Home Sweet Home

Chaska Minnesota, our new home for the next 5+ years.  Tyler is working in Le Sueur MN and likes it, he has taken and passed the Minnesota Pesticide test (even though they gave him the wrong book to study - my man is so smart!) and he is anxious to start flying.  Unfortunately I guess Minnesota had a colder winter than normal and it is still too cold to plant anything so we wait until it warms up, which hopefully is soon because after living in Cali for 2 years I'm a wimp when it comes to being cold! We are still not sure which states that Tyler will be spraying in, they want to go up with him and see how his flying skills are and then they will decide.  Summer will be his busy months where he will be working 14+ hour days, he could be spraying corn, peas, or potatoes in either Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, or Minnesota. We are excited and Tyler has the opportunity here to get Turbine experience (which is needed to progress in his career) as well as other certificates that make him more sought after.

We really like our apartment, the girl who lived here before us I guess accidently started a fire and so all of the appliances and bathroom, all new - so lucky us! The only thing that is kind of inconvenient is that there are not lights except for the bathroom and kitchen - bedrooms, family rooms, have to use lamps.  This really isn't a super big deal, we already have lamps but there is a difference of lights compared to lamps.  Also the kitchen is pretty small.  There is a basement with the washer and dryer that the unit comes with, the main floor is the kitchen and family room, and the upstairs with the 2 bedrooms and the bathroom.  The floors are wood, no carpet which I miss as well but overall we do like our new home and hope that since we will be here for a good couple of years that we can buy a house!


So far we have been to Mall of American - which is huge! There is an aquarium, mini golf, movie theater, mirror maze, flight simulator, and of course the amusement park in the middle. There is also a Bubba Gumps there which Tyler was super excited about as well as tons of other places to eat. Another reason I like Chaska is we are only 30 minutes from Minneapolis, Temple, Airport, we are right there - super convenient and we welcome all visitors!

Utah to Minnesota

From Utah to Minnesota it is an 18 hour drive, luckily for Tyler and I we drove right by Mount Rushmore and decided to stop and have a mini vacation to see the sites.  Wyoming is by far the most boring state that I have ever driven through with South Dakota as a close second, these states are very flat with miles and miles of nothing.  Even when there was a city/town if you blinked you would have missed it!  But Rapid City (10 hours from Oakley) was the perfect place to stop, from there Mount Rushmore is only 30 minutes away, we stayed at the Fairfield Inn and there was an indoor water park there which was a lot of fun!

Along with Mount Rushmore we went to a Dinosaur/Geology Museum, Minuteman Missile Museum  where there used to be 10 nuclear missiles awaiting for the call to be launched - pretty crazy! We also saw Devils Mount in Wyoming which is a pretty amazing natural land mark.  We passed Martins Cove and Tyler said "hey whats Martins Cove, lets stop"  I proceeded to tell him of how I through a big fit there and poor mom did not actually get to see the Cove, which mom one day I will take you back and I'll be the perfect girl! (Because of time and weather we didn't stop)  Mount Rushmore was really cool but not as big as I always imagined, I always thought that it took up the whole mountain but actually its just a small portion of the mountain.  But when you look at what it took to make Mount Rushmore it is an amazing accomplishment. Now onto Minnesota!

Minnesota

Well Tyler and I are moving to Minnesota and are very excited and anxious for this new adventure.  We will more than likely be there for 5+ years.  He is working for a company called Scott's Helicopters, they do Agriculture Spraying, Fire Fighting, Long Lining, as well as a contract with the News.  They have 16 helicopters, both Turbine and Piston engines so we are super stoked for that!  Tyler will hopefully be able to get a few more licenses that will make him a more desirable pilot for the future while we are there.  I am not entirely sure what I will be doing but I do plan on being more crafty and homemaking, we'll see if that really happens.  We are really excited for this opportunity and hope that the things that we were told to expect really do happen and that this job will allow us to accomplish our goals! Tyler is such an amazing man he has the desire to be the most well rounded and sought after pilot, he has plan A's, B's, C's... I have no doubt that he will always take care of me and our future family and I love him so very much!

Christmas and Such

Well it has been awhile since I last posted but Christmas was good, this year I went overboard and we both got quite a bit of stuff.  Tyler got a lot of new clothes as did I.  We each got some movies, and games.  Tyler got some tools that he was really excited about!

Tyler reached his 1,000 hour mark a bit before Christmas and we are so excited about that, he has been working hard towards getting that and hopefully it will pay off.  We have had fun in El Centro (I say this hesitantly on my part, I should actually say we have had some fun in San Diego when Tyler could get work off), but we are nonetheless anxious to continue on with our journey.  I am ready to settle down, not necessarily have kids (we aren't jumping on that train yet) but rather get a house and just know that this is where we will, hopefully, be for awhile.  But we are still a couple of years away from that so here is to patience.  I used to always tell Taylor that Patience is a virtue and I guess that that its a virtue that I am going to acquire whether I want to or not.  Work for me is the same, smells like cows, 1/4 of the time don't know what people are saying because it's in spanish, and hay hay and more hay.

This picture was actually taken only a couple of months after we moved here, those pants would be considered nice now.  Tyler has gone through 3 pairs of pants and several pairs of shoes, his hands are stained with grease, if I didn't know any better I would think I married a mechanic.  Tyler doesn't mind because he's happy with the knowledge that he is gaining!

When I look around at everything that Tyler and I have I really can't complain because we have been so blessed, and I have no doubt that things will work out for us as long as we keep doing what we are supposed to.

Pictures

Well I know that it has been awhile but Tyler and I took pictures back around father's day and I have decided to post some of them here.  We took them at the airport that Tyler flies out of, the airplane is an Agriculture Plane that his bosses uses and the Helicopter is what Tyler uses. It was very hot (as it normally is, people keep telling me I'll get used to it but I just can't seem to), and windy but I was pleased with how they turned out! 

Well El Centro is extremely hot still, an average day for us is 115 or so with humidity, sweating is something that I have unfortunately had to get used to. There are some days when El Centro isn't too bad and other days when I feel like screaming 'Get me out of here!' but nonetheless we're here and its a job that allows Tyler to gain that experience that he needs and from here we'll see where we go, I might even find myself saying take me back to El Centro... but probably not, haha! 

Utah!

      Tyler and I were very lucky to visit Utah this past week, and what a week it was, unfortunately I did not get any pictures.  We left Friday late afternoon and drove to Las Vegas, Saturday was spent with Kelli and her wonderful family, where we went out to eat at two new and different places (Tyler refused to eat at a chain restaurant and Kelli did not disappoint).  We saw Penn & Teller Saturday night, Tyler really enjoyed it, I'm sad to say that I fell asleep during it, not because I didn't enjoy it but rather it started at 9 p.m. which is my bedtime and I was tired.  I kept trying to wake myself up by telling myself that it was a $45 ticket but it didn't work.
       Sunday we continued the drive to Utah and celebrated Tyler's 26th birthday at Mom's and Dad's with the family.  We loved seeing everyone!  Monday Tyler and I did some errands, Tyler left for Logan that night to renew his pilots license and I spent the night at Loni's with a very stubborn Wally who would not sleep, poor guy was sick.  I can say this about my nieces and nephews, I love every single one of them but I am under no illusion as to what your life will be like with kids, but like I said I love them all but Tyler and I will definitely take our time.
      The whole week was fun, we made the journey back home Saturday and missed everyone as soon as we got in the car.  The highlight of the week though was definitely Wednesday at the Zoo where poor Bella is probably scarred for life from that Gorilla.  The most action that I have ever seen at a Zoo and I think it almost gave dad a heart attack.  While standing in front of the window watching the Gorilla he suddenly became threatened by dad and jumped up and hit both of his fists at the window right in front of dad.  So funny!  Tyler was curious if he would do the same to him and sure enough he did.  Bella was so cute and concerned for everyone that she pulled us out of the Gorilla house to the safety of the outside.  All in all it was a very successful and enjoyable vacation.

Girls Trip

Well I kept thinking that for sure someone would have posted about our girls trip and I was using that as an excuse to not post on mine but since no one has yet I suppose that I will be the courageous one tell our tales... And bare with me, in general I am not much of a cameron person but on the trip my cameron had started acting funny, which took Tyler all of 2 seconds to fix, but I do not have many pictures.

It started off meeting in Old Town San Diego, it was my first time driving to San Diego by myself and I am still to this day super proud that I did not have to make any U-turns.  We ate at this delicious Pizza place. Tyler has started refusing to go out for pizza because he says we eat it too much.  But what can I say I am my mothers daughter and could probably live off of pizza.  After eating lunch we went to the Mormon Battalion Museum, which was a lot of fun considering Loni's and mine hesitation.  I had been before and was not thinking it appropriate for a Girls Trip activity, but it was a lot of fun.

After that we drove to Oceanside to check into our hotel, which was right on the beach and very gorgeous, if I lived in that part out California then I might actually consider staying here long term. The next morning mom and I were up at 6 am, unfortunately 6 am is sleeping in to me since I get up at 4:30 for work during the week, so mom and I went and walked on the treadmill for about an hour, came back everyone was still sleeping, walked on the beach for about 45 minutes came back and everyone was still sleeping, grabbed our books and read for about 30 minutes came back and FINALLY they were stirring awake. Poor Kelli got awful news about her babysitters actions, but I will let her tell you about that. That day we went shopping and The Closet where we found some great deals.  I got a jacket for $12 which I love, a purse for $30 (ok not super amazing deal on this one but its cute) and shoes.  We ate lunch and this yummy cafe place, went and got pedicures, and saw The Vow, which was super cute but I think needed more happiness at the end.  Kelli insisted that we eat dinner at this taco place, which for the life of me I can't remember the name, and for those of you who know my sister you do not want her to get hungry... I think this trait runs in the family though.

Unfortunately Sunday everyone, but myself, had received bad news for their travel plans home and ended up having to drive from Cali. back to Utah.  But from what I heard it was a fun road trip to end the vacation. All in all it was a very nice leisurely weekend needed by all.  And of course I got to see the girls in the family that I had missed and was glad for the opportunity to see them.

And lucky for me I get to see them in a week for my sweet nephew Ashton's baptism, I am so happy and proud of his decision.  Plus it gives me an excuse to leave the valley and see the fam!