Halloween's too scary...

Today's Halloween and I've decided that there's a lot of things about this holiday that are just a little too scary for me. I've always been easily spooked but it seems like costumes and decorations are getting gorier and more disturbing these days. Too many costumes involve fake blood being streamed down cheeks and chins, or ugly stitches and bruises. I know this is cool to a lot of young boys but I think I'm just too much of a girl for all this gruesomeness. Not to mention all the horribly scary movies out right now. Nonetheless, I hope you all have a wonderful, terror-free Halloween.

"After Clouds, Sun"...

As I was perusing a friend of a friend's blog I came across this picture. I've always been an art lover and get really excited when I find paintings or other works of art that move me or inspire subtle but sweet feelings inside. This is one of those paintings. I love pictures that somehow edify us in a way nothing else could.

"Sometimes the Spirit Touches Us Through Our Weaknesses" by James C. Christensen

"In this picture, the hunchback is an Everyman; his hump is indicative of the burdens we all bear. He sits on a box that says literally, in Latin, "after clouds, sun." That's supposed to remind people to find the silver lining.
"I think that we often grow through adversity. No one wants trials and ordeals, and yet, having passed through the darkness, we often experience great spiritual illumination and feel the most connected with our Maker." -- James Christensen

A New Start...

I've finally found a new job! This was my first week with the John Kuchinski Agency in Pleasant Grove, Utah (gotta love his last name- it's Russian/Polish if you're curious).
The works not very interesting but I really enjoy the people I work with and it has a really laid back atmosphere. Plus I get to use my insurance agent's license (it's nicely framed above my desk) so I don't feel like taking that stupid test was too much of a waste of time.
The only bad news is that Atlas still hasn't paid me since Sept. 25th (which is a big deal considering I worked all the way up until Oct. 19th). But I'm trying not to freak out too much.
This job is a really nice change and all in all I actually glad I had such an easy excuse to leave my last job, the fit just wasn't so good for me there.
So. . . if any of you would like a car or home quote just let me know, we'd love to have you business :o)

I'm usually not into online surveys like what color are you, or what animal are you, but this one's actually kinda fun. It's only a few questions so it doesn't take that long either. Supposedly I belong in Rome, I don't know how much I agree but my dad did serve his mission in Rome so I remember always thinking I was Italian when I was little.

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city soul with a small town heart
Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome
Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand
And gorgeous Italian people - could life get any better?

Want to find out what city you belong in?

All the reasons I miss Kansas...

I know Kansas doesn't sound like that cool of a place but I just can't help loving it so much. Not to mention my whole families there including a new niece that I'm quite obsessed with. These are a few little the things (other then my family of course) that I miss most of all:
I love the open sky and flat land. A lot of people can't understand that but the truth is I really love it. I love how open it is and being able to see the sun rise and set on the horizon line.




The food. Jose Peppers has the best steak taco in North America. Mr. Goodcents is like Subway except a million times better. And Jack Stack is just amazing.










Street names. Utah just doesn't cut it with all of the numbers. The ones shown on the left include Mur-Len and Blackbob Rd.
Honestly, who comes up with these?
Some of my other odd favorites include Pflumn, Strangline and Quivira.





Even though I'm terribly afraid of tornadoes, I still love a good storm. Especially seeing the sky turn black in half the sky while the other is still sun and blue sky. This is a classic picture of a Kansas wall cloud. Spooky but incredible. I also really miss the warm rains, something non-existent in Utah.



Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be in Utah for the time being (I mean what would Mitch and I do without the dollar theatre) but there's some things Utah just doesn't have.

Our Poor Malibu...

So for the second time in less than a week our car hasn't started. Of course the first time we had it towed to the shop and when the technicians finally had a chance to look at it, it started right up. That was frustrating enough. They told us that they couldn't locate the problem if the problem wasn't happening so after paying the tow fee we took it home, hoping there would be no more problems, at least not for a few more months. Sadly today it happened all over again. Luckily, the technician was willing to come to our house to look at it so we didn't have to have it towed again (Honest-1 Auto has been great, cheesy name I know, but excellent service so far). He looked at it for about 45 minutes and was able to determine all the things that weren't the problem but as soon as he thought he figured it out and was running the final test it started right up. Now usually I always want my car to start but not today. So once again we're carless, asking for rides, and feeling like we're in junior high all over again. They're keeping it overnight to see if they can get it NOT to start in order to find the problem. So for once keep your fingers crossed that our car won't start tomorrow.