King & Queen of Stupidville

Yup. That's our official title. I try below to explain why we're suddenly back in Utah. But before that, here's some pics from Texas!

Scott on the log ride at Sea World. Getting wet felt really good! It was in the mid 80's that day.

Journey to Atlantis ride at Sea World. SOOO fun! We got wet on this one too!

Shamu Stadium.

The Sea Lions were such a crack up! They're so spoiled and used to being fed that as soon as I looked over the railing he was there waiting for food! He was very upset when he realized I hadn't bought any fish for him.

Shark-bait-ooh-ha ha.

Dolphins!!! I want my very own.

Rhino at SAT Zoo.

Flightless Bald Eagle at SAT zoo.

The boys crossing the line in the sand at the Alamo.

Riverboat cruise.

Mom at Rudy's BBQ.

Scott was most excited about moving to Texas just to eat at Rudy's. He ate there a LOT when he was there on his mission. It is ridiculously good BBQ. We bought a 32 oz bottle of the sauce to bring home with us :)

SAT Temple at night. Gorgeous building! We spent a lot of time there.

Because of a sore back, Dad Shoell was in charge of Chewy while we loaded the moving truck. I laughed so hard at them sitting in our chair watching us!
Can I tell you how amazing the Shoell's are?? Without question Mom, Dad, Tom and Tony drove 2 days out to pic us up and drive us home. Tom and Tony did amazing loading the truck and all without complaint. That's family love right there!!!

Chewy was the best traveler-dog ever! I was so worried about it and I didn't need to! We had tranquilizers for him that we used on the plane down, but we didn't need them in the car. He either sat in his kennel, sat like this between us, or on my lap. Good, good doggy.

Here goes...

Got down to Texas and my old nemesis Mr. Anxiety came back in full force. We see now that it was a blessing. At first I thought I was just homesick and it would go away but that wasn't it, and Scott was feeling uneasy too. So we started looking at everything that brought us there. That's when we found out that instead of being 18 months away from a degree at UVU, he'd be almost 3 1/2 YEARS away at University of Texas at San Antonio. Why? They don't have an actual Accounting degree, only an emphasis, and most of his GE's wouldn't transfer. Scott almost cried. I did cry.

After going to the temple and praying and crying and kicking ourselves, we finally realized that we should've stayed in UT until Scott was done with school. Yes, it was a good job and more money and we were excited, but we just plain didn't consider everything - meaning school. The Lord tried to warn us, but we didn't listen.

So we swallowed our pride (it really tastes like crap!) and talked to the company about any openings back in Utah. Miraculously, there was an opening and we jumped on it! So we're back in PG now and Scott's all registered for school.

We learned a lot about ourselves in 3 1/2 short weeks in Texas. We ignored a lot of promptings and impressions before moving because we were excited and it took something drastic to get our attention! Stupid us. But the Lord in his mercy has blessed us beyond measure in getting back to Utah. I even got my job back at Sport Clips which I'm excited about. Security Services CU (CU that bought Family First) has been nothing but wonderful to us and we know the Lord's hand has been in it all.

It's been hard and it still will be. Not everyone has been understanding and supportive which is making things harder, but we've decided that the people that matter have supported and loved us and the people that don't, well, don't matter. Harsh, but we know we've made the right decision in coming back to finish school. But don't worry San Antonio, we LOVE you and we'll try to come back. I miss you and your humidity and your food. Thank heaven there's a Dickey's BBQ in American Fork.

Texas Thus Far

What I like about Texas thus far: * Sunshine!
* Palm Trees (the ones that made it through that freeze last month anyway)
* SAT Temple. It's gorgeous!
*Nice Rack Bar and Grill. Sorry Hooters, this place de-throned you in the funny name category. *Turnabouts on the freeways. Such genius!
The Alamo
Below: Moving a cannon

The Riverwalk. Yup - it's every bit as cool and as pretty as you've heard.

Below: "Miss Congeniality" swimsuit competition filmed here :)

Eating outside at the HardRock Cafe on the Riverwalk.

Day 3: My Parents

My Parents: Gary Lee Walker and Rebecca Irene Boman Walker. I'm not even sure where to start talking about them! Scott, of course, is my best friend in the whole world. In close 2nd is my mom. She's just great.
She grew up on a farm in Cache Valley, then moved to a farm in Washington State. Her stories from her life on farms are so classic. But anyone who knows her now would never guess she grew up on a farm. She's all about modern conveniences :)
Mom is also super talented. One of my favorite past-times is lounging on the living room couch while she plays the piano. She's an amazing pianist, has a great singing voice and an awesome head for business. One of the funny things about her is her extreme love of sports! She's the only 70+ year old woman I know that can strike up a conversation with a bunch of rough guys drinking beer about college football. And no, I'm not joking. That really happened!
Then there's Gary. He absolutely hates being called Gary which is why I do it. He's a big tease but can't really take it. So I thoroughly enjoy teasing him.
Gary grew up in Los Angeles, the only child of Russell and Evelyn Walker. He's also super talented, play(ed) the piano, sang, etc. But he's also really book smart; hence he was a professor at BYU.
He joined the Navy right after high school and that is where he found the Church. His aircraft carrier, the USS Lexington, docked in Hawaii and at the time one of the major tourist attractions was the LDS temple. The other guys teased him for spending money on a little bag full of tracts and a Book of Mormon, but he felt a strong desire to buy it. He found some LDS guys on board the carrier and was baptized later in Japan. Pretty cool huh?
Unlike Mom, Dad isn't a fan of sports. It's quite the roll reversal in my family. Dad is the one that taught me how to cook, cross stitch and sew. They both gave me my love of singing and music. They are such great parents. They did the best they knew how to do, as all parents do, and spoiled me rotten so I don't have any complaints :)

At our wedding. Below, at Sue's wedding about 22 years earlier. Check out the difference! Crazy huh?

And since the topic is my parents, I can't not include John & Marianne :) I am so blessed to have awesome in-laws!! This picture was taken at our reception and is classic John & Marianne: laughing together. I love it!

Day 2: First Love

I've had a couple of first loves.
My first "love": Superman. aka Christopher Reeve. I cried a little when he died. But as Oscar Wilde says, "one must always have something sensational to read" so I'll share a bit of the first guy I thought I loved. His name was Chad. I was 15, he was 17. No clue what my parents were thinking letting me hang out with him all the time. Of course, we were never really alone, but still...
When I stopped and thought about way back when, I thought of that Taylor Swift song called "Fifteen". I was fifteen, he was going to be a senior. He was funny, charming, handsome, popular and talented. What more could a stupid, depressed fifteen year old want? He kissed me and thought it was my first kiss and I never had the guts to tell him otherwise because he was so proud of himself! He broke my heart when he didn't ask me to prom. He decided that since I was a sophomore I'd have other opportunities to go so he took someone else. And then he got really confused and mad why I didn't want to be with him anymore after than. But don't worry, I went back to him again. It was like a cycle with us! We'd give up, then couldn't handle being apart again, etc.
Ah me, young love. Funny memories!

Day 1: Introduce Yourself

Well let's see...
I was born in San Dimas, CA. (If you've seen "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, "San Dimas High Football RULES!) I don't claim being a CA native as we moved to St. George, UT when I was 2. Grew up mostly in Orem, graduated from Mountain View HS. I would've met Scott way back when if I'd chosen to go to PG high, but we've both mentioned that if we'd met then we'd have hated each other :) For being depressed I was also pretty shallow!
After lots of jobs and going to college off and on my amazing hubby gently pushed me to fulfill a wish to go to hair school. I'm a weird stylist though. I like doing others hair but absolutely hate doing my own.
Random things about me: I'm totally and completely in love my awesome, lanky, nerd of a husband.
I'm also kind of obsessed with my doggie.
I have the coolest in-laws. I love them.
I love Star Wars; particularly The Empire Strikes Back. Han's lines are just classic.
Yellowstone National Park is my happy place.
I used to hate to read. I'd do anything I could to get out of it. Possibly because I was really bad at it in elementary school and had to go to resource for extra help and was embarrassed about it. Now I LOVE to read!
And speaking of reading, ever since I was a little kid I've had a Dracula thing. I remember living in SLC and my dad taking (my brother) Scott and I to the library with him. He'd sit us down at a kid's table, tell us not to move from a certain perimeter while he did research for his PhD. There were these classic monster books that I remember looking at over and over. I couldn't read it, but the pictures of Bela Lugosi as Dracula were fascinating to me. One of my favorite books of all time is Bram Stoker's Dracula.
I love to cook and bake. I didn't say I was good at it, but I like it.
I struggled (and occasionally still do) with depression since my early teens and have only in recent years been able to learn to not let it control me.
I can be completely happy flopped on my couch snuggling with my hubby and my dog and watching a movie.
I could eat a whole bag of Cheetos in one sitting. And probably a package of Oreos.
I am proof of the "use it or lose it" philosophy. My singing voice has died. Not to say I don't still love to sing, I just make the local dogs howl now.
I love aspen trees and waterfalls.
I was able to meet Sean Bean in a Wendy's in Heber Utah after chasing him down the canyon from Strawberry reservoir.
Can't think of anything else.

Blog Challenge/Moving Notes

My friend Sara is doing this blog challenge and I thought it was really fun. I might only do one a week but oh well! Some of the topics sounds really fun and some very though provoking.
Day 1: Introduce Yourself
Day 2: Your First Love
Day 3: Your Parents
Day 4: What you ate today
Day 5: Your definition of love
Day 6: Your Day
Day 7: Your Best Friend
Day 8: A Moment
Day 9: Your beliefs
Day 10: What you wore today
Day 11: Your Siblings
Day 12: What's in your bag
Day 13: This Weeks
Day 14: What you wore today (there's 2 of these so I might write something else)
Day 15 : Your First kiss
Day 16: Your Dreams
Day 17: Your favorite birthday
Day 18: Your favorite memory
Day 19: Something you regret
Day 20: This Month
Day 21: Another moment
Day 22: Something that upsets you
Day 23: Something that makes you feel better
Day 24: Something that makes you cry
Day 25: A First
Day 26: Your Fears
Day 27: Your favorite place
Day 28: Something that you miss
Day 29: Your aspirations
Day 30: One last moment

On moving: So yes - we're moving to San Antonio, TX. Crazy huh? Scott got offered a job with one of the biggest credit unions in the country. The raise is great; the benefits are great; and the adventure of living in Texas will be great. But when we were making the decision we wanted to make sure this is what we were supposed to be doing. Plus, Scott is still working on his degree so we weren't sure about switching universities. We got blessings from Scott's dad and we both felt like we're supposed to go. We have no idea why or for how long, but the Lord wants us in Texas. So we aren't going to argue despite my fear of all the bugs and worrying about my aged parents. Not to mention baby Biddulph coming in June!! That's going to be one adorable, tall baby! I wish I could take my friends & family with me, and I wish I could take all the girls I work with! I like them and I like my job so I'm sad to leave it. There are Sport Clips all over down there, but it won't be the same.
So here's to new adventure!

It's Like A Whole Other Country...

....and we're moving there!!! San Antonio to be exact. I'm nervous and excited and scared of the cockroaches and worried about having to worry about fleas with Chewy and excited and emotionally exhausted... *takes a deep breath*