Location Location Location!!!

So now that we live in Monterey... the Oakland Temple is our temple! It takes 2 hours to get there, just like driving from Sacramento to it. We try our best to enjoy the drive and miss being close to the temple!..when we were in Sacramento for a couple months. It's okay though, we live in a great place and love being within close distance to everything! (Aquarium, Beaches, Ocean, and then Santa Cruz, Great America, etc...) Santa Cruz is about 30 minutes from here. Great America is about 1 hour from here. The aquarium is about 5 minutes from where we live. Castroville - the artichoke capital of the world - is about 15 minutes from  here. We got 12 artichokes for $1 a month ago! Gilroy - the garlic capital of California - is 45 minutes from here. LA is 5 to 6 hours from here....the list goes on and on.. Pebble Beach is 10 minutes away (Infamous Golf location).. Oh and Watsonville - 20 minutes from here - has delicious berries everywhere... gotta love Monterey!!!!!

CPR!!!

Yessssss! I'm CPR/First Aid certified once again! I can now save your life, your child's, and your little infant's! Oooo Oooooooooo!!

This was the most fun certification I've ever had. It was from 10-1:15ish. Bam. Done. Badabing-Badaboom. To me, the teacher/trainer looked and acted like "Ross" from the tv show, Friends. All the single girls were flirting/giggling all the time. He was also a firefighter and not only that, but he was single (according to the lack of ringage on his finger), so, they were in heaven. When he said that he would leave his number to let us know when the certification cards were ready, my boss was all, "Oh, I don't think you should actually give it to them, they'll actually call you." Okay, lets back up. There was a CPR certification thing going on today for work and parents of children who attend there. And, I needed to get re-certified and some of my fellow co-workers did too. I couldn't help but laugh histerically inside, shake my head back and forth, and have a smirk on my fiace all at the same time whenever they would start "hehehehe!" when he would say something that had a double meaning or whenever he would demonstrate on them (or vice versa). Holy Manoly. Goofy girls. The funny thing was that he was the only guy with all of us girls. He was a good sport though, and just laughed with everyone. My oh my.. It was fun. It definitely made the time go by faster! lol

Job!!!

I found a job! Wohoo! I'm working at the Children's Creative Learning Center here in Monterey. This is a center open to children: 6 weeks-5 years of age. It focuses on guided learning (aka Constructivism), which I LOVE. Before I accepted this job offer, I was offered a job at a preschool here where I would be teaching little 4-5 year olds and it would have been full time...but the catch was, the pay was less because that preschool was not funded. And also, after praying about where I should be, I was told several times that the CCLC (Children's Creative Learning Center) is the right place for me to be. 

So, for the first few weeks (at least) I will be with 2-3 year olds having a grand ol' time. I am considered a substitute teacher right now, until I get promoted to become a "head teacher". Yet, I will be working 30+ hours a week, which I find great for a substitute teacher...especially for the teaching field in this recession! I can't wait to start (4/14). It will be fun. And, I think the co-workers are already fabulous. 

I am excited to contribute making money for our little family! I think that with me working alongside kevin, figuratively speaking, will speed up the process of saving money for a house! It is expensive here, but with the market being low right now, we'll be able to find something when the time comes. We were living in a 2bd/2bth house in Chico last fall..but, as of now, this little 1bd/1bath apartment is working out just fine. I never thought we would be able to downsize again after that 1 car garage studio in Roseville (maybe 350sq. ft!)... but here we are! Living with nothing but the essentials! It's actually quite nice, cutting through all that crap, hehe! We've gotten rid of a lot of our things, even though there is still a lot of our things up in Kevin's parent's attic. It's amazing how much you accumulate after being married for about 3 years...but we say no more junk! And with that motto... we are able to go out and have fun and spend some play money :)

(This was at CA Adventures Feb 2010)

GO money!!

It is so awesome being grown ups.  Kevin has a real job and is making lots of money (compared to before when we both were not working and finishing school).  I am going to have a job very soon with preschool-aged children.  I might apply for subbing at elementary schools, but we'll see.  Anyway, we love having money!  It is such a huge change compared to not having money.  We've been able to buy nicer clothes, instead of buying random clothing off of the clearance racks, which tended to never match the wardrobe at home!  Go Banana Republic!!  And, Men's Wearhouse!!

Monterey!

We've moved to Monterey! It's pretty much amazing. We are within a mile of the ocean and are close to the aquarium and all! For those of you who don't know, this is basically what happened: 

Kevin and I graduated this past December from Chico State University and up until recently were living with our parents. With the economy really not doing well, it was by far difficult for Kevin to find a job.  (He graduated in accounting).  So, for the month of January we applied all over the USA through craigslist, newspapers, etc.  Side note, last Summer we stayed with my parents while I took some Summer classes at ARC so our church records were sent to Antelope.  Then, while in Chico this last fall, we were attending the Spanish branch a little and ever so often would attend our ward.  Our records never really left Antelope and were eventually sent over to Salt Lake.  Anyway, this January, while Kevin was applying for jobs, I told him, "You know, I bet as soon as we put our records here, you'll find a job because we have not really been attending a 'permanent' ward since the Summer." 

So, in the beginning of February, we decided to go on a trip to celebrate graduating (using our American Express points we had saved up..BEST idea EVER!!). We signed up for one of those last minute 7 day cruises which was heading down to Mexico. The day before we were leaving for the cruise, Kevin received an email from one of the places he had applied to.  It was one of the partners of the accounting firm "Bianchi, Kasavan, Pope LLP" and he was not only asking to meet Kevin, but wanted Kevin to call the following Monday (we would be on our already paid for cruise...ahh!)  So, it ended up working out that the partner told Kevin to go ahead an have fun on the cruise and to stop by the office when we got back from it.  We drove down to Long Beach for the cruise and so we decided we'd stop by the office in Monterey on the way back up to Sacramento.  Late at night on the way up from Long Beach, we arrived to Salinas at about 1am, about 30 minutes out of Monterey to stop for the night.  We woke up the following morning and were eating the continental breakfast at the inn we were staying at when we heard on the Today Show, "Good morning it's Presidents Day!"  That was a scare as we instantly thought that we were not going to be able to stop by the office... Luckily, after calling to see if the office was open, they were open!  Kevin dressed up to be ready in case it was an interview he would be going to, since he did not know what it would be being told he was to just stop by. 

All in all, he had an interview that day.  Two days later he received a job offer.  I asked Kevin's parents if our records were read in the Sunday just three days before, and they said yes.  Isn't that amazing!?  Kevin was supposed to work at a firm in Chico.  The entire time that Kevin was at school in Chico, he was told he would be hired at that firm...but something fell through and he wasn't...leaving him hanging mid-October.. not having applied for any other job (which many other jobs he could have applied for, the application deadlines had already passed).  We found out recently that that firm has been laying off many people, including first years... So, talk about a blessing in disguise!  We are truly blessed to be where we are and that the Lord has provided a way for us.  We are so grateful!!  It was scary for a while not knowing if we would have enough money to pay our bills for much longer, but we made it!  I am currently finding work to help save up to buy a house here in Monterey.  We are shooting for a year from now to make that happen.  I am undecided at the moment if I want to do student teaching for a multiple subject credential (I graduated in Liberal Studies for teaching Elementary) or attend cooking school. 

If anyone decides to visit Monterey, give us a call! 

FINISHED!!!

Hooray for:

-FINISHING school!! I did it! So did Kevin!

-Each of us getting a Bachelors Degree!

-Making it through the year 2009, non-stop schooling..winter, spring, summer, fall..

-Being able to sleep in now :)

-Getting over a cold that finals week made worse

-Adjusting to a new way of living

-Moving by the end of the year

-Visiting with friends and family now that we are done with school

-Reading what I want when I want (goodbye textbooks!)

-No more essays!

-No more school tests!

-Watching TV and renting Redbox movies

-Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Nothing Like Procrastinating

There actually is something worse than procrastinating..not finishing what you started, but that's not an issue :)

Only 9 more days of school!

I did tell my mom during Thanksgiving week, "Mom, I think I'm going to drop out of school" to see what she would say and how she would react. She kind of knew that I was joking, but she still exclaimed, "Meghan! You're almost done! 3 weeks left!" Oh it was amusing. Of course I was planning on finishing the last few weeks. It would be incredibly dumb of me not to.

I continually think about all the last homework assignments that I have to do and I keep putting them off. You would think, "Geeze Meghan, just do them and get them done so you can be done!" But, I don't. I'm waiting for the pressure to be on apparently. I'll do well on the assignments anyway.. Just 5 essays to go :)

Hope everyone's holiday season is going well! Remember to keep the 'Christ' in Christmas.

I recommend this book to everyone. It reminds me of what is important in life.

p.s. The job hunt continues. Dun Dun Dun...