Everyday things

This is the view from our balcony. The weather has been beautiful, only occasaionally too warm when we are driving in our car without air conditioning (which will be fixed tomorow.

Small Things: Our refrigerator is full . Our friends welcomed us with food and signs of welcome. Our cupboards are full. we are slowing learning how to shop and what is available and what isn't. After a week of total frustration trying to get our internet and phone set up, we are in communication with the world now. Our vonage phone is finally up. I got up this morning and decided to totally ignore how vonage told us to set us and plugged the blue plug in our router and suddenly we have a phone. I forgot we were later and called Anne at 6:00 in the morning. The connection was great. when I am calling Mesa I don't even have to dial 480. I even called my friend Peggy Leatham just to say hello. Paul has his desk set up in the 1st guest room.
So far eating has definitely not been a problem--too bad because we are eating to much. so far I have made chicken, potatoes, and gravy, enchiladas, roast beef dinner, tostados, various sandwiches, spaghetti, potatoe soup and bacon and tomato sandwiches. I realize all this must be fascinating but I just wanted to make note of how things are. There are places owned by Walmart and a place like Price Club that carry kirkland brands. That doesn't mean we can get all the same things and same brands as at home but we are not suffering by any means.
Ups and downs: We had a small earthquake yesterday. The walls shook for about a minute. That was it. Paul has had fun with the alarm system on our car. I was fixing diner a few days ago and Paul went out to have a look at our car that we bought sight unseen. After about an hour dinner was ready and still no Paul. I had heard a siren a while back and I began to worry a little. I thought he had maybe gone for a little ride. About that time, he returned and he didn't look real happy. The alarm had gone off on the car (I had thought it was police or ambulance sirens). He had been trying the entire time to get the alarm to go off. You can imagine how much he loved that. He finally found how to shut it off. We still have an alarming time from time to time. We have ventured out and become lost and we have ventured out and found our way home and back without trouble. The one ways roads make it very difficult to make corrections when you make a wrong turn. We manage to keep busy on P-days.
I knew Paul wouldn't want to go to a gym for exercise like the other couples here but we found a nice place to walk in a gated community that is safe and beautiful. It is where the ambassadors, people in foreign service, and people with money and government positions live and it is just a short work from Victoria Suites where we live. We get up every morning and exercise at 6:15. Jenny you would be happy to know we are both doing your Pilates routine, weights, bands, and other exercises. I probably wouldn't be so regular but Paul keeps me going. Yesterday we found an exercise place and bought mats and some weights for me. They weren't cheap but they were a lot less than paying $50 a month for the gym.Yesterday we went to the temple, a beautiful little temple. Today in Sunday School they asked me to read. I butchered it and I'm afraid no one understood a word I said. However, since this is about ups and downs I was later called on in Relief Society to read Moses 5:11 and I did great. The difference was I could understand what I was reading. I later told the cute Sunday School Teacher: "Yo puedo leer si no le importa que se intiende lo que leo." I can read if it isn't important that what I read is understood." She laughed and told me she is also studying English.
Today we had our friends the Thomkinsons over for dinner. I tried a roast and it never really got tender, but we had good gravy and I made roles and texas sheet cake. We also had zuccinni casserole and salad. The washing and drying of the vegetables is quite a process. You soak it in a solution and then let it air dry.I can see why it would be easier to eat canned vegetables and no salad. Our apartment is certainly more spacious and nicer than I thought we would live in as missionaries.

Our room and bathroomWe even have a cute t.v. room we never use.So these are the little everyday things that are happening. I am so grateful to be connected to my children by phone once again. Little things are important.