Pictures and news about John

If you want to, you can see what John is up to and read about events and even see a bunch of pictures. He is in Company 3, C at the Leader's Training Course at Fort Knox Kentucky.

For news, etc. go to:

http://www.leaderstrainingcourse.com/

For pictures go to:

http://armyrotc.smugmug.com/Leaders%20Training%20Course/772571

And for a military-themed laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A194vDpXzyA

This is the only main pictures I saw of him in the midst of his company's pictures. Kinda silly, but good to see him just the same. 12 days down, 18 more to go....Poor guy has been so busy he didn't even realize tomorrow is his birthday! Hope he has a good one.

Thank goodness for the small blessings...

I'm so grateful to heard from my hubby. I got a super short phone call the day after he left where he told me his address....and to send his cell phone! They are allowed to have and use them...on their own time. (Which is very very limited) I sent a box with his phone and some things the next Monday and was anxious for him to receive it and hear from him. Wednesday came and went. No letter or text or call. Thursday almost came and went without anything as well and I was feeling quite down. However, that evening while at work, I got a few texts.

He is alive! They had been holding their mail. Don't ask me why, John says they were just disorganized. He gets it every few days now. I still haven't gotten any letters (11 days later), but he honestly does not get the time to write him. The limited minutes he does have are in the evening before bed...if something else doesn't come up.

However, I want to count my blessings. Since that day I've at least gotten to text him back and forth a little and I've been able to talk to him a little on the phone as well. I am a baby and completely in love with him, so I'm one who really needs some contact. Maybe the Lord knew that. Although it never feels enough, it is good to be able to have communication....and much more direct than a letter.

Update about him: He's doing well. The first days were just standing and marching for hours in the hot sun, but he has also gotten to learn land navigation (with compasses and maps) and he did that once during the day and once in the dead of night. He has "fire guard" sometimes which is taking a shift at night to basically make sure nobody sneaks out and clean up and wax the floors. He hasn't gotten much more than about 5-6 hours of sleep per night (tops), but he seems to be holding up well....other than missing the heck out of me! He will get to go repelling and other things, I think he enjoys the things he is learning. He can't wait to use his navigation skills when he gets home. Today was his day off, so he went to the store for some detergent, did laundry, went to a military museum, talked to me a little throughout and got a good nap. He also should get the 4th off.

Today was busy for me! I needed to send out a letter with lots of pictures to John (to get there in time for his birthday Wednesday), do 4-5 loads of laundry, help pack and load the van for my family's trip, and do the normal errands as well as driving the family up to meet my dad in South Jordan.....all the while hanging on John's every text and call. :) It was a fulfilling day though, a lot got done and it will be good to have a rest from everything. I'll clean the house and it will stay clean for a week! :) I miss my family already, but I hope they have a BLAST visiting the Potters (my sister and her family) up in Washington for the week.

Ticket to Ride

So I've been putting it off, but I thought it's about time I wrote a quick update--John has left for his LTC military training in Kentucky for a month. Feels like longer, but it has only been 5 days since he left.

A week ago, he went to help his dad with their cabin after work. I was maybe going to go with, but my momma needed my help and Christine and Sammy needed to head home. So I settled for eating with him before he left (just some fast food, but it was good just to see him and talk to him).

He was helping with electrical work at the cabin on Wednesday as I helped my momma with the boys and housework at home. He went straight over to meet my dad and the crowd headed to Flaming Gorge. He went for a half-day of fishing and caught the first fish. It was a "small" one, about 12 lbs. (still the biggest fish he's ever caught!)

After the trip with the guide, he came home early with Mr. Howard (long-time family friend) and got home in the early afternoon. I was happy to see him, having gone a couple days without and knowing I would soon go through about 30 more.

We got all spiffied up and ready to go out on the TOWN. While getting ready, John truly surprised me by putting putting this around my neck:

Beautiful (real!) pearls. I asked what they were for and he said, "Because I'm leaving you." They are so pretty and classy.

So we first went to the temple and decided to do Endowments, despite my headache and running low on time. It truly was a good decision, it was a wonderful experience, one I'll always remember. We then went to a little Italian restaurant on Provo Center St. called Gloria's Little Italy--it was absolutely delicious and such a fun atmosphere. The waitor was great and even gave us a free dessert! (After finding out it was our last night before military training).

We got some last-minute things done, including buying a few things at Walmart and then giving him a haircut when we got home! (turned out pretty well, I must say!) All in all, it was a wonderful night. We only got about 3 hours of sleep, waking up really early to head to the airport in time on Friday morning.

Sending him off was tough, but I truly feel I've been blessed and I've been able to handle everything a lot better this time around. It's still hard and I still miss him and can't stop thinking about him, but it's different than last summer. We took pictures at the airport, but they are on his phone, which I sent to him in a package.

I got a (SHORT!) call from him on Saturday letting me know his address and info. He said to send his phone and charger and that he'd explain later and he'd text me. Hopefully this means he can call and text regularly! Good thing we have unlimited. ;) I've written 3 letters and sent one package so far, but haven't heard anything yet. I'm sure he is busy and exhausted! (not to mention I think he forgot our home address...) :) The package should get to him tomorrow or the next day. Soon I will post a picture that we took at the airport before he left.

I miss him, I love him, and I am half-empty for this month apart. I'm lucky to have my family surrounding me, and my little Matty and Daniel to be my buddies while my hubby's away.

Updates...

So things have been going pretty well for us, although we are realizing we are slowly running out of time to spend together before he leaves for his training and yet there are many things we want to do.

We recently made a trip to Logan for John's meeting about the training and he got his boots and army gear. (he looks so manly all decked out!) We also met up with his friend Zhou from China that we've gotten to know recently, he is such a sweet guy (very gracious and generous, nice as well as shy). Then John went to his parent's cabin to help them with the electrical work and I went home to work. :( I was sad I couldn't go up and help, but it was somewhat short notice.

Sunday was busy, I was "substituting" in the Primary CTR 7 class but after church, I was officially called. That's my calling for the summer! John and I also said the opening and closing prayers in Sacrement meeting. After church, we loaded Zhou's stuff we had kept for him while he had visited China for a month to take back up to him. We stopped for dinner and chatting with John's folks. We also played games with John's brother Trevor and his wife Janalee who live in Logan, so it was a good night.


We've had fun doing things with the boys and with the whole family, like fishing, hiking, and canoeing/boating! It's nice to have most of the morning/early afternoon to spend time before we head to work.

John and I are feeling good about of financial situation. With being frugal/budgeting as well as working as much as possible, we have earned enough money to put away enough for money for 4 months for emergencies in our savings account and we also invested a fair amount of money in a 6-month CD until we decide how to invest our money in IRA's, etc. We're doing our best to achieve our goal to finish college without any debt. Thanks to dad for my educational IRA as well as teaching me money smarts! :) I really appreciate my understanding of financial frugality/responsibility that many people my age lack.

Ode to my hubby: I have been thinking about how much I don't want John to leave for his month-long training in Kentucky. We'll only be able to communicate via snail mail and I remember how hard last summer was. It will probably be worse without my honey to snuggle with after a long day of work. I've just been thinking lately about how lucky I am and how much I love him. Today I went downstairs to find him, he'd gone down to shower and get ready for work a while earlier. I found him like this:




What a cutie! I couldn't help taking a picture and thinking how much I love him! It made me smile.

Jobs!

So John and I have both secured jobs! It has been a welcome change. John began training/work at Mr. Network on Monday and has been working every day since. So far he likes it, it's low pressure sales with base pay + some commission. The "sales" is actually signing people up for free trials, so he's been pretty successful so far making about $11/hr.

I got hired with Pinnacle Security in Lindon working in the call center under account creation. I had to call them back several times and bug them about getting the process along, but it has paid off! I went to training from 2-10 yesterday (long day!) and start "work" today and am scheduled for 23 hours this Memorial Day weekend! (No Sundays, though!) I took several calls by myself last night and did pretty well and I'm sure I'll have it down pat after 23 hours of practice!

Hopefully tonight we are going on a fun double date with my high school friend, Sunni Rogers and her boyfriend! The plan is to eat at Barry's in SF and then hike up the canyon to the hot pots with glow sticks and flashlights! Should be lots of fun, hopefully I can work it out with my work....

Anyway, that's what's going on with us! We hope to hear from all of you!

On the job hunt!

Quick update on the Kimballs: So we are officially moved in have been looking for a job for about a week. We had about 3-4 interviews each today and have some good options. We'll hear back from the best, most promising option (working in Pinnacle security's call center for evening/night hours, $9/hr) soon and hopefully get started!

John has caught a bug that's been going around and has been feeling pretty terrible the last couple of days. What a trooper to spend all day doing interview and stuff! Hopefully I don't catch it....

Overall we're doing ok. Currently we're feeling a little better now that we have some prospects for jobs and the ball is rolling. We'll keep ya posted.

PS-For all of you that don't know, my sister Christine has a new business as well! She is handmaking cute cards for any occasion and sells them for super cheap! She can custom make cards and also has some great designs to give you ideas on her site: www.christinescardcreations.blogspot.com. She is really talented and has all kinds of hole punches and gadgets to make them look great! So if you (or someone you know) likes to send personalized, handmade (super cute!) cards but don't have the time, tools, or talent (that's me!), check out her site. They usually cost around 50 cents each...a bargain!

One great gift idea--a sister-in-law had a GREAT idea for my mother-in-law and gave her a bunch of cute handmade cards for different occasions as a present! Every birthday/Mother's Day/etc., she gives her a couple more to update her stack. I thought this was such a GREAT idea for anyone with lots of kids/grandkids/friends/etc.! You can spend a fortune on impersonal storebought cards. Anyway, just a thought!!

Haircuts!

So I guess it's about time I wrote about my haircut! On Tuesday, I finally went in to get my hair cut. It I cut off about 10 inches (to donate to Locks of Love) and then another couple inches after that. It's been fun to play with, but does take some getting used to! I got a big glob of shampoo in the shower and then realized......it doesn't quite take that much anymore! haha

It's nice to be done with school and finals! It's somewhat bittersweet to be done with my job at the daycare, but all the same, it's been nice to simply have a break. We got some much-needed housework done Saturday and went out for IHOP to celebrate on Friday for lunch (yum!). Yesterday we took John's friend Zhou to the airport (he's returning to China for a month to see his wife!) and visited John's parents for the day.

I gave John a haircut! I will have to try to post some "before and after" pictures, but for some reason pictures don't upload very often....So we'll see. It doesn't look half bad! (kinda short, but hey!)

A new development in our lives has recently come up. Recently my parents called with a proposition that sounds like a win-win. They offered for us to move home with them to help my mom when she has knee surgery again this summer. It was really tough on her before and I felt bad I couldn't really be there. We've been praying to make sure it's ok with the Boss, and I think it really will work out well. It's crazy how drastically plans can change so quickly! But it really is good timing.

Some of the benefits: to be there for my mom, save the cost of rent and food (plus receiving a stipend), no training, :) won't be alone when John goes to national guard training for a month, spend time with my family, be able to find jobs in the Provo area, and hang out with friends around home!

Costs: Miss our Logan ward, won't be able to hang out with married friends up here, won't be able to spend time with John's new friend from China (Zhou) who may become an investigator, and packing/moving in general!

Overall, though, we can see the benefits definitely outweigh the costs. Mostly I'm glad we will be able to really help my mom out (so she doesn't have to do too much!) and that I won't go home to an empty apartment every day for a month. :( Lots of the outdoor fun activities John and I want to do are still available in Provo area, so it should make for a great summer! John is also a good sport, he loves the in-laws, especially my little brothers. :)

Love you, Kaylie

So, my sweet little niece returned to Heavenly Father on Monday night. We were able to go to the hospital and say our goodbyes. She opened her eyes just a little and looked at us. She looked so beautiful despite all the tubes and machines. What an emotional and touching time, she has so many people that love her despite her short little life. She will be greatly missed.

Her funeral was yesterday in Rigby, Idaho. John and I drove up that morning. It was a beautiful day and a sweet service. My brother-in-law gave a touching talk and Mom's poem was so perfect. I did my best on playing a nice version of "Be Still My Soul," one of my favorites. Candace did all the flowers, so they turned out beautiful, so fitting for little Kaylie. Despite the sadness, there was so much hope! So many family members were there to support them, ones we haven't seen for ages. It's amazing to see hearts soften at a time of trial.

*If you could continue to keep Christine and Robert in your prayers, they will continue to need them. I can't even imagine what they must be going through.*

It's been hard this week trying to focus and stay motivated, somehow the passing of this little angel just drained the life out of me. But tests, assignments, classes, papers, and work won't wait. I got the news from my job about a week ago that I'm being laid off when the school year ends in about a week. The center will have fewer kids and will no longer need me, so I'm in the job market again. I have been looking every day in the paper and every place I know of and haven't had much luck yet. However, we think John may have secured a temporary job at a greenhouse which will be perfect because of his crazy summer schedule with the national guard 4-week training right in the middle of the summer.

I've managed to keep up with projects, tests, papers, and assignments these last couple of weeks and it's a testament to me that the Lord does care and He does help us. It feels good to be done, I only have one final that's actually during finals week and it should be a breeze. I'll have to let you know on the final count of papers, tests, projects, etc. I bet it will be interesting to tally them up. John is thoroughly sick of most of his classes and studying. Wish him luck with all of his tough finals this week!

I also went to the doctor because my foot had been bothering me since our hike to the Spanish Fork hot pots last Saturday. (It was a lot of fun, we ended up taking the wrong trail first and hiked about 6-8 miles! We saw a huge herd of elk and deer. Then we took the REAL trail in the pitch dark with cell phones for flashlights. It was worth it!) I got a boot for my foot, the doctor thinks I might have a stress fracture. The boot helps it feel SO much better, I can walk on it. He also prescribed some medicine for the constant headaches. Hopefully we'll find out what's wrong and fix it.

If you could also keep my mom in your prayers, that would be wonderful. She had surgery a couple of days ago for carpal tunnel on one hand, but now her OTHER hand is bothering her, as well as her other knee (the one she hasn't had surgery on). This is all in addition to her regular aches and pains from fibromyalgia! What an AMAZING Momma I have, she just keeps on going, thinking of others. Love you, Mom.

Last of all, I just want to write a quick tribute to my family; after all, I've got the best one there is! They are so amazing, as I've seen the strength in times of trial and pain as well as the incredibly unselfish support that they give to each other. Amidst all this, they keep up with me and ask how I'm doing. I couldn't have asked for a better family or for better examples. Thank you.

(PS-Sorry, pictures won't work. :( Check out my family members' blogs...)

So busy...

So just a quick update before I head to class...things are so busy these days! I'm getting tired of the papers and tests that have been coming in a steady stream. Only a couple more weeks and then I'll be able to take a big breath! Right now, some of the things on my mind: tests, final papers, car troubles (still), meetings, constant headahces, registering for classes next semester, work, taxes, finding summer jobs for John and I, and keeping up with errands, cooking and cleaning. *phew!*

My sister is still staying near Primary Children's hospital with her little girl that is continuing to have troubles, so prayers for them would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully Kaylie will get stronger and be able to eat on her own so they can return home to Idaho soon.

Today was fun at the day care--we dyed Easter eggs! I don't know that I have ever done that before, so I had a lot of fun too. Tomorrow we're having an Easter Egg Hunt/Party and it should be lots of fun!

Anyway, I better head to class, then I have an 8-10 page research paper to work on and meeting later tonight, followed by work early tomorrow morning! (and so it continues!) It will be great to get a bit of a breather this weekend! Thanks for your emails, comments, and calls! Love you all.

My Sister's New Business! Check it out--

My sister has started a new business with a friend called MC Custom. Such a great idea! They can make custom-designed logos for girls camps, family reunions, teams or groups, or just specially-made tees for you to wear anytime! They can print on t-shirts, hoodies, bags, hankerchiefs, you name it! You can request a premeditated phrase or logo or create your own! Check out their blog! mccustomdesign.blogspot.com They have tons of funny and creative sayings, and they are SO cheap! Only $8 for a t-shirt, $15 for a hoodie, and much more! I can't wait to get some for me! Good job, sis! :) Spread the word!

Sample logo: (one of my favorites)