Angels Forever: OUR FIRST APARTMENT

WOW It has been a long time since I wrote a family letter out, mainly because we haven't had internet service in our new apartment until just a few days ago. But I will catch everyone up on what has been going on over on this part of the world.

I will start with our BIG MOVE!!! WOOHOO, just when we had given up on looking for an apartment, this wonderful deal came through and we were offered a place. It was way bigger and nicer than I ever imagined I would be in for our first place. But I am so grateful for it. It is so nice, everything is brand new, it is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, with a beautiful kitchen, dining area, and our family room. I am so in love with it. I am also so happy because we finally get to use our wedding gifts that haven't been opened since August. We didn't want to get them mixed up with anything at the other house, so we just decided to wait a bit until we got our own place. It is such a cozy apartment and we love it. Something I LOVE is that we get a big walk in closet, I get my sider and he gets his side. Something my mom once told he is that having her own closet is the thing that keeps their marriage together, well I don't get my own closet yet, but having my own side really makes it nice!!! If you know Alex, he is a NEAT FREAK, if you know me, I am a SLOB!!! So that really does help with that part of the marriage. There is only one complaint I have to make about the place and that is the tapping noise we hear every 5 seconds from the pipes upstairs. I can block it out most of the time, but it drives Alex CRAZY!! He tosses and turns all night long, and He had been telling me he couldnt sleep at night because of it, and that he was going to start sleeping in another room, so this morning I woke up to an empty bed. I found Alex on the couch in the family room sleeping, I guess he just couldn't take the noise any longer. We are hoping the landlord takes care of it soon. Other than that our place is PERFECT for us!!!

Alex has been busy with work, school, and finals, he just finished his first Semester at Marist with a GPA of a 4.0!!! He is such a good student, always early to class, hard working student, gives spectacular presentations in class, and is just an all around great student!! If I was his teacher that is the report I would give on his report card!!!

I have been very busy with babysitting. I found a job about 5 minutes away from our house. The little boy is 16 months old, his name is Jake, and he is the most cute little boy, he is so easy going and makes life go smooth. I work long hours with Jake starting at 6:45 a.m. until 5:45 p.m. I work with Jake on Mondays and Wednesdays. I also picked up another job in New Caanen, CT on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Some Saturdays. Thats were the money is, and that little boy is 16 months as well. The drive is about an hour, but totally worth it for the Salary. The hours at this other job are alot less, so that's nice.

We wanted to have a party to invite family/friends to see our new place, so this past weekend we had a holiday party. It was alot of fun, we played Christmas games, had a white elephant gift exchange, and had yummy food.

A week ago Alex gave a talk in Church, it was such a nice talk. He talked on Strengthening our testimonies through service. And then a week later I gave a talk on The true meaning of Christmas. Its sad to admit, but it was the first talk I had ever given that didn't involve my mom helping me write it. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, because when I had my mom to help me, I knew it would always turn out perfect. But this time I was on my own, I got a lot of compliments on it, and everyone said I was so relaxed, even though I had a runny nose, raspy voice, and could hardly stay awake during sacrament meeting. I managed to get through!!! I was doing so good at not getting sick through the month of December with EVERYONE being sick, but I knew it was bound to happen anytime. Now I have a sick hubby that lost his voice due to a sore throat, high fever, and just so sick. I have never seen Alex as sick as he is now, so hopefully he gets better soon.

Well we are really excited for Christmas this week!!! I am happy to say that I am all done with my shopping, so no more trips to the mall, Walmart, or any other store with 30 minute lines!!! I hope you all have a great Christmas!!! Tell Trent hi for me when he calls. I'm bummed out I wont get to talk to him, maybe you can 3 way me in somehow, I would really appreciate that if you can. Take care and have a great week.

Here are some pictures of our place and other misc. things!!!