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!!