Back to School, Back to School...

Braden started school last week. And like most students, by day 2 his class schedule has totally changed. He's excited for some things and not so excited for others. But I know he'll do great!

We sort of, kind of finished unpacking this weekend. The office is now a lot less cluttered, cardboard boxes are in the trash, and you can actually see the "desk" (aka an extra dining room table). I still need to put up decorations, but it looks loads better than it did. I didn't realize how hard it would be to keep a two bedroom apartment clean.

So I came down with some horrible virus last week. Sore throat, nausea (IM NOT PREGNANT), fluctuating fever, and hives which then turned it to more cold-like symptoms such as a hacking cough, stuffy nose and sneezing. It was weird and kept me out of work for a day and a half. Evil!

So I thought it would be a good idea that while Braden is studying, I have something school-related to study too...to make me more sympathetic towards how awful homework is. So I bought a GMAT prep book. I've been working on their diagnostic tests which basically just shows you where you would score right now. I'm average, at least when it comes to math. I hardly remember any geometry and I don't like their sufficient data section at all. This test is going to be harder than I thought. But hopefully worth it! Hopefully grad school next year...if not, the year after.


Other than the above, not much excitement in the Turner home. We are very proud of ourselves though of finding ways to reduce our bills. Instead of purchasing tv for 25-40 bucks a month, we purchased netflix for 10. We're almost done with season 3 of SVU which was pretty much the only show we ever watched on tv anyways.

Graduation and a visit from both parental units

I graduated this week! Braden's parents came down for the occasion and my parents came up for the occasion. It was quite the grand weekend. I was kind of dreading the actual convocation ceremony since I've had to sit through a couple previously due to my job in college and they seem to take forever. However, to my surprise, this one took under an hour and a half. Apparently there were over 1100 graduates in April graduation for the Marriott school. In August graduation, there was 200. I don't want to think how much longer graduation would have been with an additional 900 people whose names had to be read and they had to walk across the stage. What a blessing I decided to graduate in August! We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Thank you Joyce for introducing us to such a wonderful place! Their rolls are to die for along with the creamy cinnamon butter. Ooo delish. Well worth the wait. I did feel bad for parents since they still had to make the drive back to Burley and didn't leave til about 9 PM. Mom and Dad Turner got me a graduation doll that Mom Turner personally painted (and it looks fabulous) in BYU's colors and a decoration for our wall that has the 10 commandments of a happy marriage listed. It's super cute! I can't wait to find the perfect spot for it in our apartment. Mom and Dad Rabjohns got me several little things for our apartment which are all adorable! My mom gave us a blender since for some surprising reason nobody gave us one for our wedding! And we also ended up with only one toaster! However, my favorite gift was the "Hopes and Dreams" jar. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen and it's a good reminder that just because we're a newlywed couple with not very much money doesn't mean we can't dream and save for special things we want to do. We have two trips we'd really like to make in the next couple years that we need to save for: a trip back to Braden's mission in the Netherlands and a trip to upstate New York so my Grandpa Rabjohns can meet Braden since he wasn't able to make it to the wedding.

It was awesome having both sets of parents around. We had an awesome day today while my parents were still in town. We made them a delicious breakfast of french toast with strawberries and real whipped cream. Then we went to the park and played games. Then to costco for pizza and some groceries. And then back to the apartment for delicious cheesecake that Braden made. It was a really good day. I love having my parents around. I wish we could see both of our parents more often, but with work and soon to be school that will make things a little more difficult.

Today Braden and I were talking about how blessed we are. Seriously, Heavenly Father has taken very good care of us. Money is tight right now, but we can't think of a single thing we need. In fact, not all of our stuff fits in our apartment. We're still working on organizing it. We have our challenges, but we aren't lacking anywhere.

On a totally different note, my first week at my new job went great! I'm still a little nervous about talking on the phone so much doing tax plans, but I'm sure I'll get more comfortable with it soon. But everyone is super nice and helpful, and I know it's a good place for us right now. I'll take any tax experience I can get! Braden and I were laughing at how boring we were getting since we go to bed between 10 and 11 each night. No more late nights once you're married!

Thank you everyone for all that you've done to support us and help us get where we are today. We are so blessed and so thankful for all that we have and all the wonderful people we know. The Lord truly does take care of us when we live His gospel. Maybe not necessarily in the way we want, but in the way we need.

It's been an interesting week...

So life has been pretty crazy lately. Good and bad, but mostly good.

First of all, Braden went to his weekly meeting at the MTC for all the referral teachers to find out that he's worked over the allowed limit of hours for the fiscal year. So for the rest of the month of August, he's not allowed to work. Which made me worry since now we have no source of income.

Thankfully, the next day I got a call for a job interview that morning for an interview the next day for a job that I was really interested in when I first applied. Interview went well and I got a phone call a few hours later with a job offer! I'm working for Precision Corporate Services which is a National CPA firm. They have a very small branch in Murray and I'm their new Junior Accountant. I'll be doing tax planning and some tax returns. I'm greatly looking forward to it and it will count towards experience hours I need for my CPA license. Another perk, is it is seven minutes away from our new apartment and no freeways are involved. As Braden likes to say, what a blessing!

Another exciting event that happened this week is that I took my last final of my undergraduate career. Graduation is next week and my parents are coming up from California and Braden's parents are coming down from Idaho.

To top off our week full of surprises, we're going to Idaho for a family reunion tomorrow! It'll be a nice break before I start my job on Monday with no stress of school.

We've been greatly blessed this week and finally recognized one reason why we were supposed to move Murray. The Lord truly does know best and will lead the way if we trust in Him.

So a lot has happened since our lovely wedding day on June 18, 2010. To keep everyone updated on what is going on in our crazy lives we decided to start this blog since everyone else seems to have one.

So a month and a half later we can proudly say:

1. We've both been to Maui and were actually old enough to appreciate how lucky we are to be able to go to such a beautiful place.

2. I moved into Braden's old apartment just to move out a month later into our fabulous new apartment a week ago. I absolutely love it! It's so cute. Still not quite organized.

3. I'm finishing college this week! I take my last final on Tuesday and hope that my grade gets into the system in time to graduate this month. I should make it.

4. Our new apartment is within walking distance to a HUGE park, the murray rec center, the police station, the place where we had our first date (blind), subway, the hospital, and our church building.

5. Our new apartment is a five minute drive or less to Wal-Mart, Costco, 24 hour fitness (I get to go back to the gym!), del taco, wendy's, and I'm sure some other places we have yet to discover.

6. We have a new appreciation for air conditioning since our old apartment did not have any and was on the top floor. We so believe that the people below had their oven on 24/7. Our new apartment doesn't have any either, but its on the bottom floor, partly below the ground and is MUCH cooler.

7. We're becoming domestic! We made an amazing chocolate-raspberry cheesecake yesterday.

8. We traveled to Idaho for our 2nd wedding reception that went wonderfully much thanks to Braden's parents. I must say I quite like Idaho. It's very different from Orange County.

9. I acquired a curling iron from Braden's sister, Shalise that actually keeps my hair curled ALL DAY LONG! I'm pretty sure that's a miracle. I always though curling my hair was a hopeless cause. Although Braden did make fun of me today that I had the curling iron out and the straightener. He thought it was counterproductive. The straightener was just to smooth the frizz on top of my head. But I can't expect any man to know those things.

10. We're still married! Just in case any of you doubted it. =)

Life is wonderful. Braden's job is wonderful. I hope to find a job's that wonderful. We've truly been blessed. Hopefully I can remember to write on this more regularly than my previous blog. =)