I have never felt more like a pioneer than I did over the past two weeks!  Between packing all our belongings and traveling over the snowy passes, I couldn't help feeling a little like we might die of dysentery or have to hire an indian guide.  As a funny sidenote, when we crossed Donner Pass, there was one of those blue food signs with a knife and fork that simply read "Donner Pass" and had no restaurants listed below...

After 3 days of snowy, icy travel, we finally made it home, thanks to Jesse's tenacious driving capabilities.  Jesse and our sweetie pie friend Annie endured my white-knuckled back-seat driving, and we made it to Medford!  We spent a few days at home, then headed to Spokane, Washington for Christmas.  That turned into a 2 day trek, as Portland had somehow been covered in a polar ice cap!  It was complete madness.  Apparently, they had to call in the National Guard to clean things up.  When we did get there, we had a nice Christmas, though Jesse's mom's absence was definitely felt.  It was really nice to be all together.  Then it was back to Medford yesterday, and man does it feel good to be able to stay put for a little while.  Yay for Jesse completing his degree!!!  Now the job-hunting begins for both of us.  If anyone hears of anything, let us know!  Merry late Christmas to all!

Moving, Thanksgiving, and Sweater Party...

Well, I thought I'd post a couple pictures of Thanksgiving and some other recent happenings.  I'm trying to remember all the upsides of moving right now.  I think the most practical benefit of moving often is that you clean out a lot of crap you usually would have kept around for no apparent reason... Other upsides include spending long days of packing in pajamas, finding old important documents long forgotten, and playing with bubble wrap.  Jesse is in his final week of school, and is pretty stressed out right now.  This weekend he's got his last Comic Frenzy shows (his improv comedy troupe), which have been/will be fun.  Last night was their Cheesy Christmas Sweater Party, which was great.  The Riches (the family I babysit for) also came, which made things extra special.  

Well, one more week until the job hunt begins.  Jesse's interviews with the Ashland P.D. didn't lead to an immediate job, so we'll have to jump right in and see what we can find in Medford.  If anyone has any leads, please let us know!  That's all for today--hope everyone has a great weekend!

Coming Home

Well, here we are, and it's already time to go home to Rexburg.  We had a blast at Thanksgiving, ate lots of good food, and visited with friends and family.  All the things one should do on Thanksgiving.  It was great to see my cousin Kristi and her awesome husband and sweetie pie of a kid.  All in all, a very successful trip, as I got to see my amazing friend Sav's ultrasound, touched bases with good old Zach, and watched a lot of Twilight Zone episodes with my dear of dad.  I'm mostly delaying packing by writing this entry, and I really don't have too much to say, just that we can't wait to see you, dear Rexburger friends!  We're on our way!  Here's hoping our flights don't get delayed.  Stupid Denver...

I'll be posting a couple Thanksgiving pictures when we get home.  Ta ta!

Ahem:  my first attempt in the land of the Blog...  As Jesse and I get ready to move from our safe little Rexburg, I've been thinking of all the things I'll miss about our cozy little cocoon.  At the top of that list are the ridiculously cool friends we've made here.  Although I swore to Jesse that I wouldn't start blogging until we had little Thorsons for relatives to drool over, I relented.  As I'm not always very good at keeping in touch, I thought I'd begin this blog as a way for friends and family (and any other concerned life spectators) to peek into our little lives and see what's new.  So here's what's new:

We are currently in Medford, Oregon for Thanksgiving!  Yippee!  This trip seems special somehow...I think it's because we know that in a few short weeks, this will be home for a while.  We're (noncommittally) checking out  jobs, apartments, and wards.  Honestly, it's weird and a little painful to think we're leaving Rexburg for good.  And after our friends slowly trickle off to other places, I can't think of too many reasons to go back there.  I will no longer be called "Kathleen of the North" by my Mom's old friend Julie.  We'll miss the cupcake shop, the temple, the long, quiet Sundays, the frozen nose hairs, the wind, the sub-zero temperatures... 

Tomorrow, we drive down to Aunt Ginny's house, where we will meet up with my Mom's entire side of the family.  We're really excited to be able to get together with the fam, as we weren't originally planning on coming home for Turkey Day.  After much gluttony, Jess and I will fly back to the Burg for his last two weeks of school and my last two weeks as a nanny :(  I'll miss my three little hooligans.