Monday, September 28, 2009

For those who are really THAT interested...

Nate randomly fell upon this video the other day.

http://www.navair.navy.mil/nawcwd/nawcwd/about/china_lake.htm

Go to the bottom of the page, where it says Ridgecrest Movie. This basically can teach you anything and everything there is to know about this funny little town we live in! It's definitely something you should check out, when you have nothing else better to do.

In other news, Nate also came across this article in The Salt Lake Tribune (you know that he is always checking on his Jazz team). A little background, Spencer Nelson, my very favorite former Aggie basketball player, has been at Utah's training camp.
Coach Sloan:
Stew Morrill fan club member

During the conversation about Nelson, Sloan took the opportunity to sing the praises of Utah State coach Stew Morrill.

"I'll say this about the guys we get from Utah State," Sloan said. "They all know what's going on. The head coach up there is probably the best coach in the country, in my opinion. He does a great job, and the kids we've gotten in here from up there are just wonderful people."

Oh, my beloved Aggies! Stew is my hero, too, Jerry. And if you knew what was good for ya, you'd pick Spencer up at your first chance!! Not that I care about the Jazz, but it would sure guarantee my fanship! (Is that a word? Oh, pregnancy mush brain + excessive Death valley heat is really starting to wear on me.)

Speaking of being pregnant, our little guy decided to flip around! He has been breech since the first ultrasound we saw, but today, at our 30 week appointment (can you believe it? 30 weeks???? AAAH!) we learned he has turned around sometime in the last two weeks! We were thrilled; let's just hope he decides to stay that way. I'd like to think that's why I've been so uncomfortable lately, he's been pushing me like crazy trying to get his head in the right direction!

We've been here in Cali for about a month now, and yes, I have a new list of things I've learned.
#1. The people are still nice. Very, very nice. We even lived to tell the tale of the California DMV, which we'd heard horror stories about. but even they have been nice! We LOVE our ward. They have made us feel like we've been here forever, and that home and family aren't far away. I'm so very greatful for the Gospel, and can't imagine living this crazy adventure without it.
#2. The sun sets at 7pm. Just when the day is starting to cool off a bit, and you'd really like to go for a nice walk after dinner; but you can't, because it's totally dark. Solution, waking up at 630am to get your walks in when it's still somewhat cool out.
#3. You can get a suntan just from driving in your car.
#4. You can get a sunburn just walking from your car into the grocery store. Be careful on the asphalt parking lots; your rubber flip flops may or may not stick.
#5. Instead of listening to crickets at night, we listen to frogs. The first week in our house, we were pulling into the driveway one night and watched a frog hop all across our driveway. Nate really wanted to catch it and put it in our pond; he said it needed to be in water. So I told him it was the frog's own dang fault for being in the middle of the desert. Moral of the story, I did not let Nate catch it, but he did give me a lecture about how I am going to have a son, who will catch gross things and whose Dad will highly encourage it. (sigh. I know he's right, but I don't like to think about it.)
#6. There is no cold water in this town. Anywhere. When we came for visits before, we thought maybe it was just the hotel. Nope, our temporary housing, the grocery store fountains, our house, all of it is luke warm at best. You can't even get the shower to turn cold! I'm not sure if they have just forgotten what cold is, or maybe it's just too much work to get anything cold here. Who knows. Moral of this story, we have several jugs of water constantly stacked in the fridge, always cold. Doesn't help the shower situation, but it's a start.
#7. Produce is not cheap in California. I'm quite sure we bought our fruits and veggies from CA while living in Utah, and it was a heck of a lot cheaper there! Fun thing is, when there are only three grocery stores in town, it's not that hard to find the lowest prices.
#8. There are cockroaches in CA. I am not ok with that. I had never seen one in real life before living here. After having a nothing-less-than-disturbing conversation with my sister in Texas, who has horror stories of the awful little creatures, I realize my life could be worse. But I still pray that our house and neighborhood are clean enough to be pest free. I don't know what I'd do if I found a live one scurrying around our house, and I was home by myself. It gives me heebie-geebies to even think about! Nate told me he saw the biggest one he's ever seen in his life the other day on the base, out in the middle of nowhere. Bigger than the one's in Brazil! EEK!
#9. You can find old American Gladiator classic episodes on tv at any given time, day or night. This brings me great joy in life. I vaguely remember it coming on every now and then when I was younger, and my sisters all saying how they used to watch it ALL the time when they lived in CA. It doesn't seem like much has changed!
#10. Airplane fly overs are more common than water. not just any kind of fly over, and not just once a day or so. They fly so low, it sounds like they are right on top of your roof or in your backyard, and it is ALL day long. The first few days made me a bit nervous, but now I'm almost to the point I can time them throughout the day. OOH! I felt my first bomb last week. That was super exciting! I was on the base waiting in a parking lot for Nate, and I heard and felt the boom! Better than in a movie. When Nate met me, he said that was the biggest one he has felt yet. He was mad no one told him where it was going off so he could go watch it. Better luck next time.
So there's my update from the desert! I'm STILL trying to find some part time work to keep me busy and hopefully out of the house every now and then. It is supposed to cool off a little this week, thank goodness. And by cool off, I mean a high of 90 or 95. But we'll take it! We both received callings in church this week, and are excited to get involved. Nate is the assistant teacher advisor in young mens, so lots of scouts, mutual, and camp outs I assume. I am the 2nd counselor in primary, and we are both looking forward to our new duties. I don't have any pictures of my house put together yet, but I promise I'm working on it! We have visitors coming to visit us this weekend, so there is a lot of work to be done this week!! Hooray for visitors! Something to look forward to!!

14 comments:

Trey said...

the music in that video reminds me of rocky fighting ivan drago. i am feeling really anti-russian right now.

Deidra said...

Hooray for visits and something to look forward to! :-)

n8'swife said...

The cold water thing was odd for me too when we moved here. It will get cold as the winter comes. It heats up with everything else here!

chartie said...

Hmmm, visitors. I wonder who that could be . . . :)

We're excited, too.

Steph and Brady said...

Oh I feel for you in that hot weather! I am so glad he moved for you though! It sounds like you guys are really happy there! Good luck with your new callings and have fun with your visitors!

stacey said...

So, a certain person we both know, that works for the Utah Jazz, actually talked to Spencer Nelson at the media day on Friday. Asked him why he didn't marry you...

stacey said...

ps would it kill ya to throw in a picture?

Megan said...

Cold water is easiest to get by turning on the hot water. The stuff that runs pre-heat is colder than the cold water. But, like Rachel said, wait for cooler weather. The cold water will be like CO ice cold tap water before the end of the year.

There is a farmer's market at the movie theater on Fridays from 8-11ish. I can't say that the produce is necessarily cheaper, but it is sometimes better than the stores.

If you're already seeing roaches, I'd suggest getting pest control. We went without it thinking it was unnecessary. Bad choice. We got an ant infestation inside the house (e.g. all the cupboards, in the kitchen, bathrooms, and all the bedrooms) and roaches in the yard... It's just not worth them invading your space. Just get the service that's once every other month and then they'll come whenever you need them in between for free.

Looking forward to seeing you tonight!

Megan said...

Who needs a cold shower anyway? Plus you could save on your gas/electric bill when you don't have to heat the water up much for showers, laundry and what not. LOL. Just trying to look at the bright side ;)

melissa and nathan said...

Your posts crack me up! Wait until you step into your house and the floor mat jumps at you with a "ribbit". I never saw a cockroach in my little house, but that does not mean I put Boric Acid in every outlet and light switch and on the ground in the doorways, for just in case.
I love your stories, going back on time for me! Oh and the DMV, cracked me up! Been there and done that, nightmare!

racheebabe said...

I loved the video. I hadn't seen that!

I'm glad that people in the ward are making you feel at home! It makes a world of difference. I already feel like you've been here for months.

Zack said...

You guys are great. Can I be a visitor? Oh, and today is our first "non-summer" day. It's snowing in logan lol! I'm sure your weather will be perfect in the winter!

hilary said...

your posts are fun to read. you make me laugh and i love it. we have warm water all the time and it's finally below 100 here, too! oh and congrats on the little guy moving into the right position! i can't believe you're 30 weeks, i didn't know you were that far along. oh and glad you love your ward, aren't we so lucky to have the church??!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I was thinking along the lines of the Chitlin, which is not something I aspire to do. As in, you only want the Jazz to pick up that Spencer guy 'cause you guys had the hots for each other. Nate's gonna get mad and not like the Jazz anymore.

Also, I take it that means Stacey is speaking to Chitlin.

Yes, Stacey, I know you're reading this, and I'm sending a cockroach your way for your evil deeds.

Oh, and Sara, I don't think American Gladiators was around when we lived in Cali. That was a Utah show. Where were you? Oh, probably watching Sleeping Beauty. AGAIN.