ALBUQUERQUE

Hyrum and I spent the week with Grandma and Grandpa Rushton. Here are some pictures of the fun times. . . in addition to the drummer boy. I couldn't decide which pictures to put up when we went to the pumpkin patch so I made a quick scrap page. . . he was so cute in his overalls. He had a big fall when we were there. His face got hit worst. A big bruise and cut from his nose down to his lip made for a very bad day. It's starting to look better and better everyday though. We also got to see some of the 672 balloons in town for the Balloon Fiesta. Fun times!

Hyrum is The Rockstar

We'll have to post more later, but this could not wait. We're in Albuquerque visiting the family, and my sister Michelle and her husband have a drumset. Hyrum was drawn to it immediately and just seemed to know exactly what to do. I think I see a future drummer! (Oh, and he sat in some burrs, and that's why he's not wearing any pants. . . he's not trying to make a musical fashion statement).

What Kind of Car Am I (Brett)???

I'm a Chevrolet Corvette!

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Fear Factor and Tag

Hyrum is such a monkey!!! When I hear silence I know it's time to run into whatever room he's in. We've found him standing on our dining room table, almost flipped over the couch, and this (above) is his new daredevil piece of furniture. Brett and I have found him on the top level standing up and playing with the blinds. . . it scares me to death!!! But, what can you do with such a cute little man? :)

I'm now going to get back to my tag from Jaclyn. This hopefully will not make you all look at me in a dimmer light. :)

High School Tag

Your High School's full name: Gov. John R. Rogers H. S.

High School Colors: Navy Blue and sky blue. . I'm pretty sure

School Mascot: Rams

Did you date anyone from your school?: Date. . . hmmm I didn't do any of that until I was almost 20, sadly.

What kind of car did you drive: Well, I mostly took the bus. On occasion I would hitch a ride with a friend of mine's mom, who was a chain smoker. I usually felt kind of sick by the time we got to school, so I didn't like to ask unless I was running really late. Sometimes in the evening or on weekends I got to borrow my parents mini van. . . . yet again another reminder of my nerdiness.

It's Friday night where are you: I would usually be at school every day of the week working on something for a club, leadership, or play practice. If I did have a free Friday night it would most likely be spent on my couch watching a movie with my parents.

Were you a party animal: I loved having fun and being crazy, but I think I could probably count the amount of parties I was invited to in my entire high school career on one hand. . . ok, this is getting more and more depressing.

Were you considered a flirt: Yes

Were you in band, orchestra, choir, or other group: I played flute in the band through 9th grade. During 10th grade I didn't play with the HS, but I was a member of the NW Flute Collegium in Tacoma. I quit completely by 11th grade.

Were you in any clubs: I think the real question should be what club was I not involved in? Key Club, Honor Society, SADD (I actually got to go to Washington DC with them and was interviewed on the news. . . very exciting) Co-President of Drama Club, ASB Secretary, Superfriends, Natural Helpers, and . . . I know I'm missing something, but this is a good start.

Did you ever get expelled or suspended: I was to much of a suck-up, that could never happen.

Can you still sing the fight song: To be honest I don't think I ever knew all the words. I would usually be talking to someone during the song.

Who were your favorite teachers: I don't know. That's a tuff question. I loved Ms. Kinkela because she never really cared if I wasn't in class as long as I got my homework done and kept an A. She would send me on errands and a lot of times I would just hang out in the leadership room making posters during class. I had a lot of teachers that I really liked. I loved Mr. Bates because he was pasionate about books, and I loved all of my history teachers (but I think that was mostly because I just really loved history).

Where did you sit during lunch: Jaclyn I'm the same with you. I had my lunch in the seminary house across the street.

Who did you go to Homecoming with? I went with Nick Vance my senior year. (He asked me a week before the dance. . .I think his younger sister, who was in my seminary class, convinced him to ask me because I was in charge of the Homecoming assembly, and was kind of depressed that I wouldn't even get to go.) We had fun, even though we didn't know each other very well.

Who did you go to Prom with? I went my Junior year as a favor for my cousin. One of his friends had been turned down and aleady had paid for all the stuff, so I agreed to go. . . his name was Joey Buttsner(enough said). I was just glad my cousin Nate was their with us, because he and I were really close. I didn't go my Senior Year.

If you could go back and re-do high school, would you?: I don't think so. My life was so much better the moment I said goodbye to that school.

What do you remember about Graduation: I really don't remember a whole lot. I remember loving the new dress I wore. I also remember thinking the pomp of it all was rediculous. It was a long day, and I was tired of waiting and standing in lines. But at the same time it was fun and exhilerating knowing that this was the end.

Do you plan on going to your 10 year reunion: I would like to go. I think it will be fun seing where people ended up. And if people are doing what I imagined them doing.

Yay All done!! So, now I tag Hina, Kami, and I can't help but invite Blair, since we went to HS together. It will be fun to see what you guys say, but I won't be upset if you decline. . .it can be a tramatic experience looking back to the evil hallways of superficiality. :)

Bonus Feature

So, I know it's not Wednesday (blogging night) but sometimes I'm just crazy. The truth is, I was so excited to post about Brett's job that I completely forgot about a few things that I had been planning on posting that night. So, here I go:

Brett and my birthday are only 3 days apart (Sept 5th, and the 8th), and so we usually have some kind of combined celebration. Last Friday we decided to cash in a lot of our gift certificates I get for giving my opinion to Valpak. We started the day off by getting a $50 super-chocolate cake from Magleby's. Brett had a little party at work and all the guys had cake. After work, we invited Brett's brother Ryan and his family for dinner and bowling (on us:) at Fat Cats. That was really fun. Brett shocked us all with his mad bowling skills! He only missed 5 pins total and bowled 156! I don't understand how playing the Wii at work can get you to be so good. I think I broke 50, and that was exciting for me. We all ate some of the cake. It was a really fun day, but the best part was only having to fork out $1.24 all day. Thank you Valpak for giving me lots of random gift certificates! Oh, and just so you know Brett finally finished the cake off today before the BYU game. . . it was just so huge! Now we are both 26. . . how did that happen. I feel like this last year just flew by.

So, I had a huge affirmation for needing to quit my job at the salon. Before I tell you what it was, I need to give you a little background. And I am honestly not saying these things to sound boastful or anything, but merely so you can understand why I was so upset. I started working at David Douglas Salon nearly 3 years ago. The salon had just opened up in the Riverwoods and I thought it looked promising. When I started there was Dave (the owner), Julie (the manager), one nail tech, one other hairstylist, and me. We were all pretty tight because we were such a small group. I discussed business ideas with Dave and often worked the desk for Julie when she couldn't. I started with nearly no clientel and spent a lot of time advertising for Dave and also individually. In the beginning I was making about $20-$40 a week! I kept with it though, because I knew that once I got a client basis I would be fine. By the time I was almost due with Hyrum I was working 20-30 hours a week making $25-30/hr. Dave had me write up a list of 'how to keep your clients and be successful' so that he could give it to the other girls. The salon was just starting to move somewhere. I've been at the salon longer than any other hairstylist. I've been there through 3 managers, dozens of receptionists, and easily 100 stylists who have started and quit. Anyway, back to my affirmation. I went to give my 2 weeks notice to the manager this last week and his response was "I need to call Dave, because I don't know how to figure out your deposit." He got on the phone, told me what Dave had decided and that was it. . . NOTHING!!! I wasn't expecting a band to play or weeping and wailing, but I at least was expecting some curiosity as to why. He didn't ask or say anything. He just went on with what he was doing and I walked away from him reminded why I dislike that salon so much. The only reason I have stayed there for so long is because I love my clients. I will miss my clients because they've become so close to me. I'll miss hearing their stories and asking about their family. But, I am grateful that I will be rid of this bad aura I got at work. It may have been harder for me to make this transition had my manager actually pretended to be nice for once. Now I feel really good about being done. Yay for Brett again!!!! I will never have to work outside of the home again! I love making motherhood my full time, all the time job.

So, we took the bumper out of the crib, because Hyrum was always pushing it way down or lifting it up to fit things underneath. Brett went down last night and found Hyrum asleep like this. We thought it was so funny! Oh, and don't worry, after the picture we moved him around.

Today is a happy day!!!

There is much rejoicing and happiness in the homeland of Partridge because Brett got 'his' job in Arizona!!!! Yay for Brett! Oaisys is located in Tempe and they offered him a great job once he graduates in April. They are also having him work part-time remotely from home until then. This is exactly what we have been praying for, and the timing is almost too perfect. He's working like crazy on his Masters and hoping to have all the big stuff done before the end of the year, so he can quit his job in the lab winter semester. He'll be starting Oaisys at the beginning of October. At that point I'm going to 'drop' my clients at the salon to minimize schedule complications. There are a lot of changes happening here and they're all moving in the right direction. We are just so excited to have things working so well. We will now be able to buy our house in Arizona and live happily ever after. . .

Decontamination, Summer Farewell, and Ducks

So, last week was a bit . . . ok, a lot aweful with Hyrum being sick, but since then we've been able to do a complete home 'detox.' All of Hyrum's hard toys have been bleached, soft toys washed, new bedding, and anti-mocrobial (whatever that means, but it sounded clean) sprayed on Hyrum's bedroom carpet. Anyway, it was a long process, but everything is very clean now without any bad sick germs.
We were supposed to go to Wisconsin for the weekend for a 'possible' job opportunity that Brett was being interviewed for. We were really planning on that time to be our last hoorah before school started, but with the 'bug' we ended up cancelling the trip. There were a lot of things that were great about cancelling, like not spending forever on a plane and in the airport! Instead of the trip we decided to spend a day touring Temple Square. It was great, and Hyrum really enjoyed it!
Another love of Hyrum that we discovered today is feeding ducks! We went over to the BYU pond and he had so much fun watching the ducks and trying to pet them. Here are some pictures to prove it: