NaNoWriMo- huh?

We only have two days left!! For those of you who don't know...

November is National Novel Writing Month! (AKA NaNoWriMo) What is this? you ask. Its writing a novel in one month. No I'm not kidding. I know it sounds insane. Let me explain.

First, this requires little or no previous outlining. You simply write. Whatever you want to write about is fine. You just go! No serious editing. No detailed outline needed. Just writing for writing's sake, letting the plot take you where it may. Let me just say... its two days away and I hardly know what I will be writing about...but that's the fun of it! You simply go to the website (posted below) and pick a username (its all free). You simply type up part of your novel each day on your word processor and upload it to the NaNoWriMo site and they track your progress for you. And its private. People aren't reading your novel. Its for you. At the end you get a little certificate saying you completed it. And the satisfaction of knowing you did something truly creative!
Here's the site: www.nanowrimo.com

Now I know its not going to be super easy. I hear that week three is like hell (sorry). But I'm hoping I can push through and create something fairly crappy but super creative! If you are brave enough to try it or want to see if I am actually following through with this my username is AngelaKay. You can add me as a buddy or just see how much of my novel I completed. I better get my creative juices flowing...

Another Whim

Now I (Angela) usually fall asleep watching children's movies. But I was at Walmart and there was a Redbox there. I just couldn't pass up a movie that costs $1 and has Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman and Dustin Hoffmann in it. I just couldn't. (And there were no other movies) So I rented Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I wasn't expecting much. Critics all hated it. Gary told me earlier that it was one I should rent and watch while he was in class (translation: "please don't make me watch that Angela") But, I had to see for myself. And can you say funny and amazing? I thought the writing was super clever and the story was great. Its got the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory feel and the magic of a christmas movie. And of course it delivers great messages too.

Mr Magorium: I've hired an accountant.

Molly: What?

Mr Magorium: Its a cross between a counter and a mutant.

Mr Magorium: Your life is an occasion, rise to it.

This part was just too funny.

Another blogger wrote that "it is everything good about movies." And I was halfway through the movie when Gary came home from class and he was laughing out loud during some parts with me. Its darn funny writing. Remember in Father of the Bride when he's running around the grocery store, having a meltdown and he freaks out about how hot dogs and hot dog buns never come in the same quantity? ("George Banks is saying NO!") Well that issue comes to light again in this movie. Its adorable. That about sums it up.

Forever

So yes its been well, forever since we have blogged. So here some things (mostly from my perspective) that have gone down in the Tenney household since we last wrote. Number 2 on the list explains our internet absence.

1) I (Angela) got job. (Which I had to take an IQ and personality test for, it was interesting) So now I work for an orthodontist here in town. I am no longer a bum! Yay for me! And our checkbook!

Aren't these masks super creepy?

2) We had 5 different internet installers from Quest come to our house and "fix" our internet. And it still didn't work. So we just signed today with another company and voila! here we are.

(Nothing against Quest. I think its where we live.)

3) We explored our downtown and discovered some of the coolest shops. My personal fave has got to be PJ Chilcottage. I call it Anthropology meets Lush. My heaven.

Amazing soap.

4) I started crafting like a madwoman. I watched Martha Stewart while I was an unemployed bum and was inspired several times over. Poor Gary. Our living room was a craft room for weeks.

5) We drove by Lake Mary and saw a huge herd of elk running around and making crazy noises. We later were driving down the road and came across more just slowly making their way across the highway. I gasped loudly and scared the crud out of Gary.

6) I started cooking regularly. We aren't sure if this is a positive or a negative yet. Jk

7) Everyone I have ever known became pregnant! That's an exaggeration I know. Congratulations all you pregnant ladies out there!

8) I discovered that Flagstaff has a disturbing amount of creepy mannequins. Pictures to follow at a later post.

So Much To Post!

We made it to Flagstaff! A big thank-you to everyone that helped with the move that was awesome. We haven't been able to post anything as they are trying to get our internet installed in the new place. They are having some trouble I guess. We've been using the school's! Anyway, since we got to Flagstaff we've been doing lots of exploring...

This first one is a little one of downtown. Such a beautiful historic downtown. The houses and stores are so cute.



This is the view from our driveway. Isn't it green? Its a great location. There is a bus stop right in front of our house we plan on using. And its right behind NAU.



Here's our house! Its a two-bedroom with an open floor plan. I really like it. We were so lucky because right before we came they replaced all the carpeting and the faucets. We lucked out.



This is our backyard. There is a little gated area and then it just goes straight up a hill into forest.



Here's our bedroom...



This is the front room.



And the kitchen has so much counter space woohoo! But I guess I have no excuse now for not cooking :)



A couple days ago Gary and I decided to drive down to Lake Mary. Its about 6 miles from our house and we fell in love with it!



Gary and his "floating penny trick". I learn something new about my husband everyday.



Here's the dam. And there's Angela, the dam girl. haha



There are all these massive dandelion things. I just think they are so pretty. Side note: that picture is completely posed. The first three times I blew on it, nothing happened! Those things are tough. So I had to shake it and pretend.



Ahhh, Lake Mary.
There are all kinds of picnic areas and you can take out a canoe and fish if you want. We plan on hiking around it pretty soon.




Okay Cardinal's training! They train right around the corner from our house. We were driving by about the third day after we moved in and so we stopped and watched. We came back the next day and got some awesome pictures!

This first one is Gary with Kurt Warner! Gary really likes this player a lot. He seemed really nice and was very willing to take pics and say hello. We were the last ones in the line and I felt bad asking for a picture! But he was super nice about it.



Me with Kurt Warner!



This is the line-up at the gate for all the fans to get autographs and pictures. The little kids were so cute calling for their favorite players.



Matt Leinart and me! Isn't he a giant? I have to say I don't know much about football but I actually did know who he was! He partied with Paris Hilton!!!




Gary and Matt Leinart! I think they look related.



Cardinals out practicing on the field. That huge lift thing holds a cameraman. Isn't that crazy? I do not like heights...



Well Flagstaff is treating us well. We are still figuring out our way around town. And we miss all of you! The first night we got there we were both happy about being there but felt sad. We went to church on sunday and it made me realize how blessed we are. And that we are supposed to be here. But we plan on visiting the valley as often as possible. And if anyone ever needs a place to stay or just wants to come up and say hi...please do! We actually have an extra room now for visitors!

Changes & Crying

It finally hit me (Angela) that we are moving in ONE WEEK! There are so many things I want to do here! Like hang out with everyone I know and love! Eat at all the restaurants they don't have in Flag!! I had my last day of work on Thursday and it didn't feel real. I've been there for two years and I really have loved it. I had a great boss. But, I didn't expect to CRY! It was so embarassing. If anyone knows me, they know I am a very calm, relaxed person. I cry in front of family. Period.
No one else. Well. I made it through the day just fine, I was actually a little excited to be on my way and take a week off of work to pack. The end of the day comes and Dr. Matt (my boss) is like "well, you gotta give me hug!" and BAM! Waterworks! I hate crying because I have this weird thing where I can't talk when I cry and if I do I sound like a monster! Oh...it was bad. Of course everyone was really sweet about it. I guess I need to see a counselor or something because that was a big deal for me!!

P.S. You get some very interesting pictures when you google "crying".

Tender mercies

Well this is a post that I (Gary) have been wanting to write for the last week. Last Friday we went up to Flagstaff to meet with my Academic Advisor at NAU. We were going to go up there the next Friday, but my advisor was going to be out of town so we took a quick day trip up there to drop off some resumes for Angela and to check out our new duplex that we are going to be moving into. So I met with my advisor (who also happens to be the Department Chair) and we talked about which classes I should register for. He gave me some overrides so that I could get into certain classes this semester. Then I asked him for some suggestions for employment while attending NAU. I originally was planning on working as a TA or as a Research Assistant which often provides some good benefits like breaks on your tuition, stipends, and sometimes health insurance. I had talked to my advisor on the phone a couple weeks prior to meeting with him and he made it sound like the program that I am in doesn’t have too many TA or RA positions to offer since they don’t have as many research projects going on as schools like ASU. So they don’t have that kind of funding to offer their graduate students until their final years in the PhD program. So I was kind of nervous about how we were going to finance my education so I brought it up in my meeting with my advisor. This is where the Lord totally stepped in and blessed us. My advisor said that if I was looking for a job he could offer me a position as a TA. He told me that about three hours prior to our meeting one of his TA’s called him and said they couldn’t do it. By taking this position I would a get 70% tuition waiver and a $9000 a year stipend as well as full health coverage! The class that I would TA for would be two sections of EDS 101 (or basically Psychology 101). The professor responsible for these classes already has the class completely outlined with all of the material outlined along with all of the tests already written up. I would be the one who presents the material to the students. So that afternoon I ended up signing all of the paper and got the position secured! I feel so blessed. If we would have gone up there the next weekend the position surely would have been filled already. I really feel like the Lord is looking out for us.

Yeah! The bathroom is done!

So for those of you who don't know..we have been renovating our condo, pretty much from day one since we moved in. We've been fixing up the condo to sell, but we are so excited because we finished the bathroom this week. When I say we, I mean Gary. Our sad little bathroom has needed an update for about 20 years. And Gary did an awesome job. And I have to give a big thank-you to Bob Monroe for helping with plumbing! All in all, we were without a toilet for about a week and a half, which really wasn't so bad because both are parents were really sweet to let us stay with them in our gypsy state.

This first pic is the "before" view from the doorway. That toilet is probably 20 years old. It works. Barely. And the floor is a lovely 60s paisley pattern vinyl. We had already painted at this point and put in the cabinet and mirrors. Now these pics aren't the best because the bathroom is on the small side. But you get the point.

And here is the after....

And the sink/countertop before and after. Gary cut and placed all the granite tiles himself. He did a great job! Isn't the new sink cool?

Gary also put in some new white tile on the floor. It looks so crisp and clean. I also have to tell you how awesome Gary is because yesterday morning I woke up early to go to work. Let me back up, the night before this our shower became clogged and it was too late to get anyone over to fix it. So I was not looking forward to showering in the cold mucky water. So when I woke up the next morning I walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water and saw how disgusting our house was and there were boxes and tools everywhere. I became so stressed that I literally just had to say a little prayer that I could just get through the morning and off to work and not worry about the clean-up that was awaiting me at home. Well, I left to work and when I came home the house was completely clean. Completely. No boxes. No mess. Gary had installed the toilet, unclogged AND cleaned out the bathtub. I seriously almost started crying I was so happy. So Gary pretty much rules! Job well done.