Update (finally)!

I think it's about that time! It feels so good to be back! Instead of trying to catch up on 2 years of updates, I'm just going to give an update of what Andrew and I have been up to! Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on the other big stuff in the not-too-distant future.

Our home in Driggs (April 2013- Jan 2014):

The view form the balcony (so much snow!):

Our home in Vegas (June 2014- Present):

We're are currently residing in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. We moved here from teeny, tiny Driggs, Idaho. As much fun as Driggs was, we are so excited to have population around us. The population of Driggs is about the size of the high school I attended--a couple thousand. I will post some of the great stuff we did and learned there at a later date. Driggs is about 45 minutes East of Rexburg, right up against the beautiful Teton Moutains and around he corner from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Andrew and I moved to Driggs in April of 2014 after Andrew opened the Assisted Living building there. Andrew was able to gain some great experience starting and running the facility there, but he always wanted to get a Master's degree so he started applying right away. He officially graduated from BYU-Idaho in April of 2014, but he had already been running the building since January of 2014. 

Andrew is attending graduate school at UNLV (University of Nevada Las Vegas). He is in the Master's of Healthcare Administration (MHA) program. He is currently starting his last semester, and is scheduled to graduate in December! YES! We are so excited. 

Andrew has also been working at Smith, Larsen, & Wixom Attorneys. Thanks to our good friends, Natalie and Mark, Andrew has had a wonderful time working at this law firm and having a job that doesn't stress him out at home while he's trying to work on homework. During the summer (of 2014) he worked at 24-Hour Fitness for a little bit, but the graveyard shift isn't easy when you have school and another job. So the benefits (i.e. gym pass) of 24-Hour was a summer fling. Well, for me. Andrew still goes.

On top of all the homework and job, Andrew has also been interning at a hospital here in Vegas. He is so stud-ly when he leaves the house in his "administrator" clothing. The Lord has truly blessed us in our endeavors to set a solid foundation of education and experiences.

Some of the things Andrew has been enjoying lately (besides loads of homework and papers) is working out, golf, and ME (of course- and not in that order). He is an incredibly busy man, but he makes time to spend with me. He goes to the gym in the mornings and is usually out the door when I consider rolling out of bed. He is currently serving as the Elder's quorum secretary in our ward here in Las Vegas.

When we found out we would be moving to Las Vegas, I quickly got on the search for a job here. Thanks again to Natalie Purcell and her family, I was able to learn about a great charter school opening up. I applied everywhere, interviewed a TON, got offers, then eventually got the offer I wanted... at American Preparatory Academy. I didn't know that I would be teaching 3rd grade until later on, but I sure am glad that's where they put me. The school is amazing to say at the least. However, I don't exaggerate when I say it was incredibly time consuming and tiring for the first few months. I got the hang of things, and now I'm impatiently waiting for the next school year to start (in approximately 10 more days)!

This school year I will be teaching 3rd grade again for my 4th year of teaching. I am so excited, I really love 3rd grade. I had an amazing class and parents last year. APA has opened a second campus this year and I am fortunate enough to teach at a brand new school, which I have never done before. This is why the school year is starting later than most, the school is still getting some work done. I look forward to another great year with an incredible 3rd grade team and some of the best families.

Before I made the move down to Las Vegas, I heard about an online teaching opportunity through BYU-Idaho. I just happened to open an Alumni email (which I almost never do) and read about teaching online for the Pathway program. I knew I didn't just "happen" to read this email and feel the drive to apply. The application process was very long and tedious and the whole time I thought, "There's no way I'm going to get this job, but here we go..." I found out over the summer (of 2014) that I got the job. I knew the the Lord was looking out for us because this is something I have been wanting to do. BYU-Idaho is a great school and I feel so grateful to be apart of the university. I don't teach every semester, but I've taught 2 so far. I now get to teach the international Pathway students, so I work with them on English as well as other "Life Skills"- budgeting, studying, time management.

While I'm not working with the cutest little 3rd graders, or amazing online students, I can probably be found reading a book--especially during the summer. I really only read Ebooks now because I'm very good at incurring book fines at the library. When I check out ebooks, I don't have to worry about that because the books get checked in automatically. Markie and I share an account and we never run out of books to read between the two of us. I have been working with the Young Women in our ward this past year as the Miamaid advisor, which I absolutely love.


This concludes the bare minimum of the updates for now, more to come soon.