 month pay contract. It will be nice to have my summers off to do what ever adventure we want to seek.
I am actually really excited for this job, I think it is going to turn out to be a great thing. I get to teach technical theatre and build a tech program in an allready successful acting program. I think that there is some incredible oppurtunities that lie ahead in and around St. George for me.
Kim is getting excited and Corben has accepted it and the little bears really don't care all that much. Morgan might have a bit of a hard time at first but she will recover quick and soon not even miss her little pals here in Logan.
It will be hard to leave Logan, we have all grown pretty attached to the area. This is our home, this is where we have spent our entire married life, this is where our life began together, so yes it will be hard to leave but at the same time we are all getting excited for the new adventures that lie ahead.
I will be getting some pics uploaded soon and don't forget to come back for more Bear family adventures. The fun is just beginning!
I actually started looking way back in November 2006. I sent out resume after resume and scores of portfolios of CD. By the time school ended I had phone interviews with 4 different universities looking for a Technical Dierctor, but no followup scheduled. With in a few days of my phone interview with them, I was invited out to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a second interview and to meet them as they showed me around and really tried to do a shmooze job on me. They made me quite a respectable offer but I ended up turning that down as it just didn't feel like the right place. turning down a job offer when there is nothing else on the line yet is really a gut wrenching feeling. You worry if you made the right decision, you worry and hope that there will be another job around the corner, you worry that the job around the corner will be at least as good as the offer declined.
I knew that I had made the right decision though, as there soon was 2 more very favorable interviews that both led to second interviews and finally (very comparable) offers on the table. I had to decide between going into the academic world of theatre or go pro. I had to decide if teaching was something I really wanted to do or do I want to just run a faculity. Both jobs had their pros and cons. The proffessional job was with Provo City's brand new still being constructed Performing Arts Center. This job would have put me compeletly in charge of the center. The other job was a brand new faculty position at Dixie State College in St. George.
Both offers came in on the same day and gave me 48 hrs to decide the fate of the rest of not just my life but the fate of Kim and the kids as well.
Well after much agonizing deliberation I chose to go to St. George. So we will see how this polar bear does in 110 heat.
I officially start July 1, but I really don't have to be there until Aug 10. It is a 9 month appointment on a 12 month pay contract. It will be nice to have my summers off to do what ever adventure we want to seek.
I am actually really excited for this job, I think it is going to turn out to be a great thing. I get to teach technical theatre and build a tech program in an allready successful acting program. I think that there is some incredible oppurtunities that lie ahead in and around St. George for me.
Kim is getting excited and Corben has accepted it and the little bears really don't care all that much. Morgan might have a bit of a hard time at first but she will recover quick and soon not even miss her little pals here in Logan.
It will be hard to leave Logan, we have all grown pretty attached to the area. This is our home, this is where we have spent our entire married life, this is where our life began together, so yes it will be hard to leave but at the same time we are all getting excited for the new adventures that lie ahead.
I will be getting some pics uploaded soon and don't forget to come back for more Bear family adventures. The fun is just beginning!
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