home again

I woke up in our new home for the first time this morning.

We drove out yesterday morning (leaving at 4am.) Scott and Evan helped us unload the truck in a phenomenal five hours (considering that it took three days to load it.)

We're still swimming in a sea of boxes and I can't find my clean pants or our food, but we're here, and we're pretty blown away.

Our place is a lot cooler than I remember. Plus, I didn't notice a lot of the more amazing features... there is 24 hour access to the roof... with a beautiful panoramic view that includes an entire panorama of the city, the hollywood sign, and downtown. We have an elevator with the gate door that you pull to the side, like you see in movies. (That gate is heavy, by the way.) Plus our place is pretty big.

We're trying to sort out how this place works a little. We need a parking pass, and fast. We already got a ticket... Our street is preferential parking only and without a permit, we have to move our car every two hours during the day and cannot park anywhere between 6 and 7 (both am and pm) which is tiring. We have to jump through some hoops... get our car registered and DL's in CA, a confirmation of utility bill as proof of address, and so on... lots to do.

And we pretty burned out. I just want to sleep for two days. (And hire a temp person to unpack in the meantime.)

Since I am piggybacking on some strangers' wireless connection to write this, I will wait to post pictures until our cable guy puts in our high speed internet connection tomorrow.

Things are going... moving along.

last az day

Today is the day we drive out to CA for keeps. The moving van is nearing capacity and our rooms are sparcely littered with only odds and ends around the perimeter, cleaning products, and trash bags.

It looks like a crack house.

Still plenty of work to do and now, just 24 hours to do it in.

The goodbyes have been harder than I expected.

contrasts

Our last move seemed a lot less complicated. I guess that life is accumulative, both with respect to the tangible and the intangible. This move has a lot more at stake.

It is surreal.

The house is looking pretty empty. Most everything has migrated to boxes stacked in the living room or is gone. We got rid of fantastic amounts of "stuff." If we haven't touched it in a year, it went. (Except nostalgia items, which we agreed had to fit inside a storage tub.) It was a difficult cleansing... but we are lighter for it, and prefer to be even lighter still. I think more will naturally go as we unpack and can't find places for everything.

Ever since our apartment burned, I like to remain unattached to our things, and remember that our stuff is not our life... our life is our life... that what we do is what matters, not what we have.

Also, I am reminded how awesome it is to have a partner who is in synch with me on the important things. I really appreciate Mark at times like these.

moving along

We are off work in 10 days, pick up our rental truck in 12, and move in 14. It is all very surreal and we are starting to realize that it is actually happenning.

This weekend we spend much time going through things and getting the apartment ready to turn in our keys. I spent most of today with cleaning gloves on. The stove is glistening. I love getting things done and working hard.

We have plenty to keep us busy next weekend, too. Our only caveat is that we really wanted to do a couple of fun things before we leave that we will miss, so fitting it all into next weekend will be our challenge.

I don't have any pictures of our apartment, yet. It is VERY quaint. I will give the whole gushing report when I can support it visually.

call

Farmers insurance wants a telephone interview with me :)

progress

Done and Done.

Done (1) We have the apartment we looked at yesterday. I looked around and as I suspected, nothing measured up to it, and when you are in love... love is happy. Now we just have to restrain ourselves from pimping the place out, as urges go when you have a cool place.

Done (2) Mark finished the process for his job-transfer, so one of us is working when we get here.

Still pending... my job... hire me, I'm extremely smart, talented and amazing and not at all egotistical!

Also all the tiny details that are involved with changing your entire life... I wish I could hire a personal assistant... smile.

Oh, and a BIG thanks to Kevin N. for getting me sick, since I really love cough drops and naps.

Oh, and if you owe me money... our move-in deposit is huge and cash only... so every little bit helps.

super

I watched the superbowl with nachos and bean dip and Mark and his brother. It was pretty fun. I was up for a ridiculous amount of hours beforehand so I fell asleep when I came to the sad realization that the Bears would need a miracle to recover.

However, on the way here, we stopped at an apartment Mark found last week that I had previously vetoed because it is a little higher in price. Mark knew if I saw it... all kinds of magical thoughts would begin, which was true. He suggested all the bugetary things he would be willing to give up to live there... and I could see sacrificing a little to live in such a pretty place.

We love it so much that it seems pointless to go out today and look for places that are cool and cheaper (because I'd be thinking the whole time... yeah, but for an extra $75, I can live in that one place.) I'm still going to look, because LA is just loaded with cool, tucked away places that are precious.

We HAVE to pick and make financial arrangements THIS WEEK so that all other things can fall into place afterwards. I will post the winner, soon.

good jeans

While I was job seeking, I came across ZAFU. They develop complex algorythms for determining what clothes will fit you best for mail/catalog items. I tried out their website and they recommended 37 different specific pairs of jeans that I should try and where to buy them. Data mining like this gives an educated guess to shortcut an otherwise random process of selection. The results are "suggestions" that narrow your search toward the most likely items, but not all of them will fit perfectly.

I particularly like the "wishlist" question, on which you place a checkmark on what you wish your jeans hid, such as "muffin top" and "saddle bags."

Off to LA again this weekend. Still no job, no apartment.

plans, planes, and pains

Mark has a class in LA this weekend for transfering jobs. He'll be driving out Sunday morning. I was going to go with him, but... Jared died this morning.

I'm flying to Utah Friday returning Tuesday morning to attend his funeral services, which are on Saturday.

Times are tough.

weekend away

We are running out to LA this weekend. I want to get a lay of the land and look at some front running employers and apartments options.

I missed going to Jared's Fundraising Dinner and Auction. However, if you missed it too, you can still donate to the family by depositing to: JARED HATCH Charitable Account at America First Credit Union. The funds in this account will be used to help his family cover the medical costs and expenses.

Life moves fast, lately. Lots to say, but no time to say it.

home sweet home

I had a great trip home to Utah and arrived back yesterday evening safely. It was all I hoped it would be, and Evan and I had a great time.

kurtis

Cuando estoy contigo (I used "with you" instead of "around you" because Spanish does not translate that word very pretty and it has other vague meanings like "around the corner.")
no hay cielo
no hay tierra
sólo hay un vacío entre nosotros.

still working

I went over my bosses head and get to keep my job. I guess that is why it doesn't pay to worry.

a new year

We went on a photo trip to Superior and Miami, AZ this passed weekend and I got this decent shot of my lovey. He is hard to get a good picture of because he always makes what I call "angry face." For the New Year, I spent the evening with Jennifer, Stephanie and Lindsay K at a **nice** house where Jennifer is housesitting. We watched movies, had a toast at midnight and screamed "Happy New Year." Pretty typical. I tried a Mimosa, which is a trendy champagne cocktail with orange juice and a slice of orange. Pretty yum. Mark had to work. Poor guy.

I always try to set goals at the beginning of the year and share them. Last year I wrote:

My New Years resolutions are the same every year. Go to the gym regularly,
eat raw foods more often, floss more often, pick up after myself everyday, go
somewhere exciting, and do my best in school. This year I get to add "graduate
with disctinction," "pass actuary exam 1," and "find a real job."

I didn't go anywhere interesting or eat more raw foods. I ate more fast foods. Fast is like raw, in that either way, I didn't have to cook, right?

Well, this year, for the sake of writing them down... I want to:

• build ties with extended family by sending bday/anni cards, emailing and calling more often.
• build my partnership with Mark by doing my jobs on time and picking up after myself and being more polite.
• build my career by joining a social network such as toastmasters, passing exam 1, and getting my first job.
• build my fitness level by cross training and working out for 2 hours three times a week instead of 1 hour four times a week, adding pilates, yoga and more weights. I also want to eat a home-prepared meal six days a week.
• build my relaxing outlet to creativity by joining a scrapbooking club and scrapping twice a month.
• Pay more careful attention to my appearance.
• "Adventure" at least once a month and attend an "event" at least once a month.
• Always be learning a new thing.

mantras

I have some sayings that I live by:

There are things in life you can't control. But there are some thing YOU control (like your attitude, your effort and your worth.)

Love is an action verb, NOT a feeling.

You get OUT only the result of what you put IN. (The definition of "function" in mathematics - so someone who doesn't function must not be putting in.)

Never stop playing, being silly and having fun.

Just do it and quit bitching.

Find joy or it will never find you.

Life sucks. Go somewhere else to cry.

Change or you'll be the same all your life (which goes together with "nobody's perfect.")

How you suffer the hard times is what MAKES you. Good or bad.

Tackling challenges is what makes you strong. Doing easy things is the same as doing nothing.

Living is doing, not sitting.

xmas snapshots

happy happy

I am like a kid at christmas right now.

Oh. I am a kid at christmas right now. Mark is making me wait until the pants he wants to wear come out of the dryer... meanwhile, christmas at the mccowen's awaits us...

THE PANTS ARE READY!!!!

Woo hoo.

disneyland on the fly

I have a story that you probably haven’t heard if you aren’t a Hatch, long, but good.

I was lounging around Sunday when I decided to check my email. There was a cryptic message from Katie that only had a flight itinerary in the body. I deduced that since it included a layover in Phoenix that she wanted me to meet her at the airport, so I checked when… the flight came in THAT DAY and landed IN 20 MINUTES! So I threw on some pants, grabbed my keys, and flew out of the house… I made it with plenty of time and we had a nice visit. They told me they were on the way to Disneyland, that Jared would be flying direct the next day. I wished out loud that I could go… and when Mary said Jared would like that… I went.

After they caught their connecting flight, I called Evan. He was good to go, too, if I could wait until he got off work in a few hours. I drove home to wake up Mark to see if he was in. He woke up and groggily said he couldn’t call off work. I packed, took care of some things, and met some prior obligations (holiday baking with Jennifer) and we were driving to Los Angeles by 7:30 pm. Mark called when he woke up. He apparently had not completely woke up when I asked him and would have gone if he had… so he sent his regrets and went to work.

When we arrived extremely late, we took the Best Western Hotel Tour of Southern California (there are MANY on the same block surrounding Disneyland, and we went to three of them…) I feel sorry for whoever was in room 232 at the wrong one that we knocked on at 2:30 am.

We visited a bit with Katie and Mary and caught a few hours of sleep. I rode to the airport to pick up Jared. He didn’t know we came, so in the airport I snuck up behind him and hugged him. The expression I got was priceless. He expressed his disappointment that Evan couldn’t come. Ha. Ha. When we got back to the hotel and he walked in and saw Evan laying on one of the beds, he was so happy that he dog piled him.

We made it to the park about noon, had lunch and did the Disney thing. My favorite was the Tomorrow Land because Jared could go in with us and share the experience. I took the two girls (Kylee and Danielle) for a “girl” ride and we got princess ears. When Justice saw them, I imagine he was a little jealous. Evan then sneakily told me which ones he had his eyes on: a cap with led lights in the metallic ears. So I snuck off and got them, and had his name put on the back. Then I threw it on my head and pretended they were mine. When he saw them, he said, “I like those.” I told him they put my name on the back and asked him if they spelled it right. He read off all the letters one at a time, and then said, “You’re name is spelled like Justice?” all confused… I said, “No, this one must be yours” and popped it on his head. He lit up so bright.

The girls were with me for the parade, too. They had one of those classically magical reactions to the princesses. Their faces went hypnotically mesmerized and they started doing the parade wave and saying “hello princesses, hello princesses” with a whisper.

It was a marathon of adventure and at dark, we were tuckered out and cold. Some got hand stamps to go back for the fireworks and others (including myself) were done. We went back to the hotel, got warmed up, ate, visited, and crashed.

Evan and I took Jared for breakfast the following day and then had to take off to get home for work. The rest flew out at 4 pm.

It was ROCKIN!

notes from yesterday

Six other people got their Bachelors of Arts in Mathematics, and six got Bachelors of Science in mathematics.

The dinner show we went to was AWESOME!!! I just love music and I especially love a talent showcase, and this is it. Plus, they did a couple of yodeling songs, one in harmony, which had me grinning from ear to ear. I bought a couple of yodeling CDs so I can practice. So, if your ever in the area, Barleen's Arizona Opry is neat-0. The one guy was the actual same guy who sang the high part ah-weee-wee-ah-wee-a-ohm-a-way in the Token's tiger sleeps tonight. And he played the same Saxaphone that was used by the Glenn Miller Band to record the favorites such as "In the Mood." Pretty fun stuff.

woo hoo