FINALLY an update from me in Iowa :)

Dear readers, friends, and family,

yay! I hope you're all excited for this post! So first, I guess I should just tell ya'll about what I do? Well basically this is how it goes. I do paperwork, I print paperwork, I give the installers all their equipment everyday, I wait for shipments from the suppliers, take inventory, I do more paperwork, I listen to angry people (customers, installers, sales reps etc) vent their anger to me about misunderstandings and crazy situations, do more paperwork etc.. yada yada yada you get the idea. Its really not all that interesting. Except I am proud to say that I now know quite a bit about satellite and all the equipment so if you ever have any dishnetwork/dtv questions feel free to ask... i'd be happy to supply you with my plethora of newfound knowledge ;) ok ok... so there is actually a ton of crap I dont know so you'd probably just be better off calling dishnetwork/dtv directly.

New adjustments since coming to Iowa:

• I cook for myself... every day. except for when Ki cooks (which is a fair amount). I'm getting better though! well.. I think so at least... I guess thats definitely up for debate. You might be better off asking Ki. I am definitely no chef, I don't take much pride in the meals I prepare haha. They mostly come from frozen mixes, pasta/rice boxes, breakfast meals... you get the idea. But hey, at least I am cooking that much. It is better then what I was eating in Provo.
• I ride my bicycle which was purchased for me by one of the sales reps for 20 dollars EVERYWHERE. Ol' Bessy is my only form of transportation and means of getting anywhere. Her age and lack of certain necessary functions makes for interesting stories.. but i'll get to that in a second.
• I wake up at 6:30 am (shocked?) every single day except for Sundays. This has definitely been a rough transition from my cushy lifestyle back at home lol
• I get hit on ALL the time. Seriously girls, if you ever need a self esteem boost... move to Iowa. I've never been hit on more in my entire existance on this earth as I have in the short amount of time I've been living here. Not that its all too flattering the kinds of guys that I get hit on by lol. Delivery truck drivers, installers (every single one of them... including the old ones, and even though they know I have a boyfriend)
• I'm pretty much never around girls... ever. Every single person I come in contact with every day of my life here is a male. I suddenly appreciate relief society on Sundays so much more :) lol.
• Since coming here I have definitely had to develop somewhat of a tough skin. Because the nature of the people I come in contact with every day is pretty rough. I've definitely learned to stand up for myself more since being here, and not let people walk all over me as often.
  
• profanity and smoking. (Is it possible to get lung cancer in 3 months?) The installers are always smoking when they pick up their equipment... I have to try hard to breathe normally haha. Ever since I can remember i've always held my breath whenever I pass someone smoking because A: I hate the smell and B: I always have the awful image of my lungs turning black after inhaling cigarette smoke like in the videos they show you in Elementary school.
• humidity: my hair hates the humidity. Which in turn makes me dislike it.
• rain. it rains ALOT in iowa. At least so far it has. The installers say something about it being because its spring time... but I always thought June was considered summer...
  

Things I love about Iowa:

• There are cute little woodland creatures everywhere! squirrels, bunnies, ducks, birds :) I love it.
  
• I think its beautiful. I really do.
• It is definitely an adventure here. But with that said, I've definitely had my fair share of melt downs (just ask Ki) but for the most part I feel like it has been good for me. I honestly feel like I've grown in some ways because of this experience. But i've definitely missed my family and friends back home in Utah!!
• Being around this really cute guy :) enough said.
• And despite how much I gripe about my job... its somewhat fulfilling somehow.. to know that I've accomplished something difficult, that i've been able to find solutions to problems, and to just feel like I'm needed to make the office run smoothly. Its actually kind of fun sometimes :)
• Fire-flys. Whenever we're riding our bikes back from somewhere in the dark, we will pass fields that are just sparkling like crazy! Fire-fly's are cool.

Now of course for the pics!!!

this is the view from the office window :) its beautiful and serene and I love it.

the equipment garage :) and ol' bessy. (believe me it was NOT this organized when i got here lol... kris aren't you so proud i was organized for once?)

my little duck friends. I also have a squirrel friend that always makes its way onto the back porch, but consequently every time it shows up, my camera is either nowhere to be found or the batteries are dead...
One of the hardest things i've had to deal with since getting here is grocery shopping aboard Ol' bessy.. because not only is she a bike, but she is a very old bike whose breaks do not work... its always a challenge. For example: The first time I went grocery shopping with nobody but Ol' bessy by my side we ran into a little problem. I was carrying like 2 bags in my left arm, and like 3 bags in my right arm while attempting to pedal my little tushie back to the apartment. Well I was concentrating so hard on strategically carrying the bags so that I wouldn't drop one/break the eggs/smush the bread that I completely forgot about Ol' Bessys brakes not being functional. So instead of slowing down by pedaling less as I was coming to the stoplight intersection where I had to cross the street, I just kept pedaling full force. Until I realized much to late that my options were either to go flying into the intersection where I would inevitably become road kill.... or topple off my bike into the bush at the end of the sidewalk. Given the two options I chose the lesser of two evils and went flailing into the bush. Miraculously, the eggs were not harmed. Just my ego. You should have seen the looks the people in passing cars were giving me :P

this pic is me and Ki after work one day (after work being like 10:30 pm haha) he brought me flowers and candy home just because! And once when I was having a bad morning, he made French Toast and brought it to me. He has this tendency of being super thoughtful. I think i'm kind of lucky.
by the time Saturday night comes I am EXHAUSTED. I try hard to stay awake but sometimes it just cant be done. I sleep alot on Sundays... but the 1 day weekend just doesn't seem to be enough recovery time before the next week starts

David (Ki) vs. Goliath (Brent)

one Saturday after the guys got back from selling (they get back at 5 on saturdays rather then 9:30 like the rest of the week) there was a heated discussion going and bets being taken on who would win should Brent and Ki wrestle. Most sided in favor of Brent what with him out weighing Ki by 60 lbs and having him in height, but there were a few that thought Ki, past state wrestling champion, could take him even though he isn't in as good of shape as he was in highschool. Since both Brent and Ki were confident they could win there was no way to find out except to let it play out. I couldn't decide who I was more scared for... Brent... or Ki. Because Brent is definitely a lot heavier, and really strong. But Ki has alot of experience and can definitely hold his own in muscle strength... below is the video of the event.

disclaimer: If I could mute my voice from this video I would. I can hardly bare to listen to myself. So you are warned... just try to ignore my highpitched squeals and "oh my gosh's" :D

It has become somewhat of a tradition to go out to chinese food every saturday night. Mostly because its delicious, and also because its the closest restaurant to our respective apartments.

Me and Ki feeling much better after eating the delicious orange chicken and egg rolls :)

this is a pic of us after we played in the rainstorm this past weekend. (thank heavens for self timer) We were watching a movie at my apartment when all of a sudden it started thundering and lightning (lightning striking?...) like crazy. It was down pouring! Not whimpy Utah rain, but like torrential rain. So we decided to go play out on the swingset to the side of my apartment! we were completely drenched within the first minute. So much fun. I was slightly worried that we were going to get struck by lightning, but the danger only made it that much more thrilling ;)

Well that about concludes the first entry of my Iowan Adventures! If you made it through all that congratulations! It was pretty much the longest post of my life. Then again.. maybe not. Love and miss you all!

Ash