Update (warning...long post...but with some pictures!)

I know that this blog is really for both of us, but Carmen is typically the one to post. I just thought I would throw something out there since it's been a while since I did anything here.

First, I think I am just as excited as Carmen is to have a new house built for us. She may be excited for different reasons than me (picking colors, watching construction, etc), but we are both excited nonetheless. The main reason for me to be excited is to finally feel like we officially live in Michigan. Even though we have been here for 3 months, we still have not un-boxed most of our things. We have all the essentials out, but we don't spend much time at home anyways. On a side note, one of the reasons we don't spend a lot of time at home is because we really don't have much to do here. We can play phase 10 (Carmen continues to play even though I have a proven track record of winning!), post on the blog, etc. What we don't do is watch TV.

You may be asking yourself, if Carmen isn't working, and you don't have other obligations in the evening, how do you not watch TV? Well, that's a funny story. When we moved here, I came out nearly a month before Carmen did (she had to finish her job, and get the house ready to sell). When she did finally come (January was miserable for both of us), she was also in charge of packing all our belongings up and having them shipped here (I'm sorry I wasn't there to help...I'm all about hiring movers from now on). When we started to unload the pods, she began to tell me about a few things that 'didn't make the cut'. I guess she was strapped for space and had to prioritize what was going with her. I wish we had taken pictures, because she packed those pods like a tetris pro! One of the first things I found out that didn't make it was the grill (I guess they don't like transporting propane tanks, and that was excuse enough to leave the whole thing, thankfully her Dad just so happened to be in the market for one). I later discovered that none of our TV's made it either. I guess I can't complain much, this just means that now we can get a really nice TV. It also means that we have been a lot more productive than we otherwise would have been. What's funny though is that even today, 3 months later, I am still finding out about things that didn't make it. I believe her when she says that there wasn't room for our 18 foot ladder, but that could also be part of a ploy to 'upgrade' to the little giant...she does have a birthday coming up...

So, back to the whole no TV thing. For the record, us not having a TV is not just so Jeff doesn't want to visit. We'll eventually get one, and who knows, we might even do something crazy like get a satellite dish (we don't want to have to go to church to watch general conference, Utah spoiled us). Because we still want to be somewhat informed and entertained, we do watch TV, but only at the gym on the bikes, ellipticals, and treadmills. We joined Golds' gym in February, and have been going 4-5 times per week. I love that my work reimburses me for fitness expenses, but now that I am hooked, I think I would do it even if I had to pay for it. Since we have been going, I have lost about 20 pounds (and 2 belt notches). Carmen doesn't have anything to lose, but is looking hotter than ever!

Anyways, sorry for all the words and parenthetical statements. If you've read all this, I figure you deserve to see some pictures too. Today, we went for a walk at Gallop Park here in Ann Arbor. It's a nice little park with a trail about 2 miles long around the Huron river. This is only about a mile from our chapel and 3-5 miles from where we are building our house.

Tucked away behind some trees is the type of home Carmen would like to retire in. We looked it up on Zillow, and for only around 2.5 Million it could be ours!
I'm getting pretty good at taking our pictures (on our honeymoon, I took a lot of pictures like this, but cut off the bottom half of Carmen's face...I guess I hadn't learned how short she is)
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

That's Carmen down there, this was such a pretty trail we just had to take pictures.

Another cool part of the trail.