She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain

Well, for Christmas we are here in California. But, the interesting thing is how we got here! How, you may ask, did you get to California? By the train of course!

Over the summer I took the train so I could go to a friend's wedding for a weekend. While it gave us some problems (it was delayed about 12 hours because of flooding of tracks out east), the fact that it is so much cheaper (about half the price of plane tickets), so much more comfier than the plane or car, and safer than driving made it totally worth it to come out on for our little Christmas vacation.

So our train left Tuesday night, supposedly at 9:30 (we expected at least a little delay). Well, our train was stuck somewhere (we later found out due to rock slides), so a bus picked up the stops in Colorado and Utah and we were to get on at Salt Lake on an alternate train... So Amtrak told us the bus was about an hour late, so we left at 10:00 thinking that we would be early for the bus which should arrive at 10:30. Not so! The bus was in fact pulling way from the train station as we pulled up. My mother honked and drove next to it and the bus driver (thank GOODNESS he was nice) stopped for us.

So, we were safely on the bus and made our way up to Salt Lake. Once there, we waited until about 12:30 for the train to get there, and by 1:30 everyone was on and the train was moving! Yay!

After a night of tossing and turning, but still a lot of sleep, we woke up and Jed went into the Lounge Car. As you may or may not know, there are the sleeper cars (which you pay extra for), the coach cars, which have seats just like buses/airplanes but sooo much roomier, the lounge car, which has tables and booths and chairs, all facing huge windows, and last there is the dining car. Here is the lounge car:



So the day was uneventful, all except for an hour waiting outside of Truckee because of a traffic jam. But here are a couple of pictures of the beautiful Sierra Mountains and Donner Lake:





So, Jed and I both agree, the train is a great way to travel! Great, that is, if you have the time and flexibility if it's late.

But, the important thing is we are here safe and sound and happy to be in California with our family!

P.S. I will still miss my family on Christmas :( But yay for my new family!

The Lights at Temple Square

On Saturday, we went on a double date with my high school friend Bailey and her husband Jason up to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple Square. We were lucky in that while it was a little wet, it was pretty warm! Here are some pictures and hope you enjoy looking at the lights!



We really liked this tree because there were SO MANY lights!







We really liked this tree because the orange mixed with yellow lights were so pretty.

Venting Session

Recently, a position opened up at the Bookstore in the Text department, which as you may or may not know, is where Jed works. So I applied and had an interview, which I think went GREAT! I should mention, there were two men interviewing me.

Later that day, one of the men, one of Jed's bosses, told him he liked all four of the people he interviewed and would hire all of them if possible. So good, he liked me.

A few days later, I check up on the job, and I didn't get it. Sad day, but since I have a job, not the end of the world. Still sad though.

Today, a week or so later, Jed talks with his boss again. Boss starts talking to Jed about me. Apparently, I was his number one pick for the job! So what happened? The other man thought I wasn't friendly enough.

Let me ask you, am I friendly? I believe so. I think I can be, at times a little more friendly than some people may like. But personally, I think I was the perfect bit of friendly in my interview.

So, I just wanted to talk about how RIDICULOUS it was that I wasn't hired because I wasn't friendly enough! Crazy people. I should mention that the one boss wanted to hire me and tried to convince the other guy, but boss number two said he wouldn't budge.

On a happier note, I only have one more semester of working custodial (which I'm thankful I do have) and possibly any salary per hour job, and then I will be student teaching, and then perhaps a teacher with a salary per year! Yay!

Hope you have a good day!