USA! USA! USA!

I'm a soccer fan. Always have been and always will be. In my opinion, soccer players are the ultimate athlete. I respect all athletes and their amazing talents, but as I was telling Jared yesterday, no basketball player or football player could keep up with a soccer player. People may disagree and so be it, but that's how I feel. Their fitness level is absolutely amazing. One time I met Mia Hamm and just about peed my pants and fainted all at the same time. She may or may not be my "idol" in a way. I used to have her jersey but I wore it so much that it was worn out and had to be retired. If I still had that jersey, I would have wore it proudly to work today!

Yesterday I witnessed maybe the greatest sporting event I have ever seen, for sure the best soccer game. It's the Women's World Cup in Germany right now, socccer's biggest stage. Team USA was playing one of the greatest teams, Brazil, in the quaterfinal. Loser goes home. Stakes are high. Had to DVR it because it started at the same time as church and I'm so glad I did.

Team USA scored quickly, 2nd minute of the game to be exact off an own goal by Brazil. It was an intense and physical match. In the 2nd half, one of the US players got red-carded( basically ejected) and the US had to play the rest of the match with 1 less player than Brazil. Brazil ended up tying the game on that penalty kick(controversy ensued and that should not have happened) but the game ended up going into extra time. I just have to say one more time what amazing athletes these are. They had just played 90 minutes of the most intense soccer and then had to play an extra 30, then penalty kicks if it was still tied after that. In 90 degree weather...

In extra time Brazil scored so the US HAD to tie it up or else they were going home. The minutes just kept ticking away, chance after chance being denied. I started to panic. 10 mintutes left, 5 minutes left, they were now into stoppage time. I almost turned off the TV, I had almost given up. Then with 1 minute of stoppage time...literally, the USA's last chance, they sprinted down the field 110 yards on a counterattack, and after a PERFECT pass from Rapinoe, Wambach headed it into the net for the equalizer!. I went nuts! I may even say I went insane! It was an instant classic and Sportscenter(and myself) cannot stop talking about it. I wish I knew how many times I chanted USA! USA! USA! They overcame all odds. The cards were stacked against them and they never gave up. Team USA ended up winning in the penalty kick shootout.

I love America!

Proud To Be An American...

We went to Stadium of Fire last Saturday night in Provo. Let me just say, I can't put into words how proud I am to be an American. We are so blessed to live in a free country and I am so grateful to all the men and women who sacrifice their lives everyday so we can be free. I am so glad we have Independence Day to celebrate America.

USA! USA! USA!

I will admit, the reason I wanted to go to Stadium of Fire was to see Brad Paisley perform. But once I got there I realized most of the best parts were patriotic numbers. They had skydivers carrying the flag that landed in the stadium while "I'm Proud To Be An American" played over the loud speaker. Awesome! Then right after the National Anthem 4 F-16s flew over the stadium and I thought Jared was going to pass out due to the awesomeness of it.

It was amazing!

They got the party started with "Party In the USA" and having beach balls throughout the crowd. Fun, right?

Oh, and then there was Brad Paisley. Pretty sure he is the best. I just love his songs and he is so funny. He puts on a good show, that's for sure. Plus, he loves America, too!

Last but not least, a huge fireworks show set to music. So amazing! I have never seen so many fireworks! I wish I had the whole thing on video...

Needless to say, I will be attending again in future years. Big thanks to Kevin and Lorrie and Matt and Amy for the invite! We had a blast!

My, Oh, My I Do Love Thee...

Went four wheeling yesterday. I just love it. Everything was so green and pretty and it was such a beautiful day. A perfect summer day to be outside.

We love these! It reminds me of four wheeler rides because we always take them with us and eat while we ride.

We even saw a cow moose and it was kind of exciting. She was just getting her drink on at a nearby pond.

Disclaimer...

Apparently in that last post I sounded a little Debbie Downer so let me explain...I really am happy! Jared and I have had a rough last couple of months due to stress of our situation. The reason for the post was mainly to say that I finally see our tough times coming to an end and things are looking up. So it was supposed to be happy, but once I started reading comments I realized everyone thought I was depressed. I'm not, life is good. Sorry for the confusion. I guess I just wanted to vent. And not to make excuses or anything but I was sick that day so I had a lot of thinking going on and probably was not in the best of moods. You know how they say, "Patience is a virtue." I have to keep reminding myself of that.

Happy news, we have made our decision and we are going to wait for the higher-paying offer from HAFB. It should only take them 2 weeks to get Jared the job offer and we are willing to wait for that. It will be worth it in the long run. Hopefully by mid-July he will be able to start working. WOO!!!

So....

Well, I kind of feel like I have a lot to blog about but at the same time...nothing to say. It's a viscious cycle. What's new?

Summer is here...mostly. I recently turned 25...BOO!!! Jared got a job...kind of.
It's weird. Life is weird. Jared and I talk about it quite frequently lately, how you do everything you can to get good karma/blessings/a break/etc. but we just don't have good luck. I should realize life is never going to go like we think it will and get over it. Easier said than done. I will say this though, if life is gonna suck sometimes(and by "sometimes" I mean "pretty much always") at least I have Jared to spend it with. He is my "never crappy" part of life. So there's my rant, yes it's quite toned down for blog purposes...but nonetheless, a rant.

Today I might have a little faith that things are starting to look up. A few months ago(as in April) I posted about Jared having a job interview at Hill Air Force Base. YAY!!! I was so so happy! I thought he would have a job lined up by graduation and things would just sail along smoothly. Stupid of me to think that way, right? Since then, he interviewed several times out there and was told by 3 different supervisors that they wanted him to work in their department. Fabulous! There was only 1 problem. It takes FOREVER to get hired on at HAFB. Maybe it just seems like forever to us because we are so anxious for it to happen...but still. There are so many signatures and steps that HR has to take to get the application process finalized and to send out a job offer it is ridiculous. You have no idea how many times I have asked myself, "How long does it take to get a signature?" So here we are, 2 months later still waiting. Jared is in contact with them daily on how the process is coming and how much longer, blah, blah, blah...

To make a long story shorter, it has been the longest waiting game of my life. I cannot possibly put it into words. There have been snags along the way. Even some in the last 3 hours. Jared has been putting in for jobs all over simply because this job was not a gaurantee. Sometimes he will talk to someone and they will say, "2-4 weeks at the most." A month later we hear, "probably about 4 weeks." It really is ridiculous. So today, after about 2 hours on the phone with supervisors and HR at HAFB, Jared was finally offered a job. We still have a decision to make on whether to take a slight pay cut to be able to start sooner or hold out until the middle of August for a little more money. We hate making decisions, but the good news is...HE GOT AN OFFER!!!! FINALLY!!! I think we will be making a Pro/Con list, which I love!!

But we still have fun and happy things, too. Monday was my 25 birthday..which I was not thrilled about. I don't feel like I should be 25 yet. I thought I was only 22, or 23 max. But apparently I am old and don't have much to show for it. Oh well, at least I got to spend the day with Jared and he was so super sweet that I will accept it. We had plans to go on a hike, but mother nature thought that was a bad idea and let it rain all morning. So, we kind of just spent the day together. We went to dinner and a movie that night and Jared suprised me with a watch. I am in love with it! I didn't even know how much I wanted one until I put it on and realized it's great. Plus, I was totally suprised. Jared made such an effort to make that day special and I just love him so much. He did well!
The day before we went to mom and Doug's to have a joint celebration. My mom's birthday is two days before mine so it works out nice. We made kabobs...mmmmm. I love them! We spent the day out in the sun eating, playing ladder golf, and visiting. It was fun. This is a mysterious picture that was on my camera. I'm guessing Jared took it..

So...that's life right now. Not too exciting but kind of important.

This is a big decision...I feel life changing soon.