FAA

About a year ago we heard that the FAA was letting anyone who wanted apply for air traffic control job positions. Many of the workers are up for retirement and there are opening all over the country and so to fill them they are letting anyone that wants apply. There were requirements like age, you have to have a degree, and physical things like eye sight. Cory went ahead and applied and after a few months we stopped really thinking anything was going to come of it. I guess the government just likes to take its sweet time because we were notified almost a month ago that they wanted him to come and take the AT-SAT (air traffic standard aptitude test) which is an 8 hour test. Not everyone gets invited to take the test, so we were glad for the opportunity.

Cory has really bad test anxiety, he will know the subject inside and out but tends to get nervous while testing that he wont do well and then its a self fulfilling prophecy. He got a study manual for the test and practiced for hours every day. He took the test on Monday. To pass the test you need to score at least a 70. Applicants are categorized as "well qualified" if they score above an 85. They said that rarely do they get scores above 90. I was hoping and praying all day while he was at that test that he would get at least 70, I feared he would score a 69 and how frustrating that would be.

We just got his score online, he got 87.4! I am so proud of him! I also am excited that he did so well because that means he is more likely to get the job, and it would be more money and better benefits with retirement and everything! Cory has applied for positions all over the states including one in salt lake city that he really wants. Some of the other locations are in Illinois, Georgia, Colorado, new Mexico, Rhode island, Virginia, and Arkansas. I hope he is selected for one of them!

Jane Austen's Persuasion

The other night I was flipping though the channels bored and stopped when on PBS when i saw young girls with their hair up and dressed in 1800 time period fashion were talking in lovely English accents. I had no idea what it was at first, but i am a sucker for any film from this time period as i loved reading books that took place then. Come to find out, after a while, that i was watching Persuasion by Jane Austen. I really enjoyed reading this story, as all of Jane's books, when i was young teenager maybe 15. At that time I had never had a boyfriend or kissed a boy and the books were so romantic and sweet and just the kind of thing to make love seem so perfect.

I had never seen the movie from this particular book, in fact i did not know that one had been made! In a way i found it almost comical now in my married state. I mean as romantic as all these small glances at each other are, and the occasional hand holding as one stepes into a carriage.. it seems there is not much actual courting. Which makes me wonder how well a marriage would do if you hardly knew each other beyond the silly crush and trembling heart that accompany a romance in the beginning stages. In the movie Anne Elliot did not go on one date with Captain Wentworth, in fact they hardly even speak at all. Yet he proposes marriage and i suppose they lived happily ever after. I guess I read too many books like this growing up. I really thought that would be how it was... just romantic and perfect. Who knew that after the marriage you would have to work so hard at compromising and such? And even though we talked for hours upon hours while dating there were still things i didn't know about Cory until I lived with him. I thought it would be interesting to see the sequel to Jane's books, you know where they are married and what happened next. I wonder if it really was feasible to work out, i wonder how many marriages from that time period were unhappy when the young bride woke up to the reality and day to day unromantic side of a marriage.

I still found my self sucked in to the movie, wishing I could wear dresses like that and spend all my time taking long walks in the country side and going to dinners and dances all dressed up fancy. My sister Thora is in England right now while her husband attends oxford and i could just picture her strolling through the fields of green... so Thora put on a long skirt and go take a good walk like all the heroines of Jane did! You can tell me all about it!!

random things about me... (I am bored)

My sister Thora posted this on her blog and so thought I would follow suit.

What I was doing ten years ago: Ten years ago i was 17 and a senior at East High School. I spent most of my time waitressing at chuck-a-rama, and at my boyfriend Mark's house. I would sit on the porch with my sister Tali and talk for hours and write in my journal with her. Good times!

What I was doing five years ago: In january of 2003 I was 23, going to the community college and living with roommates. I worked at chuck-a-rama again (don't knock it i made between 15-20 an hour!) At the end of January that year I met Cory at a dance at the institute. Our first date was January 25th.

One year ago: I had just had Theo so I spent most my time lounging on the couch snuggling him. Cory and i had been married for three years at that point. We lived in an apartment in Murray. He worked on mortgages. I like his new job better, the benefits are awesome and the hours are better too.

Yesterday: I took the boys on a long walk in the freezing cold because porter was dying to get out of this house! He wanted to go to the playground but its covered in snow. We ended up walking to the community rec center that has an indoor playground and the kiddos ran around and got all tired out!

Five snacks I enjoy: Oranges... i have a box of them that I have been working on right now! They are so yummy and I could eat them all day! I like fruit roll ups.. the real kind not the kid fake ones that is all sugar and food coloring. I like the apricot ones because they are a little tart. White chocolate popcorn, but I usually only have some around during the holidays. Almonds ( i keep raw ones in the fridge and take a small handful every now and then). Cold cereal.. I love it! As a child it was a precious commodity so as an adult I have it whenever i want! When pregnant i usually have a bowl in the evening before bed because otherwise i wake up famished at 5 am. My favorites are multi grain Cheerios, plain Cheerios with banana, life, frosted mini wheats, and corn chex.

Five things I would do if I had a $100 million: well first and foremost i would buy a van for myself.. because try as we might we can not get three car seats to fit in the back of our dinky car. ( took it to babies r us the other day and tried all sorts of combinations) Second I would buy my "dream house" which is really practical and would only cost about 300,000 in Utah. i just want three bedrooms with the laundry room on the same floor, a separate living room and family room, a room for my scrapbooking, and a garage... always wanted one of those! Then I would put some away for the kids college, pay off all our debt, and set up retirement accounts for us. I would give some to the church because i know they would do good things with it and help out all the poor people that have practically nothing. I would actually love to go on a humanitarian mission so it would be nice to set some money aside for that. Oh and I want to go on some really nice vacations.. where we fly and stay in nice hotels and feel pampered!

Five places I would run away to: Hawaii, Florida, Europe, somewhere warm but in the middle of no where, Pennsylvania- I always see pictures from there and there is so much green and trees that I just want to see it for myself!

Five TV shows I like: Lost, So you think you can dance, The office, Greys, and Samantha who?.

Five things I hate doing: Cleaning my house, living in Utah ( its cold!!), sleeping with Theo because I don't get any sleep and he kicks me in the head all night, making big purchases because it gives me anxiety and I always wonder if i could have got a better deal, and paying bills.. because i realize how much interest we pay for every month and it makes me sick!

Five biggest joys of the moment: Theo and Porter and just watching them grow, the baby inside me and the miracle that is, having a house and not renting, and Cory having a good job and not having to work weekends.

my little cleaner

Porter helping me clean the bathroom. He always tells me " mommy i will help you do that" and he really wants to! He actually did a good job, although i think he used half the bottle up. I guess the most fun is squirting the mirror! He also does windows and scrubs walls!

My organizing Guru

In order to make room for the Christmas tree in the living room we had to move the toy shelf up to the boys room. Porter actually likes it better because he can organize it all the way he wants it and leave it over night. In the living room i would always pick it up and he would get mad at me! Also he can go play up there and Theo doesn't mess it up. I think I am going to leave the toys up there.. its easier to clean the living room this way as there are few toys that migrate down.

Theo's first Birthday

A picture of him on his actual birthday, December 20th.
Sleeping in his new duds from his Aunt Mandie and Uncle John.
Pictures from the party on Dec 15th.
we had a make your own cupcake bar. The kids loved it! ( and some of the grown ups too!) Porter just liked to make them and not eat them. I think he made at least 4.
Cousin Daniel making his cupcake.

not sure about his new church clothes, but he sure looked cute the next day in them!
Tigger! Mary helped him open it, and he thought it was pretty neat! Thanks Aunt Mary and Uncle Ben!

Oooooohhh that candle is pretty!
at first he just looked at it, not sure what it was.

I put a little bit in his mouth with my finger, then he dug right in!
Wow mom, why haven't we had this to eat before?
This is the best stuff ever!
want a bite mommy?
Some of the guests at the party.

After all that cake and excitement Theo snuggled up with his Uncle Ben and went right to sleep! Ben and Mary(my sister) were in town from Washington and Theo just loved them! He always wanted Ben to hold him, it was so cute!