MOVING

This weekend we found a place to move! We have been staying with my Papa in Orem the last couple months which has been wonderful. He was so generous in letting us stay there until we got our lives in order. We were not sure what we were going to do after the move to St Louis didn't happen. We have been looking for places to live around the AF/Lehi area for a few weeks. Since we have 2 dogs, it is hard to find a place that we like and that will let us have them. But this weekend we found a place. It is a beautiful townhouse that is about 2 years old in a very quiet neighborhood right off the AF Main Street exit in Lehi. We are so excited about it... we call it our grown up house. The only thing is that we do not have enough furniture to fill it... haha.

So we are moving on Friday evening. Brett is borrowing a big truck fro work so we can do it all in one trip. And Im sure we will have family come and help since there is so many stairs in our new place. Here are a couple pictures... I will put new ones up on friday after we get the keys.

View from the back
Kitchen
Living roombathroom

Pop Goes The Weasel

This is quite the story and I felt I should share it... Though it is a bit embarrassing....

So when I get tired, I get really goofy. When I get really tired, I get really really goofy. I am one that has conversations in my sleep and rambles about nonsense at bedtime. Brett gets a front row seat to the Cali Show every night.

So last night, while feeling super tired and goofy, I tried to analise the song Pop Goes the Weasel. (Not sure why)

Its a song I have known since I was a kid yet it doesn't make any sense... so after thinking about it in my not so clear, sleepy, goofy mind, here is what I came up with.......

So the monkey chases the Weasel around and the monkey thought it was a fun joke but the Weasel was a violent animal and all the sudden BAM!! the Weasel shoots the monkey with a gun or perhaps a sling shot, robs him and buys a needle and thread to sew his mouth up so he cant tell anyone what happened....

Yeah, i was SO tired... After researching it a bit this morning, i found that of course, I was not correct- just a bit crazy.



All around the mullberry bush,
The monkey chased the Weasel.
the monkey thought twas all in fun,
Pop goes the weasel

A penny for a spool of thread,
A penny for a needle.
Thats the way the money goes,
Pop goes the weasel.

Girls Night

Last night I went out with my sister in law Mandi, Debbie, my mother in law, Grammi and Debbie's sister Sharon for a girls night out. It was a much needed break from regular and not so regular life and we had a lot of fun together. We went to dinner and to see the movie When in Rome. I was glad that we got to spend some time together.

Before we went out I got a recent picture of all of Mandi's kids... they are so cute! This was the best one even though they are all looking away... at least I got a couple smiles. :)

Be my Valentine

Last night Brett and I celebrated Valentines Day together. I went straight from work to pick up his gift and then home to get him. He chose for me to give him his gift right then so I did. I bought him a pair of his favorite shoes in the world in a different color. Anyone that knows him well or sees him often knows that he wears his brown Castro slip ons all the time... but this keeps him from ever wearing anything but brown. I found the exact same shoes in a black and gray color. He didn't even know they existed and he was super excited.


We went to the Olive Garden to eat dinner. During dinner he got a phone call that my gift was ready to be picked up.... I have been dieing to figure this out. I found out 3 days ago that he spent over $230 dollars on my gift and I was first upset that he spent so much, and then second super curious as to what gift could possible cost that much that he would think to get me. I love to be surprised, however I cant stand to know there is a surprise and not know what it is... So if Brett ever surprises me he has to keep it a secret that he has a secret.... But this time I knew and it was eating at me and for 3 whole days, Brett put up with the questions like this...

What store is it from?
How small is it?
Have I told you I want one before?
Is it eatable?
Can I only use it in a certain season?
etc etc....

And he gave answers like this....

I don't know
You will have to wait and see

We went to the mall and he ran in to get the mystery gift from the mystery store. When we got home, he gave it to me. It was so beautiful and so sweet that I didn't care how much he spent and I was so glad he kept it a secret. It is a white gold ring with real black and white diamonds.




Today we are going to see Valentines Day at the theater. It seems like an appropriate movie to see.

romantic

I came back from Lunch to find this box on my desk....


And these inside with a sweet note from my hubby. They made my day better.

College Graduate!

Brett is Officially a college graduate! His diploma came in the mail yesterday. I am proud of him for his hard work.. and unfortunately it is not over.... As I am typing this, Brett is taking the GMAT. 4 hours of pure test seem tortuous to me. But he has studied hard and I think he should do well... We will now in a few hours I guess.

UPDATE: Brett got a 650 on his test today. That is in the 80th percentile. So that is pretty good- not as good as we were hoping for but I am still very proud of him. Knowing the score, we know that BYU is a long shot at best. We may not even apply. So we are praying that he will get into the U- which he should and will be applying to Weber State as a backup. Now its time to start filling out applications and write essays!

Lollygagging in Ogden

This weekend we went up to Ogden to spend the weekend with Alyssa and Kellen. We took the dogs too. It was a fun weekend. We drove up Friday night. Brett really had to study because he takes the GMAT on Thursday and Kellen had to work Saturday till 3 so Lyss and I went out and had some fun that day. That night we went to Texas Roadhouse and then to the Junction... it is a really cool place in Ogden.. it has indoor skydiving... so we watched that for a while... super cool. I would love to do it someday. It also has a flowrider (indoor surfing) which is also cool. We saw Avatar in 3D which i loved! It is an amazing movie and I really really like it a lot. I will definetly go see it again. We came home on Sunday afternoon and I realxed while Brett took another practice test. He got a 640 on the first one which is in the 75 percentile and yesterday he got a 690! Wow-- that is almost in the 90 percentile. I am getting more and more confidant that he may have a shot at getting into BYU.
I am proud of him... he is working really hard. After the test.. its onward to applications which will not be so fun.

Andrew Reed

Another Nephew for me! I guess I am just lucky to have so many! Andrew Reed Galovan was born this morning. Brett and I headed down to the hospital after we got off work. He definitely looks like his older brother. He is just so sweet and calm and so cute. Congrats Mandi and Adam and welcome Andrew to the family!

As King and Queen

I never got to share a very important accomplishment that I made a couple of years ago. This project was so many things... challenging, frustrating, liberating, Time consuming, beneficial, educational, beautiful, and the best project I have ever done and probably will ever do.
It took a little over a year to complete this book about my Nana and Papa. I took both of their personal histories and experiences, and wrote a story about 2 people that even a stranger would enjoy. Hundreds of hours, hundreds of pages and hundreds of pictures were put into this book. Their story is a great one and it was meant to be shared. I was able to finish the book and get it published around the beginning of the year of 2008. Just in time for their 50th wedding anniversary. Even after that, Both of them continued to write their personal histories and Papa still continues it even now. And someday I will complete the book about their lives beginning to end.
I am proud of what I did for my family- to allow them to learn more about their grandparents and see them in a different light. It will be something that I will cherish for the rest of my life and also allow my children and grandchildren to know two of the most important people in my life.

Macy + Andrew = LOVE

My baby sister got a big fat rock on her finger this weekend. He is a great guy and we welcome him to the family of craziness!~
They are very cute together. June 24th is the date set- 9:20 am. I cant wait. She will make such a beautiful bride!

Rollercoaster Ride

A few nights before Brett was set to leave for St Louis, we started talking. He was talking about taking the GMAT and going back to school this year for his Masters of Accounting (MAC). He decided it is what he wants to do and get it over with rather than work for a while and then go back like we had planned. So we started off by looking at schools in St Louis. There are 3- And he has a decent shot at getting into them but they are very expensive especially because we are not MO Residents. So then out of curiosity, Brett started to look at schools here and cost and such and of course there is a huge difference.

I personally had been having a weird felling about leaving Utah for a couple days now. I couldn't put my finger on what it was exactly. Maybe it was because Brett is leaving me for so long and I would not do well without him, or maybe it is my sister getting married in June and me not being here to help with stuff for that. But I figured it was one of those and was keeping my mouth shut. Brett told that night that something was not right with him too. He was having those same feelings of unsureity and that something was just not right about the whole plan. So that scared us a bit. We prayed about it together.

Brett called his brother and talked to him. My sister came over to say hi and I talked to her about it too. Both of them said that if school was a priority and we wanted to stay in 'School mode' then we needed to stay here. It makes the most sense. It is such a plan shift now.. and we are pretty much in limbo at the moment since we sold the contract to our house that I loved so much. And my relief that Brett is done with school is no longer a reality. 1 more year to go!

Programs start in August at Weber State, University of Utah or BYU. As for where we are going to live now... we don't know. If he gets into the U then we will want to live in Draper or Sandy (in between Salt lake and American Fork- where I work) and if he happens to get into BYU- which he would have to get an amazing GMAT score, then we would be able to live in Orem. And if he only gets into Weber, then we would have to move to Ogden and I would find another job there. We could guess and my best guess would be to move to Draper but if we are wrong, we have to move again. We are so lucky that my Papa has offered to let us stay with him until we figure this all out. He is so sweet and we are so grateful. Deadlines for school are march 1. And people Brett knows in the program at the U said that they heard that they got in by the 3rd week of March. So we will know then and make our move.

So for now- Brett is studying for the GMAT. He took a practice test a few days ago before he studied at all and got a 640- which is in the 75th percentile and way above average. He is very smart and I know he will do great. Hopefully great enough to get into BYU. He started looking for a job around here and the next day got a call from his old boss at Cultural Hall Home decor where he has worked int he warehouse for the last 9 months. He told her that we were staying around here and she had him come in and he left there with a job... not his old job but an accounting job that is going to pay him $6 dollars an hour more than he was making when he left. wow. It was the perfect situation and such a blessing.

Thank you all for your prayers and your support during this hard time for us. Its been a bit of a roller coaster ride but we know we are doing the right thing for us right now.

WE love you all!!

Cali and Brett

Goodbye 2009

New Years eve was fun this year- as always. We spent it with my family which was so fun. We played games, watched the big car jump, the girls did a dance number and enjoyed we each other!

Here are my top highlights from 2009.... (In no particular order)

-Brett Graduated from school!
-We moved into our first townhouse together
-We adopted Lucy
-Alyssa got married
-Went on a trip to Montana twice- once in January and again in October
-Smith Family reunion
-Nate left on his mission
- Trip to Colorado
- Nana finally stopped suffering and returned to Heaven.



And hopefully 2010 is even better!

Date Night

Last night, Brett and I, Alyssa and Kellen, and Macy and her boyfriend Drew all went up to temple square to see the lights. It was a beautiful night. It was snowing and just gorgeous. This weekend we met Drew and he seems very nice. They are getting pretty serious and have pretty much decided that they will get married this summer. They are very cute together.

After we left the temple, Brett turned down what I thought was the wrong road to get to the freeway. It turns out he had set up a night in a hotel in Salt lake as a late anniversary surprise. It was really cute and he was proud that he was able to keep it a secret. I love that boy.