Are you the Mole?

This is a frequent question I am being asked at work. Our trainer was notified that he might possibly have a mole from Verizon in our training class. He thinks it is me and I think it is so funny. Sure, I'll be the mole. He is scared of me. I make a phone call and he thinks I'm calling Verizon. I leave to go to HR and he thinks I'm telling on him. It certainly gives a little flavor to the training class. Very much needed flavor, but no where near spicy.

For those of you wondering where I work.... it's a call center for lots of different companies. I was hired for the Verizon team. After training I will be helping people with phone, data, and video problems. My goal is to not make it through training. I may have a new job by Monday. I'll keep you posted.

No Sticking or Flicking!

Those are probably two words that I NEVER thought I would hear on the job, unless it of course had something to do with some immature joke.

Today was my first day of work. We had to go through the run of the mill things like what you can and can't wear, what is considered late and where to park. Then we covered Hygiene. This was odd to me. We covered showering, bad breath, washing clothes and the mother of all topics...BOOGERS. Yes you will get points, and points are bad, for sticking and flicking boogers. Too many sticks and flicks = no job. Also anyone caught eating boogers will be immediately fired. Oops, I'm sorry, am I in the wrong place? Is this kindergarten? No? How odd. Fortunately for me I never got into the booger eating phase, what a relief for me, my husband, and the rest of the population.

The thing that gets me is they actually had to talk about this, so you know that it has happened more then once. GROSS!

Okay now onto our gifts from IKE, Hurricane Ike. Please see pictures below.

Gift 1: The pool floaty. For me? Oh how nice. This was up against the front door.

Gift 2: The extra shopping bag. How did IKE know that the 99 bags I currently had just weren't enough.

Gift 3: The fallen mailbox. Now I don't have to lean and pier into my box to see if I got all the mail. I just stand over it and look down. So much nicer.

Gift 4: Flapping siding. Another reason to love the aesthetically pleasing Duct Tape.

Compared to a lot of places Ike was really easy on us. I hope that no one see's these as complaints. They really are gifts and made us laugh. Crazy strong wind does that to a person.

Some things must be seen

Because of numerous requests I am posting a picture of the hole I poked in our ceiling. I have pondered why people would want to see the hole in the ceiling. Maybe they have never seen a hole in the ceiling. Maybe they have had something similar happen and are secretly hoping that mine it worse than theirs. It could be just plain old curiosity. Whatever the case I would probably want to see it too. I am one of those humans that looks when someone says "gross! don't look!." I'm the person that wants to know all the weird details about the surgery's Rocky has seen. I want to see the thing that I don't want to see. Does that make sense? If not here is an example. I had a friend who had a video of two people fighting, some type of Karate, Martial Arts, they were kicking and someone's leg snapped. You actually see it happen. I really didn't want to see it but had to. Well enough about me and my weirdness. Here is the picture.



Just kidding about this hole. That would be super hulk like strength from my little pointer finger. This was actually done by the plumber. Thanks plumber.






This is my finger hole. It doesn't look too bad at this point. I can fit my four fingers in it. I got a little paper clip, straightened it out and tried to pull down the pieces so it wouldn't look so hole-ish.

All in all I need to let you know that I love our little house. Problems and all.

Accidently poked a hole in the ceiling. Jealous?

Just as things are starting to feel finished (the work on our house was finished Wednesday) I go and start the race horses again. So being curious me, I wondered if the portion of the ceiling that our sellers told us was damaged by one little shower incident was really dry. It looked a little odd to me, probably the lighting in the room at the time. Well you will all be happy to know that it is dry, and brittle. My little finger poke left a hole bigger then my finger. You may all be questioning my "hulk" like strength, yes, I am too. It appears as though maybe there was a little more to this little shower incident. I'm not a house expert as of yet, so I will not claim to know how little or big or how long "the shower indecent" was. It is pretty safe to say at this point that we will also be replacing a portion if not all of the ceiling. I never liked that popcorn textured ceiling anyway. Any takers on this project?

Here is a little snapshot of the rest of the week.

Monday: Jacque and the boys go home. I get some major house cleaning done and quickly finish filling up the garbage can. Garbage day isn't until Friday, bummer.

Tuesday: Rocky back into the study groove after a 3 day weekend. With his first test on Friday he is setting up camp at the library. I am going crazy on this cleaning thing. I magically produce at least 5 more bags of garbage (did we really pack all this stuff across the country). Garbage can is super full, spilling out of the top full.

Wednesday: Rocky still studying. I reheat pizza on the stove with 1-pan, 1-lid, and a 1/4 cup of water. Turned out much better then I thought. Who needs a microwave? House is finished! We finally get to really move in. Still dejunking, at least 3 more bags of garbage. Garbage can is still full.

Thursday: Rocky is in deep study mode. I am in deep cleaning mode. I probably had about 10 bags of shredded paper. My shredder worked harder than it ever had before. Also found old journals. So completely embarrassing, so glad that I won't ever have to be 13 again. Garbage still full, but tomorrow is garbage day.

Friday: Rocky heads off to take his first test. Garbage man doesn't come, rats! Monday was the holiday. Rocky does an absolutely awesome job on his test. We celebrated at Carraba's.

Saturday: Still no garbage man. I'm getting anxious. We spend the day cleaning up the office, it becomes beautiful, except for my desk which now needs to be reorganized. Bah. Cleaned up the bedroom. Really make the bed for the first time. I know we are disgusting slobs.

Sunday: Still have extremely full garbage can out front of the house. Had a beautiful testimony meeting at Church. Talked to family and friends in Utah, and then visited some new friends and made new friends. Thank you Hannah and Daniel.

So I'm really hoping that the garbage man comes tomorrow. I feel as though I'm obsessing about it. All right, I know I am but really, who wants garbage piling up in their house?

Oh and one last momentous thing to write about. My car now fits in the garage.

Jacque and a full garage

Rocky and a full garage

The Bugley sleeping in the garage *sigh, it's so beautiful*

Joni needs...

My cousin Kami had a fun game on her blog, so I thought I would try it out! First, go to google and type in your name, followed by the word "needs". Now, list the first 10 things that come up. Here is mine.


1-Joni needs: a loving home with a dog friendly couch and a securely fenced yard


2-Joni needs: your vote


3-Joni needs: to wake up


4-Joni needs: some encouragement and is asking for others to minister to her


5-Jonii needs: to be added to the list of great 20th century composers


6-Joni needs: to chill


7-Joni needs: to learn


8-Joni needs: to be better, to be more consistent


9-Joni needs: to develop her "warrior" side that will enable her to face the world


10-Joni needs: help

These are in the order that I found them. I love the "warrior" one. Try it out yourself.

Chasing the garbage man

This morning wasn't any different from any other morning except for the fact it is Garbage Day. Because Rocky and I are fairly new at this home ownership thing, only 2 weeks in, we are still trying to get our garbage groove. I woke up this morning to the garbage truck right in front of our house, it only took me about 5 seconds for my brain to compute the following equation. Full garbage can + no garbage pickup = too much garbage for next week. I screamed "ROCKY! THE GARBAGE TRUCK." We talked about it fast and thought that we had missed our chance. I looked out the window and saw that he wasn't too far away and said to Rocky, "RUN." Run is exactly what he did, with the garbage can in tow. Now I didn't get to see it but it must have been hilarious. He said that he was wildly waving at the garbage truck, pushing the garbage can, hoping to get the drivers attention before he turned the corner and drove away, which was coming up fast. Rocky said he was surprised how fast the truck was. Well the wild waving worked and the garbage man stopped long enough for Rocky to catch up to him and get our trash dumped. Whew. Then the truck did something very unexpected. He didn't turn and drive away, he did turn but he went onto a street really close to us. All that chasing for nothing? Well we now know the garbage man route and have achieved the garbage groove we were looking for. I'm excited that we will have room for this upcoming week's garbage. Odd thing to be excited about but I totally am. I looked with pride at the empty garbage can next to the house. I'm pretty sure I've got an awesome husband.

Got Ya!!!

To Mom and Dad,

The hair piece rides again. Thanks for giving us a great laugh, although I don't think you knew about it. That made it even better for us.

Love,

The Girls (Joni, Jamie and Sara) and The Rock

We made it!

We finally made it to our home in Ohio! It has been quite an adventure so I'll start from the beginning. We left for Ohio on Sunday the 3rd. We met up with my family in Evanston and began the long drive. Well I guess Sunday's drive wasn't too bad. We stopped in Cheyenne for the night.

Monday was the Loooonnnngggg drive. I don't remember the exact timing of everything but it was super super long.

Tuesday we visited Independence and Far West.

Wednesday was Nauvoo - This was so much fun. I'm pretty sure that my mom would have fit in perfectly with the pioneers. This is also where I showed my talent with a metal ring and a stick. I'm very confident that if it were in the Olympics that I would and should be competing in it. The pageant was really cool. I am amazed at all the missionary's that are called there and then all the families that volunteer there.

Thursday we stopped at Carthage Jail and then drove to the Indianapolis speedway...we got there late so all we could do was peek over the side. It looked HUGE to me.

Friday morning we got to the house. Welcome to OHIO.

The house story....the agent that was working with the sellers of the condo we bought lost the keys to the house. We had to have a locksmith come out to the house to let us in. $200+ dollars later we were in the house. So exciting....until I went downstairs and noticed that the ceiling was sagging. I thought that was very odd and couldn't remember it being that way when we bought it. So I touched it and it was wet. :( I went back upstairs and looked at the kitchen floor...it was sagging too. We are very thankful at this point for insurance. To make the story a little shorter it is now Sunday a week and two days since we got to Ohio. We had to have the kitchen floor replaced, basement ceiling and basement carpet. The joys of homeownership. We are excited for next week when all the work should be done.

On a high note these are a lot of the things that Rocky and I had talked about doing during our 4 years here. Now instead of us doing them we get to have the work done by professionals and done now. I personally think that is a bonus.

We are so thankful for my family and all their help while they were here. We are thankful for a garage to put all of our stuff that we can't put in the house just yet. We are thankful for the Christensen's who fed us dinner...going out to eat is getting OLD super fast. Now that I think about it we have lots to be thankful for.

Here is a quick list of some of our firsts that have happened this past week.
using homeowners insurance
fixing a toilet, breaking that toilet, buying new toilet (thanks for your help Dean)
replace bathroom faucets with new faucets (3 hour project for first one, second one only took minutes)
buying a bed (thanks Cyndi)
putting out the garbage
picking out flooring
purchasing appliances

Just a quick note

Today is our official moving day. I can't believe it is actually here. It snuck up on me so fast. There are so many people that I am going to miss. Goodbye... sniffle, sniffle.

Fam-o-lee reunion

We just got back from our family reunion with the Carlisle Clan. It was a blast. Rocky and I got to use our tent and sleeping bags for the first time..outside. Yes we have camped in our living room with the tent. Anyway, we had lots of fun with cousins, aunts and uncles. We had one queen air mattress and two small twin air mattresses (thanks grandma). They fit almost perfectly, after a few hours of sleeping on them they deflated enough to fit perfectly. We had a good laugh with the size of Sara's sleeping bag. She had borrowed grandpa's bag and lets just say that we probably could have made two out of that one. I asked Rocky and Jamie what their favorite part of the reunion was. They both said the evening in the tent. We probably spent the first hour of trying to go to sleep telling stories and laughing. Our night wasn't complete without a few Rocky bulldozers. Luckily nothing broke. The family talent show was really special. There were some really good talents, some talents that probably needed a little more work (like mine and Rocky's) and we got a really cool treat from Grandma, a poem that she wrote. Wow! There was also a sand castle building crew. i believe that we had the coolest castle ever. Special thanks to the Bodily's who put the reunion together. It was so much fun.

PS. I just remembered...Rocky borrowed Jamie's flip flops to run and get something from his car. When he came back Jamie vowed to never wear her shoes again and this is why.....

We weren't sure if that was Rocky's snot or bear snot. Rocky assured us that it was not him but Jamie wasn't so sure....interesting.

This is how we do it.

Happy 4th of July....on the 6th of July. I'm celebrating as long as I can. Long, hot summer nights with the distant sound of illegal fireworks, lots of family and lots of food is what really makes July an awesome month for me. This year we went home to Springville to celebrate the 4th. It was quite fun. Well the end part anyway. Rocky, Sara, Jamie, Peggy, Mom and I spent a good portion of the day packing up more of our stuff as we prepare for the big move. I am happy to say that the majority of it is done. Yippee.

Then it was time for games. We had such a good time. We played Pit, Rat-a-tat-cat, Sardines and Slappsies and crawlsies. We also did the ultimate in fireworks...snaps and sparklers. Yes, we went all out. When you live in the NO FIREWORKS zone you are pretty limited. I think we were still in breach of the No fireworks code...luckily nothing or no one caught on fire. Below is a slide show documenting some of our fun. Oh and Rocky and I finally tried our wedding cake...two and a half years after our wedding. It wasn't bad but it definitely wasn't good. Yes we know that it is supposed to be a one year anniversary thing but it was buried in the freezer and well we forgot. Better late then never. :)

Trying to catch up.

So here is a quick post of the things that we have been up to.

The driving range for FHE. My first visit and hopefully not my last. I really liked it. I hit the ball straight which Rocky says is good and most (not all) went farther than 5 ft. WHOO HOO



Ron's wedding. My cute cousin Ron got married last weekend. Congrats you two.



This is me and Rocky at the Temple.



Oh and I forgot to post about our little date with H, Jake and their little bud. We went bowling and out to lunch. Here are some photos from bowling.



Rocky and his brother went to California this weekend to get in some surfing and family time. He took my camera so I won't be able to show you all the exciting things I did this weekend. (clean, clean...and oh yeah clean) Hopefully he will post about all his adventures.

A new Career choice? What do you think?

The job search continues. Maybe I should be a hairstylist. Look at all the things I can do with one head of hair. Special thanks to my model - Rocky!

Visiting the Past

This week I got to spend some time with past roommates. We had a roommate get together. Well almost all of us were able to get together. We missed Lindsay and Kristine. It was a quick little lunch at the park but it was awesome. It is fun to see my roommates as mom's. They all just amaze me. I'm glad that I had Rach who like me is a mom in waiting. No kids for us yet. I just want to thank all of you for being awesome examples and for continuing to be my friend.

This weekend Rocky and I attended my 10 year High School Reunion. It was nuts. I can't believe that it has been 10 years since we were all in the school chanting "98, 98, 90 90 90 98." We tried that cheer again but I remember there being a lot more enthusiasm 10 years ago. I guess that is what being an old fart does to you or it could have been that about half of the people there were spouses who are unfamiliar with that particular cheer and felt weird saying it. Rocky and I helped with set up and Rocky ended up handing out raffle tickets downstairs while I was helping upstairs. Rocky said that most of the people would look at him uncomfortably probably thinking something like this. "I can't believe I don't remember who this guy is. He doesn't look familiar at all. This is so embarrassing. Maybe if I don't make eye contact it won't be awkward." Okay well maybe that isn't what was being said but it was a pretty funny situation. It was great to see everyone who came. I am so glad that we had name tags because secretly I have forgotten a lot of people's names. If my yearbook wouldn't have been boxed up I would have studied it. All in all it was really fun to reminisce. A flood of memories came back to me. I loved high school...well most of it. This is a picture of a few of us from the reunion.


I also want to wish my two dad's a very Happy Father's Day! Here is my little tribute to them.

Dad Sorenson (Chippy)

You are probably one of the best listeners around. I appreciate all you have done for me the past 28 years of my life. You find anyway you can to help me out and it is absolutely amazing. I can see the love that you have for me, mom, the girls, the boys, Dean and the Rock. You are such a good example to me. I'm so proud of you and all the things that you have accomplished. So many favorite memories to pick from but one that stands out today is you joining us girls while we dance. Where you came up with your smooth moves I will never know and to think that you have no professional training...wow. Love you dad!

Dad Wright (Daddy Dick)Well I have told you this before but you have made me feel so welcome into this Wright family and it means so much to me. I love the stories that you tell. You have the best sense of humor and you are so witty. I am amazed with your knowledge of the scriptures. I think one of my favorite memories of you is on my first family trip. You got totally fried on the first day...I don't think I have ever seen anyone so red. You also tried surfing. I don't know that you had tried it before but I was totally amazed and thought that you were so cool, that is something that I haven't had the guts to try. You are the best. Love you lots!

THE Ohio State

Rocky and I made a quick trip to Ohio this past weekend aaannnnndddd bought a house! It was great. I've added a few photos from the listing online along with some from our trip. We are so excited to make it our own. Our new house is close to Sams Club, Miejer, Target, Walmart, the movie theater, and here is the BIGGIE...Chick-fil-a (my most favorite restaurant). We also visited some other soon to be important sites in Ohio like the Medical school, THE Ohio State stadium, THE Ohio State workout facility (this was very important to Rocky). I've been reminded multiple times that it's not Ohio State it is THE Ohio State. For some reason it's not sticking with me.

If any of you out there know of any good jobs in Columbus please let me know.

Today is my mom's birthday (June 6th). Happy Birthday mom. Here is my little tribute to you.



My top ten Mom Favorites
1. Bicycle basket
2. Giggles
3. Seamstress extrodinare
4. Hard worker
5. Very kind
6. Very funny
7. One of the best listeners around
8. Curly Girl!
9. Queen of the de-junk
10. Best example a girl could have

Mom your pretty much the best!! Happy Birthday