Hello, everyone!
Sorry it’s been such a long time without an update. As always, life has a way of taking over and just getting away with time!
First off, let’s post some long-overdue photos. We finally found some of our house… well, before we moved in, anyway! So here are a few befores:
Our yard, before the rain killed all of our grass :-(
Either side of our kitchen area
Our master bedroom… we have 3 rooms, but this one is the biggest (And it has a vanity in one corner)
Eventually we will get some photos of after it’s been put together. Despite us being here for 4 months now, because of all the work that has been done, we never managed to finish unpacking!
Despite the mess, though, our dogs have been enjoying the house and the yard. After we were hit with so much rain, our green grass went to pot, and so if they tear up the yard, no one cares. Eventually we will fix it and it’ll have grass again, someday!
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In June we were able to celebrate our niece’s high school graduation. Sarah will be going off to college in the fall, to Sonoma State in Rohnert Park, far enough to be able to live on campus, but only an hour and a half away, so able to come for a visit if needed.
L to R: Jen’s brother, John, Jeff, Sarah and Jen
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The last bit was the 4th of July. We had a lot of fun celebrating. Not that we’re really patriotic; we just love setting things on fire! There were quite a few fireworks going on, and everyone was decked out for the festivities. The night before, Jen put together some scarves for the dogs, and the next night, we had fun setting off fireworks! Here are some more photos for your enjoyment:
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As for general updates, there have been a few good developments for us. Jeff finished his semester with some good grades, and we are happy for that! Originally he had planned on taking a course of summer school, either through the community college or through CSU, but we want to tighten our belts a little and save some money, and there weren’t classes that he needed to take available, so it looks like a working summer!
Jen’s still plugging away and doing pretty well, with two classes that look like solid As and two on the border. After this, she’ll have one more term before graduating. Right now she has to start looking at grad schools. One of the programs she is looking at, CSU Northdridge, has an application deadline of September 1st, so she has to finish taking her GREs and getting her application together. Fortunately the other schools she is looking at have much later deadlines, so she can continue to work on her resume and background.
After being temporary status, Jen is also being offered a permanent position on September 1st! This will mean the return of her benefits and PTO, so hopefully we will be able to make it out to Utah this winter when she graduates. The best part is that the job will give her some flexibility, so she can volunteer with the newborn hearing screening program this summer. Although her focus academically is speech pathology, she is also interested in audiology, and this will provide her some more experience.
Well, that looks like it for now. We hope you are all well and will update you again soon!
