The Big "P" Word

Nope, the word isn't pregnant...yet.

It's the long-awaited-for PROMOTION!! On Friday, Hormel let Jeremy know that he will be promoted to a higher position and the long awaited news of where we will be moving to was finally made known. We're staying in Orange County!! YEAH!

We of course would have loved to try living in a new place, esp if it was on the East Coast or Texas since we have so many awesome friends in those areas, but we are very happy with staying in Huntington Beach. We absolutely love it here, and now we'll be here for at least another year, probably 18 months.

Also, now I can plan on teaching full time this fall without having to start over with paper work in another state. I've already got my CA credential, so that's perfect. In fact, I'm looking for a full time position now! Wish me luck.

And we are considering moving out of our apartment to a cheaper location. $1400 a month starts to eat at our budget pretty fast, and we want to by a home when we end up in Minnesota. So, we'll keep you posted on what we decide.

We are so blessed! Especially with the economy as it is, how wonderful that we are receiving a promotion. The timing of this assignment was perfect- even to the day- and I know that Heavenly Father's hand is in it. It's been nice to put our trust in Him and not be too stressed because we know that since we are doing what we should, He will bless us. And He is!!

Here's what we've been up to our 1st few weeks in 2009:

Griffith Observatory
We learned that this place is one of the top attractions to see in LA. Wow. It's up on the mountain, fantastic views of LA, right next to the Hollywood sign, free museum, free shows, cool astronomy stuff, free parking, nature walks. What more could you want for the perfect date?


Getty Museum
This turned out to be the most beautiful museum I've ever been to. And I guess it's famous. Totally free (just $10 parking, though). We saw works of Van Gough, Monet, Cezanne, a lot of naked sculptures, and pretty gardens at nighttime. I actually spent a lot of my time in the gift shop looking at children's books, but Jeremy wouldn't let me buy them. And I appreciate him for it.

Talks in Church
We had a fun time speaking in church last Sunday in addition to our normal teaching. Yeah, both Jeremy and I actually love to speak and teach. Call me weird, but I think people that don't want to speak in church are wierd. I admit that part of it is a little selfish-I enjoy hearing myself speak more than listening to all those typical boring talks. But most of it is that I love getting people to think more deeply and realistically about gospel principles and their relationship with Christ.

Bytheway, we figured out that all 4 of the older Zavoral kids have teaching callings (Melissa, Me, Jeremy and Zach). It runs in the family I guess.

Beach Basketball
We played one on one at the beach while the sun set. Our game was complete with one hot guy, a very attractive girl (I actually got two cat calls while we played), beach breeze, alpen glow all around us, pink horizon, orange ocean, palm trees, bikers, and surfers.

Then we watched the waves sparkle orange and silver like a looking glass. A pod of about 20 dolphins popped up 100 ft from shore. We could tell they were swimming in circles to bring the fish up to the surface. The birds came and took their stabs at the fish, too. We felt like we were in an episode of Planet Earth!

Eating Out
Thanks to all of the gift cards and coupons that we've been saving, we had a full week of eating out at Duke's, TGIFriday's, El Coyote, Mimi's Cafe, Olive Garden, Del Taco, and Yum Yum Yogurt. Next will be Red Lobster- we still have more to use!

STOMP Concert
You might have heard of them. They bang on garbage cans and stomp around a lot. It was awesome. They made percussive instruments out of brooms, plastic bags, hand-held lighters, metal folding chairs, and innertubes. The whole concert hall boomed with excitement. We found out later that a 5.0 earthquake took place during the concert, but no one ever knew 'cuz of the great noise!