Chronicles of the House Hunt

Well, after about six weeks of house hunting it looks like we're nearing the end of that journey. We found a house that we loved, and we offered, went back and forth with terms and needed repairs, etc., and now we could be closing on it at the end of next week! I thought I'd just take a few minutes to chronicle some of the memorable things that happened throughout the course of this experience.

Drive Time
First of all, perhaps the thing that we'll remember the most about house hunting is the killer commute we had to take to get to the area where we're interested. Since I'm working at Hill AFB and Shauna's probably only going to be working another year, we decided to settle closer to my work rather than hers so that in the future, I'll be able to be home with the family sooner after work. However, we didn't rule out any houses more south than Hill (closer to Shauna's school) to try and cut time off her commute. That meant that we were looking in between Woods Cross and Ogden, or 45 minutes to an hour and a half drive from Provo. I think we took five or six trips total with our realtor (poor guy), and we must have looked at at least 60 houses.

After a couple trips, it became apparent that the houses and price range we started to love put us in Clinton, UT, a small town neither of us had heard of before. And, in fact that's where we found "the one".

"Ye are too superstitious..." (-St. Paul)
Now, I'm not the superstitious type. But after a few trips and so many choices, we started joking about how Shauna and I just needed some sort of sign to tell us which one to buy. After talking about this, we pulled up to a house, and I kid you not, as I got out of the car, I looked down and right where I was stepping was a dollar bill just chilling on the grass! I'm serious! I showed everyone and said, "Hey, here's our sign! This is the one! Where do we sign!" Haha. Fortunately, the house was in pretty bad shape and we walked away and I didn't stake our lives to a house based on a dollar bill superstition. But hey, it would've helped on our down payment!

Another "sign" that I noticed, and perhaps it was even on the same day, was the house number of one we looked at. The house I grew up in had the number 2090. I loved that house. It was home. This house we were looking at that day was on a street called 2090 West! And it was a sweet house! I just kept thinking, How ironic would it be to be in a 2090 house again! But, again probably fortunately, this house was a short sale and Shauna didn't like the view out the backyard. (The house backed up to a new medical clinic.)

Drumroll, Please
Now, I arrive at the ONE. What was really interesting about this experience was that there were actually two houses we loved that we saw on the same day. This one house was new, in a great neighborhood, and backed up to a brand new city park; it was just a beautiful area and the house itself was very nice. It was a multilevel house, so the garage entry was in the basement part, meaning we would have to bring the groceries or laundry up stairs, and it had some negative aspects, like all houses, but overall it was great. It was also priced like it was great, meaning that it was on the very high end of our price range.

This other house we looked at was a ranch style home, which Shauna and I both love. It has three bedrooms and two baths up stairs and a partially unfinished basement downstairs that we could do whatever we wanted to. The kitchen is very nice, the yard is huge, the house itself is newer, and overall we just really, really like it. It did have some things wrong with it too, but still, we loved it.

The Tiebreaker
So, Shauna and I went home that night and just didn't know what to do. We talked for hours about the pros and cons of each. We went back and forth about each house. Okay, let's take the parkside house. Well, I think I would like the ranch house better. And on and on. Before we knew it, it was after midnight, and we were no closer to a decision than we were when we started. Finally, Shauna said, You know, we haven't really said a prayer about this yet. We said a quick yet fervent prayer and then just sat quiet. It seemed simultaneous when we both took a deep breath, looked at each other, and said, It's the ranch house. And that's the one we decided on, and that's where we could be living a week from today!

The very next morning, we met with our realtor and did all the paperwork for our offer. We offered slightly under their asking price but felt comfortable with it. Six hours later, the realtor called us and told us that they had accepted our offer! From this point on--actually from the time we said our prayer and made our decision--everything has just seemed to work out, like the six hour response time on our offer! That was on a Friday! We didn't even expect to hear back until at least the following Monday.

Inspector Gadget
Something we knew we wanted to do was order a house inspection. Shauna and I both agree that it should just be mandatory, so we highly recommend it. We did order one on this house and we're very glad we did. He found some things that would have never noticed, such as a leak in the plumbing that only manifest when the master bathroom tub was draining! Who notices those things?? Well, I mean you'd notice eventually when there's a big mess in your basement, but remember, this basement isn't even finished yet, so perfect timing... Anyways, with our realtor, we went back to the seller and asked them to make that and other repairs that the inspector had found, and after they conducted their own investigation, they agreed! As we speak, they're making the repairs, and we're getting ready to close the deal next week. Incredible!

There will surely be more to post soon.

Curse of the Sunglasses

I cannot explain how frustrated I am with sunglasses! I love sunglasses. I wear them everywhere pretty much any time it is not dark. They cut down on glare and headaches and they just look cool. Well, shortly after I returned home from my mission, I was cursed with a horrible curse.

Something I'd always wanted was a nice pair of sunglasses. When I got home from my mission and started working, I finally decided it was time to splurge. Now, I do appreciate a pair of Oakleys or Rayban sunglasses, but there's no way I'm going to pay $200 for sunglasses--especially not with my curse! Anyways, I went down to the mall and stopped by a bunch of shops looking for the perfect glasses. I decided on the Dragon brand Cage stye. They were sweet! So I bought them and couldn't have been happier.

Around this time, I'd met my sweetheart Shauna. Come to think of it, she must've fallen for me because of those glasses! Haha. Well, I took Shauna to the movies in Vegas on one of our weekends together. Obviously you can't watch a movie with sunglasses on. Well, I guess you could, but... ya. So, I had taken off my sunglasses and put them on her purse which she then put next to her on the arm rest (still attached to her arm for security). After the movie, we got up to leave and I went to retrieve my glasses--and they weren't there! We searched everywhere. A nice theater worker even came with his flashlight and helped us search, but to no avail. It finally occurred to us that the guys behind us must have swiped them through the gap in the chairs right off Shauna's purse! And that, I believe, is when my curse started.

I haven't been able to keep a pair of sunglasses more than a few weeks since! The next pair I had got taken after I forgot them in a lecture hall at BYU. Countless pairs since have broken, both on their own prematurely or by my doing (sitting on them in my car, crunching them in my pocket helping people move large things, sending them to their early deaths in the hands of a curious baby, etc). Why is this on my mind, you ask? Well, four weeks ago, I went to Ross and bought two pairs of sunglasses. I have at least learned to not buy the expensive ones since they're just going to be destroyed or otherwise rended useless to me. On Friday, while house hunting, I reached up to take the glasses off and one of the blasted arms broke off right in the middle! Grrrr... That's when it donned it me: I'm cursed!

The Telephone Gambit

Well, I just finished my second leisure book since graduating (one on a list of many; the first was The Thief--thanks, Pyles!). It's called The Telephone Gambit, by Seth Shulman (2008). I picked it up on a run to the Provo Library where I stumbled across it in the electronics non-fiction section. It's a quick read and very interesting, more of a detective's journal than a research paper, so I highly recommend it, especially if you are like me and watch shows like Modern Marvel on History channel or How It's Made on Discovery. The history and controversy about the telephone, a device we all take for granted, is very interesting and well-presented in this book.

I'll spare you the review and just cut to the chase--Shulman shows evidence that it is highly likely and probable that Alexander Graham Bell infringed on Elisha Gray's claim to inventing the telephone! I never knew this, but apparently Bell was suspected of stealing the idea pretty much from the time he "invented" it and there are hundreds of legal cases about it; however, no one could prove it, and thus, Bell is remembered as the inventor of the telephone. That could also be due to the capitalist society we live in and certain "financial" steps that were taken to keep Bell in the textbooks, all by a small company you may have heard of, American Telephone & Telegraph, which is the direct descendant of Bell Telepone Company. Anyways, the key piece of evidence is Bell's lab notebook and a little, benign sketch. His notebook was kept secret in the Bell family until 1976, when it was donated to the Library of Congress, yet it has still remained largely unused and uncited. It is also all available on the Library's website. Shulman stumbles across the sketch in question almost by accident, but he is able to make the subtle yet alarming connection immediately.

That's all I'm going to say. I hope I intrigued you enough to at least read into it.

Facebook

Hey, just wanted to let you all know that we are on Facebook now! It was bound to happen... Hope to see you all there!

Finish Line

*NOTE: I can't get blogger to upload my photos, so I'll try again later.

Well, I guess it's official. Last week, I received my final grades at BYU and I passed all of my classes. In fact, out of all my classes, my lowest grade was one 'C'. The rest were A's and B's. Definitely not bad (especially for me!). Now I know that I'm done.

During and after graduation, I was actually pretty anxious about my grades. I kept worrying about my finals and all the "what ifs" that went through my head. What if I don't pass a class? What if I somehow missed a GE credit? What if.... I've even been having dreams the last few nights about suddenly remembering a final I hadn't taken yet that was due by 5pm. Haha. I just couldn't believe it was real, that I was actually graduating.

Family
I think the best part about graduation weekend was having my family all stay at our apartment. My brother, Jared, Lanita, his girlfriend, my sister, Kim, and my mom all fit in our little living room (slash dining room slash kitchen) for one night. It was so fun! Plus, Shauna's dad got to come from California and he and her grandparents and brother all came to the commencement and then joined us and my family after for Hawaiian haystacks at our place! We had a great time with all the stories and the laughs, we played some games... It was just great. It didn't even matter to me that I was graduating, I just loved having all of the family here with us.

Commencement
The commencement was just surreal. I got dropped off at the ASB and quickly disappeared into the sea of blue caps and gowns in the parking lot. As I got to my line, I noticed Stephen and Alicia were there! That was a great surprise! So I got to chill with them. Soon after I got there, the color guard marched by with the dignitaries closely behind, and the processional started. As we were walking, I kept struggling with my white stole because of the wind. Just as we got to the top of the pedestrian walkway, I glanced up to see the BYU TV video camera coming right at me and right at that moment, a gust of wind blew my stole off, and as I was messing with that my cap blew off just as the camera crew was walking right by me! Haha. I really hope that I was on live TV at that moment. I should've been recording it at home...

I loved the talks at commencement. Pres. Uchtdorf's especially made an impact on me with his three things to do after graduating: Use your time wisely, continue to learn, and always seek the Spirit of the Lord.

Convocation and Reflection
Friday, April 24, was the day of my college's convocation. I would say that during this time, getting to see some familiar faces and listening to the speakers addressing their talks directly to us, the engineers--that is when it all became real to me. I knew I was graduating, I knew it wasn't fake. I knew as I looked on the stand and saw some of my professors that I would probably never see them again, I knew that soon I would be walking away from BYU. And I was sad! Somehow, inspite of the testing center, the homework and exams, the frivalous GE's, and the long walks up hundreds of stairs every day, somehow I was sad. I am going to miss it. I'll miss the opportunity to begin secular classes about science and engineering with a prayer. I'll miss the clean (more or less) atmosphere. I'll miss the enlightening classes about my religion, about the Bible and about the Book of Mormon and the book of Doctrine and Covenants, etc. In short, I'll miss BYU. How could four years go by so fast!

That's enough for now.

The Last Stretch

Well, I can't believe I made it. Three weeks ago, I finished my online American Heritage class (definitely not recommended) which brought me down to 18 credits (definitely definitely not recommended). This week, my Capstone finished up and there's no final associated with that. So far, I've taken two of five finals, so three left. They're tough ones, but I know no matter what that I'll pass all my classes. I have definitely been blessed, and I am very humbled and happy to be where I am today.

The Plan
What a change in pace the last few days have been! Shauna's been on Spring Break, so that has made any chance of me studying very slim. We've just been chillin and it feels...odd. It's great, just very odd. From 21 credits to pretty much nothing in less than two weeks is crazy! I don't know how I'm going to take summer with no classes and no job. Let's just say I clean when I'm bored, so our apartment will be in pristine shape, as will our complex, my car, Shauna's car, and I'm certain that I'm going to burn through a few DVD drives catching up on movies and playing video games. If anyone sees me just chillaxin in front of our complex on a beach chair sipping some Mt. Dew for a few hours, don't be alarmed! I'm just 'taking it in'.

The Hunt
Another crazy aspect to the last few weeks has been the job hunt. Up until about a month ago, I hadn't heard a single word about jobs. I applied all over the place (which wasn't alot, considering the lack of postings right now). Then, out of the blue, I found a posting for a defense contractor at Hill AFB looking for software engineers, so I applied. Within a couple days I had an interview set up in Clearfield, UT. Then, around that same time I found out about a career fair for engineers for the actual U.S. Air Force itself. And what day was it to be held? The same day as my interview with the contractor, and in Clearfield, UT, and only two hours after my interview with the contractor. This was fantastic, especially because to drive from Provo to Clearfield is more than one hour on I-15. So I went to both. And then I waited. Didn't hear a thing from either place for weeks. Then, the Air Force called and wanted me up for an interview with them. The same day I got their phone call, I got a phone call from a huge defense contractor regarding an application I'd put in months ago. They wanted a phone interview with me--on the same day and one hour after my interview at Hill AFB. So, another trip to Clearfield.

Round One
Both interviews went extremely well. I was stoked about both jobs. The Hill AFB job would be a software engineering position supporting the F-16 fighter jet. How sweet is that! While there, I met with numerous people, four teams total. Everything from the F-16's mapping software to the weapons systems controls. I even got to see the new F-16 simulator for pilots to test the software that's developed, I tried on a brand new helmet with a brand new, color heads-up display, and I got to stand next to a bunch of live missiles in their test cells! Man, what a day! Afterwards, I went and bought some lunch and just tried to relax. That round of interviews took three hours straight. Then I had the teleconference, which lasted about another hour and was for another sweet job. But, I knew the huge contractor job wasn't to be because, one, it would require us to move down to Edwards AFB in Southern California, and two, it was highly classified and could require me to travel "anywhere in the world" to install and support my software. Hey, in my defense, I was all for it! With images of Josh the next Jason Bourne-Jack Bauer-Hawaiian hybrid running through my head, I was like, "Where do I sign?" But, the thought of me army-crawling it across Afghanistan to bug Bin Laden's blackberry didn't appeal to Shauna at all. And, well, I haven't heard anything more about it anyway.

Round Two
Then the waiting game started again. Nothing heard on from either job for a couple weeks. Then, out of the blue, one of the managers from Hill calls me and asks if he could bring me on board with his team, supporting the F-16 main computer software. Of course I said yes. It will take a couple of months to complete the process, which is fine with me. But, this story doesn't end there.

I kid you not that within 24 hours of the call from Hill I got an email from a company called Wavetronix, based locally in Lindon, UT. I applied and interviewed with them a few months ago but I hadn't heard anything from them since. They're a small, relatively young company that does some cool stuff with radar and makes devices useful to departments of transportation around the world for things like monitoring traffic flow and signalling stop lights. Well, they wanted to know if I was still interested in a full-time position with them. Based on my interview experience with them previously and how well they treated me and talked about their line of work, I had to say yes. So, a couple of days ago, I went up to Lindon and spent another three hours in a round of interviews, and I wasn't disappointed. They treated me very well and I am very impressed with and excited about what they do. They even took me to lunch. They should be making a decision in a couple of weeks.

Conclusion
Now, all that talk about jobs and not concluding with a job offer may seem like a let down. But after that onslaught of opportunities that just sprung from nowhere in a matter of weeks all at once, who wouldn't feel extremely blessed? And not only do I feel extremely blessed, I feel calm. I know the Lord is watching out for us and that He has plans for us all.

I'll keep you posted.

Easter

Easter is great, but it is unfortunately always at the end of the semester, which irritated me as a student and then as wife-of-student because it's right as projects are due and studying for finals starts, which makes it hard to really appreciate it and enjoy all the things you'd like to do--like decorate eggs.

Well, this year, being the last that either of us are undergrads (yay!) I though I would prove that there was still time to celebrate. So, on Easter Eve, baskets were put together. And eggs were decorated, albeit 2 days after Easter.

Twenty-one

I can't believe how long it has been since I've had time to peruse the 'blogosphere'. In thinking about what I could write about quickly, all that comes to mind (and frankly all that I am) right now is the number 21.

If anyone has ever wondered what it would be like to load yourself up with 21 credits in one semester, lemme tell ya! I'm two months into winter semester and I have 18 credits at school (two GE's, one 400-level engineering class, one 300-level computer science class, and my senior project) and 3 credits online (American Heritage). My online class is due by the end of March if I want it to count for graduation (which I do, of course) and I need to pass all 18 credits if I want them to count for graduation (which, of course, I do). No pressure, no problem. Unfortunately, it's starting to get real.

I would say that the past two months have been pretty good to me. I've been able to keep up with my projects and homework, take the midterms as they came, and stay relatively current with everything that is being taught in all of my classes. All of this is starting to change. For the past two weeks, to stay caught up I've had to stay on campus till late, a couple nights till around 9pm. When I leave for my first (and daily) class at 8am, leaving campus at 9pm is something only choice swear words could near-accurately describe. And eight- to twelve- to thirteen-hour days are becoming more and more common, including almost every Saturday for the last month, including Valentine's Day. That was when I realized my twenty-one credits were finally catching up with me.

I had a project due for my Operating Systems Design class that day. I thought that I could easily finish it during the week, and then when that didn't happen, I was sure I could finish well before the 11:59pm Saturday deadline. As I pressed forward Saturday, more and more bugs in my program were uncovering themselves, and it wasn't long before I knew that 'heart string day' was going to be a heartache day for both Shauna and me. I was up until after 12am Sunday morning, and still hadn't quite finished the project--not well enough to submit, anyway. The next day, Sunday, after returning from church and my quorum responsibilities, I quickly came down with a horrible stomach flu and was knocked out for three days straight, and just like that, I fell behind, I missed a couple of assignments I just literally did not have time to do, and my 'calm' 21 credits became the nerve-racking thorn in my side and the bane of my existence.

But, I don't mean to be all gloom and doom. I just want to whine a little. I'm doing fine, Shauna's doing fine (I bought her a huge block of BYU Bookstore cheesecake fudge to make up for Valentine's Day and for taking care of me while I was sick; she quickly forgave me). I have been blessed greatly this semester to do well at school, even better than I have ever done. And I'm even having fun doing it--making new friends, finding new places to chill, appreciating little things (like sunshine) more, and overall, I'm just trying to make the best out of my last semester at BYU (it's still unreal). I guess I should also mention in case you were wondering that I did have the foresight to quit my job at BYU at the end of December. That has helped greatly, although I miss it and my coworkers.

But, don't even get me started on jobs right now. That's a whole other blog-worthy topic. I mean, seriously, who wants to graduate in the middle of a recession?

Sleeves, a Tongue, and 911

This week has been eventful as far as stories go. My third graders and I learned two lessons about how not to get hurt (also a spelling word this week). Then I learned something on my own.

Sleeves
Two of my third grade students were pulling their arms inside their sweatshirts to be silly. One must have bumped the other, because I looked up to see one boy taking a nose dive, writhing all the way down because he couldn't reach out to catch himself. He split his lip and started bleeding. After he was on his way to the office, I turned to the class and said something like, "There's a life lesson: keep your arms in your sleeves."

A Tongue
One of the other boys in my class stuck his tongue to a frozen pole at recess ...on his birthday. He didn't wait for water--he ripped his tongue right off the pole. I later heard one of my other boys solemnly declare, "I will never stick my tongue to a pole." However, now the boy's famous as far as third-graders go and is writing a story about his experience.

911
On the way home after this week of life lessons, I notice that a car in front of me was weaving in its lane. Then the car starts veering into other lanes at random without a blinker. This person must be drunk, I thought as the car almost veered into a passing semi. Following him, I called 911 on my cell phone, knowing this guy was an accident waiting to happen. I stayed behind him, hoping he wouldn't crash before someone pulled him over. I wondered how long it would take to reach the correct authority on a cell phone.
I was actually surprised how quickly I was transferred to an Orem dispatcher and then UHP (and grateful). Being behind the California driver, I was able to tell them the license plate very easily. Someone else had already called him in, too, in fact. They were sending someone to pull him over.
I'm not sure what happened to this guy (or gal). Around University exit, the guy veered sharply to the right and hit the rumble strip. Quickly overcorrecting, he shot left and... I, in a different lane, had no choice but to keep driving past. I wish I knew what happened afterward.