The house video

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I just dropped off Miles at the airport, headed for Utah and you guys, but we managed to make that long-promised real video of the house right before he left.

***note: I just watched the video, and it has some WEIRD colors going on. In case anyone is worried, our house is NOT purple and pink. There are some snatches in each room when you can see the real colors, but I think the camera is still recovering from its dive in the Bahamas. Time to find that warranty, I guess. Ok, so we will owe you another house video. :) Love you!

Cool things that didn't get into the video?

1. most of our boxes fit under the bed. Hah!

2. the bike we repaired in our bedroom last night :) Yes, Plexi the huffy is back in business

3. the awesome noises our fridge door makes

4. the strength of our walls. Man, those things make a lot of noise when you bang a nail in! Miles came running from the other room when I put up a clock in the bathroom because it sounded like I was bringing the house down! I think Grandpa Nihart would have appreciated it..."you'll smash the floor in!"

5. the magnificence of our vacuum. It can run on tile, and you can see what's inside!

Memorial day was a blast, and we used the extra time to explore Long Beach out to the edge of the ocean, and went to "little india." Wish we hadn't forgot the camera! I guess we had our phones, but we didn't really think about it until later. Oh well. There were sarongs in the windows and we were the only white people I saw...kind of a neat feeling. We went into a little store to explore and the smells were amazing. There were just so many spices all mixed together...it was like opening my spice rack box after the move, but a whole store's worth! We didn't get anything there, but we tried some indian candy at a "world famous" bakery next door. (The sign on the ceiling read "wel-come") The treat we chose was called gulab jaman...this rare delicacy was suspiciously like a donut hole soaked in syrup. :) But good!

***Note #3: the video was too big to upload. :( We still owe you

At last! We have been busy the past two weeks! We finally got all our stuff, and man, it's good to sleep in a bed again and be able to buy a GALLON of milk now that we have a fridge. :)

We love our new ward, and arrived just in time for the annual send-the-scouts-to-camp auction dinner. Since we still have about a hundred cake mixes, I signed up to bring one to auction off. With a little help from Betty Crocker and her online recipe ideas (how old IS that lady?), Miles and I whipped up this little wonder. The rudder was a little lopsided, but we had a blast making it and sampling the frosting along the way. It auctioned off for $35...beat only by cinnamon rolls--I hadn't thought about it, but wouldn't you rather have cinnamon rolls than cake? Mmmm...

(we considered doing our hair special for the activity)

Besides making cake, we've gotten almost all of our stuff put away, and all but a couple pics up on our walls. We'll try to take a(daytime) video soon of the completed house. We also spent some time refinishing the top of a piece of the entertainment center Amy gave us. Unfortunately, we had some hard times getting the stain color to match, and after generous application of stain by Miles and two coats of polyurethane we were excited to see it coming together and finally drying...until it all bubbled up underneath and looked like leprosy. The top is now a beautiful glossy black. :)

Anyway, we sure love you all and hope you are having the best of memorial days EVER! We miss being close and getting to hang out all the time--it was so fun to have built-in best friends so near all the time! Don't worry, though, we are saving you all a spot here just in case anyone wants to come visit. :) We'll post the new & improved house video soon.

Honeymoon number 4, and counting!

Yesterday Miles started his new job as assistant facilities manager for the church in our area. First item of business? The regional fm meeting, of course! This means that we are now back in a hotel complete with hot water, a nice bed, a microwave, and...a fridge!!! We realized a couple days ago that so far we have been honeymooning ever since we got married--Bahamas, then Florida, then Springville for a week, then california, Springville, our new place, and here!

Today's funny little miracle? Miles is at meetings all day, but since it's raining outside and I mostly just need to job hunt, we decided to send him with the car. When lunch time rolled around...and around...and around again, I realized that they wouldn't get a lunch break to come back, and there weren't ANY restaurants within walking distance without a coat/umbrella. I went down to the front desk where there were snacks for sale, but there was no normal food left, just treats. Disaster! Just as I was thinking of going for a jog in the rain, the receptionist said she had to go to the bank soon and would love to pick something up for me, and after wondering what to do (I have no cash on me) I remembered the Wendy's giftcard someone gave us as a wedding gift. A-HA! So...I got lunch, the receptionist got a very grateful thankyou, and Wendy's got a little chunk of giftcard. See? This is honeymoon luck for sure!

Oh, and the MOST exciting fact of the day so far? One of my missionaries wrote and said that there is a stake announced for Russia! On June 5th Elder Russell M. Nelson will come and organize it! That is the first stake EVER in that whole country!!!! And when there is a stake, then there can be a temple someday!

The beginning...our new little home!

(By jess) So...we are camping. But this is a special kind of camping, because it is in our own house! We made the drive from Utah three days ago, but beat the moving van by a week, so what we brought in our car is what we have until friday. This includes 2 sleeping bags, 2 camping pads, a little cooler, our suitcases, and a big blue tote. We are having a blast, although I have to admit we are both excited by the thought of owning a refrigerator again! My favorite moment from night #1: Miles rolling out the sleeping bag and yelling "sleepover!"
Camping with your best friend is the best thing ever, and who else gets to camp with a bathroom and a microwave? Miles just pointed out that everyone with a camper does...hmm...got me there. But do campers have a ceiling fan, a/c units, and a landlord named Keith? I think not.