Living with Livingstons

Last few Moments of 2011

Since my last post, life has gone on. Finals ended on December 16 and our two and a half week break began. Somehow, I managed to pull 2 As and 3 Bs. Kacey didn't fair so well but he passed ALL of his classes, which means he DOES NOT have to take calculus over again! Such a relief!

Even with school being out, we have not had much downtime since the Holiday Shopping Season officially started on Black Friday. Kacey and I have both been pulling a lot of hours working for Best Buy. It's kind of sad really... we were both excited for Christmas until we had to deal with all the holiday shoppers. To make things a little worse, money is ALWAYS tight in December when the school semester ends. Added stress around the Holidays is never a good thing.

Christmas decorations didn't even make out of the box this year :-/ ... oh well.

Then, on top of all that work and money worrying, my car decided it would be a good idea to leak anti-freeze... an unexpected $350 repair bill later... the car runs fine.

(we did learn what the other lights on my dash were for as well. my engine light has been on forever and we knew that was for the catalytic converter... not a big deal until i have to have an emissions test in July/August 2013. the other one is my traction control light... been on for a while but thought nothing of it... turns out it's a $700 sensor that makes my traction control work... that is not going to get fixed anytime soon if at all)

My mom came for Christmas and I was SO excited! Kacey picked her up from the airport because I had to work but I got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with her. She didn't mind that our tree wasn't up and our stockings weren't hung. She didn't even mind our sink full of dirty dishes (we tried to get things cleaned up before she got here but that didn't quite work out). Mom stocked up our cupboards and just made me feel relaxed.

On Christmas Eve, I convinced Kacey to drive my mom and me around to look at lights. This was our favorite house. The picture isn't the greatest but it was taken out my truck window and I wasn't about to set up a tripod.

Christmas Day was pretty uneventful. We just hung around the house and ate WAY too much food. My mom made a toffee cake in the morning with sausage and then we opened the few gifts we had. Kacey and I had no secrets this year. Kacey got some video games and some movies he wanted and I got a new lens (50mm f/1.8) and tripod for my camera. My mom also brought some random odds and ends and the traditional gift of socks. I spent a little while playing with my new lens (which I'm pretty much in love with).

My mom went home on Monday and I cried while work because I didn't want her to go. My shift overlapped with Kacey's so my mom just came to work with me and just having her in the store was difficult when I knew she was leaving. I felt like an idiot and I would have been fine if my co-workers would have stopped asking me if I was okay. I'm such a baby when it comes to my mom.

A few days later on Wednesday the 28th, Kacey's parents rolled into town. They only stopped in for a few minutes that night to drop off Ebony. I'm so EXCITED to have her back! She fell victim to my new lens the next day.

She and the cat have had an interesting time getting to know each other. Ebony doesn't seem to care that the cat is even there but the cat sure doesn't like Ebony. It's getting better though. And yes, the cat (Steele, as Kacey has finally decided) got a picture too.

We've seen Kacey's parent's ever day since they've been here and it's been nice. Kacey went shooting with his dad, uncle, and grandpa while LaDawn and I spent the day out and about on the town (mostly combing through 3 different Robert's craft stores that are closing).

Today, New Year's Eve, Kacey's parents took us to a BYU Basketball game. It's the first sporting event Kacey and I have been too since moving here. It was a lot of fun even though I've had the same headache for 3 days now (luckily only sudden changes in light is bothering me and not noise). I hope Kacey and I get to attend more events like this.

Well, 2011 is ending in almost them same way it began. It started with me watching TV in our bedroom and Kacey watching TV in the living room of our Rexburg apartment. This time, Kacey is in the bedroom and I am on the computer in the office of our Pleasant Grove, UT apartment. Hopefully, 2012 is just as good and better than 2011 was.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Kitty Cats

In our aparment complex there are a lot of stray cats. Kacey has named almost all of them and constantly tried to catch one. He's been sucessful a couple of times.

This is Boots, so named because of the white boots on his feet.

Boots came to visit for a night. We fed him turkey and let him sleep inside. He kept wanting to go outside so Kacey let him out in the morning. Boots is not underweight and is relatively clean so I think he acutally belongs to someone. We haven't seen him since but usually only see him every couple weeks.

The lasted "catch" is this one.

This one was dirty and is really skinny, but extremely friendly. I don't think he belongs to anyone. We've gotten him a litter and food and it looks like this one is here to stay. He doesn't act like he wants to go outside at all. We're keeping our eye out for posters of a lost cat just in case. Kacey wants to call him Steel or Chrome... but I'm not so sure.

Large Update

It's been nearly 6 months since I've put any updates on my blog. So this may be rather long winded. There are a lot of details that I've probably forgotten but I will do my best.

The last weekend in June, Kacey's parents came out to see us in Rexburg. Kacey was really excited to show then around. He wanted to take them caving and find the Ice Caves that we'd failed to find earlier. We were in the truck for a good 2 hours getting nowhere it seemed. Turns out we did find the Ice Caves but didn't know it. LaDawn was still getting over her borken leg and couldn't do too much climbing anyway. But, here's a couple pictures from the adventure.

The next weekend, I was able to go home to Colorado. My best friend, Erika, was getting married on July 2nd. It was a beautiful wedding and I was really happy I was able to make it. Here are a couple pictures I got.

On the 4th, I went to see fireworks with my mom. I wanted to try doing some long exposures with my camera. The fireworks ended up being partially blocked by some trees but I still got some pretty good shots. Next year I'll be sure to get a better spot for firworks and get even better ones.

At the end of the month, Kacey and I left Rexburg for Utah! We took the cars down about a week ahead of time. The only pictures I got of the move were from loading Kacey's car onto the trailer.

On August 6th we moved into our new apartment at Pleasant Springs Apartments in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Kacey's aunt and cousins were generous enough to help us unload the truck. It was a huge help! This apartment is quite large. 2 bedrooms 2 bathrooms and 993 sq feet. And the best part is... FIRST FLOOR!!!! Here's the floor plan.

Before school started Kacey and I took a drive up to Squaw Peak at sunset. I got this picture of it. It was really nice to see because Idaho didn't seem to have too many pretty sunsets.

Kacey and I started school at BYU in September. We're both enrolled full time and enjoy it here much more than in Idaho. We're very busy and have found that the classes require a lot more than the classes in Idaho did.

My mom came to visit us shortly after school started. She brought Maddy along with her. It was really great to see them! Here is a picture I took of my mom while she was here.

Kacey has taken up a little wood working since we're moved here. He's built us each a shelf and is currently working on a night stand for me. He is really proud of himself and he's done a really good job. Here's a couple pictures.

My birthday came in October. Kacey and my mom went in together and got me a telephoto lense for my camera and a back pack for my camera stuff as well. Kacey took me up the canyon to take some pictures with my new toy. Here are a couple of my favorites.

I also quit Michaels in October. I started working for Best Buy with Kacey. I am a sales person in the Portable Electronics department which includes MP3, Digital Imaging, and Car Audio. I like it and I really enjoy working with the cameras.

On November 1st, I decided I was going to try to loose the weight that I've gained since Kacey and I got married. Currently I've lost 13 pounds and about 2 inches. My clothes are getting a little big and my pants tend to fall down most of the time. It makes me smile really.

Since Kacey and I both work for Best Buy (retail) we are and were unable to go home for any holidays. We went to Kacey's grandmother's house for Thanksgiving. Kacey's Uncle David, his wife and his wife's parents from Romania were there was well. It was nice to meet some more of Kacey's family. On the way to dinner we saw this on the side of the road.

Kacey and I both worked Black Friday. I got to open the store and had to be at work at 11:30 on Thanksgiving in order to open the store at midnight. It was probably the most crazy day I've ever had. I worked a 13 hour shift. Kacey came in a half hour before I left and had to close the store.

Thus is our life in Utah... much better than in Idaho.

Day 13 - Photo Journal

When Kacey and I have the same day off we kind of put everything off and spend time together. It doesn't happen very often. Today we went driving around. We went out to R Mountain and the just found trails we could take the truck down. It was pretty fun. We did a little geocaching along the way. I don't know what picture I want to put up so there will be a few.

Day 12 - Photo Journal

I work at Michaels in Idaho Falls. Don't get me wrong, I like my job (for the most part) but some days I just don't want to do it anymore. I spend at least 20 hours a week in this building. Today wasn't that nice of a day outside but when I left work it looked pretty nice outside. This picture kind or shows how I'm stuck at work when it's nice outside.

Day 11 - Photo Journal

We have a rather extensive movie collection. Today Kacey found a computer software that organizes everything he could ever think of when it comes to his movies. Guess what I got to do tonight after work?