our new journey

Catching up on what I have been meaning to do for a LONG time.  A blog for all the adventures we’re having, but life has been crazy.   Where do we start . . .

Our journey began with a job offer Jared got from National Instruments in Austin, Texas.  We realized this would be a long hard transition, but we started the trek.  We began our journey in Boise, Idaho and drove down to Salt Lake, UT.  We stopped there for the night.  The next morning we traveled to Moab, Utah.  We wanted to stop and see the famous arches, so we did!

Such a beautiful place to visit.  We then trekked our way to the 4 corners monument.  Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, we had officially been in all four states at once.  We were able to walk around all the venders that were around the monument, and we came away with a handmade craft that showed all four states and great artwork.

Our journey then took us to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  We stayed with Jared’s friends Mike and Caitlyn Channer for the night.  The next day we made our visit to Aunt Cyndi and Uncle Craig’s house for dinner and a place to sleep.  Saturday morning we made our final car ride to Austin Texas and checked into our apartment - they accidentally put in wood floors instead of carpet, but they were nice and didn't charge us extra. :) 

Jared started work at National Instruments on my birthday.  But he made it up to me later that night by taking me out to dinner to a restaurant called Bj’s.

We then continued getting settled into our apartment, getting furniture and creating new projects.  Jared really wanted to get a bookshelf and a desk, so we did.  Bought them at Ikea and had a blast building them :)

Our first real Texan experience was seeing our first cockroach friend . . .

Don’t worry, Jared was wonderful and killed it for me.  We were just grateful this little bugger didn't fly . . .

 

For Jared’s birthday in June, my parents got him an apron. Perfect for Texan barbecuing.  So for the 4^th of July, Jared and I experimented making burgers . . . on our stove :P  not a grill . . . It worked though.  Just a little greasier than we wanted.

Later that evening on the 4^th, we got invited by some friends of ours to venture through downtown and listen to a wonderful concert by the Austin Symphony and watch some beautiful fireworks over the Lake.

Some adventures that Jared and I have had since being in Austin have been, exploring the Austin Zoo.

Hiking up Mount Bonnell (one of the highest points in Texas)!  Gorgeous view of the city and of the river that runs through Austin!  Photography done by yours truly.

Hike near downtown and see some interesting lizards.  They do this weird push up thing and Jared and I thought it was hilarious.  They’re fast little buggers though, so I was lucky enough to get a close up of one that stayed still long enough for me to snap a shot.

Visiting the Alamo in San Antonio.

San Antonio.  Seeing a mamma and her babies :)

 

. . . And following a crazy looking bird.

Visiting the Capital building.  Texas Pride, all of their symbols are stars with TEXAS around them.

 

       

Over the past couple of months I have been desperately looking for work.  Being home is great, but I needed some work.  So I got out the resume and started applying to dance companies, photography studios and banks.  I got a callback for an interview at an Arthur Murray dance studio and at JcPenny Portraits Studio.  I was sooo excited.  A month later of training at the dance studio, I got the job.  I am now a certified dance instructor.  The JcPenny studio is going a little slower, I’m hopefully starting that job mid-August with paid training, so we’ll see how that goes.