The Great 8

As my mom would say because she is oh so cool, "What's the haps?" So for the two of you who read this blog here is the great 8 happenings these days.

1.) Nick and I are officially back to living under the same roof. He came home to an unkept promise on my part that he could sit on the coach for a week and do nothing. Sorry, 3 months worth of honey-do's were waiting. So we were crazy enough to do yard work is 114 plus weather smack in the middle of the day, organize every inch of the office, and wash every piece of clothing that touched a suitcase this summer.

2.) Our ward split (again) back in May of this year, but with travels and Nick being gone it goes without saying that we haven't been there much. We've snuck under the radar and gone without callings until now. I'm over the 8-9 year old activity days. Thankfully I am one of 3 leaders because there are 18 girls in that age group! So far it has been so much fun, despite being so stressed out at work every other Wednesdays because I have to leave on time (which is a mere impossible thing to make happen). Nick just got called as the 7 turning 8 year old primary teacher. He was hesitant being that his last time in primary was 11 years ago and after 3 weeks of chaos he decided that he was going to start attending the singles ward! I reminded him that he can't use that as an excuse these days.

3.) Nick is back in school. He is taking 18 credit hours this semester, but if that is not enough he is in every club, group, or activity that ASU construction has to offer! He is head of ASU heavy civil construction team that competes in RENO each February with other schools throughout the country. So he is interviewing people who are trying to get on the team, meeting with companies to sponsor them, and spending hours starring at blue prints of constructions projects. Not to mention he is the industry relations rep for AGC (American General Contractors) association. He's probably told me what that means, but I can't remember--all I know is it means he has a lot of meetings.

4.) In honor of this being Nick's last year at Arizona State University we thought we would have some school spirit and get season tickets to football. Supposedly, they are good this year and the home games include playing Missouri, Oregon State, USC, and Arizona. It should get exciting. The home opener was this last Thursday night, but of course Nick had class so I took my friend, Amy. They said on the news that at the 7:30pm it was over 110 degrees still. I believe it, I was so sweaty nasty and sitting in a massive concrete stadium didn't help.

We took the Light Rail to the stadium for some good people watching

At the game trying not to melt

5.) Going Gluten-Free! I don't know why I felt so compelled to put an explanation mark after that, there really is nothing very exciting about it. After 8 years Nick is ready to figure out what is causing his horrible excema. From talking to people and different things we have read we think he has a gluten allergy. He has seen a few primary care doctors and dermatologist, however they all just give him oral steroids to stop the immune response so the rash improves, give him a steroid cream and say see ya later, but the minute he goes off of that stuff it comes right back. Hence, why this has been going on for so long ;) Sidenote--I have little trust in 'doctors and their prescription handing out selves' these days.

So after talking to a few patients I see and my chiropractor I found a naturopathic doctor that sounds perfect. Nick will have the blood tests done, but of course it is a 2 month wait to get in to see her. Until then we are on week 3 of no gluten and Nick is so good about being very strict. My grocery store trips sadly take over an hour now to read all the labels and are you sitting down--our grocery bill last month was almost $900!!! Gluten is in everything, so I have been quite the chef these days making everything from scratch. No cream of chicken soup in this house anymore!

6.) I've been working at lot due to the other full-time hygienist in the office being on maternity leave. It's the nice time of year where all the kiddos are back in school, the snowbirds are still not back in town--so it's all the nice, average, and easy patients. Since January I've had 3 assistants! They keep leaving to go to hygiene school, so I've been busy training new assistants and hygienists and unfortunately that leaves me at work way later than I'd like to be.

7.) We've been hooked lately to the Discovery Channels commerical free series on Thursday nights called, "Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero." It is a documentary about the year of construction going on before the 10th anniversary of the attack on the WTC. It is produced by Steven Spieldberg and has been so great to watch. Nick loves watching all the construction on the the new Freedom Tower (which is the first building in the US of its kind) and I love all the personal stories that are shared about the connections that these workers have to those who died. There are not to many shows that we sit down and enjoy together, but this has been the one series that everyone should watch. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years. Here is what the new memorial park on ground zero will look like when it is complete. The architects thought of everything-literally. They even calculated for the sun to be at the same angles each year on Sept 11th to give off the same degree of light off the buildings representing the time the first tower was struck to when the second tower collapsed. Seriously--go watch this series!

8.) Finally, couponing. I want to do. I need to do it (as you can see from my earlier post about our $900 grocery month for August). But where to begin? Talk about overwhelming. I've read a few blogs with advice, but even still I'm lost. Any thoughts, suggestions? Does anyone suscribe to couponsense.com?? I need YOUR input!