Matt's New Job!

We have had a few big changes at our house this last year. In January Matt was let go from Fanzz, and he began working at Questar in February. It was a great job. Matt learned a lot about fighting off crazy dogs, he always put his cone out behind his truck when driving a company vehicle (safety first), and he was in pretty good shape from walking around neighborhoods all day long.

Well, about 3 or 4 weeks ago he got a phone call from a guy at Fanzz who is the men's apparel buyer. He needed to hire an assistant, and Matt was the first person he thought of. Matt was very interested because he actually always wanted to be a buyer, and he applied for the position a couple of times before he was layed off. So he went in for an interview, and they were able to offer him more money than he used to make at Fanzz, and he feels like it will be more secure than his job at Questar was. They hired him about 2 days later, and he put in his 2 weeks at Questar. He is so excited to have a job that he is interested in again (if any of you know Matt, he is a sports FREAK!) and so I am excited for him. I can't imagine having a job that I didn't love, so I am really happy that he finally has that again.

These last 8 months have been the hardest of our marriage (granted, we have only been married 2 1/2 years, but none-the-less they have been tough). I am so excited for things to turn around for us (financially) and hopefully it will take away some of the stress that money can bring into life and marriage.

Congratulations baby!! I am so happy for you!

4th Row Tickets!!

Matt and I were able to go to the Jazz game last night because he got tickets from his work (yes, he is now working for Fanzz again....I will post about that later) but we sat in the 4th row, and we ate dinner with the Lexus Club!! It was such a cool experience. Here are a few pictures to prove that we were really that close.

Go Emery!

This is my adorable niece and her dance that she made up to Miley Cyrus's song "Hoe Down".
She is too cute, and the whole time she was dancing she was looking at Matt because I asked her to show him her dance that she had made up. It was hilarious! Go Emery!!
P.S. She is 7 years old. :)

Moab!

Matt and I were able to go to Moab this summer. We spent a day in Arches National Park, which was totally fun! Matt hasn't ever been there before, and it has been a few years since I had been there, so it was a lot of fun to get to hike to some of the arches. It was perfect weather the day that we hiked to the delicate arch, and the rest of the trip was very relaxing. I spent a lot of time laying by the pool. It was a nice vacation before school started.

School has begun

Sorry that I haven't posted for so long (not that anyone has noticed), but I have been really busy since school started. I am getting to know my new students, and getting used to being back in a busy routine. Here are some pictures of my classroom. Enjoy!

24th of July

This year for the 24th of July we went to the Bee's game with our friends Kelly and Jon and their parents, Amy and Brad and their two little kids Rylan and Shaylee. We had a really good time even though the Bee's didn't end up playing their game. I guess the other team was sick so they didn't show up, and the game that we ended up watching was two high school allstar teams. It was really fun, and the fireworks at the end were great. Thanks Amy for coming up with such a great idea.

Goodbye Jetta, Hello Legacy!

I bought a new car last night. I have been tired of my Jetta for a few years, and I found a 2007 Black Subaru Legacy 2.5L that I fell in love with. I got a smokin' deal on it, and I am very excited to have a newer car! It only has 20,000 miles on it, and it is in really good condition!

4th of July

We had a really busy 4th of July this year. We started the day of by visiting Matt's grandpa. He is 90 something years old, and still lives alone. He is a survivor! We helped him out by weeding his garden and cleaning up his yard. After about 4 hours of weeding, we visited Matt's dad for an hour or so, then we drove to his mom's house. It was nice to make the rounds on the Goodwin/Nielsen side.
After all of the visiting of Matt's family we drove up to my mom and dad's house. My mom and dad were recently in a motorcycle accident, and my mom tore her rotator cuff and just had surgery on it. She did not seem like herself, but I think my mom appreciated having us visit her for a few hours.

After visiting everyone, Matt and I met up with some friends at the Sandy City 4th of July festival. We got there just in time to find a great spot on the grass and get ourselves ready to see the fireworks.

Kelly, Mandy, and Amy

Backrow: Amy (Shaylee), Brad, Kelly, Matt, and Mandy
Frontrow: Jon and Rylan

I took some great pictures of the fireworks, but something happened to my camera when I was downloading the pictures to my computer and I lost all the pictures. Oh well....better luck next year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day!! Thank you everyone that makes our freedom possible.

A Wedding in Wine Country

My cousin Jennifer was married last weekend in California Wine Country. It was a beautiful wedding, and thanks to my parents we were able to be there to enjoy the scenery. My sisters left their kids at home with their husbands, so I decided to leave my husband home with our child (Macy). My brother Blair was also able to come for the wedding too. It was the first time we have been together on a trip with the "original" Postma clan. It was totally fun!My sisters and I had a ton of fun taking pictures all around town. Here is the giant hand that is in front of the mall in Santa Rosa. Go figure. :)

The "Peanuts" museum is in the town that we stayed in, and on every corner they have a statue of some sort. I tried to get a picture by each one, but this was definitely the cutest.

We were able to spend time with cousins that we don't get to see a lot. Here is Lisa, my cousin Rachelle, and me. We just finished eating at the best omelete place. It was very yummy!

Here are the bride and groom, Jennifer and Paul. Her dress was beautiful!

Here is a rare picture of the original Postma clan. It was so fun to spend some time with family.
Even with a broken foot and a stiff body my parents still showed us all how it was done on the dance floor. (They were just in a motorcycle accident if you didn't know) That is my favorite part of dancing at a wedding - being able to see my parents shake it on the floor.

The morning after the wedding they had a breakfast to send off the happy couple. This was a the hotel where the breakfast was. Beautiful!! (not just me, but the scenery...hee hee... )

Here is the final picture of the trip.
(left to right) Mandy, Trish, Jennifer, Lisa, and Tami

Thanks for the fun trip! Can't wait until I get to go back.

2 Years!!

Matt and I have officially been married for 2 years. The time has gone by so fast! It feels like only 7 years ago that we started dating....oh wait, we did start dating 7 years ago!! Must be time for that 7-year-itch. Just kidding.... I am so lucky that I am married to such a wonderful man. He works hard, and treats me very well. I can't imagine my life without him.

For our anniversary we went to the scene of the crime - Market Street Grill in Cottonwood. I think that is our new tradition. I loved it! Matt is such a sweetie and also bought me a lawn chair for our anniversary because I have been looking all over for one. What a great guy! Love you baby! Can't wait for the next 2 years.

Out of Commission....

So I started training for the half marathon that Trish and I are running in August about 2 weeks ago. I was doing really well, then this last Monday at the gym.....more specifically "boot camp"..... as I was running sideways over steps, I sprained my left ankle. SUCKS!! I have never sprained my ankle before, and I am having a really hard time dealing with it. Needless to say, this has cut off my training for a few weeks. I can hardly walk on it without limping, so I don't think I will be running for at least another week.

Keep training Trish.....hopefully I will be able to join you soon.

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend this year.

My sisters and I started the weekend with our annual Race for the Cure. I am so glad that we have started this tradition as a family....all we need to do is talk our mom into joining us. Tami and Lisa brought their kids (Brecken and Sarah) and walked the race while Trish and I started off our 1/2 marathon training with a bang by running. It was a really beautiful day, and we scored lots of free stuff after the race. Thanks girls! Can't wait until next year.

Lisa (Brecken in stroller), Me, Tami (Sarah in stroller), and Trish. Hot mamas!!

After the race we had dinner at my mom's house. Tami and Jerald made their yummy chili verde, and we had a little Mexican fiesta. It was yummy!! After dinner Tami and Jerald went to the Eagles concert, so Matt and I took Sarah home with us to babysit her for a few hours. She was so cute, and loved following Macy around the house. I had told Matt that he needed to help me with her because I needed to start making my breakfast casserole. Here are a few pictures of Matt 'helping' me babysit. He tried really hard to stay awake. Nice try babe!

Did you notice the mismatching top and bottoms on Sarah? Well, when I was trying to put her jammies on her I was looking through the diaper bag and the shirt that was in there with these pants looked WAY too cute to be pajamas. I figured that she could just stay in the shirt she was wearing because there was no way the other shirt could be jammies. Yeah, when Tami came to get her she told me that the other shirt was her pajama shirt. Silly me!! I remember baby pajamas being trashed and not that cute at all. I am totally not a mommy! :)

Here is Matt trying to get Sarah to lay down. She was tired and really hyper. It was very entertaining!

Here are all 3 of them (Macy included) sleeping on the couch. Macy woke up just for the picture. PS. Matt was asleep way before Sarah was. I am the one that got her to sleep. I think he gave up and just decided to fall asleep himself. I love it!

The next day we had Matt's mom and Boyd (his step dad) over for breakfast on Mother's Day. I made a breakfast strata (fancy name for casserole) and we had a lot of fresh fruit. It was really nice to be able to spend time with both of our moms.

I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day!!!

Macy Update

MACY DOESN'T HAVE CANCER!!

The vet called to say that the tumor was not cancer, and we got it all. YAY!!! Now I can sleep at night.

Macy Surgery....and Mr. Fox

My baby had surgery today. For those of you that didn't know, Macy has had a tumor on her back for the past few years that has just kept getting bigger and bigger. It has really bothered me because I keep thinking that it is cancer. I have been very nervous about getting it looked at. I don't want her to have cancer, so I have just put it off for a while, but I couldn't put it off any longer.

I took her in yesterday to get her vaccinations updated, refill her heart guard medication, and have her lump looked at. The doctor took a biopsy of the tumor and didn't think it looked like cancer (whew!) but he suggested that we get it removed. I completely agreed because I hate feeling it on her back when I pet her, and I hate answering questions about what it is. So we took her in this morning to get her teeth cleaned, and to have her tumor removed. She is actually feeling pretty well. She isn't very happy that she can't lick her back, but she is dealing with it. The vet had put a cone around her neck so that she wouldn't lick her back, but they said that we can take it off while we are watching her. She couldn't even walk around with the cone on so we haven't made her wear it yet, but when we go to work and leave her she will have to wear it (poor thing).

Here are a few pictures of our cute Macy post surgery. I don't think she looks too bad.

Here is a close up. The incision is about 1 inches wide. Poor thing! At least it is gone. I post again when they get the results back telling us what it was. Cross your fingers that it is nothing.

On a side note, we have been watching a fox that lives behind our house in the wildlife preserve. I guess there are about 3 foxes out there, but we always see this one. He has been digging for mice pretty close to our house. Keep it up Mr. Fox. We don't want any mice in this house.

This last picture is of Macy. She was freaking out at the fox. Too funny!!

St. George Trip

Matt and I were able to take a day off of work and travel down to St. George for the weekend. Deidra and Chris were in town for a few weeks and they came down to golf and spend some time with us. It was so much fun.
Deidra and Chris had their cute baby Andon, and Matt and I had our cute baby Macy. They both did a wonderful job traveling to St. George, and they became fast friends.We had a good time riding the scooters and shopping while the guys had a blast golfing at Sand Hollow Golf Course. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us stay at your house. We had a blast!!

Birthday/Valentines Day

This year I had a wonderful birthday! Matt surprised me with roses two days before my birthday (which I already posted the gorgeous pictures of them), and then he spent the whole day with me on my birthday. We made breakfast (biscuits and gravy...yummy!) and then I opened presents. Matt gave me a gift card to Victoria's Secret. I desperately needed new bra's, and I have been complaining about that to him for a few months, so it was a perfect gift. After I opened my gifts we went to the mall to use my gift card.

Matt took me to dinner that night to my favorite restaurant, Market Street Grill. We had to wait 2 hours for a table, because it was Valentines day and the rest of the world was trying to eat at Market Street too, but we didn't care. I was probably the most fun we have had in a long time. We were both in such good moods that we didn't even care that we had to wait that long. Once we made it into the restaurant we ordered oysters and had a grand ole time. I even ordered dessert, which I never do, so that was a really fun treat!

I have a picture of us at the restaurant, but I haven't loaded it onto my camera yet, so I will add a picture later.

Thank you for all of your birthday wishes. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day too. :)

Happy Early Birthday to Me!

I just had the nicest surprise! Matt had 3 dozen roses delivered to me today for Valentines day and my birthday. He is a few days early which really surprised me. I love the roses!! They are gorgeous, and I just had to post a few pictures of them to brag about what a wonderful husband I have. He is such a great guy, and I am very lucky to have him for the rest of my life. I love you baby!

Nice....

This is just too funny to keep to ourselves.

We have a small backyard that Macy has all to herself. Every couple of weeks Matt will go out and pick up after her, but because we have had so much snow this winter we have been really lazy and haven't picked up after her since the beginning of winter.

For the last few weeks I have been getting after Matt about going outside to pick up the poop. Macy won't go to the bathroom if there is too much poop around her, so I have felt really bad for her since the snow melted. Last Sunday Matt finally went out to do the dirty job of picking up after her, and this is the after picture. I love the look on Macy's face. She looks so proud of herself. It makes me laugh every time I look at it. Yes, that whole bag is FULL of Macy poop!! Sorry if you think this is gross, but I had to post this hilarious picture. Enjoy!

Questar Here He Comes!!

Matt got a job!!! He starts work on Monday at Questar Gas. He will start as a meter reader and hopefully advance quickly into more permanent position. He was unemployed for exactly a month and a day. We are so excited that he got a job! Good job baby! I knew you could do it!

Sleepless in Seattle

Matt and I just got back from vacationing in Seattle. My best friend Deidra and her husband Chris moved there last summer, so we were able to go and spend some quality time with them and their cute little baby Andon. It was such a fun and relaxing trip. Matt and I needed a nice, relaxing get-away after the month we have had. Thanks Dee for letting us come and crash at your house for the weekend! We had a blast!!

We went to a really neat Tai restaurant on Friday night called Indochine that was in Tacoma. It was the prettiest restaurant I have ever been to. Deidra and Chris love Tai food, and Matt and I had never been to a Tai restaurant, so it was a fun new experience. We didn't have a reservation when we got to the restaurant, so the only table they had available was in a private room that was set up for a party that wouldn't be arriving for more than an hour. We were the only people in the room, so we felt really special! Andon was a good sport through most of the meal, but when Deidra tried to feed him a bottle it leaked and he was SOAKING wet, so after that he wasn't very happy.

Matt went golfing on Saturday while Deidra and I hung out and did a little bit of shopping. Poor Chris ended up having to work all weekend, but we still had a blast hanging out with him at night.

Superbowl Sunday was a lot of fun! We made 7-layer dip and Chris's brother came over to watch the game with us. Matt is always really loud when we watch any sporting event, and I don't think Andon was used to seeing someone get so loud all of the sudden. It was funny because he would just be playing on the floor, and Matt would jump up and start clapping or yelling at the TV and Andon would stop everything and just stare at Matt. At least it didn't make him cry or anything....Matt can get really loud!!

I was so glad that I got to spend the weekend with Deidra and her cute family. While we were there we realized that it has been about 5 years since we have spent more than a few hours with Chris and Deidra. As soon as they were married they moved outside of Utah and we haven't ever been able to visit them. It was nice to know that we are the type of friends that can stay close after not being together for such a long time. Thanks for the vacation guys! We love you!!

The Updates

Matt Update

Matt is still looking for a job. He had an interview last week with Questar Gas that sounds pretty promising. He has applied at a number of different places, but the economy isn't helping his situation at all. He has been keeping himself busy with school up at the U, but I can tell he is getting pretty bored. He is over being sad, and I think now he is just irritated. He is definitely a busy-body, and staying home 3 days a week is killing him!!

Mandy Update

I just finished up my last week and a half of school and I am now off track for 3 1/2 weeks! We finished our time on track with our 3rd grade patriotic program "Freedom Isn't Free." The kids did a wonderful job, and they worked so hard. It was really a neat program to be a part of, and the parents were all so excited that they cried tears of joy!

I have to say that January is the hardest month to teach. We are all tired from the holidays, and it kind of stinks that you have to go from all that excitement, back to your regular life. I am pleased to have a break for a few weeks, but I do have to say that if Matt and I are going to be home together all the time during these next 3 1/2 weeks,we will probably kill each other! Don't get me wrong, we are completely happy and in love, but you can only spend so much time together. Those of you that are married should understand what I mean. Matt is already tired of being home, and I am excited to be able to be home and do some of the things that I haven't been able to do because I have been too busy. Hopefully he will get a job soon and we won't drive each other nuts.

A Not So Happy New Year....

We had such a wonderful year in 2008 that we should have seen it coming.....Matt was let go from his job at Fanzz on January 2nd. He had taken the whole week after Christmas off from work (to use up his left over vacation) and the day he went back to work they surprised him by laying him off. It was a HUGE shock to both of us, but we are dealing with the whole situation.

He was not the only person to get laid off, but it doesn't change how bad it stinks. I am just grateful that we have been smart in the past year and a half, and saved as much money as we could. We should be fine for a while, but as most of you know, teachers don't make a lot of money, so we are hoping that he will find a job soon. Keep us in your prayers!!