My Life is a Gift

This afternoon I have a little song I learned when I was little a church playing in my head. The first part of of goes "My life is a gift, my life has a plan, my life has a purpose in heaven it began". My life is so good!

This three day weekend provided a much needed mental break. My weekend started Friday with working again with the bighorn sheep. Last time I tried to take blood but couldn't seem to find the vein, but this time I found it!! I was so excited and it didn't take me very long. Afterwards was ballet class, which was amazing as usual. I wasn't able to go the week before because work ran long. It felt good to stretch and get my heart pumping. Once I got home, Randy, Mitch and I loaded up into the truck and headed up to Spokane to surprise my father-in-law for his birthday. Saturday morning, we spent the morning cleaning out goat pens, and Shannon and I trimmed goat feet. Randy and I took Mitch and Trig on a hike on the hill behind the house. Randy and I went out to lunch at a place called the Flying Goat- they have awesome cheese bread, but the best part was seeing my little sister Ashley! She flew in from Utah that morning to spend some time with one of her best friends. By the time we got home, it was time to do chores. It was refreshing to spend most of the day outside with the animals. Dinner was fondue! Until Saturday, the only fondue I had experienced was chocolate fondue. I was impressed - it was quite a production. There were two different cheeses, a table top grill and a few pots of oil for frying. There was soo much food!! I saved most of my calories for dessert and it was worth it! Chocolate covered pretzels and strawberries were my favorite, but the apples and pound cake were amazing as well.

We came home early Sunday morning in order to make it in time for church. Church was wonderful. Today we went out to breakfast at The Old European Breakfast House. I ate too much- everything was very good. We spent the rest of the day finishing little odds and ends. This evening we are going out to dinner with  the graduate student Randy worked for last summer. And to top it off tonight we are going to watch The Princess Bride!!! Can life get any better then this???

Yes it can- Randy got a job! This year he only applied for a few jobs before he got two interviews. One was for a job in Colorado and the the other in Idaho. The job in Idaho was for a crew leader position and the other was a technician job both working with sage grouse. Randy wanted the crew leader position and he got it! I am so proud of him! This is the first time he will be working as a crew leader. This is a five month position and he will get home in July. The bad news is this job is in Jerome Idaho which is 9 hours away. He leaves this Saturday. On the upside, he will only be 3 hours away from my family in Utah. Our current plan is to meet up there at least once or twice. My little sister Chantel is going to the temple for the first time next month during my spring break. She is preparing to serve an LDS mission in Peru for 18 months. We are hoping to see each other then but it all depends on his work schedule. I am not excited to have him gone for five months (I mean this guy is amazing so who would want him to leave :) ). Most of our marriage has been like this- apart. The last 7 months have been heaven. I am grateful to know that he will not be on the other side of the world in a dangerous place and that we should be able to communicate often. I think of my mother and how incredible she is and how she handled my dad being gone often while was serving in the US Air Force and now flying for Delta Airlines. She is my biggest role model. My goal is to make this new challenge as positive as possible and to become a better person by the time my sweetheart and I reunited again.