This may be "real life"!

Nick's last day of pharmacy school was yesterday. Yippeee! He is now officially: "Dr. Nick Scheurer PharmD". I am so proud of all the hard work he put in to school (8 years of it!). Four years ago I was thinking that this day would never come. But it's here, and it almost seems surreal. The last year of living in Seattle was probably the best year of our marriage (I had my DREAM job, Nick was on the downhill end of school, Reagan was on the way, we had made good friends, and lived in a beautiful city).

We miss Seattle, but I think that life just gets better. Right now I get to stay home with my daughter (aside from the occasional Mystery shop that I do- and I can take Reagan with me to that job), I have an awesome vehicle to drive around, we have loving family within driving distance, Nick starts his new job on 3/29/09, AND..... We bought a HOUSE! *I'll post pictures when I have some.

Nick is walking through with the home inspector (who is actually my uncle, thanks Frank- BTW) today! And if everything goes well we will be closing on the house 4/29/09. It is a great house in Fruit Heights, UT. Located on a dead-end street in the most kid-friendly neighborhood- EVER. It seems like "Real Life" is finally starting for us.

Nick and I will be celebrating spring break in separate locations this year. No one get too jealous... Nick leaves for Bridgewater, MA on Sunday (the weather forecast shows rain and temperatures in the 50's) for 4 days of training for his new job. PS- did I mention that I get a 5% employee discount at Albertson's since Nick will be working there. Awesome.

I am leaving for the ultimate spring break locale: Boise, ID on Tuesday! To spend time with my girlfriend Lindsay. Spring break, woo hoo (because spring break is so exciting for conservative married parents :)

Lastly, the blog is now "XBOX" free. For those of you who miss Nick's XBOX stat's I am sure you can find them on his facebook page. ha ha. Sadly, even though I was able to get away from the XBOX stuff on the blog; it is never out of my life completely.

Notice that Reagan has plenty of toys to play with. But inevitably, she always makes her way over to Nick's XBOX to use the accessories as playtoys instead. sigh.

House Hunt- Schmouse Hunt!

We've been actively house hunting lately (no more obsessively pouring over the MLS listings for me. I actually get to walk through the places now!). We've been making Jeanne, our amazing realtor drive to Davis county, from Nephi on a regular basis (sorry Jeanne!). We thought we had found the house for us- the listing Realtor made it sound like the owners were desperate to get rid of it. Nick and I made a reasonable offer, and were waiting with baited breath to see if we would soon be home owners. The counter offer came back, and the sellers didn't drop the price a dime; as well as they asked for FIVE TIMES the amount we had put down as earnest money; AND they gave us four hours to respond. HUH?! What happened to the people who were desperate to get rid of their house? Their Realtor then tells our Realtor that the sellers have someone who wants to lease the property. It was a lot more "back and forth" than this- and Nick and I were so frustrated with it, by the time the counter offer came in that we just rejected their counter; and figured we'd start back at square one. The icing on the cake was that after we rejected the offer the listing Realtor calls our Realtor again, and says the Lease deal might not go through; and that if we wanted to think about it and make another offer in a day or two the sellers would probably be willing to take 10-15K less than their asking price. GAH! Forget it! We've moved on already. I am sure everyone has experienced home buying frustration and anxiety. I know we'll make it through; it's just so exhausting.

Off on another tangent... Nick has a facebook account (too funny that he "caved" before I did). I am thinking that since he can now post all of his dumb XBOX stuff on his facebook page; I can get rid of the XBOX stuff that he has littered on this blog! And maybe I can pay homage to BYU, rather than DUKE (even though I do like Duke. I am a true cougar fan!).

Speaking of XBOX and BYU... I left the house for a few minutes the other day, when Nick and his brother were playing XBOX and when I returned this is what I saw:

4 Years and counting....

Last week Nick and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. Nick surprised me by planning an overnight trip for us. He took me to Happy Sumo (one of our favorite sushi places to dine) and then we spent the night at the Alaskan Inn.

We dropped Reagan off at Nick's parents for the night. It was our first night away from her, and I feel like I did pretty well. I only made Nick call to check on her 4 times.

Nick and I both kept talking about how excited we were to have a night of uninterrupted sleep! Unfortunately for us, the beds at the Alaskan Inn were VERY uncomfortable and neither of us slept well. I suppose you live and learn. Next year we will make sure to get a room at the Marriott, or at Little America so that we can have a comfortable bed to sleep in.

On a more positive note the breakfast the Alaskan Inn served was delicious!

I was so excited that Nick planned something romantic. I'd have to say this was my favorite Anniversary yet. I appreciate Nick's parents graciously taking Reagan for the night (they said they'd do it again, but I don't know if they were coherent when they made that statement? I think they felt like walking Zombies the whole next day). I can't wait to see what Nick comes up with next year. I feel a little badly because Nick planned all of that for our Anniversary, and my gift to him was a new battery for his laptop (how's that for romantic?!) he seemed to like it though.

I always tease Nick because we had known each other for 12 years before he even "noticed" me (in a romantic way). I tell him that if he weren't so clueless we could have been married for 8 years already! Honestly though, I wouldn't change a thing about the way our story went. I enjoy the institution of marriage and look forward to many more happy years with Nick.

Employment!

Back to more light-hearted posts....



Well, Nick made a decision about employment. He signed a contract to work for Sav*On pharmacies (the pharmacy inside Albertson's stores). All of his hard work has paid off. It is such a blessing, and I don't think it is coincidence- that the signing bonus they offered him is EXACTLY enough to pay off his student loans. Someday soon we may be able to call in to the Dave Ramsey show, and do the "we're debt free!" shout.
I am confident that Nick will pass the NAPLEX with ease, and it ought to be smooth sailing from there. Nick has to fly to Massachusetts (on my birthday, no less) for a week-long training session. I'd go with him, but the thought of lugging Reagan halfway across the country is enough to deter me from planning the trip.

In other news.... we found out that Reagan will be getting another boy cousin (my sister is having a boy. Congratulations, Heather!). Reagan will just be happy to have someone smaller than her to play with.

This week Reagan hasn't been able to play with her cousin Lance, at all; because Lance has RSV- AGAIN! It is so sad. I would have thought that the season of sickness would have been over by now, since it is March- but no such luck. Reagan hopes you get well soon- Lance. She misses the Cheetos that you sneak to her when Mommy isn't looking.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. The link to the youtube video that Kari (Kari N.- I am assuming???) left was AWESOME! Too bad we can't show it to the members of the Court in CA that are hearing arguments today about overturning Prop. 8. Since when does the minority get to be the majority, just because they throw a big enough temper tantrum?! The people in CA already voted and the MAJORITY made their opinion known that Prop. 8 was the way to go. If the Court overturns the vote I suppose it will just be another "sign of the times"- we'll all find out the verdict in less than 90 days, right? Here's hoping that the CA court does the right thing.

Agree or disagree. I have a right to to share my opinion too.

First of all….. GO COUGARS! BYU beat the University of crappy Utah in basketball over the weekend AND they did it with two of their key players being ill.

The BYU win was just one of the items that left me feeling all “fired up” this weekend. I am really irritated with the state of the economy and the fact that the current government administration seems to be “shooting in the dark”, and coming up with random plans to try to fix things. I have news for all of you (as someone with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics) - THE RECESSION IS NOT GOING TO END ANY TIME SOON! I don’t think it is a coincidence that the LDS church magazine publication was on Self Reliance this month.
I think all of the “bail-outs” the government is initiating are BALONEY. People should have been smart with their money from the beginning. Who honestly believed they could make a mortgage payment for a $300,000 home, when they were pulling down $9/hr. at McDonalds?! I am so irked that responsible citizens will be “picking up the bill” for other people who did not do their homework and were just plain greedy.
The steps the government is taking to nationalize American corporations and banks (and yes, nationalization is happening. The U.S. government owns 70% of Citigroup. Enough said.) scares me. The steps that are being taken to bring in a Socialist system (re-distribution of wealth is the basic principle behind Socialism. I took Marxian Economics in College and Aced the course. I can spot Socialism from a mile away) scare me.
I do not feel that Government (Federal, or Local- Cough* Orrin Hatch and Christine Gregoire*Cough) are “for the people” anymore. I know I am only one person and there isn’t a lot I can do to change the current course of the nation. But I am going to put efforts in to passing legislation that will create Term Limits for all elected positions!

The biggest contributor that led to my stupor of thought over the weekend, and to this rant was my good friend Janetta. She posted a well thought out statement on her blog. I echo her sentiments… I am tired of feeling attacked for my core beliefs. "Celebrities", armed with their HIGH SCHOOL educations are using their influence to try and shame people in to believing what they believe? Why should we lend any credence to what these people have to say? Case in point: Prop. 8, from California. The people have spoken. It was democracy in action- at its best: might I add, and the people voted to uphold the definition of marriage being between a man and a woman. These celebrities with “sour grapes” are making me ill. They are telling us we ought to be ashamed if we don’t support same-sex marriage. While I have friends and acquaintances that are gay, and I do not personally oppose their choices- I will not be ashamed! I believe in my Church’s The Family: A Proclamation to the World http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,161-1-11-1,00.html that the union between a man and woman is sacred. People like Tom Hanks and Sean Penn are the ones who ought to be ashamed of themselves. I am using what means I have to speak out about my views. And I will use what influence I have to make sure that my family and my daughter are taught to have good morals and values and to be self reliant.

Take that! All you Hollywood-types who are not in touch with reality! I’m not resting on my laurels.