Our New Home (Part 2)

A. A pretty water fountain just off of our back porch.
B. Another water thing over by the pool.
C. Just one of many walkways around the complex. It is so pretty!
D. Ok. So Chad and I were walking around and were surprised to see bananas growing so we went to take a picture. Upon getting closer to the tree where the bananas were growing we realized that they were yellow leaves and not bananas. Sad day.
E. The pool from a deck. Very pretty. I think I might just have to go swimming.
F. A random shot of all the trees/green stuff that is growing around the complex. It is so green!
G. A bird of paradise. Pretty.
H. A HUGE flower which I am pretty sure is also a bird of paradise. It was seriously over a foot long!

Our New Home

A. Our front door and table. Yes, we finally have a table and I love it!
B. Part of the kitchen. The appliances are all "mini," but work fine. Note: Weechee is laying on top of the refrigerator. This has become her favorite place and you will almost always find her there.
C. The other part of the kitchen.
D. The living room. The couches are pretty comfy, the only problem according to Chad is that there is no tv (we did not want to pack one and the apartment does not come with one). I think he will live.
E. The view from our porch! I am not sure what we will use the porch for, but we have it!
F. Our bedroom. This is where we sleep. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
G. The hallway to the bathroom. There are two big closets with mirror doors on each side and Weechee is not sure if she likes the cat that she sees in them. This is her other favorite spot where she can be found attacking the doors and trying to intimidate the cat that she sees. LOL!
H. The bathroom. There is a huge mirror!

Welcome to California

Upon entering this great state late last night this is what we discovered:

That is correct. We paid $4.19 for a single gallon of gas. Imagine what the other types of gas were priced at. Yuck.

And we're off!

As many of you know, we are moving. I have slowly been packing our things over the past month, but I now find myself frantically packing to get everything done; Chad and I have more "stuff" a.k.a. crap than I thought. :) Saturday we will be moving everything out of our basement and early Monday morning we will be making the long trek out to LA.

Goodbye Provo...

...hello LA!

I will post some pictures of where we are living once we get out there and things get somewhat under control. Love you all! XOXOXO

♪♫♪ Congratulations to me ♪♫♪

About a month ago I took the content knowledge section of the Praxis. For those of you who do not know, the Praxis is the teacher test; it tells you if you are smart enough to be a teacher. ;) Anyway, during the past week I have been anxiously waiting for my results. When I got home this afternoon there was the highly anticipated envelope sitting on the counter. I ripped it open and discovered that I had...
That is right, I passed! Out of 200 possible points I got a 181. Some of you may think, "Why that is barely an A-!" But let me also add that I scored in the top 15% of all people who take the test! I even have a certificate to prove it. And I might add that I did not study...probably not the smartest decision ever, but it worked out this time.

So there you have it. I, Amber Higgins, am smart enough to be a teacher! YES!

ABC Tag

So I was tagged and thought it would be fun for both Chad and I to fill out. (Chad's comments are in green.)

A- Attached or single: Very much attached considering that we are married. ...and I love him to death! Attached and madly in love!
B- Best Friends: Chad, my mom... My wife, Dan Clark, Danny Merkley.
C- Cake or Pie: Cherry pie. Made from the cherries off the cherry tree in my Grandma's backyard. Cake - chocolate on chocolate on chocolate or German Chocolate. Yum yum.
D- Day of choice: Saturday. It is the one day of the week that I get to sleep in and see my husband. :) My birthday. Haha.
E- Essential item: My cell phone. I really am not on it all the time, but I realized in not having it for a few days how attached I am to it. I feel like I have lost one of my arms. Awkward. Cell phone, car, TacoBell, and Mountain Dew.
F- Favorite color: Yellow!!! Black.
G- Gummy bears or worms: Bears; specifically the brand Haribo. I will not eat anything else. Worms - heck yes!
H- Hometown: Longmont, CO Ft. Collins, CO
I- Indulgences: CafeRio chicken salads, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory caramel apples, reading books for fun, buying children's books, and wearing pajama pants all day! TacoBell and Mountain Dew.
J- January or July: Neither. July.
K- Kids: Hopefully soon! :) I want at least five - three boys and two girls. Yes, and I want to spoil them.
L- Life is not complete without: Family, love, the gospel, warm spring days, thunderstorms, books, and fireplaces. Family (excluding Weechee - LOL!), the gospel, fun!
M- Marriage Date: Friday, December 29, 2006! Ditto.
N- Number of Siblings: 3 sisters, 1 sister-in-law, 2 brothers, and 3 brother-in-laws. 3 brothers, 1 sister, and all my siblings-in-law.
O-Oranges or apples: Generally apples because I will only eat oranges if they are straight from a tree in CA. However, I do love orange juice and hate apple juice. Apples because they go well with caramel and chocolate.
P- Phobias or fears: Needles - so much so that I get nauseous just thinking about them. Moths - that is a story that I will have to explain later. Nothing.
Q- Quotes: "Will you marry me?" --My husband & one of my 1st graders! LOL! "Life is more fun with Chad." --Myself
R- Reason to smile: CHAD, the sun was shining today and it was warm, and I talked to my mom yesterday. My wife, cool cars, free meals, and having a day off.
S- Season: Spring or Fall. I cannot decide. But I also like winter... Spring.
T- Tag four friends: Anyone who reads this. Um...
U- Unknown fact about me: I love to clean bathrooms. No idea.
V- Very favorite store: Borders/Barnes & Noble, Target, American Eagle. TacoBell, FYE, Barnes & Noble, the internet.
W- Worst habit: I pick at my hangnails. It is really gross. I leave my toenail clippings under the couch so my wife won't find them as easily.
X- X-ray or Ultrasound: I have never had an ultrasound, but they sound fun because they have to do with babies. Ultrasound.
Y- Your favorite food: Spaghetti with my mom's homemade meatballs. Oh. My. Goodness. Mexican. The spicier the better.
Z- Zodiac: Scorpio. ...But I have no idea what that means. Cancer.

Speaking of snakes...

...I held a one today. Seriously. My
science teacher breeds snakes and
brought in six of her male pythons
this morning. After she spent 20
minutes telling us about how deadly
snakes can be and showing us
pictures like this one (see the
picture on the right) she pulled out
her snakes and just handed them to
us. YIKES!

I never thought I would actually hold a snake, I mean everyone knows they are slimy and gross. But really they weren't slimy and not as scary as you think. The one I am holding here is an albino python and if you look closely you can see his pink eyes. Apparently they are really rare and hard to get. I also held another snake, an adult that was about four inches in diameter. He was a little scarier than the albino python because you could feel his muscles constrict each time he moved. It made me think of what it would feel like to be squeezed to death my a snake. Hmm...

Odd.

While wrestling with Weechee this morning Chad and I discovered something interesting... Weechee is missing her upper left canine. A typical kitten has all of its permanent teeth by the time they are five months old. Weechee is certainly much older than five months - she is nearly a year old - and yet is missing a rather large tooth. Upon investigation I discovered that the tooth had not been broken off, but simply had not come in; all that is there is gum.
This picture is a bit fuzzy as we were struggling with a squirming feline to get it, but if you look closely you will see that the circle with yellow "sparkles" around it is missing a shiny white spot like the one in the circle on the left. Apparently my cat is much weirder than I thought. :)

One reason why I love him...

This morning started off insane; through a series of events I became very angry, frustrated, and overwhelmed. As Chad left for work I was in tears thinking of everything I had to get done today.

Twenty minutes later, while in the middle of doing the dishes, there was a knock on the front door. Surprised because no one comes by our house in the middle of the day I answered and saw my husband. In his hands were some carnations. I was so happy to see him that I once again began crying. Side note, I have no idea why I have been so emotional. :)

Now carnations are not my favorite flower, but they made my day! Chad saw that I was stressed and went to the store to buy me flowers. Adorable... and just one reason why I love him so much!