My take on Cali!

Jon forgot to mention some of the important details of our California trip, so I thought I'd get on and set the record straight. While most of you probably got the impression that our trip was a blast (it was), Jon never mentioned that he's been practicing his romancing skills. I must tell the world that this lover-of-sleep whom I call husband woke up at 5-ish in the morning to watch the sunrise on the beach and collect seashells with me. He also spent almost two hours driving the coast of California looking for a tide pool so that I could fulfill a childhood dream. So, for those of you who thought you'd never see the day, it has arrived! Who ever would have thought that Jon Paul Boizelle is a romantic at heart?

P.S. Jon posted an awful pic of me by Space Mountain, so for your viewing pleasure...

(His finger is a hook. Like a pirate! Arrrg)

Moscow, we're here (no, not Russia)

Because my career requires 150 credit hours of college to sit for the CPA exam, I need to attend graduate school. After a number of acceptances, we decided to attend the University of Idaho in Moscow. We didn't know much about the town or campus, but felt good about attending here and they gave me a scholarship.

We pulled in this last week and were very surprised. Moscow is a town of about 21,000 people situated in rolling hills right on the edge of the Idaho-Washington border. It is green and beautiful. Campus has an ivy league feel with old, ivy covered red brick buildings. And since the Washington State University is eight miles away, shopping is much better then we expected. We even have a mall with a Macy's and a Bed Bath.

We found a nice little apartment about two blocks from campus. It has two bedrooms and has a beautiful hillside view of campus. We love it. Add to it that people have been extremely friendly. We are very happy with our situation.

The town is fun. People often travel by bike and they have a farmer's market downtown each Saturday that sells produce, breads, and other artisan wares. We went and bought a pound of snap peas for $1.50. An hour later, they were no more.

A funny story about the farmer's market. We have been told that there is a bit more of a hippie influence in the area. While you can see it in the occasional person, we did get a kick out of a sign at the farmer's market. It notified us that the produce was organically grown, but that the market couldn't advertise that because the government passed a law requiring licenses for 'organic' businesses. These laws made it easy for big producers like Wal-Mart to obtain licenses, but very difficult for small businesses. The small time producers refused to buy into a system that forced them to share cherished values with corporate giants like Wal-Mart.

Although we didn't enjoy driving the moving truck through the canyons on the way up, we really love it here.

The view out the front of the house. Yes, those are hilly fields.

The view out our back windows. You can see campus as it climbs the hill. The golf course is off the back of the hill along with the arboretum/botanical garden.

The living room.

The kitchen.

California Screamin'

For those who don't know, we took a last-minute vacation to California in May to celebrate our one-year anniversary. For those who knew, here are some of the pictures we took (late, I know).

After deciding to go to California, we ended up deciding to go to southern California. We almost went to San Fransisco (we wanted to see Wicked and drive the coast highway), but we decided southern California was more within our ability. And since Steph had never been to Disneyland, we had to go.


Disneyland was a blast! We bounced back and forth between the California Adventure and Disneyland and tried to ride everything we could in two days. We ended up riding the Indiana Jones ride five times, Pirates of the Caribbean four times, and California Soarin' twice (and saw San Fransisco and the coast). They were awesome. We even got soaked on Grizzly Peak Rapids!

I am a roller coaster fanatic. Steph on the other hand, hasn't been much of an enthusiast. However, she was a trooper and decided to try some of the bigger rides. She even got on California Screamin'! While that was a one and only, she loved Space Mountain and I don't know how many times we rode it. Disney was a great time for both of us.

After Disneyland, took a drive down the coast from LA to Oceanside and stayed at a resort for two days. The resort was right on the beach and was beautiful. It was Steph's first time in the Pacific and she loved the sight and sound of the waves. It was also her first time in the surf. We had a great time walking the beach and looking for shells.

On our way out of town, we briefly stopped in San Diego, went to the temple, ate in Old Town, and went out to Coronado Island. We even walked around the USS Midway! It was a great time.

The San Diego Temple. Steph is in the bottom right of the picture.

California Screamin' the ride. Steph rode it!

Steph on the pier at Huntington Beach. We stopped on our drive of the coast.

Here is Steph on the Mark Twain, a paddle-boat that rides around the lake.

Steph's favorite roller coaster: the amazing indoor Space Mountain.

Me riding the Maliboomer (a "crazy" ride that shoots up 150 feet).

Captain "Jon" Sparrow.

T-I-Double G-ER

Steph and I with the Mater and Lightning McQueen.

Graduate School

For those of you who don't know, I have been planning on attending Graduate School. In order to sit for the CPA exam, I need 150 college credit hours. Since a normal undergraduate degree can be done in 120-130 hours, this often requires graduate school to acquire the necessary credits. Such is my situation.

After applying to a few graduate schools, I was accepted to three: Utah State University, University of Idaho, and Brigham Young University. It was a bit of a tough decision for me because BYU has one of the best accounting programs in the nation and U of I offered me a very generous scholarship. In the end, Stephanie and I felt best about attending University of Idaho. So we are going to be living in Moscow, Idaho (no not Russia) for the next year.

We will be moving there in June and are going to try to find summer jobs. I am also going to take some classes online this summer so my course load will be easier and I can complete everything by the end of next May. This also gets us out of the warm Vegas summer. I always wanted to experience an Idaho summer.

Goodbye Vegas, hello Moscow.

Graduation

On Friday, BYU-Idaho held graduation. Although Stephanie and I have left BYU-Idaho following my graduation, she has been student teaching in Las Vegas. She finished teaching a week ago and from what I can gather, did an excellent job. I heard nothing but good things and I feel she reached some students that had previously been unreachable.

Now that she is finished and graduation has been held, Stephanie is a college graduate! She can now go to most states and teach. Congratulations Steph!

Wave o' babies, wave o' babies!

No, Jon and I are not pregnant. I finished my student teaching and was really bored today. Luckily, the internet holds many entertainments for a bored newlywed. So for those of you who are wondering, here's what Jon and I's future baby will look like! Dum dum dum. (Isn't technology wonderful? Now we don't have to wonder!)

And, just for fun, I stole a copy of Lauren and Erik's wedding picture and created their future dream baby as well! Say hello to Paul Boizelle and Jackson Merkley!

Thank heavens for genetic variation right? There's no way my babies, or Lauren's babies, are ever going to be that ugly! Like Jon says, cute people make cute babies!

A Conference

To all who read this blog, I haven't been great about keeping up lately. Life has been pretty busy. Between January and April, accountants are very busy preparing taxes and performing audits on the financial statements of the past year. Work had me traveling for two weeks and then very busy while in town the following week. One week involved 65 hours of work. It can be a bit draining.

Last Sunday, Steph and I had the opportunity to hear from the leaders of our church at a regional meeting. We arrived expecting to hear from local leaders, but were happily surprised to hear from Thomas S. Monson and David A. Bednar of the Twelve Apostles. As the church has grown internationally, it as become increasingly more difficult for the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to visit everyone in the church. Technology has allowed them to speak to members of the church all over the world while staying in Salt Lake City and they are beginning to utilize this technology more frequently.

Both men spoke very well. The overall theme of the conference was on living so that the Holy Ghost can be with us to bless our lives. We were taught that we cannot force the Holy Ghost to come, we can only invite Him into our lives by keeping the commandments. We also cannot be obedient to the spirit of the law while ignoring the letter of the law. We should pray to invite the Holy Ghost and we should be "meek and humble" so we can receive it.

I left the conference happy and pensive. The conference was uplifting and also instructive. There are some things I feel I can do better so I can more fully enjoy the blessings of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I always feel grateful to receive instruction from the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. I look forward to hearing from all the members of the twelve this April when they address the world-wide membership.