Quick Update

Hey everyone, this is just a quick lil update for ya! Darin is working a LOT. His shortest day so far has been a 12 hr and 15 min day. They are keeping him right at the 14 hr mark! So during his 5 days at work, he is staying very busy! Jo started her job for Kmart last Thursday. She was hired on as Front End Supervisor. She is meeting with the District Manager on Tuesday to be back up HR & Payroll. It's too early to tell just how much she will like the new job, however Saturday she was training on the Service Desk and enjoyed herself. A lot of the stuff just came back to her from when she worked for Kmart in Grand Junction, CO, a few new things and a lot of different processes. But she is enjoyed being out of the house, around people, and running around! More posts to follow...

Toto, I don't think we are in Utah anymore... I mean Kansas!

Well, reality is setting in and although at moments it's difficult, so far so good here in North Dakota! Darin is now driving not just riding along as the passenger, and he is liking his new job. Jo has had one interview, with a job offer and another interview scheduled for tomorrow we shall see how it goes and go from there.

The only real complaint so far is the weather, it has been really chilly here since we arrived, and the wind is ferocious! However, I hear it hasn't been all Sunny and warm in Utah either, so in answer to a lot of questions lately, it's cold but Jo is staying warm for the time being!

Jo is starting to get bored, which is not a good sign. She is making daily trips to the mall and walmart, being very careful not to overspend, but get her out of the house. Yesterday, she attended Church at the Dickinson Branch. Talk about different, after being told that there were about 70 active families in a 60 mile radius, I will say that I was pretty shocked at the number of people at Church. More than I thought, but still nothing in comparison to what I'm used to. Luckily, there is a lot of new people that are moving into the ward, so it kinda takes the heat of being the New Kids on the Block! Everyone seems so nice and friendly, and believe it or not a lot of people actually know where Vernal is, without it being called Dinosaurland first. I was quite impressed with this bunch!!!

Just before the move Jo got into a series of books by her favorite Author, well, without finishing the full series, but running out of time to check more out from the library in Vernal, I figured no big deal, there will be a library in Dickinson. Today, I found that library and got myself a card, only to find out that they carry one of the books that this author has written and it's not a part of the series she was so looking forward to finishing. The librarian was very sweet and printed off some other books by authors similar to this one. But seriously, I didn't dream it would be hard to find a book by Anita Stansfield. But then again, HELLO JO, you are not in Utah anymore... So, if any of my awesome wonderful friends that also love this author, have any of Anita Stansfield's books in the series, Timeless Waltz, I would be eternally grateful to you for sharing. I actually own the first one, Timeless Waltz, and have read the second, but can't remember that name, but that is where I left off. The really bummer part is I was really looking forward to reading right now, to occupy a little time. My mind is on overdrive currently, and well for those of you that know me, you know that is NEVER a good thing!

So, in closing, Jo has been reminded again, that we are not in Utah anymore, but it's ok, we are surviving!

A house to a home!

Thanks to everyone for being so patient with me in getting these pictures taken, and up here. Will you all quit hounding me please! In no particular order here is a glimpse of our new home here in North Dakota!

This is out the front door, no we do not have a lawn. Bummer :( I know! Also it had been pouring all day when I took this sorry!

The spare bathroom. This is just outside of the office.

Master bathroom, with has a nice large shower/tub area of the the left. Only entrance is in the Master bedroom.

Master Bedroom- We have so much room in here. We lost a lot of closet space in this room, but we do still have a walk in closet!

The narrow Laundry room. We do not have all the shelves for this room yet, so it's not really done!

The Kitchen! Please note that the laptop will not always be on the table, it's just easier for right now.

The living room. The black and silver you can see in the right is the TV stand and the wood color in the lower right is Jo's cedar chest

The hallway, this is what you see when you open the Spare bathroom door. The door you can see is leading into the office.

Just up the hall of the office and extra bathroom is the Spare Room.

That's the house in a nutshell. As you can see we have a lot more room than our home in Utah. I didn't do any pictures of the office yet, as we are still finding just the right spot for everything, be assured they are coming soon, I promise. Hope all is well with you all, and again I'm sorry it took me so long. The last two days, Jo has been on a job hunt. Gotta find her a Part Time job before the Homesick sets in, and she goes out of her mind from boredom.

Moving in!

Well, after what felt like days on the road, we arrived in Dickinson. Darin went to his testing for work, and Jo headed to the Motel to get checked in and somewhat situated. After the appointment, we came out to our new place. WHAT A MESS!!!!!!!! Things that were supposed to be done 3 1/2 weeks ago were not! HELLO, people move in day is TOMORROW, what is going on? We stressed, and freaked and met with the landlord a little later that night. She was able to smooth things over and promised things would be taken care of right away. We went back to the motel got some much needed rest, by this time Jo could barely talk let alone walk anyway, her cold was seriously kickin some butt now!

The next morning it was up and at em early. We had the internet people and the Satelite people coming. Then much to our surprise, Jo's parent showed with Lonnie in tow, only about 9 hrs early. Not knowing of our HUGE problem they left the night before and drove all night to get there to help us early. It was a HUGE blessing because with Jo being sick and coughing and so dizzy and being so short of breathe, she couldn't do much to clean. We were saved by family yet again! We got the place cleaned up enough to call it a day, went to our motels got some more much needed rest and began the next day early as well.

With the help of Jo's parents and Lonnie, Darin's dad and brother Derek, we got all of our things moved in, a pet door installed, a fenced yard built and the storage trailer set up. Every wall in the house had been washed, the bathrooms cleaned, it was time to start unpacking! We spent the first night in our new place!

Everyone left Saturday afternoon and even through exhaustion we kept going. Sunday we couldn't go anymore. Jo had overdone it Saturday and woke up Sunday again with no voice, Dizzy and sore. She slept most of the day.

Monday Darin started his new job and Jo went to work on settling in. It's taken about week, but we are pretty much in. There are still some things the landlord needs to get taken care of, like the skirting of the trailer and so on. But we are working on her daily for these tasks and also getting frustrated.

North Dakota or bust...

The day started early, we finished packing all the last minute things, went to lunch with Anthony, Tanya and their two lil ones ( One of Jo's best friends from High School) and said our Goodbye's! Then we headed off to start our new journey to our new home! Dickinson North Dakota, here we come.....

The North Dakota border sign.

Darin drivin on the interstate.

Saying goodbye to Kellee. She made Jo a picture frame with pictures of her in it, saying that we will be missed! We are gonna miss you to sis!

And saying goodbye to Korbin! What's Aunt B gonna do without her lil man?