Family Classic

You know how there are those stories that will always come up at family reunions or when you're sitting around with friends trying to one up each other's stories? Well here is one of those family classic stories that I am sure will go down in Salisbury history. It all happened on a rainy day in Provo not too long ago. In fact, it was only about 2 months ago when we were finally picking up all of our stuff from our storage unit. It was a cold rainy day and I was anxious to roll up the door and get our move on the way. As I stood there looking at all our earthly possessions I suddenly realized that I was feeling something drop on my head and fall in front of my face. I looked down and realized that there, on the ground, were dozens of stunned wasps. Weather it was the cold or the shock of their home being rolled up into a storage door that had been closed for 8 months, either way, these little guys were so out of it that they were not flying for some reason. I was probably just as shocked as they were and jumped back to allow the Salisbury men to take care of the necessary stomping. As I looked on I began to feel a tiny movement in my hair. A little tickle if you will. I quickly put 2 and 2 together and came to the conclusion that I most likely had a wasp crawling through my hair at that very moment. I realized that freaking out would not help the situation so I tried to stay calm and asked Sean to look in my hair to see if there was a wasp. He jumped into action and confirmed that yes, that little tickle was indeed a wasp. He quickly used his key chain to try and flick the thing away. As the wasp started to realize what was going on it started to burrow deeper. After what seemed like a very long time of keeping calm the panic grabbed a hold of me and I started to scream. I realized that it would only be seconds until the little bugger got deep enough to chomp into me, or sting me, or whatever it is wasps do. As I was screaming this drove my dear husband into a panic and he yelled for someone to hand him the broom. The broom?! The next thing I know Sean is hitting me over the head with the broom! By this point the dreaded event had happened. I was stung (or bit). I stopped screaming and now just started to cry from both pain and humiliation as Sean continued to sweep through my hair with the broom. What I wouldn't give to have seen the whole thing go down as Sean's family was looking on in shock. The lesson we learned is that when there is a wasp emergency the broom is not the right way to go. Have no fear though. My head was a little sore for a few days but luckily I don't react too badly to sting. On top of that we now have a pretty good wasp story.

Seeing Friends

One of the best things about going to Utah now is seeing our friends. We have made some great friends while we were there and we miss then TONS here in Eugene.
During this trip we were first able to see our good friends Ryan and Lindsay. They made us a delicious breakfast which, unfortunately, we almost slept through! Sean's cell phone did not switch time zones so the alarm did not go off on time! It was very sad but luckily they called us and woke us up so we were still able to spend some time with our friends before they had to go to work. We scarfed down German pancakes, played with their hamsters and got to show off Bella. Ryan and Lindsay are great. Ryan is from Portland so we know that we will always get to see them at random times during the year. They are also our travel buddies. They met us for a few days in Spain and we had a blast. We have decided that our next trip with them will have to be to South Africa. Here are some pictures of us in Spain that I promised to put up for them months ago...

Waiting at a bus stop in Toledo.

Shrimp?

Waiting at the train station.

My favorite picture!
Finally, we also got to see my bestest friend in the whole wide world: Chelsea! Of course when I see Chelsea now I also get to see her wonderful husband, Rhet, and their cutest baby ever, Kyler. Chelsea has been my best friend since freshman year at BYU. We have seen each other through a lot of poptarts and martinelli's and giant cans of beans. I know that even though we are living far away from each other now that we will always stay friends. She has always only been only a phone call away for all my freak outs and cherry questions. In the words of Anne of Green Gables, we are definitely "kindred spirits". I can't imagine my college experience without her. Life would not be the same without a little bit (or a lot) of Chelsea to spice it up. Thanks for all the good memories and for being a great friend!


Showing off our newest additions.



Chelsea is the best tap dancer I know!




Our valentines day dinner by candle light.

Martinelli's and chocolate milk always make the best combination!

Sean's Graduation

Ok. It is official. I am a blog slacker. Here is my attempt to update what has been going on in our lives. Starting with Sean's Graduation! The day after I got home from Canada and 10 minutes after I got out of a job interview, we were on the road to Utah. After plenty of speeding and only one ticket the whole Salisbury family made it back to the familiar town of Provo Utah. I have to admit, it did bring back some strange feelings knowing that we will probably never live in Utah again. I forget every now and then how beautiful it is! Sean and I were so blessed to be able to attend and graduate from BYU (after today's football game I am feeling especially proud of my good old alma mater). Go Cougs!

Sean zippering up the gown.

I love this picture! Mom and dad helping out.


Elder Ballard was the speaker at the graduation. His message was to stop being defensive about our religion. It was maybe a little bit of a strange topic for the graduation ceremony but a good talk none the less.

There's Sean! Do you see him?!


The supportive family.

I see him!

Sean just after he did his walk across the stage and got his diploma.

The supportive wife.







Bros.

Graduating Cougar soon to be Duck.


Graduation would not be complete without a jumping picture. Yeah!

Sean's home away from home while attending BYU.


Good Job Sean!
I am so proud of Sean for his accomplishments at school. He is an amazing student. I do not know of any one who has the determination and dedication that he does. Sean spent many long hours in the library and I often had to bring him dinner so that he could keep studying. All that time defiantly paid off. Sean was getting strait A's by his junior year. He has basically mastered the art of flash cards and has an unbelievably good memory. He has now started law school and is showing the same drive to succeed. I know he will do great! I am so lucky to have such a smart and dedicated husband! On top of all these good things he's pretty handsome too! :)

Surgery

Les went in for surgery early this morning. He had the doctor call us and tell us to stay home and come to the hospital when he was in recovery. This was probably not the best arraingement for my mom. She was very anxious all morning and we both wished we were sitting in the hospital waiting room rather then not knowing what to do to keep our selves busy at home. Finally we got the call that Les was out of surgery. Everything went as well as it could have gone. They have taken samples of surrounding blood vessels and lymph to send in for testing. The results of these tests will determine if he has to have chemo. We are all very optomistic. His first day of recovery went well and we even just heard that he was sitting up in a chair all by himself tonight! We have been recieving and making phone calls non stop to update concerned family and friends. Thank you everyone for your prayers and fasts today. Our family can definately feel the effects.

I'm Alberta Bound

I am making a last minute trip up to Canada. Unfortunately it is not a nice vacation to visit family and friends (although I do hope to see some of you). My step dad was recently diagnosed with gastric cancer. He is going in for surgery as soon as a bed opens up. I'm going up for moral support and to help out where I can. Please keep him in your prayers.

Unemployment Blues

Well I have not been blogging too much lately but that it because not much is going on! I have been unemployed now for 2 months and I am not seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I fill out between 3 and 5 applications every day. EVERY DAY! I have probably applied for hundreds of jobs, even minimum wage jobs. I even applied at Petsmart! I have not resorted to Walmart quite yet but the time may be soon at hand. I have had 3 interviews so far. Here is the recap:
1. Athletic Training job at a high school - would have been the perfect job but unfortunately I was going up against the graduate student who had been working there for 2 years. I had a great interview but of course the job went to the graduate student because "he knows the students" (this was their explanation to me).
2. Trail Ride instructor - would have been fun but very tiring work. Unfortunately the ranch was a 2 hour drive and a 4 hour commute every day did not sound so good.
3. Administrative assistant at mystery company "The Committee" - weirdest interview ever! I still don't really understand what this company does or if it is legal. Here are some examples of the questions:
"Who had been your worst boss and why?"
"Who has been the hardest boss to work for and why?"
"How do you feel about being called out in front of your co workers?"
"How do you feel about swearing?"
Statement: "If you work here, you will be called out and you will be sworn at."
Believe it or not, I was actually willing to work here. There were 93 applicants and I was in the first interview cut of 10 candidates and then in the second cut down to 3! No such luck. Actually, now that I look back at it I think it was a blessing that I did not get that job. Who wants to work in that sort of environment?!
So here is where I stand. Hopelessly unemployed. Yesterday I turned in 9 applications. 9! And I probably will not hear back from one of them. That is what this economy means to me. So begins another day of job searching. Wish me luck!
P.S. By the way, I am not completely this pessimistic. I do know that something will come up and it is just a matter of time. Have no fear, I will rise into the corporate world once again!

More fun with Bella

For the last week we have had a friend visiting with us from Mexico City. This has given us a great excuse to get out around Oregon with Bella. Here are some pictures of our adventures last Sunday.

Sean, Bella and our friend Alicia at a vine yard.

Our first family photo! Notice Bella's ears blowing in the wind? She is so photogenic.

Another family photo in front of a lake that I forget the name of...

We tried to get a good picture of Bella on a rock with the lake in the background. This is the only one with her looking at the camera we were able to get.

We kept trying to call her name to get her to look at the camera while she was on a three foot tall rock. Like any good dog, she heard her name and tried to come instead of just look at us. We didn't figure this one out until after the fact. This is her just before she jumped head first off the rock onto the concrete. She cried for about two minutes strait after her fall. We were so worried she was going to have a broken leg or brain damage or something horrible like that. It was about at this time that we decided that we are glad we are doing the puppy thing first so we don't make the same mistakes with a baby someday.

Bella is hiding her head because she is still hurt and scared from her leap off the rock.

Sleeping it off.

Stairs

One thing Bella has not quite figured out yet is stairs, especially going down. If there is only one step she can usually manage to flop herself down somehow but if we are at the top of the stairs this is usually what happens.

When we go upstairs I carry her up and then she will follow me around and I don't worry about it. I brought her upstairs this morning but when I got into the bathroom I realized that she was not right behind me. All of the sudden I heard this thud, thud, thud. I looked over the railing and there was Bella, spread eagle on her tummy sliding down the stairs. I tried to catch up with her but she slid all the day down, did a somersault, gave a little whimper and the started to jump around and wag her tail as she watched me run down the stairs. I was laughing so hard by the time I got to the bottom. I can not believe no one was around to see what had just happened! It was so funny! When Sean woke up I told him what had happened and he tried to make her reenact it but no such luck.

Our New Addition

Introducing our new beautiful baby puppy Bella!

We have been talking about getting a puppy for a long time but we have never had an apartment that would let us have one. That was a requirement when we were apartment searching here in Eugene so we could finally have our very own puppy. A few days after we got back from Europe Sean took me to the book store and had me look through all the dog books until I found the dog I wanted. When I saw the picture of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel I knew this was the one for me. As we did some more research we learned that not only are they super cute but they are also great family dogs and like to snuggle but also have a fun playful side. It was perfect! We tried to find some where, anywhere, on the west coast to get one but we did not have much luck. We then came across a breeder in Missouri who was willing to ship her puppies. As soon as we saw the picture of Bella we knew she was ours. She is a perfect little puppy and we have all fallen in love with her.

On our ride home from the Portland airport Bella found the perfect place to nap.
Taking a nap with Kyle.
She sure does lover her flamingo.