Michael, The New Program Director

There have been many changes at karate all at once. I'll make a list:

• Debbie was laid off.
• Jessica became the new FDA (front desk administrator)
• Scott's the new Lead instructor
• Michael is now the Program Director

Michael's new position basically means he's in charge of the growth of our school. He will now do all the intro lessons and less teaching. They also gave him a raise.

So now it looks like we won't be moving to Idaho, here's why: Knowing we have the ambition to open our own studio, the Lawrences mentioned Michael possibly taking over the Spanish Fork school. Wouldn't that be great? We wouldn't have to start from scratch. This is something I never dreamed to be possible. We could start off and already be successful! I better avoid getting my hopes up too high.... but seriously, that would be awesome!

The Lawrences also hired some guy in Tennessee who  is supposed to help the business to become more successful. They're flying Michael out there for a week to train with him. He'll learn a new way to do intros and how to run a successful dojo. He's leaving on Sunday and flying back Saturday. I know this is a good opportunity and everything but I really wish he could just stay here. What am I going to do without my hubby for a week? I haven't slept alone since we've been married. I'm going to miss him so much! I wish they would just fly me to Tennessee too! I could be trained on running a studio also. We are going to be partners once we have our own school, after all. 

I wish the Lawrences would let me be more involved. I feel like I'm only still an employee because they feel like they need to keep the Intro Master's wife on so Michael will stay with them. 

At least I'll be very involved once Michael and I have our own school....

I just have to be patient.

 

Trip to Rexburg

Michael is done with summer term at BYU. Wahoo! He got a 92% on his Nutrition final. My baby is smart! 

Now that Mike has small break from school, we decided to take a trip to Bonnie's (Michael's sister) in Rexburg Idaho. Friday, I got the day off at Hogi Yogi, and we rode up to Rexburg with Kimberly and Lance. 

We stopped for dinner at a place in Idaho Falls called Smitty's.

When I walked inside I immediately thought of an old lady. Not because it smelled bad -it was the interior decorations that gives a grandma feel to the place. I got Chicken Tenders, and with the price of my meal I got the chicken, a salad, pancakes, garlic bread and orange sherbet. It was a good deal, and the food was yummy also. 

Once we arrived at the Cochran's, we were greeted by our cute nephews. James, the baby is getting sooo big! He just started walking a week ago. It was cute watching him toddle around.

We arrived at Rexburg later than we expected, so instead of going to the temple like we had originally planned, we watched some Olympics and went to bed. 

The next morning, after eating delicious waffles, Jeremiah took us on a tour of BYU Idaho. Matt, a current student, tagged along and gave us a student's perspective of campus. It sounds like the university has a lot of perks to offer: educational, financial and social. I wouldn't mind attending that college at all!

Later that afternoon we went Kayaking. It was so much fun! Jeremiah scored us two canoes, two kayaks, and three sailboard bases. Michael and I started off with the kayaks, and ended relaxing on the boards, floating down the river. I'm so sad we didn't get any pictures of us in the River. :( Why didn't anyone bring a camera? Oh well.

Sunday morning, we attended sacrament meeting with the Cochran's. After church, Jeremiah grilled up some burgers for lunch and we were on our way home. 

It was a fun vacation. It was a nice break from our everyday lives. 

   

Just to let everyone know, the reason we checked out the university, was because it's a possibility we'll move  to Idaho sometime next year. The Cochran's have a basement apartment we could live in. Everything is up in the air right now. We still need to study it out and see if it would be a good decision. One thing is for sure, if we moved to Idaho it would be very different... I've never lived away from family. I've never even lived outside of Utah!

Here's my Pros and Cons list:

Pros If We Moved to Rexburg:

• BYU Idaho! It looks like such a fun school. (Much better than UVU!) It would be easier for Michael, and I'm pretty sure I would be able to get a full ride by keeping my grades up.
• A new experience away from home. I've heard a couple of people talk about how moving away from family for a couple of years was a really good decision. Not because they don't love their family... It just gave them a break to live on their own.
• The landscape is beautiful. I love all the farms.
• Both the temple and the University are in bike riding distance. We would probably save a lot on gas.
• Bonnie is an amazing piano player! Maybe she could teach me...
• The Cochran's have said Michael will have free access to their weight room.
• It would provide a break from the Lawrences, our current employers. We love them, but they put a lot of pressure on their employees. 
• The Kitchen in the basement apartment has a lot more counter space.
• There's more closet space.
• The bathroom's bigger.
• Summer's aren't so hot.

Cons If We Moved to Rexburg:

• We'd miss family
• We would both have to find new jobs.
• The basement apartment is smaller. It has one less room and there isn't really room for Michael to practice karate if he wanted.
• There are a lot of hobo spiders there. YUCK!
• The Cochrans could hear us making love? 
• We'd miss karate.
• We'd lose our jobs.
• Winter is too long there.
• We would miss our cute little apartment. It wouldn't be likely we would get it back when we come back to Utah.
• We would have to pay for a moving truck or trailer.
• We would have to take a four hour drive if we wanted to visit family. 

Personally, I wouldn't mind moving to Rexburg. It would be a new adventure. Although, I think Michael's reluctant to move. We'll see what happens. Whatever we decide, I'll be happy as long as I have my cute hubby by my side. 

Rebekah's NOT Coming Back!

Rebekah is not coming back to work at Hogi Yogi! Her plan was to come back after Kierstin goes back to college, and Kierstin is leaving on the 15th!
I'm not ready to become a manager!
I don't know how to make the orders.
I don't know how to make the curry.
I don't know how to make 6 footers.
I don't know how to make chicken salad.
I still don't know where everything in the store is.
I'm slow at putting away orders.
Every time I open I come in at least 30min early because I'm slow at that too.
I'm slower than Kierstin and Rebekah at everything!
Are the Walls going to ask me to become the manager. I would assume I'm next in line. What if I can't do it?
I haven't opened Hogi Yogi in months. Dang... If I had known this was going to happen, I would have requested to open more often so I could become faster.

Becoming manager could be a good opportunity.
I could make more money.

But I'm soooo slow... like a turtle.

Briance, You Rock!

Scott is on a vacation with his family in Germany. Lucky!
Due to Scott's time off, I have my little ninja class back for the time being. Yay! Better yet, it's Olympic Week at karate so I was able to do a lot of fun competitions with them. Today we threw bean bags threw hoops, jumped the river and had a high hatchet kick competition. Though the medals given to the winners were small, cheap, plastic medals, every ninja wanted one.
Briance, one of my older ninjas (6 yrs old) earned not one, but two medals! After class was over I witnessed the cutest thing ever! Austin, our smallest ninja was sad he didn't earn a medal. Briance came over and put one of his medals around Austin's neck. Austin's whole face lit up and he gave Briance a big hug. My heart melted at Briance's act of kindness. That moment literally made my day; possibly my week! Briance, you deserve an ovation. *clap clap* YOU ROCK!

RIP Spot

Spot was our green spotted puffer fish we bought back in February. He was purchased at Wal-Mart with four additional tropical fish. Out of all the fish I've ever owned, Spot was definitely my favorite. I know it's weird to say he had personality... I mean he was just a fish, but he really did. He would act bored at times, slowly swimming up and down the tank, and very hyper at other times, happily zipping around. Spot was a very aggressive fish, and enjoyed eating the tails and fins of his tank mates. He ended up killing three of his four buddies. 

Last week, his last tank mate, Thor, passed away from what I'm guessing was an illness. After Thor's death, Spot wasn't the same. He stopped eating and would hang out in a corner at the bottom of his aquarium. This morning, Michael woke up and found him dead. Poor fish. He'll be missed. 

A Call From Mr. Sperry

Today Michael and I did a birthday party with 28 kids! It was chaotic. It was especially crazy because many of them were young. Starting now, we're going to enforce a rule where if the child is under 4, they must have an adult come out with them. Otherwise, they won't be allowed on the floor. 

After the party, we borrowed a couple of bikes from my parents house and went on a long bike ride. We stopped on a bridge and made out; it was as if we were dating all over again. :) I took Michael on the new trail they've been constructing and showed him where I want to have a Halloween party. It's this opening in the trees where we could set up some tables, chairs, jack-o-lanterns and balloons. Maybe we could even borrow the screen and generator from Uncle Mike so we can watch a scary movie. Wouldn't that be awesome!? Now... how am I supposed to contact the owner of the property to ask permission? I'll have to look into that. 

When we got back, I received a phone call from Craig. It was very unexpected. He asked how Michael and I were doing and what we've been up to, he told me about his job in Arizona, we talked about his long distance relationship with his girl, Hannah and we discussed having a party for him when he comes back to Utah. Lately I've been feeling like I'm losing touch with all my high school buddies (Hop and Chloe included), so I was really grateful for his call. Thanks Craig! You're the best. :)

Mason's Eye

This is our cute nephew, Mason...

...who got into a collision with this trailer:

He was driven in an ambulance to Primary Children's Hospital, where they did emergency surgery on his eye. Thanks to amazing doctors, and everyone's prayers on Mason's behalf, they were able to save his eye. He's been home for a few days now, and Jonny and Michelle have seen great improvement of his eye in the past couple days. 

 Today was the first time Michael and I have seen Mason since his accident. We got him a bubble gun for a get well gift. He was very excited when he opened it, and claimed he had always wanted one of those! He had fun shooting people with bubbles for the remainder of the night.