Work, work, work.....

I know I haven't updated for a long time. I am really bad at that. My post is going to be all over the place today. Well, I have been at my NPS job for 6 weeks now. I still love it. I am now doing clothing. I am doing it by myself, but I am still in the Amazon room with everyone else. They are all kind of mad that they are doing industrial and crappy stuff, and I get to do clothing and shoes. The fun things! They didn't know that, that was what I was hired for. We sell really good things with really high quality brands for super cheap. Anyone that wants to look, go to your address bar and type in npsstore.com and click ebay store. You can find anything! It's great. Well, anyways, I have been doing that and selling for Alan from him warehouse items. I never have time to even think. It is so nice, because I would rather have too much work than not enough in these hard economic times. I am just so grateful that I have something to help me take care of the debt. Shawn's books finally arrived. All 5,000 copies of them. We haven't really been doing anything about it quite yet, because all of the things that he is scheduled for, is in the upcoming months. We are still really excited about it. I am so proud of him. I got a new calling in our ward. Assistant Camp Director. That is what I was in my last ward, and it was a blast!!! It was Stake Camp last year, so I didn't have to do much. I am kind of excited to plan the whole thing. Shawn is coming this year to be one of the Priesthood Leaders. He is going to do a cooking lesson for the girls up there. It will be so awesome. Shawn's Brother came home last wednesday. I was able to take him shopping this week, and it was a blast!!! He let me have him try on anything I wanted. No one has ever let me do that before. Things are going well. Shawn and I tend to get the short end of the stick on everything, but I feel that things are starting to go the way we would like them to go.

New Job!!!!

So, I have been working at NPS for 2 weeks, and I love it! It is totally up my alley. I am able to go in, do what I love, and leave. No strings attached. My supervisor is so cool and we are already instant friends. Eddie (My supervisor) sat me down on Friday, and said that they are opening up a clothing division (which has only been tried a long time ago and it flopped) and they want me to do it. I will be the only one authorized to be able to do it. He said I will be the pioneer of it, and I am so excited and scared at the same time, because I have really high expectations placed on me. Everyone is counting on me to make it work. I am excited, and scared. I will do the best I possibly can. I also have something on the side. I literally have no time for anything at all! I have to be to work at 6:00 am to 2:30, and right after that, Shawn and I go to this warehouse to sort out clothing, shoes, accessories, cd's and books. This guy that owns Closet Creations in Centerville inherited a condo-full of all of that stuff. There is around $100,000 worth of stuff that he received as payment. This 58 year old guy died, and his brother called Allen (Closet Creations) to come clean it out, and said he would just give him all that stuff for payment. Allen didn't know what to do with it, so he was asking around for help if anyone knew a pro at ebay to sell it. Well, to make a long story short, I am it. It is really overwhelming with how much stuff there is. There is a lot of really nice and high-end designer stuff (None of it fits me) and it has been a pleasure trying to sell it. It is going to take me a year! I am so grateful that I was given an opportunity to get out of debt though. That is why I never answer my phone, or texts. I am so busy all the time, but I am happy. Shawn and I just had our 4 year anniversary on the 12. It's amazing it has been that long already! It seems like yesterday. We went to the delicious Cheesecake Factory. Yum!

Annual St. George trip 2009!!!!

The Wave in Coyotte Buttes North Paria Canyon

Moqui Cave entrance

There is a store, artifacts section, bar, showroom, etc...... inside

dinosaur tracks

flourescent rocks as they are in nature

these are real. the rocks at bryce canyon are also flourescent and can be seen at night overlooking the canyon

The old bar (out of commission) with the bar made out of real geodes

Shawn got "perks" wearing his chef gear, and got to drive the carts around. All the parade hosts and people thought he was VIP

view from backyard

Shawn loved this outdoor kitchen. There were barstools in the pool

Mom kept trying to work her way into all my pictures

Grandiosa pool with lair inside rock.

climbing wall with 3 ft of padding mother is demonstrating if you fell

view from backyard. lots start from the $200 thousands!

Just an example of a cool bathroom in the show

Fun plaything in the house for kids

awwwww!!!!

Shawn says this is his dream kitchen. Anyone got 4.5 mil to buy this house?

This is what would happen if my mom had one of these in their room.

who is that tall man in that funny little box?

Shawn attempting the hammock. The branch was bent and we thought he was going down for sure

After the little "spill"

Dad walked away not caring about Kara's stuff, but about his prized possession. His sweatshirt.

Sorry if this post will bore the tears out of ya'll, but it is mostly for my family that couldn't attend this year, and in detail what we did.

We decide to start an annual thing 3 years ago, that we are going to go to the St. George Parade Of Homes every year. We have every year since then. Usually, it is my parents and Shawn and I that go, and that was the case this year. We always have an outdoor activity every year along with that too. Our activity was decided that we were going to see The Wave in Paria Canyon down in Southern Utah. If you have not heard of it, well, let's just say, that everyone wants to see it and photograph it. The permits are next to impossible to get and only 20 people a day are allowed because it is delicate. There are 3 ways to score permits. 5 can be obtained pre-purchasing 4 months in advance, 5 can be obtained on the online lottery, and 10 are obtained as walk-ins. No more than a group of 6 in one party can go. The pre-purchasing method has to be obtained online on the 1st of each month, and they are gone before you can even begin to fill out the application, next, you can enter the lottery, and choose 2 possible days to go, and pre-pay for everyone for those, and if your days don't get chosen, you lost that money, and the 3rd method is the walk-in passes. You have to show up at the Kanab office (off-season) at 9:00 am on Friday (only day to obtain walk-in passes) for sat, sun, and mon. and if there are more than 10 people trying out for that day, they will do a lottery. I have tried for 4 years to get passes.

I just needed to give a little background on how to obtain these tickets. Well, we decided we were going to have to get up by 2:30 am and leave for the Kanab office at 3:00 am to make it by 8:30 and fill out the necessary paperwork application to score tickets for the wave. All of us were tired, and couldn't just suddenly go to bed at 7:00 pm and sleep right away. I kept laying there and when I would fall asleep, I would wake up. We left and drove down there, and none of us could sleep in the car. Shawn and my dad certainly kept us entertained. We got the the kanab office, and filled out the app. More and more people showed up until the office was chuck full of people. They announced that this was the first week since New Year's they had to do the lottery, because it had been a slow time. Lucky us, it was only on our day that the lottery needed to be in place. There were 15 people and only 10 passes. One person from the group gets assigned a number and they take balls and roll it around in this thing and draw balls. Well, let's just say, that our ball was the only one left in the thing, and we were the only group that left without a pass. It sucked, and I was so mad. We went for a little breakfast and decided that we didn't know what else to do, so we just drove, and found a cave called Moqui Cave that had the only collection of real flourescent rocks, plus dinosour tracks, and cool Indian artifacts. The man we met there was so cool and so knowledgeable. He was LDS and told us some cool stuff that they have found down in Southern Utah, helping to prove the facts that the people in the Book Of Mormon did, in fact, live in the USA. Supposedly, Montezuma's gold is believed to be hidden under a lake right up the street from the cave. You can look it up and read about it. We went and checked in our hotel, and decided to see some of the homes. We went to the hotel and crashed early. We got up the next day and had a home spree. There was this ridiculously excessive home that had a pool with fake rock behind it with waterslides, and a lair inside with a jacuzzi. It had a 2 story gym in the basement with a raquetball court, half-size basketball court, climbing wall, putting green, and a Guitar Hero Harry Potter room upstairs. Incredible homes. I get a lot of decorating, and designing ideas from the show.

We went and visited Momma A (one of the missionary host families from Shawn's mission) and her husband Paul. They are fantastic people. We went to a random Sacrament Meeting with old guy's coughing up all their phlegm everywhere, and saw a couple more houses, and went to pick Kara up from Dave's modular home.

Some things that mom has been laughing about all weekend is when we went to a gas station for a pit stop, and noticed dad was walking out of the women's bathroom looking all sheepish. He had not noticed the sign, went in, and went into a stall, noticing that there were no urinals to be had. He then realized that something was not right, and knew he was in the women's restroom. Mom couldn't stop laughing all weekend. Another thing, is when we went to pick Kara up, we pulled out onto the road, and heard Kara scream, and looked back. The back had come up and all of her stuff tumbled out and was strewn on the road. Shawn came to the rescue and picked it up. Dad was just mostly concerned about his sweatshirt. Overall, it was a super good time.

So, an update on the job situation. I HAVE A JOB!!!!! The people from NPS called me today (the ebay/amazon sales job) and said that they were sorry it took so long to get back to me, but I have the job! It is mon-fri 6 am to 2:30 pm. ooh, the 6 is going to kill me, but I have a job! Whoo hoo!!!

If you want to see the complete St. George trip in all it's glory, go to www.picasaweb.google.com/karleebucher and click on the St. George Trip 2009 link

Snow Day!!!

Another fabulous winter sunset

The 3 most amazing things: My husband, the sunset and tons of snow

My 6'6" hubby demonstrating the size of the piles we created from shoveling the driveway

Yay for snow!

Wow!!! It makes such a difference where you live, how much snow you can get. We got a foot of snow dumped on us today, whereas, Bountiful and Salt Lake just got a skiff. It is literally a white winterland for us in Ogden out there. It is quite fun at times. Almost every night the animals make their trek up the hill to come eat our well-tended plants and bushes. ha ha. We will look out our window and see deer just a few feet away, and the last couple of nights, it has been the little fox that lives in the bushes behind our house that will come up and eat the pieces of scraps that we throw off the back deck for the animals. I spent my fabulous afternoon battling the elements and shoveling snow into a monstrous pile. Shoveled just in time to witness yet another fantastic winter sunset. I love tons of snow, so i guess i got what i wanted. Now, if i could only convince my hubby to go sledding, make a snowman and snow caves, that would complete the whole thing..........

Happy Valentines Day to the love of my life

My adorable hubby

In his chef's coat

chasing after me, making me laugh


Shawn and I have been through so much through our marriage, and I feel so grateful for him. He is a top notch husband that gives our lives a bowful of laughs everyday. He does so many little things and also big things for me all the time, and never ceases to quit doing those things. Even after 4 years of marriage, he still opens my door, shovels the snow off my car after it snows, scratches my back every night, lets me pick ALL the movies we watch, takes me on dates and plans them, cooks for me, turns his friends down to be with me, plans amazing birthdays for me, still leaves me love notes, and most importantly.... still makes me laugh daily. He is constantly putting me first and thinking of me before he does anything. He even does laundry and cleans the bathrooms :)We don't have a lot of money to spend (if any at all) and when I woke up this morning, I saw a stuffed dog sitting on top of some gum, and a Hershey's Pot Of Gold box of chocolates (my favorite). His presents are always well thought out and always has meaning to them. The amazing spirit he has about him all the time is magical. His personality and devotion draws people in. In fact, the first time I ever met Shawn's friends, we went out to dinner, and when Shawn was up trying to get us a table, his friend leaned over and told me that he is everyone's favorite friend. He picked up their tab at the end of the night. He is the least selfish person I know. The loyalty he has for people, and the trust people have in him is amazing. He is an example to me in every way.

Shawn, you truly are the love of my life

Happy Valentine's Day Sweetheart

Great Birthday so far!

So, we don't have a lot of money to just frivilously spend. But for my Birthday, Shawn got me 2 books that I have really wanted! I wanted the new Stephanie Meyer book THE HOST and he got me a Ripley's Believe It Or Not Book. I love to read about and look at really funky and weird things like that. I also get to have my hair done and some nails. I am excited. Getting stuff like that done always boosts my self-esteem :) Shawn's parents are taking us out to dinner tonight at the Cheesecake Factory (Only the best restaurant ever!)
Some people hate their birthdays, but I have always loved mine. It's a day that I truly feel like I can do what I want! Another great thing is that I think I have this job that I applied for in the bag. I would be working for NPS Market Square in their corporate office selling their items on ebay. I would sit in a warehouse type atmosphere, and manage the ebay side of things with about 5 or 6 others. They said that is their most coveted position, and everyone wants that position, but they are REALLY picky who they choose. You have to match all of this criteria specifically, because they want to know if I am going to make them money, but they really liked me, and said that I am the only impressive application they have. I would get to wear jeans to work too. SWEET! I would research trends all day, list items on ebay, and pack and ship items. That is like my dream come true. I am also super excited to go to the St. George Parade Of Homes. If you guys haven't been, you should go. It is incredible!
So, other important news: My favorite show The Biggest Loser. I am so happy that Joelle got voted off, but sad that Carla did too. Joelle is really oblivious to her actions. All-in-all, it was a great show! Also, I loved that when Aubrey said that she just gained muscle (when she only lost 2 lbs. in 30 days at home) that Bob told her to quit making excuses. She lost 2 lbs! Obviously, she was not doing what she was supposed to be doing. The scale never lies, but people lie to themselves about it all the time. I was thinking that when she said all that crap, and good for Bob for telling it like it is!

DEER!!!!

So, last night, I woke up at about 2:30 to go to the restroom, and saw Shawn standing there, looking out the window. Our bedroom window looks out over the ridge right across from Hill Air Force Base. There is always a lot of wildlife back there. Well, last night, we saw a big buck all by itself. It came right by the house, and we ran over to the office, and the buck literally walked 5 ft. away from us (obviously there was a wall) but still!!!! It would stop and get something to eat every few steps. It was amazing seeing something wild so close, and it not knowing it. It had a rack on its head with 2 points and the other side 3 points. I wished I could have gotten video of it, but I just wanted to enjoy nature without having to worry if I got it well enough, and purely just to show someone. It was so cool, and I love sharing moments like that with my husband

Nibbins

Nibbins, after he climbed up my pant leg, up to the arm rest of the couch

staring at himself in the little mirror he has on the floor

His "nest" in the drawer in the bathroom

He happened to get to some of my papers briefly before I shooed him away.

All the papers on the fridge look like this

By biggest pet peeve (ha ha. pet peeve, get it?) is the Bucher's bird "Nibbins" Since we live here, I have to live with him and he gets super annoying. It starts in the morning, when he begs for food like a dog. He will fly closer and walk around and eventually fly on my shoulder, climb down onto the table and start dipping his head into my bowl. I will shoo him away and he will fly onto the top of the cabinets and start shrieking his brains out! He likes ALOT of attention and will shriek until he gets it. If you walk into another room, he will shriek. If you are in the same room, and want to watch t.v., then he will climb down his ladder onto the floor and walk over to where you are and climb up your pantleg and perch himself by your arm or head and sit and happily poop all over you. If you are reading a book, he will come over and start nibbling on it (hence, the name nibbins) and if you leave paper, books or cords lying around, he will very much chew those up too (that was the demise of my old earphones) If you put any kind of paper on the fridge, the edges will be chewed up. He doesn't want bird food either. He insists on people food. When we have our sunday omelet in the morning, he has to have one too. When we have dinner, he must have whatever we are having. He even eats meat. Cannibal bird..... He likes to be scratched under the neck. If you go near his nest (a drawer in Frank and Lesli's bathroom) he will hiss at you and try to bite. If you close the drawer to his nest, he will sit and make weird annoying sounds on purpose until you open the drawer back up. About an hour ago, I could hear him happily chirping and pushing whatever is on the counter, off. He loves to take the fortune cookies in a tin on the table, out and push them off, he also loves to push mail, measuring cups, keys, etc... He also loves to chew through the breadbags on the table to get to the bread to enjoy. I have to set the butter up higher because he likes to dip his beak in it. One thing that he really loves is.... his reflection. He is a narcissist. He will sit and stare for hours. He will eventually start pounding his beak in it and make a little squeak to the rythm that he is creating. He also chews through his little perches in his cage, and they have to be replaced often. All in all, I feel like I am watching a child sometimes, and have to attend to the bird often. I hope you enjoyed my stories of the bird today.

***Video of how the bird sounded all day long!***

Things I have to do for my job

Original

I didn't have a heck of a lot of time to do this one, or it would look better, but I am getting better at it.

Okay, so I have a stupid mannequin. The arms go straight up. I didn't think about that when I got it, so I just have to deal for now. If I could, I would just get a different one, but money is tight, so I just have to improvise.

My work in paint

original

retouched

original

retouched

I just wanted to share something that I do quite often. I like to perfect my skills in regular old paint. I like to do it so that I can enhance the background, or showcase the item i am selling on ebay. I took a couple of pictures that I had a little fun with. It is my sister's boyfriend and I just HAD to. I will post some pictures of an actual listing that I did on ebay that looked really good. I don't have Photoshop (I wish that I did so bad) So I figured I would just get good at paint. It is super hard and takes me hours to do, but it is really fun, and definitely gets some good laughs.

2009 is starting to look up for us

We lead the craziest lives for real. Nothing ever turns out quite like we had hoped or planned. Shawn was going to do a really formal dinner for a charity event that Paris Hilton is hosting up in Sundance this weekend, but all of it kept changing, and so we decided to not do it. The job that I applied for sounded awesome at first, but ended up being not quite like I had planned. Shawn's job didn't end up being the same thing that was told to him. But......... even though all of the things we ever engage in are not as good as we hoped, other good things shine through. When one door closes, a window opens. Shawn is one of the culinary adjunct professors at the Art Institute of Utah. I believe this is a door that will open up to great things for him and for us. Even though I am still unemployed now, will probably mean that something better is waiting in the wings for me. I am really grateful, even if it means for the bad things that happen. I am grateful that my life is the way it is. I would not want to trade it for someone else's. Just thought I would share that tidbit